Don’t Call it A Comeback – Meta-Style

There are no good excuses for a nearly month and a half absence, but here are some anyway.

First, I was obsessed with the Nov. 7 election and was devoting the time in the evenings I had been doing some of this blogging stuff to election-related work.

Second, I’ve been trying to actually finish reading a book (A Baron in the Trees, by Italo Calvino), which doesn’t happen that often these days. I’m almost done with it.

Third, I haven’t been very inspired. For whatever reason, haven’t had a lot of time to cook much of anything new and none of our stand-bys we were making seemed worthy of posting to this site, at least at the time they didn’t.

The third reason led me to a conclusion that I need to shift the focus of this blog. I’m no chef, just a guy who likes good food and likes to cook good food (and succeeds, most, but not all, of the time).

So while I’m going to keep posting recipes here and there, I’m also going to include shorter posts on food-related issues, including food safety and quality. For example…

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT when it was in the news a few weeks ago: If you’re a seafood fan, eat up now, Johnny. ‘Cause if overfishing continues at the current pace, there ain’t gonna be any left to eat.

"At this point 29 percent of fish and seafood species have collapsed - that is, their catch has declined by 90 percent. It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating," Worm said. "If the long-term trend continues, all fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within my lifetime - by 2048."

ALSO, I found this little story amusing, in a hard-to-f@#!ing-believe sort of way. Two percent - yes, that 2 - of that guacamole some people pick up off a grocery store shelf and actually pay for is actual avocado. And now somebody is suing them for it! Take my advice. Make your own guac.

EGGS -- They’re what’s for dinner. I have yet to make any of these recipes, but a few week’s ago Mark Bittman had some eggs-for-dinner recipes (free registration required) that just seem like must-makers.

Finally, a recommendation for two mid-week meals.

COBALT Sandwiches and Spinach Salad

COBALTs are just a riff on a classic BLT sandwich. It stands for: Cheese, Onion, Bacon, Avocado, Lettuce, Tomato.

I don’t think anybody needs my advice on how to put together a sandwich. However, what we like to do is make the sandwiches using some good bread. Then, you have some leftover to eat the next day with a spinach salad, which you make in part using leftover bacon, avocado, onion, and tomato from the COBALT meal.

In our salad the other night, in addition to the aforementioned leftovers, were some sliced hard-boiled eggs and diced cucumber. Some mushrooms, maybe even quickly sautéed, would also be good additions. A balsamic or sherry vinaigrette works well with this salad.