The Gravy Train

impromptu jalapeno

The other day I tried to make my favorite pimento cheese recipe.  It's in the Lee Brothers cookbook, and it's so much better than the gloopy mayonnaise version with jarred pimentos that I used to get after soccer games as a kid (in the South, there's always time for a mayonnaise-based sandwich, even in 90-plus degree heat). 

The only problem was that I forgot to buy the red bell pepper I needed.  And these days, when I forget something at the store, there's no quick popping out for 5 minutes anymore. Loading up the Gravy Baby and all his accroutrements requires at least 30 minutes, plus additional stopping time so that the squawking Chinese ladies at the market can coo over him.  Luckily, I had some jalapenos on hand, so I blackened those.  Oh, and I added a shot of bourbon.  Because bourbon makes everything better.

when it's hot and humid, just roll with it

Vietnamese summer rolls are one of my favorite snacks to beat the heat

In the hot, humid weather of Southeast Asia (and, from what I hear, in many places back home right now), a cool, crisp Vietnamese summer roll is the perfect way to make a refreshing snack without having to turn on the oven.

I learned how to make summer rolls last year, in a class taught by a teeny tiny Vietnamese lady who also taught us to make pho, that classic Vietnamese beef noodle soup.  She does it by simmering bones all night to make a flavorful stock, and I watched her scrub and break down a combination of leg, knuckle and ox-tails for the soup.  After placing the bones in a pot to cook with some water, she threw in a variety of spices that she called "basic pho spices."  It was at this point that I thought to myself, "I will never, ever be able to make this dish by myself."

goodness, in deviled form

This morning I hosted a "Jersey Shore" brunch for some of my girlfriends.  The hubby and I regularly keep our finger on the pulse of American pop culture, and therefore we'd felt it our civic duty to download the season pass for the show when we'd discovered that the people featured on the show were now being mentioned on major media outlets such as CNN.  

Oh, who am I kidding?  I enjoy openly gawking at the insanity.

Anyway, in the spirit of the loosely-Italian themed morning, I wanted to replicate my favorite deviled eggs, available at 2 Amy's, a Neapolitan pizzeria back in Washington, DC.  The eggs aren't entirely Italian, but the green sauce accompanying the eggs taste vaguely so.  In all the months since we've lived here in Kuala Lumpur, I haven't craved many foods from home, but if I had to choose one thing, it would be a night out at 2 Amy's.  

Happily, after searching around on the trusty internets, I found that The Washingtonian actually reprinted 2 Amy's exact recipe.  They turned out as I remembered them -- tangy, creamy, salty and sweet, just like home.

cover your eyes, nonna

I offer my apologies to all dogmatic gastronomes and Italian grandmothers out there whose brains will start imploding when they see these completely unauthentic Italian caprese salad skewers I made last week.  It took me only a few minutes to assemble tiny balls of mozzarella, grape tomatoes, and fresh basil onto bamboo skewers, and I finished them off with a generous sprinkling of sea salt, fresh grated pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  The hubby's co-workers were molto appreciative, and I got away with making an easy, no-cook snack for his work gathering.  

(Recipe follows, after the jump.)

every party needs some cheese and butter

At our housewarming party, one of the hits was this boursin I made out of fresh herbs, cream cheese, and the world's tastiest flavor enhancer, butter.  I didn't even know it was possible to make your own boursin until I had it about a year ago, at my friend Jeremy's house.  Jeremy's dad, Bobby, is a food fanatic, and he made a massive meal for one of our Family Dinners, the focal point of which was one of the most delicious cioppinos I've ever had.  Before the steaming hot bowls of cioppino arrived in front of us, we snacked on his homemade boursin.  I drew on everything I had in me to keep from grabbing that bowl of boursin, running out the door, and living life on the lam, just me and my boursin.

During the housewarming party, one of our new friends, who is originally from France, held court strategically in the corner of the room, right next to the boursin.  With a glass of red wine in hand, he snacked on that herbed cheese all night.  I take that as a huge compliment.

back in the saddle: stuffed mascarpone dates in bacon

Above: the perfect happy hour snack

Seven weeks after we packed up our house and moved here, I'm cooking again.  It's been a challenge to motivate myself back into the kitchen, because dining out here is just such a delicious experience, and it's also really hard to want to cook with the two borrowed pots we have, especially when we're using one to wash our clothes.  Just kidding. 

However, this week, the hubby had two work functions that required us to bring something, so on Wednesday I made a watermelon-feta-mint salad based on a recipe from my geriatric crush Jacques Pepin.  Then, today, I made these beauties pictured above.  Local dates are plentiful this time of year because during Ramadan, Muslims break their fast by first eating something sweet, and dates are one of the many sweets of choice.  I bought 2 kilos (approximately 4 pounds) of these dates for less than $2 US dollars, and then promptly turned around and spent $10 on the mascarpone.  

The version I made for the hubby's colleagues were sans bacon, because I figured that wrapping snacks in pork for a holiday happy hour leading into the biggest weekend of Ramadan probably wasn't the most culturally sensitive thing to do.  Naturally, I came home and promptly rolled up a few of these tasty suckers in the stuff that makes everything taste better.

After the jump, my recipe, adapted from Food & Wine: