Just don't call us Betty...

For many, the ramping up in intensity of the football season should lead to a corresponding step up when it comes to gameday snacks, peaking with the Superbowl Sunday food fest.  Considering that Jared and Jordan enjoyed a feast of $1 oysters and lamb belly sandwiches last weekend during the NFL quarterfinals at Hog and Rocks, our oft blogged about non-sports bar sports bar, we had quite a challenge ahead of ourselves for Sunday's semi-final games.

Nevertheless, the stars were aligned as we had the rare combination of non-achy heads on a Sunday morning with our new DINK status (acronym for: "Dual Income No Kids," and frequently heard in budgetary conversations of late: "who cares, its no big deal, we are totally DINKing it now").   After heading over to the most awesome beer store, Healthy Spirits, and stocking up on the finest, we decided to blow it out of the water with some phenomenal duck nachos.

Enter Jared's home-made salsa and an impromptu guac: 

Sprinkle in some cojita cheese, black beans refried in-house, an utterly delicious roast duck breast and... VOILA!:

Crack open a crisp and refreshing cerveza accompaniment:

And you get some very happy football fans....

Greatness Falls

This week, the unthinkable happened- Ming Tsai was eliminated from the Next Iron Chef.  For those of you that have had the opportunity to visit us here in SF, you might have met our new favorite quirky television chef (RIP Floyd- we love you, brother!) and star of Simply Ming- Ming Tsai.   Dubbed by Kelly as the Chinese Sly Stallone, Ming has kept us couch-bound many a Sunday morning in awe of his East-meets-West combinations.  

When Jared discovered that Ming would be a contender to serve as the next Iron Chef, we had no doubt that he would blow the other no-name chefs out of the water.  Unfortunately, Ming got a bit overzealous and often tried to incorporate the entire pantry into one dish.  He was also criticized for his "dated" plating tactics (apparently frosted glass plates are sooo 90's). Only one challenge away from his place as the next Iron Chef, Ming was eliminated.

We have had a few days to recover from this trauma and our anger at super-lame monkey boy host Alton Brown has subsided a bit, but we still feel confident that Ming would have been the best Iron Chef of the bunch.  At least we will still be seeing Ming, merging Yuzu and Ranch Dressing without missing a beat, every Sunday on PBS from the comfort of our mini-couch....

Eggplant Parmesan

At some point in time, someone told me that cooking was an art and that baking was a science.  Connecting this adage to my surprisingly resilient sponge-textured cake ("Baking powder? Baking soda?  Same thing- right?") and my inherited inability to cook bread without setting off the fire alarm was not difficult.  In general, when I look at recipes in magazines and cookbooks, I usually see them more as "suggestions" than strict guidelines.  Clearly, I fit more in the "artist" category than the "scientist."  For this reason, I have always been kind of scared of the oven, seeing it as this intimidating appliance that required compliance to rules and special instruments to master.  Nevertheless, I have had a lot of free time on my hands and have recently been trying to work within the stringent rules that the oven requires.  Following a recipe to the tee is probably never going to happen for me, but lets just say that I have been taking some of the recipes' "suggestions" a little more seriously. 

One of my more beautiful creations of late was this lovely eggplant parmigiana.   Created with homemade bread crumbs (not because I am super crafty, but more because I didn't decide that I was going to create this masterpiece far enough in advance to purchase actual breadcrumbs) and eschewing Martha's 7000 calorie suggestion of 2 cups of shredded cheese, this little guy came out looking and tasting pretty good.  Enjoy the fruits of my boredom....

Fish Like an Egyptian

In addition to the presence of a star-studded cast of characters in Cape Town for the World Cup draw, some soccer/futbol-related excitement was had as well.  Most notably, the soccer gods answered my prayers and gave us the ultimate dream matchup in Group G opening round play: Brazil vs North Korea.  Looks like the boys downstairs may want to revisit their championship prediction now that the Canarinhos are going to be banging cleats with Kim Jong Il's mysterious Pyongyang Nightstalker squadron.  I can't wait.

On the tail of such exciting news, I decided to let Lindsay and Co. hunt down Charlize, the Beckhams, Corey Feldman and all the other mega-celebrities roaming around town, while I hit Langebaan Lagoon for some late-night fishing with my Egyptian friend Hesham and our Afrikaans boat captain, Anton.  Talk about a fishing dream team.  How'd we do, you ask? 

Well, we may have set a new national record for most Brown Shy Sharks with about 54.  The first couple were pretty interetesting since its got a cool pattern and strangely curls into a ball and covers its eyes with its tail once it senses trouble.  But, they quickly started to wear out their welcome.  Overall, pretty lame shark.  Here's Hesham and one of the 42 he caught....

The real prize of the night was my Kabeljou...

Which turned into prime braai material....

All in all pretty nice little Saturday...

Even from Africa, OU still sucks

Even a little pug in Cape Town knows which team to cheer for.  Gotta love the local wildlife.  Little rascal actually got so fired up that when Texas sealed the win she decided to mark her territory all over the couch cushion.  Luckily Jared decided to round out his game day attire with quick drying UT board shorts.

Hook 'em!