Happy Valentines Day, err, Eve, everyone!
I had this post scheduled to go up at 5pm last night. Apparently I
didn’t use GMT, so it’s now the 15th. Well, it’s still Valentine’s Day
on the West Coast! I hope you all had an amazing day and are now getting
your lips kissed off – or eating chocolate.
Since I have Part Four of my Bad Boy First Love written and it’s like
a mile long, I’m going to try and keep my Daring Cooks section as short
and sweet as I can. We were asked to make fried patties of some sort,
and one of the recipes offered to us was potato rosti, which is sort of
a mix between a giant potato latke and hash browns. I added bacon
lardons, scallions and brie to mine. It was suggested that the use of a
cast iron skillet was ideal, and I have three; an 8-inch, 10-inch and
12-inch, all well-seasoned,
or so I thought.
Once the underside of my rosti was cooked, some careful inspection
revealed there was no way I was flipping this baby over without it
falling apart. SO, I stuck it under the broiler to finish it and brown
the top. We cut slices out of the pan, and it came out well, but it
still would have broken into pieces had I tried to flip it.
I topped some slices with a sunny side up egg with roasted red bell
pepper hearts (cutting the egg into a heart shape proved a little
difficult since the white was so delicate and thin in some areas, but I
did my best, and I
think it still resembles somewhat of a heart
(??). For the rest of the rosti, I made a super quick brown
butter-cinnamon chunky applesauce, which was wonderful with it – recipe
following.
The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by
Audax (my pal) &
Lis (one
of my wifeypoos) and they chose to present Patties for their ease of
construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several
recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods
to produce our own tasty patties!
Next time I make a potato rosti I will either use a non-stick pan, or
make damn sure my cast iron skillet is VERY well seasoned,
and I
will definitely use an 8-inch pan since I halved the recipe, and
10-inches gave me a rather thin rosti. I prefer them a little thicker.
Now to Part Four, very apropos for Valentines Day eve, I think..until
the twist. For those reading for the first time, Part One is
HERE. Part Two is
HERE . Part Three is
HERE.
After drowning out my Mother’s yelling, I fell asleep, getting nudged
awake by my friend only hours later so we could go to the beach. We
always started lying out by 10 am at the latest and went all the way
until 4-5 pm. A savage tan was always the goal. Crazy to even imagine
it now – I don’t even
entertain the idea of the beach without
1 billion UVB sunblock! Being super young and feeling immortal is fun
while it lasts. I’m a staunch supporter of the occasional spray tan,
nowadays.
On our way out the door, my mother warned me she was going to go to a
pay phone and call my father (the cottage had no phone, but when you’re
at the beach you really don’t care).
I blew off her threatening words as we pushed the door open and got the hell out of there.
After a breakfast of Orange Julius, we made our way to the most
populated area of the beach…the one between the two piers. We always
rented places at the end of the boardwalk near Lavalette and usually
used the less crowded beach there, but it really depended on our moods.
On that particular day, we wanted quick access to some clothes and
stuff we were eyeing at Sand Tropez, a cool sort of ‘everything’ store
on the boardwalk.
I was still walking on air as we trudged down the beach to grab a
spot by the ocean. I knew my friend wanted to talk about everything,
but I just couldn’t give it all up..it was so special, so personal
(little did I know, many years later, I would be giving every detail
to a lot of people I don’t know, on a food blog).
“Yes, we kissed, but I spilled lemonade all over his lap in the middle of it”
We cracked up.
She liked hunky monkey, but it seemed he couldn’t keep his ‘paws’ off
of her once they had some time alone. He didn’t force it, but it left
her kind of ‘feh’ on him. However, she still wanted to see him again,
so it apparently hadn’t hit the ‘NO WAY’ point just yet.
As we played in the ocean, baked in the sun, joked with guys who came
armed with bad pick-up lines, and made up ‘pretend’ stories about
people lounging around us..I couldn’t help looking over at the pier
every so often, butterflies zipping through my digestive system, knowing
he’d be there at 4pm, and then..at midnight, we’d meet again. I kept
replaying the night/early morning over and over in my head. I could
still feel him, smell him..especially in the crook of my left arm, which
I’d bury my face in when lying on my stomach.
On our way back to the cottage, well-baked, happy, albeit exhausted, we passed the Casino Pier. She grabbed my arm and pulled..
“Come on, go say hi to him now!” she said, laughing hysterically.
She knew there was no way I’d show my NOT showered, ocean-haired,
greasy, suntan oiled skin, ‘self’ to him. We pulled back and forth –
screaming and laughing even harder.
I bet you can guess what happened. I turned around and there he was,
walking toward us – he’d taken a quick break to buy some sodas.
OH NO. OH NO. OH NO. Now it was over for sure! I quickly pulled my
sticky, tangled hair out of the pony tail holder and fluffed as best I
could.
I started plotting my friend’s demise
“Just get off the beach, silly girls?” he asked as he approached us. That smile again…JELL-O legs.
He took my hand and pulled me to him for a kiss, then wrapped his
arms around me. I was so gross! How could he even look at me, much
less touch me!?!
“Mmmm…your skin is so warm – you smell like a pina colada”
I started explaining why I looked so hideous. He laughed and told me I was adorable
and beautiful. I hadn’t realized he had such bad eyesight.
He lightly rolled a cold soda can down my back..which felt good in
the heat. He asked if all went well when I went inside after he dropped
me off. I told him the truth, leaving out the ‘curfew’ and ‘snuck out’
part, making it as if she was just pissed because she couldn’t sleep
when it got really late and I wasn’t home. He looked concerned..
“Would it be better if we picked you up tonight so you don’t have to
walk all the way down the boardwalk that late? I’ll turn off the engine
and coast to the house next door, so we don’t wake her up”
He was too awesome for words. I wondered how many lives I saved in my previous life.
I looked at my friend, who gave the ‘YES’, look.
“That would be great, you’re so thoughtful..thank you so much”
“You’re so polite, it’s cute” he said..then a long kiss. DAMN..can
spontaneous combustion occur from intense passion for someone?
“I’ll be there about quarter after 12, ok?”
“Yes, perfect!”
*I love you..I know I love you, I can’t explain
what else this feeling is, but you saw me looking like this, and still
want me – I am definitely in love with you*
“Stop by tonight and visit me if you’re around the pier
” *Oh, I want to, but I don’t want you to get sick of me so soon – I probably will stop by, regardless, I can’t resist this man*
As we turned and started home, I got a whole bunch of “Are you going to thank me, huh? huh?” from my friend.
Little did she know how close to death she had been if he had walked away in horror at the sight of me.
When we got back to the cottage, we showered then napped for about
two hours. During a quick dinner of chicken salad sandwiches, we
devised a plan to sneak out without getting caught now that Mommy
Dearest was on to us. We’d stay in tonight..just hang outside with our
new local girl friends. No ‘getting ready’ while my Mother was awake,
just a casual night in the neighborhood. Then we’d ‘get ready’ and
stuff clothes and whatever we could find that resembled heads, under our
blankets. An oldie, but goodie.
All was perfect come midnight..my mother bought our ‘casual night’ at
home and conked out around 10:30 pm. We rushed to get ready..brushing
our teeth, flipping and
fluffing our hair in unison in front of
the mirror, applying lip gloss, covering up the sunburn on our noses
from that day. Earrings in, then a
walk through a spritz of
our favorite scents. We were out the door by 10 after midnight. Within
minutes they were coasting up, headlights off.
When I settled into the front seat, he said he had a surprise for
me, He motioned toward a cup holder attached to the door next to me. I
laughed, but almost cried at his gesture. I wanted to kiss his face
all over – but saved that for when we were alone. No need to
disgust the backseat occupants chatting away about movies.
We dropped my friend and hunky monkey off at his place, then he asked if
I minded if we stopped at a friend’s place because he had to pick up
some CD’s. Like I said in previous parts of this story, as long as I
was with him, I could watch paint dry.
Onward to your friend’s place, Prince Charming – but really…
“Sure, that’s fine” trying to keep my voice from squeaking because I was so overjoyed being in his intoxicating presence.
Then came the face kissing to thank him for the cup holder. He said he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
*Is it ok for the woman to propose?*
When we got there, his friend was hanging with his girlfriend
watching a movie. Introductions all around. Dreamboat came up behind
me and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing my cheek as he and his
friend talked. I loved his affection, it was like being showered in
warm, melted chocolate. We stayed for about a half hour, Dreamboat
always near..holding my hand, keeping his arm around me, while I chatted
with his friend’s girlfriend. She told me how many woman were after my
bad boy. I told her I’d seen it with my own eyes. She laughed and
said..
“He’s like a rock star on the pier, does it bother you?”
*A little* “Noo, not at all, I mean, he doesn’t even seem to notice it, he’s so down to earth and cool about it”
“He’s a really great guy, and he’s really into you - I’ve never seen him like this with anyone”
Apparently I wasn’t the first girl who got a stint at Andy’s. Didn’t
bother me one bit, though..there was no way this guy was dateless and
celibate before me.
When we finally left..he told me he’d take me anywhere I wanted to
go. I wanted to go back to ‘our place’, the scene of the lemonade
disaster. He held my hand as he drove, in between switching gears. The
connection between us was crazy intense..just holding his hand sent all
kinds of sexy reverberations from my toes to my head.
He kissed my lips off again for the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours, in
between a walk along the bay, lots of playfulness and just pure
exhileration and connecting. He almost told me he loved me..but stopped
short. I almost told him I loved him – but stopped short. You just
couldn’t say that on a second date..it was impossible – we were feeling
the ‘newness’, right? But I melted nonetheless.
I KNEW I
loved him by then. I don’t care how crazy it sounds, it was there and
it wasn’t going away anytime soon. Thank god I had 8 days left with
him.
The next night was much of the same, except we played on the
boardwalk a while, then went to a secluded beach in Seaside Park –
laying down a blanket and just staring into each other’s eyes in the
moonlight, in between major make-out sessions, again. This little
romance was turning into an amalgamation of every early Bruce
Springsteen song where he falls in love beneath the stars over the
boardwalk and carnival lights, with his ‘Sandy’ or “Jersey Girl’, on the
beach, in the car, under the boardwalk..wherever, whatever. No it was
even worse..
Summer Lovin’, had me a blast
Summer Lovin’ happened so fast
STOP!
I wiped every trace of that one from my brain and continued to drown in his eyes and lips.
We had to pick up my friend and hunky monkey that night, so we said our real
goodbye before we went to get them. He told me he had the coming
Sunday off, all day and night and he’d love to finally be able to take
me out at a reasonable hour. *Any hour with you is more than reasonable – I’d go out with you ever night from midnight on, even if you didn’t work that late*
He wanted to take me so many places, I loved it.
“We could drive down to LBI (Long Beach
Island). ..there’s a lot of beautiful beaches there, then go out for an
early dinner, maybe see a movie…”
I felt like standing up and jumping up and
down like a little kid – like the time my father told us we were going
to Six Flags Great Adventure the very next day, out of the blue.
I could spend a whole day and evening with him worry free, no sneaking out.
We made our usual plans for the next night – took forever to say goodbye, then drove to pick up the music/movie connoisseurs.
Potato
Rosti Napoleon? I just sandwiched three slices of rosti with some
extra brie and put it in the oven for a few minutes. A glorious tasting
mess!
We had them drop us off at the corner, not
wanting to chance my mother being up and looking out the window. As we
walked up the street, I saw my father in the driveway packing up the
car. It was 3:30 am! WTF?? It was also a Thursday night, why was he
here?? He wasn’t here at midnight when we snuck out!
I ran with all my might right up to him.
“What are you doing here? It’s not the weekend, and why are you packing up the car? That’s one of my suitcases!!”
He ignored me and politely asked my friend
to go pack up her stuff. We were leaving because we kept sneaking out
and my mother had called him yet again in distress. He got in the car
at almost 1 am and made the drive to destroy my life forever.
“BUT WE HAVE 8 DAYS LEFT!! YOU’RE GOING TO
LOSE MONEY!” I screamed, trying to sort of reason with him – anything to
get him to change his mind.
“I don’t care, enough is enough, you continued to sneak out even when warned, you blew it, not me, not your mother”
I begged I pleaded, I cried – all to no
avail. Then I ran down the street in hopes Dreamboat and hunky monkey
hadn’t gotten that far yet. Maybe they were stuck at a really long red
light. I ran as fast I could..stopping and spinning around at points,
looking for that navy blue Beetle. I had to tell him, we hadn’t
exchanged any of the vital info yet, like last names, phone #’s
etc. I could barely catch my breath..I was shaking like a leaf, tears
streaming down my face. It was all very The Notebook-y.
He was going to think I just up and left
him. I was going to wither up and die without him. No Sunday, no more
of his kisses, I’d probably never see him again.
I sobbed as I walked back to the cottage.
Of course, as an adult, I would probably do the same if my teenage
daughter was sneaking out every night – with boys, but the 15-year old girl in me at that very moment felt it was the most awful thing any parent could do to their child.
The best 3 nights of my entire life, and it was over, just like that.
The car ride back home was NOT pleasant, to say the least.
Part Five coming soon!
If you have a few minutes, please check out
some of the unique, creative and delicious patties my fellow Daring
Cooks came up with, by clicking on the links to their blogs,
HERE. For a bounty of recipes for all kinds of patties, from the challenge, click
HERE.
Rest in Peace Whitney Houston. The tragic loss of a beautiful woman with the voice of angel.
Potato Rosti with Brie, Bacon and Scallions
Servings: makes two large rosti
Adapted from a family recipe from the Daring Kitchen
2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons feshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cornstarch, or use all-purpose flour
1 lb slab bacon without the rind, or thick cut bacon
7 oz wheel of Brie
! bunch scallions, sliced, dark ends saved for garnish
3 tablespoons oil, for frying
DIRECTIONS:
1. Dice bacon into cubes and fry until fat is rendered and it’s a deep
rust color. Strain off bacon grease and save for another use. Set aside
on a paper towel in a bowl.
2. Cut white, papery rind off of brie (you can keep it onI prefer it
off). Dice into small cubes, or shred, if brie is cold and firm.
3. Slice white and light green parts on the diagonal. Save dark green slices, also sliced on the diagonal, for garnish.
4. Grate the peeled potatoes with a box grater or a food processor shredding disk.
5. Wrap the grated potato in a cloth and squeeze dry, you will get a
lot of liquid over ½ cup, discard liquid since it is full of potato
starch.
Return dried potato to bowl add the egg, brie, bacon, scallions, cornstarch, pepper, and salt. Mix until combined.
6. Preheat a frying pan (a well seasoned cast iron is best, 8 to
10-inch) until medium hot, add 2 teaspoons of oil wait until oil
shimmers.
7. Place half of mixture into the pan, flatten with a spoon until you get a smooth flat surface. Lower heat to medium.
8. Fry for 8-10 minutes (check at 6 minutes) the first side, flip by
sliding the rösti onto a plate then use another plate invert the rösti
then slide it back into the pan, then fry the other side about 6-8
minutes until golden brown. Repeat to make another rosti.
Quick and Easy Brown Butter Cinnamon Apple Sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick – 4 tablespoons - 2 oz)
4 large Granny Smith (or any tart apples), apples – peeled, cored and chopped into cubes.
1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar, entirely depending on how sweet you like it
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 good pinch kosher salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large saute pan, melt the butter on medium low heat. Raise the
heat to medium and cook the butter until the liquid beneath the milk
solids that rise to the top is golden brown.
2. Add chopped apples to browned butter (beurre noisette) and saute
until apples start to soften. Sprinkle in sugar and let the apples
caramelize in the sugar. Stir in the cinnamon and kosher salt and cook
until the apples are brown and very soft.
3. Remove apples to a bowl, scraping out any brown butter, and mash
with a fork for chunky, or give it a whirl in the food processor (or use
a blender or stick blender) for a smooth apple sauce. When cool, place
in an airtight container in the fridge – it should last about 2 weeks,
or serve warm over potato rosti.
http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/potato-rosti-with-bacon-brie-and-scallions-plus-my-first-bad-boy-love-part-four/
