My stomach: A day in the life.

I woke up yesterday morning at 7 am to the feeling of dread. Dread for the midterm-class-work-midterm kind of day I was starting. And no breakfast. Thanks to my upcoming trip to Egypt (tomorrow), I have to take one tiny pink capsule filled with live Typhoid fever every other day for 8 days. I can’t eat for two hours on either end, and even after the two hours are up I feel incredibly nauseated and don’t really want to eat anyway. They’re super. However, I’ll trade four days of nausea for 9 days of Egypt in a hot second. I digress. I took my pill, crammed as much information about media audience research as I could into my brain until 9, and went off to begin the day.


After my test, which was not nearly as daunting as I had anticipated, my two hours were up and I had time to go grab a coffee and a tiny overpriced cup of soggy fruit. I tend to stay away from USF’s cafeteria as much as possible, but Mondays are limited since I’m on campus from 10 am until 9 pm. If any of you have ever tried the French Vanilla Latte type drink dispensed out of the big metal box in the “caf”, you will know that it is much closer to simple syrup with a half cup of coffee poured in than a latte. I don’t have much idea what’s in it, and am admittedly certain it is terrible for me, but I had a lot to do, and that stuff gets the job done.


2 hours later, after sitting through a review of the midterm I had just taken early, I had time to grab a quick salad from the vegetarian bar (stop # 2 at the caf...sin) to bring to work and eat before running around to photograph some extremely thrilling MBA workshops. Note the artichoke hearts. I. Love. Artichoke. Hearts. I tend to like to put a lot of stuff in my food - since I was a kid, so says my mom, I just mixed all my foods together. This possibly explains my affinity toward salads, casseroles, and complicated sandwiches. In between workshops, I snuck in a few Jolly Ranchers from the undergraduate business office.

Now Monday is a blissful day at work, because Monday is free cookie/brownie/coffee day. The business school puts out tables of these snacks for their students every Monday evening and Tuesday morning to reward their hard work. The other business school workers and I get first dibs because we're the first to hear the screeching of the tables being rearranged for the epic display of sweets while the actual business school students are in class. "2 cookies Ali...2?" you question. But to be fair, I don't eat any sweets during the week, so these two cookies are my treat of treats. I counter the refined sugar with my vice of vices: orange juice, con mucho pulp (imagine its beauty, because I was so excited I drank it before I remembered to document it).


As my work day came to a close, I crammed once again for my 6:30 midterm in Journalism. Post-writing-heavy-exam, I returned home to discuss philosophy and the meaning of life with my roommate. Both tired from long weeks, weekends, and days, we did said bonding over a few Wyder's Pear Ciders (that is our fish, Mrs. Featherbottom). They taste like sprite and I can't say I am a true fan, but it's what she needed. I realized I hadn't eaten in 8 hours and was suddenly starving. We'd worked bartending at an engagement party the previous Saturday night, and the hosts had given us an enormous chunk of the leftovers of a 6-foot sandwich: toasty french bread, mozzarela, roasted red peppers, pesto and sundried tomatoes. After attempting 3 bites, it was just too difficult to handle, so I gave up to go paint. By 11 pm the hunger was becomming irritating, so I turned to the traditional.


Almost every single night, I eat vegetables and rice with curry sauce. I heard rumors long ago that curry is addicting, and rolled my eyes at this impossibility. I now stand humbled and corrected, one year after my curry addiction began (it is also rumored that eating curry results in crazy dreams... At the risk of sounding crazy myself, I am living proof). I threw together some yellow squash, mushrooms, zucchini, and broccoli (I usually use potatoes but we were out), and created my favorite meal that literally could never get old. Here's how I usually do it:

Ingredients:
Third Yellow Squash, sliced
Third Green Zucchini, sliced
Small Red Potato, sliced thinly or bagged Trader Joes Broccoli
Handful Crimini Mushrooms
White Rice
Trader Joes Yellow or Red Curry Sauce
Trader Joes Coconut Milk

The directions are simple. I sautee the ingredients in olive oil (EVOO as our muse, Rachael Ray, would say...kidding), salt and fresh garlic (garlic salt/powder is a sin, please remember this), keeping the lid on as much as possible to allow the potatoes to cook all the way through. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes on a medium stove setting. After the vegetables are almost cooked all the way through, I add some coconut milk and the curry sauce and put the lid back on, turning down the heat and letting it simmer for about 5 minutes. If I need to reheat already-cooked rice, I throw a serving into the pan as well because rice dries out in the refrigerator, but it's best to cook it fresh (directions are on the bag: it usually takes 20 minutes so it's best to put that in first). When the sauce is hot and the potatoes and other vegetables are soft, serve however you like.


You might not all become addicts like me, but this is a really great, cheap comfort food that doesn't require much cooking skill at all, and is much better for you than ramen or other quick-cook meals.

The Mission: Recipes of Mexico

CHECK OUT MINE AND NICK'S MISSION PROJECT VIDEO ON HIS BLOG!

Although cultures from many countries of Central and South America are represented in San Francisco's Mission district, the most well known is Mexico, and more particularly Mexican food. As Nick and I mentioned in our video, Mexican food at the hot spots in the Mission and in most of America is a consolidation of cuisines from all of the regions of Mexico. Mexico is typically split up into four regions: Southern Mexico, Northern Mexico, the Yucatan, and the Baja peninsula. I did a little research on the foods from these regions that the Mexican food we are used to pulls from. I found four authentic recipes for meals/sauces most typical in each region. Here they are - try them out!:

The Yucatan: Poc Chuc
Ingredients:

• 6 (10-12 ounce) pork blade steaks, 1/4 -inch thick
• 16 ounces sour orange juice (or 16 ounces regular orange juice with 1/2 cup lime juice)
• 1 1/2 ounces achiote paste (see recipe above)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups water
• 5 medium purple onions, very thinly sliced
• 8 ounces white vinegar
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 habanero pepper, roasted and finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Blend all marinade ingredients in blender or food processor. Marinate pork at least 3 hours.
2. Bring water to boil in deep saucepan. Add onions and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and place in stainless steel bowl. Toss with vinegar, cilantro, chile, salt and pepper.
3. Grill pork steaks on barbecue.
4. Serving Suggestions: Serve with Mexican Yellow Rice. Garnish with habanero chile peppers and cilantro.

Southern Mexico: Traditional Mole:
Ingredients

• 12 guajillo chiles, roasted, skinned, stemmed and seeded
• 3 tomatoes, roasted and peeled
• 1/4 cup lard
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 stick of cinnamon torn into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
• 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts or unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 clove
• 1/4 cup masa
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins, soaked in water to soften (optional)
• 3 peppercorns
• 4 cups chicken broth

Directions
Note: The traditional way is to mash all of the ingredients except the broth, with a molcajete (mortar and pestle) but a blender will also do the job just fine.

Heat the lard in a large saucepan. Add in the onions and garlic and cook until translucent. In a blender, puree the peanuts then add in the oregano, cinnamon, anise, peppercorns, thyme and cloves and blend with the tomatoes. Puree to make a smooth paste. Add in the onions and garlic and puree again. Finally, add chiles to blender to puree into a smooth paste.

Add the chicken broth to the pot and add the pureed ingredients. Make a roux, by mixing the masa with a 1/4 cup of the chicken broth. Mix the roux into the broth and whisk until mixture is smooth. Add the pureed ingredients and simmer for 1 hour, covered and then simmer uncovered until sauce has thickened.

Northern Mexico: Barbacoa
Ingredients

• 1 pound onions, peeled and diced
• 1 pound firm-ripe tomatoes, rinsed, cored, and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 ounces fresh jalapeño chilies (about 4 total), rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican or regular oregano
• About 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse-ground pepper
• 1 boned, tied beef chuck or boned pork shoulder or butt (4 to 5 lb.)

Directions

1. In a 9- by 13-inch pan, mix onions, tomatoes, garlic, jalapeños, bay leaves, chicken broth, lime juice, vinegar, thyme, cumin, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Rinse meat, place in pan, and turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 3 hours or up to 1 day, turning meat occasionally. Seal pan with foil.

2. Bake in a 300° oven until meat is tender enough to pull apart easily, 4 to 5 hours. Supporting with 2 slotted spoons, transfer meat to a platter. Pour pan juices through a strainer into a 12-inch frying pan or a 5- to 6-quart pan (discard bay leaves; reserve remaining vegetable mixture); skim and discard fat. Boil juices over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. When meat is cool enough to handle, in about 10 minutes, discard string. Use 2 forks or your fingers to pull meat into shreds; discard fat and connective tissue. Add meat and reserved vegetable mixture to pan with juices. Stir occasionally over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Baja Peninsula: Traditional Fish Tacos

Ingredients

White Sauce:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Fish Tacos:

• Oil
• 2 packages Tempura Batter Mix
• 1 can beer
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 24 ounces boneless cod, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 6 corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 2 limes

Directions

Mix all sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Preheat a fryer or a deep pot halfway filled with oil to 375 degrees F.

Mix 1 of the packages of batter, but only use 1/2 the required amount of water and use beer for the remaining amount instead. Add the beer until the batter becomes almost like a heavy cream consistency.

Using the other package of batter add salt and garlic powder, coat cod pieces with the dry mix, then dip into prepared batter. Deep-fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Place fried cod pieces on warmed corn tortillas, add white sauce to fish, a little shredded cabbage and a squeeze of lime, to taste


Obviously you guys probably don't have a deep fryer for the fish tacos, or access to all of the ingredients, but this gives a good idea of the different ingredients available to the local people of these regions. It also demonstrates how narrow our view and interpretation of Mexican cuisine truly is in this country. With some substitutes, I'm sure any of us could make these recipes into something great. Until next time!