Sick Chef

I imagine that in a real restaurant, on the rare occurrence that a chef calls out sick, the other chefs pick up the slack and still turn out great food.

Not in our house.

Since Sunday, Alex has been taken down by the flu. Don't know if it's H1N1, but if it is, I love the irony of my pork-loving husband getting the swine flu.

Anyway. . . what happens when the food-provider in the family is out of commission? TAKE OUT!

Sunday: Ibby's Falafel. Great Middle Eastern restaurant right around the corner from us. I finally gave in and tried Middle Eastern food. . . and LOVED IT. Tried their lamb shawarma. It's my second time trying shawarma and it's not just for me. But I wanted to try Ibby's to see if theirs was different. Their falafel is to die for. And so is their hummus and ghanoush.

Monday: Pizza. It's what Alex wanted - I swear!

Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup from Wegman's for Alex, sushi from Wegmans for me. Of course this means that I had to go to Wegmans. Don't get me wrong - it's a fantastic grocery store. But I HATE food shopping. I NEVER go. And I had to pick up some supplies because Alex was so sick, he hadn't been shopping. Of course, I forgot the granola bars, apples, and Gatorade - all of which were on the list in my hands. I'm just not good at this kind of thing.

Wednesday: Tandoori chicken with Major Grey's chutney and an apple-side-thingy. Yes, I kinda cooked. In his infinite charity, Alex cleaned and cut up the chicken while I prepared the tandoori coating. And then it happened. As I was grating the Granny Smith apples on the grater, the food gods demanded a sacrifice. The top half of my left index knuckle. According to Alex, his grandmother swore that food always tasted better with a bit of flesh and blood in it (especially her potato latkes).

So that's it. I cooked (kinda), and he ate. There's a first (and last) time for everything.

Weekend of Cooking

Here's a list of everything that I prepared over this weekend:

• A batch of soboro, which is now frozen and awaiting consumption for lunch.  I still use the meatloaf mix from the supermarket when I make this, but I'm contemplating using all-beef if/when I decide to start grinding my own.
  
• 2 dozen pan-fried chicken burgers, also frozen for future lunches.  I wonder how these would come out if I ground up the chicken thighs, rather than putting them through the food processor.
  
• A Middle-Eastern feast for Stephanie and my parents - ezme salata, baba ganoush (thanks to Deborah Madison), baked falafel and tahini sauce.  Needless to say, a fantastic and filling meal.  I'm so happy Stephanie has discovered the joys of falafel - she's got a whole new world of culinary exploration open to her now.
  
• 3 dozen pumpkin cookies with brown butter icing - thanks to my mother for letting me borrow her pastry bag and 3/8" round tip.  Ironically enough, she asked me what I wanted to Hannukah this year...pastry/decorating tools would be interesting, but I'm not that into baking anyway.  These cookies were ridiculous - earthy and spicy (but not too sweet) cookies, combined with a rich and nutty icing - there were only 6 left this morning (thanks to my parents, Stephanie and I, as well as Brian and Jenny)...and those didn't even last too long.
• Bacon - I thought it would be very apropos to cook and eat bacon while watching the NYC Marathon...I don't really know why.  I know a lot of people who were running it today, and I thought it would be funny to post on Facebook that I was eating bacon while they were off being insane.
• Asian-style braised short ribs - I *always* forget that after the ribs are done braising, that I have to degrease the liquid (my least favorite step in any recipe), then reduce over 1 quart of cooking liquid down to 1 cup.  Honestly, I cheat and use cornstarch, because I don't want to wait to eat my delicious short ribs.  Even though I forgot the orange juices at the end, it was still rather tasty (even for an Emeril recipe)

That's it!  Tomorrow is "Meatless" Monday (we're having leftovers for lunch) but for dinner:  Zucchini-Chayote Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce.  Here's my question:  What did YOU cook this weekend?

Meatless Tuesday?

Baked Falafel

Lettuce, Tomato, Tahini Sauce

Recipe courtesy of ChowVegan 

My cooking schedule got a bit thrown off this week, so we ended up delaying our Meatless Monday into a Meatless Tuesday-into-Wednesday.  Oh well, no big concern, especially since we had falafel *again* this week.  Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining by any stretch of the imagination.  I would eat falafel every night, I absolutely love the stuff.  However, I think Stephanie might not be too happy (although she is a confirmed falafel freak, she did the happy dance when I told her I was going to make it again this week.)

When I was thinking about making falafel, I wanted to avoid the traditional method of preparing it, which is deep-frying.  Now, I make no bones about my love of all things deep-fried, but I was looking for a baked version for 2 reasons:  eating a deep-fried meal negates the whole point of a Meatless Monday, and I hate deep-frying inside my home.  I perused a number of recipes, and settled on this one - even more non-traditional since it calls for canned beans.  The only change I made to it was I didn't use as much onion, and I jacked up the oven temperature to 450, so they formed a crispy crust.

My only issue is the pita bread - I'm in need of a good Middle Eastern market to get quality pita, since Wegmans brand just isn't up to snuff.  Throw the falafel in a good pita with some shredded lettuce, diced tomato and a heaping spoonful of tahini sauce, and I (and Stephanie) are happy people.