by Sam Tackeff | Nov 7, 2012 | bento, Lunch
Since I’ve been working mostly from home over the past several months, I haven’t had any reason to pack a lunch, so I was thrilled to pack my very first bento today for Startup School. Although the offices downtown are conveniently located in proximity to lots of good food options, I’m going to still make it a point to bring lunch as often as possible.
On the left is sliced chicken thighs, and on the right, roasted delicata squash and parsnips. And an apple for snack. I suppose I’m missing something green, but this hit the spot.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 4, 2012 | Challenge
Seven weeks. It’s been seven weeks since I started the gym challenge, and today was the day I headed back in for the re-test of our power benchmark. I can’t express how proud I feel at how much I’ve progressed in nearly two months. But it’s significant. It feels really good. I was excited to get back in the gym today even though I’m still feeling a little sick and weak from this long cold. It’s good to be there, accomplishing things. If you had told me last year that I’d be doing handstand pushups, dead-lifting more than my body weight, or running races, I’d have laughed in your face. But here I am. And it feels great.
Strength: Back Squats –we’ve been working nearly every week on back squats. At the beginning of the challenge, I got to 95# for two lifts. Today, I hit a brand new max weight of #125. I attempted #135, but it was a little bit too much for this tired body of mine. That’s 30 pounds heavier than six weeks ago, not too shabby!
Benchmark WOD 1: “Fran”
21-15-9 reps for time:
Thrusters 95/65
Pull-ups
The prescribed weight for Fran for women is 65, but because I had to re-test with the same as six weeks ago, I loaded up to 45 pounds, and subbed jumps for pull ups. I eeked things out at the initial test in 9:40, and wanted to die. This time I improved my time by 10 seconds. Which… was a little disappointing. But 10 seconds is 10 seconds, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can improve in the next few months.
When I got home, Devon had picked me up a Barbacoa Bowl from Chipotle – meat, vegetables, pico de gallo, hot tomato salsa, lettuce and guacamole.
I then set to work doing a massive amount of cooking for the week.
I roasted parsnips in coconut oil with salt and pepper, I did the same to a delicata squash, sliced into rings. And while I was at it, I roasted a whole spaghetti squash. I also roasted a piece of lamb liver, but forgot to take a photo of it – a little too much juggling in the kitchen!
And then I made a big pot of Mel’s Chocolate Chili. The whole batch this time instead of being stupid like last time and making a half of a batch. Next time, I’ll double it.
Then, I took a dozen eggs and I baked ’em! I popped them in the oven at 325F for 30 minutes, sitting in one of my madeleine tins. You can place them right on the rack, but this makes it a lot easier!
When they were done, I put them in ice water for 10 minutes to cool, dried them off, and popped them back into their carton.
Then, I put together another braise – Maple Cider Vinegar Braised Beef.
I seared some beef shank meat in coconut oil, removed it from the pan, and then added onion, garlic, and shallot. I let it cook for a few minutes, de-glazed the pan with a quarter cup of maple syrup, a quarter cup of cider vinegar, and a cup of homemade beef stock. Nestled in a few bay leaves, and the shanks, covered the pot, and braised the meat for 2.5 hours, turning the beef every half hour or so.
After two and a half hours, the meat was tender and falling apart, and the liquid had reduced to a sticky sweet and sour sauce.
I took out the meat, reduced the sauce for another 15 minutes or so on the stove top, and put it away for a meal later in the week so the flavors would continue to meld.
Last but not least, dinner!
I pan fried some chicken thighs with salt and pepper in my cast iron, and made salads with avocado. Light and fresh! We devoured it in front of the TV watching old episodes of Dexter.
What are you cooking up this week?
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 27, 2012 | Books
Usually my reading pace is a book (or two or three) a week, but I’ve been starting too many lately and putting them down before I can make headway. I picked up nearly a dozen like this, until I finally found myself with food writer Peter Kaminsky‘s Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (and Really Well) and I felt compelled to read it straight through. It wasn’t until I got half way through that I realized that it might be considered a “diet book”– I hadn’t actually read the subtitle – but this isn’t what I’d call it. I’d shelve it next to my copy of say, Tamar Adler’s An Everlasting Meal, or Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin’s What We Eat When We Eat Alone. It’s a book about eating style.
Kaminsky’s sell is “FPC” or “flavor per calorie” emphasizing that when food tastes great – and isn’t made of white flour or sugar, or processed – you will enjoy it more and eat less. He re-iterates simplicity. He suggests varying your meals, and planning. For convenience, he proposes an 11-day week of at-home meals supplemented by lots of vegetables: meat one night, poultry another, fish, pasta, whole-grain risotto, beans made with vegetables, sausage or bacon, salad, an omelet or fritatta, soup, or leftovers (touched-up). These are not groundbreaking ideas, but I found the book to be a nice reminder. I also quite enjoyed the moments of memoir – hobnobbing with Francis Mallmann (with whom he co-wrote Seven Fires), or being served fish by Laurent Gras. (The recipe is in the book.)
I really enjoy reading about how people eat on a regular basis, particularly those who work in the industry in some way. When your life revolves around food, it’s all too easy to talk about the grand meals, rather than the small ones that sustain us. Maybe I just like reading about little habits that justify my own odd ones– such as my bi-weekly sardine fixes.
This morning we both woke up a little bit under the weather. (Devon had it bad, I was just sleep deprived.) So I set about doing what I know works to ward off the sickness:
1. Nutrient dense foods. It helps that this might be one of my favorite foods on the planet: a roasted lamb’s liver with roasted parsnip, topped with a parsley sherry vinaigrette.
2. Tea. When I’m not feeling well, I usually drink plain hot water, or use one tea bag and re-steep it all day long until it’s hot water that tastes a little bit like something. This was one of my special bags of Turkish black tea that I’m very fond of. The brand is called Çaykur, and the tea is labeled “Altın Süzen Poşet Çay” the gold variety of black tea.
3. Stock. Two days ago I made chicken stock after roasting a plump bird. Today, it’s some beef stock with marrow bones. I added in some vinegar, salt, bay leaves and the top of a parsnip for good measure.
In the early evening, I headed to the gym for some non-cardio-based exercise, which always seems more prudent when I’m worried that I’m coming down with something but still want to get a workout in. Unlike my normal routine, I swung by the local Y to check it out during their open house week. The weight room, to my disappointment was crawling with teenage boys. This became much more entertaining when I started warming up with heavier weights than they were working towards. Snicker.
Afterwards, I headed downtown to meet a friend at Trident. Iced tea!
While at Trident, I found myself at the Back Bay Trader Joe’s for the first time ever. It’s a hidden Trader Joe’s down an escalator! I picked up a few necessities (Devon requested orange juice) and headed home.
Yesterday I roasted this chicken with lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme :
And today I used some of the meat to make my dinner.
I’m a big fan of these pre-cooked beets. They taste much better than canned beets, but provide significant convenience if you are the only beet eater in the house and want to put together a quick meal.
I popped the beets in a bowl and dressed them with cumin, salt, some sherry vinegar and chile powder. Then I tossed in some chopped chicken breast. And topped it all with salsa and guacamole. This makes total sense in my mind, but looking back, it may be one of the odder combinations you’ve seen here.
