CantaloupeAlone

I am a food tourist. Cultures have a lot to teach our taste buds. Bangkok is a dense sensory onslaught. Monks in rich saffron, tuk tuk drivers hanging, packs of students among hoards of international tourists and feral dogs weave and twist, elbow to elbow among hundreds of food stand lining every street, river, sidewalk, and corner during the daytime.  Stand in one spot, stretch out your arms and you'd be able to reach 5 different food carts all with several versions of some incredible dish you never knew existed. Its exciting. Mix with an enormous sweet icy Thai coffee and blast off. I count 16 trays of... something.... curry? The variety is immense. And what's in each? Tens to hundreds of ingredients. You could spend a lifetime eating everything in Bangkok.  Here is a great example of what the heck is that? I think its a banana leaf bowl with white congee looking stuff with more meaty brown good stuff. I didn't eat it. I want to go back and get it though....

Airpockets in a gluten-free loaf = major success. Plus it tastes good.  Back to updating this blog. I didn't go anywhere, except Asia. I'm not even that busy here, just in a new pace of life. One that does not involve as many hours around a computer. Seriously, I used to update The Cantaloupe on my lunch break and before going to work. I was shackled to a computer at least 10 hours a day. Now I'm scouting every wine glass, dish, ingredient, decoration, and detail while planning the menu that will make up my upcoming bistro wine bar in Taipei. That story is for another post, and this is the end of my excuses. On to the gluten-free baked goods. This gluten-free bread recipe turned out well! It did. It rose. There are air pockets in this loaf unlike the other heavy, mushy failures I have turned out. There is moisture (thanks zucchini) and flavor (mmm chocolate chips, buttermilk etc). What I have not fully nailed is the mouth-feel. Gluten free baked goods have a tendenc...

Soon to be open So a few things have changed. I don't live in Brooklyn. I live in Taipei, Taiwan and I am pursing food and cooking full force. I am starting a restaurant in The Taipei City Hall section of town, which is fancy to be short. I am not alone here. My pals Catherine and Michael who brought my out last spring are now my partners. I have some other expat and Taiwanese friends here. In fact the whole country is friendly, and loves to drink and eat. I feel pretty good about this move in whole. So what kind of restaurant am I starting? What will serve? What is it called? All of these facts will be revealed to you in good time. For now lets start at the beginning. My partners found an amazing location which needs renovation. Gutting and revamping has begun. I am told it will take one month. Disbelief is giving way to reality. Construction and labor are affordable and efficient over here. Here is brief tour of what we are working with.  The front   The...

I've been skipping out my CSA updates. I have big news. This is my LAST CSA share for some time. I am officially moving to Taipei in 2 weeks for a new culinary venture. Updates on that later. Let's talk about what's happen with the massive range of items in the Flatbush Farm Share this week. On top of tempeh, cheese, coffee and more the Flatbush Farm Share offers a range of products from Milk Not Jails . This now includes things like chocolate ice cream, butter, Hawthorne Farms kraut, bread, granola. So many options I feel spoiled. I bought 2 tubs of butter (THICK and creamy is my complete description), regular sauerkraut (so sour you feel it in your brain), and ice cream (sadly mostly melted and icy sort of like a frosty from Wendy's). I traded my half and half for some extra radishes. This is a great assortment of hard and leafy vegetables. Its the kind of variety that makes participating in a CSA really fun. The fruit has been coming in large quantities too, whi...

Salad, salad, chomp, chomp Salad days are back. Big, no huge, leafy heads of escarole, romaine, arugula, parsley are now decoratring my fridge shelves in big bouquets. I don't have much of meal game plan, just to eat salads. A little oil, salt and perhaps a handful of herbs I've been harvesting from Prospect Farm. The Farm at Miller's Crossing, who provides my vegetables should be proud of their snap peas which are sweet as candy. That's right vegetables for dessert. Flatbush Farm Share CSA Week 3 1 bunch Chiogga Beets 1 bunch parsely 1 bunch arugula 1 bunch huge escarole 1 bunch romaine 1 scant quart snap peas 1/2 lb garlic scapes, which I gave away 6 eggs 12 oz half n half 1 quart dark beautiful cherries

Grilla from Manila torching the coals I'll be the first to admit it: I misuse the term BBQ all the time. BBQ is the application of heat and smoke in a controlled (usually small) way to slow cook meat until it's falling apart, juicy, and good. BBQ is not easy, requires time, skill and patience to control wild elements like fire and wind. I know how to grill. A grill is just a metal grate that you rest over heat, often created from charcoal or gas. I've been known to cook over wood fire, too. It's not any different from cooking on a stove except that you're outside and you're in charge! In fact, I have a metal grill pan I use inside all the time, but yeah, it's not as impressive sounding is it? So let's be clear. BBQ is slow-smoked ribs, pork butt, pastrami, brisket etc. Grilling is for hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken pieces, fish, vegetables or anything that can be cooked on a grate over a fire. Use your imagination, and you'll find that lo...

 You better believe that half and half is going right over those berries Its only been a month since my last CSA pick up, but I was so hungry for my first pick up of the summer season. Its time for sugar snap peas, strawberries and arugula you can identify by scent from 5 feet away. Ooh its happening, all this week of the Flatbush Farm Share . I'm getting a single share (what you see above) of vegetables, sort of like a half share I think, single share fruit, 1/2 dozen eggs and 12 oz of half and half care of Milk not Jails . Tempeh, coffee, yogurt, and cheese are also availiable too, which is an incredible variety. Thats practically everything you need. I should mention that the sugar snap peas were nearly perfect and I ate about 1/3 raw between home and photographing.  Flatbush Farm Share CSA Week 1 1 bunch collards 1 bunch romaine lettuce 1 bunch arugula 1 bunch rabini (young broccoli rabe) 1 bunch beets June is strawberry time 1 quart strawb...