And as Bloomberg Radio pointed out this morning, any food or restaurant that Obama shows interest in notices the “Obama-effect”–higher sales and such.  In that way, of course, it’s sort of a shame that he didn’t pick a local microbrew–either from DC, Chicago, or Hawaii–and help a small business out.  But, perhaps that would run the risk of seeming elitist… or perhaps Obama just isn’t much of a beer drinker and secretly prefers fine wine.

Considering the amount of press coverage that this event was/is getting, I’m surprised that the White House handled the beer issue quite the way it did–first saying Bud Light, then amending it to Bud Light, Blue Moon, and Red Stripe.  Not a very wide selection–particularly since the White House kitchen is known for having just about everything a President would want.  CNN’s mention of Sam Adams, actually, is dead on.  The spin could have been that Obama decided to get a local Boston beer for the two Cambridge men, a beer brand which is American owned, widely distributed and fairly popular (albeit, not to Bud’s level).

No matter, I have a feeling this isn’t over yet.

Meanwhile, the New York Times has a nice little article on Manhattans–my problem is that I just don’t care for vermouth. Though according to one commentor, in Canada they used to use sherry.  Now, I have cooked with sherry, and enjoyed the flavor–a bit like maple syrup, in that dish.  I haven’t actually ever drank it though–I originally thought it smelled like vermouth, but when I used the last little bit the other night in my dinner, I tasted a drop and realized that it reminded me of Port, which I dearly love (I also love Benedictine, but then again, I think the original flavor of Listerine is great).  So, I am thinking I need to taste some good sherry–after all, it is what respectable British bankers and brokers offered their clients (with biscuits) in the 1960s, according to at least two episodes of The Avengers.

Meanwhile, I’ve had some good suggestions on food to take with me through security–from granola to cut up veggies (sadly, I don’t think dip would make it through).  Tomorrow I pack, and then a week in Oregon–not sure I’ll have access to the internet but we shall see.  I definitely have a lot of odds and ends to accomplish before my flight leaves.

Banana pudding with meringue

I’m trying to come up with some ideas for food I can take through airport security without a hassle… any ideas?

Also, I made a decent banana pudding the night before last.  Still haven’t nailed it yet… maybe whole milk would help instead of the 2%.  The recipe I used was from this site.  It’s decent, but not creamy enough, and it seems like the flour leaves it a little gritty after refrigeration… or maybe that’s the wafers I’m using.  I saw a pretty good looking recipe for a bread-pudding bananas foster on epicurious, but I didn’t quite have all the ingredients.  I suppose that instant pudding has far more extracts and chemicals in it to make it smoother.

Only a couple days left till the trip…

Salad with Fanny's Dressing

First, a quick pick of the salad I made yesterday.  The dressing is amazing–simple and delicious.  It comes from a little Italian restaurant in Framingham, MA called Lacantina.  The salad was red lettuce, sliced cucumber, sliced grape tomatoes, a bit of chopped onion, and Parmesan cheese.

Second, my quick recipe for hummus, based loosely on the one in Julia Child’s The Way to Cook.  If you have a food processor, I’m jealous–it takes about 2 minutes with one.  Otherwise, you get the fun of mashing garbanzo beans by hand–I usually use a potato masher and metal bowl.  Not creamy and smooth, but the texture makes it rustic . . . right?

Easy Hummus

• 2-4 cloves of garlic minced (if you have a food processor, use it!)
• 1 can (16 oz., drained & rinsed under hot water) garbanzo beans (if you can say garbanzo, why not say it?)
• 2-3 Tbsp. sesame tahini
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
• black pepper to taste
• optional: cayenne pepper, ground sage to taste

If you have a food processor:

Mince the garlic.  Scrape down the sides and add garbanzo beans, pulse until they are pretty well mashed.  Scrape down sides, add the rest of the ingredients including the salt, and blend on high until it turns creamy.  Adjust lemon/olive oil/tahini if too thick–but keep tasting it to make sure you don’t over-do any one of these.  Add pepper and sage and more salt, if needed.

If you want the “rustic” style (takes a while longer):

Mince the garlic by hand.  Rinse and drain chickpeas, and mash them by hand in a medium bowl.  Add garlic, stir.  Add salt, tahini, olive oil, and lemon, stir well and check consistency and flavor.  The trick is to balance out the tahini, olive oil, and lemon so that no one overpowers the other.  I like to add a good sprinkling of ground sage, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Serving suggestion: a really good pita bread–either to dip, or make into a sandwich.

Hummus with lettuce, tomato, onion on pita

• New Haven Style is a bit like New York style, but more… something–you stand in lines outside the store for hours, get inside to a waitress who really doesn’t like you, and then get a giant, incredible pizza (that at a couple place looks like it was left in the oven a bit too long–that’s part of the charm). Lots of garlic, usually a white pizza, thin crust, lots of oil…. Even my New York friends love this stuff.  My personal favorite is a sliced tomato and basil white pizza from Modern Apizza, which doesn’t have the long lines of Sally’s or Pepe‘s (not to say that those places aren’t worth the wait!).  Be warned–these aren’t cheap pies, but if you are stuck in New Haven they make the trip worthwhile.
• Wood grilled pizza is wholly different. I’ve had it at two places in Rhode Island, my favorite of which, Feast or Famine, is closed though you’d not know it from the website (they used to have a Tues-Wed special: appetizer, salad, pizza, bottle of wine, $25).  At Feast or famine, it was really not pizza crust, but a thin (maybe 1″ thick max?) bread which was cooked over a wood fired grill.  Unusual, and amazing.
• Greek pizza except without the olives and feta (sorry, just don’t like it).  It has a thicker crust, more doughy and chewy, ad is cooked in a pan like Chicago-style deep dish (of which I am no expert).  Lots of cheese on top, and light on the sauce–the toppings and cheese are what counts, balancing out the dough.  The pizza I had last night was this style, and very good.  On something like this, sausage, peppers, and onions is simply heaven.  My favorite is Minerva’s, on South Angell St. in Providence.
• Tortilla pizza when I’m lazy.  Preheat the oven to 400-450 degrees, take a flour tortilla and put some crushed tomatoes, some cheese, and some cooked (or at least not frozen) toppings and bake for 10 minutes (or until the edges begin to curl).  Surprisingly good.  The best, though, is using the harder to find Mission Whole Wheat Carb Balance Tortillas (with 84% of your daily allowance of fiber in just one).  They come out tasting like the ultimate thin crust pizza–seriously.  No one believes me until they try it.

Ok… now I’m getting hungry.

Anyway, two nights ago I had tried poaching pears in sugar and water, and it was a giant disappointment.  The recipe wanted 5 cups of water and 2.5 cups of sugar, which would later be reduced down to 1 cup.  I still don’t think that’s physically possible.  Adding to the problem, I think the pears weren’t ripe enough…. So last night, I decided to get rid of the remaining poached pears creatively, by adapting another recipe out of Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food.  Here’s a version of what I made, assuming you don’t have a couple of poached pears sitting in your fridge.

Red Kidney Beans with Rosemary, Pear, and Sherry

• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 medium to large onion, chopped small
• 1 can of pear in light syrup, drained and cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp. rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 cup Sherry or white wine (I used sherry, since I had some)
• 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and well-rinsed under hot water
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add onion when hot.  Cook for a few minutes, and when onion begins to soften, add pear.  Stir frequently and cook until onion golden, about 7 minutes total.
2. Add rosemary and then sherry (or white wine)–bring to a boil and reduce  down until almost dry, about 2 minutes.  Stir frequently.
3. Add red kidney beans, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve hot.  Enjoy!

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out–or if you have any ideas to improve it!

Apollo 11 liftoff at 8:32 am CDT, July 16, 1969

For a few moments, I’m going to give in to the delusions of grandeur, and pretend that somewhere a reader exists who wants to know the intimate details of my poached egg and pita breakfast, my battles with the automated phone system of the state’s unemployment office, or my idiosyncratic views on the proper way to form lines at CVS.  The truth, of course, is that no one does, but who am I to argue with web 2.0?  Resistance is futile, so I might as well enjoy it…

I do wish there were some great purpose for this blog, other than just vanity, but given the low cost of entry to the market–notably, zero–vanity is reason enough.  Hopefully, I’ll hit my stride sooner rather than never, and it will be an enjoyable waste of your time and mine.

To give fair warning, I am what is commonly called a geek.  In my spare time, I tinker with computers, read books about economics, watch Star Trek (and complain about mistakes), cook fattening food, wish I were an astronaut, pretend I have a green thumb, and fantasize about having a job I love.  I am a bibliophile, economist, and philologist (by training, not professional practice).

Just to head off questions, the title of this blog comes from my obsession with all things nuclear–power plants, MAD, post-apocalyptic novels, Civil Defense, CONELRAD, and fallout shelters–combined with the slightly less macabre, though nearly extinct, Automat restaurants at which I have yet to dine.