Edible Perversions

Mock Seaweed Salad

2010-06-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

I don't live at the sea, so it's harder to find its wonderful bounty of weed to put in a salad. Instead, I mixed up the following. It tastes good - eat it.

Veggies:
Shredded cabbage
Sliced cucumber
Thinly sliced spring onions

Sauce:
3 parts Rice vinegar
3 parts Toasted sesame oil
1 part Soy sauce
1/2 part Sriracha (rooster) sauce
1/2 part Honey
A smidgen of Chinese 5 spice
The correct amount of Toasted sesame seeds

Prep:
Nuke the sauce for 30 seconds so the honey is easy to mix
Dump over prepped veggies

Mexicanish Tilapia and Tomatoes and Sliced Aligator Pear

2009-05-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This assumes you already have the basics of cooking down. This is not a recipe. If you don't know how to cook, watch Good Eats.

GET:

1/2 pound of tilapia
1/2 medium Vidalia onion (or some such sweet onion)
1 quart of grape tomatoes
2 haas avocados
garlic
cilantro
lime juice
oil
white wine
salt
black pepper
cumin
chili powder (the not spicy red kind)
red pepper - optional (the spicy kind)

COOK:

Chop up the onion and garlic
Throw the onion and garlic and some salt a fry pan with some oil
While that's cooking, chop up the tomatoes into thirds or quarters
Cook the onions until they start to get clear, add lime juice if you need to lube the pan
When the onions are clear add all the tomatoes
Spicy up the veggie stuff with salt, peppers, chili and cumin
Add some more lime juice as the water in the tomatoes cooks off
Cook the veggies until they're a good bit mushy
Add in pieces of fish, just kinda move the veggies out of the way and pile them on the fish a bit
We're not looking for any sort of dry heat here so add more lime if the pan gets too dry
Add some wine and reduce the thing until it tastes fucking awesome
Turn off the heat
Tear up a good handful of cilantro, sprinkle it over the whole lot and let it wilt
Plate the fish and slop
Get the good bits of the avocado out and put it on the mess

EAT:

Serves two with no side or starch
Might serve three or four with rice
You can probably go up to a full pound of fish and still be ok on tomatoes, we just really like the tomatoes part

THE Oatmal Cookies

2009-05-19T06:03:00.001-07:00

I almost regret a post without photos. I guess I'll just have to bake 'em again...

1/2 c butter (1 stick)
2/3 c light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c AP Flour
1/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c quick oats
3/4 c 7 grain cereal
about a cup of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, or a combination (I used cranberries, almonds, chocolate chips, and topped them with pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer), cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, & cinnamon. Gradually add to the wet mix until just combined. Stir in oats and cereal. Stir in fruits and nuts.

Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden around the edges. The tops will look under cooked. Remove from the oven and let sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes (this is critical if you want chewy cookies). Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Choco-strawberries!

2009-05-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Kalbi Ribs, Sweet Potoato Oven Fries, Asparagus, and Artichoke

2009-05-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

Golden Trout, Saffron Risotto, and Sugar Snap Peas

2009-05-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Huevos Rancheros

2009-04-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Leftover italian sausage, onions, bell peppers, garlic and salsa. Oh and eggs.

Cheese Steak

2009-04-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

Leftover London Broil, bell peppers and onions, french baguette, swiss.

London Broil, Grilled Zuchinni, and Prosciutto Rice Pilaf

2009-04-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Carnitas

2009-03-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Carnitas

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

2009-01-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas Duck

2008-12-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

Fried Chicken and Garlic Green Beans

2008-09-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Blue Cheese Spencers, Honey Chipotle Shrimp, and Grilled Corn

2008-06-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Eggs, Grits, Sausage, and Toast

2008-05-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

I use Alton Brown's method, minus the cheddar, for cooking grits. If you wanna get really fatty, I mean fancy, use cream instead of milk. These were topped with some parmesean and fresh ground black pepper. We're in to the over-easy to over-medium eggs. The fresher the better, so your eggs don't spread so much in the pan and they're easy to flip.

Pan Fried Chicken with Ginger Glazed Carrots and Asparagus

2008-05-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Fried chicken and glazed carrots.

Veal Chop Pizziolo with Wild Mushroom Ravioli

2008-05-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

Again, with the clearance meat! Veal is expensive ('cause baby cows are so small!), but we got some thick chops on clearance at the grocery store. We used this recipe. We also scored some mushroom ravioli on clearance, so half of it got the tomato sauce from the veal, and the other half was drizzled with some magical pan sauce that we made with chicken broth, white wine, and heavy cream.

Oh, and after you broil the veal chops, don't grab the pan handle that's been sitting in a 500 degree oven, or you'll find yourself with some second degree burns. Oops.

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chop with Broccoli and Muddled Red Potatoes

2008-05-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

We've been trying out some new cooking techniques lately. We got some super thick (about 1 1/2 inch) pork chops on clearance at the grocery store. We wanted to take advantage of their thickness, but not dry 'em out. We brined them for about 12 hours, and they increased in volume by about 25%! With these thick 'n' juicy chops ready for cooking, we opted for the America's Test Kitchen method of starting them in the oven under low heat (275 degrees), then finished them in the pan. Oh yeah, and be sure to par-cook the bacon in the microwave first.

Parmesean Crusted Halibut with Pasta Fresca and Artichokes

2008-05-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Guess what meat was on clearance at the grocery store... that's right, halibut! Chokes were a buck, and whole wheat pasta at Trader Joe's is always the best deal in town. Pretty fancy for a dinner for two that came in under $15. I'd had parm-crusted halibut at a restaurant recently, and mine was way better.

For the pasta, we opted for fresh, lighter flavor. On the pasta, we put some really tasty olive oil, chopped, seeded chopped tomatoes, toasted garlic, fresh basil, and parmesean. That's it, really. Try it, it's delicious.

Coq Au Vin

2008-03-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Caine and I found a Calphalon cast iron dutch oven for thirty bucks. Woo hoo! We decided do delve into something a little more complicated than usual...
Here's the recipe. The wine we used was Le Grand Pinot Noir - about eight bucks at trader joe's and SO goooood....

Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings

2008-02-26T06:48:00.000-08:00

The other day, Saturday, Danny satisfied our rumbling bellies with Good Eats inspired vegetarian steamed dumplings. When you are finished, dump the rest of your fillings into the chicken broth used for seaming the dumplings to make a little soup,too. Sitting on the counter, drinking Woodchuck Pear cider from Vermont while your man cooks for you has never tasted so good.

Savory Red Wine Pork Tenderloin

2007-12-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

For Caine's birthday, we tried a recipe (bacon-wrapped pork loin medallions) that we saw on America's Test Kitchen. The tenderloin that we found on sale at QFC was enormous, 6.5 lbs, and we had a big chunk (probably about 2 pounds) of pork left over. With limited ingredients available, this is what we came up with.

For the pork:
2 pounds of Pork Tenderloin
salt and pepper
summer savory
flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/3 cup (we used some Italian called "tutto bene")
3 cloves roughly crushed garlic

For the sauce:
2 tbsp red wine
1/4 medium sized yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp brown mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp bacon grease
1 tbsp butter
pan drippings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First, remove any excess fat and any "silver skin" from the tenderloin. Pat dry with paper towels. Season both sides with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and summer savory. Dredge the pork lightly in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. In a large heavy bottomed skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat until it shimmers (just before it smokes). Sear the pork on all sides, about 4-5 minutes each side. Remove pan from heat and add about 2 tbsp red wine to deglaze. Set pork aside.

Line a roasting pan with tin foil (for easy clean up) and add the 1/3 cup wine, rosemary sprigs and crushed garlic. Place a rack in the pan to elevate the pork from the bottom. Center the pork on the rack and tent the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Be sure that the foil is not touching the pork and that it forms a tight seal around the pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. You also may want to remove the foil for the last ten minutes or so of cooking time. When the pork reaches the desired temperature, remove it to a plate, tent lightly with tin foil, and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

While the pork rests, add 1 tbsp butter and bacon grease to the deglazed pan and melt until bubbling. Add the diced onion and saute until tender, then add 1 clove minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Pour all liquid, rosemary, and garlic from the roasting pan into the frying pan. Add mustard, brown sugar and cider vinegar. Simmer until liquid has reduced by about half.

Slice the pork into roughly 1 inch thick pieces, drizzle with sauce, and serve.

We had this with mashed potatoes and spinach.

Notes:
So, there are a few issues we run into regularly in our particular kitchen. First off, our oven/range, while new, isn't particularly high quality. It's electric, and only a fool would fully trust the built in temperature gauge. To compound this, neither of our meat thermometers are terribly accurate. With this in mind, be very aware of how your kitchen works, and take this into account when considering cooking times, particularly for pork. Ours came out just barely on the rare side.

As far as the searing goes, we may forgoe the flour dredge next time. It tasted fine, but I think hindered the development of fonde in the frying pan. We were originally trying to make a somewhat gravy-like sauce. With this in mind, next time I may reserve the flour until the meat has been seared and just add it directly to the frying pan.

The sauce, while delicious, was just a bit to high-pitched or strident. I think, as it was, it would have been better served on lamb. This could have been corrected by using less of the apple-cider vinegar, or even less wine. The meat was very juicy, though again, a little rare.

Leftover Stuffing Omelet

2007-11-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

We have a ton of leftovers (no surprise there). The spinach-artichoke-brie stuffing was a good side dish, but I didn't want to eat a bowl of it for dinner, so...

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 c extra sharp cheddar
3/4 c leftover stuffing
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the stuffing into smaller (omelet-sized) pieces. Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a 6 in. non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the stuffing and a generous amount of salt and pepper and cook until the stuffing has lost some of its day-old sogginess and is starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Wipe the pan with a paper towel and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Heat the pan over medium-low heat. Add the eggs and let them form a layer on the bottom of the pan. Gently pull the cooked egg away from the edge of the pan and gently stir the uncooked portion of the egg until it is cooked most of the way (just a tiny bit runny). Add the cheese in an even layer and continue to stir the uncooked egg and the cheese until it's no longer runny. Add most of the stuffing (save a little for on top) and keep on the heat until the filling is mostly hot. Fold the omelet into thirds, top it with cheese, wait for the cheese to melt, then slide it onto your plate. Omelets take practice, so I'm kind of assuming you've made one before. If you've found a technique that works for you, use it.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it made a better omelet than it did a side dish. Mmm....

Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

On the Menu:

Caine's Blackberry Shiraz Glazed Lamb

Emeril's Spinach-Artichoke Stuffing

Paula Deen's Green Bean Casserole

Alton Brown's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Emeril's Sweet Potato Bacon Biscuits.

Alton Brown's Berry Crisps

Wow, three casseroles, biscuits, a four pound leg of lamb, and dessert.... all in one oven. It took a day of planning, two days of cooking, and three (or four) trips to the grocery store, but in all, it was a success.

Our deviations:

We added french fried onions on top of the green bean casserole, 'cause it just ain't green bean casserole otherwise.

Our berry crisp topping included gingersnaps and candied pecans.

Pulled Pork Sammiches

2007-11-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm afraid of getting sued, so here's a link to the original recipe. We followed it exactly.

I found a pork butt (aka pork shoulder) at QFC on "manager's special" (this meat's about to expire!) for 99 cents a pound. That's cheap meat!!!

Okay, if your meat is frozen and you need to thaw it in a hurry, unwrap it, submerge it in water with a little bit of water running into it, and leave it alone for a while. You don't need much water running, just enough to keep the standing water moving. This four pound butt thawed in about 2 hours. In the fridge it would've been at least two days.

We chose to buy whole mustard seed and grind it ourselves.

Our plastic-wrap job.

The unwrapped butt ready for the oven.

We chose Obsidian Stout from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon for our beer. The recipe suggests using a "dark beer" such as Bass, which isn't dark. This beer was great in this recipe, and it was great to drink with this dinner.

The crispy beer soaked pig ready for the cool oven. Oh, and don't forget the foil. We almost did.

Mmm... it tastes really good at this point, but try to wait until it has the sauce before you eat it all.

We reduced the sauce by about half, which yielded excellent flavor but was a little runny. Next time, we're going to try to add just a little bit of thickening agent, probably corn starch.

We served our pork on onion buns that we had left over from burger night.

Gotta introduce some veggies in there somehow...

Jeebus, this was good. I can't wait until lunchtime so I can eat leftovers.

Notes:
Make sure to toast the bread you're serving it on to reduce the sogginess. Perhaps if we'd managed to have a little thicker sauce this wouldn't be an issue, but toast 'em anyway. I also wish we'd had some french-fried onions to put on top of the meat, maybe some fancy cheese to melt on it, but these were honestly so good it's really hard to complain.
I highly recommend this recipe. It's very easy, requires little attention once you start the cooking, and 'cause we got our meat on sale, the entire meal cost us about $7. It served four and a half, and we have plenty left over.

Swimming Rama

2007-10-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

The key to making a really fantastic peanut sauce is using real tamarind. I just found a block of fresh tamarind at a nearby store, which is tantamount to winning the lottery.

(Peanut sauce is not very photogenic.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons red curry paste
3/4 cup vegetable stock
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup freshly ground salted, dry-roasted peanuts or peanut butter (I used peanut butter)
2 tablespoons tamarind liquid or freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Warm coconut milk in saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a gentle boil. Simmer, stirring now and then, until it releases its sweet fragrance and thickens a bit, about 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer, mashing and scraping to dissolve the paste and mix everything well.

Add the vegetable stock and sugar and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Add the peanuts or peanut butter and cook for 3 minutes more, stirring as needed to dissolve the peanuts butter into the sauce. Remove from the heat and season with the tamarind or citrus juice and salt, stirring to mix well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

**When using a block of tamarind, cut off a corner, add 1/4 cup of hot water, and blend well.**

Cook rice. Saute chicken pieces in 1/4 cup broth or 2 Tablespoons oil.

Place layer of rice on plate.

Place layer of washed fresh spinach over rice.

Place chicken over spinach.

Pour peanut sauce over chicken.

Beef Stew with Seasonal Ale

2007-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

The temperature is definitely dropping. Time to bring out the hearty stews!

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour

2 Tablespoons paprika

Salt

Pepper

2 lbs stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 strips bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bottle seasonal beer. I used a 22ounce bottle of Elysian Night Owl, a pumpkin ale that is the epitome of Autumn.

1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed

2 larger carrots, sliced

1 lb turnips, diced

1 Tablespoon oregano

1 Tablespoon thyme

Combine flour, paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

Fry bacon in large cast iron skillet. While bacon is cooking, roll each piece of beef in flour mixture. Remove bacon from skillet, add beef pieces, cooking 3-4 minutes per side.

Remove beef from pan. Add onion. Saute 5-7 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cooking for 1 minute. Add beer, then scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes, bacon, and beef back to the skillet. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

**Note** At this point, the skillet may be too small. I poured the contents of the skillet into an 8-quart pot and continued from there.

Add potatoes, carrots, turnips, oregano, and thyme. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Adapted from this recipe on Simply Recipes.

Chicken Parmesan with made-from-scratch marinara

2007-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Lisa makes the best Chicken Parmesan I've ever had, restaurant or otherwise. We don't always get this involved, but the flavors are worth it, and if you grow tomatoes and herbs, it can be very cheap.

First, pour yourself a tall frosty IPA into a frozen beer mug. This'll help you get through the extremely long cooking process.
Ain't she purdy?

For the Sauce:

Start with some fresh basil. Find a big leaf, and line up a bunch of smaller leaves in it.

Roll it like a "cigar."

Chop the basil cigar thinly, leaving you with a lovely basil chiffonade.

We bought ten lbs of "on the vine beefsteak" tomatoes. They were 88 cents a pound, and we expected a much higher yield. But that's for later.
Boil some water, and drop whole tomatoes in to boil for about 45 seconds. Remove them with a deep slotted spoon and dunk 'em in a bowl of ice water. Peel the skins off and discard.
Reserve 5 peeled tomatoes whole. Lightly coat these in olive oil, wrap them in aluminum foil, and use your burner to "roast" them. Your looking for just a bit of char all around. This will produce a somewhat "smoky" flavor, as well as help to cut down on some of the acidity.
Cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze the juice and seeds out. You can squeeze into a strainer and keep the tomato juice for other meals or for drinkin' if that's your thing.

After they're drained, plop the tomatoes into a big stock pot. Add
2 tbsp. Fresh Basil
1 tbsp. Fresh Oregano
1/2 tbsp. Marjoram
2 bay leaves
1 whole yellow onion, chopped to your liking
kosher salt and fresh black pepper to taste
1/3 bottle of red wine
And again, as much garlic as you feel like mincing. We used one head of garlic.

No need to add additional liquid. Once the tomatoes start to break down, they'll get quite wet, and you'll need to reduce the sauce for about two hours. Use a medium-to-low heat, high enough that it's still steaming, but avoid burning the sauce at the bottom of the pan. Stir occasionally.

Once it looks like a good consistency, it's done. Add cornstarch to thicken. Make sure to remove the sauce from the heat while you do this.

The Broccoli:

Cut up some fresh broccoli (about two heads)
As much garlic as you feel like mincing (we used about five cloves.)
Add to taste:
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Paprika
Parsley
I also usually use Cajun Seasoning.
Bake in a medium-sized pyrex at 350 for about 15 minutes. Be sure to time everything so that the broccoli is done right when it's time to serve, or it will be cold.

For the Chicken Parmesan:

Mozzarella, sliced
boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Pound 'em flat, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.
flour
"italian style" breadcrumbs (or make your own...)
Fresh grated parmesean
one whole egg and two egg whites, mixed but not beaten
On a nice big piece of counter space, set up a row of (in order):
plate with chicken breasts
vessel with flour in it
a bowl with eggs
a large plate with about 1/2 Parmesean and 1/2 bread crumbs mixed together.

Cover the chicken completely with flour, but knock off MOST of the flour. Too much and you'll lose your breading.

From the flour, dip the breast in the egg and let it drip off a little. Lay it in the breading mix, and use your fingers to pick up the breading without disturbing the chicken breast. Cover it completely and press down to make the breading stick.

Shake off the excess.

And go for round two. Once again (trying not to manhandle the chicken, that'll knock breading off) dip in in the egg mixture.

Lay it on the breading plate and repeat the process. The double-breading makes it better. I promise. More cheese = good.

Let the breaded breasts rest for at least 15 minutes to let the egg set, or again, your breading will fall off. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 and cover the bottom of a large pyrex with your homemade marinara.

In a large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp olive oil over medium to high heat. Once it's hot, carefully place your chicken into the skillet. You can tell on the edges when the breading is getting close to done. It only takes maybe 2-3 minutes.

Once they're browned, flip 'em carefully, and if necessary, add more olive oil. You can cook more than one at a time, but don't crowd the pan. These breasts were really big, so we fried them individually.

Once the delicious crust is fully formed, place the chicken into your Pyrex. You can cram 'em in, but don't let them overlap.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Check for doneness after 15. If they're fully cooked, add the mozzarella and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until your cheese is melty.

Cheesy Bread:

We also made garlic cheese bread. At our new favorite grocery store, QFC, we found some cheese that didn't claim to be any particular kind of cheese, other than "handmade."

1/3 stick of butter
6 cloves garlic
sliced sourdough
fresh oregano
parsley
grated nondescript cheese
grated parmesan

Melt the butter with half of the garlic, oregano, and parsley. Brush the butter mixture over the bread until it's gone. Toast lightly. Add the two kinds of cheese and the rest of the garlic. Toast until the cheese is slightly brown.

Use all marinara (including the stuff used to bake the chicken) to put over pasta and chicken. We tend to prefer whole wheat pasta, which is actually pretty cheap at Trader Joe's.

Serve with the remaining wine that you used to make the sauce (along with 3 or 4 more bottles).

Notes:

This was the first time we'd done tomato sauce completely from scratch. All in all I think we did well, but there were a few things.
It was slightly too sweet. I'm attributing a good deal of this to the fact that we used somewhat young tomatoes (not to mention on the vine). We added no pepper flakes, which would probably have helped with this, as well as adding a little heat.

This is the most expensive tomato sauce I've ever had. I had counted on a much higher yield from 10 lbs of tomatoes, but they only made it through one meal. The particular tomatoes we bought were from a discount grocery store, and honestly didn't have much substance. Now we appreciate the difference between "on the vine" and "vine-ripened." We also opted to purchase fresh herbs, which contributed to the overall cost. Hopefully someday we can grow our own damn herbs and veggies.

Sorrel Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Blackberry Shiraz Glaze

2007-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

For the glaze:

1 bottle shiraz (we used Purple Moon, $4 at Trader Joes)
~ 2 handfuls of ripe blackberries
~ 1tsp to 1tbsp sugar

For the lamb:
1 3-5 lb boneless leg of lamb, fat trimmed
4-5 leaves sorrel, sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Coat inside of lamb with salt, pepper, and sorrel. Roll lamb and tie with kitchen string. One end of the lamb will be nice and neatly packaged, one end will look "flappy." This is fine, it won't affect the cooking. Cook for about 1 hour (the general rule is 30-35 minutes/lbs).

While the lamb is cooking, combine wine, sugar, and blackberries in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Use a whisk to mash the berries and to stir occasionally, reducing mixture by roughly 2/3, or until syrupy.

Use a brush to coat the lamb in glaze, then cook for another roughly 30 minutes, re-glazing regularly. When the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150-155 degrees, remove from oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve.

We had this with corn and asparagus. We matched it up with Black Mountain Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir and Gaetano D'Aquino Valpolicella.

Thoughts:
Next time I may apply the glaze throughout the whole process. The flavor of the glaze wasn't a strong as I expected, nor did it get any "crunch." Those aren't necessarily bad things, but it wasn't exactly what I expected.

This was phenomenally delicious.

Last Minute Chicken Thingy

2007-09-16T22:17:00.001-07:00

Albertson's had chicken breasts on sale, so I bought 'em not knowing what to do with them... and this is what we came up with.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 (or so, to taste) cloves of garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 t Cajun seasoning
1 c white wine
1 c heavy cream
green onions, thinly chopped
fresh chopped parsley
fresh squeezed lime juice (half a lime)
lemon pepper
salt

Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the chicken breasts with lemon pepper and salt. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with the olive oil and butter. When the pan starts to smoke, add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the chicken. Brown both sides (took us about 8-9 minutes per side). Add the wine, half of the parsley, Cajun seasoning, and green onions. Squeeze about half of the lime juice out of the lime into the pan. Simmer to reduce, about 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook some pasta. We chose whole wheat spiral-ey stuff, but anything would work.
Once the wine has reduced and the chicken is almost cooked, add the heavy cream. Continue to simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the chicken to the plates and squeeze some of the remaining lime over it. When the pasta is done, drain it, toss on some olive oil, then pour the creamy wine sauce over the pasta and serve.

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

2007-09-12T19:42:00.001-07:00

This recipe was originally prepared for us by Casey and Nicole Gillett. I love those guys.

Oh, and we totally stole this from the Food Network. It's copyrighted, so I hope we don't get sued.

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

Trader Joe's, once again, comes to the rescue. Their frozen shrimp are the best deal in town, and they don't have an odor. Rumor has it that TJ's meat is only frozen once, and I guess most is frozen twice before you buy it.

The beauty of this meal is its simplicity. It yields relatively few dishes, it's quick, and it's delicious.

With this meal, we also bought some day-old grocery store bargain bread, pre-sliced, and painted on melted butter and raw, finely-minced garlic. Yum!

Honey Chipotle Shrimp

2007-09-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

We found this recipe on the internet a long time ago and promptly lost it. However, it has a very short ingredients list, so we were able to remember it.

1 lb shrimp (peeled and de-veined)
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup minced cilantro (more or less to taste)

In a gallon-sized plastic zipper bag, add shrimp, chipotle, and honey. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Skewer shrimp and grill for 3-5 minutes per side, or until done.
Remove from grill and sprinkle with cilantro.

This recipe is incredibly easy and delicious. I usually buy some trader joe's frozen whole shrimp. They're pretty cheap, and they grill well.

Rosemary Chicken

2007-06-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Recipe from John Shisko

1/2 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons Honey
1 tablespoon FRESH rosemary
6 pieces of chicken

In a deep bowl or ziplock bag, mix marinade. Add chicken. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes, up to one day. Discard marinade. Grill or bake chicken.

Pan Seared Scallops in Citrus Saffron Beurre Blanc

2007-05-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

My brother Daniel came over for wine tasting and debauchery tonight. We decided to experiment.

We made this with broccoli and garlic roasted potatoes

Citrus Saffron Beurre Blanc:
Original recipe courtesy of That's My Home

1 C. Chardonnay
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. lemon juice
1 pinch saffron
6 oz. heavy cream
4 oz. unsalted butter

Pan Seared Scallops:
1 T. olive oil
18 sea scallops
Salt and pepper to taste

To make Beurre Blanc, combine wine, garlic, lemon juice and saffron in stainless-steel pot. Bring to simmer and reduce. Add cream and reduce by half. Turn the heat to high and whisk in cut up butter, 2-3 knobs at a time until all butter is well incorporated. Finish with a hand-held mixer.

For scallops: Heat olive oil in saute pan. When simmering add scallops seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown on each side until opaque in center. Serve sauce over scallops.
****************************************

This turned out really well. The scallops were just the slightest bit tough, but we were using Trader Joe's frozen scallops, so I'm not entirely surprised. They were delicious, very sweet and almost no fishy flavor.

The Beurre Blanc turned out quite well. It should have reduced a while longer, but that was the only real problem.

Everything was delicious

London Broil with Twice Baked Potatoes and Corn

2007-05-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

This is a "basics" night. Nothing real fancy, but these are all good foods to know how to make.

Coincidentally, we screwed up the potatoes. They ended up being mashed.

MARINATED LONDON BROIL

Original recipe courtesy of Cooks.com

One of the confusing things about buying meat is that some retailers label certain cuts with names that really identify a method of cooking, rather than the part of the animal from which the cut has come.

A good example is London broil. Traditionally, London broil has been prepared with flank steak. Yet the cut of the beef labeled "London broil" in a supermarket meat case is usually not flank steak but top round, cut from the most tender part of the round next to the sirloin.

From very high quality beef, this can be broiled or barbecued as is. However, you can produce a delicious London broil using a more modest cut of top round if you marinate it first to tenderize and flavor it. Broil it just to the rare stage, then cut the meat in thin slices diagonally across the grain. 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 1/4 tsp. each sugar, crumbled rosemary Seasoned pepper 1/4 c. salad oil and dry red wine 1 tsp. Dijon-style mustard 1/2 tsp. salt 1 bay leaf Chopped parsley, for garnish

Place meat in a shallow dish. In a covered jar or blender container, shake together oil, wine, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, salt, sugar and rosemary until well combined. Pour over meat, turning to coat well. Place bay leaf in marinade. Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally, at least 8-10 hours.

Remove meat from marinade, reserving marinade. Place on a rack in a broiling pan. Sprinkle with pepper. Broil, about 6 inches from heat, until well browned on each side (allow about 10 minutes per side for rare), brushing occasionally with marinade.

Place on a wooden board and carve in thin diagonal slices. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Makes 6-8 servings.

TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Original recipe courtesy of Cooks.com

1 small yellow onion diced
olive oil
5 baking potatoes
3/4c milk
2tbsp. butter
1 tsp pepper
4oz(1/2 bag) kraft shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 place baking potatoes directly on oven rack and bake for 1hour 20minutes.

Meanwhile, cover the bottom of a skillet or frying pan with olive oil add onions to oil and sautee until tender (About 5 minutes) Remove onions from heat; drain excess oil. Add onions to medium mixing bowl.

When potatoes are done, take out of the oven and cut the top 1/4 off of each potato (the long way) Scoop potato out of the shell and into mixing bowl with the onions. Add milk, butter, and pepper to mixture. With mixer, combine ingredients until well blended. Add cheese and mix with spoon.

Place potato mixture into a medium sized plastic bag. Twist bag (bag should appear as a pastry bag) with scissors, clip the corner off the end of the bag. Squeeze the potato into each shell. place on cookie sheet and bake another 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and light brown crust forms on top of potatoes.

Artichokes
Original recipe courtesy of California Artichoke Advisory Board

Wash artichokes under cold running water. Cut off stems at base and remove small bottom leaves. Stand artichokes upright in deep saucepan large enough to hold snugly. Add 1 teaspoon salt and two to three inches boiling water. (Lemon juice, herbs, garlic powder or onion powder may be added, if desired.) Cover and boil gently 35 to 45 minutes or until base can be pierced easily with fork. (Add a little more boiling water, if needed.) Turn artichokes upside down to drain. Cool completely; cover and refrigerate to chill. Makes 4 artichokes.

Baked Tomato-Basil Mahi Mahi over Saffron Risotto with Sauteed Mushrooms

2007-05-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of friends over for dinner, and we were tired of steak. It was hot today. Something "light" sounded good.

Saffron Risotto

Mahi-Mahi

We're serving the fish with a balsamic tomato-basil sauce we discovered yesterday and absolutely loved.
*****************************************************

This was phenomenal. The fish was just a little bit rare, so it was nice and juicy, and basically fell apart in the mouth. The tomato-basil topping complimented the fish perfectly.

The risotto was good, if a little bit salty. I expect this is because we had to use chicken boullion instead of actual chicken stock.

I believe the cheese on top was manchego, but my memory may be failing me on that.

La Capitane Chateau de Bel 2005 Bordeaux Superieur

2007-05-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

We cracked this bottle with bison sirloins, baby broccoli, and tomato-basil pasta.

This was very tight when first opened. High-toned alcohol burn on the nose, which mellowed a good deal as this opened up. General fruit. Cherries come to mind, but we got some of those at the farmers market the same day, so that may be association.

For some reason this is reminding me of a cab. There's a tartness that sticks around the edges of the tongue for a bit. It's very clean in a way, though. I can't pretend to know enough about bordeaux to say if this is an odd one or a standard one. I like it though.

Balsamic Tomato-Basil Pasta

2007-05-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

We went to the local farmers market today. I love this place. Especially now that the summer fruit 'n' vegetable season is coming back around.

So here's what we came up with:
Original Recipe at Recipe Zaar.

We're having this with bison sirloins and baby broccoli.

Notes:

First of all, we were only cooking for two. This recipe is supposed to be for 8 servings. We halved everything, ate moderate sized portions, and had one good serving left over.

Beyond that, I really don't have any suggestions for this. It' similar to bruschetta, but has a little more body to it. In fact, Lisa wants to try it chilled on some crusty bread.

This was delicious.

The Key

2007-05-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

This will give you, possibly, a little bit of insight into what the hell we're talking about.

Beer Rating System
This sysem is taken from RateBeer.com

Aroma (A): 10 pts.
Appearance (L): 5 pts.
Taste (T): 10 pts.
Pallate (P): 5 pts.
Overall (O): 20 pts.

The "Overall" score is closely related, but not necessarily dependant, on the other score aspects.

Bear in mind, this is not an exact science. Certain catergories mean more to some than to others. This is just a kind of guide.

Wine
Our approach to wine is fairly organic. We don't have anything even remotely resembling a numeric scoring system. We tend to associate our wines with food flavors. Big surprise. If you want to know which wines we've decided we like, please check out the Wine List. Browse the wine tags to peruse some of our reactions to the various wines we've tried.

Achel

2007-05-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

One of the more flavourful blondes I have ever had...

From my Southern Californa Stone/Alesmith/Pizza Port/etc. background, I have strayed away from the smaller bottles of beer. On a whim, I decided to pick this Achel Trappist Blonde Bier beer up. It has turned out to be the most flavourful yet inoffesnive blonde ales I have ever tried. If you have no beer experience outside of the big American macrobrews, I would recommend THIS as the first transitional beer experience. Previously, it was Delirium Tremens. In terms of distribution, I can find Delirium much more readily than this Achel. However, if you do find the Achel, it is one of the best lighter beer benchmarks that I have found in over 200 beers.

The Ones that Did It Right

2007-05-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

These are the people and places that know how to do things right.

L' Opera, Long Beach CA.This is one of the "Pine Locations." Pretty hoity-toity, but with good reason. The decor is wonderful, the service is excellent, and the food is superb. They also have quite a scotch selection. I believe when we dined here I had filet mignon and veal cheek. The only downside is that they feature a live opera singer that sometimes stands rather close to your table.
What confuses me is that these people own The Madison as well, which made our Black List, and they're essentially right across the street from each other. I don't understand how the Madison stays in business.

Page Springs Cellars, Page Springs AZ. These guys are great. Their wines are unique and delicious, the atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful, and Carol, the tasting-room managar, is one of the most efficient, friendly people I've dealt with. If you're ever in Arizona, go here.

The Asylum, Jerome AZ. Located 1 mile above the verde valley floor, this restaurant has amazing decor, excellent food, and friendly servers. Not to mention you can see for 100 miles out the windows. Definitely worth the narrow winding roads.

Alegria, Long Beach CA. Another "Pine Location," this place serves some of the best Zarzuela de Mariscos (Cioppino) I've ever had. They did not, unfortunately, carry Mezcal, but our waiter was very excited when we asked. He was apparantly from the region. There was no crowd, it was quiet, the lighting was comfortable, and the service was quick and friendly (as evidenced by the weight of their margaritas).

Caduceus 2005 Primer Paso Syrah

2007-05-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

So we opened the Caduceus Primer Paso the other day, after a few weeks of barely controlling ourselves.

This is quite frankly one of the most interesting wines I've ever tasted. It is very obviously a syrah; Maynard has paid very close attention to structure here. There were, however, some very unexpected flavors from beginning to end, and the wine itself behaved rather oddly.
We did a small taste right after popping it open, before we decanted it. There was a warm, spicy flavor with a light initial alcohol burn on the nose. We were immediately aware of the orange flavors. The color was a heavier, earthier red than I expext to see in a syrah. We let it sit in the bottle for an hour or so before we decanted (preparing dinner in the meantime).
Allowing this to open up eliminated the alcohol burn, as well as mellowing some of the spiciness that was present initially. The orange flavor was still there, though it reminded us more of the chocolate oranges one might find at RiteAid. This orange flavor persisted throughout, though the overall character of the wine continued to change from beginning to end.

I don't know that I'd pay $30 for a bottle of this, but it's definitely a delicious and carefully crafted wine. Kudos to Mr. Keenan.

Pan Seared Alligator over Red Beans and Rice, Round 1

2007-04-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

So I had some alligator meat from ExoticMeats.com . . . . . . .

I've only ever had alligator one other time, and it was served chicken-nugget style. It was good. I would say something like an 80-20 chicken-fish.

I wanted to try to do something a little more interesting. For the second time ever, The Google failed to turn up anything very intriguing. One recipe involved marinating the meat in milk. Sounded weird.

So there's this guy named Brian that we run into fairly regularly at the Vin de Pays wine tastings. He's an instructor at the Pasadena Culinary Institute. I asked him how to go about making an interesting alligator dish. I few phone calls later I had an answer:

The Alligator

~1lb. alligator meat.
~1tsp. red pepper.
~3 cloves garlic, minced.
3 12oz. beers (IPA).
salt & pepper to taste.

Boil the alligator in the IPA for ~20 minutes. Slice into thin strips. Sautee the garlic in olive oil, but do not brown. Add alligator meat and red pepper. Cook at med-high heat for ~10 minutes.

Red Beans and Rice

1lb. dry red beans.
1 fist-sized yellow onion, chopped.
1/2lb. smoked ham, chopped.
~1 large cloves garlic, minced.
1 cup white rice.

Cook the white rice according to standard instructions. (We use a microwave cooker, which makes perfect rice EVERY time.
Sautee garlic in olive oil, ~5 minutes. Boil dry beans ~5 minutes. Add garlic, ham, and onions. Boil ~2 hours. If you can blow on a single bean and make the skin crack, the beans are done. There should be some liquid left at the end. If you want it to be thicker, smash some of the beans while the pot is still boiling.

Serve beans over rice. The alligator can go on the side or on top. I tend to prefer to mix stuff like this around.

Notes:
Every now and then, we fail miserably. But we still learn.

The alligator was bad. It had a "muddy river-bottom" flavor that the boiling was supposed to remove. I imagine we didn't boil it long enough. Brian had said ~20 minutes, which we did, so I'm imagining more like 30-45 minutes. The meat was also a bit chewy, which longer boiling would theoretically correct.

The pan searing seemed boring. We ended up with muddy flavored, spicy meat. I would use less red pepper, and some other spices to add complexity.

One interesting idea that Casey came up with was kind of "east meets west and somewhere in between." It might be interesting to do this as a stir fry with a little bit of sesame oil and green onion. And more garlic.

Too much red pepper. It wasn't too spicy, it just didn't work.

We'll be trying this again some day. If anyone knows how to make this work, please let us know where we went wrong.

Long Grain Wild Rice

2007-04-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

This recipe has been shamelessly stolen from Brownielocks, but only because it comes out perfectly every time. If you are associated with Brownielocks and don't want this recipe up here, please don't sue us. Just ask us to take it down.

Wash the rice thoroughly by running it under cold water in a
strainer.

Add 1 cup of raw wild rice to 3 cups of boiling water in a heavy
saucepan or pot.

Reduce heat and simmer covered for 35 to 50 minutes. (I like 45
minutes myself), or, just until those kernels puff open. Then, uncover,
fluff with a fork and simmer 5 more minutes.

Drain any excess fluid. If you like chewier rice, cook less
minutes.

Makes Approximately: 3 or 4 Cups of Cooked Rice.

(It all depends on how long the kernels are)

Zucchini Casserole #2

2007-04-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

This recipe is based on our original attempt at zucchini casserole. This is our second attempt . . . .

* 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 4 large zucchini, slice & quartered
* 2 cups grated smoked Jack cheese
* salt and pepper to taste
* 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or I tsp. dried
* 1 cup long grain wild rice

Cook the rice and set aside

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 9X13" baking dish.

Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté. Scrape into a small bowl. Melt the remaining butter over medium high heat in the same frying pan. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently until the moisture has evaporated and the zucchini is tender. Add the wild rice and ~1 cup smoke jack cheese and mix evenly. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes until. Add remaing cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Thoughts
This was a vast improvement on the original. The texture issues were dealt with in the addition of rice and by maintaining larger zucchini pieces.

A suggestion was made for adding bacon. Doing something like this would make this less of a side-dish and more of a main course. Another possibility would be adding mushrooms and sausage (instead of bacon). I'm thinking perhaps some sweet italian sausage or some chicken sausage.

The Black List

2007-04-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

If you find your name or establishment here, you somehow ruined our food and/or alcohol experience, and we hate you. Reserved only for the worst.
****************************************************

Coors, Miller, Bud, Natty, and Molson - If you don't know why these beers are on this list, you probably shouldn't even be reading this blog.

Denny's, Goodyear AZ - We stopped at this place on our way to Page Springs Cellars. First of all, I am still under the impression that Goodyear is actually just over the California border, rather than right by Phoenix. Google has been known to screw up at times, but we were also a little bit loopy by this point. There were drunken gay cowboys yelling at tiny drunken Mexicans while being heckled by slightly larger drunken mexicans. Stay away from Goodyear AZ.

Dave & Busters, Ontario CA - These people wouldn't let me in with my tattoos showing. Ok then, I'll spend my $300 elsewhere. The hell with you.

The Madison, Long Beach CA - This is a fancy-schmancy steak/italianesque restaurant on Pine. We made reservations a day in advance. We were given a hidden-away table in the bar when there was plenty of better seating. It was a full 20 minutes before anyone even showed up to take our drink orders. And it only got worse from there. Don't go here.

Oak Creek Winery, Page Springs AZ - The blush was CLOUDY, for christ's sweet sake. Everything tasted like syrup. This place is terrible. Being about 50 yards down the road from Page Springs Cellars, I don't expect these guys to stay afloat for too terribly long.

Barbecue Sauce?

2007-04-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

So every once in a while I try something completely experimental. Sometimes those experiments don't come out like they're supposed to, but are still delicious . . .

We had boneless pork ribs. We don't have a barbecue. So we did them in the oven. I decided to try making a barbecue sauce.

******************************************************
The original recipe is taken from Cooks.com:

BARBECUE SAUCE:

1 c. chopped onions
1/3 c. olive or peanut oil
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Cook onions in oil in saucepan until tender but not brown. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Then simmer 15 minutes. Pour over meat in dish and cover.
Bake at 350°F degrees until meat is done.

This needed to be pureed. Having solid chunks (the onions) just doesn't work for a bbq sauce, at least visually. Also, the sauce seemed a bit too thin.
******************************************************
Changes:

First off, parboil the ribs. We used Full Sail IPA. We had 5 ribs, and used 3 beers, plus a little bit of water to make sure the ribs were covered. We parboiled for ~45 minutes

BARBECUE SAUCE:

1 c. chopped onions (slightly less than 1 whole medium yellow onion)
1/3 c. olive oil
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce (I used ~1/3 of a 29 oz. can)
1/2 c. water (I used the beer/water from the parboiling pot)
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice (~1 whole medium lemon)
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp Chipotle Tobasco Sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely minced

Cook onions and garlic in oil in saucepan until tender but not brown. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Then simmer 15 minutes. Pour over meat in dish and cover.
Bake at 350°F degrees until meat is done. ~20 minutes.

For bbq sauce:
This sauce was delicious, but it WASN'T a barbecue sauce. For an actual bbq sauce, I would double or even triple the amount of brown sugar and Worcestershire. I also think the addition of some white vinegar and cayenne pepper would be good too. The Chipotle Tobasco was good, but I would keep it at a low amount, as the chipotle could easily overwhelm the other flavors going on. Again, this needed to be pureed. Also, I would maybe simmer it a bit longer to further thicken it.

For regular sauce:
This was actually quite delicious, even if it wasn't really bbq sauce. As it was done this time, it would be wonderful on chicken or in a breakfast hash.

Road Trippin'

2007-04-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

If you don't know who Tool is then the beginning of this story won't make sense.

Maynard James Keenan has decided to try his hand at winemaking. If his dedication to his winemaking craft is anything like his dedication to his musical craft, we're in for some interesting wine.

He's dubbed his winery Caduceus, after the ancient symbol of the same name. The wine can only be purchased online, and is produced in very small batches which sell out quickly.

Well, god damnit, we wanted to try it. Caduceus is produced at a place called Page Springs Cellars in Cornville, Arizona, which is basically the middle of nowhere.

I smell road trip.

Lisa, Casey and I loaded a bunch of crap in the car and took off. I think we literally had the idea on thursday and left on friday. At least the winery wasn't in Maryland or something. Still, this wine better be good.

Caine has left out a few of the finer moments of the Journey, so Lisa, in Green, will fill in occasionally. The evening began as one that teetered between rush and deliberate slowness... we knew that if we left too early, we'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere for hours. Friday was the first day of the Long Beach Grand Prix, so once we left downtown, we would not be able to return. This was a good portion of the reason we decided to skip town.

We enjoyed a leisurely meal of Lemon Chicken (a recipe of Casey's invention), fooled around in the grocery store stocking up on road-munchies, and meticulously cleaned the windows of the car while we gassed it up at a lowly $3.19 a gallon. At last, Redbulls and Monsters in hand, we were off.
We left at about 8:30 pm. En route, just over the California border and right around 2:30 am I think, we stopped at a Dennys in Goodyear, where some drunken gay cowboys almost got in a fight with some tiny drunken mexicans while being heckled by some larger drunken mexicans. Everyone was very loud. I don't recommend Goodyear, Arizona.

I think this warrants further explanation, though I'm pretty sure you had to be there. I've been to many Denny's at many a different hour, and to arrive at a Denny's any time shortly after they kick everyone out of bars is never a good idea. Oops. So we knew better. The entire staff, with the exception of the night manager, had to have been exactly or nearly 18 years old. You know what? Nevermind... you had to have been there. Maybe Casey can give the story a try...
Don't go to Goodyear, Arizona.

We arrived on a semi-paved road in the middle of nowhere at about 5:30 am. The winery doesn't start tasting until 11, and we couldn't check in to our "hotel" until noon.
This is the "stuck" we were afraid of.
So we slept on the motel lawn.
But before that, well before that, we parked and waited for a spectacular desert sunrise ('cause goddamnit, Lisa, you need to take some goddamn pictures!). But we started too early.
This is what happened right before the beautiful desert sunrise, which I was too cold and tired to photograph.
See how tired and cold I was?

Having nothing else to do, we decided to locate our motel and kill some time with some breakfast (anywhere but Denny's). We found the road to Cottonwood, Arizona and drove down the one main street, and found the one open business in town. When we walked into the Diner, we faced a room of about a dozen old locals, guys in their 70's in trucker hats - no joke. After a leisurely breakfast, we were dismayed to learn that it was only about 7:15am, so we asked our waitress what there was to do in town to kill a few hours. She responded, "Oh, y'all aren't from Cottonwood?" She and the other waitresses conferred briefly and directed us to Montezuma Castle National Monument, which is a 1000 year old cliff dwelling. Casey and I were interested, so we left the ailing Caine in the car while we ventured out. They wanted five bucks to get in! Five bucks! Okay, it's not a lot, and it's for a good cause, but we had limited cash (and even less energy), so we decided not to go in. The park ranger saw us turn to leave, and told us to visit Montezuma Well. What luck!
When we arrived, we were the only people within earshot. The parking lot was empty. Woo hoo! It was still probably only about 9:30am at this point, so again, with Caine napping in the car, Casey and I headed out on our 1/3 mile circuit along the path.

The path led us up a slow rise with enough height that you could see for miles. It was loverly, in spite of the uphill part.
THEN we slept on the motel lawn. I slept while Casey and Caine sat around and got sunburned. Check in was at Noon, we arrived on the motel lawn at about 10:15.
After showers and naps (and more Redbulls!) we were ready to head to Page Springs. Carol, who was running the tasting, informed us that, unfortunately, none of the Caduceus blends were available for tasting, nor could they be pre-ordered at the winery, only online. So instead we sat down to some of Pages Springs endeavors. Carol was awesome, and though it was crowded and she was the only person working, she managed to keep everything running smoothly and be friendly and conversational with everyone at the same time. We picked up the Vino de Barrio and the Knight's Valley.
Page Springs was more than perfect. After hours and hours of sleep deprivation and extreme boredom, we were treated to a shaded, breezy patio and a sunny day that felt about 75 degrees. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was perfect. We sipped some unusual but delightful wines, and felt at last relaxed to have finally reached our destination. Finally, no more waiting, no more rushing. It was wonderful.

There were actually a couple of other wineries very close by, so we stopped in there as well.

Stay away from Oak Creek Vineyards. Everything we tried was terrible. The blush was cloudy, and everything tasted syrupy but othwerwise completely boring. We really probably should've guessed by the five wines for $5 deal, but here we were, so we kind of had to. The wine was downright gross... not in a two buck chuck sort of way, either.

Javelina Leap, on the other hand, was quite good. We ended up picking up a bottle of petite syrah from them. We met some beer enthusiasts at this place, too, which only enhanced our impression.

While we were wrapping things up at Page Springs, I had asked Carol if she could direct us towards a good place to eat. She sent us about 10 miles west to the mountain-town of Jerome, whose Jerome Grand Hotel boasts a restaurant called The Asylum.

First of all, Jerome is a little hippie town 1 mile up the side of a mountain. It used to be a mining town, but then part of it caught fire and slid down the mountain. When I say the side of a mountain, I mean it. The roads are narrow, and the switch-backs are constant. Needless to say, it could be a bit unnerving. The view from the hotel/restaurant, however, is well worth it. You can easily see 70-100 miles, all the way across the Verde Valley. The Asylum is phenomenal. There wasn't a single double take when we walked in, we were seated immediately, and our server was awesome. The atmosphere is extremely relaxed and quiet, though they seem to market it as a place where it's ok to get a little rowdy. Relaxed and quiet, yes, but definately a fine dining establishment. I myself had the filet mignon, and even through the cold I came down with starting Friday, it was delicious. It could have been rarer, but that was completely my fault. Rare means something entirely different to me than it does to the rest of the world. The snap peas were perfect. Casey had a shrimp scampi over spinach pasta that I almost wish I had gone for, and Lisa had spinach pasta with vegetables that had to have been locally grown. We had a bottle of Page Springs Vino de la Familia with dinner, and it complemented everything. Many thanks to Carol over at Page Springs for the recommendation, and if anyone is ever in the area, you should most definitely eat there.
We then went back to the hotel and passed out. I think it was 7:30 or something. The next morning we got up early and headed toward Tucson to see an old friend of mine from college. We hung out with him for a while and then started the long journey homeward, with a convenient stop, after miles of nothingness on the 8, in Carlsbad to check out Pizza Port Brewing, one of the labels we've taken a shine to here at Bread and Water. Turns out, their pizza's pretty good too.No, no, no, first, we JOURNEYed through hundreds of miles of desert and saw many sights. There were hills, dust storms, an overturned recreational vehicle, SAND DUNES! Enjoy the rest of the photos at Lisa's photo-blog, The Business of Expression. Then we ventured to O'Brien's Pub,where the on-tap beer selection is unmatched. Upon our 7:30pm arrival we learned that they close at 5 on Sundays. Crap!!! So another half-hour later, we got to Pizza Port in Carlsbad. They just happened to be out of the beer that we went there specifically to try, and to top it off, 2/3 of their taps were out of commission because of construction. But our spirits were undampened. It turns out that if you have serious sleep deprivation and about three pints of great, supper hopped beer, it really doesn't matter anymore.

We tried a good number of wines over the weekend. Here are the one's that caught our collective eye:

Caines notes:
2005 RSL Syrah: nose showed plums and cherries. there is a definite alcohol burn in the nostrils. This tended to mellow as it opened.

2005 ECIPS: This was a light, dry wine, with a candied-fruit smell on the nose.

2005 Vino Del Barrio: This had a very straightforward, fruity nose. I got hints of cherries and very light chocolate.

2004 Knights Valley Lawer Vineyard Syrah: This was by far my favorite. I smelled plums and dark chocolate. This was almost portish in a way, though it's most definitely a strong syrah.

Tripel Dipsea

2007-04-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon I'm sitting down to a Marin Brewing Company "Tripel Dipsea" Belgian Style Ale, which is amped up on the yeast and hops.

Head is light and disappears quickly. This produces a VERY light fruit aroma which, lucky for me, doesn't translate into a real sweet beer. Color is medium, rich brown, with little to no sediment

The flavor is awesome. I tend to think of Belgian Tripels as very light, and this is anything but. It isn't heavy like an Old Viscosity, but it has plenty of flavor. The yeast, I think, is what stands out most. In a way this reminds me of Delirium Nocturnum, but is a little more sweetly viscous. Very good mouth feel. The alcohol has just the slightest tendency to overpower some of the other flavors in here.

-Caine

Zucchini Casserole

2007-04-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

So we did a fairly quick and easy dinner last night. Our one experimentation was with this recipe, which I think was good but needed some work. Our notes will follow the original recipe, which we present here courtesy of Karen's Gourmet Low-carb Recipes:

* 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 lb. zucchini, trimmed and sliced 1/8-inch thick
* 1/2 cup grated Jack cheese - hot pepper is good!
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or I tsp. dried

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish.

Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is translucent. Scrape into a large bowl. Melt the remaining butter over medium high heat in the same frying pan. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring frequently until the moisture has evaporated and the zucchini is tender. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. Add the onions and pulse once. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden.
****************************************************************************
Our notes:

So this tasted very good, but had what we're calling a "consistency issue." Part of the problem is that we don't have a food processor and ended up using our blender, which turned the ingredients into a very light-green goop. If you don't have a food processor, I'd suggest dicing the zucchini, or just leaving it in 1/8" slices.

We had some long grain wild rice on the side, and it was discovered that it went VERY WELL with the casserole. Next time we try this we'll probably put the wild rice in with the casserole while it bakes. I'm assuming this will mean under-cooking the rice initially. Of course, doing this completely destroys the low-carb thing the original had going on, but we aren't keeping this blog for the "health conscious" individuals among us.

Perhaps a bit more salt.

We'll definitely be trying this recipe again eventually, so check back. We'll let you know how it goes.

-Caine

The Wine List

2007-04-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

For reasons that, if you know us, need no explanation, none of us have the greatest memory. To counteract that, I present here The Wine List, those wines that we find the most enjoyable. In keeping with The Gillett Beer List, these are in no particular order whatsoever. New entries will be in italic:

La Capitane Chateau de Bel 2005 Bordeaux Superieur (France)

Beaujolais Nouveau 2006 Appellation Beaujolais (France)

Toro de Piedra 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile)

Ciro Librandi 2004 Rosso Classico (Italy)

Sebastiani Alexander Valley 2004 Merlot (California)

Cartlidge & Brown 2005 Pinot Noir (California)

Ferrari-Carano 2000 Tresor Sonoma County Red Wine (California)

Ruffino Riserva Ducale Oro 1999 Chianti Classico (Italy)

Poggiotondo 2004 Chianti Superiore (Italy)

Amala Napa Valley 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (California)

Tezza Ripasso 2004 Valpocella D.O.C. (Italy)

Pedroncelli Mother Clone Dry Creek Valley 2003 Zinfandel (California)

Chatom Calaveras County 2003 Zinfandel (California)

White Haven Marlborough 2005 Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)

Frey Vineyards Organic Mendocino 2003 Zinfandel (California)

Domaine Venot Cote Chalonnaise Bourgogn Rouge 2003 Pinot Noir (Burgundy, France)

Rock Rabbit Winery Central Coast 2003 Syrah (California)

Avalon Winery Napa Valley 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa, California)

Poggiotondo 2004 Chianti Superiore (Tuscany)

Barricas 2004 Tempranillo (Argentina)

Finca Roja Neuguen Patagonia 2004 Malbec (Argentina)

Vina Progreso Uruguay 2002 Tannat Reserve (Uruguay)

Chateau Manoir Du Gravoux 2003 Cotes de Castillon (Bordeaux)

Chateau Nodoz 2003 Cotes de Bourg (Bordeaux)

Chateau Cedres Cuvee Prestige 2003 Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux (Bordeaux)

Bridlewood Central Coast Reserve 2003 Syrah (Santa Ynez)

Louis Martini Napa Valley Reserve 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (Nappa Valley, California)

Domaine Trapet Ostrea Gevrey-Chambertin 2003 Pinot Noir (Burgundy)

Librandi 2004 Ciro D.O.C. (Italy)

Tenuta Zicari Diago 2004 Puglis I.G.T. (Italy)

Terre Di Guirfo Maskaria 2004 Cerasuolo di Vittoria D.O.C. (Italy)

Page Springs 2005 Eldorado Roussanne (Arizona)

Page Springs 2006 Saigne (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 ECIPS (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 RSL Syrah (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 Vino del Barrio (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 Vino de la Familia (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 Lockwood Oaks Syrah (Arizona)

Page Springs 2005 El Serrano (Arizona)

Page Springs 2004 Carriage Vineyard Syrah (Arizona)

Page Springs 2004 Knight's Valley Lawer Vineyard Syrah (Arizona)

Caduceus 2005 Primer Paso Syrah (Arizona)

Javelina Leap Petite Syrah (Arizona)

Black Mountain Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir (California)

Gaetano D'Aquino Valpolicella (Italy)

List of Beers Tried

2007-03-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

By popular demand, I give everybody the Gillett beer list. It is in no order...at all. I'll add some ratings of very special beers, but this is the general list.

-G

Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale

Stone Levitation Ale

Stone Pale Ale

Stone 8^th Anniversary Ale

Stone 9^th Anniversary Ale

Stone Vertical Epic 04-04-04

Stone Vertical Epic 05-05-05

Stone Vertical Epic 06-06-06

Stone Smoked Porter

Stone Ruination I.P.A (10)

Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

Stone Double Bastard

Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Alesmith Speedway Stout

Alesmith Grand Cru

Alesmith Yule Smith (Summer)

Delirium Tremmens

Pabst Blue Ribbon

Samuel Adams Black Lager (20)

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Boston Ale

Samuel Adams Oktoberfest

Samuel Adams Hefeweizen

Samuel Adams Brown Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Porter

Sierra Nevada Stout

Alaskan ESB

Alaskan Stout (30)

Alaskan Summer Ale

Alaskan Pale

Kirin Ichiban

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

Corona Extra

Corona Light

Pacifico Clara

Dos Equis Special Lager

Pizza Port Old Viscosity

Guinness Draught (40)

Guinness Extra Stout

Bass Pale Ale

Victory Golden Monkey

Coors

Coors Light

Rolling Rock

Heineken

Heineken Light

Negra Modelo

Bear Republic Big Bear Black Stout (50)

BJ’s Blonde

BJ’s PM Porter

BJ’s Tatonka Stout

Newcastle Brown Ale

St Peter’s Cream Stout

BJ’s Harvest Hefeweisen

BJ’s Jeremiah Red

BJs Piranha Pale Ale

Oggi’s Black Magic Stout

Fosters Lager (60)

Michelob Ultra

Michelob Amber Bock

Amstel Light

O’Douls

Miller Sharps

Bud Light

Budweiser

Mississippi Mud Black & Tan

North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Miller Genuine Draft (70)

Miller Lite

Fuller’s London Porter

Bayhawk Hefe Weizen

Widmer Hefeweizen

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

Lost Coast Downtown Brown

Bayhawk Chocolate Porter

Maredsous 10

Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale

Baltika 4 Originalnoe (Original) (80)

Baltika 3 Klassicheskoe (Classic)

Tinkoff Zolotoe (Tinkov Lager)

Marin San Quentins Breakout Stout

Baltika 6 Porter

Hofbräu Münchner Kindl Weissbier (Hefe Weizen)

Paulaner Premium Pils

Schönramer Gold

Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Hopf Dunkle Weiße

Hopf Weißer Bock (90)

Reutberger Klosterbier Export Hell

Reutberger Klosterbier Export Dunkel

Schneider Aventinus

Pizza Port Sharkbite Red

Moylans Moylander Double IPA

Moylans Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale

Orval

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Schneider Weisse Original

Russian River Damnation (100)

Stone 10th Anniversary IPA

Erdinger Weissbier (Hefe-Weizen)

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

Westmalle Dubbel

Rochefort Trappistes 10

Green Flash Nut Brown Ale

Pizza Port High Tide IPA

Pizza Port Old Viscosity

Pizza Port Wipeout IPA

Ballast Point Dorado Double IPA (110)

Lost Abbey Lost and Found

AleSmith Horny Devil

Lindemans Pêche Lambic (Pêcheresse)

Schneider Weisse Edel-Weisse

Westmalle Tripel

Stella Artois

Trader Joes Vintage Ale 2006

Samuel Adams Cream Stout

Marin Hefe Weiss

Pizza Port Santas Little Helper (120)

Chimay Rouge (Red)

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Chimay Bleue (Blue)

Petrus Oud Bruin

Daleside Monkey Wrench Strong Ale

Wychwood Hobgoblin

Marstons Pedigree

Adnams Broadside Strong Original

Adnams The Bitter

Black Sheep Ale (130)

Meantime London Porter

Meantime India Pale Ale

Lost Abbey Avant Garde Ale

Affligem Noël (Christmas Ale)

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat

Anderson Valley Brother Davids Triple

Unibroue La Terrible

Wasatch Superior Ale

Delirium Noël

Ridgeway Lump of Coal (140)

Hofbräu München Original

Chimay Blanche (White)

Blue Moon Belgian White Ale

BJs Owens IPA

AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

Witkap Pater Singel

AleSmith IPA

Oggis Torrey Pines IPA

Anderson Valley Brother Davids Double

AleSmith J.P. Grays Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (150)

Lindemans Framboise

Alaskan Smoked Porter

North Coast Brother Thelonious

Allagash White

Ommegang Witte

Allagash Tripel Reserve

Affligem Triple

Allagash Curieux

Kasteelbier Donker

Allagash Grand Cru (160)

Corsendonk Pater (Abbey Brown Ale)

Moylans IPA

Moylans Hopsickle Imperial India Pale Ale

Moylans Irish Red Ale

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel

Heather Ales Fraoch

Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA

Flying Dog Wild Dog Double Pale Ale

Avery Collaboration Not Litigation

De Dolle Stille Nacht (170)

Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock

St. Bernardus Abt 12

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye Ale

Youngs Dirty Dicks Ale

Delirium Nocturnum

Mickeys Fine Malt Liquor

Steel Reserve 211 High Gravity

Natural Light (180)

Flying Dog Wild Dog Colorado Saison

Hanssens Oude Gueuze

Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza

AleSmith Old Numbskull

Black Flag Imperial Stout

Flying Dog Extra Special Gonzo

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

St. Bernardus Tripel

A Treat

2007-03-20T10:32:00.001-07:00

So this last Tuesday we headed over to Vin de Pays for their monthly beer tasting. As usual, there were some phenomenal beers and there were some unexciting ones. We did, however, get the rare opportunity to try an as-yet unreleased specialty by Flying Dog which they're calling Extra Special Gonzo. It was brought over by Jared, a regular at the shop who has worked for Flying Dog in the past (and many thanks to you, Jared). This stuff was bottled on July 31 of '06, and is a twist on their Gonzo Imperial Porter , which had a figlike sweetness to it.

The ESG was dark, but beyond that had very little in common with it's parent recipe. The difference is that the ESP is brewed with Brytanomicies Yeast (no information available, someone help me out) and aged in new American oak barrels. This produces hints of lambic in here, a rather intense citrusy sourness on the front of the tongue. Coupled with this is the faint flavor of either soy or fish sauce, which is kept from being overwhelming by the sourness/citrus overtones, as well as by the light sweetness carried over from the original recipe. This beer is rather viscous. My one note for this recipe is that it needs a bit more carbonation to bring it down a little.

This isn't a beer I would buy or drink regularly. It is, however, definitely worth checking out once it's been released. It's interesting, complex, and not at all what one would expect from a dark beer. I am tempted to buy a bottle when it's available just to let it sit for a year or two to see how it ages.

-Caine

Filet Mignon with Stuffed Mushrooms and Asparagus

2007-03-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

This meal was phenomenal. It could improve, but still.

The Stuffed Mushrooms:
For the stuffed mushroomse recipe, please refer to our previous post. Our notes for this recipe are here:

The stuffing needed a bit of salt to bring out the flavor. We used larger button mushrooms (they were portabello "stuffing" mushrooms) this time, which was definitely an improvement. On this round, we put a small amount of butter inside the caps, which solved the dryness issue we encountered on our first attempt. One reaction involved the slight hardness of the texture of the stuffing, which I am fairly certain was a result of the rice. We used long grain wild, which tends to maintain its solid texture. We were using thawed leftover stuffing, which may have contributed to this. In general, wild rice has a more solid texture, which I love, but isn't for everyone.

The Filet:
Filet is actually fairly easy, if you keep an eye on it. First of all, take the meat out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you cook it. It should be roughly room temperature (ask Alton Brown). We don't have a grill, so we did the filet in a high-heat cast-iron skillet. Do a light coat of olive oil on each side, with salt and pepper. Sear them in the pan for about five minutes per side ( this will produce a RARE steak of about 1-1.5"). If you need good timing on a more done steak, butterfly the cut or choose something a little thinner.

I sauteed some oyster and shitake mushrooms with red onion in garlic and butter to go on top of the steaks. This should take about 6-10 minutes. You pretty much want everything to finish at the same time, so it all stays hot. I won't hold your hand. Figure the timing out on your own.

On top of all this, I thawed some leftover red-wine-mushroom reduction sauce from an earlier meal (see previous post). It tasted ok, but I would suggest that you make it fresh. The re-used stuff just didn't have the same flavor. It was a bit more tart, and seemed to lose some of its consistency.

Another variaton tonight involved melting some Blue Stilton on top of the steaks. I don't know that it beats a reduction sauce with mushrooms in general, but it was definitely better than the leftover reduction. It really depends on your tastes. Blue Stilton melted on top of the filet has a very strong flavor, and compliments the meat extremely well.

The meat was just a little bit tough, but this was more a result of the cut of meat than any of the cooking methods. After all, the meat only cost us about eight bucks, but would have been a $30 apiece meal otherwise.

Asparagus:
Asparagus is easy. Chop the ends off the asparagus (or break them... hold the asparagus in your hand and bend the end 'til it breaks- it breaks at the tender part), blanch it in chicken broth for about 3 minutes, dump it in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes. Sautee it in butter and/or olive oil with garlic and parsley about 6-10 minutes. Unfortunately, we had to used some frozen asparagus, which doesn't taste any worse, but tends to be a bit mushier. I always recommend fresh vegetables over frozen. They were still good.

The Wine:

We inspired ourselves during the cooking process with Trader Joes 2006 Vintage Ale (Beer). It was ok, but I think needs to sit a year or two to mature. Right off the bat it just tasted like medium-dark alcohol with a very slight sweetness. 2005 was better.

Pre-dinner drink was Poggiotondo 2004 Chianti Superiore. While very good, it isn't what I would call "eyebrow raising." Very enjoyable.

With dinner we had Amala 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It's very smooth, but doesn't lose any of the strength one expects from a cab, and is actually one of the better ones I've tried.

Stuffed Mushrooms

2007-03-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, we made stuffed mushrooms with dinner. It was the first time we'd done it, as Lisa is just now getting to like mushrooms at all. They were good, but there were a few issues. Well, we're trying again tonight. For reference, here's a rundown on the first attempt:

Original recipe courtesy of Brownielocks
If you are affiliated with that site, please don't sue me. Just ask me to take it down and I will.

1 Cup of Wild Rice
2 1/2 Cups of Water
2 Teaspoons Butter
1 Clove of Garlic
1/4 Cup Minced Onions
6-8 Oz. Crab Meat
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Teaspoon Parsley
24 Medium to Large Mushroom Caps
1/2 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

Combine the wild rice with the water and cook it according to the basic recipe above. In a saucepan, add butter and melt and then saute the garlic and onions until tender. Add the cooked wild rice and crab meat to the pan and stir until the mix is warmed through (but not really cooked yet). Add seasonings. Mix well. Stuff the mushroom caps loosely. Place on a greased baking dish and sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese (or any cheese you love).
Bake at 400F for 10 minutes.
Serves: 5-6
(We assume one person eats 2 mushroom each!)

*************************

Caine's notes:

So the first time we did this, we used mushrooms that were far too small in general. I don't know how or even if this contributed to some of the other issues we encountered. The rice needed a bit of salt to bring out its flavor. The mushrooms also came out a little bit dry. To fix this I may put a small bit of butter in the caps next time, or perhaps brush the outsides.

Someone will post later with the results and thoughts on our second attempt.

-Caine

World's Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2007-03-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

The key to perfection in this venture is getting a hold of the proper ingredients, and don't skimp on the fat!

You need:
small (8" or so) nonstick skillet with a lid
Wonder White bread (or equivalent - no $0.99 grocery store brand)
Sliced American Cheese
Butter (real butter... if you're on a diet, don't eat grilled cheese sandwiches)

Put a generous coat of butter on one side of each piece of bread - this is the grillin' side. Use 2-3 (three is better) slices of cheese per sandwich. Use a low to medium flame, assemble the sandwich in the pan, and cover the skillet with a lid. This will help the cheese melt.
Keep a close watch on the bread (and don't be afraid to flip early - this isn't like red meat where you need to seal in the flavor). You want it to be golden brown. Burned bread destroys the sandwich.

For a tasty variation, try a triple decker grilled cheese. I learned this trick at Happy Hobo Cafe in north Long Beach. Often one sandwich is just not enough, so for a triple decker, cook a grilled cheese normally (grill both sides) then add another layer of cheese and bread, and grill. Simple, but delicious. I enjoy this variation because it yields a higher cheese to bread ratio.

Caine's Chili

2007-03-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

The best thing about chili, besides eating it, is how malleable the recipe is. Every time I make it, it comes out just a little different. But here are the basics:

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg spicy italian sausage
~ 3 tbsp chili powder
1 cup dry kidney beans
1 cup dry pinto beans
1 cup dry black beans
~4 cloves garlic
1 habanero pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 six back beer (medium-dark)

De-sausage the sausage.

Brown the ground beef and sausage in a cast-iron skillet.

If you're health conscious, drain the excess fat. If you're not, don't.

Chop the garlic. You can pretty much put in as little or as much garlic as you want

The peppers need to be fire blackened. This can be a pain in the ass if you don't have a gas range, because lighters take forever. After they've been blackened,mince them. If you don't like your chili quite as spicy, remove the seeds.

Add beer to a large crockpot. The whole six pack may or may not be too much. If it is, have a beer.
Add all ingredients and set the crockpot for medium and cover.

So you pretty much want to do all this in the morning or the night before. If you start the night before, leave the crockpot on low. At the end of the day you can turn it up to finish the cooking if you need to. The secret to chilli is letting it slow cook all day.

A note on the beer: You can use water if you like, but I've found that beer adds all kinds of great flavor. I do NOT, however, recommend using Guiness. It was just too much, made the chili much too heavy.

I know, this sounds retardedly simplistic. Like I said, chili is easy. The adventure is in changing recipes around and trying different flavors. I like my chili spicy, which is where the habanero comes in (though it does add a great subtle flavor). In the past I've even tried using ground veal instead of beef, which I don't recommend. Veal simply doesn't have enough flavor to compliment all the other things going on.

A few people that have tried this recipe have suggested diced tomatoes, which I have yet to try. Tomatoes just seem like more of a stew type of thing.

-Caine

Llama Steak

2007-03-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

So my brother-in-law went to Exotic Meats and bought me a bunch of game meat for christmas. An awesome gift for someone like me and many thanks to you, Danny. One of the things he got was llama steak, which I didn't cook for a good long while because I had no idea how it behaves in the kitchen. Unfortunately, even The Google failed to turn up any real useful information on preparation methods. If anyone ever actually reads this blog and has some info I don't, please forward it. That being said:

I essentially treated this like a filet. Llama is very lean, yet for some reason didn't cook nearly as quickly as I imagined. I pan seared them in a high-heat cast iron skillet with nothing more than a little salt and pepper (don't forget to put just a little olive oil on the steaks first), maybe five minutes to a side. Again, llama is lean, so there won't be a lot of fat drippings. The steaks started out fairly thin, but they thickened with cooking, and in the end look very similar to filet minon and are similar in texture as well. It's safe to eat rare, but if you like your meat a little more cooked I suggest butterflying them. Be careful though, because like any lean meat I imagine it's easy to overcook. Quite good with a red wine reduction.

An odd side note: The cut I had contained what LOOKED like a layer of fat running laterally across the entire center. Turns out it's actually a layer of tendon or something similar. This makes me think butterflying might be a good thing with this meat, simply to avoid having to try to cut through this layer. I have no idea what the anatomical explanation for this is.

The flavor is very similar to beef, though richer and denser, and obviously gamier.

-Caine

Red Wine Mushroom Reduction

2007-03-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is my first successful reduction sauce. I had tried in the past, and just wasn't getting it. This is a fairly time intensive undertaking, and requires essentially constant monitoring.

Ingredients:

750 ml (one bottle) red wine.
~ 1 cup coarsely chopped mushrooms. I used regular button, shitake, and oyster, but experiment!

garlic, finely chopped. Most of the recipes I've found call for one clove, but I like garlic a lot. I'd say use three.

2-3 shallots, finely chopped.

1 cup chicken or beef stock (or veal?)

I used Little Penquin cabernet or some such, which is a terrible wine. Fortunately, when cooking wine, the quality becomes less important. However, a better wine is obviously going to make a better wine reduction. Just don't waste money buying fancy wine (unless you want to). Variations on reduction sauces sometimes involve port, which is extremely sweet.

Sautee the garlic and shallots in a medium sauce pan on medium low heat so as not to burn them. Add the mushrooms and sautee briefly. Add the whole bottle of wine and bring to a boil. Boil on medium high heat for about 2 hours (and don't leave, you have to monitor this stuff constantly). You basically want the wine to reduce to about 20-25%. Strain out all the garlic/shallots/mushrooms and set aside. Transfer reduction to a small sauce pan and add 1 cup chicken stock. Reduce for another hour at medium-high. Remove from heat and stir in about 1 tbsp. butter. You don't want to heat the sauce at this point, or the butter will separate. Done properly this will further thicken the sauce and give it a nice even shine. Serve immediately.

The mushrooms etc that were strained out and set aside can be used as a topper for the steak if you like. Be warned, the mushrooms will have soaked up a great deal of the wine flavor, and can be fairly overpowering. The re-used mushrooms weren't a big hit combined with the sauce, but used properly I think could be interesting (such as mixing them in to long grain wild rice).

Keep in mind that this is my first success with reduction. I'll be trying again, with some variation, so this post may well be added to in the future.

-Caine

Herro

2007-03-04T23:34:00.000-08:00

Food and alcohol. We love 'em. We combine 'em. And here, we talk about 'em. What do grasshopers taste like? How do you prepare llama meat? Where can I get a $12 dollar growler of dark beer? What's the best wine to have with halibut and white wine reduction sauce? These, and questions like them, are what we will be exploring here.

Feel free to add your own research, suggestions, or recipes. We always want new things to eat.

-The Management