H appy Zozobra! Did you enter our Virtual Gloombox drawing? Share your virtual gloom on Instagram, hashtag it #VirtualGloomBox and you could win two free tickets to the burning. You have until Friday at noon, so get ‘gramming.
And if you're downtown and thirsty, get you one of those Zozoritas, like this one at Derailed (at the Sage Inn). The Kiwanis get a portion of the proceeds and you get to keep the cool glass, which you can take home and refill with …holy crap. I literally had to get up from my desk and go make myself a margarita before I could finish writing that sentence. Wow. #Pathetic #Pavlovian but also @WorkingAtHomeFTW. So yeah, you can refill the glass with your own margarita recipe.
After a margarita or two you'll be ready for a Frito pie. Mmm….tastes like sweet regret. But you have to do it, right? Fiestas is an official cheat week.
Speaking of crap food we secretly (or not so secretly) love, the Chicago Tribune recently published a recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken, given to them by Colonel Harland Sanders' nephew. The paper's food writers tested the recipe and found it tastes just like KFC, maybe even better. It's got the 11 (no longer secret) herbs and spices—plus one stroke of investigative genius. This won't put KFC out of business, but it will give you an excuse to make fried chicken.
Meanwhile, a desperately perverted man did something unspeakable with (to?) a McChicken sandwich, recorded the act and posted it on social media (No, I'm not linking. Google it, you pervs). The video went viral in recent weeks and it's become something of an X-rated #LobsterWorthy—only the effect is that you probably won't want to eat a McChicken anytime soon. Aren't you glad you don't work in the PR department at McDonald's?
Got fresh corn? I've been meaning to try this method for "fresh polenta" from Ideas in Food. You scrape the fresh corn from the cob (I use my chef's knife but people swear by various gadgets for this task. This is the one I'd buy if I had to scrape a bushel of corn.) Then cook it slowly so that the starch naturally thickens it. The end result is something like natural creamed corn. They serve it with a smear of nduja, a prosciutto spread. I'm thinking chorizo?
What about peaches? Did you see that peach pie in this week's paper? You need peaches. I saw these at La Montañita Co-op and they are so big, so sweet. The Co-op expects to keep getting shipments through this weekend at least. I JUST found out about the apparently classic combination amaretti cookies and peaches, and ignorance has not been bliss! You can jazz up your peach pie with amaretti sprinkles, make a mini cobbler in each peach half with an amaretti crumble, do a full pan of crumble with amaretti topping, use the cookies as cheesecake crust, make peach amaretti muffins. OMFG. Are you starving or what?
So of course I had to make amaretti, which turns out is pretty easy. And they're gluten free, if that's your thing.
That meant I had to blanch almonds, which is also easier than it sounds. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then take it off the stove. Dump the whole almonds into the water. Set a timer for 1 minute. Drain. Dry. Peel. Here's a little video I made.
I ate so many amaretti right out of the oven that I'll have to wait a few days to bake something else with them.
Meanwhile, the tomatoes keep coming. Have you ever canned whole tomatoes? Here are some good directions. Also: roasted tomato chipotle salsa!
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