To Mark Bittman, From the Great State of Texas

Dear Mr. Bittman,

I read the New York Times Dining Section on a weekly basis and enjoy most of the articles. And I usually enjoy your columns. Today’s for instance – I’ve been bored with my breakfast lately and your idea of polenta pizza with bacon seemed mighty tasty.

However once I got to page two of today’s article, I was shocked. SHOCKED. How could a food critic – one that is so well-traveled – describe my favorite meal, migas as the following:

Essentially stir-fried bread: Take 1/2-inch pieces of good whole wheat or rye and cook it in (lots of) olive oil with garlic, crumbled chorizo, or whatever else you like, until the bread is crisp.

Any self respecting Texan knows that this is incorrect information! Mr. Bittman, migas is DELICIOUS, greasy, certainly not healthy breakfast meal – most commonly eaten after a long night of drinking in Austin. It consists of the following:

1. Eggs
2. Beans
3. Salsa
4. Onions
5. Peppers (bell and jalepeno)
6. Tortilla Chips

Please get yourself down to Austin ASAP and visit one of the following: Trudy’s, Juan and a Million, El Arroyo, Taco Shack – I’m sure there are more. The commenters will fill in where my mind is blanking.

Love Always,
An Insulted Lone Star State

Cold Night Cooking

So there’s this recipe on Bon Appetit’s I’ve been flirting with for months. It’s the equivalent of a Facebook poke – I would see him online, consider making him, and then go back to my day and forget about him for months. But he was always there as a BA top recipe.

This past Friday, I made a bold move – I printed the recipe. When I went to a birthday dinner on Saturday night, I had something that sounded similar and it was so good I just had to take this relationship to the next level.

Enter The Asian Noodle Soup Bowl. He’s great for cuddling on the couch with a blanket and a good movie. He’ll even let you watch that chick flick again without complaint. And he won’t judge you for still watching The Hills.

I ended up riffing on this recipe. The lemongrass I hiked to Whole Foods for (in the 30-degree weather mind you) wasn’t mincing like I thought it should. This is a new ingredient for me but it just seemed off – I don’t think it had more than one layer to peel and the taste was weird – kinda chewy. I didn’t want to screw up this soup that I had been thinking about for days so I just decided to scrap the chewy lemongrass and go with lemon zest. Totally worked. But for future -anyone got any good lemongrass tips? What am I looking for? How is it supposed to taste? Why wouldn’t mine cut?!

The Goods

Everybody into the pool!!

The recipe took all of an hour (totally easy) and I think it turned out really fantastic! It was the perfect amount of soothing and comforting – I think the (light) coconut milk Padma loves so much helped richen the soup without making it too heavy. My only complaint is that it wasn’t spicy enough for me – I used a green curry paste instead of red, and I think this made it milder. I’ll up the curry or the chili paste next time.

Stay warm, kiddos!

Finished result - steamy bowl of yumminess. Would have gone great with a Sapporo Beer

-Andie

First Blog

Friday weekend roundup!

Here’s everything I ate this week including the d’lish (bagles) the nasty (Sunset Park chinese takeout) and the regrettable (mini Butterfingers, anyone? Anyone???) Andie doesn’t seem to think that my week was too bad, but thats just because she doesn’t know my plans for Wine/Cheese domination at tonight’s Williamsburg art gallery…TO THE BAR!

Sunday 11/9
For brunch I had a piece of pita, 5 veggie buffalo nuggets from the fridge and the rest of the Samba hummus, not much. For a snack I ate a whole jar of sandwich style sliced pickles. I also ate the rest of this corn/bean/tomato salad I’d made the week before. I worked out, took a shower, watched some TV and then Ben came over and we walked to 8th Ave in Brooklyn, Brooklyn’s “Chinatown”, and had dinner at Gi Lam II. Ben and I shared the sugarcane shrimp appetizer and I had a sliced pork Vietnamese sandwich on French bread. DELICIOUS! When I got home I had a glass of white wine.
 
Monday 11/10
For breakfast I had a whole wheat poppy seed bagel with fat free cream cheese, tomato and onion. I also had a coffee. I met a friend for lunch at 40 Carrots where I had spinach/chicken and cheese quesadillas that came wrapped in a wheat wrap with guacamole and some fresh salsa. We also shared a coffee/chocolate frozen yogurt with Oreo crumbles. Trust me, this fro-yo is definetely all its cracked up to be. I wasn’t feeling well after work so I just toasted a piece of pita and then Ben brought me a small wonton soup from a Chinese takeout place in Sunset Park. I also ate the rice from his chicken and broccoli and those fried wonton thingys

Tuesday 11/11
I stayed home because I wasn’t feeling well. I had a pita toasted with margarine and a can of Progresso chicken noodle soup for lunch. I also had a mini Butterfinger from the freezer, leftover from Halloween. For dinner I made a casserole with wheat pasta, ground turkey, tomatoes, mozzarella (part skim) ricotta (part skim) and parmesan cheese. It was DLISH and I made it even healthier than the recipe originaly intended. I had a heaping helping and a glass of white wine.
 
Wednesday 11/12
I had some special K with Red berries and a coffee for breakfast at work. For lunch I went to Subway and had a 6 inch turkey sandwich on Honey Oat bread with honey mustard, onions and lettuce. It came with a diet coke and Baked Lays, yum yum. Then I stole a 100 calorie pack bag of Sunchips from Amanda and a Quaker Oat granola bar because I was still hungry. For dinner I had more of my noodle casserole and two glasses of white wine. Max came home with Charlie in tow and they ordered Italian; I ate some of Charlie’s bread. Then Sophie came over and ordered a tuna melt and I ate some of her fries. I also had a popsicle and two mini crunch bars during Top Chef.
 
Thursday 11/13
I had my bagel with fat free cream cheese, tomato and onion with a big iced coffee for breakfast and for lunch I had a salad with grilled chicken, croutons and honey mustard dressing from LA Gourmet by my office. I also had some crackers and some pretzels later as a snack. For dinner I had a big ass helping of my casserole … like big. Then I went to Ben’s and ate nothing because he had nothing to snack on.
Friday: 11/14
So far I’ve had Special K with red berries, a large iced coffee, a turkey light sandwich and two bags of chips from Cosi and a diet coke.

Stay tuned for so much more food related fun on this blog. Restaurant reviews! Top Chef episode post-hashes! Favorite Recipes and more!!! Andie and I are excited to share out food related universes with all you skinny folk out there. Keep eating!

-Allie