March 20, 2011
The Goal: Roli Roti Pork Sandwiches
At $8.50 for a modestly-sized Pork Porchetta Sandwich, I silently promised myself that it would be awesome. And anyway, it’s all Friend’s fault. Having emerged once again, as he does once a quarter, or something like that, from the backwoods, he craves the oddest things that mean civilization. This trip, the Sandwich was Civilization.
After queuing in the pelting rain, wandering off to examined the neighboring florist’s purple and red anemones, bulbish strawflowers, and huddling in my hood, we finally pulled up to the actual truck itself where four congenial fellows were ripping apart various pork portions, grinning at the anticipatory patrons.
One of the two check-out folk asked for our order but seemed not to know enough English to do anything with the information, having gotten it. With their severely limited menu, I wasn’t sure where I was going wrong. They only had one sandwich on the menu. Friend and I turned to each other, perplexed, “Sandwiches? Two, please? One with the cress and one with the arugula?” Still blank. One of the sandwich compilers quickly explained they were out of the cress, was the arugula alright? “Well, sure! Two of the only sandwiches you’ve got then, please!” She was still perplexed. Her compatriot took over at the point, asking what we’d like, acting as if we hadn’t just gone two complete rounds with the person two inches away. I suspect this is not an unusual situation. 😉
The sandwich was rather divine. Full of sweet and salty flavor, soft pork melted into the onion with crunchy bits, layered with the harder, more substantial slices of pork. We waited too long to eat the sandwiches so the arugula didn’t stand out against the pork, but it didn’t melt either, so it was fine. It was heaped in the right proportions into a ciabatta roll they get from the bakery inside the Ferry Building. With the harder crust, the bread doesn’t fall apart which is absolutely critical in a sandwich – I absolutely hate sandwiches and burgers where the wrapper collapses.
We took a small side of roasted potatoes as well and the rosemary salting – delicious. The potatoes were more like chunks, huge chunks. Not a problem for this potato lover.
At $20 for a lunch for two, no drinks, it’s a bit steep for lunching more frequently than as a treat but it’s absolutely worth it as a treat. Come visit me so I have an excuse to go again? 😉
May 12, 2010
“When did you become Martha Stewart?”
One of my friends was suitably impressed by the dinner I prepared over the weekend and that I cook as much as I do each week. The evidence of my evolution into frugal domesticity was rather striking this weekend, come to think.
I came home from work, did more work at home, made a three course dinner with dessert, served brunch, second lunch, picked up supplies for my friends the intrepid painters, washed, dried and folded a combination of laundry for three, and made dinner again.
As I suspected, several long years ago, supporting my family financially isn’t all there is to running a household. Housekeeping is hard work. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more challenging this would be combined with having children. And pets? No wonder my parents resisted our pleas for dogs so long. Every little bit eats away at your previous time and energy.
The extra effort in having guests who are old friends would be well worth the company alone. In this case, it’s more than repaid because they’ve cheerfully taken on the task of painting the apartment (not my plan or idea, but I can’t get into that right now). All I’ve got to do is provide support services like cooking and cleaning so they can handle the stuff my shoulder and various other joints won’t allow. Our friendships don’t require currency but it’s nice that we’re good about exchanging favors like random chores or emergency break-up moving services.
As I was folding our laundry, the thought occurred to me that the next time I buy detergent and fabric softener – a long while from now as I only use a wee dash at a time, I need a different scent. Something about this combination reminds me of someone I was once fond of but am no longer. It’s strange how something as simple as a fragrance can influence future shopping habits.
May 2, 2010
What happened? I dreamed that my staff were plotting an insurrection because apparently my boss was an alky, and they were in trouble for bringing dozens of differently sized exercise balls into the office. ???
It’s been hours since I finally succumbed to the dim sum shrimp punching me in the face and knocking my brain fuzzy. You’ve really gotta watch it with that dim sum – half a chance and the carbs and the fats work their diversionary magic and POW! The shrimp get ya.
In lieu of caffeine, this Hand Ninja helped wake me up with her calisthenics (no idea what the last bit is all about).
Though dim sum is really fun, the only dish that really gets me there are the steamed and baked BBQ pork buns because I love love love BBQ pork and can’t make the buns at home. I might be able to figure it out one day but for now, I’m happy with bringing home the occasional delicious bun treat.
Speaking of treats, our meal was a treat as well. The bill for 4 people after tip was $55 which wasn’t bad considering we had SIXTEEN dishes (mostly small and medium) and works out to less than $14 per person. While I try to spend less than that on food for an entire day, it’s doped me up enough that I probably won’t eat again until late tonight. 🙂
May 1, 2010
I can’t find the picture of my dazzling BBQ pork success so will share a wonderful pork tenderloin made soe time ago. I can also recommend a nice bottle of wine only $5 at Trader Joe’s: Epicuro’s Lazio white wine.
I am up and at ’em! (Always have wondered who ’em was, though.) It’s 8:30 and the chicken stock is bubbling merrily on the stove next to the pot of eggs for the week’s snacks. I’ve just to fetch my mending basket and settle into the perfect curve of my sofa-pillow Fortress of Solitude whilst the breakfast hash browns are baking in the toaster oven.
It’s not a half bad beginning to the day.
I’ve queued up an amazing lot of workly things to do, though. The cookery was the easy part. I have loads of prep work for next week, a good chunk of freelancing to tackle, blogging to catch up on, and perhaps a meal or two to eat. Friends are in town, too, though they’re really just here to see each other and I happen to be the middle at which they meet.
P.S. Last week’s chicken soup picture? Will be duplicated today! I’m so excited. I’m making the stock first, then a super sized batch will follow using both weeks’ stock.
Also, I will be making Frugal Scholar’s Broccoli Soup this week with the head of broc bought expressly for that purpose. It will be gorgeous!
April 8, 2010
I’ve started meal planning for lunches and dinners through the week with the goal of not eating out more than twice a week (if that). Expensed and catered meals don’t count, but I don’t plan on having too many of those.
So far, I’m scheduled to cook every other day and plan to make enough to package up lunch servings for either the next day or day after. That way I cut cook times in half, and don’t have to scramble for the next round of meals. As long as I don’t miss a cook day, the rolling menu should work pretty well.
Crockpot meals should be good for freezing ahead, too.
Breakfasts are simple. A couple eggs with green onions or a bit of oatmeal with a handful of walnuts is the most I can handle that early in the morning. Fruit is packed for a mid-morning snack, and so does a bar of some sort. (I LOVE Lemon Zest LunaBars.)
Some of my favorite dinner recipes
Roasted chicken (yields 2-4 meals depending on the size of the chicken).
Balsamic chicken (yields 2-3 servings) — Modified this recipe by using much less balsamic vinegar.
And lemon garlic chicken — this recipe with maybe a few less lemons.
By cooking at home, I should be bringing meal costs down to around $5 or less, including a veggie and carb side. I like brown rice best, but breads, pastas and quinoa are welcome additions to my plate.
April 4, 2010
I was having a distinctly teenager moment on the way home from a fantastically fun screening of The Last Unicorn with Peter S. Beagle in attendance. Not just the goofy giddiness that comes of seeing an iconic figure, hearing him speak (he’s funny), sitting two rows behind him. Cravings are what I’m after — cravings for donuts.
A’course, in my advanced years, I only wanted one donut, not the dozen and odd that would have been inhaled ten years ago.
My companion remembered a donut chain that was open until midnight, we had plenty of time. Pulling up in front of the darkened shop, I started to resign myself to going without. My companion popped out of the car to check anyway, “what’s the worst that can happen? They can just say no.”
Well, no, the worst that can happen is the guy can respond to your “can I get two glazed donuts, please?” with a stuffed box (that won’t close) of a full dozen glazed and sugary heart attacks and a sack of mini glazed doughy chunks. All for free.
Why is that bad, you ask? How can you say no? But then, what are we going to do with all of these donuts??
If they don’t go stale by then, I’ll gladly take them in to work on Monday, but glazed donuts don’t store well when crowded so now we’ve got to separate them. Like an army of pastries.
January 28, 2010
It’s official: I’ve been sick for over a week. Dear friends, I’m a terrible invalid. I whine. A lot. Between racking coughs, I whine and mentally grumble about how much money’s been wasted on those elephant pills that haven’t done a lick of good. The really gross, wild-cherry flavored Robitussin has finally alleviated the cough enough for me to cook again.
But this morning? The sun literally and figuratively came out: it’s gorgeous outside, and half my coughs don’t sound like a dying warthog. Glory be!
I’m getting back on the exercise horse ASAP. Every time I moved faster than a slow shuffle these past several days, I’ve keeled over with the cough so I’ve neglected the Daily Exercise Regimen sadly.
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Dogfood Provider linked to this beyond-awesome pasta sauce recipe posted at Smitten Kitchen.
I modified the recipe like so:
28 ounces canned diced tomatoes with peppers and onions
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste
Combine the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 50 minutes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste.
I actually didn’t add any salt as both the sauce and the butter contained salt. The rich, melty melding of flavors was absolutely perfect with the modified Garlic Lemon Chicken recipe. (Besswess, I used the juice of ONE lemon, ditched the herbs and rind, and baked with plenty of garlic. It turned out sans bitterness. Might be worth another go if that was your only objection.)
Sauce: $4, 6 generous servings
Chicken: $4, 6 servings
Asparagus: $2, 2 servings
Surprisingly my love affair with asparagus is suspended – I’ve got to find another veggie to round out the meals for a while.
