Margarita

Some of you who know me know that for most of my drinking years, I often passed on tequila. That was unless I was terribly tipsy and it was 1. bought by someone else, 2. rack, and 3. utterly gross. Given those factors I thought I hated tequila. Much like how I thought I hated wine because I had only ever stolen white zinfandel from a box that my Mom stored under the kitchen table.

Needless to say I decided to take it back about a year and a half ago. I gave tequila another chance and it has been a wonderful affair since then. Again, to those who may know me know that I also do not drink rum, spite my love for it. Rum however is a foul tasty temptress in my world. She makes me irrationally angry and frankly, batshit crazy. For the sake of my marriage and friendships I will not be giving rum another go.

Margarita:
This is my recipe made to my preference and is not what everyone likes, but it has gotten some pretty encouraging reviews from my attorney.

2 oz Tequila (whatever brand you prefer, but really don't totally cheap out)
2 oz triple sec (feel free to cheap out here, unless you are going for Grand Marnier don't bother in my book)
2 oz lime juice.

pour over ice, no salt, and most certainly do not turn that shit into a watered down snow cone.

Cheers

New Asian Market

Mr. Dave of Ridiculous Food Society fame recently visited and reviewed the newest addition to the Asian market family in the Capital District. His review is far more comprehensive so please feel free to check it out here.

It is bright and clean, although still has that "Asian market smell", but that is just how it goes. I really look forward to spending a bit more time there and taking advantage of their fresh meats and fish. One thing that very much surprised me was this........

Yes, Durian. I admittedly was to chickenshit to buy one. It was too far away from trash day to purchase a supposedly delicious fruit that stinks of dead bodies. I am still intrigued and may heed the siren call soon. Plus I loved that it was tucked unassumingly in a cooler next to green tea ice cream and an impressive assortment of dumplings.

picture purposely omitted- sesame ginger nufu salad

Our household has been known to purchase a tub of the tofu salad from the co-op and gobble it up almost instantly. This goes the same for both versions of the tofu salad, Matt's and the curry cashew. A few weeks ago I got some flavored and seasoned tofu when it was on sale and stashed it in the cheese drawer to await inspiration.

Yesterday morning that inspiration struck! Leaving the flavor decision up the the Hubbs, tofu salad was going to be made. After choosing sesame ginger I looked down at the package and realized I had in fact not purchased two packages of tofu I purchased one package of tofu and one package of nufu. specifically Sunergia nufu peanut tofu. Apparently nufu is soy free "tofu", I had never heard of it nor really knew that it existed. It is virtually identical to tofu except that the soybeans are replaced with peanuts. Although this is seasoned lightly, it still tasted a lot like tofu straight out the package. However after jazzing it up a bit hoooboy! tasty stuff.

Sesame ginger nufu salad

1 package Sunergia nufu peanut tofu
half of a vidalia onion chopped small
4 green onions chopped
1 T natural peanut butter
approximately 2 T warm water
few shakes soy sauce.

Crumble up nufu and mix with both onions. In a separate bowl combine peanut butter and warm water and mix till fully incorporated and smooth. Add a bit of soy sauce to the mixture and combine. Pour the sauce into the nufu and onion mix; stir it all up and enjoy.

This really was super tasty and would be great in a wrap or over some greens. We just kind of chowed it on its own. Pictures were graciously not taken since tofu/nufu is really not the most photogenic of foods to begin with and once you smash it up you really are not doing it any favors.... but trust me this was delicious and quick.

easiest "fancy" salad ever

Ooolala, is that a course from a swanky tasting menu? Nope, just my lunch on Saturday. After a busy morning that included an awesome run with my sister, the farmers market, the co-op, and an unsuccessful trip to Rolf's Pork Store; I was totally ready for lunch.

I took some nice fresh spinach from our CSA, topped it with tangy goat cheese, fresh figs, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and cracked pepper. Wicked easy and enjoyed while sitting on my stoop taking in the neighborhood.

edamame dip AKA "holy shit there is sunshine in my mouth"

There us no way this picture will ever do this dip justice, unless I photo shop a halo and ethereal lighting into it....

I stumbled across the recipe for this wonder-dip at Closet Cooking, I tweaked it only slightly. My edamame was already cooked, I used fresh lemon juice in place of lime, and I tossed in a garlic scape for good measure. Wowzer is this tasty! It really is like an amazing summer day that you can eat with veggies, or chips, or on a sandwich. I highly recommend giving it a whirl for yourself.

Belgium

Ha ha! I have a reason aside from laziness as to why I have not posted.... We were visiting Belgium. The land of beer, chocolates, mussels, and fries!

There were some definite winners that we were able to sample throughout our journey. The beers (not surprisingly) were wonderful, we really did not encounter any real duds at all. Similarly any chocolate we encountered was delicious and in a totally different category than most chocolate you find stateside.

You can get giant steaming pots of mussels every way imaginable. I am admittedly a bit of a mussel slut and will accept them any way that I can get them and will always be pleased. So, me liking the mussels was a bit of a sure thing.

Our firm recommendation on the fries. Skip them if they are at a restaurant or part of your meal they will be lame, pretty standard, and they will serve them to you with just about everything. Go to a stand or a cart. That is where the pom frits action is. They will be hot, greasy, and with a bounty of dipping sauces that can be slopped all over them.

Oh, and if you ever find yourself in Antwerp check out a place called The Bistro. One of the best meals I have had in a long time.

A P.S. to Belgium- Your cities will smell way less like piss if you actually have bathrooms. Just seems like a safe bet when your culture encourages consumption of multiple liters of beer in a given sitting. Just an observation.