not my new house:
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Forgotten Turkey Sandwich
I had planned to start my pilgrimage with a nice homemade Turkey sandwich instead of that awfulness (1 definitely not a sandwich 2 possibly not even animal or vegetable) that you can buy for $5 on the Northwest flight. I had also planned to, you know, actually Lock The Car before leaving it in the LAX lot for two nights. Neither of those came true; sandwich got left in fridge at home, car got left unlocked. Neither of those turned out badly, though...
Dinner last night was said Turkey sandwich. It was awesome. I think I will go back and revise the ingredient post to include green onions.
Lay down the following ingredients on top of one another:
Standard beginning:
Toast (whole wheat or TJ's flax+friends)
mayo
black pepper
sprouts
New fangled addition:
1cm-length cuts of green onion. don't separate the layers. just put about 4-7 of those bad boys somewhere in the spouts
Next three ingredients, order unknown:
3 slices Turkey
7mm slices of ripe heirloom tomato
green leaf lettuce, enough to cover with 2 layers of leaf
Finish:
a bit of yellow mustard
toast
Now, I don't know whether aging the sandwich in a gladware container for 3 nights is essential, but it sure didn't hurt. garnish with a little spicy hummus dip and crackers. man that was good.
apartment update. unless the winds blow an unexpected surprise my way, this will be my house. the first floor is me.
Dinner last night was said Turkey sandwich. It was awesome. I think I will go back and revise the ingredient post to include green onions.
Lay down the following ingredients on top of one another:
Standard beginning:
Toast (whole wheat or TJ's flax+friends)
mayo
black pepper
sprouts
New fangled addition:
1cm-length cuts of green onion. don't separate the layers. just put about 4-7 of those bad boys somewhere in the spouts
Next three ingredients, order unknown:
3 slices Turkey
7mm slices of ripe heirloom tomato
green leaf lettuce, enough to cover with 2 layers of leaf
Finish:
a bit of yellow mustard
toast
Now, I don't know whether aging the sandwich in a gladware container for 3 nights is essential, but it sure didn't hurt. garnish with a little spicy hummus dip and crackers. man that was good.
apartment update. unless the winds blow an unexpected surprise my way, this will be my house. the first floor is me.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
a pilgrimage
So... more apartments to visit. no time.
I thought I was coming here because of a girl. Then, it was a lab. Then, it got even more complicated. But now I know the real reason I am here.
I thought I was coming here because of a girl. Then, it was a lab. Then, it got even more complicated. But now I know the real reason I am here.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
death to the faggits? (& lesbians)
so one of my friends at St. Mark is a co-producer of a documentary about the intersection between the gay community and the christian community. give it a look; i'm not sure which theater it will be at in Irvine, but i'll keep you posted.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Tofu Sandwich Number One
I just enjoyed a very good TSNO and so it gets top billing in the sandwich blog.
Whole wheat toast. (Don't have a toaster? Don't try this sandwich. Won't be good.)
Firm tofu. If you're going to save the sandwich for lunch later, probably a good idea to drain the tofu AND blot dry on paper towel. If this is a meal for right now, just drain it. A little juiciness is good for you.
Good tomato. I got lucky and, instead of going with the boring organic one, put it back and opted for the heirloom, the kind that is never red on top but goes from greenish to being almost blackish. It was so sweet, and that never hurts a sandwich. (I'm a little worried that this is just going to turn into a "good tomatos are so great" blog.)
Mayonnaise. This is that sandwich, the one that I don't necessarily think would work without it. It's not a condiment, it's one of the ingredients. I'll be happy to hear substitutes (a little bit of margarine might work out OK).
Sprouts. Optional, but good. Sometimes I like to load up on the sprouts. On TSNO, I don't think so. Just "some" sprouts. And personally, I don't think lettuce works here.
So. Toast the toast.
Add generous mayonnaise to the bottom piece.
Put lots of fresh ground pepper on this piece.
Cut 1-2 cm (you didn't think the sandwich blog would be Imperial units, did you?) slices of drained tofu, and fashion on the sandwich to cover the surface nicely. Don't be all OCD and only cut square pieces of tofu. If your bread gives you a hole that requires a 3-dimensional shape that knows no one-word description, just cut the damn thing, stick it in there, and stop worrying about your precious tofu.
Cut thick slices of tomato. I'd say about 1 cm. If its a super good tomato, don't drain off the juice, cuz that juice is good and sweet. But if its an average, or even just a "good" tomato, you might want to blot or drain a little water off of it. This is a messy sandwich either way, but you don't want to drown away the flavor with watery tomato water.
OK, put the tomato on the tofu. Same rules apply. Maybe a little sprinkle of salt.
Short stack of sprouts onto tomato.
Mayonnaise the other toast. Not as thick, but not scrimping, either. You've got a wonderful milieu of quasi-wet flavors; you definitely don't want a crunchy, wholly dry piece of toast to be in the mix!
(Note: This sandwich also works well open faced, although you will want to move the sprouts to a lower layer.)
You will note that this is not a side dish blog. I don't always know the answer. But I would think that fruit would be the best side for this. I once bought a side of fries to go with my TSNO from home, and it was definitely a mistake.
This blog just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Whole wheat toast. (Don't have a toaster? Don't try this sandwich. Won't be good.)
Firm tofu. If you're going to save the sandwich for lunch later, probably a good idea to drain the tofu AND blot dry on paper towel. If this is a meal for right now, just drain it. A little juiciness is good for you.
Good tomato. I got lucky and, instead of going with the boring organic one, put it back and opted for the heirloom, the kind that is never red on top but goes from greenish to being almost blackish. It was so sweet, and that never hurts a sandwich. (I'm a little worried that this is just going to turn into a "good tomatos are so great" blog.)
Mayonnaise. This is that sandwich, the one that I don't necessarily think would work without it. It's not a condiment, it's one of the ingredients. I'll be happy to hear substitutes (a little bit of margarine might work out OK).
Sprouts. Optional, but good. Sometimes I like to load up on the sprouts. On TSNO, I don't think so. Just "some" sprouts. And personally, I don't think lettuce works here.
So. Toast the toast.
Add generous mayonnaise to the bottom piece.
Put lots of fresh ground pepper on this piece.
Cut 1-2 cm (you didn't think the sandwich blog would be Imperial units, did you?) slices of drained tofu, and fashion on the sandwich to cover the surface nicely. Don't be all OCD and only cut square pieces of tofu. If your bread gives you a hole that requires a 3-dimensional shape that knows no one-word description, just cut the damn thing, stick it in there, and stop worrying about your precious tofu.
Cut thick slices of tomato. I'd say about 1 cm. If its a super good tomato, don't drain off the juice, cuz that juice is good and sweet. But if its an average, or even just a "good" tomato, you might want to blot or drain a little water off of it. This is a messy sandwich either way, but you don't want to drown away the flavor with watery tomato water.
OK, put the tomato on the tofu. Same rules apply. Maybe a little sprinkle of salt.
Short stack of sprouts onto tomato.
Mayonnaise the other toast. Not as thick, but not scrimping, either. You've got a wonderful milieu of quasi-wet flavors; you definitely don't want a crunchy, wholly dry piece of toast to be in the mix!
(Note: This sandwich also works well open faced, although you will want to move the sprouts to a lower layer.)
You will note that this is not a side dish blog. I don't always know the answer. But I would think that fruit would be the best side for this. I once bought a side of fries to go with my TSNO from home, and it was definitely a mistake.
This blog just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
rub the duck
I was wrong. Culver City Dub Collective. Much less fun than Culver City Duck Collective.
A free sandwich to the person who can identify the substance that, when you rub it on the back of a duck, it goes much faster.
Hint: It's not Sifl and Olly, but it is a comedian I'm obsessed with.
A free sandwich to the person who can identify the substance that, when you rub it on the back of a duck, it goes much faster.
Hint: It's not Sifl and Olly, but it is a comedian I'm obsessed with.
Essentials of a Sandwich Maker
With the caveat that some are more essential than others, ingredients that I find are commonly part of good sandwiches:
Bread:
A solid but not-flashy whole wheat. Trader Joe's is good, also the more rectangulary one from a regular grocery store is also very good (oroweat? no, i think its the cheaper one than that).
Trader Joe's 7 grain ... the one with flaxseed and 6 other seeds
Fresh Baguettes
Other premium bread? open to suggestions
Condiments:
Mayonnaise. If you know me, you know I love mayonnaise. It's actually a little frightening. But don't worry, only one sandwich can I think of that is just going to be bad without the mayo. Generally, just leave it out if you don't like it. I'm sure it will still be fine.
Yellow mustard (French's). Most of the time, it is your best choice for mustard.
Other mustards. For variety (French's brown, Grey Poupon, honey mustard, etc.)
Really good salsa. The best is Emerald Valley Kitchens (thanks, Al!), which in California seems to only be available at Wild Oats. And now that they've been bought by Whole Foods, who knows. (There's a rumor that Mother's has it... in my experience, Mother's has their other stuff (bean dips, i think) but not the good stuff!)
Sandwich dressing. in that little squirty bottle
Cranberry sauce. Haven't quite decided on the best choice here. Surprisingly, Ocean Spray really is better than store brands. But i'm not sure whether to go whole berry or jellied.
Black pepper grinder. Totally key. I can't think of a sandwich that doesn't get a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper.
Salt. Definitely less essential than pepper, but a salty tomatoey sandwich is pretty darn nice.
Veggies:
Just-the-Leaves green leaf lettuce. Nothing ruins a sandwich or salad like watery lettuce. Solve this problem by buying Trader Joe's pre-washed lettuce. Tip: when you open it, it will keep for more than a week but will get dry and limpy. Solve this problem by putting a few tablespoons of tap water in the bag. It will mostly go to the bottom and not make your lettuce too wet, but it will keep it moister.
Tomatos. Tomatos are key. I like heirlooms or anything from a friend's garden. In winter, i don't really see any point in buying expensive tomatos; they're all equivalently mediocre, so just get the roma tomatos. In summer you might want to go beefsteak. Also Japanese tomatos are really nice, low acid and super sweet. They have a weird color but are wonderful.
Sprouts. Trader Joe's sells pre-washed alfalfa sprouts for like $.79 for a week's worth. Totally worth it. And I use my increasing collection of containers for everything. Especially good as cereal bowl.
Avocado. If you're like me, you have a love-hate relationship with these little beasts. I can never get hard ones to ripen right, so i usually buy them when they are a day or a few days from being ready. The little ones in a bag tend to be a better deal for a single person like myself.
Green Onion. Finally, a new addition to the "essentials" list (added 23 Sept 2007). Nice onion flavor but with many fewer side effects. Wash it, then cut it up into 1cm pieces.
Onion. I find myself using less and less onion lately. Mostly i can't find ones that really do anything for me. All the Sweet onions seem to come from Texas, and the less I can do to support Texas' economy, the better. Red ones also may come in handy. You'll want to keep onions around if you're planning to do tuna salad.
Non-meats:
Tofu. Firm tofu, uncooked, is a taste I acquired as a kid and have never lost. It keeps for a long time unopened, then once you open it you just change its water every couple of days and you're good for a week or more.
Hummus. My favorite is Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus dip, but I'm sure most hummi are good.
Cheese? Actually not a big part of most of my sandwiches. I have a weakness for Brie. And on paper I like provolone, but I just can't work it in very well. Actually Havarti can be very good, and comes pre-sliced. Finlandia is a good brand.
Eggs. Buy free-range, happy eggs. Sometimes egg-salad sandwiches are the greatest thing i've created, and often not. I'll have to experiment to tell you the right proportions, but they exist. Like that one note on south park.
Peanut butter. Natural, smooth style. Never chunky.
Jam. Strawberry. Maybe blackberry.
Meats:
Turkey. I think you really have to start with Turkey. The closer you can come to buying a free-range, happy turkey, roasting it yourself, slicing for sandwiches the better, but the reality is you can't do that every week so some turkey from the deli counter is in order. I prefer just regular Oven Roasted, or the slightly sweetened ones (maple or honey) are good too.
Ham. The penultimate meat, I think. Like turkey, I think it can easily stand alone for the several days it will take you eat the ham that you bought.
Pastrami. A good pastrami (don't know which... will keep an eye out) is a good complement to other meats.
Roast Beef. I dunno, it's not something I buy much. Can be good, but not for a whole week, I feel.
Head cheese. Just kidding.
Equipment:
Toaster. Toasted bread is the base for the majority of my sandwiches. A toaster oven is even more handy than the springy kind. Although with less hilarity.
Cutting board. For cutting.
Knife. For cutting. Note to self, and others: if you sharpen your knives, be very careful during that first post-sharpening cutting.
Square sandwich containers. Actually I'm pissed at Gladware right now. Their new design is friggin' useless. Yeah, the lids lock together, who cares? What I notice is that they no longer seal very well. I bought some Albertson's brand but haven't tried them yet. And I inherited a purple-lidded one that is good, not sure the brand.
Fin
I have now made myself hungry. Damn.
Bread:
A solid but not-flashy whole wheat. Trader Joe's is good, also the more rectangulary one from a regular grocery store is also very good (oroweat? no, i think its the cheaper one than that).
Trader Joe's 7 grain ... the one with flaxseed and 6 other seeds
Fresh Baguettes
Other premium bread? open to suggestions
Condiments:
Mayonnaise. If you know me, you know I love mayonnaise. It's actually a little frightening. But don't worry, only one sandwich can I think of that is just going to be bad without the mayo. Generally, just leave it out if you don't like it. I'm sure it will still be fine.
Yellow mustard (French's). Most of the time, it is your best choice for mustard.
Other mustards. For variety (French's brown, Grey Poupon, honey mustard, etc.)
Really good salsa. The best is Emerald Valley Kitchens (thanks, Al!), which in California seems to only be available at Wild Oats. And now that they've been bought by Whole Foods, who knows. (There's a rumor that Mother's has it... in my experience, Mother's has their other stuff (bean dips, i think) but not the good stuff!)
Sandwich dressing. in that little squirty bottle
Cranberry sauce. Haven't quite decided on the best choice here. Surprisingly, Ocean Spray really is better than store brands. But i'm not sure whether to go whole berry or jellied.
Black pepper grinder. Totally key. I can't think of a sandwich that doesn't get a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper.
Salt. Definitely less essential than pepper, but a salty tomatoey sandwich is pretty darn nice.
Veggies:
Just-the-Leaves green leaf lettuce. Nothing ruins a sandwich or salad like watery lettuce. Solve this problem by buying Trader Joe's pre-washed lettuce. Tip: when you open it, it will keep for more than a week but will get dry and limpy. Solve this problem by putting a few tablespoons of tap water in the bag. It will mostly go to the bottom and not make your lettuce too wet, but it will keep it moister.
Tomatos. Tomatos are key. I like heirlooms or anything from a friend's garden. In winter, i don't really see any point in buying expensive tomatos; they're all equivalently mediocre, so just get the roma tomatos. In summer you might want to go beefsteak. Also Japanese tomatos are really nice, low acid and super sweet. They have a weird color but are wonderful.
Sprouts. Trader Joe's sells pre-washed alfalfa sprouts for like $.79 for a week's worth. Totally worth it. And I use my increasing collection of containers for everything. Especially good as cereal bowl.
Avocado. If you're like me, you have a love-hate relationship with these little beasts. I can never get hard ones to ripen right, so i usually buy them when they are a day or a few days from being ready. The little ones in a bag tend to be a better deal for a single person like myself.
Green Onion. Finally, a new addition to the "essentials" list (added 23 Sept 2007). Nice onion flavor but with many fewer side effects. Wash it, then cut it up into 1cm pieces.
Onion. I find myself using less and less onion lately. Mostly i can't find ones that really do anything for me. All the Sweet onions seem to come from Texas, and the less I can do to support Texas' economy, the better. Red ones also may come in handy. You'll want to keep onions around if you're planning to do tuna salad.
Non-meats:
Tofu. Firm tofu, uncooked, is a taste I acquired as a kid and have never lost. It keeps for a long time unopened, then once you open it you just change its water every couple of days and you're good for a week or more.
Hummus. My favorite is Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus dip, but I'm sure most hummi are good.
Cheese? Actually not a big part of most of my sandwiches. I have a weakness for Brie. And on paper I like provolone, but I just can't work it in very well. Actually Havarti can be very good, and comes pre-sliced. Finlandia is a good brand.
Eggs. Buy free-range, happy eggs. Sometimes egg-salad sandwiches are the greatest thing i've created, and often not. I'll have to experiment to tell you the right proportions, but they exist. Like that one note on south park.
Peanut butter. Natural, smooth style. Never chunky.
Jam. Strawberry. Maybe blackberry.
Meats:
Turkey. I think you really have to start with Turkey. The closer you can come to buying a free-range, happy turkey, roasting it yourself, slicing for sandwiches the better, but the reality is you can't do that every week so some turkey from the deli counter is in order. I prefer just regular Oven Roasted, or the slightly sweetened ones (maple or honey) are good too.
Ham. The penultimate meat, I think. Like turkey, I think it can easily stand alone for the several days it will take you eat the ham that you bought.
Pastrami. A good pastrami (don't know which... will keep an eye out) is a good complement to other meats.
Roast Beef. I dunno, it's not something I buy much. Can be good, but not for a whole week, I feel.
Head cheese. Just kidding.
Equipment:
Toaster. Toasted bread is the base for the majority of my sandwiches. A toaster oven is even more handy than the springy kind. Although with less hilarity.
Cutting board. For cutting.
Knife. For cutting. Note to self, and others: if you sharpen your knives, be very careful during that first post-sharpening cutting.
Square sandwich containers. Actually I'm pissed at Gladware right now. Their new design is friggin' useless. Yeah, the lids lock together, who cares? What I notice is that they no longer seal very well. I bought some Albertson's brand but haven't tried them yet. And I inherited a purple-lidded one that is good, not sure the brand.
Fin
I have now made myself hungry. Damn.
yes a sandwich blog
So i made a joke the other day that I keep a donut blog. I'm not sure if Ivo was more intrigued by the 'donut' part or the 'my blog' part. He managed to find two donut blogs, obviously neither of which was mine.
Don't get me wrong, i like donuts. I like that whoever brings donuts is a hero for at least 20 minutes until everyone remembers that they like donuts, but feel a little gross after one. And there's still probably more left for an hour down the road.
But what I Love is Sandwiches. So what the hell, I'm going to add sandwich making to the assortment of topics I wander into. (I'm listening to KCRW... did you know there's a band Culver City Duck Collective?) Anyway, expect to see gorgeous sandwich recipes and tips from time to time. And please contribute in the comments (or by emailing me)! Meaty, veggie, vegan, I'm into all of it. I'll probably also post "recipes wanted" ... there's some things out there I just can't replicate and it drives me crazy! Just remember, there really aren't that many people who read this. So your secret recipe will only go out to a select few, or maybe even just me. (Which, in retrospect, looks like the whole point of this. But oh well, is self-indulgent recipe pilfering any worse than self-indulgent ranting in the hopes to entertain ones friends?)
So, next blog is going to be about ingredients. And one note: remember how I pledged to never go back and edit things after posting? I'm suspending that for the Sandwich ingredients post. But it'll be back in effect for recipes and stuff.
Don't get me wrong, i like donuts. I like that whoever brings donuts is a hero for at least 20 minutes until everyone remembers that they like donuts, but feel a little gross after one. And there's still probably more left for an hour down the road.
But what I Love is Sandwiches. So what the hell, I'm going to add sandwich making to the assortment of topics I wander into. (I'm listening to KCRW... did you know there's a band Culver City Duck Collective?) Anyway, expect to see gorgeous sandwich recipes and tips from time to time. And please contribute in the comments (or by emailing me)! Meaty, veggie, vegan, I'm into all of it. I'll probably also post "recipes wanted" ... there's some things out there I just can't replicate and it drives me crazy! Just remember, there really aren't that many people who read this. So your secret recipe will only go out to a select few, or maybe even just me. (Which, in retrospect, looks like the whole point of this. But oh well, is self-indulgent recipe pilfering any worse than self-indulgent ranting in the hopes to entertain ones friends?)
So, next blog is going to be about ingredients. And one note: remember how I pledged to never go back and edit things after posting? I'm suspending that for the Sandwich ingredients post. But it'll be back in effect for recipes and stuff.
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