Monday, January 18, 2010

The Fridge Game

Have you ever heard of this website called Reddit? It's hard to describe it, but in a nutshell it's a huge bulletin board where people post links to funny, interesting or offbeat sites, or ask each other for advice, or post pictures of, well, anything at all...and much, much more. Each submission is then upvoted or downvoted by the readers depending on how much they like it and that's the order that the site lists the posts. That explanation was just pathetic, I know, but it's nearly impossible to describe reddit...and it's also nearly impossible to pull yourself away from the computer once you've started browsing reddit. It's addictive in the best way possible. You should check it out...www.reddit.com...but after you finish reading my blog of course ;)

So what does this have to do with "The Fridge Game" you ask? Well, a few months ago I found a link on reddit to a website where people from all over the world posted pictures of the inside of their refrigerators. It doesn't sound all that exciting, but to me it was heaven! I mean, do you know how much you can learn about someone by looking inside of their fridge?!? Ok, you can't learn as much as looking inside of their medicine cabinet, but that could get real ugly real fast, so we'll stick with the fridge. It was an awesome sight to be seen. One guy posted a picture of his freezer and it was stocked FULL of nothing but venison. He lived in Montana and liked to hunt. Another woman posted a picture of her fridge and all it had inside was a box of baking soda and some salad dressing. She lived in Chicago and was a med-student. There were also pictures from refrigerators around the world. A family of 4 who lived in Greece had a teeny tiny little dorm fridge and just kept some dairy products in it. They explained that shopping daily for their food wasn't just about getting fresh ingredients, but it was a way of life. I must have stared at those photos for hours, just trying to figure out what type of lives these people lived and how food fit into those lives. So today while I was at my home away from home...the Reading Terminal Market...I became inspired to post a picture of my fridge...as it is...no stocking it full of exotic delights to make it seem more worldly. So here it is for your viewing pleasure. Maybe you'll see something you'd like to try. Or perhaps you can recommend something you think we would like based on what you see. What do you think it says about Nick and I?

Here's a better look at the inside. On the top shelf we've got a package of fresh jalapenos next to a package of tortillas...they're amigos so I let them hang out together. There's also a package of eggs (free range 'cause they're yummy) and some leftover Chinese (Szechuan!). In the cheese drawer I've got some bacon (from the Amish stand in the market...I buy A LOT of bacon and use it for just about everything from my re-fried beans to my southern style swiss chard...I have a feeling I'll be on Lipitor in the near future), some run of the mill cheddar, Neufchatel (like cream cheese but less calories and it's french so it sounds cool) and a block of raw milk blue cheese that I bought at an outdoor farmer's market this weekend. Raw milk cheese can sometimes be dangerous because it hasn't been pasteurized but I bet it's stinkier than my wildest dreams so I'm willing to take that risk!

On the middle shelf I've got some shitake mushrooms, some watercress that I washed and wrapped in a paper towel to keep it fresh (good tip for all greens), some arugula (I'm an arugula junkie...I use it instead of lettuce now), some radishes (try radishes with ricotta cheese and a touch of salt and pepper...SO good), some sunchokes (I just started using these and I'm hooked...they're hard to describe so be on the lookout for an upcoming post where I tell you how to use them) and some fresh parsley and cilantro (I keep herbs in pint glasses in the fridge with a little bit of water in the bottom...they stay fresh for a LONG time this way...and they're not bad to look at either...sort of like little flower bouquets).

On the bottom shelf I've got beer and hard apple cider (of course), a box of white "maintenance" wine (of course) some crab meat on ice (important to keep crab meat very cold), and two packages of butcher paper wrapped meat...one is lamb shoulder chops and the other is a few NY Strip steaks (dry aged and delicious! if you haven't tried dry aged beef yet you don't know what you're missing).

As for the fruit and veggie drawer I've got a little of everything (I love me some veggies). I've got brussel sprouts and broccoli (both are good cold weather crops so they're cheap AND delicious this time of year), some beets, some mushrooms and some green beans that are NOT in season but me-likey-green beans so I bought them. The fruit drawer is pretty pathetic but I always keep lemons and limes (for bar tending purposes mostly) and a few apples, because stinky cheese and a slice of crisp apple are like a match made in heaven. If it weren't for cheese I would probably never eat fruit. Oh, and there is a package of OH SO out of season blackberries but they're going on top of my delicious homemade panna cotta later tonight, so they were worth it.

As for the fridge door...I like to think of it as eclectic. The Thai chili sauce hangs out next to the worcheshire sauce and the peperoncinos cuddle up next to the sesame oil. All four of them serve wonderful culinary purposes in their own way. The miso is hiding back there next to the sour cream and the butter (lots of butter) has it's own room (spoiled rotten that butter is). Oh, I just spotted the bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce. It's most likely the best bbq sauce on the market today (I'm sure you may disagree but there is no changing my mind). I've also got heavy cream (of which I use too much but boy does it make a good soup even better and a good sauce sing). On the lower shelf I keep my bar tending staples...tonic water, seltzer water, diet coke and lemoncello (recipe for a lemoncello martini coming soon!). On the far left side there is a bottle of Lambic beer (BIG bottle). Next time you're at the liquor store look for it. The most popular type is Frambois (pronounced FramBwa) and it's a raspberry flavored bubbly beverage...nothing at all like beer but technically it is one. This stuff is almost TOO good and I promise that come tomorrow that bottle will no longer be there.

So that's about a week's worth of food for us...plus or minus a pasta dinner, a night out on the town or a pizza and a movie night. What's inside YOUR fridge and what does it say about you? I'd love to know! So email me (link to my email on the top right side of the blog) a picture of yours and I'll post all of the pictures I received in a few weeks. And tell me a little about your favorite things inside. It will be fun...so please play along!

5 comments:

  1. Hi I have followed your culinary journeys with much jealousy.
    You both kick XXx
    I work with your dad.
    I am the Food Dude
    I live it Love and never stop learning it,
    my wife Laurie enjoys the journey as well we love Philly
    Would love to hook up at some fork in the road to enjoy some tasty viddles & company with u both
    Tasty Eating Rich

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  2. Hi Rich! Thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading! Your comments mean a lot knowing that you're a food professional! Nick and I are always happy to meet other food-lovers so I'm sure we'll cross forks, so to speak, in the future.

    Jessica

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  3. Isn't storing the Pinot Evil in the fridge something of a gaffe?

    --pops

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  4. No gaffe here! Well, perhaps owning a box of wine and calling it maintenance wine might, in itself be frowned upon, but ya gots ta keep ya white wine chilled (that pinot was of the grigio variety...the pinot noir hangs out at room temp). And I'm not about to put an ice cube in even my crappiest wine any time soon ;)

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  5. We would like that some time
    I know M.W
    we talk about food and drink @ work,
    says you guys rule the Philly food scene

    goto love that
    Rich

    ReplyDelete