I love you so much, you almost make me forget about tacos

The other night I was at a bar in Brooklyn, and my friend came in with tacos.  She's the kind of person who brings tacos to a bar, and I mean that in the best way.  I had a teeny bite, which was mostly cilantro.  And I mean that in the best way.  Mostly, it made me want to make tacos.  So tonight I did:

As you can see, I still have plenty of sangria. 

Sexy beast

There is something about a grilled butterlied chicken that is just very appealing to me.  We're still working the kinks out of our technique as far as cooking time and such, but damn it looks good.

Sunday fiesta

I had already decided to buy fruit at the grocery store so that I could use my last bottle of red wine to make sangria.  Then this morning I had a craving for nachos.  So at the store I prepared for those as well.  Naturally, these things came together into a pretty awesome late lunch:

The sangria was a perfect use for my raspberry ice cubs.

(not pictured)

Last night we went to The Gibson, a bar in Brooklyn, for our friend's birthday.  They had a grill out back and were selling hot dogs for $1 with a full fixin's bar.  Naturally, I made myself a hot dog with sriracha, ranch dressing, and red onions.  I call it "The Thing that Should not Be".  And it was delicious.

The last couple of nights

None of these are very picturesque.  The first was cashew-crusted fish (usually mahi, but this time cod) with coconut rice.  The second was pasta with broccoli rabe and homemade sauce.  The last is tonight's lemon-caper chicken (it's not quite piccata but close).

France

This is my home remake of one of my favorite foods from Paris.  It's just a baguette, slathered with butter, with arugula and ham.  And it is awesome.

Shallot-wine reduction

I've had a couple of bottles of cheap red wine lying around for awhile that I need to get rid of.  Since I don't drink red wine, and it's not stew season, I used some to make a topping for an inexpensive piece of meat.  It worked out pretty well.  The wine itself was so unappealing though we poured the rest of the bottle down the sink.

Mac and stuff

We had leftover hot dogs from last weekend, but no buns, so I decided to make macaroni and cheese.  I was lazy though and thought I'd leave out the breadcrumb topping and the baking.  As a result the sauce was runny and the whole thing was a little bland.  I did like my decision to go ahead and throw the sauteed Brussels sprouts right on in there there though.  Everybody into the pool...of cheese.

Pepperoni Pizza

It's turkey pepperoni.  I don't think it makes much difference and it allows me the illusion that this is not unhealthy.

Brinner

This bacon was so good.  It's thick-cut.  Also, it's made of bacon.

special guest star: Andrew's mom

Look at this antipasti platter.  Just look at it.

Pasta Carbonara

Carbonara is probably what I would consider my "signature dish".  I prefer to make it with rotini.  It holds the sauce better, plus I'm a big texture person.  The last couple of times I've made the dish I've felt like it's missing something.  I'm thinking of adding peas next time.

Drink experiments and raspbery preservation

I'm trying to get rid of about half a bottle of limoncello.  First I made a recipe I saw on Giada At Home. It's basically half limoncello and half pellegrino, garnished with raspberries and mint.  It was awful.  So then I tried it again using gingerale instead of pellegrino and leaving out the mint.  This was better but I could still only drink maybe half of it before giving up.  Then, I took a page (literally, I have the page) from Martha Stewart and made raspberry ice cubes for future beverages.  Some of them are star-shaped.

Grilled spicy chicken

The tastiest chicken coating is 50% Old bay and 50% sweet paprika.  The corn is also grilled, and I had it with lime juice and salt.

5th of July bbq