Interesting article about the effect of meat eating on our development as humans

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128849908

Brother Jimmy's BBQ in NYC

Now this was a treat! Josh and I went into the city to meet a friend we hadn't seen in about a year, Diana Rodriguez. While we were hanging out wit her we chose a spot so that Josh and I could get some food, and we saw this SOUTHERN restaurant. We were skeptical - and always are - because we've tried some "southern" restaurants in Ithaca and elsewhere which, much to our unpleasant surprise, usually don't even have sweet tea. Brother Jimmy's not only had sweet tea (which was very good!), it had Cheerwine, which Josh promptly ordered. I got a pulled BBQ chicken plate with macaroni and cheese and string beans (covered in that amazing Tony's seasoning I miss so much). Josh got a pulled pork sandwhich with some seriously Carolinian sauce (read: mostly vinegar). It was far too much food and even after only eating half of my plate I was suffering a bit! But it was so nice to have all of those items. And I forgot to mention the corn bread. Just right!

I did want to order sweet potato fries. I love them dearly, but to my knowledge that's not a southern food...? Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll be doing some research, but I had never tried such a thing until I moved to Boston. I would give this restaurant minus a one-half star if I were giving it a rating only because they were missing one very important southern food: HUSH PUPPIES!

Try it out if you're ever here and you find yourself with a craving for the South. :D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.brotherjimmys.com/

Casados con pescado, hechos en casa

Last night I managed to make a dish that ended up being one of the most exciting meals I've ever made. Not because it was the most exciting food - although it was extremely tasty - rather because I relived an experience I really enjoyed in Costa Rica right here in Astoria, and I made it all myself.

The "casado" is a really popular and often inexpensive dish in CR that usually involves a meat of some kind (in this case I used fish), rice, black beans, fried plantains and salad. As you can see here, I did not use anything green, and I should have! But I was too excited about having found yuca here at home and so I got carried away with the starches. Next time I'll throw in some salad or broccoli with carrots, I swear :) I made some more changes to the traditional dish, as follows: 1) I used brown rice instead of white rice, 2) I used green plantains instead of ripe plantains (I don't like the sweet flavor), 3) I also baked some plantain fries in the oven (which were AMAZING!) and 4) I added some boiled yuca. I used talapia but I recommend a fish with a less strong flavor... talapia kind of overpowers me sometimes. But it's inexpensive!

I had it in my head to attempt making casados because I was pretty sure I could find most of the materials here in Josh's neighborhood and I also knew I'd have plenty of leftovers, something that always pleases me. So, I had this strange drive to make casados and they turned out extremely well. Such a basic dish, but packed full of such flavor and all kinds of differnet textures on the same plate. Just great! It reminded me of the parts of CR that I really enjoyed, like going to restaurants and little hole-in-the-wall places with friends and professors. I'm so glad that I could bring back a little something with me :D

Because it was so much food, I didn't make a dessert. Hours later I contented myself with Maria cookies and milk. I packed away the rice and yuca, and even now as I write this at nearly 11:00 PM, I'm thinking of all the wonderful ways I can use them in leftovers in the coming days. I'm leaning towards some breakfast tacos with eggs, brown rice and a bit of cheese... we'll see! That will be only one of tomorrow's food aventures.

Euzkadi Basque restaurant in the Village

I really have no idea how to allign these pictures correctly - sorry! Anyway, I first saw this restaurant when I went into the Village with Josh and Eugene. I was amazed to find a Basque restaurant after waiting for three long years! I had found some in San Francisco but never made it to one. During my time in CR I asked Josh where we were going to celebrate our three-year anniversary when I got back to the States and he answered with Euzkadi! Clearly I thought it was a great idea. We ordered the same dish, bacalao. Salted cod on top of a risotto with chorizo sausage. It was just as delicious as I remember it being in the Basque Country (oh I forgot to mention, "Euzkadi" is Basque for Basque Country or Pais Vasco). I had a citrus-y white wine and Josh had a bit of rose. When it was time for desserts we really went out separate ways - I got my highly desired gateau basque (torta vasca) or basque cake, an almond cake with custard and strawberry sauce drizzled on top, with fresh strawberries on the side. He got some kind of chocolate mousse, as always. It was quite the amazing dinner!

I had flowers delivered to the restaurant for Josh, though he made me carry them home. :P All in all it was a wonderful dinner, and very peaceful! It was a Monday night and we were the only ones there. They really get most of their customers on Tuesdays, I think, because then there are live Flamenco dancers! I'll include a link to this fine establishment at the end of the post. If you live in the city, it's a must!

I normally don't like to put photos of people in my posts about food, but the waiter took this picture of us so it counts as part of the experience :) I have some other pictures of the restaurant itself, but there's not a nice way to make them all fit in here. If you can't make it to Euzkadi, put this dish on your to-do list (or your to-eat list). Bacalao.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link to restaurant: http://euzkadirestaurant.com/

Breakfast tacos with black beans, scrambled eggs and cheese

These little babies pack a lot of tasty punch! So to speak. They were so good. And sooo easy to make.

After spending a little over a month eating the strangest combinations of breakfast food (but never just cereal), I'm left feeling a little unsatisfied after my bowl of cheerios here in the States. So I toasted up some corn tortillas, heated some black beans and scrambled some eggs! Then I sprinkled a little bit of shredded cheese on top of the taco pile and folded the tortillas over. They're pretty small so I made two for Josh and one for me. I can't describe to you how really incredibly good these were! Right down to the last bean! It's shaping up to be a tasty day.

Lychee nuts (NPR)

Check out this article about the many uses of Lychee nuts!

If I'm not mistaken, there is a fruit in Costa Rica that looks really similar to a Lychee nut, and it shows up in this article! Maybe it's just a hairier version :p

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128951468&sc=fb&cc=fp

Homemade chicken macaroni and cheese

This was a simple and delightful at-home dish that ended up being a crowd pleaser (if you count Josh and me as a crowd). And it was super easy! I found a recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese and tampered with it a little bit. I ended up using whole weat flour (not measuring anything, of course), skim milk, a reduced fat four-cheese Italian style blend and some kind of Omega smart butter. I also made my own breadcrumbs which was fun :) I boiled up some carrots, broccoli and cauliflower and sliced up some whole grain French bread, which I then topped with the tiniest bit of Italian dressing and put in the oven for about ten minutes at 400 degrees.

Josh and I sat on the floor for some reason (something we used to do in Charlotte when we didn't have any chairs!) and watched an episode of Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls. I love that guy. In any case, we had no dessert because this meal was pretty filling. But I won't shy away from some oreos and milk later... I really couldn't stand the milk I tried in Costa Rica so I've been drinking quite a bit in the last couple of days. Gotta watch out for that, even if it's skim! Got some sugar in there.

Speaking of sugar, Josh and I walked around Steinway St. today before hanging out at the local Starbucks and doing work. It was fun, and not just because we did some shopping :p. I have missed the neighborhood so it was really nice to walk around and still hear people speaking Spanish everywhere I went. I got some reading done in Starbucks while I munched on an Outrageous Oatmeal cookie (ALSO something I've missed dearly!) and a decaf latte. On the way home we hit up Red Mango, a fro yo place that I hadn't tried until today. Pretty good! I got Madagascar vanilla and key lime swirl with fresh strawberries on top.

The day has been interesting, fun and most importantly, tasty!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recipe: http://southernfood.about.com/od/macaroniandcheeserecipes/r/r90212f.htm