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From Photograzing

apricot, pistachio & spiced chickpea orzo

Very, very good looking dish. I made something like this years ago from some obscure cookbook and was dying to find something like it again.

If it's as good as it looks, you deserve a pat on the back.
Scott

From Photograzing

Sour cream coffee cake

I'm vegan now, so I don't eat any dairy. Nevertheless, this looks mouthwatering! Delicious, yum!

From Serious Eats: New York

New Jersey Dispatch: DiCosmo’s Italian Ice

I love Italian ices and shared them with my children. Too bad all that is available is the knock offs... I made a post about our treat on my blog. Fell free to take a look :D
Scott

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

This sounds good. I've never heard of Serrano peppers, though. Does this salsa come out more "hot" or "flavorful"? I like the flavorful salsas, being a NYer and all :D
Scott

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From Photograzing

Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, Chick Peas, Broccoli, and Salad

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Recent Comments | Response to Comments

From Photograzing

apricot, pistachio & spiced chickpea orzo

Very, very good looking dish. I made something like this years ago from some obscure cookbook and was dying to find something like it again.

If it's as good as it looks, you deserve a pat on the back.
Scott

From Photograzing

Sour cream coffee cake

I'm vegan now, so I don't eat any dairy. Nevertheless, this looks mouthwatering! Delicious, yum!

From Serious Eats: New York

New Jersey Dispatch: DiCosmo’s Italian Ice

I love Italian ices and shared them with my children. Too bad all that is available is the knock offs... I made a post about our treat on my blog. Fell free to take a look :D
Scott

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

This sounds good. I've never heard of Serrano peppers, though. Does this salsa come out more "hot" or "flavorful"? I like the flavorful salsas, being a NYer and all :D
Scott

From Serious Eats

How to Politely Take Food Photos in Restaurants

No flash, certainly not. The distraction level is high. I've heard that someone prone to epileptic seizures may be affected by the flash output. Same with migraine sufferers...

For food photography, I think it depends on what you're doing. Casual, "hey look at this" pictures can be done on my iPhone. With the 3GS, it's probably easier.

For more serious stuff, I break out the DSLR. High ISO when needed, and a fast lens. Since I'm so close to the food, I'll use a 50mm. If the restaurant is lit with ambient in the daytime, I'll use a lower ISO. I keep a little pocket tripod with me, so I can attach it to the camera and rest it on the table.

Lastly, modern cameras have lots of megapixels and good low light sensitivity. Scaling down a shot at, say, 1/25 second at ISO 800 with some noise to 400 pixels wide should be suitable for a blog post...
Scott

From Serious Eats

Video: Awkward Orderer

That was cute. I enjoyed it. I invited guests out to eat before and something similar happened with them. Not as extreme, but funny nonetheless.

I like to get to know the place ahead of time. Get the menu, snoop around a little bit, ask for suggestions...that way, when I get there I can relax (I'm an ingredient investigator).

Good video!
Scott

From Serious Eats

What is Chinese Brown Sauce Made Of?

All of these recipes sound so professional! I'm not sure if the $5 special uses anything exotic, though. Soy sauce, cornstarch, some kind of oil, and definitely garlic.

There was a place that I used to eat at on 7th Avenue and 30-something Street in NYC (they've since closed). Their brown sauce was the most addictive. I used to buy some on Friday nights to take home and eat on Saturday.

Their brown sauce probably had a Herculean amount of MSG in it. Whenever you ate there your heartbeat would race, you'd be agitated easily, and your energy level would increase. I ate there for a month straight one time and had to withdraw myself slowly.
Scott

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

Looks like a good dish. I think something is missing, too. Bacon? Naah. How about a rich, green salad, a crusty roll, and some sparkling apple cider? Now that would be a meal!
Scott

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

the recipe above is a pretty good basic salsa to jump off into variations from. one of mine is similar but use canned crushed tomatoes, double the onion and garlic and serranos (don't bother with jalapenos). skip the chile powder and add a pinch of sea salt. and definitely skip the sugar. also, try it with and without the lime juice - both ways are good. add a couple extra serranos to "hot" it up some if that's your taste (I usually use 7 or 8). I also like to add about 1/2 of a poblano chile for it's rich flavour. I much prefer the food processor over the blender tho' both will work well.

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

this looks so delicious. I was surprised though to see that you used canned tomatoes instead of fresh. I'm used to seeing with very chunky salsa with marinated fresh tomatoes or more of the spicy pureed version liked you image above. in your experience, do most salsas that look like this use canned tomatoes?

looks great either way!!

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

this salsa is amazing.

the romas can be peeled and not cooked. I did it this way the first time. I chowed it pretty fast, used it in some pork tacos. it was amazing.

we did it with a can of tomatoes the second time. i'd suggest letting it sit overnight if you use the can to let the flavors combine more (or it's a bit canned tomato tasting).

no longer am I buying salsa from the grocery store.

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

Fry in oil or grill (until slightly blackened) 4 roma tomatoes, 2-4 jalapeno or serrano chiles depending upon your desire for heat, and one clove of garlic. The garlic clove can be cooked in skin by grilling the clove with the vegetables or frying. The above cooked ingredients can be mashed by hand with a mortar/pestle or blended after salting to taste (probably 1tsp) and adding one crispy bacon. I small handful of cilantro is chopped and added to the salsa. You can chopped fresh or cooked onion depending on your taste (I prefer without). This is an EXCELLENT and easy mexican salsa (ranchera) from a Mexican.

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

tinytophats: Yeah, you are right. The stock should go in on the second step. Thanks for pointing that out.

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

Hmm, where does the vegetable broth come in? I assume it's in Step 2, where you're supposed to boil the veggies. But I just wanted to make sure...

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

@theactivedaddy, I'd classify this as more flavorful than hot, but you can add more peppers if heat is what you're after.

@jmax, no, I just throw in the whole can.

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

do you drain the tomatoes if they are canned?

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

A Texan classic which we all know but, everyones is just a little different.

I tend to use fresh tomato and just boil off the skins, it doesnt take very long, I use that time to roast off the pepper's skins.

I havent ever tried the chili powder though, I'll be sure and do that on my next batch. Sounds like a tasty addition.

From Serious Eats: New York

New Jersey Dispatch: DiCosmo’s Italian Ice

As a born and bred Elizabethan, I've been enjoying DiCosmo's since I was in the womb. Far better than anything I've found in Philadelphia over the past 30 years.

Back in the 1950s, when the shack was still a grocery store, they only had lemon and, occasionally, orange. Along with the ice, they also had a huge glass jar filled with chunks of freshly-cracked coconut, and another jar with pretzel rods. There were only two sizes (5 cents and 10 cents), and the nickel cup was a thin, pleated cup so you could squeeze the last drop of ice, by then melted, out easily.

I still stop by whenever I'm in Elizabeth in season.

From Serious Eats: New York

New Jersey Dispatch: DiCosmo’s Italian Ice

ahh DiCosmo's...I grew up down the street from this place and still try to get back when I can. Pineapple was always my favorite.

From Recipes

Serious Salsa: (Not Exactly) My Uncle's Salsa

I made this salsa this weekend with jalapeno peppers and red onion. My friends gobbled it down. I will definitely make it again and I'm looking forward to whatever other salsa recipes you throw our way!

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

I get tired of mushrooms and spinach in my pasta and was looking for something new. Thanks for the idea!

Hillary
Chew on That

From A Hamburger Today

New Suggestive Burger King Ad for the Super Seven Incher

No sense of humour, you guys. No wonder all the good ads are from Europe and Japan.

And this sounds very much like my home-made version of a Philly cheese steak,
except it's a burger patty instead of Steak-Umms, and I use HP Chicken & Rib sauce which is slightly sweeter than A-1. (BTW, in the UK, that "Chicken & Rib" sauce is called "HP Fruity Sauce"; wrap your heads around that..) I'd try it once; further adventures would depend on how it tasted.

From A Hamburger Today

New Suggestive Burger King Ad for the Super Seven Incher

I want to meet the advertising person who came up with the idea as much as I want to meet the executive who approved it...

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

if i was making this, with dried beans, i'd keep a little of the bean liquid in there for a little "juicy" .... and a hit of xv oo at the end to slick it up a bit.....

From Serious Eats

What is Chinese Brown Sauce Made Of?

I just made my own version based off of Claypot's version, and it turned out really well!!

1/2 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 tbps (rounded) flour

I just heated up the broth and soy sauce, added everything except for the flour, and then slowly added the flour bit by bit while whisking quickly and kept whisking till it thickened. Even my (picky) husband liked it!!! Now I'm gonna put it on my veggie and seafood stir-fry :D

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

Hey! I made this exact thing on Monday. Except I omitted the cheese and added a hit of balsamic, and toasted sesame seeds. It was DEEElicious and my first time cooking with kale... I'm so proud of myself!

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

I totally make a version of this and love it! Though I usually add sausage....

From Serious Eats

What is Chinese Brown Sauce Made Of?

I'm so trying this tonight!! Thank you all you guys!

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Kale and White Bean Pasta

One of my quick summer favorites. I do like to make marinara, then add the beans and sauteed kale. And lots of parmesan or asiago cheese!

Oh yeah. So good.

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About the active daddy

Website: http://www.theactivedaddy.com

Location: New York City

About: I'm Scott, The Active Daddy: a father involved in his family, his church, his community. His kitchen, too :D Take care, and influence someone for good today :)
Scott, The Active Daddy

Favorite foods: Burgers and fries, pizza, Mexican, Chinese, Mediterranean, Italian, all kinds of snacks, too many to mention!

Last bite on earth: It would have to be something heavenly!