05.08.12: dinner (shrimp with tequila, orange, and garlic with black bean and avocado quinoa salad)

Shrimp with orange, tequila, and garlic

Do you have at least a few cookbooks that are actually quite good but you don’t turn to often enough, and for no good reason at that? I realized this was the case on Saturday while flipping through our copy of Gordan Ramsay’s Fast Food in search of an easy recipe for the week: it’s been ages since I cracked it open and looked through it, and I couldn’t tell you why that was the case. The layout is kind of strange–meal menus are interspersed with five recipes that fit within arbitrary categories–and some of the photos aren’t as gorgeous as one expects with food photography these days, but it hardly matters because the recipes are good and incredibly adaptable. Two are already in our regular rotation, and when the weekend rolls around and I’m planning for another Tuesday dinner, I’m going to make sure that more are at least given a proper tryout in the future.

07.10.11: dinner (all-i-pebre de llagostins, tortilla de vegetales y torrada mallorquina. Oh–and two World Cups.)

Remember this from a year ago?

Spain winning the 2010 World Cup, July 11 2010

Oh, I still do. I can still remember the emotions when I watched that game a year ago (when this posts): I can still feel how I was wracked with anxiety, willing the Spaniards to overcome that whole “no team has ever won a World Cup when they lost their first group game” statistic and win against the Netherlands. And then Andres Iniesta scored and it was amazing and wonderful and Iker Casillas started to cry in happiness.

And then this happened yesterday:

The USA triumphs over aversity. (click picture for source)

This was a quarterfinal game, yet it was treated like a semi-final or a final: the number-one-ranked team in the world versus the number-one-ranked player in the world (that would be Marta), and it was rife with controversy thanks to some really bad calls from the ref and some childish behavior from the Brazilians during the extra time in order to run out the clock. But then a (literally) last-minute goal thanks to the combined powers of Megan Rapione and Abby Wambach tied up the game at 120 minutes of play, and  then the team dominated the penalty kicks. It was an American triumph at its cheesy-80s-sports-movie-best, and dammit, it was amazing. That it fell on the 12th anniversary of the women’s team WC win in 1999 in Pasadena was the icing on the cake.

That we made some delicious food seems almost secondary, but it’s the last home-cooked food I’ll have until Thursday (as I’m off to Chicago) so we reached, we shot, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

6.26.11: dinner (pericatelli con frutti di mare)

Pericatelli con Frutti di Mare

I have a confession: there is a distinct possibility that pasta might be boring me ever so slightly. This isn’t so much against the pasta itself so much as I find myself a little bored with sauces. It’s summer, so the default topping I always seem to fall back on is some combination of tomato, basil and mozzarella–all good things, believe me, but I don’t want to burn out on that trifecta before August when the really good tomatoes are in the market. Defaulting back to my favorite ragus aren’t really an option either, because they are far too heavy after a hot day.

Finding no inspiration in our cookbooks (I think this is a sign I should get a pasta-centric one, don’t you?) I turned to the New York Times. (Aside: can we discuss how awful this ad is? It’s like they decided to unironically pay homage to every infuriating stereotype about pretentious New Yorkers ever in 30 seconds, and make them sound like the American extras in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. These responses to it, on the other hand, are absolutely hysterical.) I probably used up the monthly allotted clicks on my searching mission, but it was totally worth it.

04.09.11: antojito (seafood cocktail)

Mariscos de la Marinera

One of my fondest memories of swag (aka Stuff We All Get) from my job is the seafood salad I enjoyed during my lab’s 2009 Christmas party. Every year we go to the Faculty House dining room and my very generous Boss buys us all a wonderful (buffet-style) lunch. That year on the salad table they were serving an amazing ceviche-style seafood salad and my friend and I totally OD-ed on it that year. No regrets.

02.06.11: dinner (Super Bowl tapas without football–well, American football).

Gambas al Ajillo de José Andrés

Ours is not a football home so the Super Bowl is not appointment television unless the Eagles happen to find themselves playing in the game, so it’s seldom that you’ll find us gathered around the television to watch the game, even to watch the commercials. That isn’t to say that we don’t celebrate in our way, often seeing the game as the perfect excuse to make a big pot of chili, but we’re just as likely to nosh it while watching a movie. Besides: I’m looking forward to the third week in April as that will mark two meetups between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in the span of three days for El Clásico and the final of the Copa del Rey. You’ll likely think that I’m nuts, but I’m already planning on what we’re going to have for dinner on those two days…but I digress.

11.13.10: dinner (new Mexican antojitos)

Árbol Chile and Peanut Salsa

Alright, here it is. I love antojitos. I think the term technically applies a certain type of fried Mexican fritter, but I have a book the wife bought for me last Christmas that extends the term to all Mexican small plates/snacky offerings. And I love them. Love love love them.

09.04.10: la cena y una película (Y tu mama tambien, Oaxacan tostadas and spicy crab and shrimp soup)

"Casi" Tlayudas Oaxaquenas con Chorizo, Guacmole y Queso Oaxaqueno ("Almost" Oaxacan Tostadas with Chorizo, Guaca-salsa and Oaxacan Cheese)

Life is like the surf, so give yourself away like the sea.

–Luisa, Y tu mamá también

Y tu mamá también, on the surface, is a road trip film: two teenage boys tempt an older cousin (by marriage) to a beach known as La Boca del Cielo (Heaven’s Mouth); problem is, they are pretty sure such a place doesn’t exist. But they go anyway, and as we travel with them from Mexico City to the rural coastline we learn about the code of the charloastro, empathize with the feelings of inadequacy that stem from being on display, and laugh when the inevitable happens and it’s not altogether satisfying. It’s also a coming of age film, both with regard to the two male leads (played brilliantly by real-life friends Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Benal) and to the country of Mexico itself; set right before the 2000 elections that saw the dominating party unseated after a 71-year run, we get glimpses of life in the country as it was then: random car stops, lavish parties, and the slow decimation of once-preserved natural coves. A balance of rich, poor, and those who fall somewhere in between–and a Spaniard who, like us, can’t always understand her companions and their youthful exuberance.

08.08.10: dinner (tomatoes, prawns, rocket and pasta–oh my!)

Grilled Prawns with Rocket and Campari Tomatoes

When I mentioned our then-upcoming trip to England to colleagues and the like, the general consensus from them was along the lines of “well, England’s great but the food was pretty disappointing.” Considering that our only other two trips across the pond were to food meccas Spain and Italy we both were ready to accept that the meals that we were anticipating would be less-than-amazing and we’d come home and console ourselves with loads of homemade food.

You know what? We were wrong–and it really started with the food we enjoyed at my best friend’s wedding.

05.10.10: dinner (Barcelona Wine Bar’s simple shrimp salad).

Grilled Shrimp over Citrus Salad

Whenever Elizabeth brings a salad to my attention, I get excited.  As I have written about in the past, when she and I started out cooking together, I had a heck of a time getting plant matter onto the plate.  Since then, we have found a tenuous path of wholesome, delicious veggies between big ‘ol mounds of green beans and broccoli (two she hates, sadly).  While leafing through the Barcelona cookbook one weekend morning, she came across this offering and, without much of a fight, convinced me to make a play at it for a weeknight meal.

03.21.10: dinner (springtime pizza party!)

Morel Mushrooms

When it comes to mushrooms, I try very hard not to be drawn into the über-fancy varieties that are available at Whole Foods and other gourmet shops because it’s too easy to start scooping them up and find myself with a bag of mushrooms that equates to half of our weekly grocery bill.  It’s why I tend to stick to using a solid base of cremini mushrooms and then adding in only a little shiitake or oyster mushrooms for flavor whenever I need to make a dish that is heavy on the mushrooms.

Morels, however, are a perfect exception to my no-crazy-expensive-mushroom rule, because not only are they delicious, they also happen to fall into that category of ephemeral foods that are only available for a few weeks out of the year, thereby making them completely irresistible.