Today, I had off so i decided to do some cooking!
I made some hummus! Not just any hummus, but wicked-good hummus. I know what you're thinking: "Making hummus is no biggie." Whatever, dudes...yinz don't live in Korea. Just to get chick peas, i have to travel an hour by bus to the next big city. Also, tahini is impossible to find. It's not even in the int'l food shops (which tend to have a lot of middle eastern and indian foods) and i've looked through the best of them. So, i had to do some internets sleuthing for recipes and figured it all out.
First of all, Tahini is wicked-easy to make. Just take a bunch of sesame seeds and bake 'em in an oven for about 10 minutes at 400. Then blend with some olive oil until you get a nice spread-like consistency.
Next up is roasting the red pepper. Sounds like a sexual innuendo, but i assure you this is real! Basically, just take a red pepper and hold it over an open flam until it blackens and chars. Next, cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes. Then bake for 30 minutes at 400 with oil lightly drizzled on top.
Now, we've got the two hardest things to get/find/make/whatever here. To make the actual hummus, follow this recipe here. My lemon was rancid so i had to walk around for a half hour until i could actually find some quick lemon (not as good as the real deal, but beggers can't be choosers) and put in two TBSPs. I also had no fresh basil so i used dried and also added a pinch or two of parsley, some crushed red pepper and some fresh ground black pepper. All in all, it took pretty damn long to make, but ended up being pretty doggone swell.
Why would i go through all this trouble to make hummus when i don't even particularly like it? Well, back in Pittsburgh earlier this year, i had the goddamn best hummus ever! Since then i've been craving some BIG TIME. I think i've managed a pretty fair approximation of what i had back then. Now...if i only had pita. I actually found a good recipe for Pita which i plan on using, but that'll have to wait for another day.
In other news, LETS GO PENS!!!!!!! Fucking, eh! Six wins in a row in the playoffs. I don't want to jinx it, but my hope are going up for a damn good finish this year. I'm trying to start shit and do some trash talking to the only person i know from New York City, but it's not working...i don't think she gives a shit about hockey. Well, when the Pens knock off the Rangers, hopefully they'll be playing the Habs and make them the Hab Nots (muahahahaha!) and i can do some trash talking with the Candians 'round here. For those of you who think talking trash is poor form, i agree. But my version of trash talking is to come up with lame ass insults, then act like i done burned them good. So, it's like um....funny and stuff.
And finally, i went out on a coffee date with a Korean woman this weekend. It went pretty well. She's smart, attractive, speaks damn good English, loves travel (been to more places than i have!), has a Master's Degree, and.....lives at home...at 32 years of age. Now, i know in the West that's totally lame, but here in Korea, it's quite culturally acceptable for men and women to live at home until they get married and move out....however long that takes. So, she seems pretty cool and we'll see what happens from there. We're going to see Iron Man on Wednesday which should be pretty awesome. Anyways, this is waaaay toooo long so i'll ttyl mammy jammies.
I made some hummus! Not just any hummus, but wicked-good hummus. I know what you're thinking: "Making hummus is no biggie." Whatever, dudes...yinz don't live in Korea. Just to get chick peas, i have to travel an hour by bus to the next big city. Also, tahini is impossible to find. It's not even in the int'l food shops (which tend to have a lot of middle eastern and indian foods) and i've looked through the best of them. So, i had to do some internets sleuthing for recipes and figured it all out.
First of all, Tahini is wicked-easy to make. Just take a bunch of sesame seeds and bake 'em in an oven for about 10 minutes at 400. Then blend with some olive oil until you get a nice spread-like consistency.
Next up is roasting the red pepper. Sounds like a sexual innuendo, but i assure you this is real! Basically, just take a red pepper and hold it over an open flam until it blackens and chars. Next, cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes. Then bake for 30 minutes at 400 with oil lightly drizzled on top.
Now, we've got the two hardest things to get/find/make/whatever here. To make the actual hummus, follow this recipe here. My lemon was rancid so i had to walk around for a half hour until i could actually find some quick lemon (not as good as the real deal, but beggers can't be choosers) and put in two TBSPs. I also had no fresh basil so i used dried and also added a pinch or two of parsley, some crushed red pepper and some fresh ground black pepper. All in all, it took pretty damn long to make, but ended up being pretty doggone swell.
Why would i go through all this trouble to make hummus when i don't even particularly like it? Well, back in Pittsburgh earlier this year, i had the goddamn best hummus ever! Since then i've been craving some BIG TIME. I think i've managed a pretty fair approximation of what i had back then. Now...if i only had pita. I actually found a good recipe for Pita which i plan on using, but that'll have to wait for another day.
In other news, LETS GO PENS!!!!!!! Fucking, eh! Six wins in a row in the playoffs. I don't want to jinx it, but my hope are going up for a damn good finish this year. I'm trying to start shit and do some trash talking to the only person i know from New York City, but it's not working...i don't think she gives a shit about hockey. Well, when the Pens knock off the Rangers, hopefully they'll be playing the Habs and make them the Hab Nots (muahahahaha!) and i can do some trash talking with the Candians 'round here. For those of you who think talking trash is poor form, i agree. But my version of trash talking is to come up with lame ass insults, then act like i done burned them good. So, it's like um....funny and stuff.
And finally, i went out on a coffee date with a Korean woman this weekend. It went pretty well. She's smart, attractive, speaks damn good English, loves travel (been to more places than i have!), has a Master's Degree, and.....lives at home...at 32 years of age. Now, i know in the West that's totally lame, but here in Korea, it's quite culturally acceptable for men and women to live at home until they get married and move out....however long that takes. So, she seems pretty cool and we'll see what happens from there. We're going to see Iron Man on Wednesday which should be pretty awesome. Anyways, this is waaaay toooo long so i'll ttyl mammy jammies.