I picked up a bag of frozen baby octopodes at the Asian market, not quite knowing what to do with them. I found this recipe on the Internet, and I'm making my own version of it. I've added capers, green olives, and crawlfins pepper and I've substituted Hobgoblin (a mild, English dark ale) for the wine.
While boiling the octopodes, I put a cork in the water. I saw someone do this on Top Chef. Apparently, it is a traditional way of keeping the meat tender. Fortunately, I had a real cork left over from last night: the Allegash Curieux not only got me resoundingly drunk but it also gave up its cork for the day's meal.
The kittens were driven to a fine fury by the smell, and poor Bubbs singed off at least twelve good whiskers trying to get at the pot. Lessons learned, Bubbs!
As I learn more about cooking, part of my knowledge has to do with preparing for the onslaught of the animals. They hit me in all directions, and I need to stay on my toes unless I want a floor littered with crushed capers to clean up when the dishes are done.
Jess took for a birthday breakfast meal at Scotch Pine Farm in Pepperell. I went for the florentine eggs benedict with the kicked up home fries. It was perfect, although next time I'll see if I can get the homefries kicked up (applewood bacon, onions, peppers) without the additional cheddar cheese.
The food was great, yes, but we also got to see the fold of Scottish longhorns out in their pen, as well as a pair of healthy, handsome goats.
I would like to note that Scottish cattle are also called Hairy Coo. I learned that from wikipedia.
And, speaking of pleasing alternative names, my current toilet reading is Dave Dewitt's excellent The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia. I hardly open it without learning some new, interesting bit of information: odd facts about the history of hot sauces in this country, the effect of peppers on human skin, and even this, which my friend Jason will find noteworthy and since he reads this blog I'll include it here:
The tabasco pepper's other name? The bird pepper.
Okay, kids. Back to the octopodes!
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There is a myth that the Scottish Longhorn variety of cattle actually originated from stout Scottish lads who finished all of their astoundingly dense breakfasts everyday, but then played video games all day rather than chopping down trees or throwing spears as they should have. The weight gain and hair growth was inevitable. Don't let this happen to you, Sparky!
ReplyDeleteI'll note that, novel writing in full effect, I haven't played GoW2 in weeks.
ReplyDeleteStill, I imagine it would be cool to be a Scottish longhorn, an amiable and well-tempered brute.