armchairchef

Cinnamon Apple Vodka

2012-02-08T06:01:00.000-06:00

This entry is going to be two fold, to start with I have found a way to lose that weight that my Doctor has been bugging me about I will call it the new Subway diet. This week we opened the Subway restaurant at work. It has been an adventure to say the least, my days went like this: Get up at 3:00 am throw dishes in the dishwasher, shower, shave etc... then head to work about 4:00 at 5:00 arrive at work and start the bread baking process, most days I had help but it takes about four hours in total. Around 10:00 throw some cookies into the oven then double check to make sure that everything is ready for lunch to begin at 11:00, work the line for lunch and train new staff as I can. After lunch scurry around and get everything ready for evening, do some prep work for the next day and train staff, pull bread for the morning and leave work at about 7:30 pm for my hour commute home.

Whew...

I did this basic routine Sunday through Thursday then on Friday I had a day off, and didn't really do too much. I got out of bed, took Mr. Man to daycare then started to watch a TV show and promptly fell asleep. I woke up a little later, ate some chips and salsa and fell asleep again. The good news, when I stepped on the scale this morning I was 9 pounds lighter than the previous Sunday, I suppose whatever gets me there.

All that being said I'll start part two of this post, my friend that I have never met traveled from the other side of the earth to land almost literally in my back yard recently. I had been making plans to meet Camilla and her family since the middle of last summer. I went through about 200 menus in my head as the date approached plus I mixed up a batch of special vodka to go with the dinner that I hadn't quite planned. While Camilla was in the area I sent her an email that said something along the lines of...

"I work this weekend and am really busy on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday but after Mr. Man's Doctor's appointment and before Miss Lu's vision therapy I think that we should get together on Thursday." Somehow that didn't work out!?! I am sorry that I was so busy while you were here... Oh well maybe the next visit...

The original plan was a nice family dinner then, getting to know my friend and her family and maybe a little booze.

I made an apple cinnamon infused vodka a week or so before, it was as simple as can be. Into a wide mouthed one liter jar I cut up three gala apples that were nearing the end of their usable life and put in three cinnamon sticks and and two teaspoons of brown sugar. Dump a bottle of vodka in and close, set that on the counter for about five days, shake it up a couple of times a day. After that time pour it through a sieve and into a bottle.

I like this ice cold, it has a warm quality to it and a nice texture and goes down really well, and as a warning it does have the kick of strait vodka so be careful or if you have had a week like mine just cut loose.

Mashed Potato Bread

2012-01-28T08:46:00.001-06:00

Ok my friends I have been on a self-imposed hiatus for a bit longer than I meant to be. I am just going to say that some parts of my life have been just a little more stressful than I was ready for. Here is a video clip from a recent morning.

By the way I am the guy in the chair...

Work has been just a wee bit stressful the past few weeks; do you remember several months ago I went to sunny Milford Connecticut for two weeks to learn to make sandwiches? Well that restaurant is only days from opening now, it is the last step in a renovation has been a several months in the making. Floors have been ripped up, walls torn down, the whole nine yards. I have been getting in a little before five most mornings and working looong days. By the time I get home I am tired and maybe a little crabby. I have been doing what I can to relax as time permits.

I have mentioned before that I used to hate baking especially anything that involved yeast, I didn't understand it, add to that I had heard all of the things that can go wrong when you use yeast.

"Make sure that you stuff a towel under the kitchen door while you let your bread rise, the slightest draft will kill the yeast."
"Don't mix bread in a metal dish it will ruin it."

"You absolutely can't make bread while it is raining."

"Measure all of you ingredients very precisely, even the slightest change will ruin your bread."

Read your mom's old church cookbook for more, they are out there.

Anyway several years ago I was suffering from insomnia and found that baking bread was an excellent sleep aid. I mean think about it:

Realize that you can’t sleep and get out of bed at about ten o’clock

Open a bottle of wine while you put a packet of yeast in warm water to open up

Mix, kneed, rise, punch, pan, rise, bake

Enjoy the smell of fresh bread baking, when the bottle of wine was empty and fresh bread came out of the oven… what do you know, I was ready to sleep.

Insomnia hasn’t been a problem for me lately since I come home every day exhausted but I still find baking to be relaxing, like doing yoga only I don’t wake up so sore the next morning. There have been quite a few experiments going on in my house lately. This one is great though, just as light as air and soft, the recipe based on one I found on Food Network. It actually makes a loaf with some dough left to make rolls… nice.

Potato Bread

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks, or 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes 1 cup milk

3 TPS butter melted

2 tsp salt

1 TBS Sugar

1 TBS yeast

1/3 cup warm water

5 cups bread flour

Boil potato until soft. Drain and reserve cooking liquid mash until smooth.

Scald milk then combine with 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid. Combine liquids and potato with butter, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile combine yeast and warm water, and set aside until foamy. When potato mixture has cooled, add yeast mixture. Then add flour a cup at a time and knead with a dough hook, or an electric mixer, until smooth and glossy, about 7 minutes. This is that part where you have to ignore the “precisely measure your ingredients” myth. Potatoes differ in size and moisture, you have add that last cup of flour slowly (or maybe a little more) to get the right feel.

Put dough in an oiled bowl and cover then set aside in warm place to rise about 1/2 hour. Punch dough down and knead a few times. Coat a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Place dough in pan, cover with plastic, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 minutes, until bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche

2011-12-29T12:19:00.001-06:00

Say that you like cooking and catering and enjoy that as a side job with the bonus of added income. The question that comes up is how do you get that word out? Advertising opportunities don't just pop up, mostly with catering it is word of mouth which takes time to build. Kris and I have been working on business cards. We have some ideas but really haven't settled yet but more important than that is getting people that may buy your food to taste it. Sure my friends like it when I put a dinner together and I love doing that but lets face it my friends are like me, none of us are rich and most can throw together a meal, which leaves the question still of you to reach that other audience.

Kris works at the corporate office for a large corporation, for their holiday gathering she asked if I would make something a little different to set out with business cards. Here it is Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche! For this buffet is is served on fresh mesculin with some flatbread.

You will need
3/4 of a pound of bay scallops (those are the small ones)
3/4 of a pound of shrimp peeled and devained
Juice from 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1 orange
2 TBS Olive oil
1 green pepper julienned
1 red bell pepper julienned
1 red onion julienned
1 tsp Chipotle chile powder
1 tsp Red pepper flakes
chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
and, kind of a strange one here, some ketchup

Clean shrimp removing shell and tail, I cut mine in half lengthwise. Bring a pot of water to a boil then put in your shrimp and scallops to blanch for about 10-15 SECONDS. I keep mine in a strainer so I can pull them out quickly drop them in ice water then lay them on a sheet pan and put them into the fridge.

Juice the citrus fruit into a large bowl then add the shrimp, scallops and olive oil and toss then add the peppers, onions chili powder and pepper flakes. Toss it all together again and refrigerate for an hour or so then taste, add your cilantro, salt and pepper and the ketchup somewhere between a couple of tablespoons and 1/4 cup. Toss one more time and serve.

This one has a couple of oddities in it, first is the blanch for 10 seconds, It really works well on the shrimp when the dish is ready to serve it has the wonderful pop of texture but since it is only the 10 to 15 seconds almost all of the "cooking" comes from the acid in the juices. The ketchup, you want to add enough to turn the liquid into something like a citrus barbeque sauce. It coats everything with a sweet tangy flavor that plays well with the chipotle and red pepper.

This one is served on spring greens with a flatbread, it really worked best for the venue it was in. If at home I like to add some avocados when I am done.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T16:19:00.007-06:00

I posted this last year but it still makes me laugh. Now that we are in that time of year where every magazine has a cover article of "how to maintain during the holidays" and bizarre suggestions like avoiding butter, gravy or limiting desserts, Plus what the heck is low-fat eggnog? Anyway I hope that all of you enjoy your holiday!

Oh and before you get started Frosty did make it outside, but it looks like he has some problems... when we came home a couple of days ago we found this...

I Said, "Oh No, Frosty Fainted."

Miss Lu shouted, "He didn't faint, He is drunk again!"

When you think about it though; of course he has trouble holding is liquor he only weighs about 3 pounds

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Cranberry Vodka

2011-12-22T11:22:00.001-06:00

So it is that time of year you know the wonderful warm holiday season where we get to spend time with our family and friends. That warm magical season of peace and happiness....

Right.

Or maybe it is the season that we need a couple more of these

Yes folks this one is a showstopper!

To infuse the Vodka start like you would with cranberries
1/2 bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of brown sugar
a little bit of water (just to get the cranberries going)
1 bottle of vodka

Put your cranberries, brown sugar and splash of water into a sauce pan and heat. You want to cook them about half as much as you do for cranberry sauce, so remove from heat when some but not all cranberries have popped.

Pour all the cooked cranberries into a large mouthed jar then add a bottle of vodka. Here comes the hard part... set it on the counter for about a week. After the 6-7 days poor through a cheese cloth lined strainer then put it into a bottle, I have been keeping it in the freezer.

To mix this drink pour about 3-4 oz of cranberry vodka into a shaker, top with about a Tablespoon of orange simple syrup and shake. Strain into a martini glass, this guy is garnished with candied orange peels. Altogether an great drink and it should take the edge off of any family gathering.

Maybe after one more I will be ready to put those annoying lawn ornaments outside

Potato Flatbread Sandwich

2011-12-18T23:22:00.000-06:00

OK I fully admit that posts like my last one are part of the reason that my doctor calls me "fat fat fat" and I really do have to admit that for me bacon is an evil temptress. I think that all of you are all pretty bright, if you have read even a few of my posts you can see that my friend the pig comes up often, but you don't know the full story... at work we make bacon by the bucket full. So on any given morning I will walk through the kitchen and look! someone is pulling a pan of bacon out of the oven... "I better try one." A few minutes later I will go by and there I see someone else putting bacon 50 or 60 slices of bacon into a serving pan "hmm, those look a little more done than the first batch I better try one..." Then there is always "quality assurance, I had better inspect." At the end of the day we go through about 700 slices of bacon... no I don't eat them ALL but I don't count on purpose. I am pretty sure that if I could just walk past the siren song (well smell) of bacon I won't have that conversation with the doctor on my next visit...

All that being said I do try to lighten it up sometimes, this flatbread sandwich/salad does just fine for those *non-bacony meals, when I have something lighter with actual vegetables and other good stuff. It is as simple as can be the potato flatbread topped with a grilled chicken breast and spinach with blueberry vinaigrette dressing. It all pulls together well with a nice mix of flavors ranging from the sweet tangy dressing and the bite of goat cheese all wrapped in the warm *potaotey comfort that it deserves.

Potato Flat Bread
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp minced onion
1 tsp sugar
chopped cilantro
1/2 cup water

Mix the first 5 ingredients together then add the water,** start with half the amount the add until it is sticky but firm. When it is well mixed cover and set aside for at least half an hour. When you are ready to prepare cut ball into quarters, dust with flour and roll flat into about 8 inch circles. Then throw them onto a hot lightly oiled pan, for me it worked best with a quick squirt of pan spray. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on a side until lightly browned and flexible. As you take them off stack them and set aside until ready to serve... I can't say how long they will last because I eat them too fast

Spinach Salad with Blueberry Vinaigrette Dressing
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 tsp sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries)

Puree all ingredients until smooth (I used a stick blender).

To assemble toss some baby spinach with some of the dressing... place a flatbread on your plate, top with the dressed spinach leaves. Lay a sliced chicken breast on that them top with fresh blueberries, onions and goat cheese.

*it seems that I have taken to making up my own words... lets see what happens in a few years maybe they will be in the dictionary.

** I have made this three times now, twice the water was just right the other time I had to add another 1/2 cup of flour. I never quite understand that stuff, flour seems to have a mind of it's own sometimes

Bacon Peanut Butter Truffles

2011-12-13T21:53:00.001-06:00

I have mentioned a few times my appreciation for all things pork, I really am fond of the pig! It is one of the things that reminds me that there must be a higher power because, well in one package you have:
ham
chops
tenderloin
hocks
ribs
heck I have even seen their feet in a pickle jar at some of the bars that I used to go to and don't forget that yummy fatty stuff from around the belly BACON.

Bacon is one of those things that transcends any course of any meal; there is always bacon with breakfast, Spinach salad with bacon dressing(mmm bacon vinaigrette dressing) bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, bacon on any sandwich. Then you can't forget beverages or dessert... yes folks this one is about dessert.

I have talked about my friend the cookbook dealer a few times, he made another visit not to long ago and dropped off a few magazines for me, a couple of issues of Food and Wine, (from 2006 and 2008) one issue of Whole Living from 2009 and a copy of Saveur from March 2005. Since the whole cookbook/culinary magazine thing is kind of an addiction for me I try to keep the gravity of it hidden (is there a 12 step program for that?) I tossed these in the back of my car so nobody would find them and there they sat there with the other 30 or so cookbooks and magazines until a few days back when I took Miss Lu to dance I was looking for some reading material for the hour I was about to spend sitting in a folding metal chair.

On our way to dance class

I ran out to the car and riffled around for something to spark my interest... then there it was in the upper right hand corner "Seduced by Bacon" I couldn't pass on that! inside was "Peanut Butter Bacon Truffles" Ok if you have read even a few of my posts you know I had to follow up on this one!

6 strips of bacon cooked until crisp well drained
1/2 cup salted dry roasted peanuts
4 tsp sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Coarsely chop bacon then put into a food processor with peanuts and sugar... pulse until mixture is ground to medium fine texture. Pour into a bowl then add peanut butter and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is firm.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll the peanut butter mixture into balls 3/4 to 1 inch in size and set them on the sheet, when it is all used lightly cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Before you take them out put the refrigerator melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler stirring often to keep it smooth, then set aside until cool enough to touch. Then take your peanut butter balls out of of the refrigerator and drop them a few at a time in the chocolate to coat then toss in the cocoa powder.

The article said that you can set them in a sealed container with some cocoa powder and they keep for about a week in the refrigerator, just bring them to room temperature before serving. these guys only made it overnight, yes the breakfast of champions!

OK these little peanutbuttery baconey balls of chocolate really did it! The salty sweet chocolaty candies were as good as they sound!

Cheddar Beer Bread

2011-12-04T10:37:00.000-06:00

OK I think I am going to just write November 2011 off as my worst blogger month ever. The month started out with a computer crash at home and it took us a couple of weeks to get a new one. Then life went CRAZY at the end of the month with a road trip to sunny Wisconsin, then Miss EL visiting us for Thanksgiving and the weekend plus I had to work the entire time so I was BEAT! I am going to whine like a baby for a minute here... most mornings I get up around 4:00 to make make my trek into work by 6:00. On the weekends or holidays that I work I have to open which means that I have to get in at about 5:00 which has my first alarm going of a 3:06. I know the difference between three and four in the morning may not seem that big but it feels huge when I am crawling out of bed. Add to that I was trying to spend some time with everybody during my time off, at the end of seven days of it in a row I was starting to get a little addle brained. We went to see the Muppit Movie one day and the Cunio Museum another, plus picking Miss El up and returning her at the halfway point between here and where her mom lives.

On my seventh day in a row at work (which admittedly was a short one) someone asked what I was going to do on my days off. Answer "I think I am going to have a drink!" Since I think I earned it I decided to take my alcohol in every form that I could.

Cheddar Beer Bread (shamelessly taken from Alton Brown)
8 ounces all-purpose flour

4 ounces whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
4 1/2 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
12 ounces dark beer,

Preheat the oven to 375. Coat the inside of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick spray and set aside. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and dill in a large mixing bowl. Add in the cheese then stir in the beer just to combine. Pour batter into your loaf pan then bake on the middle rack of the oven until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

This was the first time that I have checked the temperature of bread, it worked great in this case the bread was moist yet light and fully done. The rest of breakfast was a mess of holiday weekend leftover hash, really the perfect day off meal.

Apple Pie

2011-11-18T13:44:00.008-06:00

Miss El, my middle daughter, called me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be able to come to Wisconsin to see her and my oldest MS. R in their play. They live in a town of about 500 their school is a couple of miles from their home and serves several towns in the area. MS R has been active in her school's theater since they moved up there five years ago, her first roll was a table in Beauty and the Beast, but she quickly moved on to bigger and better rolls. When Miss El called she reminded me that she had a small roll in this one too, the play Jane Eyre A Musical Drama yes you read that right. MS R played Mrs. Fairfax the almost deaf matron of the home, she has a knack for stealing any scene she is in and did well. Miss El was the young Jane Eyre, from her talking I expected her to have a couple of minutes on stage she really was really the only character for the first 10 minutes of the show.

The town they live in (go figure) doesn't have a hotel so I stay in a nearby town, this time I had these luxury accommodations.*

Luxury Suite

complete with Spa

and a downright bacchanalian breakfast buffet

The drive from my hotel to their house is about a half an hour over undulating roads cutting through pine woods, small farms and a bevy of apple orchards. It was the right time of year so I wanted to stop and get some apples this trip and maybe a little fresh apple cider. On the suggestion of MS R I stopped a Sunrise Orchard to pick up a bag of Honeycrisps. If you aren't familiar with them they are a really rockin' good apple a little on the sweet side and have a great crisp texture. I bought maybe a little more than was prudent so it was time to make pie.

This year I am learning how to bake dammit! I enjoy baking, I love baked goods but breads have never been my thing the whole process is too precise for me. I have spoken about my love/hate/therapeutic relationship with well flour and basically all leveners anyway I can probably count on my fingers the number of times that I have made a pie I can count on one finger the number of times I made a crust, so I threw it all in there and made this little baby.

The Crust
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
10 TBLS (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces I put mine in the freezer for about an hour
4 TBLS (about) ice water

The Filling
About 3 pounds of Honeycrisp apples peeled and cored, sliced thin
3/4 cup sugar
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBLS all purpose flour
1 TBLS butter

For the crust
Whisk flour and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms try not to be like me and over work, for the love of god stop. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons water; toss until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough into ball; divide in half then flatten into disks about the size of . Wrap in plastic, chill at least 1 hour (can be made 1 day ahead). Keep refrigerated, Soften slightly at room temperature before using.

For the filling
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl mix apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Let stand until juices form, about 15 minutes then mix in flour... set aside.

Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Place dough in prepared pie dish, spoon in filling, dot with butter. Roll out second dough disk to 13-inch round. Drape dough over filling. Seal top and bottom crust edges together; trim to 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang under then crimp. Brush pie with milk and sprinkle with a little with a little more sugar. Place pie pan on a baking sheet and place in oven. Reduce temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until crust is golden brown, apples are tender and filling is bubbling thickly, if it starts to get too brown around the edges cover with foil. This will bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool for at least an hour before you cut into it... I know it is hard but well worth the wait.

*I tease a little about the accommodations but I do have to admit that since I make these journeys alone and the only thing I do at the hotel is sleep I tend to find the least expensive place that I can. This hotel though lacking in luxuries is a clean place owned by a nice family.

Grilled Salad

2011-11-13T08:48:00.002-06:00

We finally broke down and got it, yesterday Kris picked up the new desktop (we still think the laptop may be recoverable). The desktop however was never that great to begin with. I replaced the graphics card three times in the 5 years that we had it, plus it was doing all kinds of crazy stuff... every few mornings I woke up to find a blue screen taunting me and if you bumped the tower the entire thing would shut down and take about 25 minutes to boot up again.

Wow computers have changed in the last few years, I had to look up what a terabyte was, plus this thing has a wide screen and speakers that are a little bigger than a couple of dry erase markers but sound great! and the color is as good as our TV. So I am spending some time learning the ins and outs of this fancy pants new technology. So my plan over the next couple of days is to visit all of my blogger friends, and get a post in. I feel like I have been out for so long and I have found that work computers don't always play well with blog websites, I swear if I see that flippity flappin Barracuda logo again I am going to scream.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was on my typical summer grilling bender, grilled meat, grilled sweet potatoes then grilled dessert. I made a joke about having grilled everything except salad... well this is it:

Grilled autumn salad (serves 2)
2 Romaine Hearts cut in half
1 Small head of radicchio quartered
1 Fennel bulb halved
2 Apples cored and diced*
Sprinkle of shredded Cheddar

1 Cup Croutons

Apple Cider dressing

For the croutons
Dice up some French bread (I keep a bag in the freezer but if you are just making this dice up a cup of it)
1 TBLS butter
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, add garlic and cook until translucent. Put in the cubed bread and toss until coated. Add salt and pepper and continue to cook stirring occasionally until crispy (took me about 15 minutes)** While they are still hot add the Parmesan cheese and toss again

For the dressing
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Apple Cider*
1 TBLS Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic minced
1 TBLS fresh fennel frond cut up

Put into a cup and hit with your handy emersion blender, set aside. This can be made a day ahead if you like.

Now here is how it all goes together light your grill and put the halved fennel bulb on, after that has been going for about 10 minutes add the radicchio then the Romaine hearts grill until everything is a little charred around the edges.

To serve:
Place the Romaine heart halves on your plate the top with sliced radicchio and the sliced fennel. Add the diced apples, fresh hot croutons then the cider dressing and cheese. I used cheddar because that is what i had in the kitchen but I think feta or goat cheese might have worked better.

*I used Honeycrisp apples and cider (next entry will explain why) but any crisp sweet apple will work
** You could make the croutons ahead but let’s face it warm croutons are sexy and you know it!

The Experiment

2011-10-30T13:17:00.015-05:00

Actually I have to qualify this post, I wrote it about a year ago as a guest post for another blog... When I wrote it I just put a random date on it in my blog. I just noticed that the date is here! which is cool, I like this one, read on...

Most weekend mornings I am the first human to wake in our house. I putter around the kitchen with my cup of coffee and get ready for the day. Usually I do the dishes and clean the kitchen a bit in the morning, the kitchen is really my area. This Saturday morning I was exhausted... I slept in until almost 7:00 before I stared my day. I got up and checked my blog then made a pot of Coffee and started cleaning off the counter while watching Food Network and loading the dishwasher.

Since I woke up a little late this day everybody was in various stages of being awake and active. Miss Lu came into the kitchen and asked for a bowl, a big one. Requests like this always scare me a bit especially when they are immediately followed by a request for a bottle of water. I let it go this time and started to load the dish washer I put in three pieces of flatware and one sippy cup then it starts:

Miss Lu: Can I get some apple juice?
Bryan: you asked for a bowl and water... now Juice what are you doing?
Miss Lu: A food experiment, duh! can I get some juice?
Bryan: Ok, here you are.

Then I loaded another couple of dishes and found Miss Lu getting the pitcher of pink lemonade out of the the refrigerator. Again the question comes up..

Bryan: A food experiment? Where are you working? and why the lemonade?
Miss Lu: I'm at the table, it is really a drink experiment.

Then I go through the house to figure out which table she was using, Kris stopped me and reminded me that she wasn't doing anything different that what I do... experimenting with food. I said that I was just worried that she has water, lemonade and a big bowl and all this can lead to a heck of a mess. Then Kris said, "sometimes you make a mess." She is right, well except the word "sometimes" should be "usually."

So Miss Lu walked in and out of the kitchen for the next few minutes and got some V-8 Splash, Fruit punch mix, more water. I managed to keep my mouth shut even when she asked me for 2 glasses. While I was getting those she grabbed a bag of marshmallows and ran. By the time I got the dishwasher loaded she and Mr.Man, as kids will do, were on to other things. It wasn't until about an hour later that I found her experiment... created on the baby doll changing table... duh Dad!

Does it look familiar?

Not quite.. Maybe

Nope here it is, can I just say "apple... tree... how far?"

Oh this one is added for fun... about a year ago I went to Wisconsin to see Miss El and MS R. in a play... While I was gone Miss Lu missed me so much that she drew a Martini for me. I keep it up on my office wall!

Oh, you know that a recipe follows...

My Holloween Martini

Juice from half an Orange

2 1/2 oz of Black Strap Rum

1 tsp blood Orange Bitters

Ice

Splash of sprite

Mix the first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake well then pour into your skull and crossbones Martini glass. Top with a splash of sprite and garnish with an orange wedge, best served next to a pumpkin. Happy Halloween everybody!

Ooh finally it worked

2011-10-27T16:20:00.003-05:00

I don't know if I have owned up to this yet... I like to make banana bread. I feel like I am using something that would have gone to waste, plus the house smells AWESOME when you bake it. However... My banana bread has often been compared to a brick, well not always a brick sometimes a doorstop, cinder block, box of hammers. Let’s just say it is usually... well I'll use the word "hearty" I have been trying for a lighter one and found the answer in a book.

OK, confession time and one of those moments that I take out the tatters of my "man card" and just leave it behind before I move onto the next sentence. I have read every one of Diane Mott Davidson's books. Yes I read culinary mysteries when I have the time. I am always waiting to find out what happens next with "Goldilocks Catering" and the mystery solving caterer.

Anyway in one of the novels, our hero breaks a murder case when she discovers a cake recipe that calls for baking soda but no acid… Of course any dunderhead would be able to take that information and find a murderer right? But it did make me take a look at my old recipe for banana bread recipe… Bananas, sugar, flour, butter, milk… Hmmm, nothing for the soda to react with. Then I remembered the nerdy kid next to me at the 7th grade science fair with his baking soda volcano. "Just pour some vinegar on top of the baking soda that I have in there and mom has a heck of a mess to clean up."

Say this just might work… So I tried the basic recipe that I had laying around and added two TBS of Balsamic Vinegar. That did it and I think that we can all agree that you can’t go wrong with a little Balsamic here is how the recipe ended up.

2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

3 old Bananas (well mashed)
6 TBS butter, melted then cooled
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup coarsly chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 350

Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and wisk together then set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients together then add to the flour mixture and blend, just until they are mixed. scrape into a bread pan and bake for about 45 minutes. When it is done (poke it with a toothpick or knife and it comes out clean) remove from pan and let cool for about an hour...

How did it fare? Overall the opinions were good. Lighter, but still that hearty texture that it should be.

Note to my blogger friends. I am not ignoring you!!! I am having huge computer problems right now... the laptop hasn't booted up in about a month, I have tried everything from a system restore to reimaging the hard drive, nothing has worked. Recently my desktop has been acting as if it is posessed, (blue screens, thousands of nonsencican numbers filling the screen, random reboots etc...) I am trying to get to visit all of you but the only computer I can get to work well on-line is Kris' work laptop.

That Guy

2011-10-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

I have been drawn to catering for years, Kris knows that... it might even be an illness, really work at night, on weekends, busy when normal people are having fun... but she has always been my biggest supporter when I do an event. A couple of months ago our friends Rochelle and Dan were talking about his parents upcoming 50 wedding anniversary. Dan was saying that they will probably get Italian Beef Sandwiches and Polish Sausages from Portillos or some other chain caterer. Kris stopped him with the question, "Dan, have you met my husband Bryan... the guy that has made food for you... you remember it, you almost cried when he made Christmas Dinner at your house, why don't you talk to him."

On the way home Kris apologized to me for offering my services, but I think that deep down she knew that she wasn't throwing me under the bus, she was making it clear that she wants me to do something that I love even as a side business.

As the time drew near I was putting together the menu and getting everything in order...

Oh the menu....
Chicken Breast with a Vodka Cream Sauce
Polish Sausage with Sauerkraut and Apples
Potato Pancakes
Macaroni and Cheese
Green Beans
Fresh fruit, cheese and Charcuterie (fancy pants word salty cured meats)
Oysters on the half shell
and almost as an afterthought, Focaccia I have made that for them before

In the days before we launched we discussed what to call the business we bounced around several ideas here are some:

BFine Catering
Lunah (play on Mr. Man and Miss Lu's names)
RELN catering (a play on all of the kids names)
Bryan's Bistro to You
Taste and Savour
Spatter Catering
Sinful Spoonful

Actually, Miss Lu and I liked "Splatter" I think for the scary movie undertone but it just didn't seem to give the right feel. We wrote all of these on a whiteboard with a bunch of others and bounced the ideas around for a couple of days then...
Hmm it seems to happen a lot, life got in the way. As I was making dinner for 70 I was expressing my regret for not getting business cards made for a business that we hadn't named yet and Kris said, "well if we get anyone interested I'll just write your name on a napkin and say it is 'That Guy's Catering.'" We both stopped there, "That Guy" hmm that kind of works, not pretentious, easy to remember. I like the (ok, showing my age here) Marlo Thomas "That Girl" reference.

Can you believe that my sous chef made more in tips than I did?

Anyway it worked! I did have people ask about using my services! and we did write "That Guy's Catering" on a a few napkins and got the information needed. So I put together a good dinner and had two or three people interested in my services overall it was a great night.

I have talked about my kitchen a few times it is a small galley style kitchen... here is how it looks after I cook for a big party... I swear it was clean when I started cooking this is the aftermath when we got home.

A Holiday and Some Peppers

2011-10-10T19:09:00.002-05:00

The kids are off school today so I had some plans, get the oil in my car changed and get to the grocery store then I had planned to spend most of the day playing in the kitchen. I had baking bread and making cracklins on the list (yes Camilla the day before I read your comment I decided to give them a go). However, last night Mr, Man got quite a bit of a fever and hadn't quite recovered as of this morning. When we saw my beautiful wife off to work today Mr. Man and I were sitting on the Sofa watching Phinaas and Ferb after a couple of hours of that we have moved on a bit. We all had lunch with Kris, Mr. Man feeling better, but not 100% Miss Lu, and the Neighbor kids are doing what they should do, carving their initials in the freshly laid sidewalk that the city poured today. OK, seriously, pouring cement on sidewalks all over town on a school holiday is just asking for that.

So plans change, the down side of not being able to blog much lately is that I have missed out on something that I enjoy so much; the up side is that I still cook so I have a camera full of pictures. So I am going to draw on some stuff from the last couple of weeks.

These two dishes started the last time I was doing my regular produce shopping I had picked up beets, zucchini, Valida onions, cilantro, green beans, fresh basil, limes, pluats and ginger along with some other things. I know it sounds like a casserole from foodie hell but the fridge was running on empty and I needed some stuff. When I got to the check out lane I found a bag of Hungarian Chiles in my cart, my first thought was, "why did I grab these guys?" but then realized that someone must have dropped them in my cart thinking it was theirs. Scary thought considering what was in my cart...

I was about to give them to the cashier when I thought, "hey nerdy food blogger, take them home and do something different why don't ya?!?" Sometimes I get in a foodie rut and have to try something new to fix it. So these little guys came home for dinner twice... I asked around the house what I should make with the Hungarian chiles and we had a consensus, something for me to eat. Which is good and bad, good because I can make whatever, bad because nobody else tries it so you all have to trust my opinion.

First dish
Pan Seared Tuna Steaks with Hungarian Chile Slaw
Tuna Steak
Juice from one lime
Grated Zest from on lime
1/3 cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic minced
Salt, Pepper

Let the tuna steaks marinade on the counter for about half an hour.

The slaw
1 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Valida Onion sliced
1 Hungarian Chile sliced thin
2 TBS Chopped Cilantro
Salt and pepper

Put vinegar and sugar in a small sauce pan, heat pan until sugar dissolves set aside and allow to cool to room temperature. As it cools mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl. Add the vinegar then set aside for a couple of hours. This can be made a day ahead if you like.

In a lightly oiled pan sear your tuna the way you like it, rareish for me then top with vegetable mixture and serve.

Second Dish
Stuffed Hungarian Chiles
2 Mild Italian Sausages cut up and browned
3/4 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 onion diced
Marinara Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
2 Hungarian Chiles slit from top to bottom seeds removed if you want a little less heat.

Mix the first 4 ingredients together and stuff into the chiles. Place on indirect heat on the grill and cook for about 20 minutes then top with a little marinara and mozzarella and cook for another 5-10 minutes, serve with warm marinara sauce.

In my opinion both of these meals were great... but I guess you will just have to believe me or try them yourself

Roast Pork in a Banana Leaf and a little vent

2011-10-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

I have said this a few times about work... I am forced to go to a place that I don't want to go, to spend all day with people that I don't like, doing a bunch of stuff that I don't want to do. For the past couple of weeks or so I have really been experiencing that. I am not going to go into a lot of details because I like to keep things positive in my little corner of the web. Last Friday I was off work I took on the project of painting Miss Lu's room again, it was actually a day I had taken off to paint the master bedroom.

Other projects had to be set aside due to the fact that Miss Lu's bedroom became an emergency because well, you know, she is nine and the old color just wasn't going to work now because she is growing up and any moron can tell you that pink is a baby color, purple however just screams maturity. So on my Friday off I spent most of the day painting her room, I finished the first coat and promised Miss Lu and Mr Man that they could help with the second coat the next morning.

The next morning started early, I was still on cup of coffee number one. "Daddy, can we start painting now?" So we gather all of our supplies together, drop cloth, paint, brushes, roller, roller tray and start to paint. Now the three of us NEED four paintbrushes and a roller and 3 vessels to hold paint. Of course that isn't enough, Mr. man starts to complain that Miss Lu has a bigger brush, then Miss Lu counters that he is painting using horizontal strokes when vertical is obviously superior. Painting lasts about half an hour, while I am cleaning three of the four brushes they both decide that they have to use the computer (our laptop crashed so this poses a problem). I set the half clean brushes in the sink and to distract one while figuring out the password for the other. I just got back to cleaning brushes when they both go outside, great I get to finish. Well almost, a few minutes into it I get the helpful hints from them both, "daddy is that drip supposed to be there? why are you watching the SyFy Chanel on my T.V.? that show is gross! be careful not to drip on my bed." Well you know how it goes, sometimes it is frustrating but in the end I love it!

What I am doing is taking a long long way around to tell you that, I understand when a five and nine year old want 4 or 5 things at a time from me then act like children when I have to take things in a logical order and get frustrated when everything isn't always available at the same time.

Switch that to a forty five year old or someone in their mid fifties and some of the charm is lost. So over the weekend we had the fun because the children are still charming when they act like children... grown up people not so much I was avoiding them as much as I could.

"How does this LONG bit of prose make the leap to a recipe?" you ask, well it doesn't I just wanted to vent for a minute then go back to having fun.

So the recipe is Roast Pork, I picked up some Banana leaves from the store a few days ago, Do you want to know how much Banana leaf you get for $1.29 This is Miss Lu holding up half.

I hesitate to call this a recipe but here it goes
4 pound pork butt or some other inexpensive cut of pork (rolled and tied)
3 cloves of minced garlic
3 cloves of garlic peeled
salt and pepper
2 TBS orange marmalade
18 inches of banana leaf
2 cups of chicken broth

Take your pork rub the surface with the minced garlic, salt and pepper. Put the other 3 cloves of garlic inside your meat and set on the banana leaf, smear the orange marmalade on top then wrap with the banana leaf. Put in all in a roasting pan and pour in the chicken broth cover and cook in an oven preheated to 275 for about 3 hours.

The broth from this is wicked good, I used that as the cooking liquid for my rice which almost became the star of the plate. We only ate about a third of it for dinner I pulled the rest apart and cooked it in the same broth for about and hour to make pulled pork sandwiches. No picture of that though I ate it before I realized how good it was.

Halibut in Parchment

2011-09-12T12:41:00.003-05:00

I went out an got some new clothes on my last day off, nothing big 3 pair of pants and 4 shirts. The stuff in my closet is getting beat up by my life, I work around food all day then usually cook when I get home so my clothes go through a lot. Here is a little side bar about me, I usually shop for clothes at the second hand store, I like the feeling that if I spill a gallon of curry sauce down my front I can just throw my outfit away and only be out about 5 bucks. Anyway when I told Kris that I was going shopping for clothes she asked me to please get rid of some stuff. We are out of hangers plus I am have more clothes than any 2 normal men and there is no more room in the closet. So this morning I had to open the closet and come to terms with why I don't wear some of the clothes in there...

Is it really because I don't like to iron those linen shirts? Is it because I can't wear tan pants to work? Is it because I don't like to wear some of the bold colors that I used to? Well, to be honest none of those reasons apply...

OK I am going tell you a game that isn't any fun... Open up the closet and try on clothes that you haven't worn in say 4 or 5 years. I say to myself, "I look the same as I did in my wedding picture," but deep down I know that the suit didn't shrink and there is another reason that I can't get my pants to zip. I just don't like to think about it. Some of the clothes in my closet aren't exactly things that I don't want to wear they are things that I avoid wearing because...

Well it just makes me think that my stupid Doctor was right when she called me FAT, I am working on it and here is another winner to prove it! I hesitate to call it a recipe because really I am putting a bunch of junk willy nilly into an envelope and tossing those into the oven. This is how it goes:

Cut parchment into 14 inch squares
spray parchment with cooking spray
line each square with Julienned fennel bulbs enough to hold up your fish
Place a filet of halibut on top of the fennel
add salt, pepper, a smashed garlic clove and the grated zest of one lime
Top all that with julienned zucchini then squeeze the juice from half a lime on top

Wrap these guys up in a happy little parchment envelope and put into an oven preheated to 425 for 10 minutes.

There really isn't anything that compares to opening something like this up! Compare it to opening a little present for dinner, just set the little packages up on each plate with any side dishes that you choose, when you open them you get the smell of all of the steamed vegetables floating up from your plate, The fish is perfectly light and flaky, the zucchini is still crisp and everything is permeated with the flavors of anise and garlic.

Grilled Peaches and Cream

2011-09-09T08:05:00.008-05:00

OK I think that I've done it, maybe the cooking on the grill thing has gone too far... well maybe not... is that even possible? In my last post I mentioned that I have grilled about every sort of protein and almost every vegetable out there, this week I have been working on dessert. I have done it a couple of ways but I think this was the best!

Grilled Peaches and Southern Biscuits... without turning the oven on at all! It was easy enough to start with:

The peaches
2 whole peaches pitted and cut into 8 pieces
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix ingredients together and set aside to soak.

While they are soaking make your biscuits:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powser
1 tsp salt
1 TBS brown sugar
1/2 stick COLD butter cut up
1/4 cup
Mix first four ingredients together then add butter and milk. Quickly mix together kneed briefly being careful not to over mix, then roll out to about 3/4 of an inch and using a biscuit cutter cut into circles. Roll and repeat I got 6 biscuits in total. Place on a small oiled baking sheet and... yes my friends set on a cool area of your grill and cover.

Once the biscuits are going put your peach wedges on a hot area of the grill and cook until they are nicely caramelized. Take the peaches off and set, back in the marinade you will be using that liquid. The biscuits took about 20 minutes in all, while I was cooking the rest of my meal, when they were done they had risen quite well. Cut them in half and stuff serve with whipped cream (heavy cream, honey and vanilla) and your peaches then add just a touch or the marinade. What you end up with is a light biscuit with a cloud of whipped cream and the sweet, tangy slightly smokey fruit with caramelized sugar and vinegar clinging to it.

Now I have grilled just about everything this summer except for salad (working on that though) and soup... which is just weird.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

2011-09-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

If you are a regular reader you probably realize that I like to cook out on my grill in the summer... well even in the winter sometimes I will brave an ice storm in order too grill out a tenderloin. Anyway I grill out about 4-5 nights a week I grill out every sort of protein and most vegetables have found their way to my grill this summer, my problem has been the starches. I make a mean cheesy potato (they really rock so I haven't tried too hard to replace them) but I have always felt like a "one trick pony" with the potatoes. This past couple of weeks I have been trying some starches on the grill. This way I can walk onto the deck, beer in hand, and get everything done in one place. This is one of my more successful new additions.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes
3 Sweet potatoes
juice from 4 limes
grated zest from one of the limes
1 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

Place the potatoes, peel on, in cool salted water and bring to a boil let them boil until almost tender, about 25 minutes. They should still be a little firm in the middle when poked with a fork. Pour out the water and cool with cold water until you are able to handle them, I put mine under cold running water for a few minutes. These can be stored in the refrigerator for several hours until you are ready.
For the Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette mix the rest of the ingredients together with a whip and set aside. This can be made a day ahead if you like.

When the time comes peel the sweet potatoes then cut into quarters lengthwise. Put them on a HOT grill (you want the grill marks) for 3-4 minutes on a side. Take them off and set aside, when it is time to serve drizzle the Cilantro Vinaigrette on them. You can serve them hot, right off the grill but I like mine about room temp (or outside cookout temp). These guys are sweet and tangy with a little of that caramelized sweetness it turns out to be a great picnic side dish.

The leftovers worked well for dinner a couple of nights later here they are diced and sauteed with some chicken, crumbled goat cheese and just a touch of brown sugar. This one almost qualified as foodie crack!

Grilled Slider Trio

2011-08-29T17:11:00.015-05:00

We had our friends Rochelle and Dan over for dinner last night, just for a pleasant evening of hanging out with our friends. Kris asked me to hold back with the menu, it seems that some people think that sometimes I go overboard with the dinner plans, I push everybody out of the way, spend way to much money on dinner then don't let any one else help. Kris suggested something simple, hamburgers and hotdogs, perfect but then I think that maybe I can do a step better...

I called Kris about halfway through the day, "How about a grilled slider trio, with caramelized sweet potatoes?" I mean every body loves a Tuna Bahn Mi right?
She paused for a moment, I am pretty sure thinking, why can't you keep it simple just once, but said, "Ok... just make sure that you have enough hamburgers for everybody and pick up some hotdogs."

Ok there is a lot of stuff to this meal so lets get going:

Tuna Bahn Mi with Carrot Daikon Slaw

The slaw
1 cup Champagne Vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup shredded daikon
1 TBS chopped cilantro leaves
1 TBS chopped mint leaves
light sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Heat vinegar and sugar until they almost boil then remove from heat and let cool for 10 or 15 minutes. While that is cooling put the rest of the ingredients into a storage container and pour vinegar sugar mixture on top, seal the container give it a good shake and store in the refrigerator. This can be made the day ahead.

The Tuna (about 5 burgers)
2 tuna steaks (about 4 ounces each)
2 green onions chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
1 TBS bread crumbs
1 egg white
juice from one lime

Dice tuna steaks then coarsely chop in a food processor mix with the rest of the ingredients then form into about 2 oz patties (a little over 2 inches in diameter) put them on a plastic wrap on a plate then cover. Refrigerate until you are ready to go, about 15 minutes before you grill them put then in the freezer so they hold up well. Grill for a couple of minutes on each side, try to get these off medium so there is a little pink in the middle.

To assemble take your slider bun add a schmere of siracha mayo then your tuna patty and top with s TBS of the daikon slaw.

Chicken Parmesan Burger (made 8 sandwiches)
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 TBS olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together then form into about 2 oz patties (about 2 inch circles) place on plastic wrap on a plate then cover and refrigerate until you are ready to start cooking then pop into the freezer for about 15 minutes before you grill. Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side

Other ingredients
3/4 cup marinara sauce (I used a sauce from a jar)
Mozzarella cheese
5-6 fresh basil cut into a chiffonade
french bread sliced then grilled with a little olive oil

To assemble, take one slice of french bread top with marinara, then a chicken patty, top with a little more marinara sauce, fresh basil, mozzarella cheese then the other slice of bread.

The Hamburgers (made 10)
1 pound of hamburger
2 TBS breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper

Like above mix ingredients together then form into about 2 oz patties and refrigerate until you are ready to go then freeze for about 15 minutes before you grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Assemble like you would your favorite burger mine was with lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup and mustard. I put the pickle on a stick through mine for the picture... isn't it cute?

A couple of things to note all of these had bread crumbs in them, I find a little bit of bread crumbs will help hold moisture and flavors in. I don't always do that but with these guys being so small I wanted to make sure they were juicy when it was time to serve. I also popped them all in the freezer for a for a few minutes again that was because they were so thin I wanted to make sure they held together through the rigors of my grilling.

Over all the meal was a success! The surprise to me was the Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches both Kris and I did a double take when we tried the little sandwich the first time, I expected them to be good but these were great! The Tuna was a great mix of flavors and textures too! the flavor of the slaw just keeps going.

Outtakes

2011-08-26T16:43:00.001-05:00

So a few weeks ago Kris and I were watching The Next Food Network Star, we were talking about how cool of a job the win in the end. Face it, Guy Fieri has a pretty cool job. My beautiful wife said, "you should do that! You're personable... you can cook, plus you have figured out how to keep the pickiest eaters on earth fed."
So I looked up what it takes to try out, simple fill out a LONG application and make a three minute video... easy right?!? Over the next few days Kris and I tried shooting a video... turns out it isn't that easy we have about 80 clips now, I thought I would share some of my outtakes.

OK maybe it was harder than I thought but at least I can laugh about it.

Oh and if you were wondering about where Mr. Man picked up some of those words he used when I made the Pirates Potty Mouth Ice cream....

I don't know... maybe I should have gone with this guy playing me... he seems pretty at ease in front of the camera.

I made (go figure) a Pork Tenderloin, I know you all have seen me do that to death but they haven't seen me do it at Food Network. Right now I am piecing together the "good" takes and my neighbor is willing to help edit, he does video editing for ESPN. I will keep you guys posted if anything happens, if nothing else I can share a 3 minute video with you in the end.

Spinach Salad with Mixed Berry Vinaigrette

2011-08-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

The kiddos and I took a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo on my day off. More important that the destination was how we would make our way into the city to visit this Chicago Landmark. Driving was off the table, the kiddos didn't want to do that, it seems to be less of an adventure. That left us with the options of the commuter train and tourist trolly or the El (subway) and city bus. We opted for the more urban method of transportation. After all if you miss an El or a bus you have about a 20 minute wait for the next one, if you miss a commuter train of the free trolly is full you are at least 30 to 40 minutes for the next. Add to that there is something to be said for hopping off the El for a transfer in the middle of a regular Chicago neighborhood, instead of in the middle of the loop.

I was pushing for a trip to the zoo mostly for the walk, I am still reeling from the Doctor visit you know, "Fat, fat fat fat, fat, drinker... you need to exercise!" I figured that the walk around the zoo with kiddos in tow plus the lunch below would help me at my next appointment, coming up in just a few days. The kids and I brought a duffel bag full of snacks, for me the leftovers from this salad and a bit of salmon. As we were sitting down to our picnic lunch at the outskirts of the zoo Miss Lu handed me the quote of the day, "I don't like eating here... there are so many animals... it's just gross."

We made this salad when we had the neighbors over for dinner a couple of days earlier, it was such a bright addition to dinner that I couldn't resist having it again:

The Salad dressing
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 clove garlic chopped
2 TBS Campaign vinegar
2 TBS confectioner sugar (more or less depending on the fruit)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Put all of this into a blender and blend until smooth.

The salad
Couldn't have been easier about a cup of loosely packed spinach for each adult then toss with the dressing. I'll let you decide how much dressing you want, just remember that this has quite a bit of punch to it so go easy. I topped the spinach and dressing with a great mixture of nuts and assorted dry fruit, most people call it "trail mix." Then I tossed in some crumbled up goat cheese.

This one had everything my friends: the healthy stuff that my Doctor wants me to get to know better, the bright warm crunch of nuts alongside the chewy dried fruit. Top that all with creamy goat cheese and the zing that you get from this dressing and you have an awesome salad.

Grilled Salmon with Black Bean Salsa

2011-08-11T12:07:00.005-05:00

I have had a pretty good record of consistently seeing my family practitioner in my adult(ish) life. I went for a physical shortly before embarking on my journey to college. The next time was around my 32nd birthday and then again a couple of weeks ago, right after my 45th birthday so really I am like clockwork. I also see a Doctor every time I cut off the tip of a digit or my appendix explodes, pretty regularly I would say. Plus I don't want anyone to think I am a hypochondriac. After my latest check-up I went in for the inevitable blood work, a few days later my Dr. Called me. Now I can't say that I am quoting her exactly it started like this.

"Bryan, this is Doctor Crystal, I just got your lab results, over all everything is in order, your triglycerides seem to be a little bit elevated but that really isn't a big surprise given your weight..."

OK this is where I don't quite trust that I remember exactly what she said...

"Do you mind if I ask if you drink?"

I answered, "yes... some"

"Yes I often find that FAT DRINKERS are prone to high triglycerides, that kind of explains your cholesterol levels too, *FAT people often have high cholesterol and yours is one full point above average. I also find that FAT people often have high blood pressure just like yours and the DRINKING doesn’t help. For the love of GOD it is a wonder you are still alive. By the way you need to make a follow-up appointment so we can check your blood pressure again and get a plan in place for your life as a SIMPERING IDIOT after your inevitable STROKE... Do you have some time next week?"

OK, maybe it isn't word for word...

Given the advise of my new family practitioner I thought I would try a couple of dishes without my usual friends, you have met them, butter, heavy cream and bacon.

Black Bean Salsa (enough for 4-6)
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 whole tomato diced
1/2 onion diced
1/3 cup of fresh corn
2 cloves garlic minced
1 TBS chopped cilantro
1 Jalapeno pepper diced (I removed the seeds so it wasn't so hot)
1 TBS olive oil
Juice from one lime
Salt and Pepper to taste
Stir the ingredients together and set aside to rest while you make the rest of dinner.

Salmon
Really this was as simple as can be; I set a 4-5 oz salmon filet out and sprinkled a little salt, pepper and Olive oil on it. I grilled it for about 3 minutes on each side until done.

When it was time to serve I put a handful of fresh spinach on a plate then added about 1/3 of a cup of my salsa then topped it with the grilled salmon. I have always loved this salsa/salad, filled with the bright crisp summer flavors and textures, the Jalapeno it this one doesn't really add heat, it is more like a little pop of sunshine.

The whole meal clocks in well under 400 calories and is low enough in fat to keep the dietitians at bay. That gives me a little extra room for a Martini right?

*For the record I am 6 feet tall but to weigh myself the following criteria must be in place:
1. Weight must be taken first thing in the morning.
2. I must be right out of the shower and naked
3. I must have recently used the restroom
4. I must have skipped diner the night before and not yet eaten anything that day.

If all these criteria are in place I weigh in at about 206 pounds... Obviously the Doctor I see doesn't respect these rules so my weight at her office was a little higher.

Rum and Coconut Ice Cream

2011-08-06T19:27:00.002-05:00

We have been running like a bunch of flippin’ loony toons since vacation. As soon as we got back we had to take care of business, a GIANT branch from our flippity flappin tree fell onto our neighbor’s swing-set (the ones that I steel tomatoes from). I had to put on my Lumberjack clothes, *you know, polo shirt and khaki pants, then climb up a tree to secure branches so they wouldn’t crush our fence or loved ones before our two family team cut it from the tree. For a bunch of suburbanites we were a successful team boasting no further property damage or injuries.

After that I had to reluctantly take my middle daughter Miss El back to her mom in Wisconsin which makes all of us a little sad. She had been with us for about three weeks including our trip North.

Of course since I had a week of vacation and the work doesn’t really stop I have been getting into work a little early so that I could hopefully leave on time in order to fight the fricken traffic and get home at a reasonable hour. Add to that our pool turned green while we were away so we had to contend with that darned swampy mess. Plus a couple of days ago another gosh darned big booger tree branch fell in our yard so we have another cleanup to deal with before our neighbors get back from their vacation to say "I told you that you need to cut that tree down!"

Did you notice my kind and gentle use of expletives? Let me tell you a quick story… One day I got home from work and had this conversation with Mr. Man (Mr Man is 5 by the way).
Bryan: Hey bud how was your day?
Mr. Man: Good I played with D_ (boy across the street) then had popsicles and rode bikes.
Bryan: Cool, do you need anything?
Mr. Man: I want to have some juice and play monster trucks on the computer.

I set him up on the computer then went into the kitchen to make some juice. It takes a couple of minutes… then I hear the shout

Mr. Man: Hey I said I want a Schluckin Juice! and I don't want to play dammit Monster Monster Trucks, I want a stupid different game... schluck!

Yeah "schluckin" is exactly the word that you think it is...

I am not sure where he picked up that word... OK, well I am quite sure where he picked up that word and am trying to maybe not use it so much but still need my interjections, so flippity flappin, booger and some others are coming up more often.

How does all this lead to a recipe? We'll call it Pirate's Potty Mouth Ice Cream...

14 oz can of coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup white rum
2 TBS black strap rum
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup shredded coconut toasted

Put the first 4 ingredients into a saucepan and heat until it is almost to a boil. Continually stir with a whisk until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixtrue is smooth.

Remove from heat, in a separate bowl beat together the four egg yolks. Slowly add 1 cup of the cream mixture to the egg yolks stirring the whole time. If you do this part too fast you end up with scrambled eggs and milk.

Put your pan back on the stove over low heat, slowly add the egg/cream mixture to pan again stirring constantly, add the Vanilla and continue heating until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and add the rum and shredded coconut stir together and chill. I refrigerate overnight, it works best for my ice cream maker The next day follow the manufacturer's instructions and make your ice cream.

The toasted coconut is for a garnish us as much or as little as you like. I like to toast mine in a dry skillet I enjoy the inconsistency in color and texture that I get, you can do yours in the oven if you like but it is too hot and yucky here. I served it with a couple of slices of grilled pineapple, really the perfect combination.

* In addition to my lumberjack outfit I changed the ringtone on my phone to the Monty Python classic "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK" None of my tree cutting team has forgiven me for that yet.

Beef Jerky

2011-08-02T09:27:00.003-05:00

We have just had a crazy couple of weeks here in my world... I will go into some more of it later, but I wanted to share this with y'all in the interim. I pulled a cooking magazine out of the stack a couple of nights ago and found an article about Beef Jerky... Now I know that most of you have tried it before, the dried up icky stuff that you get next to the cheese curds at any number of gas stations. I assure you that this is a little different, the flavors are more subtle and the meat can actually be chewed without too much effort. Add to that, it was kind of fun to make. The meat was just a Chuck Roast that I found on sale, the marinade was pantry ingredients that most of us have...

About a pound of Beef Chuck Cut into strips about 1/4 of an inch thick... You can go pretty loosy goosy with the cuts. I went with the grain, across the grain and every which way to get several strips of beef to marinade.

Ok I am not sure that this looks cool or like a clip from the X-Files

The Marinade:
3 TBS Soy Sauce
3 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
3 TBS Tomato Sauce
2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

On the rack and ready to go.

Soak strips of beef in marinated for about 6-8 hours. When ready to dry heat oven to 200 degrees, lay the beef strips on rack and cook for about 2 hours. The stuff that you get in the store will last basically forever in the cupboard not so with this. Since there are no preservatives it needs to be refrigerated and lasts for about 3 months I hear anyway mine have never lasted more than several days.

Jalapino Jelly

2011-07-21T01:15:00.007-05:00

In the few days leading up to our first family vacation I was trying my best to use up the food in our house that wasn't going to make it for the time that we would be gone. This recipe came to mind partly to use some stuff up and partly because my father in law is always telling me how much he likes spicy food. and I thought I could bring some up with us on our trip. The recipe is one that I used a few time at the Southwest restaurant several years ago. I found some of my old notes (well OK pilfered cookbooks) and made Jalapeno Jelly.

Ingredients
10 Jalapeno peppers cleaned and roughly chopped
1 small vadilia onion diced
1 cup cider vinegar
juice and grated peel of one lime
3 cups sugar
1 package of liquid fruit pectin

Put the Jalapenos in a food processor with a little bit of the vinegar and puree put that into your saucepan add the rest of the vinegar, lime juice and sugar.

Quick note here this is a really good time to use that outside burner if you have one on the grill, the fumes from this are... well they are strong.

Bring all this to a boil simmer for 10 to 15 minutes when all the components are soft add the fruit pectin and lime peel allow to cook for 2-3 minutes more then ladle into your containers.

If you are someone who cans (personally I don't like to) you can go through the process of boiling and putting that lid on and whatever goes with that... me I just put it into a few reusable containers and stored it in the refrigerator. Two for me and one for my father in law.

Now you may ask, "What would you use Jalapeno Jelly for?" for breakfast top a bagel with cream cheese then top that with this spicy sweet concoction. I also like to spread it on a chicken breast for the last few minutes on the grill as a glaze.

pulling one from the archives

2011-07-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

Ok tomorrow they are predicting a heat index of 115 in the Chicagoland area... When I heard that I couldn't help but think of this post, it always makes me smile to myself.

I will have something new tomorrow evening, but thought you all might enjoy this one!

I am going to blog on a slightly different subject than I usually do but stick with me for a little bit I promise to bring it around in the end, today I am going to talk about cars, specifically ones that I have owned. These days I drive a Toyota Rav4 I really love the way it feels to drive; it is comfortable, has air conditioning that works the sound system is great, good gas mileage I spend about 3 hours a day in it and think that all around it is a wonderful car. It is also the first grown-up car that I have ever had. The car that I was driving when I met Kris was a 13 year old Mercury Tracer, my mom had given it to drive me while I was going through my divorce, this car and I have about 1000 stories. From changing a tire at 3:00 am (in a tux no less) to two lug nuts flying off on the way to work one day, people often ask me to share some of these stories, most of them are funny in a dark sense of the word.

Let me describe the car here so you get a good picture, it was an inexpensive car that was 13 years old it had a banged up fender from a small accident further damaged by falling off a jack at the above mentioned 3:00am tire change (turns out that you should park on a level surface when you change a tire). It had one hub cap; the lock on the driver's side door didn't work so I had to unlock it from the passenger's side to get in. The air conditioner didn't work at all in fact, because it had a tendency to overheat if the engine idled for more than a few minutes, I kept the heater on low all the time. Oh and the transmission was a mess, I had to start this automatic transmission in first gear and work it up to drive. It had a maximum cruising speed of 60 mph which started to become frighteningly fast on the $22.00 tires that I put on it.

Short side story here, one day I was parked on the street outside of work and somebody walked past all of the cars in the area, looked at mine and said to himself "Four bald tires, banged up fender, no hubcaps... yeah we break into this one we got it made!" Broke out my window and took all of the cash from my ash tray (almost $3.00) and a CD player with a Hello Kitty Motif (retail value $12.99 at Wal-Mart). Because I live in a rather nice suburb I decided to replace the window with a Hefty Force Flex bag, not just any crummy old garbage bag, just until the weekend when I could get an appointment for a mechanic to make fun of me while he replaced it. The next day, parked in the same spot someone actually tore open my garbage bag window, I have to assume just to kick me while I was down.

I mentioned above that the heater had to remain on at all times if I got caught in bad traffic, even on a relatively cool day, the engine would overheat and I would end up pulled over on the side of the expressway while it cooled down a bit. About four years ago the Chicago area was suffering a heat wave similar to the one we have going on now. It had been in the mid 90s and humid for several days and I was trekking home on a Friday after work, hot air blowing on my face. My afternoon commute is usually about an hour but due to construction I was looking at almost two hours that day. I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs the hosts were just starting to mix their drinks on air (a regular Friday tradition on WLS AM) when they cut to he weather. "It is sunny out there today and HOT the temperature is 93 but when you figure in the heat index it feels like 115."

That was it! I was about to explode! I screamed in anguish and pulled off my tie, took off my shoes and socks then unbuttoned my royal blue dress shirt so that maybe just maybe I could take a little just a breath of air that didn't weigh more than I did and make it home alive. A full 45 minutes later I pulled into the lot of my favorite liquor store and was met by an angel. I walked in wearing untied dress shoes (no socks, I just couldn't do it) and an unbuttoned shirt, undershirt exposed, I was covered in sweat and was greeted by a wonderful woman who said to me just as the automatic door opened, "would you like to try a spicy cucumber margarita?"

I could only think, "cold, wet, YES!" I got my little paper Dixie cup of margarita then picked up my Vodka, came back and got another paper cup of margarita then went to get a couple of bottles of wine then just one more drink on my way to check out. OK maybe I wasn't in hell... I picked up a copy of the recipe put it in my binder then lost it ... until last weekend! As recipes often do in my house it had vanished without a trace then suddenly resurfaced just when I needed it most, during our current heat wave.

I know what you are thinking, "Spicy Cucumber Margarita? did you cook off some brain cells in your trek to Binny's Beverage Depot?" My only answer is, you try it and tell me.

1/2 cucumber diced
1 or 2 slices of Jalapeno about 1/4 inch thick (be careful here)
1/2 cup Taquila
juice from 2 limes
1 TBS Triple Sec (to taste really I don't like it sweet)
a handful of ice

Kosher Salt
Chipotle Chile Powder

Put the cucumber and Jalapeno slices in a cocktail shaker and muddle with a wooden spoon then add the next four ingredients and shake until ice cold. Poor the salt onto a saucer then sprinkle a little chili powder on that, be careful a little goes a long way. Moisten the rim of your glass and dip into your salt mixture, pour the mixture over ice and enjoy.

Pasties

2011-07-15T20:37:00.002-05:00

Pasties are a Cornish dish that are somewhat unique to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When Cornish settlers came to the area the Pasty was an important dish to the men working the iron and copper mines in the area. It was a hearty compact lunch that could be wrapped in a towel and taken to work sometimes reheated on a shovel over a small fire.

This is a dish that Kris had been nervous about me attempting, it is a traditional meal that doesn’t need any messing around with. To anyone from the Upper Peninsula a Salmon and Poblano Pasty makes about as much sense as Fried Chicken Sushi, and I know that Kris has worried that I would try to put my own spin on the meal. Since I have never had a real traditional dish I had to be respectful and have been holding back on making them until I could get a chance to spend the afternoon with the Pasty Master… Kris’ mom. I have asked her for the recipe a couple of times but the answer has always been a bit blurry to me, usually consisting of “well you take the ingredients and put them in a pasty crust, the one in the Scandinavian Cook Book that I gave you only with a little more flour and less water, the ingredients go in layers so every bite has everything.” I didn’t really understand the process until this week when I had the time to actually make them, with appropriate guidance. We actually made 14 of these but the recipe below is for 7.

The Dough
3 Cups Flour
¾ Cup Shortening
½ Cup Cold Water
1 tsp (more or less) Salt

Cut flour and shortening together until it resembles coarse meal then add the cold water and blend. If there are crumbly bits at the bottom of the bowl add some more water. Divide the dough into 6 or 7 balls and refrigerate until ready to use.

Rutabaga diced up.

Adding the ingredients one layer at a time

The Filling
4-5 Potatoes peeled and cleaned diced (a little smaller than ¼ inch)
1 Rutabaga peeled and diced (same size as the potato)
1 ¼ pound of ground beef
1 large onion diced
Margarine
Salt an pepper to taste

To make pasties roll out the dough on a floured surface into about 7 inch circles then start filling. Understand that all the amounts below are approximate add enough to fill the dough that you rolled out. To the top half of the circle start building layers put ¼ cup potatoes, ¼ cup rutabaga then break up your ground beef to cover, top that with onions, then add another layer of each. Top with salt, pepper and about 2 tsp of butter.

Wet the edges of the circle then close and seal, cut a few vents in the top and bake at 350 for about an hour. I have heard that some people serve them with gravy but I have always had them with the traditional ketchup and lots of it. These really are a whole mess of comfort food wrapped up in a flaky envelope. This is one of the times I am jealous of people that have recipes handed down over generations. I have never had that, most of my family has kind of made them up on the fly.

OK I had to add it... a gratuitous vacation photo.

Coffee Martini!

2011-07-09T09:24:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow we embark our first ever family vacation Kris, Miss Lu, Mr Man, Miss El and I will be piling into a car and making the 9 hour trek to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have mess of activities planned including a shipwreck tour of Lake Superior but biggest on my list though is a course in pasty making from the master, Kris' mother...

Since we both work and have only been picking at the pre-vacation list we have quite a bit to do today and probability just a little bit of stress. I have the potion to get through the day though. It started about a week ago I read an article on Coffee Infused Vodka...

OK if you follow this at all you know I was obsessed.

The Vodka was easy
2-3 TBS whole bean coffee
1 tsp Sugar
2 Cups Vodka
Smash up the coffee beans between two spoons put that into a bottle add the sugar then the two cups of Vodka. Cover and set aside.

Two things to note here:

Everything I read said that the sugar is necessary, then offered some explanations that involved chemistry, instead of reading a whole lot about it i just trusted them.
When it comes to infusing the vodka I read everything from setting it on the counter for 6 hours to in the freezer for 8 days. I left my bottle on the counter overnight the tossed it in the freezer for a couple of days then back on the counter for another overnight.

After it was ready (by ready I mean smelled like coffee) I strained it through a coffee filter.

For the Coffee Martini
3 oz Coffee Infused Vodka
1 oz chocolate Liqueur
Sweetened Condensed Milk (as a garnish)

Poor a light stream of sweetened condensed milk into you martini glass then drop in a couple of coffee beans as a garnish. Pour your Coffee Vodka and Chocolate Liqueur into a shaker with plenty of ice shake and serve.

This odd little concoction really did it! It is like all of my favorites mixed together and and served up cold! Plus on a so many levels it gets me ready to face the day.

Yogurt Marinated Lamb Loin

2011-07-06T08:23:00.021-05:00

I feel like we can start our summer now, I am home and we have started our normal way of things, weeknights with my family, weekends with some time in the pool and just living our lives. When we had our parents here for Miss Lu's recital every meal was done on the grill. They asked how often we use our grill Kris and I looked at each other and she said, "Five nights out of seven," I thought about it and she is right. Sometimes it is simple like hot dogs, sometimes something a little odd like pizza or sometimes something more involved, like my last post but almost every night this time of year I throw something on the grill.

A few days ago I did a little bit of everything... for Kris a Tenderloin for the Kiddos Hot Dogs for me Lamb Loin Chops, there were also potatoes and vegetables to choose from. The Lamb gets to star in this post, well sort of...

First I have to admit, even though I made this I have NO IDEA what all the spices are in this marinade. I mentioned how often we grilled out so that I could blame my utter lack of memory on that instead of age... I recently had one of those birthdays that I don't want to talk about. So lets stick with the "I grill out all the time and this one is a blur" theory or I am even willing to go with the "Bryan drank too much that night" idea, lets just stay away from the whole "age thing" OK? So lets move on. I mixed the spices below (I dug through the spice cupboard and pulled almost everything out trying to figure out what the heck it was I put in this).

I mixed these spices, as well as I can figure, plus at least one mystery spice with four ounces on Greek yogurt and a splash of lemon juice.
Tumeric
Crushed Red Pepper
Minced Fresh Garlic
Cumin
Oregano
Ground Thyme
I am still not sure what that stuff on the lower right is.
I also added a generous amount of fresh chopped mint (not pictured)

I coated a couple of loin chops with the yogurt spice mixture and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours. When it was time to cook I tossed them on the grill, about 4 minutes on each side, until they were done.

Because this was one of those eclectic meals; Lamb chops, Tenderloin, Hot dogs, Polenta, Corn, Potatoes and Asparagus we took our time that night having a long family dinner and most of us tried some new things. The prize for that goes to Mr. Man who took a bite of his grilled corn and said, I want some Peanut butter on this.

Beer Marinated Flank Steak

2011-07-01T02:03:00.002-05:00

Miss Lu's recital was this weekend so my mom and my in-laws were coming to town to see my youngest starlet dance in her Saturday afternoon show. Typically when Kris' parents come to see us they arrive the night before they have to get here, call us, and say that they just had dinner at IHop and will see us in the morning. We were kind of expecting that when I was making out my shopping list.

While I was at the store shopping for the weekend Kris called me... now, I know this is strange but this is the kind of call that I enjoy. "My parents are almost here and they haven't eaten." The reason that I enjoy that call is I get to run loose in the store like I am on The Next Food Network Star picking ingredients trying to figure out an extra meal or two and how to prepare it in a time frame that I didn't expect.

Ok it may be little juvenile but admit it... you have done it too. Opened the pantry and picked your ingredients to make dinner a fun challenge... The meal for after the show was Flank Steak with Potatoes and Asparagus and it ROCKED! It may seem like a few steps but it was really easy and worked well for a busy day.

Flank Steak
1 flank steak (about a pound and a half)
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
Coarse kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 or 6 green onions sliced thin
1 12-ounce bottle of beer
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Take flank steak and score in a criss cross pattern about 1/8 of an inch deep. Put it in a non reactive dish and rub with the oregano, cumin, salt and olive oil. Then add the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate for several hours or over night (soaked for about 6 hours).

While this is marinading make the dipping sauce and guacamole...

The Sauce

1 jalapeno pepper chopped
3 green onion chopped
1/3 cup chopped Vidalia onion (about half of one)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice from 2 limes
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Put the first 4 ingredients into a chopper and grind into a paste (it took a couple of minutes in mine) you want it to be well mixed but still have texture. Then add the lime juice, salt and pepper and mix quickly and set aside. Let it sit for at least a couple of hours so the flavors bloom.

Guacamole

1 avocado peeled and pitted
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
3 TBS chopped Vidalia onion (that is the other half of the one I used in the sauce above)
Juice from 1 lime
Coarse kosher salt (to taste)

Slice the avocado and mash it up with a fork then add the cilantro and Vidalia onion mix well then add the lime juice and salt. Mix well and set refrigerate until dinner.

When it is time to go put the Flank Steak on a hot grill and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side for medium rare. Remove from the heat and let stand covered while you set everything else up. I Served with roasted potatoes (recipe coming up, they were really good) and grilled asparagus). Once everything was ready I sliced the flank steak across the grain about a quarter of an inch thick and served. Add a little of the sauce then a touch of guacamole and serve. The Sauce was great, fresh and bright with just a little bit of a spicy zing to it. Next time I may add a little more Jalapino, the guacamole did quite a bit to take off the spicy edge.

2011-06-27T10:13:00.003-05:00

Curse you travel industry!

So I got to this little airport as I was leaving my Connecticut adventure. Because I was trying to see if I could get an earlier flight and really had absolutely nowhere else to go, I got to TWEED airport (an airport about the size of my living room) with three hours to spare. At almost exactly the time we were to board a man came in and announced to the entire secure area that our flight would be delayed by at least an hour...

This is it the entire secure area.

I dutifully stood in line waiting to talk to him about my connecting flight, His question, "Would you like to spend the night here or in Philadelphia?" Will this trip never end?

Oy and Miss Lu's birthday party was the next day, so we had a ton of stuff to do in the morning. picking me up from the airport was not part of that...

The flight boarded about an hour late... I find it funny that a plane that has about 36 seats boards the same way as the 737 I had been on earlier.
"We would like to invite any of our gold pass members to board now." 2 or 3 people board.
"Anyone traveling with small children" absolute silence.
"Now we will board zone one." That continued as 4 or 5 passengers at a time walked to the plane for each zone.

Then we sat on the tarmac for another hour. When I got to Philadelphia I was not surprised to find that I had missed my connecting so I went to the courtesy counter to see what I could do. The best answer was, "Spend the night in a hotel and leave tomorrow morning at 8:00am." By this time I was defeated so I started the process of getting a hotel room. After waiting for about an hour for my shuttle (I think the 13 year old they had driving the Holiday Inn Van got lost) I got to the hotel front desk at 11:30pm. Remember that I had started my travel adventures at about 1:30 that day after my Subway School final exam, so I was done.

The rest of the night was less than eventful, after I had dinner using my boss' credit card (turns out he drinks a lot and tips well). I got to my hotel room a little after midnight for my 5:00 am wake up call. I won't go into any more details, lets just say that I did make it home and Kris and the Kiddos picked me up in time for the big party. I didn't have the time to do everything that I had planned but it turns out that the kiddos aren't as uptight about food as I am I did Mr. Man, Miss Lu and I did make a trip to the store to get stuff for the fruit tray for the Luau themed party...

and the ham and pineapple skewers.

The party went well and I am happy to be home! I have some pictures and posts started, but needed a little time to regroup...

Too bad I didn't get to take couple of whacks at the pinata... I have been a little frustrated.

Stalking Guy Fieri

2011-06-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

So I have been here in Milford CT for more than a week now and eaten... well I just don't want to count how many Subway sandwiches. I asked my facebook friends if they knew of any restaurants in the area one of them stepped up and told me that Guy Fieri had visited several Connecticut diners in his Triple D adventures. So I decided to rev up the search engines and see what I could find. I found exactly the kind of place I was looking for! The Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk CT a mere 20 minute drive from my hotel, not including time spent lost (maybe I should have paid for the GPS in my rental car).

Look at this place how could it not be great!

It is a tiny Venezuelan diner, with a seating capacity of 24, in the middle of a small East coast town and it ROCKED! When we arrived the waitress gave us a 41 minute wait time and asked us to step outside (there just isn't room to stand inside the restaurant). The wait turned out to be about 20 minutes and well worth it. The menu included a great selection of Arepas, Empanadas and absolutely to die for Ceviche. I had a Pulled Pork and a Chorizo Empanada along with the Black Beans, and of course I had to get the Ceviche. I couldn't even come close to eating it all there, but then dinner was set. I don't think that I wordsmith well enough to say how great of a place this is or describe my meal the way I should (here is a link to Guy's Show, I'll just say "I agree with him") As I was finishing my lunch the waitress asked how everything was my answer was "Oh my God this place is fricken awesome."

Grilled Clams

2011-06-11T07:08:00.004-05:00

OK this one will be my last post complaining about Subway School... really I am not crying about school, just my trek to get here to Milford CT. Kris and I spent most of Sunday morning puttering around the house and waiting for me to go. At about 1:00pm Kris took me to O'Hare Airport for my 3:30 flight, being the good little Dobee that I am I wanted to get there the suggested 2 hours prior to take off . As I was patiently waiting for my plane to depart I heard the announcement..."Our plane is still in the hangar undergoing routine maintenance, our departure will be delayed for at least an hour."

The trek to O'Hare's Terminal 1

My connecting flight was scheduled to depart about 40 minutes after this one landed so an hour delay didn't bode well. So I did what any self respecting business traveler would do, I went to the airport bar and got myself a $9.00 bottle of beer.

Note to airport bar... $9.00 for a Corona!?! seriously?

When my plane took to the air the Pilot announced that she would be doing her best to make up some time. About an hour into the flight I mentioned to one of the flight attendants that I had a VERY short window between landing and the connecting flight. The pilot announced over the intercom that "some passengers have a very short window for connecting flights, please allow them get to the front of the plane when we land so they have a chance to make those flights." Really I started to feel all warm and fuzzy in the inside. When the plane landed I managed to be one of the first 4 or 5 passengers off the plane (granted I had to literally step on the feet of a few first class passengers but we all know that those smug jerks deserve it) but I did get going in good time. When I got off the plane in Philadelphia PA I learned that I had exactly 7 minutes to run to the gate farthest from the one that I landed in. Now I am kind of what you would expect of a middle aged chef, not slender or sporty by any means. The run was... well exhausting and I found out I had to leave and re enter secure airport space so I had to remove my shoes, belt and take everything (my laptop) out of my carry-on in order to go through the fancy-pants scanner that sees through clothes.

Note to Philly airport TSA... Ha! you got what you deserved, you had to see me naked!

Anyway after my run I got to the gate exactly on time for departure only to find out that my connecting flight left 6 minutes EARLY!

Note to any airline WTF?!?

There wasn't anyone working at my gate at all and about 5 other passengers were standing there saying... well you can guess what we were saying. I went to another gate to see if I could get later flight, I did, the other four were on stand-by. The only problem this one was scheduled to land 3 minutes before the Budget rent-a-car closed. Sooo, I spent the next 40 (yes 40 minutes) on the phone with the car rental agency begging them to stay open for a few extra minutes to get me a car.

Note to Budget rent-a-car YOU ROCK!

I got a new Chevy Impala for the next couple of weeks! I drove the 20 miles to my hotel, if you have been following I mentioned that I brow beat my boss into paying for the hotel with an "in room kitchenette" I get to my hotel suite and find that it has a dorm style refrigerator and the tiniest microwave I have ever seen.

Note to Marriott, we need to discuss what a "kitchenette" is, the fricken Motel 6 has those amenities.

I have been enthusiastically participating in my Subway classes and in store training, it is more interesting than I expected but I do miss my beautiful wife and kids. I have some plans for the weekend too, visiting a restaurant featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives is among those plans. I will post about that soon.

Before left Chicago I made this East Coast inspired recipe...

Grilled Clams
Start by softening a stick of butter (I put mine on the counter then went out to get some clams you will want 6-8 per guest). When it is soft take about 2 TBS of butter and mix 1 tsp or maybe a little more of horseradish and a splash ot Tabasco. Mix that up and set aside.

The bread is ciabatta slice that up and put a little butter on each slice and set aside.

To clean the clams (I used Little Necks) soak them in cool water for a few minutes and wash the shells off, I use a little scrub brush, if there are any icky parts pull them off now. All of the little guys should be closed tight, if any are open give them a tap on top if they don't close they are probably dead throw them out.

Light the grill, and put the clams directly on the grate, follow that step with your bread, butter side down. Close the grill and let them go until they are done. Mine took about 7 minutes, when they open up they are done.

Note, sometimes a couple of clams will take a little longer to open up that doesn't mean they are bad, they might just be fighting the good fight so to speak, give them a couple more minutes. If they don't open after that discard them.

To serve it up place 6-8 clams in each dish along with a dollup of horseradish butter, some toast and maybe a little more horseradish. Really the dish couldn't be easier and it tastes really great! Spread a little horseradish butter on your bread and a fresh hot clam. It is a perfect light start to a cook out.

Sesame Salmon with Creamy Grits

2011-06-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

OK I will quit crying about Subway University... on the good side I have a new toy. I have been watching the ads and waiting for one that I want to go on sale. The grill that I have had for the last couple of years was a good one and it served me well, but I had to face that it was dying. The last time I cooked chicken breast it took about 45 minutes and I pounded it flat before I started. One of the features I NEEDED on my new grill was a burner off to the side. Why? Well no one in my house can stand the smell of cooking fish so I have always tried to do the polite thing and cook it outside but sometimes I want salmon or tuna cooked in a pan instead of on the grill. This was the maiden voyage for that for me I made pan seared Sesame Salmon and Creamy Grits... for Kris and the kiddos Lemon Herb Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes...

Ahh the flame-ups, I have missed you

Start by marinating the salmon, I used:
2 TBS sesame Oil
1 Clove of minced garlic
The Juice from one lemon
Salt and Pepper

I left that on the counter for about half an hour then made the Grits:
1 Cup of boiling water
4 TBS Grits
1/3 Cup half & half
butter

Add the grits to the boiling water then stir until it starts to thicken (I use quick grits so it is about 5 minutes) then add the half & half, stir a little, cover and set aside.

I started the next step by toasting the sesame seeds, that really brings out the flavors so well, so put them in a dry skillet and toast over high heat until they start to brown. Next roll the salmon in your toasted seeds and set it skin side up in a hot skillet. I like mine about medium so after about 4 minutes turn and cook on the other side for about the same amount of time. When it is all cooked plate it up and garnish with a few toasted seeds. I enjoy the sesame, garlic flavor that this has, they work so well with the salmon, as for everyone else the chicken was fine.

Note, I actually started this post a few days ago before the whirlwind that preceded heading off to CT. Since then I have changed my mind.... I will continue to cry about Subway school...

Back to School

2011-05-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

Well the countdown has begun... it is really all that I have been able to think of for the past week or so, but didn't want to talk about it too much because well, read on. On Sunday June 5 I hop on a plane and head out. Now the question I am sure you are asking is where... will I be taking my family on a much deserved tropical adventure? A high power seminar to aid in my financial growth? No not me I am heading off to school again...

The company I work for has decided that if we put a certain sandwich store in our cafe our sales will increase by 27% (yes that is the number that they gave us). So next Sunday I hop on a plane and take a round about route to Milford,Connecticut... International headquarters for Subway. Yes boys and girls a chef with 25 years of experience under his belt is required to spend 2 weeks away from home to learn how to make some sandwiches. The intensive course includes 37 hours of "in store training" along with 44 hours of classroom experience.

Add to that, when I was getting all of the registration information together I found out that I also need to take 20... yes twenty on-line classes before I am allowed to attend "Subway University". So far I am about 14 classes in, most have gone well you can read one of the actual study questions below

Though most of the classes are pretty basic, I have to admit that I had to take the "How to Clean the Restrooms" module more than once before getting a passing grade.

I did make sure that my boss paid for the hotel suite with a kitchen so I am thinking that I can work from school for a few posts but I am not sure. I hear that the seafood is pretty good so we will see what I can come up with. If any of you know where to get good seafood in Milford Connecticut please pass the info to me soon .

Chicken and Waffles

2011-05-19T19:41:00.001-05:00

A few nights ago I was sitting on the sofa with the laptop poking around some of those websites, just at the wrong time Kris walked in, the exchange that took place went like this...

Bryan: (one eyebrow arched) Ooh... Sexy!
Kris: What are you looking at?
Bryan: Nothing sweetie, I'm just poking around on the web..
Kris: What websites?
Bryan: I'm just surfing the web, nothing in particular.
Kris: Epicurious?
Bryan : OK, Food Network but... I mean... look at this video! she mixes chicken stock and maple syrup! My god, who comes up with this?!?

Kris gave me the arched brow, eyeroll combo that I get sometimes when I act up like that. Sometimes maybe the foodie stuff gets out of hand, then again who gets to measure that? I was looking up chicken and waffles on several websites... really what isn't sexy about that? Let's see you have the savory fried chicken the fluffy waffles the sweet touch of maple syrup and well let's face it there has to be that bit of bacon. Utter comfort food heaven!

There is quite a bit to this so lets get started. First I am the only person in my house that likes my food with all the animal parts attached, you know bones and skin bother some people. Often when I cook chicken or something with the bones in I will quickly filet some between cooking and serving it up. That being said I decided to bread and pan fry chicken strips for this.

For the Chicken I used two large boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips about 3/4 of an inch thick

The Marinate
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp that stuff by the stove*
Marinate overnit

The Flour Mixture
1 1/2 cup all purpose flower
1 TBS salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder

When ready to cook preheat to 375 then heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet to 350 pull chicken out 2 or 3 pieces at a time dredge in flour mixture and fry in the oil until golden brown, about 2 -3 minutes on each side. Put the strips on a well oiled baking sheet, when all of the strips are done put them into the oven for 10 -15 minutes.

The Waffles
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 TBS white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 TBS melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients together then add milk, eggs, butter and vanilla, mix well. Spray a pre heated waffle iron with pan spray then cook waffles to golden brown.

The Bacon
Well I won't be insulting cook it the way you like it...

When it is time to serve plate it up and be ready for brunchie comfort food satisfaction. Like I said above the crispy chicken, fluffy waffles and bacon with that touch of maple syrup work so well together... Well just give it a try!

*I know a lot of people that keep that container of seasoning by the stove Paula Deen calls hers "house seasoning" me, I call mine "that can of stuff by the stove" it is 1 part black pepper, 1 part garlic powder, 2 parts table salt. Sometimes I will add a little chili powder or paprika to it but it is just my go to seasoning for whatever is cooking.

Spiced Blood Orange Sorbet

2011-05-14T10:57:00.003-05:00

Today (Saturday) I am sitting in my front yard, peddling our wears at the GIANT MULTI FAMILY YARD SALE. I am wearing a coat, gloves have been coming off and on since I got up this morning. Because the weather is miserable there has been almost no one around. Yes, May has been absolutely psychotic this year it has given us 90 degrees and sunny for most of a week then a cloudy freezing weekend. During the week, when it was sunny and hot (and I was a work) I picked up some blood oranges and made this little number.

Blood Oranges are a favorite of mine not because of the taste really, they may be a little more tart but mostly taste like a standard orange. The color is absolutely stunning though, look at them!

Spiced Blood Orange Sorbet
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
grated peel from 3 Blood oranges
1 TBS chopped fresh ginger
3 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
2 cups fresh blood orange juice
juice from one lime

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil over medium/high heat until sugars dissolve then reduce heat. Simmer until the syrup is reduced by 1/2 (about half an hour). Pour syrup through a strainer then refrigerate until cool.

Juice blood oranges, I used about 15 to get the 2 cups of juice I needed, then add the lime juice (not needed but adds a little kick) and chill. When you are ready just mix the syrup and the orange juice together and put into an ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm, mine took about 6 hours until it was servable. The next day for the pictures I let the dish temper on the counter for about 10 minutes before I scooped and it turned out a perfect consistency, firm but usable.

How did it taste? To be honest, in the first bite the ginger comes on a bit strong but quickly mellows. When I had the dish that you see in the picture it had a sweet flavor with a depth that you don't get often. It would be wonderful in the middle of a meal or as a light dessert in the summer. When I make it next time I think I will add a little more cardamom the flowery subtlety was a little lost in the punch of ginger.

How is the yard sale going? I am sitting in my garage freezing my ass off as I write this but the 50 cents more than makes up for it.

Shrimp Scampi (My refrigerator broke III)

2011-05-09T02:53:00.003-05:00

I do have to admit that our new addition is a good looking refrigerator, though we took it down a peg with the Batman magnets and various papers and artwork that we hung on it. Now it looks less like a handsome stranger and more like a member of the family.

When the old one went down one of the things that I had to use was the half a bag of shell on shrimp. I have been beating myself up for not buying them deveined to begin with. So I left the bag of them in the back of the freezer until it turned into a refrigerator when I was cleaning that out I just couldn't bring myself to throw shrimp away like I did the Tater Tots or freezer burned pita bread. These guys ended up being Shrimp Scampi with Garlic Basil Linguini.

The Pasta
2 cups Semolina Flour
2 Large Eggs
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 Package of fresh Basil
3 Cloves of garlic
2 TBS water
Kosher Salt

Mince Garlic and fresh Basil together, add a little Kosher salt and smash into a paste. Put Semolina Flour into a mixing bowl, add eggs and olive oil then add the garlic, basil paste and mix together. This mixture will most likely be kind of dry so add your water to this to get the consistency that you want. I don't think there is a better way to tell if it is OK than "psychic feel" When it is all mixed together kneed for about 5 minutes on a lightly flowered surface then tightly wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for about an hour.

When you are ready put it through the pasta press, pressing to be a little bit thinner each time through until it is where you want it then cut into fettuccine sized noodles and hang until you are ready.

The Shrimp
1/2 pound raw shrimp (more or less) cleaned
4 TBS butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Peel and devein a whole mess of shrimp, this was a little bit less than a half pound, or you could just buy them deveined then you don't have to mess with this annoying process. Melt butter in a skillet then add garlic and saute until tender. Add shrimp and cook until almost done (just starting to turn pink) then add wine, red pepper and fresh parsley and cook until done just a minute or two more, salt and pepper to taste. Pull shrimp out with a slotted spoon and set aside, covered so it stays warm keep the juices for the pasta.

For the pasta bring a quart of water to a boil then add fresh pasta and a little salt. Boil until tender, about 5 minutes. I have to admit that I am having some trouble getting fresh pasta cooked just right, it seems that there is only about 1.2 seconds between half cooked and mush. I am getting closeer though, but not ready to take the fresh pasta on the road yet. When it is done (or as close as you can get it) drain then add to the juices and butter from the shrimp and saute over high heat for a few minutes. Dump the pasta onto your serving plates then add the shrimp to serve.

Blogaversery... Anniblogery... I don't know.

2011-05-06T12:40:00.003-05:00

Holy wandering thoughts Batman, Its been 2 years!

Yes folks it was two years ago today Kris and I were taking the kiddos the zoo for an afternoon of fun, the following conversation took place...

"I think I am going to write a food blog, that is a pretty unique idea huh?"

"I think that is a great idea."

"I could talk about food and our family, talk out some of those things that bore normal people, you know just talk about the things that... well just have some fun, I like to write"

Kris stopped me, "You can stop overexplaining yourself again, its a good idea, do it."

Later that day I sat down at the computer and opened an account to be a blogger... I wasn't sure what I was writing about... I mean food but it was all kind of haphazard and who the heck was going to read it anyway? After several weeks my good friend, the infamous Mrs.A introduced me to TKW From there I met my good friend from down under Camilla and all of a sudden I was part of a blogging community some of my favorites are just to the right of this entry >>====> please visit them... they are all great!

Kris has always been great she puts up with my odd food experiments and the occasional "after that maybe we should just order pizza." She never complains about finding 3 or 4 pictures of our adorable children on a memory card with 257 pictures of food. She also has given up with the question, "where is the camera?" answer "kitchen counter," and bought me one of my own for Christmas.

Anyway I just want to take a moment to say to all of you that have been so supportive your comments mean a lot to me and for those of you that don't say so much thanks for stopping by... please say "hi" the sometime.

Cured Snapper (My regrigerator broke II)

2011-05-04T05:21:00.004-05:00

There were a few good meals that came from cleaning the refrigerator week, I will make note of them as they come up but our new refrigerator is now in place! He really is a handsome thing quite a larger than his predecessor. I am a bit worried though here is Kris' actual Facebook post the day the new fridge was put in place...

Is it possible..... to be in love.... with a refrigerator???? If so I think I am! lol

I know that it seems like an innocent joke and all but a couple of nights ago I got up to get a drink and Kris was sitting on the floor with a couple of candles drinking a glass of red wine and leaning against the new refrigerator and ... Well it is just too upsetting...

Anyway right after the old refrigerator went down I pulled out a good sized piece of Red Snapper and decided to salt cure it. I do that once or twice a year with Salmon and make Gravlax The method here is about the same but the fish and flavorings are different.

The first thing that you have to deal with is the fish it isn't cooked and it won't be. If you buy fish from someone you trust you can get a sushi grade fish... However most health departments recommends that all fish that will be consumed raw be commercially frozen, that is colder than 10 degrees below zero for at least 72 hours. That takes care of any of those annoying parasites.

To cure, mix Kosher salt and sugar, about 1/3 cup each then add fresh cracked black pepper, I am sot sure how much maybe a teaspoon and a half. Turn your fish over and poke a few holes in the skin with a knife, put a little bit of your salt mixture on a sheet plastic wrap then lay the fish skin side down. Top with most of the rest of the salt mixture then grate the fresh ginger on top. I didn't measure the ginger but I used all of the ginger in the picture above. Then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in a pan at the bottom of your refrigerator, it takes about 3 days to cure. I turn it over a couple of times each day but break with tradition and don't weigh it down (many instructions that I have read suggest laying a brick on top). There is usually a little bit of liquid that forms in the pan just dump that out every day. After it is done curing unwrap an rinse all of the salt and spices off and it is ready to serve. I use a sharp knife and slice it thin the top well whatever...

For the picture at the top of the page I spread garlic infused olive oil on a multi-grain flat bread the grilled it until toasted. It is topped with cream cheese and the cured snapper. I love the salty meat and the texture is just wonderful.

Apple Proscuitto Stuffed Pork (My refrigerator broke)

2011-05-01T16:59:00.004-05:00

I was going to write some posts about how life has a way of getting in the way of things, when life all of a sudden got in the way of things... (is that irony? I forget) Kris and I have been looking around the house the past few weeks deciding what we need to repair and/or replace around the house.

Fix air conditioning in her car
Replace kitchen counters (ours look like they came from a 1970s era trailer home)
Replace dish washer (current one sounds like a train coming through our kitchen)
Replace net around trampoline (a hole that I can walk through doesn't exactly keep kids safe)
Finish the bathroom that I started 2 years ago
Fix garage door

The list goes on for quite a bit, and since there are some big ticket items we are trying to prioritize. So we were in the kitchen one afternoon discussing those priorities when Mr. Man asked for an ice-cream cone, he likes those foil wrapped chocolate ice-cream cones. Kris pulled one out of the freezer opened it up and it was liquid. Everything in our freezer was in some state of thawed and the refrigerator was sort of... kind of coolish.

So what do we do? Throw out everything that we can from the freezer (sorry tater tots we need the space) use the freezer as a refrigerator and cook a mess of stuff before it turns on us. Our freezer was about the size of that refrigerator that I kept in my closet in college, but we made it work. Since that item just moved from a couple of months down the road to the top of the list we started to look for a replacement refrigerator then wait for payday until we could get one.

So I went on a frenzy of cooking, from Prosciutto topped kids pizza to... well over the next few posts you'll see.

First up Apple Prosciutto stuffed Pork Tenderloin:

The Stuffing:
One Apple diced up
3 slices of prosciutto
About a TBS of thyme leaves
3/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 diced Onion
Enough apple cider or chicken broth to moisten

Mix all of this in a bowl and set aside while you get your pork tenderloin ready. Trim the silver skin off the tenderloin then slice open from end to end. Fill with stuffing and roll closed, this should be a little too full so it needs to be held closed. I would have trussed but didn't have an inch of cotton string so I pinned it closed with tooth picks, not pretty but it worked.

Heat up about a TBS of oil in an oven safe pan, I used the iron skillet then brown the meat on all sides that takes maybe 5-6 minutes then put it into a 350 degree oven for another 20-25 minutes. When it is done let it rest on the counter, covered with foil, for about 5 minutes then slice and serve.

A Tribute

2011-04-28T17:31:00.002-05:00


Grandma Mayola and Mr, Man

Over the weekend my grandmother Mayola passed, her services were yesterday. After the drive to my home town I enjoyed the chance to spend some time with the family I grew up with. My mom, aunts, uncles and my cousins (really by first best friends) spent the better part of the day together. I think that I have mentioned gatherings at grandma's house before, they always bring back the memories that everyone should have about childhood and summer. We reminisced about the rules we were given that were almost never followed... "OK you kids go out and play but stay out of the barn... oh don't go near the street... and whatever you do don't play in the neighbor's abandoned cement truck!" yes, really there was one, it was just on the other side of the neighbors two burnt out cars (could there be a better childhood playground?)

The memories of a bunch of bathing suit clad moppets pulling rhubarb out of the ground, wiping the bits of dirt off, then eating the stalks dipped in a Dixie cup of sugar then using the ample leaves as umbrellas as we ran through the sprinkler. Or picking a bucket full of mulberries then sprinkling the warm sun ripened berries on home made vanilla ice-cream, none of us (not even the grown-ups) making a fuss about the purple stains on our hands, arms and clothes. We would swing on the tire swing and one of my favorites is the five of us playing in the diminutive pool that was there for our enjoyment...

Mayola was a bit of a conundrum, she was one of the quietest people that I have ever known but she managed to be the matriarch that held our entire family together. Any argument that arose between adults or children was quickly and peacefully resolved in seconds. She proved to me time and time again that any problem could be solved over a jig-saw puzzle and a glass of iced tea. The home that she created was the magnet that drew us all together year after year. As we all visited before the acutal funeral I realised that all of us had similar feelings and memories. She was a strong yet quiet influence on everyone in the room and I will miss her.

As her health diminished over the past few years the family time diminished, visits becoming less frequent. It makes me a little sad that my youngest two didn’t have the chance to see how that family dynamic worked. You see as Miss Lu and Mr. Man came into the picture Mayola’s health was beginning to fail, the family get togethers lost their status as almost required. Yesterday was a day spent with the kids I grew up with; I just hope that we don’t become one of those “wedding and funeral” families Mr. Man and Miss Lu deserve to share some of those memories.

Ham and Gravy

2011-04-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

Thanks all for sticking with me! I enjoyed the time that Kris and I got to hang together. She starts her new job on Monday and me, I go back to the grind I have been at for 5 years. That is good over all, She is starting on a new adventure (OK maybe calling work an adventure is a bit much). At least I have the familiar for now, I can live with that.

This weekend we are going to Kris' best friend's house for Easter, this is where I get to the good part(for me anyway). What we are bringing, the three requests from her friend, they were...

Baked Ham and Ham Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Kris' Scalloped Potatoes

This post is about the Ham and Gravy, Green Bean Casserole to follow in a bit, for the Scalloped Potatoes you will have to ask Kris.

Ham and Gravy have been in my basket for quite a few years, I made it for Christmas dinner this year just so I could post it a little before Easter. It is one of those comforting dishes that even if you have never had it you will curl up like a baby when you do...

"Comforting, How much so?" you ask. Here is a true story, when my ex wife and I were getting to the end of our marriage both of us had found separate places to live, the court papers were about to be filed. She called her best friend and the following conversation took place:

Ex Wife R: "Mrs. A, it is over... Bryan and I are getting a divorce, it is for real this time, there is no way to fix it."
The infamous Mrs. A: "I don't believe it, you have ruined Easter!"
Ex Wife R: (not expecting that) "What?"
The infamous Mrs. A: "Who is going to make Ham and Gravy at Easter now? We might as well have bologna sandwiches."

I heard this story, more or less the same from both parties involved, I kind of always thought thought it funny that the conversation didn't go something like "Thank God... I don't know why you didn't leave that jerk years ago!" or "What, are you crazy? He is Mr. Wonderful." The conversation went right to my cooking... at least I do something well.

All that being said here is how it is made:

One ham, this time I used a bone in spiral sliced ham but whatever ham I have used the gravy has always rocked.

2 TBS Grey Poupon Mustard
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup Honey
Juice from 2 Oranges
3 cups Chicken Broth

Put the ham, open side down in a roasting pan, mix the next four ingredients together into a slimy mixture and pour/spread over the ham. Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and cook, this was a nine pound ham so it was in a 300 degree oven for an hour then a 375 degree oven for another hour. I basted about every half hour. When it is all done take some of the drippings off the bottom of the roasting pan and put into a saucepan (I did about 2 cups) add a little bit of roux and bring to a simmer until thickened.

Taste... then just try to put the spoon back for your guests... it takes willpower but once they taste it you will be the cooking superhero that you always wanted to be. I understand that you may not be familiar with this dish but once you try it... well just see what happens!

Have a great holiday my friends!

I know that it is kind of dorky... but here is a summer project for the kids that is a lot of fun with this weekend's leftovers, just give it a try!

Where Have You Been?

2011-04-16T09:23:00.005-05:00

I have been off line quite a bit lately, to be honest with you I have met someone, yes someone of the opposite sex and we have just been having a great time together. Sometimes we lose track of time and talk for hours without even realizing it, sometimes we just sit together and quietly watch TV. We talk about hopes and dreams and what we want to do, politics and religion, it is just wonderful getting to know her… Hold on I’m getting ahead of myself…

Rewind a couple of months, all of us excitedly watched families looking at the house across the street that was for sale. We were counting kids, guessing the ages and hoping that whatever family decided to buy the house would contain children that were similar in ages and temperament to ours. The people that chose the house turned out to be a great family, a woman separated from her husband and their three kids. The kids have hit it off wonderfully! Most days within minutes of getting Miss Lu and Mr. Man home from day care there are children at the door looking for playmates. Some how our house went from being “those people, you know the ones with the messy yard” to the “Kool Aid House.” The Kool Aid house, has some advantages kids wander through our house on their way to the back yard or skip the house altogether and ride bikes and scooters up and down the suburban streets. Kris and I often find ourselves sitting on the sofa with *gasp* time to talk. Turns out my wife is pretty cool and I am thinking that the feeling is mutual… Ok ahead of myself again…

Rewind once more, about six years this time, Kris and I were both going through divorces. We met on line at a parenting website actually, in the divorce forum (if you want to read about how a big nerd asks someone out click here). Our choosing to get together was as much luck and intuition as it was anything that made sense. In the whirlwind of a year from the time we met until we were married we had been alone together maybe three or four times. In the five years since then about the same, so in some ways we are still... well almost newlyweds. We have conversations often but most are interrupted by, life. So we have spent the last couple of weeks relishing some time together getting to know each other, sometimes going as long as an hour without hearing, “I want a snack” or “Me want to watch an old Transformers” (the boy is still fascinated by what can only be called ‘vintage’ action television shows).

Kris was just offered a new job, I’ll throw my man card away again and say, making quite a bit more than me, she starts in a week. I know she will have some later evenings than me so I will have some time to catch up here, just stick with me. For now though I'm going to selfishly spend all the time I can with this woman I am getting to know... I have mentioned her before, my wife of five plus years.

As for things to come, I will try to be a little less dramatic but we have had a death in our house, the refrigerator just fizzled out on us so we have had a frenzy of "just cook it and eat it! we don't have time to wait!" I will tell you what that can bring soon ;~)

Shrimp and Grits

2011-04-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I was at my one of my regular haunts (you know the grocery store) and picked up some dandelion greens. I am not sure why I got dandelion greens, they were there and looked all green and well... if you have a yard you know what they look like. I have never eaten them before but am always ready to try something new. So I tossed them in my cart and went on my way. As I walked around the store I started to think of my grandmother on my dad's side, Grandma Tip, short for Gwendolyn (don't ask me how Southerners come up with nicknames). I thought of her because I understand that she made her own dandelion wine and something the family called potato peel whiskey it involved rotting vegetable trimmings, a slow cooker and a hose (sorry to say both of those recipes are lost).

Anyway I started feeling all nostalgic and Southern and at the same time and picked up some grits. I used to hate grits, "Wow Dad, breakfast tastes exactly like wet sand, thanks" It is a wonder I wasn't slapped a little more often. As an adult now I like them; bacon, eggs, grits with a little cheese can really do it for a meal... my turn to force them on my kiddos right? I'll tell you all how that worked out.

Anyway, stories about grandma Tip are the things that family legends are made of I thought I would share one of the milder ones. Most just don't seem appropriate for a family show like this blog but this one passes the PG test...

Grandma Tip was about five feet tall and couldn't have weighed more than 96 pounds she was sitting at the kitchen/dining room table in her trailer home chain smoking unfiltered cigarettes when Grandpa Jesse came home from work (he drove a truck and was gone for a few days at a time). My Grandpa said something along the lines of, "Tip, I'm leavin' ya' I got another woman and we are moving in together."

Now mind you this would have been the mid 1950s in rural Kentucky, so it is hard to imagine a woman in Grandma Tip's position doing anything else... She started screaming like a banshee then grabbed the razor strop off the kitchen wall (where else would you keep it?) and took it to Jesse then grabbed her shot gun and ran outside. There are no actual witnesses to the rest of the story because she set Jesse's car on fire before running down the driveway on her way to the woman's house and sending her out of town...

A few months ago I was going through my picture box, yes I have a Tomato box filled with pictures. They are in no order at all, pictures of my parents when they were dating are on top of my 12 year old's second birthday party, in the same pile as Mr. Man as a baby and my kindergarten class picture. I pulled this one out of a stack of hundreds and Kris saw it and said, That's Grandma Tip isn't it?

"How did you know?"
Kris answered that she looks like the person in the stories that I have told.

On to a recipe... of sorts it is more in the honor of Southern roots than anything the family made, like I said they were in rural Kentucky and didn't have things like shrimp available.

This is enough for two
Start with the grits
Bring two cups of water to a boil then add the grits, I just eyeball it but it is about a quarter of a cup plus two Tablespoons. Stir it all together and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes. You can set this aside and keep it warm while you do the rest.

The Shrimp
Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet
Add two of cloves of minced garlic cook until soft but not burned
Take your shrimp (peeled and deveined) enough for two; saute until done
When those guys are done set aside covered with foil

The Dandelion Greens
In the pan that you coked your shrimp add a little more butter (ok a couple of tablespoons) some salt and pepper and saute until done to your liking. There are really no measurements here either, the rule of thumb with sauteed greens is to use twice as much as you think you need and you will get almost the amount you wanted.

To serve dish up your grits top with dandelion greens and then shrimp, feel free to salt and pepper as needed and, since this is southern cooking add a little butter.

Short Ribs

2011-03-25T23:19:00.001-05:00

Spring is officially here, but the weather in March is insane, a few days of almost summer then days of icy cold drizzle, snow and freezing winds. I cleaned off the grill this weekend, planned my first grilled out meal of the season then we were struck by icy cold wind and rain... did I still grill out? of course... I just laugh at myself that this time of year I tend to pick the wrong meal for whatever the weather. Yes yesterday I was trying to turn my grill away from the wind and still keep myself out of the rain for long enough to get my chorizo laced burgers done.

The day before was just as out of place... as all of my neighbors were firing up their grills I was inside on a warm sunny day slow brazing Short Ribs. These guys rocked by the way! The recipe was adapted from epicurious.com (by adapted I mean that I didn't have all the ingredients on hand)

1/2 ounce dried morel mushrooms
1 cup boiling water

For the dry rub
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds meaty short ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil

To braise the meat
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1cup canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup liquid that the mushrooms soaked in
1 bay leaf

For the crumbs
2 TBS butter, room temperature
1 cup bread crumbs
3 of the above mentioned mushrooms chopped
2 TBS Dijon mustard

Start by soaking your mushrooms in a cup of boiling water I let mind go for about 3 hours...

Pre heat the oven to 325. Mix the thyme, salt and pepper together and rub on all sides of your short ribs then heat olive oil in a large pan and sear on all sides until brown (took about 10 minutes).

Take the meat out and set aside for for the next step, add the onions, garlic and carrot to the pan and saute for about 10 minutes until soft then deglaze the pan with the red wine. Scrape any of the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pan then put your ribs back in and add the chicken broth and mushroom water (being careful not to spill any of the sediment into your pan). Rinse your mushrooms well then add them to the pot and finally the bay leaf. Cover tightly put in the oven... Cook until these are very tender (3 of my 5 fell off the bone when I picked them up) these took about 2 hours.

Somewhere while the short ribs are braising start your bread crumb mixture, I know you will find the time. mix the butter and breadcrumbs together and set aside. When your meat is done pull it out of the oven then turn it up to 425, let the meat cool until cool enough to touch. While it is cooling pull out 3 large mushrooms, chop them up and mix them into the breadcrumb stuff. Smear about a teaspoon of mustard on each rib then pack the crumb mixture on them. Put them on a baking sheet and put them back into the oven to brown (this part took about 10 minutes). While that is going cook your drippings over medium high heat until it thickens a bit.

Here it is with the sauce, very tasty, not as photogenic.

These are served over mashed potatoes.

How was it? Mixed reviews...

Bryan, "It rocked! what a perfect mixture of flavors and textures. The meat was just falling off the bone and tasted wonderful"

Kris, "It tasted fine but looks like barbarian food."

Miss Lu, "It smells good but I'll just have grilled cheese."

I was OK with the leftovers here it is for lunch the next day!

The Dangers of Letting Your Kids Help in the Kitchen

2011-03-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

Making a mad dash

So there are some drawbacks to having your kids help out in the Kitchen. I was doing the dishes a couple of days ago and Mr. Man came in, distracted me then started this...

Are you trying to hide something from me!?! where are the lasagna noodles?

Ok I think that we have it here; the way boys think... none of the three girls ever came up with this game...

I have staged a couple of pictures in the past the only thing that I can say is these are all actual pictures of what Mr. Man came up with on his own. A mad dash from the kitchen and a couple of cars and we have the perfect race track.

Focaccia

2011-03-19T08:55:00.001-05:00

Yeast and I have had an ongoing kind of love/hate thing for quite a few years, I have to admit that is partly because I never had much experience as a baker or really in pastry of any sort. Then there were all of the stories people would tell...

"You must mix yeast dough with a wooden spoon if you touch it with a rubber spatula it will never rise"

"Bread has to be mixed in a glass or ceramic bowl... it will get a metallic taste from a metal bowl."

"Lock your doors and put a towel under all of your windows! even the slightest cool draft will make your bread fall."

Read your mom's old church cookbook the warnings are there, I am not saying that I believed all of them but still I grew up a little afraid of yeast dough. I have grown a little more accustomed to it now. There is a method to yeast breads that is somewhat calming, the warmth of the kitchen the kneading, the rise and the gentle care that you take of it as it goes. Years ago I started flirting with french bread when I was dealing with insomnia.

Does that make sense? let me explain a little, I couldn't sleep so I would get out of bed at 10:00 or so, open a bottle of wine and start a couple of loaves of french bread. It worked like a charm, when the wine was gone and the fresh hot loaves were coming out of the oven I was ready to sleep!

Last weekend I found myself a little stressed and I fell back on my old enemy come friend then therapist. Kris wasn't feeling well to the point that she had both of us a little shaken. While she was being checked out by the Dr. the kids were playing with their new friends and I was alone in the house. So Focaccia came to mind... why focaccia? really I don't know but it seemed right. Anyway here is how it went...

1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 2/3 cups warm water
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
2 tsp table salt
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Basil pesto and tomato sauce to top
a little Kosher salt

Mix yeast and warm water together in a bowl while that is blooming put flour and table salt into your mixing bowl. After the yeast has activated (got all foamy around the edges of your bowl) add that to your flour mixture. Blend with dough hooks for about 4-5 minutes then turn onto a floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Put your mixture into an oiled bowl and let rise, covered in plastic for about an hour until it doubles in size. When that is done press the dough into a well greased (use about half the olive oil above for that) 10x15 inch pan and let rise (covered in a damp dish towel this time) for about 25-30 minutes. while that is rising preheat oven to 400.

Now is the time to spread your toppings on it, I used pesto sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, minced fresh garlic and a bit of sea salt. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil then poke it with your fingers until it feels right, some of the holes should be shallow some should tear the dough all the way through to the pan. Set this in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.

Kris is doing fine by the way, several Dr.s checked her out from top to bottom. It seems that as we age our bodies like to do something to shake us up every year or so. Maybe it is nature's way of reminding us to take better care of ourselves.

S'more Martini

2011-03-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

These are the situations that only happen to Kris and me... A couple of weeks ago we had Mr. Man's preschool parent teacher conference. His teacher is almost exactly what you would expect as a leader of 4-5 year old children, very nice, a little loud and just bursting with energy. Kris and I both like her; she takes great care of Mr. Man and overall seems like a good person. Our parent teacher conference went from her telling us how well Mr. Man is doing, he is ready for Kindergarten by the way, to how his academic performance has improved over the past year, and we talked a lot about his social interactions. As the conference started to wind down we were all starting to get a little silly, we were the last one of the day. So as we were heading to the parking lot Kris had said something to MS D. about going out some evening after Mr. Man was out of her class and a few weeks into Kindergarten.

Then MS D. showed us a picture of a drink she had a few days earlier, a S'More Martini. Kris gave me the look and I knew that I was going to be figuring out a new drink. You all know that I enjoy gaining new knowledge… OK you have probably figured out that I like the chance to drink more than I should and call it a learning experience. I tried a few, but as I am pretty sure I have mentioned in the past, you only get maybe 2 attempts at a Martini recipe in a day, after that the taste buds just aren’t as sensitive as you need them.

After a few attempts I came down to this one
3 oz Vodka
1 ½ oz Chocolate Liquor
Marshmallow Cream
Graham Cracker Crumbs
Mini marshmallows on a skewer

Take the marshmallow cream and spread it around the rim of a martini glass I spread it on the top quarter of an inch inside and out, then roll it in the graham cracker crumbs. Put your vodka and chocolate liquor over ice in a cocktail shaker and shake until chilled. Toast your mini marshmallows over the stove top until slightly burned. Pour the chocolaty goodness into your martini glass, garnish with toasted marshmallows. This exact one is below.

How did that go over? I liked it, for Kris it was a bit much… Martinis can be a bit much if you don’t have them often. So I wend back to the drawing board (see the sacrifices that I make). Actually one simple addition made it. Put the vodka and chocolate liquor into your shaker then add a good tablespoon of marshmallow cream and mix with a stick blender (or mix in a blender I suppose) then add ice and shake, every thing else is the same. That is the one pictured at the top of the page, defiantly sweeter and smoother than by original.

Chicken and Dumplings

2011-03-10T16:02:00.000-06:00


Ok, some food just doesn't photograph well, this may not be the most elegant meal but it is really good, read on!

Ok I am done with the February blues, the past couple of months I took the pictures and kept the recipes, I would just get to the computer and blah... it just wasn't in me to blog about it. This one is from a couple of weeks ago in the middle of February. I wanted the ultimate comfort food and what could be better than chicken and dumplings?

The chicken is easy I put a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in the trusty iron skillet then browned it skin side down first for about 5 minutes then turn for another couple of minutes. Once the chicken was browned I added about 2 cups of chicken broth a couple of cut up carrots celery and two chopped cloves of garlic. I braised that on the stove top for about 35 minutes at a low simmer until the chicken was done.

Once you add the broth and vegetables to your chicken start making your dumplings...
Really "dumplings" is another way to say soggy biscuits... one of the guys I work with makes his dumplings and puts them into a steamer, me I like them to cook in the broth for a couple of reasons: first they have a nice flavor when cooked in broth and drippings, second as you cook them in your broth it starts to thicken and become a nice gravy.

The Dumplings:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
2/3 cup buttermilk

To make the dumplings mix together the dry ingredients then add the butter. Mix together by hand (smashing with your fingertips) until the flour mixture has a consistent corn meal like texture. Add the buttermilk and mix quickly, just a bit, do not over mix.

When your chicken is done take it out of the gravy and set aside, add the dumpling batter about a tablespoon at a time and cook for 15 minutes. It is kind of hard to tell when they are done they are dryish on top and firm, but really it is wet bread... they are done when they resemble soggy biscuits.

The flavor is great here! and the whole dish just make you warm and happy on the inside, I simply love the flavor and texture of dumplings and these were not a disappointment.

Pork and Shrimp Burgers

2011-03-06T05:25:00.000-06:00

Things have been a little slow around here for a few weeks, I have just been a little off my game lately. It happens to us in the winter sometimes, Kris and I have a tenancy to go "underground" and hibernate just a bit, we don't see much of our friends, mostly we go to work then have dinner and go to bed. We all have the worst case of that late February cabin fever. You know how it goes you get the 2 or 3 nice days in a row, you pull out the windbreaker and start to feel like it is spring then get up for work one morning and end up spending 40 minutes scraping a half inch of ice off of the car windows. I know it is going to happen, something like that has every year since... well... birth but it always is a ~~kick in the b~~ well it just isn't fun. Let me try to say it right. On a normal day when I see just about any food related occurrence in my life (and I have a lot of them) I start to think of how I can describe them here, some make the cut most don't. The past month or so I haven't, I have just been off...

That being said I think I have pulled my self out of my self inflicted funk, the recipes and a bunch of pictures are already. Every time I look at food my mind starts to think of how I can fit it in here, there so it is just a matter of my fingers keeping up with the rest of me. This recipe is a mixture of something that I thought sounded good on a show I saw on Food Network and a recipe that I had. When I tasted this it ROCKED! Really a great Spring/Summer dish, bright, vibrant and spicy without a hint of anything heavy too it. I love a food pickled slaw with a dish to add that bright POP to a meal this one ended up being a great mixture when it was all put together...

The Slaw
1 cup Rice wine Vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup shredded Diakon
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 TBS chopped Cilantro
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the vinegar and sugar until the sugar dissolves. While that is going put the rest of your ingredients into a bowl, add the vinegar sugar mix and stir together until coated. Put into the refrigerator until cold. Quick warning... as a condiment this is really good, spicy and bright, it worked great on these sandwiches but the pepper flakes do make it HOT when I tasted this out of the bowl I thought I had gone too far, if you are unsure cut back some.

The burger patties
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
1 small onion chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs

I will be honest I may have used a little less than the 1/2 pound shrimp because I was getting sick of deveining them (note to self buy them deveined already, doing it yourself is a pain in the butt). Put your raw trimmed shrimp into a food processor until they are well chopped but not too much, when you cook them you want some larger bits for texture. Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together, then form patties (I made three but I wanted them a little large because well I was hungry and the kiddos weren't going near this one). Place the patties on parchment paper and refrigerate for about half an hour until firm.

When it is time to cook put the patties on the grill and cook for maybe 5-6 minutes on each side until done. I buttered a couple of buns and toasted those on the grill too. To assemble put a little Sriracha mayo on the bottom but then the burger patty then the slaw. Serve with a little Sriracha mayo on the side.

Genius

2011-03-01T16:14:00.005-06:00

Genius, there is a word that we bandy about a lot... there was Newton, an apple dropped on him and he started to consider gravity. Then that Einstein fellow with the whole relativity thing that he came up with and that E=Mc2 equation, a lot of people have tried to explain that to me... since I am not a genius I don't really get it. Shakespeare, he could really turn a phrase, I watched a high school performance of Hamlet last year and thought how cool it was that 400 years later it is still a gripping almost current story. In the world of art, Chagall made a stained glass window that gave me the shivers every time that I walked past it.

There are genius' out there that we don't always think of or can't put a name too...

Once someone said something along the lines of, "After we let these old potatoes ferment in that water and yeast mixture, why don't we heat it in an enclosed container then take the essence of that distilled beverage and drink it? I think that we should call it ’Vodka!'"

Somewhere else in the world someone said, "Say I have a great idea! why don't we take that fatty meat by the pig's stomach then smoke it in your shed for a couple of days, once that is done I will brine it for a while then in the middle of Winter we can slice it thin, throw it on ma's iron skillet and have it with some eggs."

I always wondered what would have happened if the "potato vodka" genius and the "bacon guy" (tell me that wasn't genius) had got together... what kind of idea would they have come up with. See these are the twisted things that go on in my mind.

Anyway I was at the liquor store a couple of days ago wandering through the Vodka section. When I was in College I only remember about three maybe four kinds of Vodka; Stolichnaya, Smirnoff, Absolute and that rot gut stuff on the bottom shelf that usually made it into my basket. The liquor store that I frequent these days has at least 150 different vodkas to choose from; some infused with lemon, currants, mango, heavy cream, clementine, cotton candy, blueberry, buffalo grass well you get the idea just about anything imaginable. Then I start to wonder what makes a bottle of hooch worth $499.99 not that I will ever shell out five hundred smackers for that bottle in the glass case but someone must. While all these thoughts are going on in my head I see it a few bottles at the end of the aisle, something new, "Bakon" yes folks a BACON flavored VODKA! There was absolutely no way I could pass this up.

I took it home to show my lovely bride my prize, oddly Kris was not as enamored as me with the idea. Add to that my boozy oddity shelf is getting a little crowded. I corked my bottle of bacony hooch and was struck at first with a smoky aroma as I poured it into my glass. The first taste, the thing that I got was the smoky bang then there is a subtle, hard to describe (because it is in a liquid form) meaty finish to it. On the rocks it wasn't my favorite but at room temperature the flavors could bloom and I could taste the full round richness of this drink. Kris described it as inhaling smoke from the fire pit while drinking vodka. The bottle came with two recipes; a chocolate bacon martini (I doubt that I will make that one) and a bacon bloody Mary.

So my friends, here it is Breakfast in a glass:
Double shot of Bacon flavored vodka
5 oz Vegetable juice
dash of Worcestershire sauce
dash of hot sauce
pinch of salt
shake in a cocktail shaker the serve over ice
garnish with celery and cracked pepper

The vegetable juice and the liquid bacon flavor worked well together, instead of obscuring the meaty smokey flavor they were almost amplified. Now if I can only think of how to get some fried eggs and I would have the true breakfast of champions.

Caprese Salad

2011-02-24T16:30:00.001-06:00

I mentioned some new toys that I have, one of them the camera, I look around at some of my friends posts and I see these beautiful pictures of their meals or cutting boards adorned with mouthwatering ingredients. Mine well...

I do get a little jealous... My old camera was about done, once you are holding something like that together with duct tape and worrying every time that you turn it on it is about time to look for a new one. Luckily Kris got me the new camera for Christmas, another Kodak Easyshare but the NEW version, and with a whopping 15 megapixels I get the option of taking a step back and then cropping to the size that I want and maybe a little bit of play with Photoshop (or Photoshop's inexpensive cousin) to finish it off.

The picture above is one of those pictures, me trying to get one that I like, where the colors pop and it just looks good the one below is a more practical version of the same dish. Along with our other activities on our anniversary weekend we had a "pot luck" at church on that Saturday night. I threw together a couple of salads, this one is a Caprese Salad. It isn't as elegant looking as the one above but it goes farther, isn't as fussy and it looks really good in its own way.

Big bowl of Caprese

2 Balls of fresh mozzarella cheese

2 Containers of grape tomatoes

1/2 Cup pesto sauce

5-6 Basil leaves cut in a chiffonade

Some shredded Mozzarella to garnish

Put your Mozzarella cheese in the freezer for about five minutes to firm it up a bit then chop into small bite sized pieces put those in a bowl. Cut cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise add them to the same bowl then add the pesto sauce, I usually make my own but just bought some this time. Toss them all together pour the salad into a fancy pants bowl (or one that you picked up from the dollar store) then add the fresh basil and the bit of mozzarella cheese to the top. There you have it a bright refreshing salad that is just a little different.

French Onion Soup

2011-02-18T23:05:00.002-06:00

Today is kind of a special day in my life... Five years ago today, the coldest day of the year in 2006 by the way, Kris and I were both dressed and getting ready to go. She looked beautiful, me well I looked like me. All of our kids were there, dressed in their finest. We loaded them into Kris' van on the way out the door I kind of sheepishly I asked if I could drive. She smiled at handed me her keys, she was wearing her wedding dress after all and it just seemed right for me to drive.

Yes folks today my beautiful wife and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! We had a very small wedding if you include the bride and groom I think we were about 18 in total. After the ceremony we came to our house for a reception catered mostly by me and my friend (and best man) Scott. We didn't have a honeymoon either we just fell into our lives together. After Kris and I were together for really only a few days I (I think we both) knew that we were going to be together and like my adopting Miss Lu really the ceremony was just a formality.

So you ask, What are Bryan and his beautiful wife doing to celibate their special night? See if you can guess...

Get a sitter and make reservations at a great Chicago area restaurant where we will be pampered and have a wonderful romantic meal.
Get a sitter and have a romantic dinner at home followed by... well you know... before we pick the kids up.
Get a sitter for one of the kids and spend the evening at our church attending first communion class with Miss Lu then eating Domino's pizza with a bunch of people that we don't really know.

Bet you guessed ;-)

Well maybe we will get a chance for that night out sometime soon.

This recipe is completely unrelated to the rest of this post but I know that I have been slacking in the blog world lately, I'll talk about that in the next few days. I have been working on one of Kris' favorites for a while, French Onion soup, this week I think I got it!

1 Large onion
3 Medium yellow onions
3 or 4 Shallots
1/2 Stick Butter
2 Bay leaves
1 TBS Flour
Some chopped fresh thyme (I had some and it sounded good)
2 TBS white wine
1 Quart Beef Broth
8-10 slices of Ciabatta sliced and toasted
several slices of Swiss cheese

The choice of onions may or may not be the ideal flavor combination but they are what I had in the house. Start by melting the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, peel the onions and cut them in half and slice them thin. Put the sliced onions, shallots and bay leaves in the pan and saute until translucent and very soft, about 40 minutes (yes really 40 minutes). Add the flour thyme and wine, cook until the liquid is mostly gone (3-4 minutes) then add the beef broth.

Stir together and simmer for about another 20-25 minutes. While that is cooking I painted a little olive oil on my sliced ciabatta and toasted those. When it is time to serve, dish the soup into oven safe bowls then float the toast and top with Swiss cheese and put under the broiler for a few minutes until you have what you want. This really is a great comfort food on those cold winter evenings. Kris and I were both surprised by how sweet this was when we finished.

Chicago Blizzard Part II

2011-02-05T09:17:00.002-06:00

No food at all in this one (unless food coloring counts) but I said I would tell you all how it went... After my entry yesterday Miss Lu and I went out to make our igloo. We had started the day before by digging the hose up out of the snow and bringing it in to thaw (yes, I left the hose out too, right next to the lawn chairs if you must know). While that was sitting in the laundry sink we added to the already large pile of snow then hosed it down to make an ice shell.

Yesterday we hollowed it out, we worked for a little more than an hour then took naps.

Then we hollowed it out some more...

When we thought we had the inside as big as we could we looked at each other and said "this is cool! what do we do now."

So we added some color, to give you an idea of size I am at the back of the igloo, Miss Lu is between me and the only doorway.

and here is what the neighbors see. I think that I have said before that we are a bit infamous for our snow antics.

Chicago Blizzard

2011-02-04T11:15:00.004-06:00

this pic is for you tkw

A little bit of a story to start with... When the blizzard hit I was at work in the city, Most of us ended up staying there for several reasons so I worked from 5:00am Tuesday morning until 7:00pm Wednesday evening, about 38 hours...

Here is what I learned

A double shot of espresso with half and half on ice gives you an nice jolt and goes down easily.
Eight of them makes you a little jumpy.
My cellphone shaped flask does not hold enough bourbon.
Though there are probably less comfortable ways to sleep than propped between two office chairs I am hard pressed to name any.
The guy in the office next to mine snores
A Toyota Rav4 in the middle of a blizzard is more comfortable than the office chair set-up.
I can still pull an all-nighter and survive.

Kris was trapped at home with the kiddie pops while I was trapped in the city. My beautiful wife had to shovel the drive which took her most of the day... I had to feed a bunch of crabby people that had sleeping situations similar to mine.

After all that I have today off, Miss Lu and I are going to try making an igloo... I'll let you know how it went.

Maple Walnut Brittle

2011-02-01T16:02:00.000-06:00

I remember it, I would be at the "Autumn fest" at our church or the grade school bake sale looking at those bizarre dolls made from rotten, er excuse me, dried apples (can you say "creepy"?) or the toilet paper roll cover doilies. My grandmother would muss my hair and offer me a little treat. "Mrs. Butterfield made peanut brittle, I saved some for you kids." I hated peanut brittle, you remember it, tooth cracking hard and made with those awful Spanish peanuts. I would eat my obligatory bit, sure that I would never be able to get the last bit of burned Sugar out of my teeth.

This recipe would be peanut brittle's yummy cousin... it started late last week I received a cookbook in the mail, it was a free on that one of my blogger (Phoo-d) friends linked for me. I was flipping through it and came upon the Maple Walnut Brittle. I thought "Hey Kris likes maple and walnuts... This could work out well"

So I made a batch

I think that I have mentioned before that candy isn't really my thing, first there is the measuring, then the thermometer then the taking things off the heat at the "hard crack" stage whatever that means. The first batch didn't turn out so well I think that I may have heated it too much or stirred it too often. I poured it out on my silicone pad and as soon as it started to harden I thought, Mrs. Butterfield would be embarrassed by this mess, she would probably send me home from the church bake sale if I came with this in hand. I started to look for enough to make a second batch luckily I found it all. I halved the recipe the second time and this time I vowed to FOLLOW the instructions...

Ingredients:
3 TBS Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 stick butter
2 TBS water
1 cup chopped Walnuts

In a saucepan over medium heat stir together syrup, sugar, cayenne, butter and water until melted. Continue to gently boil and DO NOT STIR until a candy thermometer reaches 300F "hard crack." Immediately stir in walnuts then pour onto an un-greased cookie sheet or silicone mat. Spread into a thin layer with a wooden spoon and let cool.

The directions then have you melt white and dark chocolate and drizzle but we couldn't wait to the "cool completely" part. Kris was ready to run off before the pictures were even done. This turned out really good, crunchy without being too hard and the subtle maple flavor really made it . Now what to do with the first batch... I did the same thing I did with the gingerbread houses a couple of weeks earlier. I won't spell it out but if you ever find yourself driving through the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and start to wonder "why are the squirls in this neighborhood so FAT?" Well, you might be by my house.

Oh and the website where I found this cookbook and recipe walnutlovers.com

Grown up Ice Cream

2011-01-25T17:08:00.001-06:00

Often when I get home from work this time of year I do the needed outside things before I even go inside, sometimes I will salt the driveway or shovel... you know to get them out of the way before I take off my wet shoes and coat. Then, once I am in the house I am in for the night. I was doing that on Friday when the incident happened.

A few minutes after the "incident" Kris came home and said, "Wow! What did you do? Were you in a fight?". I gave her a quick run down...

"Were you drinking?"

"No! I just got home."

The next day my mom called and I described what had happened.

Her first question, "Had you been drinking?"

I went to work yesterday and the questions started, "what happened to your face?" "Did you go the the hospital?" "Jeez what did you clean that with?" (answer to that... Vodka) and of course, "how much did you have to drink?"

Can you tell that I am trying to build tension? I know, I am not Dean Koontz or anything but really; a nerdy food blog isn't a popular suspense novel and I don't get to build tension very often. So are you ready to hear what the incident was?

On Friday I quickly walked through the house and went to the back patio to take out the garbage, I walked around the garbage can to drop the kitchen bag into it and lost my footing on the ice... I am sure that my arms were still attached to my body but they immediately became useless. My feet flew into the air and I landed, on my face on the snow and ice covered lawn chair. Then, since a plastic chaise is no match for a flying 200 pound man I slid off the back of the chair onto the snow and ice covered patio. After flopping around a bit I spent the next few moments scanning the neighbors windows to make sure that no one saw me then started crawling around in the snow, in the dark, looking for my new progressive lens glasses.

For those of you that aren't there yet "progressive lens" is a term they use now because it seems more polite than, "here are your bifocals old man... $400.00 please, oh and by the way every time that you look down for the next several weeks you can expect headaches and mild nausea."

When I got inside and looked in the mirror I saw that I looked like Brad Pitt from Fight Club OK, I wish.... I looked more like a middle aged man that fell on his face, almost recovered then fell on his face again. By the way I am fine, just a little banged up, I am half torn between embarrassed and wishing that I had video because it would rock to see.

The only thing that makes me wonder is why everybody asked if I had been drinking... Whatever goes on in their heads I'll never guess. On Saturday I made one of my favorite desserts, yes sometimes baking is calming. Then I took out my new toy and tried something new!

Brandy Ice-Cream:
2 cups half and half
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of one lemon
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 large egg yolks
3 TBS Brandy

To make custard:
Pour Half and Half into a saucepan, add vanilla to and grate in the lemon zest then bring mixture to a light boil.

While that is heating whisk together the brown sugar and yolks in a metal bowl until combined well. Add hot cream mixture to yolk mixture in a slow stream, stirring as you go then return custard to pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and coats back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. (Do not let it boil)

Pour custard through a strainer into bowl and cool slightly. Stir in brandy and chill for a couple of hours until cold. Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker.following the instructions.

After it was done mixing I put it back into the freezer for about half an hour to firm up, I have to say this one worked! Smooth and creamy with a brandy flavor that wasn't at all overpowering, backed by the vanilla and a hint of lemon. Really wonderful for the first time out!

This is served with my very favorite dessert Apple Shortbread Bars. When I pulled up the recipe to make it this time I was thinking to myself, "this is so simple, why is it so yummy?" Answer: maybe it has something to do with the 3 sticks of butter I put in. So healthy? Maybe not but if you want a rice cake after you fell on your face twice that is fine with me but I think that I earned this.

Oh and because I have them...

Spring Rolls

2011-01-22T08:57:00.000-06:00

I mentioned before that My middle daughter Miss El visited us between Christmas and New Year this year. When she was here the last time she was telling me that she wanted to try something different.

"You know those things with the wrappers... not egg rolls but with the vegetables and stuff inside, they are cold and have shrimp and stuff."

Of course Spring Rolls! I pulled the wrappers out of the pantry and we played around with them for a bit. They are odd little things, when they are fresh from the box they are dry brittle circles but soak them in warm water for a few minutes and they become slippery but sturdy and extremely pliable wraps for a light lunch.

Anyway Miss El, Miss Lu and I decided to make some. I laid out the ingredients in bowls for us, they were
Salad spring mix
Shredded carrots
Julienned chicken
Shrimp sauteed in garlic butter
Wasabi vinegrette
Italian dressing

Wasabi dressing is simple to make and adds a bit of bright pop to these the ingredients are:
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Powdered Wasabi
3 Tbs Rice Vinegar
3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Water
a splash of soy sauce
Mix it all together and BANG you have a bright dressing for salads or something like this!

Take your Spring Roll Wrappers and soak for a few minutes until pliable.

Fill with your favorite ingredients and roll (burrito style)

Pork Tenderloin Marsala

2011-01-15T09:47:00.004-06:00

So it started like this...

After we got past the holidays, you know the insane time at work, my middle daughter visited for a week (snow painting adventures of my previous post) things just started to settle just a bit. Then my boss calls this meeting and announces that, "all of you are going to work harder over the next couple of months than you have ever worked in your lives."

My first thought was something along the lines of. "well color me inspired." We had just come off of feeding around 2200 guests Prime Rib, Crispy Tilapia, Butternut Squash and buckets full of Lemon Basil Orzo. That was on top of all of the parties and what not that the holiday season brings us. Well it has been a couple of weeks since that meeting and things are settling down a bit.

Ok enough about my job, I have some new toys...

My beautiful wife Kris bought me a new camera for Christmas, the old one was just a little beat up, note the lens pointed in an odd direction and yes that is duct tape holding it together.

Oh, here is Kris' work with the new camera... Mr. Man and I were going to watch just one episode of Batman and what do you know... and who falls asleep in a chef's coat? I am such a dork!

I finally bought an ice cream maker, it is the cutest little thing, I have only used it once but have a good list of recipes to start with... Say didn't they made lobster ice cream on Iron Chef a couple of weeks ago? I guess I am saying that I have some stuff in the works so be sure to stick around I'll get to it soon! I had to use the catalog photo because I left my table so messy this weekend.

Anyway this post isn't about my new stuff it it really about an old favorite...

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Marsala.

1 pork tenderloin (about a pound)
4 TBS butter (I use unsalted) divided
1 medium onion diced
about half a pound of Portabella mushrooms, cleaned
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
fresh parsley to garnish

Melt half your butter in a heavy skillet, I pulled out my favorite, the iron skillet, when hot but just short of smoking, brown the pork on all sides, set that aside while you do the rest.

Add the onions and mushrooms to the same skillet and saute together until the liquid that the mushrooms give is evaporated (maybe 10 minutes). Then add the Marsala and cook until it is almost evaporated (about another 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth then put the Pork Tenderloin in the same pan and cook until it is to your liking, medium rareish to me, (another 10 minutes at a low simmer) then pull the pork out and put it on your serving platter to rest. Turn up the heat on the sauce add the rest of your butter and reduce to about 3/4 cup.

Slice the pork tenderloin into medallions and serve. We picked pasta, but I really love this with potatoes too. For as simple as it is to make this is wicked good... good enough to get Miss Lu up for seconds.

Hot Buttered Rum

2010-12-29T13:04:00.000-06:00

Wow it has been a great holiday! My now 12 year old, Miss El, came to visit for the week between Christmas and New Year so we are hanging out... We have an unusual amount of snow for this time of year, I have mentioned before that around our neighborhood we are kind of renowned... maybe infamous for our snow antics strange snow creatures come up often. The four of us decided to go at snow painting this time. Just some spray bottles from Walgreens, food coloring and water and away we went.

We hit the neighbor's bush

Made a driveway beacon (no missing the turn now)

and some random spots on the lawn...

But it was COLD out so we didn't get as much done as we wanted, we weenied out one at a time, until I was standing in the yard with four spray bottles of colored water which is, face it is kind of weird.

That was OK though I had a special treat on the stove for me and some hot chocolate for my under 21 teammates. Hot buttered rum was going for me, one of those drinks that soothes you from the inside and just makes the evening warm.

Makes two servings
1/2 cup apple Cidar
1/2 water
2 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS unsalted butter
3-4 whole cloves
1/8 tsp (isn't that a big pinch) of cinnamon or 1/2 a cinnamon stick
small pinch of salt
1/2 cup dark rum

Heat all of the ingredients in a small saucepan until it starts to simmer then serve.

2010-12-25T10:20:00.000-06:00

Hey all! Not really a post today just a forwarded email from a friend. I can take no credit for this but thought it was fun. I hope that you all enjoy a wonderful holiday! I wish you and your families the best.

Beef Tenderloin a Holiday Classic

2010-12-22T05:13:00.001-06:00

But er... for what Holiday?

For most people there are normal holiday food equations for example:
Thanksgiving = Turkey
Christmas = Beef
Easter = Ham

Our house is a little different our equations are:
Thanksgiving = Beef Tenderloin
Christmas = Ham

Kris can't stand turkey, me being the foodie nut that I am I tried everything to get her to agree that she liked the bird when we met... one year I brined a turkey in honey, garlic and tarragon; another year I slathered one in cranberry chutney and baked it in a bag. After about three years and eating most of a turkey myself I realized that maybe my wife knows exactly how turkey tastes, she just doesn't like it. Now we have come to enjoy our non traditional food equations. It also gives me the advantage of posting my Thanksgiving recipe in time for you to see it before Christmas.

If you read my blog you will see the recurring theme... I can work a recipe to death to get exactly what I want; this one has been done five or six times with some setbacks. This Thanksgiving we got it right!

Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine Reduction:

The Sauce:
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 small onions
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 750 ml bottle of Merlot
1 cup chicken broth
1 14 oz can beef broth
2 sprigs fresh thyme
10-12 peppercorns
1 bay leaf

1 TBS Flour

1 TBS Butter

Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan then add onions and garlic sauté until tender (about 10 minutes). Add the brown sugar and sauté for about 4 more minutes, until it is deep brown. Add vinegar and stir for about a minute more until it is almost evaporated. Then add your bottle of wine (minus a sip or two... you are the cook you get a little extra) simmer until reduced by half...

Here is the cool way to check that, put a rubber band around the handle of a wooden spoon then dip that into your sauce. Roll the band down to the line left by the liquid then you know where you started... when your sauce pan has half of the liquid you know you are done.

Add the rest of your ingredients and simmer on low heat for about half an hour. Strain through a fine strainer into a large bowl and set aside. Give your saucepan a quick rinse then mix your butter and flour to make a roux. Put your sauce back in and cook for 5-10 more minutes. This can be done a day ahead and reheated.

The Beef
2 1/2 to 3 pound Tenderloin trimmed

Salt, pepper

1-2 TBS Olive oil

Sprinkle salt and pepper on beef then let it set on the counter (covered with an upside down pan if you are the owner of one or more cats) for about half an hour until it is room temp. Then heat up the oil in your pan and sear beef on all sides then transfer to the oven and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes until done the way you like. I did mine in the Iron skillet so I only used one pan for this part.

When the meat is just slightly under done pull it out and let stand at room temp for a few minutes. Doing that lets the juices settle so they stay in your beef and not all over the counter. When it is done slice and serve with the red wine reduction! At the top if this page it is pictured with

Lasagna

2010-12-18T14:25:00.004-06:00

Hey all I have a special guest blogger today. Miss Lu wanted to take over this post for me… I have to say that I am happy to have the help. This is her account of dinner last Saturday we made lasagna, I can't really call it a recipe, you know a couple of jars of sauce, a handful of lasagna noodles and some ground beef from the back of our overstuffed freezer. Put it in a pan and go, so easy... well an 8 year old can do it! So please read below to see my youngest daughter’s take on our Saturday dinner and maybe a little more.

First, I want to say I have the best time cooking with my amazing daddy. I’m thankful for my daddy because if I didn’t have him there would be a hole in my heart. So don’t you think we should talk about food for my daddy ? So I made lasagna over the weekend. It was FUN! How to make lasagna: first, get a pan then line with parchment. We sprayed that with pan spray and added the sauce.

Next, after that we put the hard noodles in the bottom of the pan then we added more sauce and after that we sprinkled the meat on then Mozzarella cheese then after the Mozzarella cheese we added more sauce the after that we put the hard noodles on and then we put sauce then ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese a little more sauce and more hard noodles again. Then we put the lasagna in the oven for about an hour if my dad remembers to turn the oven on dinner will be a little later if he doesn’t.

We made three layers in all. My daddy is the apple of my eye . So doing things like (this blog entry) for my daddy is an awesome way to learn how to spell.

Me Miss. Lu is 8 years old. In Mr. Sun’s class . To My friends: Jasmine, Alexandra, Kyla ,Mya ,Bella ,Anna ,EIsha

THIS IS MY

LIFE!

One of the reasons that we did this was to get out of reading homework, I figured that writing should count too (maybe even more). I did learn that MS Lu can be a just a little full of B.S.

Lets play at my friends blog today!

2010-12-17T04:44:00.000-06:00

I am posting at "From the Monkey Bars" today! Come over and play... Oh and tomorrowI have my first guest blogger! I know what you are saying, "My God, I am on the edge of my computer chair! Who is it?!?" come visit tomorrow and see ;~)

Baby Artichokes

2010-12-15T07:16:00.001-06:00

Just look at them... aren't they the cutest? Who could resist these little guys? Baby artichokes! I have never used them in anything before. I mean seriously who was the first person to look at an artichoke and think, "say, I'll bet if I peeled about four layers of leaves off of those, then cut them in half, pulled the chokey thing out of the middle and steamed them for 20 minutes they might taste good coated in a Caper Sauce." That being said I do like artichokes with a nice tart sauce but the process is extreme for a side dish. Take it for what it is, my Salmon was much simpler... Step 1 remove from refrigerator. Step 2 put on grill... so I had some balance.

The Artichokes were a few steps to get done working with 1 artichoke at a time, pull back outer leaves until they come off close to base discard do this with about 3-4 layers of leaves until exposed leaves are pale green at top and pale yellow at bottom. Cut about a half an inch off the top and trim the bottom into a bit of a cone shape, then halve artichoke lengthwise. Remove fuzzy center and any pointed inner leaves. Put in a bowl of lemon water to keep it from browning.

Once they are all trimmed boil in water with salt and lemon juice for about 20 minutes when fork tender remove with a slotted spoon and soak in ice water until ready to grill. This can be made a day ahead if you like.

The Sauce
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp of anchovy paste (or about 4 anchovy chopped up)
2 1/2 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Warm sauce in a small pan then set aside until ready to serve.

Cook Artichoke halves on a grill, mine was the cast iron stove top kind, winter came pretty fast and I am not ready to use the gas grill yet. I did them for about 4-5 minutes on a side while I grilled the salmon. When it was all done I poured the sauce on the Salmon and Artichokes.

Memories, Recollections and Foibles

2010-12-10T22:24:00.009-06:00

At work the other day I was exchanging, for lack of a better word, war stories. I was kind of looking nostalgically back at the days when I would lock the restaurant doors, pour myself a 16 oz to go cup of margarita and finish cleaning the kitchen counters and putting the last of my line in the cooler. Whenever I do this I remember how much work but how much fun managing a restaurant can be. I block out the fact that I got home at 2:30 in the morning bone weary from standing for the last 12-14 hours trying to keep everything together for one more day. Then going to bed only to get up what seems like a few minutes later to start it all over.

Then I stared to think of the things that I have done that make me wonder how I am still alive. These short anecdotes are in no particular order neither timeline nor stupidity are taken into account.

One day I was cutting smoked chicken breast for the Southwest eggrolls that we made, the restaurant host Kelly and I began talking about the specials. I turned and looked at my friend and started to describe the Stuffed Rainbow Trout that I was making that Friday evening when with a quick slice I cut the end of my thumb off. Really only about a quarter of an inch but still...

This is something I learned in the week that followed, I hit the end of my left thumb on something about 697 times a day, normally it doesn’t make me see stars, every time this week it did.

I had been a part of a $600,000 renovation project at an account that my company had just acquired. My new regional Vice President was coming to look at our progress, I knew that he was going to visit so I was wearing my best suit (the only one that I have ever paid full price for) and instead of my usual slip resistant restaurant shoes I was wearing leather soled Oxfords, I really looked sharp. The RVP called and said that he was on his way into the parking lot so I made a quick run through the dining area then the kitchen to make sure that everything looked good. I picked up a dirty pan to take to the pot washer, when I went through the kitchen I stepped in a small patch of water and slipped. Now this wasn't just any old slip... my feet went into the air and I landed flat on my back in a puddle of water, my fancy shoes in the air, I was surrounded by leftover egg croissant sandwiches just as the person that I was trying to impress walked in the back door... “Hey Bryan, looks good!”

One evening Kris and I were having Lasagna for a casual dinner and I went to get us a couple of glasses of wine. I tilted the box of wine forward and a paring knife slipped off the top and fell strait down, right through my second toe and into our laminate floor. It looked like a cartoon, since I am one who often lets the colorful interjections fly over little things, this is the part of the story that no one believes... the words out of my mouth were “golly gee willikers that flippity flappin hurt!” Now you have learned two things about me

1. I drink wine from a box, hey don't knock it.

2. I am stupid enough to put my sharpest knife on a box I know I am going to move.

I was the chef/manager at a Southwest restaurant and like any self-respecting restaurant of it's kind in the mid 1990s we served Fajitas in a sizzlin' Iron skillet. When a ticket came in I would put a skillet in the stone oven above the salamander (restaurant word for broiler) then take it out at the last minute. They got pretty hot so I was usually pretty careful handling them. With one order I took the Iron skillet out and set it on the counter added the flank steak, onions, julienned peppers then the little splash of oil (that is what makes the steamy, smoky sizzle that you see then they go across the floor to the table). I slipped a little and very gently touched the edge of the handle and "SIZZLE!" Yeah, that was my thumb! Again, seeing stars, for a little burn, about the size of a dime, it was worse than any I have had before or since. After the colorful interjections were over and the ice and bandages had done most of their work I started to wonder how hot that frickin thing got so I put an oven thermometer in it. About an hour later, after the rush, I checked and it had melted into a gelatinous mass of broken glass and aluminum with spring like appendages at the bottom of my oven.

It was early morning when one of the cashiers that I worked with got her drawer out and went to open, she looked at her register then came to me and, with the most dire look said, "There is a mouse under my drawer." I looked under the register and there it was peeking out at me, I swear to you I could see it's little lip curled up with a defiant sneer. Oh yes, this little guy and I were about to throw down. I went back and got a broom that was about 3 feet long and used the handle to lift the edge of the drawer so I could smack it out with a newspaper, then I would show the little vermin what for. But the evil little thing had other ideas and went on the offensive. It shot at me like it had been fired from a cannon jumped onto my pants then ran down and away…

To say I screamed like a little girl would be an insult to all of my daughters, lets just say that once I slunk down from the counter everybody had figured out what just happened. It still amazes me that I have no trouble when small dogs, large dogs (Kris and I have a 120 pound Rottweiler) cats, bats, birds, really whatever animals are around me but a mouse can have me jumping on a table screaming like a housewife in a 1950's era cartoon.

Ok, I have to admit part of the reason that I put this post out is to use the Batman style expletives, but it is a little fun to reminisce.

Out and About Today

2010-12-10T05:46:00.000-06:00

Hey all I am playing at "From the Monkey Bars" again today come over and meet one of my recurring characters. I'll be back tomorrow (or maybe later tonight) with some of my foibles!

Our Thanksgiving Leftovers

2010-12-06T05:51:00.002-06:00

I am sitting at our new keyboard now... if you read my last post you will know why. This time we decided to go wireless, the thinking is when Mr. Man just has to watch "Batman with Batgirl on the computer" (let's hear it for YouTube) while he has his lemonade and nachos then I can set the keyboard on top of the printer or somewhere else that is safe. Then we can avoid the sticky key issue.

Thanksgiving dinner in our house gave me a strange list of leftovers. The Tenderloin that I bought was bigger than I wanted but I haggled the price down by a couple of bucks a pound by getting it untrimmed.

"Ok sir, that is $17.99 per pound"

"Are you kidding me? the cut filets are that price, and they are trimmed and ready to cook!"

"I can give you a dollar off per pound"

"Seriously, you are about to offer me $4.00 off of a $60.00 cut of meat to do all of your work?"

"How about $2.00?"

Ok, I agreed to that, so maybe I am not the best negotiator out there but I saved a few dollars anyway. So I brought it home and trimmed it myself which is pretty easy, take the silverskin off then trim the butt pieces and tip. I still had plenty of extra and cut two good sized filets off for Kris and me to have later and a couple of pieces from between the fillet and the tip called tournedos. I had to look that up in one of my old culinary textbooks by the way . The cuts were about an inch thick and maybe an inch and a half around. Right after Thanksgiving I was making dinner and watching Good Eats on Food Network. This is one of my favorite shows, Alton Brown is such a foodie nerd, really he has my dream job, talking about food all day... Anyway I think the title of the episode that was halfway over when I turned it on was "Pounded Meats" he was making a variety of Pillards one of them was with Beef Tenderloin.

What I saw was taking the Tenderloin and pounding it into pillards then his method of cooking them, you will see that in a sec, then he suggested adding a salad to them. Good idea I thought how about I make my own dressing...

So I diced up and cooked three strips of bacon to make my dressing

Bacon Vinaigrette
3 strips of bacon cooked, rendered fat reserved
1 TBS Canola Oil
1 clove Garlic minced
1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Mustard (I used stone ground)
a little pepper

blend and set aside

Before... this one is about an inch thick

After... this is pounded to a little more than 1/4 of an inch thick

The Steaks were the fun part I took the three pieces of steak and pounded them to about 1/4 inch thick with the flat side of my mallet (the spiky side is for flank or skirt steak not tenderloin) then I heated up my favorite pan... the Iron Skillet. When it was hot I turned it over so the meat would be easier to work with and cooked them for about a minute or so on each side until medium rare then made up my plates.

Set the steaks on your plates then top with a few sautéed mushrooms, salad mix and warm Bacon Vinaigrette. Damn Hell this was good! Do I feel a little guilty? well yes well a little, and the scale and I have had a few words since to but... Wow.

Thanksgiving at our house this year

2010-12-03T20:38:00.001-06:00

Oh/my/lord/it/has/been/a/heck/of/a/week/at/our/house/between/Thanksgiving/and/the/weekend/that/followed/I/have/been/so/busy/and/neglectful/of/you/my/friends...just/let/me/explain...

First, Mr Man spilled a combination of Country Time Pink Lemonade and strawberry jam on our keyboard so it is basically useless. So I followed Kim Komndo's advice and put the keyboard in the dishwasher to clean it off.... Guess what?!? it didn't work! After giving it a full 24 hours to dry it was sort of usable except for the spacebar, the comma and every number lower than 5 (all of my passwords have a number below 5 in them). So, I picked up the trusty laptop to work on my blog and well, I kind of feel like a hoofed mammal whenever I use this thing Jeez could the keys be smaller? I hit 2-3 keys at a time every time that I pound on this thing. Then God forbid that I touch the rectangular sensor thingie (Technical term you know) below the keyboard then the cursor jumps to the middle of the page and I start to type over what I have already written. So I have been slow to update...

Oh, I need to mention some back story; at work all of us have to work two holidays each year...I usually pick Thanksgiving because I get both of my holidays out of the way all at once (Thursday and Friday are both holidays to my company). So it ends up being a long long weekend. This year Kris was going to make Thanksgiving dinner (Ham and Scalloped Potatoes, we aren’t really turkey eaters) then my 11 year Miss El called and asked if she could spend the Holiday with us. That is when I did the culinary version of pushing my beautiful wife out of the way so I could make dinner. In the days before the holiday I did the shopping and spent way more than I should have. Then I made my Vodka Cranberries, and prepared the recipe that I am going to talk about today.

The menu was:
Beef Tenderloin in a Red Wine Reduction
Vodka Cranberries
Sweet Potato Hash
Mashed Potatoes
Grilled Vegetables with Roasted Garlic Aioli
Molten Chocolate Cake

Most of this I have made before so I won’t dwell on them too much, though I do have to look at my Red Wine Reduction again… I don’t think it was this good the last time I made it

Grilled Vegetables with Roasted Garlic Aioli

Roasted Garlic Aioli
1 full bulb of Garlic Roasted
2 Egg Yolks
Juice from one lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

To Roast the Garlic cut the top off of a full bulb of garlic lightly coat with olive oil (or be lazy and use pan spray) then loosely wrap in foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. The cool on the counter until you are ready. When you are ready to go just squeeze the gooey garlic into a bowl, add the rest of you ingredients and wisk until smooth.

Grilled Vegetables can really be whatever you like mine were
Asparagus
Carrots Cut Long and thin
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Portobello Mushroom Caps

I let mine soak in Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil and spices for about half an hour then tossed them on the grill. Couldn't have been easier. This was a nice addition to the meal and was there to snack on before and after the our dinner

Hey all

2010-12-03T06:17:00.000-06:00

Things have been really busy around our house the past week or so! Check me out at From the Monkey Bars today! I will be back after work with a new post about our Thanksgiving.

Really cool day

2010-11-26T06:12:00.000-06:00

Hey all I have a couple of great things going on!

1. My friend Nisrine asked my to guest post in her how to section! See how I made butter here
2. I am over at "From the Monkey Bars" again today with my new Thanksgiving dessert! Not very traditional, but fun.

Check them both out

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T03:32:00.002-06:00

I usually end up working on Thanksgiving, which means that my first alarm (I am a snoozer) goes off at 3:07 then I trudge off to work after my 40 minute commute into Chicago. Since I like to cook I am still making Dinner, obviously some of the traditional items are off the table... no turkey, which is fine we haven't had that in a couple of years. I have also been doing some little things throughout the week so I am not making everything at the last minute. One of the things that I have made already is my cranberries. They sit happily in the bottom of my fridge, untouched... well maybe a couple of bites smaller... waiting for the big meal.

I have seen a couple of recipes for Bourbon and Cranberries floating around this season (here is one) which is the way I usually make mine (this is last year's) but I ran into a problem this year. I didn't really notice it until I was getting my ingredients together, it seems that my bourbon met up with some sweet vermouth and ended up mixed with ice instead of cranberries. So with a quick change of ingredients I am making something completely new Cranberry Sauce with vodka. Maybe to be all fancy I should call them Cosmopolitan Cranberries... then again maybe not.

The process couldn't be easier...

12 oz package of fresh cranberries

Grated peel of one orange

Juice from the same orange

1 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup Vodka

Splash of Triple Sec

A sprinkle of ground cinnamon (I would guess about a 1/4 tsp)

Put all of the ingredients together in a 2 quart sauce pan and cook until the sugar is blended and the cranberries have popped. I had it on kind of low heat because I was doing other things around the kitchen and could watch my pan so this cooked for about 20-25 minutes. When it is all done pour it into your serving dish, cover and cool over night.

One additional note here, I have often heard people say that they have, "cooked all the alcohol out of a dish." Where I don't always believe that is 100% true a lot of food that is made with wine or booze is fine for the kiddos. This one is not! It isn't appropriate for your friend after his AA meeting or your kids. Depending on the rest of your family's kids you might want to slip one of them a ~~shot~~ bowl.

Fried Chicken

2010-11-20T09:42:00.000-06:00

Ok, I must admit that I made this recipe with one thing in mind... that thing being the leftovers that I am happily stuffed with now. Growing up I never had cold fried chicken because, well in my house my mom cooked for me, my brother and my dad and well there just wasn't anything left in the end. Yes, I am quite sure that we could have eaten any amount of fried chicken brought into the house. I have been working on a good fried chicken recipe for a while, almost embarrassing for me to admit by the way since I can't remember ever having a bad piece of fried chicken made by any member of my family, well except for me. but after several attempts, I got it right this this time...

The Marinade
3 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper'
1 tsp garlic powder
a couple of good shakes of hot sauce
a big pinch of oregano and basil

Put the marinade ingredients in a not-reactive dish and let it sit on the counter for about half an hour while the flavors bloom then drop in your chicken. I put in two bone in skin on breasts, a handful of wings and one boneless skinless breast, you should put in what ever your family will eat. Make sure that it is covered in liquid then put on a lower shelf of your fridge and soak for at least overnight, mine sat for about 2 days. The cool thing about a buttermilk marinade is that it doesn't over marinade meat. When it is time to go put your breading together...

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


I really had to crop this one so you couldn't see my filthy stove top!

Put the ingredients in a paper grocery bag and mix together, then take your chicken out of the buttermilk and put them, a few pieces at a time into the bag, shake until well coated and set aside on a plate. Once you have all of your chicken breaded put a plate or pan in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes while you heat up the oven and a pan of oil. Turn your oven to 350 then put enough oil in a pan to fill it about an inch deep (maybe 3 cups in my 12 inch skillet). Then heat the shortening to 375 degrees when it is ready. put your chicken in a few pieces at a time, don't crowd then and let them cook for 4-5 minutes on each side for breasts (legs and wings will take less time). When they are that beautiful golden brown put them all on a pan and into the oven for another 10- 15 minutes to finish. No you don't have to finish in the oven, but I like to because I like everything done at the same time.

It was wonderful on the evening of it's premiere, but a couple of days later right out of the fridge with a little salt and pepper it was wonderful. Sorry no pictures of that... when I had it cold it was on a paper towel in front of the TV, just like it should be.

Early parenting lessons

2010-11-19T03:38:00.000-06:00

Hey all, I am over at From the Monkey Bars again, come over and play today! I will be back here tomorrow with a down home classic!

Poached Pears

2010-11-16T16:34:00.001-06:00

This one turned out to be an light easy dessert that had a nice elegant touch to it. I made Dessert for three, as I have said in the past one for me one for Kris and one for my kids to stare at in distrust. This takes a couple of days but really easy plus the house smells great when you poach the pears.

The ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white wine
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I would have used a cinnamon stick but didn't have any
1 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
2 strips orange peel (from my preserved citrus)
3 Bosc pears, peeled, stems left intact

These are Bosc pears right... yes if you follow this blog this picture is from the archives, but the ones that I took this time didn't turn out as well. The one above is from a couple of days ago.

For later I whipped Mascarpone Cheese with a little brown Sugar and Vanilla to garnish

Combine white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) water, sugar, cinnamon, a split vanilla bean, and preserved orange rind in 2 quart sauce pan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peeled pears. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot and simmer until pears are tender, turning pears occasionally, all this takes about 40 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to platter. Boil liquid in pot until reduced by half. strain syrup then pour over poached pears. Chill until cold, turning pears occasionally, I made these the day before I wanted them cold.

When it is time to serve cut the pears in half and take out the seeds them stuff with Mascarpone cheese mixture and drizzle with the thickened sauce. I heated mine sauce up a little.