Early Homage to Black History Month

Black•His•tor•y•Month: Don't you just love the holidays? Well why wait 'til February to celebrate Black History Month? Black History Month is typically spent celebrating Black culture and prominent figures in history-

We've decided to take a more mono-chromatic approach:

Origins: Foodies world-wide are crazy about all things black, and we wanted an excuse to incorporate them into some of our culinary practice. Here are some of the new black ingredients.

Black Garlic: Is regular garlic that gains its color from fermentation. The fermentation process makes the garlic both sweet and soft. (We had to drive all hell-the-way out to AJ's on the Northwest side! to get it, but boy was it worth it.)

Black Rice: NEW SUPERFOOD. LOVE IT! Naturally black. Naturally high in fiber. NICE.

Black+Vodka: Trade name Blavod. Real original guys, maybe next time spend some money on a marketing director.

Black Sesame Seeds: You know those lil buddies that come ontop of your hamburger buns, they come in black!

Here's what we decided to do with them! (To impress a meal for 4).

Wasabi and black Sesame Seed seared Ahi Tuna and green beans served with

black garlic and mushroom soup, over black rice.

(Will warm your heart, soul and genitals).

Main Course:

Step 1: Wait until Ahi Tuna goes on sale.

Step 2: Marinade about 1 lb of Tuna in a Soy Sauce-Wasabi Powder-Sesame Oil concoction. Play around with portions, depending on how spicy/salty you desire, for only 20 mins.

Step 3: Get your pan/wok super hot, splash some sesame oil and slap that puppy down.

Step 4: Sprinkle top side with black sesame seeds, count to 15 Mississippi, then flip. More sesame seeds and another 15 Mississippi.

Step 5: Congrats! You are a great success.

Saute green beans in sesame oil and add sesame seeds. DONE.

Soup WAY easier than Ramen.

Step 0: Boil rice. DONE.

Step 1: Add some black garlic ROUGH chopped into pan with Mushroom Broth. Simmer 5 mins.

Step 2: Add thinly sliced mushrooms and green onions.

Step 3: Put a scoop of black rice into a serving bowl and pour soup over.

And finally,

A black Vodka, Oolong, and lemon grass simple syrup Martini.

Step 1: Make double strength Oolong Tea. Cool down.

Step 2: Simmer 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of sugar and lemon grass sticks. Let Cool.

Step 3: Mix it up. It will naturally layer itself.

Guest Star Jessica Noele. Thanks for your photo-poppin'.

HOT SEX TIP: Well, without sounding self congratulatory, this meal was a great success. So I guess they're right when they say, "Once you go Black... you never eat white rice again." And if you can't get layed making this meal for a date, then you can't be helped.

L-word,

Hank and Laura and Jessica