GREEN IS THE COLOUR - The Green Italian Sandwich Veggie Condiment

Being a fan for decades now and finally deciding to concoct it on my own today is the Green Italian Sandwich Veggie Condiment. 

This photo of a Lioni's Hero Sandwich set me off on my endeavor.

What happened today was influenced Almost Completely Inherent of the Bay Leaf upon previous visual inspection and Gustatory perception I went the opposite and possibly wrong direction on my maiden voyage with a bag of Spinach Leaves as my base Ingredient but this is where experimentation and Palate tweaking within Recipes are found and abound.

Bag of Dole Spinach Leaves.

Chop and Dice so as to make a Sandwich Topping.

They do get Spinachy Soggy after a day or two but are still Delicious and Cristina loved them.

My brainstorming began wanting Greens with Balsamic Vinegar then I realized it needed some Olive Oil to compliment then in a Eureka moment decided to add a drop of Sesame Oil, well I may have added two drops as the Sesame Oil overpowered the damn thing but no one complained, Delicious.

A gratuitous photo of my groceries of the day (from noon clockwise).

Balsamic Vinegar, home made Bruschetta, 2 soft Loaves, Cold Cuts of a varying nature, Cubed Sharp Provolone and a can of Cento Italian Tuna.

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS - CITI FIELD, Queens, New York

Citi Field graciously offers its employee's a Free Breakast or Lunch as it were before they get going to work, well they say well fueled is well working, no they don't say that I just made it up. And it is a rushed Breakfast of sorts so you can get to your work station with time to spare.

Anyways there is a little cafeteria section past the employee entrance and I have enjoyed a few Meals there, none of this was Gourmet but certainly Edible Delectables and of course I had to grab a few pics. Everything is served in a Buffet style so you compose your own Salad and then are served the main Dish by Cafeteria employees. 

There is a Fountain Soda machine and Coffee/Tea station (not pictured) around the corner at the end as well but where the heck is the Hot Chocolate and the Booze!!!

Pulled Pork over Rice flanked by a Salad which I believe contains Greens, Corn and Shredded Cheese.

Greens, Shredded Cheese, Corn and a couple of Tomatoes.

This Is before I learned that the Salad Dressing packets were at the far end of the Buffet by the Cups and Sugar and such. 

Dunkin Donuts Cups mind you as that is the brand Citi Field sponsors, or do they sponsor Citi Field ?

AHAA !!! (in a Ralph Kramden voice). Chicken Cordon Bleu, one of my favorites.

Whilst waiting in the Chow line I spied these Breaded little cuties ahead of me and either Meat or Fish I wanted one. Certainly of the Frozen fare but fine, my only complaint is that the Cheese in the center wasn't Ooey and Gooey but hey this isn't Tavern On The Green.

Flanked by Rotini Pasta and a type of Green which I cannot completely identify but the Greens were kind of too Chewy so in the end I chucked them (in the garbage that is).

Salad is Greens, Shredded Cheese, most likely Corn under the Cheese and Beets.

I am not particularly a fan of Beets but the night before I dreamt of them so when I saw them I thought "Heck better get some". Topped with "Newman's Own" Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing post photo now that I knew where to procure the Dressing from.

Kind of a Marinated Chicken Breast but what is that green thing at the bottom of the photo ? might have come with the Chicken which was served to me but I haven't the foggiest, this in fact remains a mystery. Also some Salsa and Picco De Gallo atop the Chicken but there must have been a self serve station at the end of the line because in this fast moving and packed Cafeteria there is no time to ask for "a little spoon of this and a little spoon of that" once again this is an enigma.

BUT !!!

The Coup De Grace was the CORN SALAD.

On a personal level I love CORN SALAD ever since I played a gig at a rich persons house and during a break we were offered some Barbeque Food and I said "Gimme Sommadat".

From looking at the photo I see some Diced Tomato and maybe String Bean in the mixture but this does not matter, while I was looking down the Chowline with foresight to my choices (they always go to the right don't they) I knew I was going to say "Gimme Sommadat", actually I just said "Corn Salad Please" but I can imagine I am a Bad Ass can't I.

And here we come to the end of the 2015 Baseball season. This was taken on the morning of the first game of the Subway Series between the Mets and the Yankees (Mets Won Yay).

Roast Beast and Mashed Potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes were of the Real not powdered kind but akin to the title of this Blog Where Was The Gravy !!! but its OK I ate them all. The Roast Beef on the other hand was extremely difficult to cut with a plastic knife and not the tenderest cut so about half was finished.

Salad is a few Greens, two Cherry Tomato halves, Shredded Cheese and Corn topped also post photo by "Newman's Own" Creamy Caesar Dressing.

And of course a cup of Mountain Dew.

L & B SPUMONI GARDENS 5/1/15 Brooklyn, New York

THREE SQUARE MEALS A DAY.

The Sicilian Slice from L & B Spumoni Gardens is certainly my favorite "Square" and perhaps my cohorts as well whom I accompanied this evening, being Roberta (Billy Joel song), Sarah Crazy Child (Tyrannosaurus Rex song) and your narrator Spike (Tom Petty song) and what is not be agreed upon, Just Perfect.

A bit non-conformist and leading the pack placing the Cheese directly on the Dough and the Sauce on top making it quite a "backwards" Slice,... or is it ?

L & B's House Salad (Romaine Lettuce, Red Cabbage, Olives, Tomato, Radish, Red Onion) was shared amongst us and is available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs alike. At the end only some poor Radishes were left, none of us has ever purchased a Radish in real life nor possibly in the dream world as well but we all agreed and no offense but Radishes taste like Dirt, well they are grown IN the dirt so perhaps they retain this from their infancy.

The Rice Ball Appetizer - I did order Parmigiana so I think they got it wrong as charging $1.50 extra for a light dusting of Grated Cheese seems without warrant, HOWEVER these proved themselves quite formidable as they were the Rice Ball proper or at least the kind with Meat and Peas inside, I can still taste it now. 

Oh Wait, I have one as a leftover and I shall taste it again.

YUMMYYUMMYYUMMYYUMMYYUMMYYUMYUMYUMBURP.

And here you see that "The Proof Is In The Rice Ball"

(Sicilian Slice in the background not included) 

Incidentally as Roberta did not order a Sicilian Slice at the beginning of the evening they threw one in for free. This is extremely nice, good customer service, good business and perfect Pizza symmetry.

And perhaps an inherent fear and reverence for Raphanus, the Radish King of Venus.

Penne a la Vodka with Grilled Chicken, need I say more ?. OK I will

Penne a la Vodka with Grilled Chicken.

The Pasta was done perfectly just under Al Dente in a savory yet mild Vodka Sauce and there were little Mushrooms singing to us from the plate. Sarah Crazy Child swore it was a Macklemore song but Roberta refuted that it was in fact Taylor Swift and I suggested Klaus Nomi so we agreed to disagree and dug in. 

Actually I was late to the game as I was still contemplating a Rice Ball that was singing in a contralto voice "Who Wants To Live Forever" from my plate.

Did someone put something in our water ?

Sarah Crazy Child does not care for the Olive and while me and Roberta protested she plopped them onto her plate and then onto mine. "doop, doop, doop" they went and were quickly speared and devoured.

The Olive Garden has nothing on Spumoni Gardens.

Great Food, Great Evening.

L & B SPUMONI GARDENS WEBSITE

THE RADISH ON WIKIPEDIA

DINNER WITH JOE & JENNIE 4/30/15 Brooklyn, New York

I popped by Joe's this evening for a Drum & Bass rehearsal for our upcoming gig in two days and was invited to stay over for Dinner and this I did without further provocation, now I do know this man does not mess around and he said he had some sausage, then he told me he had a Spiral Sausage upstairs as well so I took him up on his offer knowing I would not be disappointed as I never am.

Chef Joe prepared a meal for Jennie and myself of Cheese and Parsley Sausage, Caesar Salad (with homeade Dressing) and Roasted Potatoes of the Super Ridiculous Delicious Kind.

I do tend to hover around Chef Joe as he prepares a meal even when its holiday time and there are 40 people to entertain in the house but I assumed the Onions and Peppers would be going into the Salad not realizing he had a Sausage up his sleeve.

Questioning him on why he did not Dice or Slice the Onion he informed me they were going to be Grilled.

"Aah-Soooo" my inner Asian self whispered. Joe was making Sausage and Peppers proper to go with the Salad and Roasted Potatoes.

Not to mention the Wine and Bread...

And for the Salad.

Homeade Croutons built from Semolina Bread and sautéed in Olive Oil.

Yes this photo might be a tad blurry but Chef Joe was working. I am certainly not going to stop him and say "Wait I need another shot" besides I had no idea it was blurry anyways.

But look at that Ring Grilling away and the Veggies right there on the grill. 

RIGHT THERE ON THE GRILL !!!

Presentation does mean a lot and this might as well have been a Hollywood production by Louis B. Mayer.

And the table is set. Of note is the Hotel Bar Whipped Butter with Butter Knife * (Joe and Jennie will know what I am speaking of) and a nice Bottle of Layer Cake Malbec Red Wine, mind you this tasted nothing like Layer Cake Cake it was a good Malbec. Layer Cake is the brand name.

Lets take a look at my plate of Food again, a first for this Blog to repeat a photo but...

Heavens To Betsy.

Look at those Potatoes mingling with the Roasted Veggies and that Sausage humping that Pepper,That Salad is a little slut just everywhere hiding her precious Croutons and that piece of Semolina as yet unbuttered trying to pimp them all out...

BUT I digress.

A Much Honorable mention goes to the Stuffed Pepper.

This was the first photo I took on this night as I spied these little babies in the fridge as Joe was gathering his wares and I munched on a Delicious Slice of Sopressatta.

Known also as the "Pepper Shooter" I and most call them Stuffed Peppers, the delineation I assume appeared because of the other larger Bell Pepper filled with Rice,Cheese and Meat so as not to confuse the counterperson or Deli Man.

All Hail The Stuffed Pepper.

* - I have come across quite a few people over the years who do not know what a Butter knife is, the conversation goes something like this.

Me - Might you pass me the Butter knife

Them - The What ?

Me - The Butter knife

Them - What ?

THE CUMBERLAND SAUSAGE ON WIKIPEDIA

WOULDJA HAND ME THAT FALAFEL

Tahini Sauce is not the easiest thing to come by in my neighborhood but I procured the last can at of all places my corner store and have been meaning to make Falafel's for sometime (Thanks Clare). So a Platter I did make complete with Pimiento Olives (which are the wrong kind) and some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, only after sitting down with my Plate did I realize I was missing Cucumber, well can't win it every time. The Pita Bread was heated directly on the stove burner which I recommend to everyone.

Perfectly offsetting the "Fried" of the Falafel Balls is some Tasty Veggies.

Maybe not the Miss America of Food Pics but here is the Falafel Mix in its pre-cooked state.

THINK BIG NOT TEENY WHEN ITS TORTELLINI

1/18/15 - "The Kitchen Sink" - I had lofty goals for my first Tortellini Salad but then decided to go with what you got as in stuff I had lying around, sounds like a good solid plan and it was. Asking around for Dressing advice there were many on offer but Chef Joe answered "Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt, Pepper and Parmesan Cheese" of which everything was on hand except I just had plain Red Wine Vinegar.

I added some Sliced Red Pepper Rings, Pimiento Olives and Diced Bermuda Onion (had to shop for that) along with a dash of Lemon Juice but what spoiled the broth was my insistence to do everything by eye and I splashed a bit too much Vinegar, next time I will use a teaspoon and go from there.

Tortellini and Tupperware work well together.

1/4/15 - Twelve Tortellini French Onion Soup with Grated Cheese of course.

JOE'S LINGUINI CARBONARAESQUE

This being a Food Blog I try to keep things impersonal but a bad day I did have and my good friend Joe invited me over and made me a Delicious Dinner in what can barely but technically be called "Fusion" dining. Mind you this was not the Mahavishnu Orchestra but for the Palate it was.

Joe made it a good day for me after all.

Carbonara Sauce containing Butter, Peas, Shallots, Parsley, Heavy Cream, Grated Cheese and to make it "Fusion" some Shredded Cappaciola. Help me out Joe, I may have missed some ingredients.

This was tossed with Linguini and Tempered Egg, of course there was a prepared Salad to compliment and enhance the Culinary experience.

The Delicious Salad consisted of Kale, Grape Tomato, Fennel and Pepperonicini but I don't remember the Pepperonicini (I am going from notes here folks).

For Appetizer, Smoked Mozz and Italian Bread.