Life Is Good

That's too bad, I'd enjoy that. The Cuban does sound delicious. Will you let me buy one in the mail?

I'll tell you how to make it without a panini press/pan.

Get some pork shoulder. Put a bunch of kosher salt on it. Stick it in the oven at 275 all day while you're at work, or while you sleep.

Roast some garlic in the oven at the same time - it takes about an hour to roast garlic. Take a couple cloves of garlic wrap them in foil with a little oil. Jack up the heat to 350 for an hour while the garlic's in. Take it out and unwrap it. Is it the color of a caramel candy? Good, it's done.

Set the pork on a cutting board and hack away at it until it's all shredded up.

Cut open the bread. Spread some of that roast garlic on one side (or you can mix it with the mayo before like I do). Spread some mayo over that. Spread some spicy mustard over that. Lay down your pig meat. Lay down a few slices of ham from the deli - NOT honey ham, that shits gross. Put some pickle slices on the ham. Put some Swiss cheese on that. Close the sandwich.

Heat a nonstick pan on medium heat. Spray a little Pam on it. Set the sandwich on it and cover it with a plate. Put something heavy on the plate. After a few minutes flip the sandwich and do it again.

Eat.

Thanks. Perhaps I will try it if I get the gas turned on in my apartment in the future.

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Originally Posted by icarusfall

I'd like to eventually write a book on cooking good food with bullshit equipment and subpar ingredients.

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This sounds very interesting. Many of my friends (mostly my drinking buddies) have experience at or run a high quality restaurant and in the process seem to have lost some of that zeal for regular cooking. I can make a tasty meat sauce for spaghetti noodles using some conventional spices and left over meatloaf. If you were to go ahead with this, I'd totally like to help and/or pick your brain on what you come up with.

Stay classy, New York City.

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Originally Posted by icarusfall

I have a microwave, a toaster oven, and a dual panini press.

I do all the prep at my home kitchen. The pork is roasted for about 10 hours, chopped and pulled, olive oil is added and everythings chilled. The ham is a spiral cut Smithfield style ham I cut into batons. For service I microwave the meats for 30 seconds to knock the chill off it, it goes on the sandwich with the roast garlic mayo, spicy mustard, pickle slices, and Swiss. Then it's grilled on a panini press. Other sandwiches have a combined toaster/press approach.

Pizza is handled by a toaster oven set to broil. Apps and desserts are cold. Salad, salmon rillettes, country ham and melon, cheesecake and creme brûlée. Will add a dark chocolate coconut cake next week. I wasn't thrilled with the recipe I had.

It's making me think very creatively to make tasty food with nearly no equipment.

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So when are you going on Top Chef?

lol

People ask me that all the time. Even if the opportunity arose I would decline. It's just not the sort of cooking I like to do. I do enjoy watching the show.

I didn't know you watched soap operas.

Well today I was able to go outside. Today isn't a good day emotionally either, I've been crying and my brain insists that a shotgun to the face would be a lovely way to spend the night (i'm not though, its just how the brain works when I'm in a down phase, i hate it too), but I went out. Why? Because my local community center was shutting off services to the homeless, no showers, sleeping space, no food, no laundry. This is a transgender community center so sleeping space and showers are a huge deal to people who look like girls and guys of mixed characteristics, it can avoid assaults and give people less of a reason go with strangers for a place to stay because the local homeless youth shelter (covenant house) openly discriminates against transgender youth and doesn't provide a safe space for them. We had a meeting, I said my piece and hopefully we'll get full services for them back by the end of January. Its a really shitty situation, basically we've got problems with a few assholes stealing from the center, otherwise being disruptive which provides about 30 different services and programs for local LGBT youth including political organizing space, AA meetings, youth spots, workshops (life skills, self defense ect), legal research (who do you think), HIV testing (free!) and support group stuff for various people. Also they throw a bitching social.

So I went out, and I feel good about it, and I finally did some mailing that I've long put off, yes I mean you, I'm really really sorry I took this long. I still am a mess though emotionally.