Daily Bittman

My time-honored approach to holiday shopping is the old "one gift for you, one for me" method, so while buying myself stocking stuffers, I picked up the How to Cook Everything page-a-day calendar for 2008. It's actually a recipe box stuffed with excellent, simple Minimalist recipes, and my only complaint is that you don't get 366 of them, but a few days share each page. However, it comes with month and type of dish dividers so they can be organized, you can take them with you, and it's going to be very helpful at that time of day when you sit there at your desk going "what the hell am I going to make for dinner?"

Today's recipe is for "Sweet Simmered Pork Chops" in a soy-sherry-ginger sauce that doesn't even require you to brown the chops first. I'm definitely going for it.

UPDATE:
This dish was AMAZING and easy. The only problem was that after I removed the cooked chops to the oven to keep warm while I reduced the sauce, I got caught up on the Internet and let it burn. So I had to remake the sauce, but it wasn't that much of a big deal, and so worth it.

Eat your heart out, Wimpy

Woo woo woo! The Shake Shack is now accepting orders by phone!

For those of you outside NYC, The Shake Shack is a very, very fine hamburger stand in Madison Square Park in the Flatiron District, and it's so popular that in the summer you can wait 45 minutes just to place your order. The one drawback: $25 minimum, so force your co-workers to order with you. They won't be sorry. (via peterwknox and soupsoup)

Proving once again that bacon makes it all ok

Probably lots of you read this latest Mark Bittman list of simple appetizers. I did, and it's time to close down my kitchen, because one of them is the best thing in world, and will simply never be surpassed, at least chez Cake: cut up pears into little pieces, sprinkle with salt, sugar, and a bit of cayenne, and put a piece of bacon onto each one. Eat.

Oh my god. Unreal. I'm serious. You should go make it right now.

Fishie Fishie Fish Fish

Here is something good -- frozen Alaskan Wild Salmon filets with "grill" flavoring I've been getting at Costco. One box has 6 individually vacuum packed filets, and they thaw in about 15 minutes or so in a bowl of water. The seasoning is probably basically paprika, salt, and pepper, with maybe a little lemon flavor, and all I do is bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes, then serve with a little Greek yogurt on the side and a salad. Presto! Low-carb, fish-oil-laden, virtually work-free dinner that isn't even embarrassing to serve for guests.

Something to ponder

During these dark days of winter, in this quiet time between Christmas and New Year's, it's nice to have a weighty philosophical question to consider.

If you had to choose, would you pick the slices of roast duck to eat right away, or a container full of rendered duck fat, for use in bringing glossy ducky dishes for months (OK, maybe weeks) to come?

Reading about food is like dancing about architecture

Sort of. Anyway.

Best. Edition. Ever. Of the New York Times Dining In/Dining Out section yesterday. In addition to a fairly customary (but good) piece on holiday cookies, there was a fantastic, tempting article on Caribbean black cake that calls for not just rum-soaked fruit (such as, say, Boozy Cherries) but more rum for soaking the cake and more rum in a glass on the side. Then there was a brilliant companion to Mark Bittman's list of summer dishes that take less than 10 minutes to make -- 101 appetizers, each at less than 20 minutes. There is a whole section on things wrapped in bacon. Swoon.

What I had for dinner

Just so you don't get the idea it's all homemade pesto and gourmet ice cream and grass-fed beef around here.

Dinner #1 (pre-Cirque de Soleil): pint of Bass

Dinner #2 (after show, back at home): 2 slices leftover pork roast, eaten with fingers; brownie