Tuna fish sandwich

Bill made me lunch today and spruced up a plain tuna fish sandwich with dijon mustard, worchestershire sauce, and a couple of garlic-stuffed olives.

White Beans with Pickled Red Onions

As the Moosewood Cookbook says, these beans are "delightful by themselves, and downright smashing when topped with a mound of pickled red onions." Both are very easy to make and the onions are great with the beans, on sandwiches, on pizza, or however else you can think to use them.

White Beans
3-4 c cooked white beans
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c parsley, minced
2 tsp dill

Mix all ingredients and chill

Pickled Red Onions
1 c cider vinegar
1 c water
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp whole peppercorns
4 red onions, sliced paper thin

Combine all ingredients except onions.
Pour a quart of boiling water over the onions to wilt them, then drain and put onions in marinade.
Let sit for at least several hours. Will keep in fridge for ages.

Boca "chicken" wings and bbq sauce

My mouth is totally burning up right now. (That's a good thing in my book.) I got these fake chicken wings on a whim the last time I went shopping. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of food that is pretending to be meat, but Boca has earned a bit of brand loyalty from me - their burgers and bratwurst are actually yummy, rather than tasting like dust, or too much like meat, which grosses me out. So the chicken wings are flavorful and a little crunchy without being dry or greasy, but best and most surprisingly of all, they are actually spicy. The box says hot and spicy, which on most products just means barely approaching mild and forget about medium, but here is true. To add to the heat, Bill whipped up this great bbq sauce:

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

Hell Night

Last night we went to East Coast Grill with another couple to enjoy Hell Night, where most of the menu is spicy food. Of course I forgot my camera, but even without pics I had to mention it, because Hell Night is not to be missed. They do it a few times a year and you have to get reservations in advance - it fills up fast.

Fortunately, our friends are food sharers, so we got to sample lots of stuff. What I remember:

Calamari - tender fried rings of goodness. Much less chewy than almost any calamari I've had ever, and with a nice medium-hot spicyness.
Ceviche - shrimp and fish (snapper? I forgot) with mango and avacado. Delicious and tangy, but only a tiny, tiny bit spicy.
Bluefin - melt in your mouth amazing. Some of the best fish I have ever had. Medium spice.
Sweet mashed potatoes - probably my favorite side dish. Creamy, sweet, with a lovely slow-building heat. Medium-hot.
Greens - tons of tasty vinegar
Fried sweet potatoes and plantains - no one does these better than East Coast. Crunchy, chewy carmalized outside/melty, tender smoothness inside. Not spicy.
Jalapeno cornbread - a little drier than I like my cornbread, but still way more than edible with a bit of butter. Medium spicy.
Salmon - delicious and hotter than the bluefin, but not as mind-blowingly tender. Still amazing, as is almost everything. Came with a hot chutney that was also great.
Ginger coleslaw - super crazy gingery. Unusual, refreshing, terrific.
Rocky Road Ice Cream with habanero - I'm not a huge rocky road fan, so this wasn't my favorite. I do like spicy ice cream, though, so I ate my share. If you're looking for ice cream with heat, I'd recommend going to Toscanini's and getting their super fabulous Aztec Chocolate (with cinnamon, pecans, and spiciness) or almost-as-good Spicy Cinnimon Pecan (similar, but in a vanilla base. You know how I feel about vanilla-based ice cream, so the fact that I'm even recommending it should speak volumes as to it's yumminess). Unfortunately, they only have them a few weeks a year, but Toscanini's is a place you should be checking regularly anyway.

Pizza

I haven't been thrilled with any of the local pizzas. Some are edible, some not, 3 Aces comes closest to being good, but there's nothing near great. So you have to do what you can at home. We used a ready-made crust, which wasn't fabulous, but didn't suck. What made this better than delivery was the fresh mozzerella, decent green olives, and especially tons of fresh garlic. (I was burping it up all night, but it was worth it.) We didn't have any "pizza sauce" and instead used Muir Glen Organic Spicy Tomato Pasta Sauce, much better, in my opinion. Add some fresh tomato slices and pop in the oven and you're done.