Fodder for the Horde

Green Giant

2008-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of this going around lately. Or maybe it's already passe, who knows, but I went quick-and-dirty-fusion tonight.

But let me share a little back story...

Somebody, I don't know who, brought some garden vegetables to work with a 'free to the world' post it attached. I didn't find out about this until midday though. I was in the breakroom early for my cup of coffee (or three, hey, it was a cold commute in) but they appeared only after that. There was a couple green bell peppers and some little zucchini that I saw other people took. When I got there there was a single item left, but it was impressive. There was a two foot long, 4-5 inch diameter grey zucchini. I took it. I felt weird, I don't like to be that guy that takes the last piece of birthday cake, and this was way more conspicuous. Nobody else was taking it, I hear it had been there for about 4 hours. So it was mine now. Hmm... had to figure out how to lash it my bicycle's cargo rack for the journey home. But that was a few hours away yet. In the meantime, it sat there on my desk gathering more innuendo than I expected, but such is cubicle culture.

I still never found out who brought it to work. When I do, I'll have to thank them.

I decided pretty early in the day what to do with it. So I emailed Wife and asked her to steam a batch of brown rice by the time I got home. Upon my arrival (soggy bottomed, it was wet out!) I set the oven to 350, sliced my squash lengthwise and scooped out the seeds, I was making baked boats! I opened a can of tomatoes and dumped them in a mixing bowl with about 1.5 cups of brown rice, some green onion, some garlic, a bunch of caper berries, a little rosemary and a little olive oil. Not working from a recipe I just steered myself in a somewhat Italian direction, it seemed to work out. After mixing the bunch together I packed it into the hulls as best I could. Into the oven with it for 40 minutes while I changed my focus to some pasta.

Butterfly pasta! The girls always like the butterflies. Michaela, my oldest, loves pasta in general, but Maeve, her younger sister, not so much. She doesn't hate pasta, she just doesn't ever eat much of it. Fun shapes definitely help things along though. While the pasta water was boiling though I got to work on something to put in it.

I pulled out two little zucchini from the fridge. Yes, yes, I realize I have the zuc motherload already in the oven, but Wife bought a bunch of it at the grocer several days ago and I have plenty to use up. I sliced those into 'knuckles.' At least that's what I call them? After chopping the top off I slice the squash diagonally, rotate 1/4 turn so the cut surface is facing up and cut at the same diagonal angle starting at the widest part of the previous cut. You wind up with these great triangular cut chunks that are fun to work with and even better to eat. If you don't know what I'm talking about my desciption probably isn't helping, if you do know what I mean let me know what the cut is really called and link us all to a youtube instructional.

While going to town on my 'knuckles' I also thawed some edamame in the microwave. I used about a 1/3 lb. Once those were no longer frozen (2 minutes, 22 seconds in this case) I pushed out the beans and set them aside. I also chopped a fistful of cilantro, two large cloves of garlic very then, chiffonaded (?) two leafy stalks of thai basil, and more-than-a-cup of romano cheese. I sauteed my knuckles in olive oil over quite high heat for a few minutes, until they were starting to brown a little. To that I added the soy beans and sautted them for just a couple minutes. Removing my skillet from the heat then, I added the garlic and tossed together with salt and pepper. I wanted the garlic to hold onto it's punch.

Once the pasta was done and drained I added the basil to that pot along with a scoop of sambal badjak, the shrimp extract therein lends a lot to this dish (not to mention the heat!) and toss. The rest is mere assembly: add the veggies to the pasta, top with cheese and and a little cilantro. Grabbing a slice of the baked zucchini boat and and glass of wine this fast meal wasn't going to stand a chance against the hungry horde. mmm.

Eggplant Stir Fry

2008-10-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

You can get great eggplant this time of year. Eggplant though, is a vegetable that I have really struggled with in the past. Inspired by 'gorgeous-on-tv' recipes I have had only 'this-is-gross' experiences at home. But I'm getting better and this quick and easy stir-fry was certainly a success. Horde approved!

I modded a recipe from a book my parents bought for me a few year's back. A couple of friends from Hawaii have since recommended the restaurant, they say it's where they always send their tourist friends (which is a good thing, I think?). At any rate, it's a great little book with stunning photos of the food and approachable recipes.

I chopped a lb of tri tip strips quite small and marinated for a few minutes in hoisin sauce, ginger and a little soy sauce. Meanwhile I cut up one largish eggplant (I wanted to get some of those great pale japanese eggplants but my asian grocer was out) a couple yellow bell peppers and nearly a whole head of garlic (aw yeah).

Heating up the wok and a little oil to the smoking point I first fried a third of the beef until it was well seared and removed to a plate. Adding a smidge more oil if necessary I added a third of the eggplant and a third of the peppers and tossed for about five minutes until it was nearly cooked through. Then I added a spoonful of yellow bean sauce and the beef back and tossed it all together until the veggies were completely cooked. Turning off the heat throw in a handful of thai basil and give that a quick toss. Done!

I split this portion between the kids and readied the wok for another go round. Repeating the same steps Wife's portion was done in another 5 minutes and mine 5 after that (but to mine I added a generous portion of sambal badjak, I like it hot!!). Everybody takes a scoop of steamed jasmine rice on the side and we have a weeknight dinner done in no time.

Beet Tart and Pumpkin Risotto

2008-10-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Inspired by recent posts by RhubarbSky and Orangette I tried my hand at a beet tart. It was not a hit though. At least not with the rest of the horde.

Lacking a stand mixer and the patience to make do without, I just fashioned my crust by pulling out one from the freezer at the grocery. It was probably a little sweeter than it should have been, but it was easy.

Apart from that I followed Orangette's recipe exactly. I loved it, but I like beets. I have yet to convince the rest of the family of their merits but this time it just meant more pie for me. I actually made two of them, the second one I brought to work where it was a huge hit. Two factors came into play though. 1) only people that liked beets tried it and 2) I think it was a little better the second day, chilled.

I think if I get the chance to do it again (likely not for the home crowd) I may try to make a layer out of the wilted and strained greens and increase the feta to about 6oz, it could have used a little more of the salty cheese 'punch'.

Along with the tart I made a nice pumkin risotto, that did recieve a warm enough reception to make it onto a future menu. I like to cook with the little green kabocha pumpkins that litter the produce stands this time of year and this was a great way to use one. I picked out a smallish specimen and halved it, then shaved off the green rind with a sharp chef knife and diced into 1" cubes. The process takes a little patience but I wound up with enough for two meals so I just froze half of it.

For the rice I think I made about a cup and a half of arborio rice and heated a quart of beef broth. First heat the rice in a heavy skillet for few minutes with some olive oil and a little diced onion. Once the onion starts is well sauted then deglaze with a little sherry. Then add a ladelful of beef broth.

protip: if you dip the base of the full ladel back into the broth it won't drip!

The rice will readily soak up the broth, just have a wooden spoon handy to keep it from sticking to your skillet. Keep adding the broth, ladel by ladel, until your rice soft and creamy (basically I just described the instructions on the back of the rice package, you just follow those).

Normally i won't add any of my veggies to my risottos until the rice is done. I like the vegetables a little crisper to offset the creaminess of the rice, but if they are too firm without a little cooking I'll add them a little sooner, as the rice is nearing completion. Things like asparagus, carrots ...or pumpkin. Once the rice and the pumpkin are done though, add a handful of finely grated romano cheese, a can of white cannelini beans and several stalks worth of fresh basil (but not the stalks themselves). I like to use the thai basil, it has an extra anise like flavor that is brilliant here. Add pepper and salt if necessary (between the stock and the cheese it should be already pretty well seasoned).

Enjoy!

worth the wait, i hope?

2008-09-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

whoops, it's been more than a month since I've posted a meal. I've been cooking, and I've got more than a few meals I want to tell you about. I just been crazy with some other projects and haven't gotten a chance to come back here.

But tonight I made some amazing grilled sandwiches, you'll be interested to hear.

The other day Wife and I picked up some frozen tuna steaks. Not sushi grade or anything, just some fairly inexpensive vacuum sealed ones. They needed to be cooked through, but that is okay, I like cooked tuna too. I really did very little to them, about an hour before they hit the grill I set them in some soy sauce flavored with ginger. Just on the one side, the other only got a light dusting of kosher salt.

But on top of the tuna I made some bean patties that turned out quite well. For those I opened two cans of black beans and one of chickpeas. Leaving one can of black beans alone I dumped the other two in the food processor with a single glug of olive oil and the juice of a lime and gave it about five good pulses. Well shy of slurry state, but quite broken up were the beans. Transferring to a bowl and adding, lessee...an egg, some breadcrumbs, some corn meal as binders. Also some cumin an some chopped peanuts I toasted in a pan, some chili powder, a couple cloves of garlic and salt and plenty of pepper. Oh, I also found some grilled onions and green chili left in the fridge from the meal the night before. I ran my knife through those to a fine dice and into the mix they went. I was basically on a pantry raid, but trying to keep in a southwesterly direction.

That mixture chilled in the fridge for awhile, then I pulled it back out and formed patties. I got eight of them out of this, plenty for tonight then I can freeze the rest after they come off the grill. They'll be brilliant for a workday lunch.

All the patties, bean and tuna alike went onto the hot coals with a little oak smoke from some kiln fired lumber scraps my neighbor gave me. Tasty.

While they were all outside obtaining perfect grill lines I found a carrot and a poblano chili in the crisper. Not owning a mandoline yet, I just ran my peeler first around the carrot, then just on the same side all the way through which yields wide very flat strips. To each of those I ran the tip of my knife down effectively julienning the bunch into about 1.5mm threads. After a quick decapitation and membrane strip the poblano recieved a similar treatment.

All that was left was assembly. Taking a toasted hamburger patty (admittedly, a nice roll or ciabata would be nice, but you takes what you have on hand sometimes, yaknow?) I slathered some mayo, plopped down my tuna, plopped down a bean patty, scattered some of that vegetation, some salsa fresca, and the crown.

Plunked down next to it were some basic onigiri (unfilled, but rolled in sesame) and a tall IPA.

My kingdom for a sandwich.

Two Meals, One Bottle

2008-08-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I uncorked a nice bottle of French Wine, it was a blend of Grenache and Syrah, it was quite tasty. Other members of The Horde do not care for wine, of any varietal, so when I open a bottle I usually have to be ready to let it ride for at least two days, or ready to get really toasty. Lately though, I prefer to just have a couple glasses with dinner and let it rest and see how 24 hours treats the wine.

Yesterday, Sunday and all, I was able to spend a little more time on supper than a normal weeknight. Digressingly, this summer my oldest daughter is ridiculously busy. She has tap lessons, ballet lessons, swim lessons, and soccer practice. Something every single weeknight. It makes it really difficult to cook something good when you're under dropoff and pickup deadlines. But yesterday was a somewhat more leisurly evening and I had planned on roasting a bird all week.

Roasted chicken is one of my favorite things to cook. It's really easy to make, really difficult to mess up, and I can really bend the flavor in any direction I please. Yesterday it was lemons, fennel and rosemary. I clipped a little rosemary from the garden and heated it with some chopped lemons in the nuker for a minute. Stuffed that into the cavity and trussed the chicken. Next I chopped the fronds off the fennel bulbs and lay four of them down in my casserole to make a little raised bed for the chicken, which I then placed atop. Around the chicken I tossed two fennel bulbs, quartered-or rather eighthed, a thinly sliced lemon, and a couple cans of chickpeas that I rinsed and seasoned (salt, pepper, little paprika, little cumin).

The whole thing gets placed in the oven, preheated to 375. I let it sit uncovered in there for the first hour and fifteen minutes. After that it gets a loose tent of foil for the remaining 35. Pulling it out of the oven I pulled the chicken out of the casserole and let it rest under the foil tent while I made the gravy. There was a lot of liquid coming off the chicken and accompaniments, nearly two cups worth in the bottom of the casserole so I just strained that off into a little saucepot reduced for a few minutes and thickened the rest of the way with a tablespoon on cornstarch. What a wonderful gravy that made! Tart and lemony, a hint of the rosemary in the background, but still a lot of excellent chicken dripping flavor.

Beyond the ckickpeas and fennel, I just sliced up some watermelon and we had an excellent meal outside on the deck.

*****
Tonight, back to the weekday grind. We're flying out on vacation in a couple days to visit my sister (look forward to some good Southern Alabama cuisine posts soon) so this week we are keeping things simple, light and quick. Plus there's tap and ballet lessons for the oldest to reckon with, and my own swim training to contend with, so simple and quick is imperative. I cut zucchini into quarter-turn nuggets-have you seen how to do that?- just cut at and angle, then turn it a quarter turn so the sliced side is up and cut across it at the same angle, rinse and repeat until done. If you can't visualize it I'll post pix sometime. Lessee, I wasn't really following a recipe so, I think I tossed those with a little salt, pepper and paprika and sauted in a skillet. I boiled some water and cooked some edamame too. As soon as that was done I replaced the boiling water and put in some bowtie pasta. While that was doing it's thing I popped the beans out of thier shells. "Push Beans" the girls like to call them. They volunteered to help for this bit too, we had a good time shelling into a bowl.

Once the pasta was done, it was just assembly. Put some bowties into a bowl, toss with a little sambal (an Indonesian hot sauce, comes in a million billion varieties, check em out) throw in some zuch, some beans, top with a little sauted sliced garlic (sorry, I think I left that step out above, it was in the skillet just before the zuch), some salty romano cheese and some fresh cilantro. I poured the first of the last of my French red blend, snapped a photo and we all dug in.

gravlax & grapes

2008-07-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you that follow me on twitter, I know you havbeen salivating while awaiting my new salad recipe. This one was a little taste from bizarro world. We cook the grapes and leave the salmon raw. Or rather, we don't cook it, not with heat at any rate.

I found a recent recipe in a magazine for gravlax, a cured salmon developed by the Scandinavians. Read about it, it's interesting. The recipe I found didn't require digging a hole on the beach though. Basically, you take a good size hunk of atlantic salmon (don't bother using any better, oilier species for this, save them for the grill), I used a about a one chunk of a fillet that was basically an even inch thick and 7 inches square. Coat both sides liberally with salt, fresh dill, black pepper and I used some ground coriander as well. Very tightly wrap it with cellophane and place it in the fridge on a plate with several layers of absorbant paper underneath. Flipping every 12 hours, leave it in there for between 48 and 72 hours. It will shed a lot of water during this time and you may need to change out the towels. When that time has elapsed you just rinse it in the sink and eat it up. It's best sliced very thin across the grain and served with complementary flavors and textures.

So, for the salad I was on the lookout for such flavors and textures. Luckily I caught a recent episode of Jamie Oliver's excellent new show, Jamie at Home, and he was making a pukka strawberry salad. What really caught my eye though was these hunks of halloumi cheese. I've used it one time in the past, it's akin to a heavy brie, but the magic is that you can cook it or grill it. Jamie took some fresh basil leaves, pressed them into cheese, and browned them on that side in a nonstick pan with a little oil. It crisps the cheese but the leaf remains green and winds up looking like some strangely delicious little fossil.

The other bit of cooking here is real easy, after removing your cheese just throw a few handfuls of red seedless grapes in the same pan and crank the heat. Add just a little water so they steam as it burns off, then let them crisp just a touch on one side. While they're doing their thing start assembling the salad. Place your crisped cheese on the side a salad plate, take a handful of rinsed and dried red leaf lettuce in the center of the plate, and lace in a couple few slices of the gravlax. Top with the hot grapes and sprinkle just a little balsalmic and your good extra virgin across the top.

The buttery texture of the cool gravlax, the crisp and sweet lettuce, the rich flavor of the cheese all played off the warm and juicy grapes. Holey moley, my mouth is watering as I recall it all. I made about 10 of these all at once and served them as an appetizer. I think this dish is best served this way. I can't wait to try this one out again with more friends.

Quick and Delicious

2008-07-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight dinner needed to be rushed. I had less than an hour to get home, prepare and eat dinner, then hit the road to pick up my buddy, Crash, to go run a long series of errands neccesary before this weekend's epic ride. I came home and immediately got to work. I love cooking under deadline like this, it's fun to feel efficient and capable. That said, it's not like I havn't cooked this meal a thousand times before, this is a regular menu item in these parts and we nearly always have all the fixins ready in the pantry.

Pasta Puttanesca

First thing, I filled the big pasta pot with water, threw some heat under it. Got out my big cast iron skillet and did the same there. Next I quickly pulled apart and minced nearly a whole head of garlic. There were about 8 cloves used, all told. Open a small tin of anchovies and toss them and the garlic in the skillet. I hold a fork against the near edge of the little fillets and slice them across using a cheapo knife. It's easier to deal with than chopping them on a cutting board, plus I can use all the olive oil they are packed in this way. Throw in some red chili flakes too, let's make this spicy! Keeping the skillet on med/low heat let the garlic saute for several minutes until it softens and mellows. mmm.

I open a 6 oz package of pitted kalamatas. I like to rinse them in warm water before I throw them in. Otherwise they sometimes have a funny film on them that makes my teeth sqeak. If you don't suffer from this same affliction, skip that. Toss them into the skillet along with a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and a little can of tomato paste. To that add a little over a cup of chicken broth.

Once it starts to bubble and boil, lower the heat and slap a spatter guard on top, if you've got one. If you don't, get one. I paid less than $5 for my set of three flat mesh screens and they have collectively saved me countless hours of stovetop cleanup.

Is your pasta water boiling? Add a pound of dry pasketti (as the kids say, you know). Make sure you give it a good stir after about a minute to prevent clumping. After that it will develop a little starchy coating so you shouldn't have to worry.

Letting your sauce simmer down, it should begin to thicken and darken after about 15 mins, you can keep simmering this almost indefinitely. As it thickens just keep adding a little more stock, it will get yummier and yummier as the first three ingredients continue to mellow into the tomatoes. But once you are almost ready to serve, go ahead and remove it from the heat and add 2 tablespoons or so of caper berries and a healthy fistful of parsley. Get flat or curly parsley, your prerogative , they taste exactly the same.

To serve this up properly: plate your pasta, add a healthy dose of sauce to the top, shave some romano cheese above that, and finish with some more fresh parsley. Pour a healthy glass of vino.

To eat this properly: dive in, make a mess of things and be sure to slurp those noodles. Vino to wash it all down.

Off to pick up Brian, pick up our rider packets, last minute stop at the bike shop and we hope to see you on route to Portland this weekend!

I'm coming at this the wrong way, apparently

2008-07-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we dropped by my older brother's house for a barbeque. My sister in law made an amazing bowl of slaw with chipotle peppers, jicama, corn and some thai basil. My parents made some southern style red rice. I brought beans and Rhubarb Skies (thanks Carrie, they are delicious!). A very successful meal.

Later, on the way home, I asked my oldest what her favorite part of dinner was. "Not having to finish my rice," she says.

Hamburgers

2008-07-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Finally beginning to cooperate, the summertime skies opened up after this morning's thunderstorms and were begging me to fire up Chewie. I did not have any difficulty complying. The day before the Fourth, let's make something 'Merkin: Hamburgers!

I picked up a new variety of new pototoes yesterday at the Mukilteo Farmer's Market, Skagit Golds. They are a small waxy spud, "superior to the Yukon Gold," the grower urged me. I made a foil pouch for them and filled it with some butter, garlic, rosemary from the garden and some shakes of salt and pepper. I won't refute that they came of the coals very firm, buttery texture, delicate skin. A darm perfect little tater.

We also grilled up some corn, I just removed the gossamer and pulled the shucks back up over the cobs and grilled them that way. They flavor up well and are easy to deal with.

Which brings us to burgers. Again, a simple prep here. The butcher left the raw hamburer sliced in natural rounds from the processor used, so I merely firmed them up and fixed their shape a little bit. They seem to keep a little more air in them without further handling and yeild a very tender finished product. A little salt pepper and worchestershire dribbled on top finishes that up.

Now, my current favorite burger has been static for the last several months, so I'm even able to use a photo here I took several months back. The veggies and beer differed last night, but the star of the photo is identical. To assemble this little gem, first, before you cover your coals with grills throw a poblano or pasilla (around here in WA the grocers label the same pepper totally interchangably, I don't know which I'm really eating!) right on the coals and let it blister and turn black and charred. Keep rotating it until it's that way all over. Let it cool. Then run it under some water and the charred skin will rinse right of. Now you can sort of fillet it and use the slices to adorn your burger. Bell peppers also hold up well to the same treatment, you can even do lots at a time during peak season to freeze them for later.

Add the burger to a toasted bun with a little light mayo on the base (oil-based watertight barrier to prevent a waterlogged bun) and place the cooked burger on top with some provolone cheese. To that add grilled onion and poblano. Top it with some Banana Sauce. Yep, that's right. I picked up some Jufran brand Banana Sauce at my local Asian market awhile back on a whim. It was $.59. It totally freaked me out at first; it's made with a lot of vinegar so it tastes quite a bit like catsup, but with bananas instead of tomotoes. They even dye it a little so it's red too. But it works! The banana plays with the pepper and onion surprisingly well and the whole burger is remarkabley delicio!

Have a safe and wonderful Independence Day everyone!

Cherimoya

2008-06-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

I just ate a cherimoya. It was my very first one. I saw it at Central Market the other day and bought it on a impulse, the single fruit cost me almost $10. You know what, it was worth it, this thing is delicious! It has a really wonderful texture, custardy. It feels like an avocado, firm skin but soft flesh underneath. But, eating a bite, it's not quite as smooth (I don't think it has nearly the fat content). Almost like a banana, a really mushy one, but in this case it's a positive aspect, rather than the reverse. I guess it depends on your banana preferences though, I like mine firm with a little tinge of green around the extremities. But in addition to the texture, the cherimoya's taste is amazing.

It's really sweet, and tasted a bit like a cross between a banana and a pineapple. Cutting it open, through the green, skin there is stark-white juicy flesh underneath (I'm seriously not trying to make this sound like pr0n, sheesh) and really big black seeds. They are scattered throughout, like you would find in a watermelon I guess, but bigger. You just eat around them and spit them out if you miss one. I've saved some of it for the rest of the horde, I like to expose the kids especially to new fruits and flavors that they might not (or I might not) have every tried before. I'm sure this one will be a hit. Unfortunately, it only grows in Andean Peru, and is a little difficult to find and pricey when you can. If you have the means I highly recommend you pick one up.

Unexpected Success!

2008-06-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

Dinner was color themed tonight. Yellow. We had baked macaroni and cheese, roasted golden beets with a reduced balsamic glaze, and some macerated golden raspberries. I enjoyed all three courses, but that's no surprise. What was a surprise is that the two girls ate all three, then both asked for more beets! Ha, I'm must be doing something right!

Roasted Golden Beets

I bought two bunches of beets at the market, really I was after the greens (a real fave of mine) but I made those last night. Now I have these beets (not a real fave of mine). Set the oven to 385 and peel the beets. Chop into quarters and place loosely in a casserole or roasting pan, don't pile them. Throw in a half cup of onions and a few cloves of chopped garlic. Toss the lot with a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 40 minutes or until the beets are soft and beginning to just brown on the edges. Meanwhile, reduce a half cup of balsalmic vinegar in a small saucier until the bubbles get larger and begin to pile on one another. At this point if you pull a spoon across the pot it should leave a clean streak behind it. Quickly remove from the heat and let cool. You should have a nice syrup to coat the beets with before you serve them up.

Pork Busters!

2008-05-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Wife and I, we get silly sometimes. One time in the car, we were on our way to Costco, somebody said, "Pork Busters." I don't remember who said it first, or in what context, but we both decided that it was important as a phrase, and that it needed preservation somehow. So I decided to make a dish befitting to such a name. This was years ago. Since that time Pork Busters has evolved into a regular menu item.

The reasons are twofold:
1)It's easy.
2)It's tasty.

Basically, you find a small pork roast (Costco around here carries these three packs of lean 2lb shoulder roasts, but I've also used a tenderloin and other roasts with success). Then you rub it liberally, crust it even, with a special little mixture. The mix consists of about 66% chili powder, 15% ground cinnamon, 6.3% cumin, 6.3% coriander and 6.4% salt and pepper. Bear in mind that none of this is ever measured, I just eyeball my ratios.

Mix all that together and then roll your dried roast in it until it's completely coated, pack it on there so you really get a nice crust.

Then throw it into a hot hot cast iron (or other oven safe) skillet with some butter melted and sear that baddy on all sides. Remove skillet to preheated 375° oven for about an hour, depending on your roast. Use a probe thermometer and remove when it reaches 150°. Remove from the cutting board to a plate, cover with foil: it will coast the last 10° goverment mandated degrees.

Slice it thin and serve with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. Which is easy. 1 big tub of Danish Orchards Raspberry Jam (yep, the cheap stuff-I prefer seeds in), 1 can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Chop the chilis (which are HOT). Remove enough Jam from the tub to accomodate chilis and sauce. Mix. You can also buy premade versions of this sauce from most grocers.

Described so far is Pork Busters 'control group.' There are variations.
-First, use different cuts, as mentioned above.
-Also, at one point we decided such a name should mean that 'something' should be busting out of the pork. I've tried different things, the best results were using more pork: we stuffed the roast with chorizo. That was pretty good, but also heart attack material.
-And today's variation: hickory smoked on the grill!

I fired up Chewie and soaked some hickory chips and chunks in water while the coals were heating. Then basically, prepare as above, but skip the sear and roast in the tightly shut grill for about an hour. Ho Ho, that's tasty.

On the side there was some grilled asparagus (we do eat a lot of that, don't we?) and some brown rice I steamed with chicken stock and dried shitakes. Pour a glass of wine -today I uncorked a bottle of Reschke 'Vitulus' Cabernet- a nicely spiced deep red that paired well I think - and Enjoy!

National Bike-to-Work Day

2008-05-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

Today is National Bike-to-Work day. I've known about and even hung posters in my cubey campaigning for this day in years past, but this is the first year I've actually ridden my bike to work on this day. In years past there's always been something, inclement weather, inclement dentist appts, etc. Not this year, record breaking highs (for May) and a Friday attitude got me in gear and it was a beautiful ride. I even went out for a short jaunt on my lunch break.

When I got home I started preparing a gorgeous sockeye fillet Wife picked up. Just a quick rinse in cold water, a quick, light brush of olive oil, sprinkle some white pepper, salt and a little parsley on top. Then I set it on an alder plank NOTE: do not buy this in a kitchen store, and do not use cedar (kitchen store or otherwise, too pitchy). Just go to the lumber yard and buy an 8 foot length of untreated alder. Then lop off 18in lengths as you need them, you can generally get at least 3-4 fillets out of a single board. Set it aside until the coals are ready.

Which means I need to prepare the coals on Chewie, my grill. [Hold on a sec, You Named your Grill?! - - HellsyeahIdid!]. If you work with briquettes, throw away your lighter fluid. 1. That stuff is so safe now that it's actually difficult to alight in the slightest of breezes 2. Just buy a chimney, they are $8 at Lowes, you don't have to replace them and all you need is a little wad of newsprint.

While the coals are doing their thing, I open the fridge to what foliage I have to accompany the meal. Carrots. and that's it. That's all I got. Well, that won't do. I pack up Oldest Kid and we head to the grocery store around the block to pick up something suitable. Once there we pick up One Orange, Two Baby BokChoy, Three Zucchini. And a bottle of Cycles Gladiator Syrah. I'm always a sucker for wine with bicycles on the label and today's it's even thematic, so there you go. And one of the La Brea Rosemary Rounds (Wife's fave).

Getting back to the Hordestead, the coals are perfectly ready. Just lay the plank right on the grill, and close the top. We've got about 25-30 minutes until it's ready. Better get cracking.

Arranging the rest of the grill is a snap though. Slice the zuccis in half, dribble with a little olive oil and light dusting Old Bay seasoning (a tasty combo). Slice the bokchoy in half and dribble with a little soy sauce and black pepper. Slice the rosemary round into this slices and brush a little olive oil on one side. Then just fit it all on the grill. Dassit.

Heading back inside I grab those carrots. They have been in the fridge awhile, not too long, but long enough. I just run 5 of them up and down the box grater until they're shredded. Then rotate the grater 90 degrees, and zest the heck outa that brand new orange. Then juice it. Combine those three items with a some salt, pepper, a little honey. And the secret ingredient, Orange Flower Water. You can find it at a specialty grocer, or any Mediterranean grocer, I found mine at my local Chinese market, go figure. This stuff is crazy, it's intensely floral, so only use a smidge. About a half a capful will do for this salad. That's basically it, just toss this all together for a cool Cairo carrot salad. I originally pulled this recipe from a little North African cookbook I picked up for $1.99. One of my best kitchen purchases, I have made quite of few of the recipes.

Back at the grill, everything is done! Pull it off, platter it, top off the wine, snap a picture, Feast!

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T20:30:00.001-07:00

Last week my family and I enjoyed a Southern California vacation. Unfortunately there were not many notable meals involved. We had a good time with my grandparents at brunch, and my sister's rooftop grill, but I didn't do the cooking. Apart from that we ate at Disneyland and a variety of chain restaurants. I didn't bother snapping any photos of my Tomorrow Land slice of Pizza or my Coco's soggy salad.

But the day after we arrived back in the PNW we packed up the horde and headed over to my parents for a bbq. I prepared a California Santa Maria style BBQ. A favorite of my family since growing up in San Luis Obispo. I did lift some of recipes from Steve Raichlen's BBQ USA cookbook, worth picking up if you lika da grilled food as I do. The meal hinged on a couple citrus-marinaded, then rubbed tritips. But also crucial are the pinquito beans! Only grown in Santa Maria and surrounding area, they are core to Santa Maria Style BBQ. My parents always like to tell the story of a church dinner they were involved with years ago. They borrowed two commercial stew pots and made 20 lbs of beans (20 lbs dry!). It was too much beans. I only made about 1/5c of dry beans, it was just enough.

I also threw together some salsa fresca for an hors d'oevre and as a topping for the tritips. There were some grilled asparagus (very similar to the pan seared ones in the prior post, just a different, and more delicious heat medium) and a heavily garlic buttered pugiliese loaf.

Beef Tri Tip

This is an easy cut. And delicious. But it's biggest allure is it's price point, it's also cheap. There is a lot of connective tissue here, it looks a little like a strip steak, so you just need to be sure to slice it very thin, across the grain. You'll be left with some of the most intensly flavored, and not overly tough beef steak you'll ever taste. I threw together a quick marinade of the juice of two oranges, one lime, a little soy sauce, and a few crushed cloves of garlic. I had just purchased the beef that same morning, so I didn't marinate for more than a few hours, but that's okay, I wasn't looking for an intense marinade flavor, just a little citrus hint in the background. Once we started the coals I dried the meat and gave it a good rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried rosemary. Once the coals were ready it was tossed on the hot grill for around 10 minutes a side for medium doneness. As I said, be sure to slice thin across the grain and then top it with a little fresh salsa.

Salsa Fresca

Chopping. chopping. chopping. I like it. Relaxing to me.

2lbs ripe tomatoes, chopped. Cut out the stem then slice each one across the equator so you can squeeze out the seeds. Once chopped put your tomatoes in colander in the sink and lightly salt. This will allow them to shed some excess moisture so you don't wind up with salsa soup.
One small yellow onion, or half a large one, chopped. Don't add too much onion to your fresh salsa, it's too overpowering unless you cook it. but then it wouldn't be fresca, would it?
Three Anaheim chilies, chopped, one of them roasted.
Three Pasilla chilies, chopped, two of them roasted. When you are roasting your chilies just toss them right onto your hot bbq coals and turn them only once completely blackened and blistered. Once the whole thing is charry, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then rinse the charred skin off under water. Your're left with the delicious and sweetly roasted chili flavor. I realize this isn't exactly 'fresca' but that's what sets this recipe off!
A fistful of cilantro, chopped.
Some folks in Cali will add some celery, feel free, but I think it has enough bite without it.
Toss everything together and squeeze the juice of a lime over it. Salt, pepper and you are ready to dip a chip in already.

The Beans

I follow Raichlen's recipe pretty closely here. And unless you live on the central coast you'll have to go to the interweb for the beans. Pinto beans will do though, if you must. Take 1.5 cups and make sure there's no pebbles in the mix. soak in water overnight. Drain the water and refill the pot to a level at least a few inches above the beans. You can add a little onion or a ham hock if you like. I like. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1.5 hours. You may need to skim off a little foam after the first 20 mins or so. Drain the beans, but save a little of the beanjuice.
Meanwhile, in a little saucepan, stir together 3/4 of a can of tomoato paste (smear the remaining 1/4under your eyes as warpaint), a spoonful of brown sugar, a squirt of prepared mustard, some toasted and ground cumin, and some oregano. Oh! and you must add some chili sauce. They say that in Cali they prefer Las Palmas. Raichlen says it. The internet says it. My dad seemed to recall it a little. But I can't find Las Palmas around here. I really like PicoPica though, and you can find it anywheres. Add about two tablespoons I think. I just glub it in.

lets see, what else?

Oh, the Garlic Bread

I don't really have a recipe or anything. I bought a nice pugiliese loaf, which I really like, it's got a great crust but is really doughy and moist inside with a great mild sour flavor. I melted a stick o butter in the nuker for a few seconds-just enough to make it pliable. Then I pressed 3 or 4 cloves of garlic (you must pick up a Zyliss, accept no subs) and a few green tops of some spring onions I had in the fridge. slice your loaf in half and smear that stuff all over the place. Then grill it until it's toasted, you can do this while the beef is resting.

You'll need to pair this with a nice bottle of Central Coast, fruit-forward, Cabernet. Maybe two bottles.

Cheers to Wife, my mom, and all the mothers out there!

Salmon Candied with Ginger-Marmalade, Pan Seared Asparagus and Mushroom Quinoa

2008-05-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare a fresh salmon fillet, which we do eat a fair amount of around here. This is not one of Wife's favorite ways to eat her salmon (which I don't understand at all, this is delicious), but the kids like it well enough so it's not completely vetoed from our menu.

Earlier, we picked up a beauty fillet of sockeye, though even a farmed atlantic salmon would be fine, we eat plenty of that too. Unwrapping the fish and giving it a quick cold water rinse, set it aside. Fire up the oven (on broil) and let the mercury rise. Next prepare the candy coat.
Salmon Candied with Ginger-Marmalade

One big scoop of Orange Marmalade - nothing fancy, I'm using Smuckers.
Grate some ginger - I keep mine in the freezer in a little baggie with my galangal, tumeric and any other rhizomes I might have around. It keeps forever and makes grating on the box grater or microplane a cinch. Today we'll need about a tablespoon or so. Also, about a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Combine these items in a little ramiken and heat in the microwave for, I dunno, how about 54 seconds? Just make it warm so the sugar will dissolve and the ginger flavor permeates the mixture. Put your fillet on a lightly sprayed broil pan and smear your marmalmix all over the top. ooo yeah.

Place under the broiler for about 7-10 minutes, keeping a careful eye on it. Don't blacken the top, but it should just begin to brown and carmelize. If your fillet is very fresh, as this one was, you can serve it a little rare. If you are not sure maybe you'll want to move it to a lower rake and bake it through. Garnish with a little cilantro and platter.

Let's move on to the side dishes.

Pan Seared Asparagus

This is one I cook very regularly. Wife likes it a lot and the kids tolerate it. When I met Wife years & years ago, her least favorite vegetable was asparagus. "It's a weed, it grows by on the freeway," she would say. Now she loves it and I don't think I have ever seen asparagus growing wild. Freeway or no.

1 bunch of asparagus 1 glub of olive oil
dried oregano kosher salt fresh black pepper

Pick over the asparagus and snap off the woody bottoms. Set in a flat-bottomed container and pour enough olive oil over to coat. Sprinkle the herb, salt, pepper over the spears and toss to coat evenly.
Heat a skillet up quite hot, maybe not red hot, but close. Throw the spears in and they'll sizzle and such. Once they brown on the bottom use your tongs and flip 'em on over. Same thing, once they brown on the other side they should be ready to serve. Throw them on a platter and squeeze a little lemon over the lot. You'll probably need to grab a spear and test it too...yep, that's good. This dish is fast, 10 minutes start to finish.

Mushroom and Avocado Quinoa Have you tried the Quinoa? It's awesome. A delicious grain from South America that's cooked with the germ intact so it's loaded with protein. Around here it comes in a little box that holds about three cups of uncooked grain. Make sure you say it right, lest you sound like you read about it on a blog: KEEN-Wah.

I usually cook a little over a cuppa quinoa at a time. It cooks just like rice, but faster, with a 2:1 water to grain ratio.

We're going to cook ours with dried shitakes though. So grab one big handful of dried mushrooms and remove any stems. They don't rehydrate well and will be a weird texture if you leave them in. Next break or chop the shrooms into little pieces. Rehydrated mushrooms can be a little mushy and I don't like they way they feel if the pieces are too large. But they do taste delicious. Next, heat a little more twice as much water as you have grain volume in pot. Put the shitakes in the water to rehyrate for about 10 minutes (sorry, this recipe is a little convoluted, maybe you wanted to heat the water first). Remove the mushrooms from the broth and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Heat the broth to boiling and add the quinoa, reduce heat to low.
Follow the box's stovetop directions from here.
Chop up one large or two small avocados into little cubes. Also, chop some cilantro. Once the grains are done remove from the heat, toss in the mushrooms, avocado and cilantro. Salt & Pepper to taste. This is one is very healthy and everyone likes it fairly well.

Phad Thai

2008-05-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is a somewhat old photo, but I think this is an appropriate first post. Making a good phad thai was one of the first dishes I was really proud of being able to make. When I was in college my parents started to be foodies to some extent and certainly began branching out their canon of regular American style meals. My dad bought a couple thai cookbooks, a wok, accoutrements, and became a regular at a little southeast asian market in Lynnwood (is no longer there, sad). I began requesting phad thai, tom kha kai, stir fry with crispy noodles, and all sorts of new dishes whenever I was home for visit. I loved the smell of ginger and garlic and peanut oil streaming through the house.
When I had my own foodie rebirth (?) about six years ago the phad thai recipe was one of the first I requested from my dad. I still have the scribbled notes I jotted down on a piece of lined paper, it's wadded up in my little recipe box that I honestly never open anymore. That's okay, I make this dish by feel these days.
That said, I also don't make this very often anymore. Wife still requests it but I usually suggest something else southeast asian instead. I've found myselft in a little catch-22 with this dish. My dad's original recipe makes a very saucy version of the dish, which I have grown to like. Most restaurants' recipes taste a little bland to me now. But, it's also really salty (which is why wife likes it so much). I've tried to combat the saltiness, by reducing the fish sauce a bit, and it is better now. But I've also found that the ingredients in the liquid need to be reduced in proportion, otherwise the taste gets thrown completely out of whack. Speaking of salty I like to make this with steamed broccoli tossed with a little black bean paste. I'd post the recipe for that, but there's not anything more to it than that. Steam some broccoli, then toss with some black bean paste (comes in a jar from your local asian grocer). A little bit goes a long way. But here's my phad thai recipe.

Phad Thai

3/4 lb prawns, deveined and shelled
8 oz. rice stick noodles (the 3mm ones, often labelled ‘Chantaboon’)
2 eggs
¼ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ sugar
2 tbsp. ketchup
6-8 cloves garlic
1-3 serrano peppers diced
½ cup chopped peanuts
¼ cup green onions or chives
¼ cup shredded carrot
peanut oil

Remove noodles from package and soak in warm water for 12-18 minutes. Combine vinegar, fish sauce, sugar and ketchup in a small bowl, whisk until sugar is disolved, set aside.

While noodles are soaking saute shrimp, garlic and peppers in a hot wok. Once the shrimp is seared and beginning to brown remove to a separate bowl. Scramble the eggs in the wok next, chop into small pieces and mix in with the shrimp.

Add noodles to the hot wok with a little more oil if necessary. Once noodles begin to heat add the liquid mixture and stir into noodles. As the noodles begin to absord most of the liquid add the chicken and egg along with the peanuts, heat through. Add the chives and carrots and cook for one minute longer. Remove to platter and garnish with lime and cilantro.