Warning!!! Food Porn Ahead!!!
Warning! Food Porn Ahead!!!!
So after 74 days of sometimes six, sometimes two antibiotics a day to defeat my damned flesh eating bacteria and save my legs and life, I finally got off them on May 6 or so. Two weeks later, my taste buds began to come back. For some people their loss would go unnoticed. For a former NYC chef, it hurt a lot that I could not taste anything and that I knew I was making second rate food.
By 10 days ago, or so, I started feeling my cooking oats, even though I only cook one meal a day these days, as the kids are grown and live their own lives, and I am no longer cooking in restaurants. So my son Italo brought over all the kids and his wife and my daughter was back from school and I made simple burgers with good cheese and a potato/egg salad with our own fresh duck eggs, with a dash of vinegar, and steamed broccoli on the side. That was good. High quality cheeses: Bleu, fresh mozzarella, block cheddar, swiss to go along. Plus really good pickles, bacon, avocado, sauteed onions, and shitaki shrooms for those who wanted them.
Then I was in the mood for a good NYC sausage sandwich. So I bought good quality hot sausage, pierced and boiled them to get rid of excess fat, then baked them for 45 minutes to turn them into genuinely wonderful morsels of cow and pig snout. Cooked them in a homemade tomato sauce, then put them, sliced open lengthwise, on fresh bread from HEB (no, they do not pay me to advertise, but it's pretty good rolls and they can substitute for East Coast hero bread), topped them with more tomato sauce, then mozzarella and baked till brown. Served with asparagus steamed then sauteed in balsamic vinegar.
Then I was in the mood for a good roasted chicken, so I made one, cooked on a bed of celery and onions, and rubbed down inside and out with garlic in olive oil and a few sprigs of rosemary, and roasted till brown, brown, brown, but still juicy, and served that with red potato mashed potatoes in gravy made from pan juices, with a side of sauteed spinach in garlic and olive oil with cracked black pepper.
Then I got in the mood for something Greek, so I made Pastitisio, a dish that calls for short noodles topped with well seasoned sweet beef and lamb (cinnamon, allspice, garlic, scallions) in tomato sauce, topped with a good Mornay (white sauce infused with good parmesan, and seasoned with nutmeg) and eggs, then baked till the sauce is an inch thick and the juice from the meat has dripped through the noodles (in my case, penne pasta). Man, that was good.
We moved on to franks and beans: garlic and olive oil, fat back bacon, scallions, onions, good beef franks cut in 1/2 inch slices, sauteed till brown, then add lots of fresh tomtoes, diced, then a red pepper, diced, then two or three kinds of beans, then good mustard and sweet ketchup, and cracked pepper and sea salt, served over Jasmine rice. Man, that was fine.
And am getting hungry just thinking about this stuff, cause all of it waS good, cooked from the heart, and with the thrill of my taste buds back on fire!
So then I cooked a sort of beef fajita stew: onions, garlic, olive oil, diced red, green, yellow, and orange peppers, into which I put two pounds of flank steak I'd sliced thin, like fajita, and seasoned with garlic, achote, cumin, cilantro, white vinegar and a couple of other things and let sit for several hours to absorb the flavors. Let it cook down, adding organic vegetable stock, and then thickening with a bit of organic tomato paste as needed. Served over yellow rice. Scrumptious.
Last night I didn't feel like cooking. So I put chopped meat into a saute pan with garlic, olive oil and diced onions. Browned it, skimmed the fat, added lots of achote, then two cans of organic black beans, five diced tomatoes, a six ounce portion of cilantro diced, white vinegar, then mixed in the left over yellow rice, topped with good shredded cheddar and sour cream. Served with a side of steamed asparagus.
Tonight? I have two pounds of large shrimp. I'll peel them and make a quick stock of the shells with onion. scallion, and tomato ends, then put chopped clams into garlic and olive oil with diced onions, scallions, tomatoes, spinach and minced shallots, add a bottle of clam juice, my homemade stock, a bit of butter, and some minced, fresh cilantro to give it a little bite.
Now I'm telling you all this because on Friday I had the last blood test for my flesh eating bacteria and yesterday I saw the fantastic infectious disease doc who said I was perfect and should absolutely take a group into the deep Amazon in July (I already have eight slots filled). But then she said, as a precaution, I would be going back on a 60 day new regimen of antibiotics, starting tomorrow, and ending in early August. I will be dry heaving three times a day, I will itch, and I will not be able to taste anything. So I am glad I got a few days to make some wonderful food. And I hope you all get to eat wonderful food tonight, tomorrow and every day. And I wish for that every day of my life. Starting tomorrow, I'm back to freaking peanut butter, dammit.
So after 74 days of sometimes six, sometimes two antibiotics a day to defeat my damned flesh eating bacteria and save my legs and life, I finally got off them on May 6 or so. Two weeks later, my taste buds began to come back. For some people their loss would go unnoticed. For a former NYC chef, it hurt a lot that I could not taste anything and that I knew I was making second rate food.
By 10 days ago, or so, I started feeling my cooking oats, even though I only cook one meal a day these days, as the kids are grown and live their own lives, and I am no longer cooking in restaurants. So my son Italo brought over all the kids and his wife and my daughter was back from school and I made simple burgers with good cheese and a potato/egg salad with our own fresh duck eggs, with a dash of vinegar, and steamed broccoli on the side. That was good. High quality cheeses: Bleu, fresh mozzarella, block cheddar, swiss to go along. Plus really good pickles, bacon, avocado, sauteed onions, and shitaki shrooms for those who wanted them.
Then I was in the mood for a good NYC sausage sandwich. So I bought good quality hot sausage, pierced and boiled them to get rid of excess fat, then baked them for 45 minutes to turn them into genuinely wonderful morsels of cow and pig snout. Cooked them in a homemade tomato sauce, then put them, sliced open lengthwise, on fresh bread from HEB (no, they do not pay me to advertise, but it's pretty good rolls and they can substitute for East Coast hero bread), topped them with more tomato sauce, then mozzarella and baked till brown. Served with asparagus steamed then sauteed in balsamic vinegar.
Then I was in the mood for a good roasted chicken, so I made one, cooked on a bed of celery and onions, and rubbed down inside and out with garlic in olive oil and a few sprigs of rosemary, and roasted till brown, brown, brown, but still juicy, and served that with red potato mashed potatoes in gravy made from pan juices, with a side of sauteed spinach in garlic and olive oil with cracked black pepper.
Then I got in the mood for something Greek, so I made Pastitisio, a dish that calls for short noodles topped with well seasoned sweet beef and lamb (cinnamon, allspice, garlic, scallions) in tomato sauce, topped with a good Mornay (white sauce infused with good parmesan, and seasoned with nutmeg) and eggs, then baked till the sauce is an inch thick and the juice from the meat has dripped through the noodles (in my case, penne pasta). Man, that was good.
We moved on to franks and beans: garlic and olive oil, fat back bacon, scallions, onions, good beef franks cut in 1/2 inch slices, sauteed till brown, then add lots of fresh tomtoes, diced, then a red pepper, diced, then two or three kinds of beans, then good mustard and sweet ketchup, and cracked pepper and sea salt, served over Jasmine rice. Man, that was fine.
And am getting hungry just thinking about this stuff, cause all of it waS good, cooked from the heart, and with the thrill of my taste buds back on fire!
So then I cooked a sort of beef fajita stew: onions, garlic, olive oil, diced red, green, yellow, and orange peppers, into which I put two pounds of flank steak I'd sliced thin, like fajita, and seasoned with garlic, achote, cumin, cilantro, white vinegar and a couple of other things and let sit for several hours to absorb the flavors. Let it cook down, adding organic vegetable stock, and then thickening with a bit of organic tomato paste as needed. Served over yellow rice. Scrumptious.
Last night I didn't feel like cooking. So I put chopped meat into a saute pan with garlic, olive oil and diced onions. Browned it, skimmed the fat, added lots of achote, then two cans of organic black beans, five diced tomatoes, a six ounce portion of cilantro diced, white vinegar, then mixed in the left over yellow rice, topped with good shredded cheddar and sour cream. Served with a side of steamed asparagus.
Tonight? I have two pounds of large shrimp. I'll peel them and make a quick stock of the shells with onion. scallion, and tomato ends, then put chopped clams into garlic and olive oil with diced onions, scallions, tomatoes, spinach and minced shallots, add a bottle of clam juice, my homemade stock, a bit of butter, and some minced, fresh cilantro to give it a little bite.
Now I'm telling you all this because on Friday I had the last blood test for my flesh eating bacteria and yesterday I saw the fantastic infectious disease doc who said I was perfect and should absolutely take a group into the deep Amazon in July (I already have eight slots filled). But then she said, as a precaution, I would be going back on a 60 day new regimen of antibiotics, starting tomorrow, and ending in early August. I will be dry heaving three times a day, I will itch, and I will not be able to taste anything. So I am glad I got a few days to make some wonderful food. And I hope you all get to eat wonderful food tonight, tomorrow and every day. And I wish for that every day of my life. Starting tomorrow, I'm back to freaking peanut butter, dammit.
No comments:
Post a Comment