Baohaus: Yum; Beverly: Ick

Let's talk about Top Chef before we get to Baohaus.  The first two episodes were pretty goddam impressive considering they were ELIMINATING people before they even had an official Elimination Challenge.  My ass was on the edge of the couch.  The chefs all had impressive sounding backgrounds, there was a dude who looked like a gentle cuddleable Rick Ross and a shit ton of Asian peeps representing.  Fast forward to however many episodes later, Rick Ross getting thrown under the boss for using frozen shrimp (damn!) and the challenges are all still great, but the chefs have no fucking personalities, there is no clear fan favorite (because they have no personalities), and the cliche "good looking one" is not good looking at all and says things that are funny because they are stupid, not because he is witty. 

Let's talk about yesterday's episode and how Beverly cried AGAIN (do we even need to talk about the fact that she straight up bawled at the rodeo because she missed sharing the experience with her husband?  Listen, I love Adam, but I would never be crying at a fucking rodeo over him, but whatever).  She also did something that will never put her in my good graces.  Our little friend Beverly used to idolize Edward Lee when she was growing up because it was the bomb to see a Korean American chef doing his thing, but the way she said the latter was in this sort of embarrassingly pathetic way, as if she thought she sounded dumb or silly saying it, as if she shouldn't say it, as if she was a fucking child.  What is so giggly about having pride in your people and fucking SAYING IT?

Ew.

This shit is straight up captioned "Beverly Kim Is Still Crying Top Chef." YEP.

Now moving on to more tasty treats.  Chris and I went to Baohaus a few weeks ago. 

adobo bao and haus bao?

chairman and uncle jesse.

And Chimpy the cat because he fucking rocks.

Foodie Buttons

I ended up in the Garment District after work to replace a too-short-ribbon belt that came with a dress and got distracted by a few things, like these teeny lemon and blackberry buttons at M&J.

Also, I needed to replace this ugly button from a $4.00 thrift store blazer, and I did exactly that with a button that cost as much as the blazer itself.  Here it is, beautifully photographed on a recipe for Potato Leek Gratin from a slightly older issue of the New York Times.

And last, but not least, is Chimpy drinking my leftover cereal milk.  He used to jump on on the coffee table, but that enraged me so much, I just had to put the bowl on the rug.  

Lentil Soup

Once when I was sick, or lazy, Adam went to the grocery store without me.   He came home with Dinty Moore microwaveable meals.  Do you know what they are?  Because I didn't, and I still wish I didn't.  Ever since then, I get really scared when Adam goes by himself (sorry, sweetie, love you!), which is pretty rare in itself (still love you).  He went by himself last night and came home with a can of Campbell's lentil soup. "But I make lentil soup all the time?" I asked.

Anyway.  Tonight, I made lentil soup.  The last lentil soup I made had bacon and the one before that was curried.  I didn't want to do either so I used the epicurious app to help me.  I wanted to use lentils and carrots, and while I suppose I could have thought of this easy Red Lentil and Carrot Soup by myself, I didn't.  I only read a few of the reviews before committing myself to this because I couldn't bare to read any more than a few (ADD) and because I didn't care.  I wanted lentil soup, and I got it!

I know I've mentioned how much I love recipes, but I haven't touched upon how I actually modify them to better fit my or Adam's preference:

ingredients

3/4 pound red lentils*, picked over 2 cups red and French green lentils

7 cups water 2 cups chicken broth, 5 cups water

1 cup chopped onion

3 4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

5 carrots (about 10 ounces), halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise

1 diced yukon gold potato

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper Adam does not like cooked peppers

1/4 cup packed fresh coriander sprigs, washed well, spin dry,  and chopped fine not in my fridge

1/4 cup chopped scallion greens forgot about this

cayenne to taste forgot about this too, but didn't really want a spicy lentil soup anyway

SALT AND PEPPER!!!

preparation

In a 4-quart saucepan bring lentils and water to a boil and skim froth. Stir in onion, garlic, ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric and simmer, partially covered, 15 minutes. Stir in carrots and bell pepper and simmer until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Soup may be prepared up to this point 3 days ahead, cooled, uncovered, and chilled, covered.

Stir in coriander, scallion greens, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve soup garnished with coriander sprigs

Rinse lentils.  Saute onions for a few minutes before adding garlic. Add chicken stock, water, lentils and spices.  (I would have added the spices before the liquid and lentils but I was short on time and I thought the garlic was one second away from burning).  Bring to boil, let simmer for 15-20 minutes.  SEASON with salt and pepper.  Add carrots and potatoes and let simmer for another 15 minutes.  Taste and SEASON AGAIN.  Then Booyah - Lentil Soup time.

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper are your best friends.  There is a difference between too salty, unsalted and perfectly seasoned.  Good luck.

p.s. I spilled Chimpy's food while trying to refill the container, and I contemplated leaving it all on the floor for him.  

I did not.