The hardworking folks behind this non-award winning blog are enjoying a deserved warm weather break on Florida’s Gulf Coast right now. No offense to the locals, but we did not pick this particular destination for its well-known and highly prized food culture. Instead, it was selected as a fitting location for our first post-baby trip that would be easy to get to, easy to negotiate in situ and with guaranteed good weather, something we’ve been craving after a hard winter made tougher by a sleepless infant.

However, we are happy to discover that we didn’t touch down in a food desert at all, and we could have posted about the delicious and moist blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches we had yesterday at Randy’s Fish Market, but after a preparatory month of near-total meat deprivation that helped us fit into our bathing suits with less embarrassment, we were feeling decidedly carnivorous. So, here are some grilled cross-cut beef short ribs, leftover from the tablita parrillada we gorged on during last night’s visit to Martin Fierro, an Argentine-run parrilla hidden away in a strip-mall on the other side of town. Named for the central character of Argentina’s famous epic poem by Jose Hernandez, it’s a faithful recreation of the parrillas we so enjoyed almost exactly two years ago during our visit to Argentina and Uruguay, in every respect but the strip-mall.

Joining them were a quick salsa criolla and some rounds of fried yucca. Sure, it’s not exactly beach food, and we stripped off at the pool with noticeably less enthusiasm today, but it was delicious and exactly the kind of indulgence we had been looking forward to for weeks. And, as every Englishman knows, a little of what you fancy does you good.

There’s an awful conceit abroad the interwebs these days that seems to be encouraging more people than it should to title themselves “freelance food writers”. Perhaps you’ve seen it in the “About” section of a variety of the blogs you frequent? Coincidentally, there is an expression, “facebook hot”, in use among the youth (I know this because I snuck a peak into my sister-in-law’s Cosmopolitan the other day) to describe someone whose picture they have seen on said social networking site but found to be disappointing in the flesh. I flag both these things in order to highlight the little-known fact that the internet is full of charlatans, liars, and duplicity.

However, while it might be pretty straightforward to make oneself look good in a photo, masquerading as an accomplished writer is rather more of a feat. It strikes me that in order to be a food writer, the first pre-requisite is an ability to write well, not, as is apparently the common misapprehension, an interest or knowledge of food. Secondly, in order to be a freelance writer one must earn at least some portion of one’s living from writing, and, therefore, have a track record of getting published by others, instead of just self-publishing. Without both of these (and the former must come ahead of the latter), one is simply a blogger or hobbyist. [It's important to note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a hobbyist blogger. We are definitely and contentedly hobbyists, deriving a good deal more expendable income from fluff-encrusted nickels and dimes found down the back of our couch than from our blog.] The point is that, even though most of us would love to get paid for doing stuff we do during our spare time, just because I might know how to use a lawn-mower and an edge-trimmer, exercising this knowledge in my back yard does not make me a “freelance landscaper”.

Those of you familiar with our body of work on this blog may recall previous references to Jim Harrison. Author of such novellas and books as Legends of the Fall, Sun Dog, and Dalva, Harrison has been compared in style and sensibility to such greats as Hemingway and Faulkner. In spite of these comparisons and the adaption of his work into high profile movies, like most successful writers he is modest about his work, and declares, in his often-hilarious collection of essays about food, The Raw & The Cooked, that, apart from his daughter, the only thing he has created that he is truly proud of is an annual spring-time dish of roasted quails stuffed with foie gras and leeks. Immediately, he avers that this does not make him a recipe writer, let alone a cookbook author.

If such an abundantly talented man can be so modest, might not we all be able to learn something from him about humility? We are all prone to attacks of hubris (take this early example of such from yours truly), and there are no real consequences other than self-delusion, but there is something rather saddening about declaring yourself a “food writer” on your blog and then immediately failing to demonstrate any of the requisite literary abilities in inept ramblings. Just because he was told he could be whatever he wanted, Jim Harrison didn’t automatically become 135lbs – except in his mind, and there are many things in our all minds best kept to ourselves.

Regular We Are Never Full readers out there may have noticed that we’ve been less than active in the new posts capacity of late — some of you may even mourn the loss of our chirpy and spirited voices from your weekly web-browsing, though we expect many might find it welcome relief. Either way, we’re on temporary hiatus from blogging at the moment due to being in the process of finding a new apartment where we can cook, be somewhat more physically expansive, and hey, even entertain guests (!). All in all, a tricky proposition in a city where 700 square feet apartments are listed as “luxurious” or “roomy’, the description “sun-drenched” equates to the presence of a single window, and “galley” kitchens are advertised as being something to get excited about.

Still, we remain confident that we’ll find somewhere appropriate soon and will be back-up and blogging in our familiarly grating tones by early September, at the latest. In good time, we hope, to regale you with the still-fresh tales of our recent trip to Québec City, and the delicious comestibles its citizens introduced us to.

In the meantime, we wish you an enjoyable remainder of August, and look forward to hitting you all up when we’re back.

Recently, I’ve been noticing many, many food blogs posting recipes utilizing a certain brand of pre-made “fresh” pastas: nothing like a Foodbuzz promo to bring the best out of the food bloggers. Many came up with very creative recipes using a store-bought, pre-made pasta (a difficult compromise for many hardcore pasta lovers). [In case you were wondering, no, Foodbuzz didn't send us any Buitoni products, and yes, you do detect a hint of bitterness.] A prize of All-Clad Copper Core pots and pans is a pretty damn good prize to inspire the Sandra Lee in all of us. (An Aside: Speaking of Ms. Sandra Lee, has anyone seen that horrid “Kentucky GRILLED Chicken” commercial?  We wonder if she is going to take a bucket of that chicken, open up a bag of arugula, throw on some Seven Seas Italian Dressing, and then craft one of her cleverly-branded “tablescapes” featuring giant papier mâché heads of the Colonel?)

After seeing all these different recipes utilizing store-bought pasta (and upset at having been left-out of this Foodbuzz freebie), I was reminded that the average American still thinks that making homemade pasta isn’t possible, and I was determined to prove them wrong. Although I do understand that there is a time and a place for store-bought stuffed pasta and Semi-Homemade/Sandra Lee nights, I also believe that creating homemade, fresh, stuffed pasta is much, much easier than most people think.

The key is in the stuffing. If you can make a delicious stuffing for ravioli, agnolotti, tortellini, cannelloni or any other shape of stuffed pasta your little heart desires, the hardest part is over. If you don’t have a pasta roller (or a rolling-pin), buy some wonton wrappers and do it that way. The key is that you’ve done it – you made it, the stuffing is fresh and includes zero preservatives. You get to control what goes in the stuffing. Get creative ’cause the possibilities are endless.

Although I did make my own pasta for this dish, the star was the stuffing. It was super simple, quick and very easy to make. We happened to find fresh porcini’s in our local market (a freaking miracle) for about $35 a pound, so we bought two ($8!) and decided to blend those with some rehydrated dried ones and a bit of good old (and too often underappreciated) white button mushrooms. A bit of butter, some fresh parmigiano, garlic, shallots and sage, and you’ve got a fab-u-lous, fresh filling for pasta.

Bottom line, if you haven’t tried making your own stuffed pasta, give it a try. Please. Just try.

‘Tis the season, so in that spirit, we’re joyously giving away two prizes to the winners of this month’s top five – your favorite holiday foods/drinks.

This month’s entries were fascinating, perhaps more fascinating than usual because the unique choices allowed us a small but intimate window into your lives, especially those that came with explanations of the traditions. Of course, there were also the inexplicable traditions, like Rachel (S[d]OC) and the case of the holiday cheese grits, jensenly’s Christmas fondue, and Heather’s English summer trifle.

But, without further ado, the winners of this month’s top five challenge (who will soon – holiday post service permitting – be the proud recipients of Jonny’s homemade mulled wine spice mix) are: (cue drumroll)

Joe @ Italyville (we love the 7 fish dinner and, even more so, the rabbit on Christmas Day)

Heather @ Gild the Voodoolilly (what’s better than a nut-encrusted cheese ball surrounded by cocktail weenies…?)

But, thanks to all who entered and shared with us their holiday traditions, likes and dislikes. Happy holidays to you all and best wishes for a healthy and delicious New Year! 

Cleveland’s own Yasmeen from Health Nut brought back memories of her childhood with her fabulous looking Green Parathas, made with spinach and fresh fenugreek. Her version contains wheat germ which adds another level of healthiness to an already delicious dish.

Susan from Food Blogga not only does an excellent job of explaining that a uber-ripe plantain isn’t a banana but she also discusses how a plantain differs from a banana. To top it off, she shows us how to make Caramelized Plantians with Honey and Lime.

My girl Heather from Gild the Voodoolily brought back the tuna melt by showing us a more elegant way to prepare this old-school after school snack. By pairing dill havarti cheese with albacore tuna on a crusty baguette, well, let’s just say, this ain’t yo momma’s average tuna melt!

Ning from Manila, Philippines, does a great job of describing and cooking Chinese broccoli, otherwise known as Kailin. At Heart and Hearth, Ning stir-frys the Chinese broccoli with small, brined local fish called Saganid. Mmmmmm!

Maria of Organcially Cooked and from Crete, Greece, created this beautiful Spaghetti with Zucchini Flowers dish. Oh, how I wish we could get our hands on some of these beautiful zucchini flowers this time of year! Fabulous dish.

Genie, the Inadvertent Gardener, brings us a twist on an old classic with her Rustic Sweet Potato Gnocchi. She deserves a BIG round of applause because this was her first try at making homemade gnocchi. You go, girl!

Next, Tigerfish from Teczcape informs us of a new veggie she came across called Basella Alba or Emperor Vegetable. This pea-sprout-looking vegetable is actually a perennial vine. She pairs it with Egg and Shrimp Fried Rice. I’m intrigued!

All the way from one of my favorite places on earth, Lake Garda, Italy, Brii sends us her Orange Marmalade with Lemon Verbana. Wonderful!

Another entry by from Italy (yes, from another favorite place of mine), Cinzia from Verona, Italy who makes a tasty looking Lemon Verbana Liquor. It must be Lemon verbana season in Italy. Thanks, Cinzia!

All the way from one of my favorite places on earth (see a trend here?), Florence, Italy, Claudia from I Peccati di Gola…di Tatiana e Claudia makes a beautiful “casket” out of zucchini flowers. Check out her Zucchini Flower Caskets and Taliolini with Lemon for some inspiration.

Pam of Sidewalk Shoes shows us how easy it is to dry and preserve those fresh summer herbs (she shows us how to dry Oregano) with a dehydrator. Darn, wish I had one!

And where woulda Weekend Herb Blogging wra-up be without an entry from the fabulous Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen!? Kalyn reminds us in the Northern Hemisphere that we can still make her Vegetarian Lasagna with Quick-Roasted Tomato, Garlic, and Herb Sauce with canned tomatoes. Long live summer with this great entry!

Mansi shows us how Fun and Food go together by showing us how easy it is to make our own Garam Masala. Thank you, Mansi, this one’s a keeper!

Gita in Virginia and of Gita’s Kitchen tells us about the many benefits of the fenugreek spice and then uses it to make Methi Chicken. Delicious! Thank you, Gita.

Next up is Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi us whole-grain yellow cornmeal to make their tempting-looking Cornmeal Sourdough Loaf with Sage. They claim it is dense but, to me, it looks like something I’d love to sink my teeth into!

Gretchen of Lima, Peru, and Canela & Comino brings us her Sri Lankan Beef Dinner and tells us about palillo which she often used to substitute for tumeric or saffron. She always believed it was different from tumeric but after more research realized it’s just another word for imported tumeric!

Wandering Chopsticks shows us how easy and delicious Vietnamese Boiled Amaranth Greens are to make. We learn about how this one-time weed, Amaranth, has been called the “crop of the future” because it is easily harvested, is very fruitful, withstands arid conditions, and provides large amounts of protein and amino acids.

This Shark’s Fin Melon Soup made by Wiffy of Noob Cook is NOT made with the fin of sharks but with Shark Fin Melon! Now you can all breathe a sigh of relief and make this fabulous looking soup.

Jennifer of Like to Cook in France tells us about the crispy and delicious Belgian Endive. Try it with some bleu cheese, chopped walnuts and apples for a healthy salad.

Maybelle’s Mom of, where else, Feeding Maybelle has entered her very creative and very tasty-looking Lemongrass Potato Salad. Give me a fork, Maybelle’s Mom!

Next, my girl Nuria from my other favorite place on earth (I promise, that’s the last one!), Barcelona, brings us Broccoli’s Hot and Spicy Soup where she uses a new ingredient – flax seeds! A creative way to serve those veggie-haters some broccoli! Great job, Nuria.

Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes show us how to make the Argentinian classic steak topping, Chimichurri. Thanks, Andrea!

Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once (and of Melbourne, Australia) shows us some beautiful pictures of white asparagus and makes a fabulous tart with both white and green asparagus. How lucky to be living in a place where summer is on it’s way instead of on it’s way out!

Windy of Windy’s Food Corner sends us her beautiful Venison Pie recipe. Although venison may not be as easy to buy in certain parts of the world, it is a fabulous meat that should be tried at least once.

Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté convinces us to go get a new cookbook just to breath in that heavenly “new book smell”. HE was inspired to make the very seasonal Butternut Squash Soup.

From Surrey, UK, Valentina of Trembom reminds us why sometimes the simplest (and cheapest!) of vegetables can be the best. She proves this with her fabulous version of Roasted Cauliflower.

Thanks to everyone who participated!! If you are interested in hosting, please check out Kalyn’s Blog!

With our recent post on the free boudin selection, I felt like we might be getting dangerously commercial at We Are Never Full, but that was nothing compared to last night’s dinner at The GreenTable, sponsored, as it was, by those corporate behemoths, Visa Signature.

How strange, we hear you cry, that you folks (i.e. us), who are constantly bucking trends and chipping away at established norms (note the irony), should be so craven and would sell-out to big business so quickly! Guilty as charged, I’m afraid. Though happily for us, the only thing that we “sold” was a few delightful hours of our time with some very stimulating company, including fellow bloggers, food writers and, of course, the kind and generous representatives from Visa, chatting about the food scene in NYC.

In return, Visa provided a magnificent organic and sustainable dinner featuring a host of delicious products grown, for the most part, within a couple of hundred miles of the city. The wines pairing all three courses were also magnificent and again, were either organic or biodynamically-grown. All in all, a real treat for a Monday evening.

And so, if you weren’t already sickened by our association with big business, you better click away now before the name-dropping begins. For not only did we see everyone’s favorite “food dude” Guy Fieri stroll by during dinner, complete with peroxide-do suitably immovable with gel, and recent Top Chef finalist Dale (Food Network is located in the Chelsea Market above where we were eating), we also chin-wagged with the real stars of New York gastronomy, including: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan at TheKitchn; Cynthia Sin-Yi Cheng at Cravings; Tina Wong at The Wandering Eater, and Mona at Mona’s Apple. We thank them all for their company and a really enjoyable evening, and look forward to keeping in touch.

 ****UPDATE AS OF JUNE 29, 2008: IT LOOKS LIKE TASTEPOTTING IS BACK.  NOT SURE WHAT THE DEAL WAS, MAYBE WE’LL NEVER KNOW.  BUT HEAD TO TASTESPOTTING .COM OR OTHER GREAT NEW SITES FOODGAWKER.COM AND FPDAILY.NET.  ****

Just linked to tastespotting.com to read a message that looks as though it was written in a hurry on a napkin like a mob hideout ready to be raided! It read:

“Thanks for a great 18 months! In light of recent legal complications, NOTCOT will no longer be operating tastespotting.com” -Jean NOTCOT 6.13.08

What the f happened? Legal complications? The only thing I can speculate is if people were uploading other people’s photographs without the photographer’s consent? I often saw strange catalog-like pictures on there and wondered why they were there. Other than that, I really don’t know why they would run into legal issues? Any ideas?

I had a major love/hate relationship with tastespotting.com. I’m sure you have the same feelings, right? You always wondered why they weren’t taking your photos, so you kept adding different shots of the same thing so that maybe one will be ‘tastespotting appropriate’ (which always burned my ass). I even bought a few friggin’ white plates just for that website and attempted to style at least one photo so that it could easily fit that tastespotting square look! But then there would the occasional ‘crappy picture’ that would make it on the site and I’d wonder who was smoking what there. Just the other day I was searching to see if one of my pics made it only to be horrified of a picture that looked as though it was taken by a camera phone – it was dark, blurry and looked like sick in a bowl (I think it was a cottage pie attempt or something). Not being a snob, but I just couldn’t understand what they wanted in a photo – this was just one of the frustrations I felt about the site.

With all my complaints aside, tastespotting.com was a wonderful outlet for food porn (another term I think is kinda cheesy, but it does describe it perfectly) and helping the food blog community get to know each other in a different way. I loved the ability to peruse food photos and click on the ones that I thought looked interesting, unique and delicious. I really hope that tastespotting.com comes back once all the legal crap is dealt with and I can continue to love them and curse them to the high heavens once again.

#1: DO NOT USE DREAMHOST AS YOUR HOST SERVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#2: Consider spending extra money for a more expensive hosting package.

#3: If you googlebot (the weird computer spider that crawls the web for new content on your site) crawls your site and there’s a timeout, it works against your pagerank (ie: where your site would come up in the google search queue). It just isn’t good in building a strong page rank.

#4: Did I mention consider not using Dreamhost?

We were recommended Dreamhost, but we’ve had more than a couple problems and we are searching for a better host. If you do choose to look into Dreamhost, I would say, maybe get the more expensive hosting package. I have a feeling those packages are obviously better because they do not bundle as many sites on one server or as Dreamhost likes to so “cutely” call it – blingy clusters. I had no idea that the word “blingy cluster” existed before 3 months ago, now it’s become a term I use at least weekly. For example: “Jonny, the fucking mutha fucker blingy clusters at Dreamhost have cause stress on the server we are one again and our site is down!!!!” or, “Jonny, I hate blingy clusters! I hate Dreamhost! Why can’t they fix this fucking ‘blingy cluster’ thing!!!”

This time was the straw that officially broke the camel’s back. I can not take it anymore. We’re packing our bags and leaving the Dreamhost family as are many others. I promise to add a few more hints in future posts. What I need to know from anyone out there – what is the host server you use and are you satisfied with it? HELP!

Usually if I’m trying to make an authentic dish, I always try to make it just that – authentic. That means that I want to use traditional ingredients and I attempt to research the many traditional ways to make that specific dish. I then decide how to combine the best bits from all those traditional recipes and create one recipe. Well, this traditional, old Castillian dish is always made with almonds – more specifically the beautiful Marcona almonds which are bigger and sweeter and more delicious (to me) than the almonds we know here in America. As Penelope Casas writes, “(Pollo en Pepitoria) combines all of the ingredients most often associated with Spanish cooking – garlic, saffron, sherry and almonds – into an unusually savory sauce.” DOH! As I began cooking, I could have sworn I had a fresh bag of almonds to work with only to find that it was a bag of fresh hazelnuts. Could I swap? Yeah… could I call it authentic on my blog… nope. What I can tell you is substituting hazelnuts in this dish for almonds does not actually change the flavor all that much. But the thing that I really decided to do to completely different from the traditional dish was to actually coat the pieces of chicken in hazelnuts and lightly saute them until crispy on the outside and finished them in the oven to keep it moist inside. You all like it moist, right? But, dear readers, you must know that traditionally you would just roll pieces of chicken with the bone in in some seasoned flour and saute them just like that in olive oil.

So, do I have a right to really call this dish Pollo en Pepitoria? Probably not. Do I hate when idiots like Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee completely remake an authentic classic an continue calling it by it’s authentic name but it doesn’t even resemble the original dish? YES. Am I being a bit of a hypocrite right now – uh-huh. Do I care? Not really. It’s only because I’ve been wanting to post this recipe for about 2 months now and it’s 75 degrees and sunny and I want to get outside. Creative juices ain’t a-flowing.

So here’s Pollo en Pepitoria “Kinda”. That’s as creative as it’s gonna get today, kids. Have a beautiful weekend!

If you’re interested, please check out one of our favorite blogs about Spain, all things Spanish and life in Spain – Notes from Spain – a few years ago they posted a recipe for Pollo en Pepitoria.

POLLO EN PEPITORIA “KINDA” – CHICKEN IN A SAFFRON, FINO AND HAZELNUT SAUCE (serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup flour (seasoned with a bit of salt)
• 2 eggs, beaten + tablespoon of water
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped hazelnuts (to coat chicken) + 1/4 cup of finely ground hazelnuts (to add to sauce)
• olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/4 cup of dry sherry (fino)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
• pinch of saffron
• salt and pepper
• Optional: 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, for garnish

What to do:

1. Heat your oven up to 425 degrees and season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
2. Make sure you slightly crush or run a sharp knife through your hazelnuts (the 1 1/2 to 2 cups called for to coat the chicken) in order to make sure they are able to stick to the chicken breasts. Have your ‘coating station’ ready by putting flour on the first plate, the beaten egg mixed with water on the second plate and the chopped hazelnuts spread out on the third plate.
3. Heat up about 1/4 inch of oil in an oven-safe pan or skillet on medium heat. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour (dust off any major excess), then the egg and finally roll around in the crushed hazelnuts. Add to your hot oil and cook on each side for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side. You want the hazelnuts to seal on to the chicken, but not to burn. Check after a minute and then, if necessary, continue to saute for another 30 seconds or so. If there’s not enough room in your pan to cook all the chicken breasts at once (don’t overcrowd!!), do it in batches and just reserve the chicken on the side until all are sauteed.
4. When the chicken has been cooked on both sides and the hazelnuts have adhered, put in your 425 degree oven and allow to cook for another 10-13 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. If the chicken is done before you sauce, just remove from oven and allow to chill out on the side for a bit. It’s ok if it gets cool.



5. Make your sauce by adding the chopped onion, garlic and carrot to some olive oil in a pan and allow to saute on medium to medium-low for about 4 or 5 minutes till they get a bit soft.
6. After they cook till they are a bit softer, add your fino and scrape up some of the bits on the bottom of the pan. After about a minute, add your chicken broth, nutmeg, saffron, bay leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.



7. While the vegetables are busy getting soft, in a blender or food processor (or with a good old mallet), blitz the 1/4 cup of hazelnuts till finely ground… I mean finely kids! Remove to a bowl until they are needed.
8. Optional: Boil two eggs for 8 minutes to hard-boil. When done, remove and place in cold water, allowing them to cool. De-shell and chop up for the garnish.
9. When 10 minutes or so has passed and you’ve tested the carrots for softness, REMOVE THE BAY LEAF and add everything from the pan to a blender or food processor. Blitz this mixture until smooth. Add the blitzed sauce back to the pan and keep warm on low-medium heat. Add the finely ground hazelnuts to the sauce and stir in – this will act as a thickener.

+

10. Add your hazelnut-coasted chicken breast to the sauce and place back in your oven for 4 minutes to allow the chicken to come back to temperature if necessary. When it’s out of the oven, sprinkle the top with the chopped hard-boiled egg and enjoy!

Check out these other posts you may enjoy:

• WATERCRESS & RICOTTA RAVIOLI WITH A RADICCHIO BUTTER SAUCE
• GNOCCHI DI PATATE WITH A BROWN BUTTER, SAGE, BREADCRUMB SAUCE
• ITALIAN-STYLE SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER WITH SALSA VERDE
• Truffled Butter: A Prince Among Ideas
• Pork Roll and Scrapple – The Dirty Culinary Pride of South Jersey/Philly
• Diversity Finally Comes to The Food Network