los tres amigos day 2: blacky/garden center zipdog/zahara puke sweater/over 40 filter

los tres amigos: day 1, arrival.

Airport arrival. Beers? Of course. And a fucking uitsmijter. And a tosti kaas. And some klaverjas. And nausea bracelets. Then a flight.


















Then waiting for luggage. And waiting for the shuttle to faraway parking. Then putting Fleetwood Mac's Rumours in the Renault Kangoo's CD player, where it would remain, unejectable, for the next 7 days (it's still there now as far as I know). Then driving into the mountains in the dark being impressed by rural strip club design. Making it to Ronda to find tiny bottles of beer from Málaga; a bottle of the same Rioja that I'd brought from Amsterdam; and frozen grocery store pizza waiting for us. Kind of just like home.

Then making a fire in the wood stove. Building a shopping list for the morning's grocery store run. Getting into to our perfectly cold beds.

torrijas.

Well these are all pretty terrible pictures. But they illustrate my continuing dedication to removing every variety of torrijas from Spain. Above: torrijas artesanas. Below: 50% descuendo torrijas azucar and then below that my homemade version.

the healing power of french toast.

Nelson, Potato, me: going to Spain on Wednesday!

I know. In honor of this momentous occasion, let's take a li'l spin in the Wayback Machine to probably the first Spanish recipe I ever cooked, back in 1997 or something. I remember it taking foreeeeeeeever to make the syrup, and thinking the whole time, "Wow, that's a waste of a lot of booze."

The recipe is from the dark blue Best Of Food & Wine cookbook I think one or more of my parents gave to me, probably my first cookbook ever, after the now-legendary 365 Ways To Cook Chicken which was literally the first cookbook I ever cooked out of. Chicken Divan.

Anyway:

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torrijas with orange-flavored syrup.

1 1/4 cups fresh orange juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp Spanish brandy
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp orange liqueur
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp port
Zest of 1/2 orange, cut in fine julienne strips
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 quart milk
zest of 1/2 lemon
one 1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
6 slices (3/4 inch thick) of crusty Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
3 eggs, well beaten

In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, brandy, orange liqueur, port, orange zest, and sugar. Bring to a gentle boil over moderately low heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 25 minutes. Set aside. (The syrup can also be made the day beforehand and refrigerated.)

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk with the lemon zest and cinnamon stick; bring to a simmer over low heat, and let steep for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 3 bread slices in a single layer in a baking dish. Pour half the milk over the bread and let sit for a few minutes.

Warm the syrup if necessary. Heat a large heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Carefully dip the soaked bread in the beaten eggs and turn to coat both sides, then place in the skillet. Cook, turning once, until nicely browned and firm, 3 to 4 minutes per side. repeat with the remaining olive oil and bread.

Arrange the torrijas on a platter and drizzle with the warm orange syrup. Pass the remaining syrup on the side.

lungscraper.

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warm-smoked salmon with daikon noodles.
1/3 of one daikon
one giant piece of peeled ginger
1 tbsp wasabi
1 tbsp agave nectar
juice of two lemons
juice of one blood orange
1 tbsp miso
1 green chile
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp sesame oil
salt to taste

a couple pieces of warm-smoked salmon

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coughbusta.

Should your lungs fill with mucus.

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cough medicine.
steep 1 tbsp dried thyme in 1 cup of boiling water for 10 minutes

add
1 tbsp of good bio honey
1 tsp of dried turmeric
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of grated ginger
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

Grimace and drink as often as possible.

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alternative medicine.

Yeah this is carrot pappardelle with smoked paprika/tomato sauce. And basil. The "noodles" were cut with a mandoline, a bit too death-defying. May need to look into a spiralizer. Cooking time on the "noodles" is roughly 10-12 minutes, and don't boil them: cook them in the sauce.

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carrot pappardelle. 

2 giant old carrots
1 can peeled tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
12 basil leaves
salt
freshly ground pepper
Parmesan cheese

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fryske noir.

fryslân.

Above: Hindeloopen and the sloppiest little cemetery in Nederland (from 1570). Below: not a camera trick, that is really the size of the XL Tosti with cheese from De Nylander at De Hinde, pretty good actually despite its giant-size gimmickry; meandering through the empty streets of Hindeloopen; cool tiles at the Museum Hindeloopen; then off to Workum, also abandoned in the off-season, where we spent the evening eating deer meat (ok just me) and suikerbrood and making unwise bets on pool games in a completely empty disco/billiards bar, then back to our completely empty hotel.

In the morning, our (giant) kind-of German hotel breakfast (including more suikerbrood); then a drive off along the coast through Arum, Kimswerd, Oudebildtzijl, and 17 other places continuing to look for the next Ferndale.

xo.

View from the Groningen train station. Ottolenghi's root vegetable mash with stewed shallots (or whatever it would be called in English) from Plenty More. View from the train to Groningen. Momofuku's shrimp and grits (and bacon and egg). View from the train to Groningen. Ottolenghi's tagliatelle with walnuts and surprisingly good spinach, date and pita salad. Cafe Atlantis in Groningen, Nelson in foreground Bert in background. Bert's tosti, winner of the VDuck Tostiproeftest 2015.

hello two thousand sixteen.

It's all happening so fast. Two point five weeks down. I just turned forty fucking seven. Yes I'm going to spell out every single goddamn number I use in this mother effing, yes I'm joking, I'm not really saying mother effing, paragraph.

ameland 2.0.