I'm coming at this the wrong way, apparently

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!