Showing posts with label gourmet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gourmet. Show all posts

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Gourmet Stoner Tips: Going to the restaurant



There are two kinds of stoners: Those who get the munchies right after smoking and those who lie and say they don't get the munchies (I believe that should be categorized as an eating disorder). Whether we enjoyed a toke on the top of a mountain after finishing a strenuous hike, in the comfort of our home or at a coffee shop in Amsterdam we all face a situation that leads to hours of discussion and complex tasks if not handled properly: What are we going to eat?

While cooking or buying a good healthy meal at supermarket is always an option, let's face it....Munchies doesn't really rhyme with Tofu and beets but it does rhyme with cookies and goodies....and those goodies are even better if you don't have to move a finger or wash a single dish after it's all said and eaten...so we usually opt for the other option: Going to a restaurant.

Now going to a restaurant with other people can be a daunting task in the first place, but if one of the members in the group happens to be stoned, it becomes a whole new experience. However, it does have potential to go well if the stoner has been trained properly.

There are a few rules that everyone should observe when going to a restaurant but these following rules are especially important for potheads who forget everything their mama taught them when they walk into food heaven.

1: Pick a location before you go
This might seem like an obvious one but how many times have you just gotten into your car driving to a neighborhood saying: We'll park the car and walk around and see what looks good. Here's what's going to happen: by the time you park your car everyone will already be starving....so everything will look good and nobody is going to want to walk around looking at other people eating. Pick a restaurant and go there (DO NOT stop a gas station or at a liquor store on the way there...there will be too many tempting munchies options that will kill your appetite)
Budget Tip: DO NOT pick a restaurant where you can't afford the most expensive item on the menu because chances are: that's what you're going to order when you're stoned.

2: Know what you're going to order before you get there:
There will be waiters going across the room with desserts in their hands, sizzling dishes, and cold pints of beer and you will be surrounded with delicious dishes on other customers' tables so it will become harder to make a decision once you get there.We all have smart phones and most restaurants have their menu online, and there is no excuse for spending ten minutes deciding what you're going to eat when everyone else is about to collapse because they're so hungry. While some stoners might think it's funny that you keep repeating "Everything looks sooooooo Goooooood!" every five seconds while reading the menu, others might want to grab their fork and stick it in your eye. Also: DO AVOID restaurants with pictures of their dishes...It is a stoner's worst ennemy and you will never get out of that restaurant the same person you were before you went in.

3: DO wash you hands before you eat
You grabbed a few nugs and shared drug paraphernalia with a bunch of other stoners, maybe touched a few door handles along the way, then you sat down at a table and touched a menu, and you're likely to order a burger that you're going to grab with your two hands and if the sauce is good you're going to lick every single one of your fingers in the process. So go wash your hands or you'll be wondering if you're sick because of the smelly fish or because of your smelly fingers.

4: DO NOT Stare:
There will also be a lot of other distractions in the restaurant like Televisions, hot waitresses, and amusing signs...DO NOT stare! Once you start staring you will get lost in whatever you're staring at and the group will take advantage of that by stealing fries from your plate and you will look like the creep in the restaurant.

5: DO NOT go to a "All-You-Can-Eat" Restaurant
While this may sounds like a smart plan at the time when you decide to go after you tenth bong hit, you might either regret it the morning after.....or you will regret it that same day. Either way, nothing comes out of a group of stoners going to a restaurant where the customer is allowed to eat a much as their stomach can take. Smoking somehow makes the brain think that our stomach is bigger than it actually is and when we come down form our high, we realize that it wasn't actually a black hole where food was disappearing from the surface of the earth.

6: DO Order water with your meal
Yeah, I knwo you "need" your beer and the cold pop makes your brain "tingle" but your cottonmouth is telling you one thing: You need to give it some good ol' water. Your body will thank you.,,,especially after you eat at that all-you-can-eat sushis restaurant in the middle of the desert.

7: DO NOT laugh obnoxiously
I do realize it's easier said than done and if somebody says something funny we would probably all laugh. But if the cooks in the kitchen can hear you laughing then maybe it's a little too loud. Think of your obnoxious stoner laugh as a fart: We know you can't help it but just go outside for a second if you're laughing so hard that tears are coming out of your dry eyes.

8: DO Order dessert when the Waitress asks
Let's face it, someone in the group will have a sweet tooth, and even if you don't want to indulge too much, you know you're going to grab one of those spoons when it's time for everyone to share that one slice of goodness....or you will regret not trying it. The waitress will be happy too because her tip just got bigger and everyone will come out of this experience a happy camper.

9: DO take your leftovers in a take away box
It might feel like this was the biggest meal you've ever had and there's no way you're ever going to eat anything again for at least twelve hours, but believe me: when you come back home to enjoy your digestive joint, you will be grateful for that food an hour later when all you have to do is throw it in the microwave to re-heat it. DO NOT stare at the food while you're microwaving it, the waves might damage your brain.

10: DO Leave a nice tip...if one of the members in your group didn't follow one of these rules
Whether you realize it or not, chances are that one person in your group was that annoying stoner that didn't follow these rules....and even if everybody acted in a civilized manner, you probably scared off other customers who may have enjoyed a cup of coffee or another beer...so be nice to the person who just made your life so much easier and fed you a delicious meal.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Quinoa cakes and Smoked Salmon



Today I wanted to eat some of the smoked salmon that was in my fridge but i didn't have any bread and I didnd't want to just throw the salmon in pasta or an omelete that was going to cook the salmon and ruin the taste so I ddecided to make some small quinoa cakes.

I cooked the quinoa in a rice cooker, poured it into a bowl and added some italian herbs, basil, garlic, salt and black pepper, some flour and one egg. I made some small patties out of the mixture that I sizzled on a skillet. once they were ready I let them cool down for a few minutes, added a little bit of sour cream, a slice of salmon, and some lemon juice. it was delicious.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Homemade Moussaka


When I travel around the world some of my most memorable memories revolve around food. From street food to fancy restaurants, from munchies to locals cooking for us, food is always a catalyst for good times. One of my favorite cuisine so far has been Greek food, mainly because they use olive oil in everything. So when I get nostalgic I usually cook a mean moussaka that appease my withdrawal of Greek food for a while. My friends were coming over to spend the evening and I decided to make one.

Moussaka is the Greek version of the lasagna, (or maybe lasagna is the Italian version of the Moussaka....I don't know my food history very well) but instead of beef it's ground lamb and instead of layers of pasta there are layers of eggplants. It's an easy recipe and in Los Angeles the hardest part of that dish is actually finding ground lamb in a local store (I bought mine at Payless Internatioal Market - 10817 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles -)

Ingredients (4 people):
- 2lbs of Ground Lamb
- 3 Eggplants
- Tomatoe Sauce
- One onion
- 200g of Feta Cheese
- 200g of Swiss/Gruyére Cheese

I would recommend preparing the eggplants slices first: Wash and cut the eggplants in slices with the skin on. Drizzle olive oil and let them roast in the oven for bout 15 minutes then sizzle them on a separate pan at a low temperature until they get a little soft. Keep the slices on a separate plate for later.

Cook the onions in a pan until golden, add the ground lamb and cook until the meat is almost ready, add red wine, crumbled feta cheese and a can of tomatoe sauce (or real tomatoe sauce if you have the time ;) and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

In a separate oven safe dish you will cover the entire bottom of the dish with eggplants, then you will add a layer of the meat sauce until you have completely covered the first layer of eggplants. Then you w ll add another layer of eggplants You will repeat that process until the dish is full. Add a layer of swisss/gruyére cheese at the top for a nice cheesy crust and put in the oven on 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until cheese is browned to perfection.

Then enjoy this dish with a few friends and a nice glass of wine....mmmmmm. 






Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!

The new year started as every other year started: with a stomach ache....but the good kind. We celebrated new year's eve with a few close friends and had a fantastic time.

We started the night out with a few shots of Patron, which is probably not the best idea to start a night that is supposed to go at least until midnight. We then opened the first bottle of red wine and started rolling a few joints by the warm fire in the backyard. The night was still young. We started with some wild smoked salmon and a homemade dill dressing. The dressing was very much inspired by the IKEA dill sauce that you can buy in the food section. Last time I went to IKEA I wanted to buy some of that delicious dressing but they were sold out....there were probably a lot of other lazy cooks who had the same idea for their holiday meals. So I was forced to make my own.



Recipe:
- A Bunch of Dill
- Honey
- Sweet Mustard
- Olive Oil
- Black pepper and salt
- A few drops of lemon

It turned out to be good, even better than the Ikea version but then again trimming the dill into the bowl isn't the most fun thing to do one New Year's eve so here's the link to their awesome dressing: SÅS SENAP & DILL

After the salmon was done and we made a quick trip to the grocery store to get the paper plates that I had forgotten to bring, we shared a fe dozens of Jumbo shrimps cooked in white wine sauce. Note that at this point the white wine bottles are being opened and there is no stopping the mix of alcohol happening in my body.


- 30 Shrimps with shell on
- Onion
- Red pepper
- Cilantro
- Honey
- White wine
- Olive oil
- Black Pepper and Salt
- Some TLC

Cut the onions and the red peppers, sizzle in olive oil until golden, put a glass of wine, a teaspoon of Honey and let the shrimps simmer for a few minutes, throw the chopped cilantro in the pot and cover until shrimps are pink and ready to eat.


Everyone enjoyed the appetizers and it was then time to cut the cheese for the delicious cheese fondue we were about to have. after cutting the Comté, the Emmental and the Gruyère in pieces we poured some wine in the fondue pot, added a clove of crushed garlic and waited a few more minutes for the cheese to melt. Fondue is one of the best party food because not only is it fun but it also gets you drunk. believe it or not we did not have desert after the fondue but we did enjoy a digestive spliff.

Happy New Year Everyone!