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The Nose Knows.

When there's time to do it right, we don't just make rice: we make Armenian pilaf.  Washed five times, soaked in salt water for hours, and cooked to a perfect, pillowy, fluffy indulgence.  (In case you're wondering, the key difference is the washing off and spooning out of starch, which keeps it from degenerating into those sticky piles you're used to at home.)  We also make it with tadik -- a crust of lavash or tortilla on the bottom of the pot.

The Girl has become a master at this -- the Nose Knows.  Which is to say, when I try to make it, I can never tell if it's burning.  (Curses, olfactory!  Curses!)

Tuesday night, we were long on time but short on supplies -- and the Girl managed to whip together a crust of rice, Greek yogurt and olive oil, which, despite my resistant skepticism, was just as good if not better:

Yeah, I think I'll keep her.

Shrimp is the fruit of the sea...

... you can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautée it.  There's, um, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pineapple shrimp and lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich...

Ooh, I drafted my very first promissory note today.  For just shy of four million dollars. 

What's funny is that any idiot with an internet connection could have done a comparable job -- although I like to think mine was thoughtfully pieced together.

Anyway, back to shrimp.  The point of my post is to brag about another delicious innovation in the t+d kitchen:

Shrimp, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green onion, parsley, olive oil, lime and hefty dose of chili powder.  I handled the shrimp (cooked to perfection, I might add) while the Girl did all the heavy lifting.  Could have used a touch more heat, but as we'll be having this again -- and soon, I hope -- there's plenty of chance to play around with the spices.

Oh, and I took that picture with my new iClone.  Not bad for a cell phone, huh?

It's okay to be jealous.

No, really:

So. Pork tenderloin kebabs, clubbed with a tenderizer and marinated overnight in basil, salt, pepper and yellow onions, then grilled on the panini press (with just a little bit of mmm butter). Served up with pilaf, seasoned with sumac, and topped with tadik -- a whole wheat crust baked on the bottom of the rice pot. Then lentils sautéed with the onions that marinated with the kebab. And a fresh side of yellow bell pepper.

THAT, friends, is a satisfying plate.

And here's the tadik-topped-pilaf, straight out of the pot:



The Girl makes a good pot of rice. Must have a streak of Armenian in her.

Pizza Pizza!

Multi-grain pizza dough, homemade ricotta (seriously, the Girl made it right on the stove), parmesan, asiago, mozzarella and red onions caramelized in balsamic vinegar, baked to perfection:

And yeah, MT, I'm sure the Hell Spawn of Kathie Lee and Betty Crocker would have made her own ricotta so she could slap it right on top of the frozen Celeste she picked up at the Sunoco that she's microwaving for her show.

Pft!

= delicious.

Jamaican jerk chicken kebab + whole wheat couscous with sweet yellow pepper + red cabbage slaw in rice vinegar, olive oil, honey and salt.