charlotteann

This last week since I returned from Portland has been a little rough. I won’t tell you what happened as I like to keep this blog appetizing for professional purposes, but I will say that yesterday an exterminator came, turned everything I own upside down, and blasted chemicals all over my studio apartment. The cat and I had to vacate the premises for five hours, which I spent doing laundry and seeing Toy Story 3 in 3-D. I enjoyed the movie and almost cried, but not as much as I cried last week. Last week was really lame and now that everything is back to normal - the cat is snoozing peacefully at my feet right now - I am ready to get back in my kitchen.

Despite having spent a fair amount of money taking care of last week’s problem, I splurged a little on a 3lb organic fryer chicken. Being without any fresh herbs or citrus, I decided to season the bird with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and the last of my maple syrup (I never make pancakes anyway). Rubbing liquid in between a dead chicken’s skin and flesh is, in a word, creepy. But I managed and stuck it into the cast iron skillet with some fingerling potatoes, half a chopped onion, and some butter flavored with fresh ginger (removed before cooking).

I stuck it in the oven on the middle rack at 400˚ F and checked on it every 20 minutes or so. The recipe I was loosely following suggested basting the chicken with the cooking juices, but lacking a baster or any visible liquids in the pan I ignored that particular step.

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I am unlucky in love. I’m getting used to it and discovering my true comfort foods in the process. So far the list includes: mac’n'cheese, fried chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, ramen, and, of course, PASTA. Yes, pasta is magical. It is amazing. It is wondrous. I don’t know if I like it because it’s easy to make or because my mom made it all the time when I was growing up. Come to think of it, the former probably begat the latter.

To make up for my most recent ill-fated attempt at love, I made whole wheat fettucini with Trader Joe’s 3 cheese (or is it 4 cheese?) red sauce and some leftover chicken. The photographs look better than it tasted. I think this means I have a career in fast food photography!

Well hi! It’s been a very long time. The Fall Semester 2009 has finally destroyed itself and I finally have time to cook and photograph the foods of my labor. I can’t tell you how excited I was to go to the farmer’s market Sunday morning. Okay, more like Sunday afternoon but I still got some good stuff. In fact, my scallions and mustard greens were discounted to 75 cents each because Ms. $1 herb lady wanted to get rid of them so badly. Anyhoo. For this dish the only thing from said market was the onion, everything else came from Safeway and Bristol Farms, the bougie, ’spensive grocery store under the Westfield mall. Oh, and the sausage came from the little halal meat market on Geary at Jones, next to my all time favorite pizza joint Milan Pizza. I guess the apparent point to be made is that I buy my foodstuffs from all over. All of these ingredients could potentially come from the same place, however.

Sweet and spicy rigatoni (serves two)

1-2 small link(s) sweet chicken sausage
1 medium onion, chopped into smallish bits
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup spicy/zesty tomato pasta sauce
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups dry rigatoni
4-5 leaves fresh basil torn into small pieces
1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese
salt & pepper

In a small sauce pan, cook the onion, garlic, and sausage in the olive oil over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through and things start to brown slightly and/or start to leave little brown bits on the bottom of the pan. I was satisfied when it looked like this:

Add the sauce, stir, lower the heat and continue to stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper as well as the basil, but make sure to keep some basil around for presentation value later on. Meanwhile, cook your rigatoni. When it’s al dente or otherwise to your liking, drain it and return it to the pan. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well. Garnish with the cheese and remaining basil and serve!

While this meal is decidedly Italian in nature, I used a sausage seasoned with Middle Eastern spices. And apples, I think. Part of me thinks that Italian and Middle Eastern food can totally get together and make something delicious. If I pursue this vein of cooking, it would be a somewhat poetic joining of my family history (Italian) and my neighborhood (San Francisco’s Tenderloin district). I can’t think of any Italian-fusion restaurants, only French. And most of those are fused with Asian cuisine. Gee whiz, California. Way to think outside the box.

I am a big fan of soup. Growing up, Campbell’s chicken noodle was frequently requested of my mom and baby sitters. I remember the day I was educated and curious enough to examine the label and found myself feeling incredibly indignant, borderline outraged. How was it that a soup marketed as a cure for the common cold (or for slurping princesses or as being full of wholesome “stuff”) had such a high sodium content? I was all like, “Hey ma, isn’t sodium the same thing as salt?”

“Yeah.”

“And doesn’t that dry you out? Like … anti-water?”

“Hmm-mm.”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU FEEDING ME THIS!? I’m sick! I’m supposed to drink water, not SALT!”

Whatever her response, I know what mine would have been faced with such an incredulous, sniffly daughter: “That’s not the point, honey. The point is you feel better.” Right you are, mom! Soup caters to lots of grown up problems, too, like hangovers and breakups. I go for pho and tomato, respectively. Born a chicken noodle kind of girl, my arrival in the Bay Area nearly two years ago brought me around to different kinds of soup. Wonton, ramen, pho, udon, and a ridiculous variety of dried noodles with spice packets wrapped in vivid packaging all appeal to my senses and emotions. You probably noticed (you astute reader, you) that I mentioned soups with roots in the continent known as Asia - probably because I am slurping princess! I don’t have a problem per se with Western soups, but I prefer the clear-broth-with-noodles-and-sliced-ingredients thing to chunks-of-vegetables-and-meat-in-watery-paste thing.

So this month I am going to eat a bowl of soup every day. Two months ago I was looking for the best galette in San Francisco. I love galettes and all but I think I was setting myself up for disappointment. I love soup, too, and it’s definitely something I enjoy almost every day anyway so this month should be much more exciting. The soup pictured above as Soup No. 1 is Top Ramen "Oriental" flavor with chicken, mushrooms, and cilantro, accompanied by hot tea and sriracha hot sauce. It was good, but Top Ramen spice packets aren’t quite as punchy as other brands. I assume this is because a lot of white people eat Top Ramen, most notably my little sister who shunned my chicken noodle but was clearly on to something.

Mmmm, take-out. Convenience is tasty, especially if you pick the right place. I have a few standbys here in San Francisco’s Tenderloin/Tendernob neighborhood I inhabit, including Milan Pizza and Chutney. Admittedly, I haven’t explored too much: I’m cheap. Sue me. But because it’s Tuesday (the day of the week best suited to go with the words “take out”) and I am avoiding groceries in light of my upcoming trip to the East coast in a week I walked a block up to Eden’s Mediterranean Turkish and Greek Restaurant for a chicken gyro.
I have to say it was absolutely delicious. Ready in 3 minutes and only $6.00. Convenient? Check. Cheap? Check. Lots of yummy dressing but not enough to make the lavash fall apart, crunchy veggies (normally there are raw tomatoes, but I hate those stupid things), and fabulously marinated, moist chicken. Two noms up!