The Irreverent Manifold

Went with a recipe out of the Spanish Cookbook again tonight. I made lamb with lemon and garlic (with a homemade stock as well). For a side, I had asparagus with lemon mayonnaise. The asparagus and sauce were outstanding; the lamb was good but not life changing.

Savoury Meatballs from an old Spanish recipe. They turned out great.

The meatballs: minced pork, garlic, breadcrumbs, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

The sauce: olive oil, red onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, sugar, paprika, and peas.

This is the most involved meal I’ve prepared; it took several hours, but ended up being one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. It has an incredible range of flavors and textures.

Here is the rundown of what went into the salad: haricots verts, fresh thyme, onion, roasted red and yellow peppers, fingerling potatoes, red and yellow pear and sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, Ahi tuna filets, mixed greens, Nicoise olives, quail eggs, and anchovy filets.

The dressing for the salad: lemon juice, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, minced garlic, minced shallots, olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar.

The bread: I used sourdough bread and the toppings were homemade herbed goat cheese and homemade black and green olive tapanade (I used Kalamata olives instead of black olives).

Tried out a new pizza tonight. Marinated fresh shrimp and scallops in the following: chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and minced jalapeno peppers. Crust from scratch with the usual ingredients. Brushed garlic-chili oil on the crust prior to the bake. Additional toppings included: artichoke hearts, cilantro, fresh cheese (mozzarella, havarti, parmesan), roma tomatoes, and red onion. The taste was great. I messed up the structure a bit because I accidentally made the pizza on the kitchen counter instead on the stone - so the transfer was not clean and I lost my good circle. Here it is…

Homemade crust using the typical ingredients. Homemade garlic/chili oil brushed on the crust pre-bake. Homemade pesto to act as the “sauce” for this pizza. Fresh cheeses: mozzarella, fontina, and parmesan. Spinach, Roma tomatoes, portabello mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh thyme, fresh oregano, and blue cheese were the toppings. All parties agreed that this pizza was awesome.

This is my new running toy: a watch with GPS technology that actually looks like a watch. I’ve only just begun to explore the features of this toy, but a full review will be posted in the coming weeks.

My brother Brian lives in Germany. He sent me this sweet King-Werk beer stein. Check it out:

I am taking part in the 100 Push-Ups Challenge. This program builds up your strength until you are able to complete 100 ‘good form’ push-ups in one set. The first step of the program is to take their initial test. The test simply measures how many ‘good form’ push-ups you can do in one set. I took this test today (having not done a single push-up since 2002). I completed 15 ‘good form’ push-ups, which places me in rank 3 position out of 7. The results of this initial test dictate which plan I follow for the first two weeks of my program.

I am supposed to rest tomorrow and then Monday I’ll begin my push-up regimen.

Here are my resolutions for the year of 2009.

Resolution 1: Barred foods list: soda, ice cream, fast food, delivered pizza.
Comments: Not much to explain here. In recent years, I’ve had success eliminating one or more of these from my diet. Now, I’m going for all four at once.

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