current events

so one of my lovely readers complained that I don't write about anything current or relevant. so here's as current as it will be: current.tv's partnership with burning man to provide on-site editing and transmission facilities and transmit to the rest of us who are not able to participate this year. so far, the pod from the first day was pretty damn cool and made me totally nostalgic for my time last year (BM2005 - Psyche)

I've yet to develop my 40 rolls of film that sat around in the desert sun for a week, but all I can say is: I saw 3 sunrises in a row and it was pretty bananas.

oh for all you haters

so I know the entire fricking thing is text and I haven't posted anything "visual," me bring the visual person that I am. I guess I'm just not ready yet; but when I am, yes, this thing will be populated with things graphic and photographic and whatnot. but until then, use your imagination.

incognito

revel in yourselves! or rather, reveal yourselves, those of you lucky enough to stumble upon this online journal, this blog. I suppose it is the viral nature of the medium that allows those random and not so random to view the blog; I'm totally curious who might be reading, and where they are from. comment below, please.

about last night's thighs

so I bought some big-ass turkey thighs, didn't think they came that big but they must have been at least a pound-and-a-half each, some real beauties. and here's the recipe:

middle-eastern-style roasted turkey thighs
buy some turkey pieces, wash, rinse, pat dry. rub on them, or sprinkle directly: kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, hot paprika, salt, onion powder, shawarma seasoning or some other middle eastern bbq seasoning. also, add some oil, just to bind oh, and don't trim off any of the fat, we need it.

so then, roast at 350 degrees for about an hour (basting halfway with its own fat) and then, glaze. the glaze I use is about 5:2 ratio of peach preserves with harissa, and then cut with a bit of water and lemon. this will give beautiful color and also great heat. glaze generously, and roast for about another 15 to 20 minutes. and, all of this is uncovered by the way. then remove from oven, let it rest for about 15 and serve! if you get nice chunky preserves, there are nice caramelized bits and pieces of fruit; all absolutely ridiculously good. and this, served with mashed potatoes and greens, recipes below.

garlic mashed potatoes
so I took 5 idaho potatoes, peeled 'em, cut in half and boiled until purty soft. drained the water and just steamed the potatoes in the closed container, no heat. while doing the potatoes, I heated 1/2 stick of butter, about 6 oz of heavy cream, cut with about a 1/2 cup of the potato water, 8 heads of garlic, 2 stalks of fresh rosemary, 2 tbsps of parmesan, 3 oz brie (rind and all) and just heated the cream at very low heat, to infuse with flavor. then, I strained all that and added the cream to the mash and that's it: a mellow hit of garlic from the cream.

mustard greens
I bought 3 10oz packages of mustard greens, defrosted and drained well, cooked about 8 strips of turkey bacon, kept the fat while I removed the bacon and chopped, toasted about 2 oz. of pine nuts in the fat, removed, then added the greens. then, 3 minutes into it, added the bacon. this I mixed a bit, then 5 minutes later, added the pinenuts. then, about 2 pats of butter, then, cook covered for about 10 minutes, adding water occasionally to steam. total stovetop time is probably 30 min; these are greens so we're not really trying to keep it all verdant and whatnot; it could go ugly green color but at least the pungency from the mustard greens is still there.

and there you have it; a meal for men (or at least, for the 3 other guys I live with) on a sunday night. according to the one southern member of the house, my greens were "pretty good" which, from this guy, is a massive compliment. Even had seconds.

ok so I was lying

so there was this journal traversing the globe, and it lay in my hands, dormant, for weeks. not due to a lack of inspiration but rather, a lack of response. from spread to spread shall the journal pass, from one artist to another, and so I had passed it to her, in hopes of getting some of her art in it, and then, inadvertantly or not, I was forced to respond. creatively. so should I go all out and profess my love? or was I too bitter to do so and thus, ready to weave a more sinister message? I went medium with some hidden phrases and things, and off the journal went. but as an afterthought, I scanned it in and sent it to her, this after over a week of non-communication. now I wonder what response I might get back. wish me luck.

on the low low

so now that I'm embarking on the road to financial stability, both my daytime and nighttime activities will be restricted to those things free, or extremely low cost. the house itself has plenty of resources so no need to go outside of that. our pantry is plentiful, our furniture is spare, and I have enough un-read books, unlistened-to CDs and un-flipped-through magazines to last a season. plus, we still get free cinemax.

flogging, week 2

okay, so this will now turn into a weekly thing, instead of daily, since it's too damn tedious.

sunday, august 27
hummus + babaganoush + israeli cole slaw + pita (2)
mustard greens + mashed potatoes + roasted turkey wings and thighs

monday, august 28
oatmeal
mustard greens + roasted turkey thigh
oranges (2)
handpulled noodles with sweet potato greens

tuesday, august 29
nectarines (2)
oatmeal
salmon + roasted turkey + greens + pita
fuji apple
bamboo shoots + soy sauce chicken + fried fish

wednesday, august 30
oatmeal
oranges (2)
chicken, pepper jack, sweet potato greens, red pepper on pita
apple
enchiladas mole + beef on masa + elota
pizza-flavored combos

thursday, august 31
oatmeal
cucumber sandwiches (8)
orange (2)
korean-style fried chicken + black label + beer
apple
bachelor's ma-po tofu (see recipe posted)

friday, September 1
eggs over hard (2), sausage, swiss, fried calamari on a roll
various sushi, maki + noguri + kirin ichiban + adzuki ice cream
orange
apple

saturday, September 2
bachelor's ma-po tofu with corn tortilla
steak chilaquile + sangria + lots of beer pong beer
buffalo chicken taquito (3)

flogging, day 5

chinese beef noodle soup
turkey and brie on bruschetta (2) + eggplant stuffed with risotto
chinese chicken + mantou
hummus + babaganoush + israeli cole slaw + pita (3)

flogging, day 4

oatmeal
orange
string beans + beef with mushrooms and peppers + white rice + sweet and sour pork
malbec (1)
various tapas (grilled squid, meatball, chorizo, mussels) + sangria (2)

flogging, day 3

fuji apples (2)
oatmeal
salmon and monterey jack quesadilla
fuji apples (2) again
tomato salad + zucchini salad + roasted tomato salad + shrimp and string bean risotto + bucatini bolognesa
hummus + grilled vegetables + green salad + pita
valpolicella (2)

flogging, day 2

oatmeal + raspberry preserves
pork shoulder sandwich on mantou (2) + short rib sandwich on mantou + 1/2 order of sesame noodles
oranges (2)
salmon and avocado on baguette rounds (4) + quesadilla (1/4) + potato chips

flogging, day 1

so I used to do this back when I was a maniac about my diet and actually it was really good. just put it out there, and everything you eat, drink, imbibe, etc., you write down. the process of typing in fried chicken wings with french fries, extra crispy, over and over and over just kinda makes you NOT want to eat fried chicken wings with french fries, extra crispy, any more than I need to. and I don't need to.

so, flogging is food-logging, ya?

---
vegetable omelette + swiss cheese + whole wheat toast + butter
ruby red grapefruit juice
pan-seared salmon + aioli + cucumber + tomato + avocado + tomato + flour tortillas (2)
guava
steak taco (2) + mushroom taco (2) + rice + pinto beans + large salad
hefeweizen

ok, so if it means something to anyone

well, probably it only means something to me. and, the one involved, but really, she's not involved anyway so it doesn't matter.

but anway.

so it's over, all over. focus, daniel-san for a task is at hand and it doesn't involve her any longer. of course, it never started to begin with, so I guess there's nothing to actually end; it's like the guy in swingers who meets a woman at a bar and that night, over the course of 15 voicemails, he decides she's not right for him and dumps her. I mean, we did go out on some dates and all so it's not like there was absolutely nothing, but in the end, yes, a big pile of nothing. well, a pile of postcards, but that's about it. appropriate I think; sending and recieving postcards is something you do when the other person is not there; it's almost like saying we're on opposite ends of the world, we will NEVER be near each other, hence the cards.

and though I had nothing invested, maybe all that I lost was a little bit of heart. some time, some energy, some wasted love but all in all, not too bad. hope I don't come across as bitter; it was actually time spent quite pleasantly but in the final analysis, pleasantry won't make babies. ok, not babies, but at least, you know, won't make for bedroom fun (not even on my mind, really, more a consequence than a goal).

so wishy-washy serge gainsbourg plays randomly as I type this and also, strangely appropriate. sounds like a goodbye; I wonder if she'll ever hear it?

it's not easy being green, part one

so one aspect is sitting on the toilet at my lovely agency, and spending a little longer on the porcelain crown than expected but not really moving around too much (whereas some people are very animated while on the can) and then, since we have motion detectors attached to the overhead lights, having the lights go out since I was just sitting there (patiently waiting, fitty-like). Now this has happened more than half-a-dozen times over the past year or so; usually I take rabbit dumps so I'm in and out almost as fast as a number one but sometimes, nature taking its course takes a longer course. anyway, it wouldn't make a difference except that there are no lights or windows in the bathrooms (another issue completely), so I'm sitting in the dark unless I wave a long piece of toilet paper in the air that sets off the motion detector and brings forth light, the light being important not just for illumination, but also for letting other folks know that said toilet is occupied so they don't try to jostle their door keys in the lock and interrupt what is going on inside.

but anyway, it's not easy being green.

one swell foop, bastards

I just wanna bitch about the guy who stole my name. My genius-type shit right here: One Swell Foop. You know, kinda like One Fell Swoop but transposed. So I was going to do my whole thing like that, but then I did a search and lo and behold, someone has already had the same idea for a name. can you believe that? then, someone already bought the other domain name so basically, if I want to live out my whole thing as One Swell Foop, I won't be able to do it.

But anyway, it's hard to type anyway, since our fingers are programmed NOT to type those particular letters one after another. But, I just wanna say, I still like it.

Onward. After all, there is hope for me as an org.

eating like a rock-star

oh yeah, this is a late post but anyway . . . .

so I discovered I was eating like a rock-star for a week, randomly. "rock-star" meaning eating well and yummily. not necessarily expensive, but muy delicioso. the range is from 'wichcraft for lunch, to golden palace for dim dum, to cheburechnaya for kebabs, to freemans for wild boar terrine and bacon wrapped figs, to snack taverna for a platter, to schiller's liquor bar for grubbage, to joe's best burger for a cheap imitation of blue 9 burger which in and of itself is an imitation of in-and-out, to nha trang for pho and bo, to 69 for roast pork chow mein, to hornado ecuatoriano for a mixed plate. sound good? maybe I'll write about it. but probably not.

meat-up

First off, I want to credit Hank Stewart with the name "Meat-up" in case anyone thought I was clever enough to come up with that.

But the deets: my house in queens, 12 pounds of short ribs which translates into about 72 pieces of kalbi, about 60 pieces of jerk chicken (thighs and full legs), about 16 pounds of pernil, maybe 96 hours of total marinating time, a spread of about 6 salads, homemade jalapeno sauce and homemade spiced watermelon rind chutney, a pan of puerto-rican-style escabeche, two kinds of freshly made guacamole, a gaggle of grilled vegetables (scallions, carrots, onions, peppers, eggplant, squash, tofu), about 8 pounds of homemade sausage, more loaves of bread and pita than I've ever seen, two everlasting bowls of white sangria and two pans of bread pudding made out of day-old cake donuts. Hot-diggity-damn is the word I would use.

Recipes you ask? But of course!

JERK CHICKEN (MARINADE)
Blend the following until a thick paste: about 20 allspice berries, toasted and ground, 4 heads of garlic, 4 jalapenos, 2 hot peppers (scotch bonnet if possible), 2 tbsps worcestershire, 4 tbps brown sugar, 4 tbsps quince preserves, 2 bunches of scallions, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 olive oil, 3 tbsp ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves. Keep seasoning to taste, the flavor should be really spicy, a bit more sour than you think, and just general funk. Then, slather on your meat, marinate for at least 24 hours, then reserve marinade for basting on grill. Roast 1 hour in oven at 350 degrees, be sure not to trim off excess fat but cook the chicken in it, drain it, and then finish it back on the grill, so the oil gets cooked off anyway. Remove from oven, drain and throw on hot grill, basting with reserve marinade, until it turns really pretty.

KALBI (MARINADE)
So kalbi is the bomb (short ribs or flanken, long strip of beef, 3 rib bones cut flat) and here's my marinade: 1/2 cup soy, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 kiwi, 1 pear, 1/2 cup mirin, 3 tbsp ginger, 2 white onions. Of course, blend to taste, should be very concentrated taste of sweetness, saltiness, ginger and scallion, all 4 flavors in total balance, but strong and almost grainy the marinade. Marinate at least 24 hours with 3-inch stalks of scallion and grill. Be sure to let it come to room temperature (at least 30 minutes).

PERNIL (BRINE)
Okay, pernil is also pork shoulder picnic, and its a really cheap cut of meat. It's also really tasty, fatty and great when cooked slow. great in a crock pot for pulled pork, great in the oven for pernil. Here's my wet brine / marinade for 2 pork shoulders (about 16 pounds total, but all you have to make sure is that the meat is completely submerged, so use a deep pot or tub): 3 tbsp peppercorns, 4 stalks fresh rosemary, 2-liter sunkist, 4 tbsp kosher salt, 1/2-gallon orange juice, 12 bay leaves, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 cup loose oregano. Rinse off the meat, score the fat part with knife marks about 1-1/2 inch apart. Marinate at least 24 hours, if not 36 hours. Then, remove from oven and sit for at least 30 minutes to room temp. Then, apply dry rub, below.

PERNIL (DRY RUB)
Okay, this is a mix of cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, oregano, coriander, brown sugar, fresh ground black pepper. Make sure to cover all the areas not covered by fat. Then, sprinkle reserves over fat. Roast in a large roasting pan with a rack (the meat is really fatty, so you don't want to cook the bottom all in fat) covered in aluminum foil. But, leave maybe a 1/2-inch gap on the sides, to let a little bit of dry air in. 4 hours at 350 degrees, and that sucker will be crispy, dark and caramelized. And dammmmn good. Serve with any kinda sauce (filipino liver sauce, jalapeno sauce, fruit chutney, whatever)

Anyway, that's all for now. Enjoy!