Surf n' Turf Saturday Night

So the guy from my last "Saturday night" post? Yeah. We're still seeing each other. And he's been just as awesome. I keep telling him I want to cook for him, but with our schedules, it's been close to impossible. Currently, I only have Saturday nights free to spend with him; and that's usually after a brunch shift that totally drains me. However, he's been fantastically understanding. Last Saturday, we grabbed Little Caesar's and just chilled at his place. Last night, he offered to cook for me!

When he picked me up, he mentioned we had to stop at the store- he had picked up some beautiful ribeyes earlier at the farmer's market, but needed to pick up a side dish. Apparently his green beans are magical,  so we stopped at the grocery store by his place to pick them up. On the way, we both decided we were a bit too hungry to wait and needed a pre-dinner snack. And something for dessert. We walked the aisles, snagging brownie mix (because if I didn't have energy to make a whole meal, dammit, I can do brownies from a box at least) and a shrimp cocktail platter.

We got to his place to discover the shrimp was frozen solid. So I set it under a tap of running water and got "baking" while he started dinner. Once the brownie mix was in the oven and he was halfway ready to start cooking, his mom called. Dinner got put on hold for a bit while he took the call, and I remembered an old quick-thaw trick for frozen cocktail shrimp I learned at a restaurant I used to work at. By the time he was off the phone (and 15 whole minutes after I could have had the shrimp thawed), we were decimating our snack.

Watching him cook, his technique could have used work. But I behaved and kept my mouth shut- after all, he was cooking for me! And you know what? It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it immensely. I'm so thankful he was willing to cook, and I hope he does it for me again.

*Andi's "no shit sherlock" shrimp thaw trick*
Put the frozen shrimp in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes.  Drain, then quick chill in ice water and drain again. Serve immediately
*I cannot guarantee this is the most food safe way to do this, but to my knowledge it hasn't gotten anyone sick yet.

My Night on the V-Side

I adore meat. Pretty sure I have made that exceptionally clear, even having an entire post dedicated to it. However, I do try to keep an open mind. So when an old Improv friend of mine happened to be in town Friday night, and I happened to have the night off, I joined him and his pescatarian friends for dinner at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant.

I was a bit unsure going in, not going to lie. The menu looked just like any other Chinese food menu, down to the sweet-and-sour chicken and Mongolian beef, but there were side notes at the bottom of each page that specified that the "meats" were soy-based substitutes. We all started off with a couple of appetizers, some steamed dumplings and hot and sour soup. I enjoyed the soup, but the dumplings were stuffed with different purees that had a not-quite-pleasant runny texture. The flavor didn't suck, but it was a bit disappointing.

Entrees... well, I have never been so disappointed in tofu. And this was at a vegetarian-specific restaurant!  I never expected to say this, but I should have gone with one of the soy substitute "meat" dishes.  Those actually had a decent flavor to them. Overall, not someplace I would go to of my own accord, but if I had vegetarian friends, I'd humor them and tag along.

Saturday Spirits and Serendipity

Wow. I have been totally blown away these past couple days. Saturday evening, I got finished with work and sat down at the bar for a post-shift drink. I can't remember what had irked me a bit, but something convinced me to go for whiskey that day. I think my coworker had been slacking or something. Anyway, there was this guy at the bar, and we just hit it off. It was like talking to a male version of myself. It was fascinating! We even discovered we were both former Marine Corps Brats- born and raised in military families, and got the hell out of that lifestyle as fast as we were able! We spent a solid 10 minutes laughing over our parents' disciplinary styles. As the time ticked by, I found I didn't want to stop hanging out with him. So I decided to invite him to join me at the tequila place next door.

The chemistry just intensified from there. We wolfed down guacamole and jalapeno mezcal margaritas, then I introduced him to my favorite coffee shop/bar. We bonded over bourbon cocktails and beer ice cream, and I decided to just say fuck it and invited him to join me at the Jameson Bartender's Ball.

Fast forward to last night- dude was a total gentleman. Arrived on time, opened doors, and get this- BROUGHT ME FLOWERS. I have never felt so special, or connected with someone who was actually single so well. He even thinks my restaurant is a cool idea. We're going out again Saturday, and I couldn't be more excited. Plus? His kitchen is amazeballs. Can't wait!!!

Aggravated

I went to the emergency room on Thursday. No broken bones or anything of the sort, just severe jaw pain brought on by wisdom teeth. Those suckers should have been yanked five, six years ago; however I am petrified of dentists. And nowadays, a bit more.

I am one of many Americans sans insurance, a lovely side effect of my chosen profession. So, many medical issues I may have I either handle on my own or ignore completely because I can't afford it. And it's not just the procedure costs, it's also the lack of income coming in if I have to stay home and recuperate for any duration. It gets frustrating because I know I'm just making things worse for myself, but when I'm trying to effectively support my younger brother and myself, priorities shift to survival mode and medical treatment hits the 'luxury' column.

I also have this fear of my own independence. I know, that sounds weird. But Thursday, I walked myself to the ER and back. I made myself go to work later that afternoon (thankfully they had the sense to force me to go home). My independece was the greatest gift my mom raised me with, but at the same time, how stupid can I get about it? I hate asking for help these days because I have had so many people flake out on me. But when I do eventually get these teeth out, I don't have anyone around to help me stop myself. It's a sobering, lonely, and infuriating condition. Hopefully I'll get it figured out sooner rather than later.

Fishy! (In A Good Way!)

J cooked for me Saturday night! Hell, J stayed over that night! I suppose I should back up...

I recently moved into a new apartment, downsizing my life to a comfortable, manageable degree. My place now is easy to maintain, I get to spend more time with my dogs, and ultimately it isn't a Shame Shack of a residence as I had taken to calling the former. And, since I still talk to J (I know, I know, really ought to quit that cold turkey already!), I mentioned i was in a new place that I was actually proud of and he was welcome to visit anytime. He decided to come over Saturday.

Now, I know him. I highly doubted he'd show- after all, he was coming over after he left work (late-ass o'clock) on his restaurants' busiest service night. In fact, I was convinced he wasn't coming. So when he told me he was going to bring food and cook for me, I made alternate plans.

I made Forelle Blau, also know as Trout au Bleu based off of a Lower Saxon recipe. Live-tweeted it the entire time as well (follow me @andiwredonkulus). It turned out really well, and I flipped on reruns of 'A Cook's Tour' to doze off to. 10:17pm, I got a text- "Just left 15 min ago"

I was flabbergasted. He was actually going to show up? Hell, I was getting a second dinner?? (Food shows make me hungry) And show he did. With food. At about 12:30am. I didn't care, I was over the moon and starving at this point.  He wound up making me a shortrib dish that is popular at one of his restaurants, and I can see why- granted, it wasn't my thing necessarily (it used whole grain mustard, which I am nooot a fan of), but the fact that he cooked for me was incredibly sweet. And even better? In the morning we collaborated on a frittata, and that turned out goddamned delicious. I'm feeling really good about things with J! I might even have hope for a future with him again.

In other news, going to be spending my morning making a couple different condiments- a special German hot mustard that my former boss taught me, and Jägersauce for schnitzel that I'll be making later in the week. I'll live-tweet the Jägersauce around 12pm EST if you are interested! In the meantime, here's the Forelle Blau recipe I used.

Forelle Blau
*serves two*

2 whole trout, cleaned
1pt stock (fish preferably, but chicken works too)
1c white wine
1/4c white wine vinegar
Salt
Black peppercorns

Boil your liquids together. While those are getting started, tie your trout into a u-shape by tying their lower jaw to the tail. Put the fish in a deep, roomy pot. Pour your boiling stock mix over it, then season with the peppercorn and salt to taste. Cover, let simmer for 15 min, then serve. Quick, easy, and pretty tasty!