Healing Potion: Dos Pistolas

Dos Pistolas Gold
Originally uploaded by ericmonasterio

Banana infused whiskey by my brother. Although he sometimes makes a rum version



other limited editions



custom seals



wax seal of quality



and in emergency size



The recipe is secret but one picture from our spy camera reveals some of the early process, just this time with Rum



before and after



All pictures pilfered from my brothers flickr sets.

Paella negra con esparagos

Paella negra con esparagos
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

Black rice paella with white asparagus.

I made a small paella for lunch. I wanted to make a very dark inky rice, some of my previous attempts yielded a rice much more on the grey side, so for this dish I used a much more generous amount of ink. This paella also ends up being meatless, vegetarian friendly if you don't mind seafood products.
The ingredients are few:

Asparagus, these are very high quality canned white asparagus



quality assurance tab





You should taste the liquid the asparagus come canned or jarred in. If it tastes good, not overly salty or metallic tasting then save it and use it as part of your liquid for the rice. This liquid was saved and used. (about 3/4 cup)

I also used a high quality cuttlefish/squid ink. I've used the little envelopes before and they are just ok, this really has a great squid aroma, and also I believe, a higher protein/collagen content. It is thicker and ends up being very unctuous in the finished product.



I used a cup and a half of bomba rice



I used hot pimenton as I figured the heat would go well with the ink and scarcity of ingredients






Chopped onions and garlic round up the ingredients.



Preparation; I heated up a small paella pan



Added olive oil and sauteed the onions and garlic



as soon as the garlic began to brown I added the rice and sauteed it with the onions and garlic



After half a minute or so I added the pimenton, about one teaspoon



I mixed it in and quickly added my liquid (the pimenton can burn and turn bitter rather quickly) which was just the asparagus water and regular water to make up 3 times the rice volume, so in this case 4 and a half cups



I then added two heaping teaspoons of the ink



I mixed to incorporate and tasted for salt.



The ink adds a bit of salt but it still needed a pinch more. I let it boil on the stovetop and the color began to set



It was very fragrant, smelling of the sea with clearly noticeable squid aroma.
When the rice was nearly dry I added the asparagus over top, they are already cooked so just need to warm up a bit.



Served the dish was excellent, a very unctuous mouth feel, almost silky awesome ocean taste with a nice texture and taste contrast from the asparagus.



Clearly the rice turned a deep shiny black which I really liked. The ink would also make a great base for a pasta sauce. May have to buy some squid bodies and stuff them with the leftover rice, they would be nice grilled. Excellent dish overall.

Black Sheep without the excess

sausage and pork platter
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

We ventured back to Black Sheep for lunch, on a sweltering weekday afternoon, we arrived just about 11:45 for lunch and strolled right in. We where a bit surprised as previous visits it has been packed. Probably the heat keeping people out. Anyway better for us. We settled in and reminisced on our previous visit. We decided to avoid another giant battleship and ordered.
We went with the Sausage and pork platter (not really the name of the dish but I can't remember it officially)



The sausage was very tasty, but the pork was perfect, pulled but chunky perfectly flavored.
I went with a side of corn pudding.



just the right sweetness with great flavor.
My fellow lunchers ordered the
Green Eggs and Ham



described as awesome by the eater and by the menu "Three eggs scrambled with a basil pesto, spinach & pancetta.
Garnished with shredded parmesan & green tomato sauce. Served over grilled french bread"

and then the Barn and Bay breakfast sandwich
"Scrambled eggs mixed with crabmeat, country ham, green onion & swiss cheese on buttered & griddled texas toast."



Described as "by the way... this is awesome"
Even without the spectacle the food is great, service was prompt and we hesitated to head back out into the heat.

Drowning in Crawfish

Nearly killed myself over memorial day

Crawfish

Continued Nerditude

We followed up Wootstock and PAX with a concert at the Hat Factory, Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm. This was the second time they have come to this venue. They were great the first time and better this second time with new material on both sides.
We showed up ready for some Aperture Science



The show was great, with an awesome crowd. appropriate songs such as a Mother's day song

Mother's Day Song from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

In keeping with mother's day... the Vagina song

vagina song from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

and as usuall, another version of Fancy Pants by Jonathan Coulton

Fancy Pants from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

Great Show at a great venue.

A Season of Nerd

This is a late post on geeking it up with my kids. I previously posted on taking my daughter to W00tstock in NYC, and in return I took my son to PAX East in Boston this year.



PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is perhaps the most fan based gaming exposition in the country. It is run the way gamers would enjoy, the unoficial motto is "Don't be a Dick" the security is all volunteer force of "enforcers" cookies are sold to benefit Childs Play and concerts are held on the first two nights.

Welcome to PAX from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

We cruised through the exhibitor section,



and my son liked this the most so we spent a lot of time playing prerelease games.



3d games, kinect games, etc. I had planned on attending more of the talks and sessions but the boy was having too much fun, so I hung with him.






We did have great food though we managed our time between the conference and great food. We ate at the Legal Test food Kitchen, which is a test restaurant for Legal Sea Food.



(During happy hour oysters are a dollar),



The Barking Crab great seafood, although a very crowded touristy place.





In the evenings concerts dominated the expo.



But on the first night, The Omeganauts dominated the scene with a live giant Jenga competition.

PAX Jenga 1 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 2 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 3 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 4 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 5 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 6 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

PAX Jenga 7 from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

That was followed by a concert, so we never made it back to the hotel till very late. The next morning



we rallied





we chilled in the sumo lounge



and hung out at the Harpoon brewery



Tremendous collection of beer cans... billy beer



old school ">Schafer


Generic beer



We played some old school arcade games



The concerts where awesome, but our favorite was Jonathan Coulton

Mr Fancy Pants from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

I am glad to be shopping here with you + Mandelbrot Set from Eugenio Monasterio on Vimeo.

Go check out his songs at JonathanCoulton.com
We had a great time, check out PAX with your kids.