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window · on...
the vague and nuanced.
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sangria, always sangria. always red, and most venturesome, humbling, all those things. but so good. ligurian sausage over catalan bean stew--which may very well not be true.
fried chickpeas
crispy marinated fish
fava bean puree on toast i ate my words, digested his indecision, and thankfully had a grain of salt. |
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i' ve been MIA yet again--it's because i've been in a reading mood than actually writing. food blogs for one, and plenty of newspapers and books of all sorts to keep me entertained.
but i'm sure your'e wondering what dishes i've been concocting thus far in my life. here's this past couple of days' list of selected eats.
thursday, valentines day
- beet, orange, and olive salad with thai basil
- chicken marbella
- roasted bananas with vanilla froyo
tori made a batch of red velvet raspberry cupcakes to distribute to a lucky few at work, and then proceeded to make a second batch--a better version, i'll post my version very soon--for the weekend's cocktail party, leftovers went to the gamelan crew.
friday
- mussels with thai curry sauce
saturday
- tempeh and chinese eggplant with thai basil over brown rice
sunday
- scrambled eggs with roasted tomatoes and feta
monday
- banana bread with chocolate chips & walnuts |
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catering, here i come: marinated olives and feta
crabmeat salad on wonton crisps
prosciutto wrapped dates
toasted chickpeas and pistachios
butternut squash soup with cider cream
pear crisp and candied ginger ice cream |
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tori made
chocolate bark with dried fruits, nuts, candied ginger, and lemon zest salt... and this is how i learned meggie is allergic to walnuts.
for the getty images seattle team
started learning mandarin
will try her hand at catering next week
signed up for the january 27th half-marathon
and apparently she's tackling the west-side highway running-path tomorrow with wells. 10 miles at 6 pm, anyone? (yesterday she and wells ran the bklyn bridge and had frittata lunch at her place--we're talking bacon, kale, and goat cheese, baby)
made vegan cupcakes for dharma swara members--and she's trying balinese dance
tori is no longer in a relationship. take that, facebook.
but it wasn't until now she realized she had so many friends who cared about her.
her brother is fun to hang out with, drink beers, and chat music.
she was so excited last night that her roommate brian decided to cook for the first time for his girlfriend--he's finally growing up!
he has no concept of "serving size"--he bought 2 12-oz logs of goat cheese for his pasta dish, and 2 boxes of spaghetti, 2 cartons of grape tomatoes...
and then he asked me if the recipe would be enough for the two of them (it clearly says servings:4)
he admitted "i am so nervous"...
it was totally cute.
he's growing up! ::tear:: |
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baguette yellow and blue corn tortillas red pepper and almond dip tapenade seven-layer dip grape and gorgonzola pizza
buttercup squash and sweet potato pizza with caramelized onions and sage chocotinis with "cholives" happy new year! |
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poor kenny. he eats terribly--though his habits are unquestionably less worse than roomie brian's--but more on that some other time.
but he is family, and that is why i am more concerned, and frustrated.
it is obvious i love to cook, and i am very daring in my food expeditions. do you remember cuy chactado?
but when the father refuses to eat gamey meat, and the brother gamey poultry and most anything that swims, my repertoire when cooking for the family is sadly diminished to the american supermarket staples of chicken (white meat only), pork (the other white meat), meat (not white meat).
back to my brother.
he scorns the breakfast tradition, and being a typical college kid who has not adopted the meal plan, he regularly eats out.
you can see the glee in his eyes as he relates that his apartment is right across the street from s'mac. wait, did you hear me? i live right near s'mac!
and then he'll tell you again and again...
he spent the past 4 months in prague, eating the czech way, which is apparently, meat, potatoes, and cheese--wait that sounds like america, or britain!
oh yeah, and dumplings and sausage.
forget suggesting a green vegetable, because apparently they laugh at you. the closest thing they come to leafy green is caesar salad.
but i guess i have to give him some credit--he did end up losing 25 pounds on the czech diet (oh i forgot about the beer.....bottles and bottles of beer), and he does work out very regularly. but still!
sometimes i throw caution to the wind and ignore my brother's non-preference for swimmy things.
yesterday, for example, i was riding on a high from learning that jamie oliver was coming back to US TV ::happy shiver:: and perusing his online recipes for something that would work with the stuffs at the corners of the fridge (still fresh, i promise). and the fresh fettuccine was just begging to be coddled with a pair of tongs and some sauce.
this taglierini recipe with shrimp and tomatoes just sounded so good....so, a rash decision i made, and resolved to cook it for dinner, knowing full well brother would be at the table.
i did have a n extended moment of panic when my mother was distracted by a phone call and had not set the table so it would be ready when the pasta was done--that would spoil my plan of perfectly cooked shrimp, and then of course, my brother would be guaranteed not like it at all, but thankfully the overdone-ness didn't happen.
in fact! victory! no sniffs no protestations! only gulps and gurgles of satisfaction and mumblings of "yummy" and "vic, you did good". and from my brother, shrimping, that is by far one point for tori lo.
thanks, jamie. i'm so glad you're coming back!!!!
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roasted turbot on potato cakes with tomatoes and olives adapted from a recipe from Gourmetthis recipe would work well with any flaky white fish, such as cod serves 5 1 1/2 lbs turbot filets in 5 even pieces 2 russet potatoes for the sauce: 3 handfuls of small tomatoes (cherry, teardrop, grape...etc.) 1/2 cup white wine splash of white wine vinegar 1 tbsp butter 2 handfuls of black olives, rinsed and pitted special equipment: mandoline preheat the oven to 450 F. prepare the potatoes: make sure the potatoes are dry or they will stick to the surface. using a mandoline, slice the potatoes very thin. line baking sheets with waxed/parchment paper and drizzle olive oil over top. arrange the potatoes slices in a spiral fashion to make 5 cakes (it's okay if some slices overlap). sprinkle salt and pepper (and maybe some fresh herb) over the tops of the cakes along with another drizzle of olive oil. place baking sheets in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. prepare the fish: pat filets dry and salt, pepper and oil both sides well. remove potato cakes from oven and place one filet atop each cake. put pans back in the oven and roast for 10-5 minutes, until filets are cooked through (and potato edges are crisp). meanwhile, prepare the sauce: over medium heat, saute the tomatoes in olive oil until most have popped (about 5-7 minutes), then deglaze the pan with the wine and vinegar. add the olives and the butter. simmer until reduced by half. assemble the dish: place a potato cake and filet at the center of each plate. spoon olives and tomatoes over fish followed by a drizzle of sauce. *** you could also saute from spinach with garlic and then put a mound on top of the fish, followed by the tomato-olive sauce. enjoy! maybe you're wondering what i did different from the original recipe. first, i didn't use a whole fish, and consequently didn't follow the order of steps (cooking fish on top of cakes first, then finishing off potato cakes later). i sauteed the tomatoes first to caramelize them before adding the liquid to finish the sauce. |
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happy holiday and all the best in the new year... if you're in my area, and you probably know who you are, i'd love to see you. always welcome to my humble abode for a catch-up and a bite.:) |
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i spent too much time in the kitchen. and it causes me the same amount of anxiety as joy to be there. two dinner parties in two nights, and i'm beaming with pride at my ability to perfectly time my cooking, so that nobody has to wait. although this only happens when i do these things for my parents--my friends usually have to wait a considerable amount of time (i just don't have the luxury of spending the entire day in front of the stove when i arrange these things in my apartment. perhaps weekend dinner parties should be the remedy.)
here's how the menus went:
christmas eve for 5:
hors d'oeuvres
- smoked whitefish (from acme in greenpoint)
- roasted peppers and anchovies (a gift from gabe's mum)
- baguette
appetizer
- fennel, orange, and beet salad with olives with orange balsamic dressing
main course
- short ribs provencale
- yoghurt mashed potatoes dessert
- fennel ice cream
- maple and cinnamon roasted pear clafouti
christmas day for 8:
hors d'oeuvres
- smoked whitefish
- baguette toasts
- bacon wrapped parmesan-stuffed dates
appetizer
- salad with pomegranate, oranges, red onion and walnuts with citrus-shallot dressing
main course
- pappardelle with short ribs and porcini ragu (using meat and braising sauce leftover from last night)
dessert
- fennel ice cream
- cinnamon and maple roasted apples
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it would probably behoove me to get some rest in my rather grotesque state. i hate coughing and seeing people slight at the sound. my roommate and i are ill with terrible colds and we both spent our mornings being miserable, chewing on our pillows--or maybe i was doing that--and sucking it all back in.
rest. i can't do it--i am just subject to cabin fever all too easily, and being extremely pro-active in my life, my first instinct is to ignore the illness and hope it will slink away.
it just doesn't work like that. but there i was, having left the office early, and sitting on the bus home, wondering how much milk i would need to make the indian rice pudding i had been planning on making for the past week (idea courtesy of a carton of leftover rice i purloined from a dinner at the indonesian consulate).
and then of course i had to finish the marrons glaces, and organize my cookbooks.
and eat.
i still did go to bed early, and managed to sleep more than 7 hours. but by the time i was up, i could not stand being in the apartment any longer and resolved to go to work.
i'm in the office. i'm pathetic. |
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ecce's here! new york is grand again. to celebrate her return, i made the following: red lentil soup with kielbasa and chocolate orange pudding--this was a serious treat, and you need to make it now. Chocolate Orange Pudding
adapted from Gourmet.
1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 3 1/2 ounces fine-quality orange-flavored bittersweet chocolate 1 1/3 cups whole milk 1 large egg yolk 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or orange extract, or a combination of both. Preparation In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch salt. Chop chocolate and add to sugar mixture. In a bowl whisk together milk and egg yolk and gradually whisk into chocolate mixture. Bring mixture just to a boil over moderate heat, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute, whisking. Remove pan from heat and whisk in vanilla. Can be served warm or chilled--place in freezer with plastic wrap covering the surface for approximately 30 minutes. Serves 4.
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Possibly the last thing I want to do anymore is type and stare some more at a screen. I want to update you all on my life, but to craft a post anymore takes more effort than i can realistically muster. Of particular relevance, this morning I purloined Brian's copy of the New Yorker, in which there was an article about the practice of writing in a diary. I'm not finished with it yet, but something that I've learned is that life can be boring and interesting at the same time, when you read someone else's private (or today, increasingly public) log. What is a mundanity in somebody's life can appear even interesting. maybe it's not the moment itself, may it's the particular style of writing which keeps that day fresh to us as outsiders--read Virginia Woolf's entries, you'll understand. I had a conversation last night with Gabe as we walked home from the subway about the mundane. He asked me if I ever got tired of the heterogeneity of Williamsburg. Never. My response is tinged with a bit of embarrassment. My whole life I have spent trying to find a way to fit in without being popular. Tragically hip, perhaps. Part of a counterculture. Living in Brooklyn was perhaps a confirmation that I was hip enough. But my fate to remain on the outer limits of hipness is apparent here. Not hip enough for Williamsburg. I live in Greenpoint, on the periphery, the outskirts, the hinterlands--Williamsburg's Polish, inevitably drunk, younger sister. I try to fit in, and in doing so that means I rely on a system of social circles that I've created. (Then I pigeonhole everyone. That gets me into trouble, this I know. Saturday I made a mistake. I also am an impulsive talker, dig.) Yes, Gabe says, but everybody dressing in their alternative indie rock styles and messy greasy alternative haircuts... you are not bored, you are not frustrated? Not by the elitism? Why do you want to subscribe to that attitude? You dress well, you have nice hair, you are alternative, but you do not fit in. Well, I'll be damned. But it was because it was ironic, and I'm attracted completely to irony. Too bad I once again am not a part of it. However, I can say I am proud to live in a community that produces great sausage and smoked fish. I just don't speak their language. It's hard to feel integrated. ------- Yesterday I had my first latkes since elementary school, complete with applesauce and sour cream. It brought back memories of Girl Scouts, sitting in Anne's attic, eating meringue cookies and spending an inordinate amount of time peeling the gold wrapper off my gelt. I lit my first Hanukkah candle on the first night of Hanukkah. I learned yesterday night I've been wearing the wrong bra size. No American company makes my size, that I have seen. I have to pay a premium for something that fits, my ribcage is small. I have to rely on Japan to remedy my pains. Yesterday I finagled my way into getting on the guest list for NYMag's Christmas party. My knack for pitching a load of believable poppycock is improving. And for pitching worthy stories, as well. My first pitch to larger magazines is scheduled to land in editors' email boxes today. My first press release is being reviewed as we speak. This week is replete with firsts, and mores. yesterday I took a new route to get to work, and repeated it today. The G to Queens, E across the river, A downtown. 45 minutes. It's more enjoyable that taking the G all the way down Brooklyn and coming back up on the A, or taking the bus to L across town to the A. I get to walk on the moving walkways you find in airports. Today when I get home--approximately 10 pm--I will make fennel ice cream.
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jose: looks like everybody dressed up today as a human being--very original. |
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wow. i am incredibly lucky and grateful to have friends that will take/accompany me to amazing places and events that i would not think about going to by myself. sunday-tour de bronx bike ride with sebastian tuesday-surprise morrissey concert with gabriele - and run in with chloe sevigny sunday-impromptu invitation to ballet with ardi words that came to mind when i watched this ballet, that i normally would not associate with the aesthetic of ballet... strength, structure, architecture, opposition, pointilism. - and run in with isaac mizrahi--overheard in conversation during second intermission: so far, SO FABULOUS... oh isaac. can i also express my awe and happiness at having seen cudamani--the most amazing gamelan group to ever have existed in my time. incredibly inventive, engaging, uplifting, beautiful. i love going to things in the company of others. i never think about going alone usually, it's a rare occasion, something i should practice more. time spent alone is something i dedicate to the activities of tv watching and going to the gym, almost exclusively. tori's a people person, but she must be comfortable with herself at all times. i'm on a mission to remedy that. who's with me? |
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zucchini bread, adapted from heidi's recipe--I only had two zucchini. dumped in about 3/4 chopped walnuts--I'll toast them next time, 1 teaspoon of ras-el hanout, and 1/3 cup of sweetened coconut. I'd up the amount of spice and coconut next time, and probably throw in some crystallized ginger--didn't have any on hand this time. the bread was pretty fragrant, although the spice was on the mild side, though the cayenne in the ras-el hanout settles in later and you wonder where the hotness came from. make use of the last batch of summer squash!!!! i love making office snacks. |
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whenever i see lillian my heart does this little soaring jump. never have i ever felt so much love for a little girl. celeste once in a while brings her daughter in when she doesn't have school and nobody can watch her at home.
lillian is this charming, precocious child of perhaps 5. she has these beautiful curiously-watching-you blue-grey eyes. she's astonishing and intelligent, and terribly adorable.
and she's taken to me as much as i've taken to her. i spent the day trying to keep her occupied as i tried to work. i handed her some magazines, some scissors, and my tape, and asked her to make a collage.
she came up with about 8, and each one had a story, and of course, they were double-sided collages.
we talked about my family, her little brother--who apparently is a "homewrecker", and her halloween costume.
i had to leave early, and told her to have a good hallloween and get lots of candy. she promised to make a tally of all the candy she received and give it to me.
when i arrived in the office today there was a picture on my desk, but it was more of a note.
it said THANK YOU TORI LILLIAN LOVE TORI
and she drew a picture of me.
i'm melting. |
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as much as i love vacation, i enjoy the banalities of work. i have a darling little plant sucking water from a red bull can. will it grow tall and strong, fiercely, at a rapid pace???
-tori |
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today we saw the most beautiful scene as we were driving around the suburbs of arequipa. a group of farm workers in the most verdant pastoures were knee deep in a pool full of carrots, kicking in time with one another. they were the most perfect carrots i´d ever seen (very bright, with no grooves or crooks whatsoever), or smelled. the air was intoxicating, and sweet. like out of the times of bacchus they were washing the carrots in the pool and gathering them in nets. we approached them and they were happy to have us take pictures. can´t wait to show you. they offered us a carrot, but we didn´t take it''now i regret it. the terraced landscapes were also quite a sight.
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it is just one crazy weekend after another. let us consider the fact that right now i'm running on two hours of sleep, hence the reason i am up at 6:02 am in the morning--but, wait! where did the rest of those, perhaps, four prior hours go? really, i don't know. a lot of it was spent tossing and turning (on a comfortable bed, freshly made, honestly, in fact, only constructed 6 hours ago) and then arising to put more things away, arranged in an artful manner....
so i finally moved into my room in the apartment. norman--between diamond and jewel. the name says it all, it's a gem of a place. emily has really cultivated a home, her signature is everywhere on the walls, in the rugs. the theme: victorian rose. they're on the couch, the bigelow toiletries in the bathroom, her towels, the lacy pantalons hanging on her door. they penetrate every inch of the apartment, and here i come sashaying in here with my, perhaps, more flamboyant style. and yet, i'm veritably reluctant to be too insistent of loud, rather searching for ways to let the victorian rose come back into my own room. i think it's working, if the heinous shelving unit above the radiator can be somewhat ignored momentarily.
circle back. i arrived yesterday afternoon to find that sarah's effects hadn't been moved. packed, maybe, but removed, not a chance. also note, the hallway lights are not working...
nevertheless, my father and i somehow managed to load everything into the dining room beside sarah's things, and i scribble my name all over my boxes lest sarah's movers try to move those as well. my father leaves, i'm dirty, and sweaty... and i forget to pack towels.
showers without towels are hard to negotiate.
called katie, and was welcomed to stay at her pad the night, left for danielle and ari's bbq in clinton hill.
danielle, you are amazing, and quirky, and i will never forget the fact that i only am friends with you because you threw paper at me my first week on the job.
wearing a handlebar moustache.
i saw your mirror with that silhouette cut out, so i saw the inspiration. looks good on me too.
i love meeting new people. DJ BLT was hilarious and charming, and i regret not going to his party tonight, but really now, given this opportunity to get settled in... what more could i do?
either way, that does not make up for the fact that i came back from a lovely brunch with katie and tativika in park slope at 3 pm only to find sarah's stuff was still!!! in the apartment.
i petered around for a while, quite a while. looking for a 3-prong outlet for my computer, which i finally realized did not exist unless i was in the kitchen. alas.... then i managed to crawl to key food and buy groceries, and buy things.
things. isn't it very odd, when you come to a place and realize you have no food in the fridge that is yours and none you are presumably welcome to take (homeless would have no problem here)?
what do you buy first?
i need fruit, haven't had a good piece of fruit all day. next, what will be for dinner? emily's amazing cookbook collection. i chose giada (big mouth's) everyday italian version of orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe.
i left my toothbrush at katie's and i NEED 3-prong adapters.
off to keyfood.
that's when the lovely chaos ensues. Are those ITALIAN PLUMS? THAT CHEAP? the red plums? strawberries! what? no broccoli rabe? there's kale... i'll think about that later.... tomatoes would be nice for lunch at some point, roma is cheap. i need some eggs, come to think of it. 6 pack or 12 pack? where are the brown ones? i'll go organic... if only they weren't swimming in their contents... 6 pack generic it is. sausage, the hot kind. ooh, pita to go with my baba ghanouj, and cheese, parmesan is too expensive, but grana padano will do just fine.
pasta, orecchiete? perhaps too sophisticated for key food--medium shells will have to do.
oh, the broccoli rabe--no shipment this week, settle for kale.
adapters, facewash, toothbrush. ready, set, LEAVE.
make dinner--delish, if perhaps the pasta was a little too tender.
seb comes over, helps me build my bed, fix the heinous shelving unit, and hang up my tapestry. we draw.
this almost got messy.
the coffee i drank approximately 16 hours ago shows no signs of relenting.
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