Month: August 2007

Recipe: Braised Beef Ribs

~ The Greek-o-Rican ~ 6 Comments

I love ribs. I must admit an attraction to the barbarian bone-gnawing involved. However, I can’t abide the price that they charge at the grocery store for a food product that’s 3/4 inedible by weight and which is traditionally considered a scrap cut of meat. I mean, who ever heard of paying $5 a pound for what’s essentially a string of bones chained together with a bit of meat and sinew? So I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a few packages of particularly meaty beef short ribs at the local Harris Teeter for a reasonable 99 cents a pound–and ended up coming home with about six pounds worth.

Ribs!

Read on to find out what became of this beefy treasure

Is It Food? Glucerna Shakes

~ The Greek-o-Rican ~ 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, during some caffeine-fueled fit of internet freebie hunting, I acquired a coupon for “One free multi-pack of Glucerna shakes (up to $11 off).” So I figured that, for free (or nearly), it was worth trying.

Food or Not?

Glucerna shakes claim to be a dietary supplement or meal replacement of some sort, intended “for people with diabetes.” In addition to a bunch of nutrients, it’s got low sugar, high fiber, and some strange ingredients like chromium picolinate and “Enova” oil, which are supposed to help with blood sugar levels and whatnot. Healthy? Perhaps. Useful for diabetics? Potentially. Regardless, there was only one question that I wanted to answer about Glucerna: Is it food?

Click here to find out!

Recipe: Tres Leches Cake

~ The Greek-o-Rican ~ 1 Comment

Postre de Tres Leches is a traditional Latin American dessert in which a dense, sweet cake is doused in a combination of condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream. It’s topped with a thick layer of whipped cream, which I guess makes it quatro leches, but who’s counting?Tres leches son deliciosos!

A few weeks ago Alton Brown made tres leches cake on the “milk” episode of Good Eats, and I’d been dying to try it. So, in preparation of getting together with some friends to watch Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, I thought I’d give the recipe a shot. (If anyone has appropriate puns for this juxtaposition, please let me know.)

Click here to read about our trip into the land of cream and sugar

Recipe: Midnight Quiche

~ The Greek-o-Rican ~ 6 Comments

So it’s about 10:30 when the Picky Epicurean and I get home from a lovely dinner engagement the other day. The Epicurean stumbles off to bed, as she tends to do. It’s about this time that I remember that I’m supposed to bring a an item into work tomorrow morning for a staff breakfast. What do I do, hotshot? Do I drive to the 24-hour grocery store and buy some bagels and cream cheese? Do I stop by the donut shop before work in the morning? Do I call in sick?

I do none of these things. Instead, I stay up until 1:30 making a freaking quiche.

Quiche!

Click here to learn of my foolish insomniac baking.

(Bad) Technique: Misadventures in saucing!

~ The Greek-o-Rican ~ 1 Comment

Last night The Picky Epicurean and I enjoyed some yummy chop steaks. (“Chop steak” is code for “hamburger without a bun,” to make me sound like less of a lazy cook.) The steaks came out pretty good, but I was rather off my game for the accompaniment. I ended up with partially burnt potatoes and grainy sauce, in the process rendering half a bottle of Two Buck Chuck and some otherwise-delicious caramelized onions totally worthless.

Learn more about my tale of woe by clicking here.