Sawadika

Yesterday afternoon I finally made it to Thailand. So far I've been battling two formidable opponents, jet lag and the heat. Neither of which are kidding around, and both trying really hard to kick my ass. But then as I'm sitting here at this coffee shop, visiting the internet while my personal tour guide, aka Brian, has some teacher's meeting. And the skies just opened pouring rain. I'm sitting outside on an open air porch, because this is where the one outlet is and the breeze coming in off the rain is amazing.

Now on to more important topics, like food. Last night we went to the night market, where we had some slightly spicy, delicious concoction I forget the name of at the moment. But today for lunch he took me to "the rice lady." I had the pad krapow moo (fried rice with pork) and Brian had the pad krapow gui (fried rice with chicken). Both worth writing home about. Mmmmm. Thai food.

Boom Boom Mex Mex

boom boom mex mex (#119), a photo by the_musical on Flickr.

Even thought my food loving Professor has been recommending this place to me as the best Mexican food in Syracuse, for the better part of two years, I hadn't made it out there. Some other friends went and had mixed reviews (note to self: don't trust their food opinions). Also the owners close up shop during the winter, which let's face it, is most of the time here. But they just opened back up for the Summer.

This is the Mexican platter, featuring some kind of pork, the chilis and cheese filling, plus all the fixins' and two tortillas. I also got this amazing dulce de leche flan. So sad I didn't try this place out sooner.

Bacon Jam is Made of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Consider me a convert to the Church of Bacon Jam. I had seen this floating around the blogosphere for a while, and I had my doubts. It was the onions that swayed me. In my opinion, only good things come from the long slow cooking of onions (see also : French Onion Soup, Burgers with Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese). Also I had some leftover bacon from last week's pasta with bacon and tomato sauce. Since I had everything on hand, I decided to go for it.

Bacon Jam from Minimally Invasive

1 1/2 lbs. bacon sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup very strong brewed black coffee
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon (or more, if you like) cayenne pepper

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (I did mine in two batches.) When bacon is browned, use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from the pan.

Place Dutch oven back on the burner and adjust heat to medium. Stir in the onions and garlic and saute until onions are mostly translucent, about 10 minutes. Deglaze with bourbon. Stir in the bacon and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Turn heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, 30-40 minutes. If mixture starts to become dry, add up to 1/4 cup of water.

Transfer the bacon and onions to a food processor and pulse several times or until the bacon jam is a spreadable consistency. (I used the trusty immersion blender) Scrape into a jar or container with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month.

I can't even tell you how amazing this stuff is. Words do not describe. Everything slow cooks and melts down into this beautiful syrupy, onion-y, bacon-y goodness. I was eating it out of the pot with a spoon. Then I divided it up into jars. Two quarter pint jam jars and one slightly larger jar. It's not processed like jam, so it will only keep in the refrigerator for a month or so. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'll have much of a problem eating it all. The first order of business last night was toasting some home made bread from last week and smearing a giant spoonful on top. Next up, more bread and possibly a home made grilled cheese with a little of this stuff thrown in.

Trumpet Bells Ringing, Bass Drum is Swinging - As the Trombone Groans, and the Big Horn Moans

My friend Sarah is heading to New Orleans in a bit and she asked me to put together some recommendations for when she heads down there. I know some of these suggestions are terribly touristy and cliché, but let's face it - they are cliché for a reason, in that most of them are awesome.

John Boutte, Treme Song.

1. If you haven't seen the HBO series Treme, I would highly recommend watching it before you go. It's shot almost entirely on location in New Orleans, using a lot of local musicians (Kermit Ruffins for one) and places. In the first or second episode the Steve Zahn character directs some college kids out of the Quarter and to a brunch place that does exist and is amazing.

2. For some pre-trip / pre-flight reading, I can recommend Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans and The World That Made New Orleans : From Spanish Silver to Congo Square.

3. A po'boy. I had fried shrimp, I don't even like shrimp that much and it was amazing. I went to Parkway but it might be hard to get to without a car and if you're staying downtown.

4. Ride a streetcar (bonus points if it's the "Desire" one) and walk around the Garden District. Attempt to find the home you would pick if money was no problem.



5. A muffuletta at Central Grocery in the French Quarter. It comes with this olive spread on top of the meat, I hate green olives and it was amazing. (I know this is a reoccurring theme, but trust me).

6. Beignets and a Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde. When we walked by during the day it was super crowded. I went back around 1 am and it was the perfect drunk food. The moral of the story - they are open late if you're up late, if not it's worth waiting for them during the day or super early in the morning as you watch them clean the streets of the French Quarter.

7. Bread pudding from anywhere, bonus points if it has a whiskey or rum sauce on top.

8. If you're eating dinner anywhere that has alligator sausage on the menu, order it. As Roy Blount Junior says in Feet on the Street : "They say anything will grow here, and everything eats it."



9. Walk around Jackson Square and look at the local art for sale.

10. Embrace the open container laws, walk around the French Quarter in the sun with a drink in hand.

Enjoy!

Po'boys at Parkway Tavern

"Po-boys aren't sandwiches, they're a way of life." - Treme, I'll Fly Away (1x10)

I got off the plane in New Orleans, found my friend Laura picked me up, we dropped off my stuff, gathered the rest of my friends and we headed for item one on my NOLA Consumption list : a po-boy.

Laura took us to Parkway Bakery and Tavern. I had a fried shrimp po-boy with a side of sweet potato fries and a bloody mary. I'm not a huge shrimp cocktail fan, so I was surprised to find out how much I liked the suckers fried. Maybe it was also the bread and sitting outside in the warm sun while eating it. I wanted to eat about three more.

fair food

So i'm only a month or so behind on this post, featuring food from The Great New York State fair. The NYState fair is massive, and pretty typical of state fairs, I think. And aside from the free concerts (Boyz to Men, anyone?) there is an abundance of food you can only get at the fair.

First up, sweet potato ribbon fries.



Next up, deep fried oreos. Kelly and I decided we needed to at least try the deep fried oreo phenomenon. I wasn't really sure what to expect.



I didn't realize that they bread the oreos in funnel cake batter before deep frying, which makes a lot of sense. And makes it taste vaguely funnel cake-eqsue. Also, I don't know what I thought the inside would be like. It was a melted oreo, which makes sense given the heat of the oil. But I guess part of me thought it would retain the crunch of an Oero.