Salsa Roja!

I'm pretty sure this is the kind of salsa I was looking for. The recipe doesn't call for tomatoes at all! The red is purely from the chiles. What a revelation.

SALSA ROJA
==========
Ingredients:
------------
3 dried New Mexico, pasilla, guajillo, or ancho chiles
3 dried serrano, chile arbol, or Thai bird chiles
3 medium cloves of garlic, separated from the head but skins left on
Boiling water
Salt to taste

Instructions:
-------------
Heat a large flat griddle or skillet over high heat. Place the chiles on the dry skillet, along with the garlic. Check them every few minutes, looking for brown spots as they toast on the dry griddle; turn both the chiles and the garlic cloves, keeping an eye on the color and more importantly on the aroma. When the scent changes and takes on a toasty, rich character, they're done. Remove them from heat and let them cool for a few seconds.

When cool enough to handle (the peppers cool more quickly than the garlic, which in turn takes longer to cook), pull out the stems, veins,seeds and placentas from the chiles. Tear the skins into medium-sized chunks and place them in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over them just to cover, then place a smaller bowl or saucer over the peppers to keep them immersed in the water. Set your timer for at least 30 minutes before continuing.

After the peppers have had time to soak well, pour the peppers and water into a blender. Peel the skins off the garlic cloves (which should smell sweet, smoky and wonderful in their own right) and drop them into the blender as well. Puree thoroughly. The sauce will be chunky; if appearance is important, you can strain it through a wire strainer to get the larger pieces of the skin out of the mixture. (I begrudge the amount of sauce that clings to the mesh myself...) Taste it; add salt and serve immediately.

Many thanks to the author of this recipe, whoever he or she is. I found copies of it in a recipe archive at Carnegie Mellon, as well as on this New Orleans-related site.

Off I go to run errands and pick up some dried chiles!

My Spanish es malo

Here's the Google translation of what I mistakenly thought was going to be a great salsa recipe:

Ingredients: 2 chopped onions. 3 pickled gherkins. 50 gr. of butter. 4 tablespoons of vinegar. 4 tablespoons white wine. 6 tablespoons of tomato sauce. 1 minced cayenne. Parsley. Sal

Preparation: Put the chopped onion in a saucepan with vinegar and white wine. Cook over low heat until the liquid is consumed by half. Add chopped pickles, tomato sauce, the cayenne and salt. Let bake 10 minutes more. Add the parsley and butter, stir. Served to accompany grilled meats or grilled.

First of all, Google translations are icky. Secondly, darn. I don't think this is what I'm after.

On the upside, after surfing some more, I have found out that what I'm seeking is probably salsa roja. As opposed to salsa cruda or fresca or salsa verde.

Wikipedia says salsa roja is made with cooked tomatoes, chiles, onion, garlic, and cilantro. But elsewhere, I am reading that salsa roja is made by toasting dried red chiles, then putting them through a blender with garlic.

The quest to learn how to make salsa roja (if that is indeed the yummy stuff served by taco trucks) continues...

On a quest to make real Mexican salsa

I love hot salsa, not the chunky mild stuff, but the kind that is dark red and smooth and spicy. I've only gotten the good stuff out of big jugs at taco stands or served with chips in hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants.*

My new mission is to learn to make this simple, proletarian (read: no mangos) kind of salsa for myself. Sadly, I can't figure it out just by taste. I do know it's not just chopped-up tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, cilantro, and lemon juice -- those are the ingredients in your standard Internet recipes for salsa, but you will just end up with pico de gallo.

A Google search in Spanish (after looking up the word for recipe, receta), has led me to a recipe that looks pretty promising. My Spanish is not good, but I can tell that this recipe involves vinegar and cooking the salsa.

The recipe is pasted below, in case some kind person would like to translate it for me. Otherwise, my next post will be my attempt at a translation, with a dictionary's help, and maybe a report on my attempt to make this salsa.

Ingredientes:

2 cebollas picadas.
3 pepinillos en vinagre.
50 gr. de mantequilla.
4 cucharadas de vinagre.
4 cucharadas de vino blanco.
6 cucharadas de salsa de tomate.
1 cayena picada.
Perejil.
Sal.

Preparación:

Poner la cebolla picada en un cazo junto con el vinagre y el vino blanco.
Cocer a fuego lento hasta que se consuma el líquido a la mitad.
Añadir los pepinillos picados, la salsa de tomate, la cayena y la sal. Dejar
cocer 10 minutos más.
Agregar el perejil y la mantequilla, remover.
Sirve para acompañar carnes asadas o a la brasa.

Link to the recipe

* The Chinese equivalent of is that homemade, oily chili brew in the tabletop condiment jar of your local Chinese eatery.

1,000 calories in little bites

Eaten at a leisurely pace, over the course of 3 hours, not thinking it was much food at all --

• 1 whole milk yogurt: 230 calories
• 1 chunk of crusty bread: 140 calories
• 3 slices salami: 100 calories
• olive oil & balsamic vinegar
• 1 glass red wine: 120 calories
• 1 artichoke: 65 calories
• vinaigrette, to dip: 130 calories
• 1 more glass red wine: 120 calories

Total count: 1035 calories

Hmph. I might as well have gone for an In-N-Out cheeseburger (480 calories) and fries (400 calories).

Obama and Bo

Amid complicated times, a simple happy moment.

Photograph by Pete Souza/White House via AP, courtesy of news.nationalgeographic.com

Farm Boy in Palms - Produce Heaven, Checkout Hell

Farm Boy: A quirky Korean-owned grocery store in Palms with which I have a love-hate relationship. It's on Overland Ave. about half a mile down from Trader Joe's.

A tangent: I was just going to post about the weirdness of Farm Boy. But I got sidetracked by some interesting stuff on the Web: Apparently Farm Boy is a small chain of at least two grocery stores, and its business strategy is to be near Trader Joe's. There is also a Farm Boy in Sherman Oaks also in close proximity to a TJ's.

This seems a good strategy, because the clientele that Farm Boy attracts is similar to TJ's - foodies, yuppies, well-to-do family people - and these customers are likely to be ripe (sorry) for another place to buy produce, TJ's produce section being limited to mostly prepackaged stuff. i.e. It's good for if you want a whole bag of onions, but bad for if you want just one onion.)

Now, on to what I wanted to say:

I like Farm Boy because of its focus on fruits and vegetables. The product is cheaper and better than in mainstream supermarkets, where produce is usually overpriced, impossibly big and beautiful, and inevitably tasteless. But since Farm Boy's produce is more "real," it means you have to be somewhat vigilant and choosy.

Farm Boy has become an after-work routine, a place on my way home where I stop to pick up some staples like tomatoes or avocados. If I'm famished, I splurge on one of the more pricey non-produce item that Farm Boy carries: Cheese, dried fruit, gummy candy, or some house-made Korean snack like veggie pancakes.

That is the fun part.

But when it's time to check out, some sort of subtly unpleasant exchange always manages to bring me down.

If the owner-husband is at the cash register, he rings me up so quickly - magician-like, almost - that I can't tell what he has charged for individual items, and my total always comes out higher than expected. One time, as a result of a misleadingly priced piece of cheese, I asked for a receipt. A little taken aback, he printed one out and gave it to me. During my next visit, I think he remembered me: My couple of dollars in change he basically chucked on the counter for me to pick up.

Today, I got the wife. She's nicer, though in an overly polite sort of way. When she was about to ring up some blackberries, I made sure to point out I had gotten them from the stand outside the front door, where they were priced at $0.99. Inside, in the refrigerated section, they were $1.99. She said, "Ok! 99 cents!" and rang them up. Then she looked at a little nub of ginger I had, which I had twisted off one of the two giant ginger roots available for sale (because I just wanted a little ginger, and those roots had been really big). She frowned a little, almost imperceptibly. Rang it up for $0.25.

I left feeling like I had finally shopped at Farm Boy without being taken for a ride. But then I got home and opened the blackberries. Some had a white fuzz on them already, and the ones that looked okay were already past the point of sweet. As in, too ripe and not sweet anymore, though not yet rotten.

Farm Boy: 1 point (for selling me sucky blackberries)

Laura: 1 point (1/2 point for the ginger nub and 1/2 point for avoiding getting charged $1.99 for sucky blackberries)

* Does this post make me sound like a really cheap person? If so, God forgive me. But the owners are Asian too, so they should understand. They would do the same if they were shopping there.



Photo courtesy of www.laist.com

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese - won't someone make this for me? I want to watch.

A recipe for lobster macaroni and cheese. I am typing it out for your pleasure out of the December 2005 issue of Bon Appétit, because I scoured the Web and could not find it. I will probably never make this dish, but it makes for delicious reading.

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

6 to 8 first-course servings
...because after going to all this trouble, it had better be tasted by more than just two people

2 live lobsters, 1 3/4 to 2-lb. each

9 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1 bay leaf

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup coarsely grated Gruyère
1 cup coarsely grated aged white cheddar
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco)

12 ounces orecchiette or medium shells
6 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Cook 1 lobster in large pot of boiling salted water until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to large bowl. Repeat with second lobster. Reserve boiling liquid.

Working over bowl, twist off tails and claws from lobster bodies, reserving bodies and juices in the bowl. Crack claws; remove meat. Split tails; remove meat. Transfer meat to bowl and chill. (Or at least have a glass of wine.) Rinse lobster bodies. Break all shells into 3-inch pieces, cutting bodies with kitchen shears. Reserve shells in bowl with any juices.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in another large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and bay leaf. Saute until onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add reserved lobster shells and any juices. Stir 2 minutes. Add 4 cups reserved lobster boiling liquid. Boil 18 minutes. (18 seems awfully specific. But okay.) Strain lobster broth into medium saucepan; discard shells. If necessary, boil lobster broth until reduced to 2 cups.

Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in the same pot over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour. Stir 2 minutes. Whisk in lobster broth, then mustard and cloves. (Ahhh, this is the sauce we are making. And it's going to taste extra-lobstery) Whisk in cream and half-and-half; bring to boil, whisking constantly. Add Gruyère, cheddar, and hot pepper sauce. Whisk until sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper. (Sauce and lobster can be made 3 hours ahead. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of sauce; chill. Keep lobster meat chilled. Rewarm sauce before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter 10- to 12-cup casserole dish. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Place pasta in large bowl. Add sauce and stir to coat. Cut lobster meat into 1-inch pieces. Stir lobster meat and chives into pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta mixture to prepared dish.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add panko; sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle crumbs over pasta.

And at last...

Bake until bubbling and heated through in center, about 25 minutes*.

* One last interjection: 25 minutes at 425 degrees seems a bit long. What a shame it would be to end up with rubbery lobster. As with all cooking, keep an eye on it and use common sense!

Sunday, Sunday

The cat has been in the same spot by the window all morning, even though it is a cloudy day. Maybe the UV rays do something for her.

I am having a great Sunday, mostly because there is not much to do. Only:

1) Write a birthday card
2) Nose around on Facebook
3) Run some old bills through a paper shredder
4) Clip recipes out of old food magazines and arrange them in this order.

• Soups, like balsamic-tomato soup and cold zucchini-and-cucumber soup.
• Light starter-type things like fried eggs on asparagus, bruschetta with fava beans, grilled bitter greens salad
• Comfort foods like lobster macaroni and shepherd's pie
• Elaborate seafood and meats, like steamed mussels with sausages and fennel and roast pork loin with Italian salsa verde, which is different from Mexican salsa

Notice that there are no desserts on this list. I just can't get excited about making desserts.

A plug directed at the aspiring screenwriter in all of us

Have a script you'd like to sell? Know someone who does? If you/they'd like professional feedback on it, please check out this up-and-coming script reading service: http://www.scriptdoctoreric.com/. It's Eric's, obviously. So any referral would be much appreciated.

A good day

Various observations on Obama's Inauguration Day

1. A really busy day at work, but from the snatches of news reports I caught on NPR while in the car and from websites, it sounds like the nation is touched. Nay, the world. I could say the same about myself.

2. The most important part of Obama's speech:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

3. You know you are overwhelmed at work when you update your to-do list and two of the action items are to get through two other, different checklists.

4. We have finally made a hire! And we are excited about her. On her plate: (1) Learn the products, (2) Learn the customers, and (3) Restore Laura's faith in the American worker.

Not using online coupon codes is for chumps

My new thing is finding coupon codes for online purchases.

It takes about 15 seconds to find one. Just type into Google: "[name of online company you were about to give money to without entering a coupon code, like a chump] coupon code."

Enter it -- and poof! It's like there's money on the ground, and you just need to go to the trouble of picking it up.

Call me a penny-pincher, but I get real joy out of this. And afterward, I like to imagine what I could go buy in sushi with the money I just saved.

E.g. With the 9 bucks I saved a half hour ago on Canadadrugs.com with coupon code PPC-0207, I can now go get the following at Hide Sushi: 2 pieces of yellowtail nigiri and a vegetable roll. Or a scallop special and a tamago. Or one order of dynamite. Oh yeah!

If ground turkey is what you have on hand...

Cheating again and posting recipes that I send to my brother in college, in place of a real blog entry:

Stuffed bell peppers

2 bell peppers, any color
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup cooked rice or veggies (I chopped up some boiled carrots/cabbage that I had in the fridge, but frozen corn or carrots could also work, as long as it is a veggie that is not watery)
Seasonings (Like oregano or parsley, chili flakes, salt and pepper)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, scooping out the insides but leaving the stems intact. Spray or brush the empty peppers lightly with oil and pop them into the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the onions in a frying pan, then add the ground turkey. When the meat is nearly cooked, add the cup of rice or veggies and half the can of tomato sauce, and combine well. Add seasonings and taste the mixture. It should taste good on its own.

Take the peppers out of the oven and stuff them with the filling, then pour the remaining tomato sauce over the peppers. (This will help them stay moist.) Put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes, or until they smell and look good.


Turkey meatballs

1 pound of ground turkey
1/2 onion, chopped
1 fresh egg yolk
Breadcrumbs or crackers smashed to bits
Seasonings (Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper -- whatever you might put in a meatloaf)

Sautee the onions in a frying pan. Let the onions cool, and put them in a big bowl with all the other ingredients and seasonings. Combine well but do not overmix. Using your hands or a pair of spoons, form the mixture into balls.

Pan fry the meatballs in a pan over medium-high heat until they are cooked through and nicely browned on all sides. These can store in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for longer. Eat them simmered in tomato sauce over spaghetti or in a meatball sandwich with some tomato sauce or ketchup.

A very merry Christmas, and Lulu's remarkable recovery

An update on our very brave little dog's progress since the car accident in July. Many thanks to our veterinarian, Dr. Lee, and to the makers of the Thera-Paw Dorsi-Flex Assist foot wrap. He put her back together, and the device helped Lulu become a fully four-legged creature again.

Recovery timeline

July 30 - Lulu is run over by a car, suffering a broken hip and pelvis, plus smaller fractures and abrasions.

August - Dr. Lee is unsure whether Lulu's left hind leg can be saved, due to nerve damage. He lets the dog rest for a week and monitors the leg for response to stimuli. On the 7th day, there is still no response and we are faced with the decision of whether to amputate the leg. But Dr. Lee makes the crucial decision to wait a few more days. On the 10th day, the leg finally responds. Lulu undergoes multiple surgeries to rebuild her hip and pelvis, but the vet warns she may never walk on that leg again. Lulu's hospital stay lasts for three weeks.

September through October - Her hind legs in an atrophied state, Lulu can only get around with her front legs, plus a carrying device wrapped around her belly and lifted by hand. Eventually, she regains muscle in the uninjured right leg and starts trotting on three legs. Mom patiently does daily massage treatments on the injured left leg. After some time, Lulu starts to put pressure on the left paw, but in an upside-down "knuckling" position. She has to wear a rubber shoe at all times to protect the soft top of her foot.

November - Lulu gets a Thera-Paw Dorsi-Flex shoe, which corrects the knuckling. She likes it at first and tolerates wearing it. But after two weeks, she resists putting on the shoe and hides it in the ivy several times. Amazingly, her muscles have regrown to such an extent that she now steps on the injured paw mostly right-side up. But she still finds it easier to lift that paw and run on her three good legs.

December 25 - She runs easily on the injured paw (see video shot today), only occasionally lifting it. Merry Christmas, Lulu!

Top 10 mistakes to avoid when applying for a job

DO NOT:

# 10 - Use cute abbreviations as though you were firing off a text message to a friend, as in "Pls see the attached resume and letter. Thx."

# 9 - Send your resume from an unusual e-mail address, like bigmoerocks@yahoo or lovezthempinups@aol.

# 8 - Write your entire cover letter and resume in ALL CAPS.

# 7 - Make your cover letter one long 300-word paragraph. That is a lot of paragraph.

# 6 - Attach a photo of yourself. e.g. A glamour shot, or a photo "taken last night" in your apartment.

# 5 - Write in your introductory e-mail, before anyone has offered you a job, that you expect to receive X amount in salary, plus medical coverage, plus car-related expenses.

# 4 - Submit a resume that has zero relevance to the job opening, with no cover letter explaining how anything you've done is in any way relevant.

# 3 - Make really standout spelling errors, like

• "Goo morning!"
• "My salry expetation is no less than $40K."
  

# 2 - Attach two resumes that list totally different companies you've "worked" for. Over the exact same time frame.

# 1 - Be weird. By writing, for example, that you are like Kobe Bryant except that your MVP stands for "Multi-Talented, Victorious, and Persistent."

Thanksgiving 2008 menu

Starter
Bloody Maries
Prosciutto-wrapped dates

The Meal
Roasted turkey
Giblet gravy
Bread stuffing with apples, dried apricots, and olives
Cranberry jelly (dressed with orange slices)
Creamy mashed potatoes (with snipped chives on top)
Marshmallow candied yams
Mushroom bake (button, crimini, oyster, shiitake)
Balsamic roasted asparagus
Roasted pearl onions
Steamed squashes
Fresh bread
Cabernet Sauvignon

Dessert
Fruit Plate
Pumpkin pie
Cherry pie
Tea

Our place in the world

The amount of attention that Barack Obama's election victory has generated abroad should fill us with pride. Despite our grave mistakes and ever-inward focus, we are a nation that other countries continue to look to. Maybe it's that we have just too compelling a storyline, like a TV series you continue to watch even through a really poorly-written season.

I hope that Americans marvel at all the attention, like I do. I hope it engenders some humility in us and a renewed sense of the responsibility we have toward the rest of the world.

My biggest reason for supporting Obama was that - because of his racial background and his promise as a thoughtful, intellectual leader - his election would in one fell swoop make right so many wrongs that have been done to America's image by the Bush administration. Even before Nov. 4, I imagined the world headlines and thought how great it would be able to get copies of these glorious front pages so I could roll around in them, like the world's happiest pig in mud.


































































Special thanks to www.newseum.org for collecting the world's front pages and making them available to all.

Stewed Chicken with Olives

Another recipe for my brother. This was a dish that my mom's best friend, who died some years ago, used to make for us when we would visit her in Paris. It's very easy to make and fills your kitchen with a homey Mediterranean smell, a great thing on a chilly fall evening.

Stewed Chicken with Olives, Onions, and Tomatoes

Two chicken leg quarters (drumstick and thigh)
1 onion, chopped
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup of black, green, or mixed olives (preferably with pits)
White wine
Cooked rice or pasta

Sautee onions in a bit of olive oil in a pot large enough to hold the chicken legs. Take out the onions and set aside. Sear the chicken on both sides in the same pot until brown. Return the onions and add the tomatoes and olives. Add a few splashes of white cooking wine, a bit of salt and pepper, and lower heat to a simmer. As the tomatoes cook down, they will release cooking liquid, hopefully enough to cover most of the chicken. If not, add more wine or a small amount of water. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until meat is cooked through but not too soft. Serve over rice or pasta.

Potato and Leek Soup

My kid brother is in his second-year of college, and the dorm food is not agreeing with him. So he has started to cook all his meals himself, and asked me for recipes. I'll post them here too occasionally, for whoever is interested:

Potato and Leek Soup

4 potatoes

2-3 leeks

2 carrots

1 small onion

1 can chicken broth (optional, can use just water)

Butter

1) Wash and roughly chop leeks. Peel and chop potatoes, onions, and carrots into small cubes.

2) Coat the bottom of a big soup pot with olive oil and add a pat of butter for flavor.

3) On medium-high heat, sautee onions until soft. Add leeks to the pot and continue sauteeing.

4) Add 1 can of chicken broth and/or water until the leeks are submerged.

5) Add potatoes and carrots to the pot, then enough water to barely cover the veggies. Remember that veggies will give off some water as they cook.

6) Simmer for about half an hour, until all the potatoes and carrots are nice and soft. Add salt and pepper. (The right amount of salt is important - keep tasting it.)

** Bonus tip - Near the end, I like to smash the potatoes and carrots against the side of the pot to make them look irregular and the soup thicker.

Favorite cheeses at Trader Joe's

1. Bavarian Beer Cheese
2. Italian Truffle Cheese
3. Jarlsberg
4. Saint-Andre

Just wanted to share these four cheeses because they bring me no end of enjoyment, either as part of a light supper (crusty bread, cheese, salami, olive oil, a salad, and a glass of wine) or with breakfast. The first three are hard cheeses. The fourth is a soft rind cheese that is pretty strong, but more flavorful than stinky. It's perfect. This morning, I put some of the beer cheese in my scrambled eggs.... mmm.

Incivility and vegetable cream cheese

On knocking on doors for Obama in a swing state, and getting verbally knocked down*

People are mean, especially conservatives who live in gated communities in the desert. "I already got a visit from you people before. I was rude to the last guy and I'm going to be rude to you. This just pushed me over the edge: I'm voting for McCain," said the old man in the house at the end of the street, before slamming the door.

A morning's tally: 40 doors knocked on, 13 confirmed Obama votes, 6 definite pro-McCain and/or anti-Obama votes, 1 threat to call the police, and 1 young woman who said through a metal door that she hates Obama because "he's the reason [she] went through hell in the foster care system." That's not to say that the state in question is leaning so heavily toward Obama - we were actually working off a list of "good" leads.

* We were asked not to blog about this because it could derail the Obama campaign's attempts to influence the story of the day. But as a former journalist, I don't believe campaigns should dictate what stories are covered. And I doubt any reporter would be thrilled to quote another, even former, reporter anyway.

On a delicious twist to a breakfast staple

Last month, I had a wonderful vegetable cream cheese at Absolute Bagels in Harlem. I made my own version this morning:

Vegetable Cream Cheese
- 1 green onion
- 2 radishes
- 1 small carrot
- 1 cup of plain cream cheese

Chop the vegetables very finely into confetti-like bits. Combine well with cream cheese. Use on your bagel.
(I just used the veggies I had on hand, but Absolute Bagels' version had chopped bits of broccoli, carrots, and red onion. Very pretty, and completely delicious.)