Feast 38 – Pork Carnitas, Spicy Mashed Yams and Stewed Butternut Squash

This meal is entirely inspired by my son Ian. while home for the holidays, i was having a conversation with my wife about the tamales that i was making. two different kinds, chicken and pork, lists of ingredients. all of a sudden, my son just starts laughing uncontrollably. we look at him and ask what he is laughing about. he says “daddy, you said pork butt!” and starts laughing again. his first piece of juvenile humor, very quick start for just being three years old. now, every time i talk to him, he asks me to say pork butt (also in the interest of full disclosure, i am occasionally the one who brings it up). so, because of that, this week’s meal had to be centered around a pork butt roast.

in addition to being a damned tasty piece of meat, the pork butt or boston butt is relatively inexpensive. i like it slow cooked so it develops nicely and falls apart in the crock pot. very very tasty indeed.

this week we are making three dishes, pork carnitas made from the aforementioned pork butt, spicy mashed yams and a stewed butternut squash. my wife will be disappointed, lots of browns and brilliant oranges but no greens on the plate with the exception of the tomatillo salsa for the carnitas. across the board, every thing is a bit on the spicy side which appealed to me as well. i felt the need to purge myself from the inside and there is nothing like a blazing hot dish to sort you out proper. oh, and as an added bonus, i made homemade tortillas for the carnitas. simple, effective and tasty. would have been nice to have my tortilla press here but hey, limited facilities, blah blah blah.

Pork Stewing in the crockpot

the carnitas: I sourced the original recipe from epicurious, as one would expect if you have ever read my blog but honestly, a recipe really isn’t needed for this. Do you have a slow cooker? do you have a large chunk of meat? do you have spices? ok, we are in business. i modified proportions of ingredients to fit my tastes of course. start with a 2 pound pork butt roast and cut it into large cubes. drop the cubes and 2 quartered yellow onions into the slow cooker. season well with salt, pepper and dried oregano. cook until meat is tender and falling apart. i think my slow cooker may be inferior, the original recipe called for 6 hours, it took close to 10 until i was happy with the consistency. bottom line, cook it until its done! because of the fat content, you don’t need any cooking liquid over the meat as we did with the brisket a while back. this will cook nicely in it’s own juices and come out wonderfully flavored. the original recipe calls for the onions to be removed after cooking down the meat but i left them in, i like onions. serve out the meat with a slotted spoon to drain it on the way out. to serve, dice up a ripe avocado, some fresh cilantro and a nice healthy dollop of the tomatillo salsa detailed below. serve on freshly made corn tortillas.

Ingredients for Tomatillo Salsa

tomatillo salsa: again, i’ve made my share of salsas in the past so really didn’t need a recipe but here is a link to the original recipe. i modified this by adding 6 cloves of garlic, a bit of oregano and increasing the serrano peppers to 6. like i said, i like it a little on the spicy side. this was great with chips the day after as well. toss all your ingredients minus the cilantro in an oven-proof pan and roast in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. transfer the roasted ingredients into a large mouthed jar and stir in the cilantro. break out your handy dandy immersion blender and go to town. refrigerate until chilled.

Yams Fresh From the Oven

Spicy Mashed Yams: This recipe was intended as a puree but i backed off on the liquid ingredients to give it more of a mashed potato consistency. also, i soaked the dried peppers in hot water for thirty minutes before adding to the recipe. sourced from epicurious but modified along the way. here is how i made the dish. bake four large yams at 375 for a little over an hour. they should be soft and a bit mushy by that point. carefully remove them from your baking dish and peel them. the skins came right off for me but i think i may have earned an extra layer of calluses from the heat. be careful, these puppies are hot right out of the oven. set aside. in a large pot, boil the reconstituted dried peppers (Guajillo peppers in my case) in 1/2 cup of heavy cream. watch it closely, you don’t want to scorch the cream. once it comes to a boil, carefully transfer in the yams and 2 tbsp of butter. stir well and then hit it with the immersion blender to smooth it out. salt to taste and heat on medium low heat until ready to serve.

Stewed Butternut squash: ok, this is a recipe that i just had a concept for and kinda just went at it. i knew i wanted a squash dish this week and butternut seemed the way to go. first, take a butternut squash, peel it and deseed it. cut the usable flesh into large chunks. then, boil the squash in chicken broth for about 15 minutes or until it starts to soft. strain out the majority of the chicken broth and add in 6 diced jalapenos and 2 diced tomatoes. salt and pepper to taste. stir well and cook slowly until everything else is ready to serve.

the tortillas: there are plenty of recipes out there for tortillas, such a basic food, you would think there wouldn’t be much variation. well, the addition or non-addition of lard seems to be the biggest difference. i opted this time for a basic recipe, 2 cups of masa, 1 1/3 cups water and a sprinkle of salt. bring the dough together and knead until combined well. separate into small balls and form into flat circles, as flat as you can get them. using two plastic bags and a rolling pin was an okay method but i think i would definitely prefer to have a tortilla press to take the pain away. once the tortillas are formed, fry on a dry griddle for about a minute per side, turning twice. the tortillas should puff up after the first flip if you are on the right track. mine were passable but definitely not the best tortillas i have ever eaten. i made them extra large and the were quite suitable for holding carnita ingredients.

Meal Plated

alongside this fine meal, i made some quite decent michiladas. there is a korean beer called Black Beer Stout and although it is a far cry from a stout, it is passable as a black lager and as such, was a great starting point for a chilled glass with a salted rim, wedge of lime and sprinkling of tabasco.

another tasty meal down, 10 more to go. i feel the pressure to make sure i give these last meals my all, making sure that i get out all that i want to say. it’s strange to me, this project started with a limited shelf life but in the end i think i will miss the process of sharing my weekly exploits. i certainly won’t miss the reason i am doing it, being back with my family will probably make me forget all about it i have been discussing a transformation into a long form project but i will have to see how that develops.

Feast 37 – Marinated Quail, Mushroom Ragout and Pasta with White Truffle Oil

If a man is considered guilty
4 what goes on in his mind
Then give me the electric chair
4 all my future crimes

The inspiration for this meal came in two halves. First, over the years in cookbooks, on cooking shows, magazines, you name it, people have spoke in hushed whispers about the allure of the truffle. I consider myself an omnivore, a person who wants to have about every culinary experience that I can realistically accomplish. So truffles have been at the forefront of my mind for a long time. For us mere humans who still require a 40+ hour a week job to scrape out a mortgage payment and all that, truffles present a unique problem. They are extremely expensive. Not just a little but extremely. I’m normally not one to balk at a price tag when it comes to using the right ingredient for the right dish but here is where I draw the line. According to Wikipedia’s truffle page, the largest amount ever paid for a white truffle was $330,000 for a 1.5 kilogram specimen. That’s more than my house! So, I have struck the balance of economy and desire for exploration, settling for an experience with white truffle oil. Considerably more affordable, I believe I paid around $27 for a small vial of the pungently delicious stuff. A word of caution however, apparently there are a great amount of oils marketed in the US that don’t even contain truffles, only a synthesized chemical that is found in truffles that approximates the flavor. Luckily, the bottle I obtained was an Italian import and was indeed made with real truffles.

Secondly, during my shopping for last week’s meal, I came across quail in the frozen section of my limited grocery store. This intrigued me, I like to stretch a little and make the occasional dish that you wouldn’t normally find on the average table. It’s not the most exotic ingredient but definitely gave a bit of impetus to the planning and execution of this week’s meal.

One of my favorite chef/authors is Nigella Lawson. In addition to being stunning, almost as attractive as my wife but nowhere near that league I will have you know, she writes in an informal tone that makes me feel as if I am sitting around the kitchen chatting. It’s comforting and more in line with how I view food. It should be a pleasant experience, friendly, inviting. Not a strict set of rules and formulas (although those have their place). Focus on the end result, the pleasure brought about by the planning, cooking and eating. I try not to think of the cleaning up after, that is not part of the pleasurable experience.

Nigella Lawson’s book, How to Eat is a staple part of my bookshelf, one that definitely had to make the trip over here with me. so, with my two key ingredients in mind, I turned to Nigella for inspiration and was not let down.

I guess it goes without saying that the recipes for today’s feast can be found in the aforementioned tome. Aside from modifying the quantities of some ingredients, I followed them fairly faithfully. I decided upon three dishes, Marinated, Flattened Quail, Mushroom Ragout and a simple pasta with a parmesan cream sauce finished with truffle oil.

Quail, well cooked in the pan

The quail: you would think that the main dish would be the most time consuming but honestly, this is one of the easiest dishes I have made. Make sure you include enough lead time for the marinating, six hours minimum but twelve or more optimally. Start by spatchcocking the quail, cutting off the wing tips and removing the backbones. I pushed them down on the cutting board afterwards to flatten and they made a very satisfying sound of bones crunching. Pat them dry and season well with salt and pepper, both sides. Mix a marinade of a tablespoon of olive oil, a bit of fresh rosemary, finely minced, 2 crumbled bay leaves and in my case, 4 cloves of garlic (the original called for a single clove). Rub the mixture on the quail and refrigerate for the 6 – 12 hours mentioned earlier. Take this time to play some video games, watch some tv, recover from the night before, what have you. You are off the hook until about 45 minutes before dinnertime. Fast forward in time to about 15 minutes before dinner. Using a heavy pan or cast iron skillet, cook the quail for about 5 minutes, skin side down, until they color and juices well up on the top side. Turn over and sear the bone side for a minute or so. Remove to a holding area, keeping them warm. Deglaze the with 2 tbsp of red wine and 1/2 cup of stock (beef, chicken, your choice, I used the leftover vegetable stock from the mushroom ragout), ensuring to scrape all the fond from the pan. Reduce down to a thick sauce and gently pour a bit on each quail to serve.

mushroom ragout through a cloud of steam

The mushroom ragout: this is meant to be a stew-like consistency but I wanted something a little thicker so I could plate it alongside the quail and pasta. So, I lowered the liquid quantities called for and was maybe a little generous with the flour during the thickening stage. The only thing that annoyed me about the recipe is the call to use two pans, given my limited stovetop space, it was problematic but I managed it somehow. It was well worth it as the flavors developed independently in the two pans and mixed into a great final medley. Excellent result in my opinion. Basically what you need to do is to cook down 1 minced yellow onion, 1 thinly sliced red onion, 2 thinly sliced stalks of celery and 6 cloves of garlic in an even mixture of butter and olive oil, 1 tbsp of each. I’m not going to bore you with the interaction of the olive oil changing the smoke point of the butter and giving you the flavor advantage and cooking flexibility. You are pretty smart, you already knew that, I’m sure. Salt and pepper the mixture and when the onions start to brown, add 1/2 cup of red wine and 1/4 cup of marsala cooking wine along with a bay leaf and a bit of fresh thyme. Reduce this over medium-low heat until the wine cooks away.

Meanwhile, in another pan, cook down a large amount of mixed mushrooms, i used a mixture of white mushrooms and morells, in a similar mixture of butter and olive oil. add a sprinkle of salt and a nice dose of cayenne. you can leave these to reduce down until the moisture dries up and the mushrooms color a bit. then add a bit of red wine and marsala to these as well. reduce until the wine is incorporated. add the onion mixture into the pan with the mushrooms and deglaze the onion cooking pan with a splash of red wine. add a bit of stock and a tablespoon of flour to thicken. pour the sauce over the mushroom-onion mixture and cook for a bit until you reach your desired consistency. as i said earlier, i wanted mine to be plate-able so i used less liquid and reduced more than you would if you were serving it over polenta or rice.

Pasta in the pot

The Pasta: easy-peasy. bring a large amount of salted water to a boil and cook a cup or two of spiral pasta until al dente. turn off the heat, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. drop in a large knob of butter, about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream and a light amount of grated parm. you don’t want to add too much cheese, however tempting, as it will get a bit gooey on you if you overindulge and miss the point. plate the pasta and pour a light trickle of white truffle oil over it to finish. serve immediately or sooner.

Meal plated and ready to eat

what can i say, this meal turned out fabulous. i am amazed at the flavor of the truffle oil, it was very eye opening. the mushroom dish had a great little kick from the cayenne and had a very nice blend of flavors. the quail were succulent and juicy, a bit of a pain to eat because of the meat to bone ratio but very satisfying in a primal carnivore sort of way. i will definitely make them again. all in all, a quite pleasant meal.

Feast 36 – Peri-Peri Shrimp

During our time in England, one of my favorite places to eat was Nandos in Milton Keynes. It was a little bit of a drive and the parking could be complicated but without fail, the hot and spicy chicken would always satisfy. And so, in memory of those good times, i wanted to recreate a little of that magic here in the room for Feast 36… I opted for shrimp instead of chicken because the thought of quickly touch fried shrimp sounded absolutely delicious. I certainly wasn’t wrong there, they turned out fabulous. I started researching the history of Peri-Peri and it originates with the Portuguese colonization in Africa. The spicy coastal European flavors melding with the fiery hot native peppers were a recipe for perfection in my opinion.

Given the main dishes culinary pedigree, i wanted to keep it thematic so i researched other Portuguese dishes and came across Caldo Verde. This is the ubiquitous Portuguese green soup, a signature dish of the culture from what i have read. I thought that having a soup alongside the shrimp would have been a bit unbalanced for a plate so i decided to modify the preparation technique but preserve the flavor combination. So, i guess i made something new, well, new to me anyway. I leaned on the prep methods of a ratatouille and used the Caldo Verde ingredients to create a spicy flavorful casserole. call it what you will, i’ll call it tasty…

Peri-Peri Shrimp cooking

First, the Peri Peri Shrimp. I sourced this base recipe from epicurious, my ever reliable source of knowledge. I modified the peppers used in the sauce, using 4 habaneros and 4 hot red chilis, not weighing them but using what i considered enough to light the fire. I finely minced the peppers, seeds and all and mixed them in with 2 cups of olive oil, 8 cloves of minced garlic and the zest of a lemon. hit that with your immersion blender to get the peppers down to a nice puree and refrigerate for as long as you can keep it. the original recipe says that it really hits its stride at the 2 week mark, i look forward to using it then in another dish… i ended up letting mine mingle for about 10 hours in the fridge, it turned out pretty flavorful. the shrimp themselves take about 10 minutes so be sure and not start them too early in relation to your other dishes. melt 1/2 cup of butter in a hot pan and add to this 6 cloves of thinly sliced garlic. let these soften but not brown. add in a pound of shrimp, deveined, deheaded, tail on… squeeze the juice of one lemon over top and stir in a healthy dollop of your peri-peri sauce. stir fry until the shrimp turn pink and not a moment longer. salt and pepper to taste. plate and serve immediately.

Ingredients for Caldo Verde

For the Caldo Verde casserole, i took two thinly sliced red potatoes, 1/2 a head of cabbage (shredded thin), 2 links of chorizo (crumbled), 1/2 of a yellow onion sliced thinly and 8 cloves of thinly sliced garlic.

First Layer of Caldo Verde ingredients

layer them in a lightly oiled baking dish starting with the potatoes then the onions. drizzle a bit of olive oil and add fresh ground salt and pepper. then add the cabbage, the garlic and finally the chorizo. repeat these layers at least one more time. bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes. cut and serve immediately.

Caldo Verde fresh from the oven

you know, looking at the photos, its kinda silly to call it Caldo Verde since i used purple cabbage instead of kale or green cabbage. anyway, it tasted great, you should try it.

for a beverage, we went crazy and leaned on the spicy influence of the dish, forgoing the normal beer and opting instead for fruit juice. Mango juice to be exact. With copious amounts of vanilla vodka. so very, very tasty and perfect with spicy dishes. very refreshing.

Plated and ready to eat

I was quite proud of my restructured Caldo Verde. It turned out nicely, held its shape well and the flavors were amazing. I’m sure the soup is pretty good too, i have never had it but i will be going this route if i make the dish in the future. The shrimp had a nice kick to them, finger licking good but thats the nature of shrimp inherently in my experience. in retrospect i would have made a bit of pita or some other bread to sop up the juices of the lovely dishes but hindsight as they say…

another week down, 3/4 of the way finished. 12 more meals to go. hope you enjoyed reading.

Feast 35 – Synchronicity/Lomo Saltado

Odd the way that synchronicity pops up. While I was on vacation, I had been brainstorming on what dishes to make when I got back. I needed to have a bit of a plan in place to prevent an abject fall into meandering depression and inaction. What can I say, forethought prevents laziness. So, I started thinking about Peruvian cuisine and hit upon the idea of making Lomo Saltado. Great idea says i. and then, wouldn’t you know it, our dear friends invite us to dinner the night before I leave and what is on the menu? Lomo. Of course. Mike has the advantage of having the cuisine in his lifeblood, I almost feel bad about even trying to cook it but hey, I decided to give it the old college try.

Lomo is basically a south American stir fry. It is traditionally served on fries with rice on the side. Easy, one dish, tasty. I like it. The key for me is the marinating time. The longer the meat marinates, the more flavorful and tender it will be. Start by thinly slicing a pound and a half of sirloin into strips, cutting against the grain and at a slight angle. Against the grain will minimize the length of the connective tissues in each slice, increasing tenderness in the end product. Thank you mister Alton Brown for my continuing education in all things culinary. Place in a large glass dish that you have a lid for so that you can refrigerate after mixing the marinade. Add to this one head of garlic, peeled and crushed, a liberal pour of white vinegar, the juice of one lime, a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, a liberally sprinkling of cayenne pepper, a bit of ground cumin and salt. Refrigerate for 3 hours, shaking the dish every half hour or so to make sure everything is nice and coated.

Meat in Marinade

Meanwhile, turn your attention to your fries. Peel and cut 3 russet potatoes into fry shapes. I made mine relatively thin, make them thicker if that’s what appeals to you. I decided to cook them in two stages, first, tossed with salt and pepper and roasted in the oven for about 40 minutes to soften them. Then, I shallow fried them in hot canola oil for about three minutes until crispy on the outside, working in batches and draining well. Put the fries back in the oven, lowering the heat to warm or 200 degrees to keep them at a nice temperature while you finish everything else.

Fries cut and seasoned, ready for the oven

For the rice, I had a bit of spicy chicken broth from when I cooked down some chicken thighs a few meals back in the freezer so I decided to use it in place of water for the additional flavor. It was also pre salted so I didn’t need to season the water whatsoever. Bring 2 cups of broth to a boil and add 1 cup of rice. Stir in a small can of corn kernels and the remainder of the chopped cilantro left over from the bunch you mangled for the marinade. Cover and turn the heat off, leaving to cook for about 15 minutes. Fluff and serve.

Back to the lomo itself. This dish required a bigger pan that I had available to me but I made due with the biggest one I had. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large pan or wok if you have one. Stir fry the beef until it starts to brown and then add in 2 red onions, cut into eights and 4 red jalapenos, deseeded and cut into strips. Cook these until the onions begin to soften and then add 4 large tomatoes cut into quarters. Cook for another 5 – 10 minutes until the tomatoes are warm and start to soften. Serve over the fries with the rice on the side.

Lomo Saltado, Plated and ready to eat

There is something to be said about not just what you eat but where you eat it. While this dish was prepared well and tasted outstanding, I definitely preferred the lomo that I ate sitting beside my wife at the table of my great friends Mike and Jess… that’s an ingredient I am definitely missing here in korea. (no disrespect meant to eddie, he understands I am sure.)

Feast 34 – Back For More/Roast Beast

I have to admit that I have been putting off writing up this weekend’s meal. It’s not that it wasn’t good or that I didn’t enjoy making it… it was actually quite good and I certainly enjoyed making it. It’s just that this is the last real act of integration into my routine back in korea. I have been in denial about the whole thing and would honestly rather still be in Colorado with friends and family but the sad truth is, here I am, in korea, typing up a four day late blog entry. Almost early for next week

Anyway, pity party over, time to get back on track. First and foremost, this meal was highlighted by a singularly distinctive beverage. While on holiday, I had occasion to try Odell’s Bourbon Barrel Stout and it was so damned good that I had to carry one back to share with Eddie. This is the most amazing beer I have ever tried and I have had hundreds of different beers over the years. Aging in the bourbon barrels imparts the stout with a deeply resonant flavor and the head has the light taste of bourbon. A fine sipping beer, it has raised the bar too high for any other beer I am likely to have for the duration of my stay in korea. But damn, it was worth it.

Oh yeah, there was food as well… I wanted to make something that would stand up to the wonderful beer so it to be a beef dish. I poked around a bit and found a recipe for a garlic encrusted roast beef and that definitely fit the bill. Alongside this, I had planned a potato dish. While in Colorado, I also picked up a current issue of the magazine “Draft” and amongst the wonderful pages of beer information, there was an article on cooking with beer, specifically potato side dishes. A recipe from Chef Tyler Anderson of the Cooper Beech Inn was exactly what I was looking for, Smoked Potato and Beer Gratin. For a vegetable, I took Eddie up on the challenge of converting his opinion on Brussels Sprouts. Really, I believe that people who don’t like them have just never really had them fresh and well cooked. Frozen and boiled to death, anything is going to taste like crap. Forget your childhood and eat more vegetables people!

Roast Fresh from the oven

So, the roast beef… I started with a nice 2 pound roast, well, as nice as I could get here. Let the meat come up to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper the roast and brown all sides in a hot pan to seal in the goodness. Meanwhile, mix 1 cup of bread crumbs, 6 minced cloves of garlic, 2 minced shallots, 1 tbsp thyme and 1 tbsp marjoram. Combine well and add in 3 tbsp of melted butter, stirring well to make a nice topping. Coat the top and sides of the roast with Dijon mustard and plaster on the crust mixture. Roast at 375 for about 45 minutes until internal temperature reaches 125… I unfortunately forgot my probe thermometer back at home while on vacation so I had to eyeball it. Luckily, the timing worked out right and the roast came out great.

While the roast is, well, roasting, mix up a horseradish mustard mixture with 2 tbsp horseradish, 2 tbsp Dijon, 2 tbsp sour cream salt, pepper and rosemary to taste. Serve alongside the sliced roast.

Smoked Potatoes and Beer Gratin

For the potatoes, as stated above, I used a recipe out of Draft magazine which I will link here: http://draftmag.com/recipes/detail/38 check it out along with the entirety of the magazine, which impressed me greatly and has earned me as a repeat reader for sure. As expected, I made a few modifications based on my limitations here in korea and personal tastes. I don’t have a bbq available so instead of smoking the potatoes over woodchips as required in the recipe, I reached a happy medium substitute with some liquid some and oven roasting. Not exactly as prescribed but hey, I’m doing what I can with what I got. I also increased the amount of Tabasco based on my own taste for things a bit on the spicier side. Use your own discretion on that one.

Sprouts Cooking Away

The Brussels sprouts, simple, easy… as I did for my going away feast a lifetime ago, I tossed them in olive oil and liberally salted and peppered. Hot skillet on the stovetop, roast them until they are slightly charred on the outside, stirring often to ensure all sides are cooked well. The aim is an almost crispy exterior with a soft delicious inside. I always slice them in half to serve but I’m just a little retentive. Bonus points for a little grated Parm on top of them on the plate, this time I did without.

Roast Sliced and Ready to Serve

The meal was great, I know I say that about all of them but really, I probably wouldn’t be wasting my time doing this if I was making crappy food. I expect excellent food when I step into the kitchen and I spend the time preparing and executing the dish with an aim at perfection. I am my worst critic but honestly, so far I have done pretty well and not jacked any of the dishes up. Hooray for me.

Meal plated and ready to eat

You may have noticed (or not) that this posting is about 8 days late. Well, I have been in serious denial about my return to korea and not terribly happy about it. Sorry about that. This is the last sign that I have returned to routine, at least for another 102 days. So, excuse the double post, enjoy reading about the food and I promise that I will get next weeks meal posted in a timely manner.

48F Supplemental – Old Habits and New Friends

I suppose anyone who actually reads my blog and knows why i’m doing it is surprised by the fact that there was no post this week. yes, i am home, amongst those that love me and that i love. i am also in the midst of 3.5 weeks of decadence that i will be paying for in the months to come. and that is alright. i am at terms with it.

tomorrow, my lovely wife is driving me to fort collins so i might visit the odell brewery, one of my favorites. their levity amber ale is a force to be reckoned with and i hope that all my readers manage to give it a try at one time or another.

in the meantime, here is how i have spent the last week on vacation. enjoy the pictorial and please post a comment if you want specifics on any of the below. i would post a full review but hey, i’m on vacation. there will be time enough for postin’ when the drinkin’s done.

cheers,

Wasting no time, beer from the pub in the SFO Airport

Second beer in SFO pub

Anchor Brewery Winter Seasonal in SFO airport

Menu from Anchor Brewery in SFO Airport

Catching up with an old favorite from England

Read about it, had to drink it...

Hands Down, the most unique beer i have ever had... amazing...

great beer, going to cellar a couple for posterity...

There is a reason its called the Czar. check it out...

heavy coffee flavor, i liked but the wife did not...

wanted to get this one on tap at SFO but was almost as good out of the bottle

An old favorite, definitely worth a try

tasty but not the best beer i have ever tasted...

i really enjoyed this one, very smooth back end to the vanilla flavor.

russian wheat ale = tasty

very passable andworth the purchase

i like the russian porter, very very much...

ZOMG, beautiful woman and wonderful beer, i am in heaven!!!

somehow, not as good without the hottie holding it...

i loved the subtle berry undertones to this one, please check it out...

just finished this one, time to select and pour another fabulous brew...

Feast 33 – Intermission/Hawaiian Stromboli

it’s hard to believe that finally, after 230 days, i will be getting on a bus in about 3 hours and heading to the airport for my midtour vacation. this is a very good day, very very very good.

i made this last meal of the year for myself with the intention of using as much as possible out of the cupboards. everything left behind was likely to spoil during my vacation so it was definitely to my advantage to use up what i could. given the contents of my cabinets and my own peculiar tastes, here is what i came up with: A canadian bacon and pineapple stromboli with roasted red potatoes and zucchini on the side. quite nice if i do say so myself. as i have a plane to catch, i will be brief but complete.

the stromboli: i cheated a little here and went with store bought puff pastry. wimpy maybe but convenient yes. allow it to thaw for around 45 minutes before rolling it out. during the thawing time, make a quick tomato sauce by sweating down 1/2 of a yellow onion and four cloves of chopped garlic in a bit of olive oil. once the onions are nice and soft, add 1/2 a diced tomato, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes.

tomatoes for the sauce and potatoes chopped

let this cook for at least 25 minutes over medium heat so that the tomatoes soften and the sauce reduces a bit. you can puree it if you like but i was happy with the rustic texture. you can read that as me being lazy, i’m okay with that.

canadian bacon, post oven

meanwhile, grill 5 slices of canadian bacon in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked to your liking. be careful to not overcook, as the canadian bacon is lower in fat content than american style bacon, it will get tough and chewy. cut this into large but not too large pieces.

open a can of diced pineapple.

roll out the puff pastry, folding over and rolling out at least 4 or 5 times to get some nice thin layering. this will help in making the crust flaky in the end product. bonus points for brushing the layers with melted butter or olive oil in between folds but i didn’t have that kind of time today. something about a plane to catch.

filling on pastry

top one third of the pastry with first tomato sauce, then bacon and pineapple and finally some mozzarella cheese. fold over into a nice neat package and seal the edges.

Stromboli formed, pre-oven

bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until nicely browned.

and post oven

for the potatoes, i took the three small red potatoes that i had left over and tossed them with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, cayenne pepper and olive oil. bake in that same 375 degree oven until browned and softened, around 40 minutes. share and enjoy.

potatoes, post oven

i went simple with the zucchini and sliced it into thick slices, tossed it with olive oil, salt and pepper. cook it on the stove top for about 25 minutes until soft but not mushy.

Zucchini cooking away

simple meal, great results. a beer would have been nice but i didn’t feel like buying a six pack to leave in my fridge over the holidays. so, i had naught instead.

meal plated, ready to consume mass quantities

i will most likely post about my holiday meals but if i do not, the next feast is scheduled for the tenth of january. who knows what but i’m sure it will be cooked with the bitterness of a man who was forced to come back to korea.

Feast 32 – Self Indulgence/Hash Browns

There is no doubt, this meal is all about me… Eddie is gone on vacation, i am 7 days away from mine and i wanted to make something that i enjoy simply for me. this is a meal that i had been intending on documenting for quite some time as i have been making it on a fairly recurring basis. its my favorite weekend late morning breakfast and i hope you enjoy it as well. it is deceptively simple for just how damned good it is, please don’t stray from trying it out because of its simplicity.

Greg’s Hash Browns with Over Easy Eggs:

all you need for this one as far as cooking implements is a large mixing bowl, a box grater, a spatula and a frying pan. it makes for easy clean up and a relatively quick one plate breakfast that is satisfying at a real base level.

Start with a medium red potato and a yellow onion. Grate the potato, peels and all and drain of liquid. Peel the onion and grate it as well.

Potato and Onion Grated

Next, roughly chop three slices of bacon into lardons. Also chop 1/2 of a jalapeno and 1/2 of a habanero.

Chopped Bacon and Peppers

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the potato, onion, bacon, peppers, 1/4 cup of olive oil, a sprinkling of sage and a few generous twists of salt and pepper.

Ingredients mixed for hash browns

Transfer to a frying pan that is heated well over a medium high heat, around 5 1/2 on my crappy electric stove. fry for about five minutes or until the edges of the hash browns start to brown and curl up a bit. divide into two even portions and scoot to the back half of the frying pan.

Hash Browns spread evenly over the frying pan

Flip the two hash browns and fry two eggs over easy on the front portion of the frying pan, sprinkling with a twist of salt and pepper. about the time that you flip the eggs to cook the second side, top the hash browns with half a chopped tomato, a healthy dose of Tabasco sauce and grated mixed mexican style cheese.

Hash Browns and eggs cooking

when the eggs are done, transfer them on top of the hash browns and let cook for a few more minutes. carefully lift onto a plate and enjoy the decadent goodness. it could serve two people or one healthy appetite for a sunday morning.

Hash Browns with Eggs, Ready to eat

This meal is best served with a fresh cup of french press coffee while sitting on your ass on the couch watching whatever happens to be on. there is a certain pleasure to decadent indulgence served up with a side of sloth.

Did i mention i have seven days until my vacation?

Feast 31 – Ad Hoc Cookery

I find myself growing more confident in my cooking as the months drag slowly by. This meal is ample evidence of that confidence and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, proof that I have developed some skills over time. Instead of agonizing over recipes and following an exact formula, this week I simply developed a sketched outline of what I intended to make and proceeded to simply make the dishes. I had read through a few recipes and developed some thoughts on where I wanted the meal to go but at the end of the day, I just pressed on and made the dishes the way I thought they would be best.

As is the norm, I made three dishes this week, centered around the concept of a cordon bleu. To this I added garlic mashed potatoes because they go so well with this sort of dish, onion-sage gravy for the mash and a creamed spinach dish. None of these preparations are earth shattering but they are all very solid and provide a great meal without too much stress of failure. All in all, it took around two and a half hours from motivation to plating the dishes.

The cordon bleu: the first and largest departure from tradition was my meat selection. Traditionally, this would be made with a cut of veal or even chicken but the combined factors of cost, availability and flavor preference pushed me to use pork. I found a selection of top loin cuts that looked to be about the right size and a good ratio of fat to meat to ensure a tender and flavorful entrée. First step is to pound the pork cutlets out as flat as possible with the flat edge of your meat mallet. Be sure to work evenly and carefully around the edges to prevent any tearing of the meat. Any break in the surface and your filling will end up in your cooking medium which is not a good thing.

size comparison of flattened/unflattened cutlets

Once you have your cuts of meat flattened, set aside. While I was flattening out my pork cuts, I baked half a cluster of garlic in a 350 degree oven until the cloves started to soften. Once they are soft enough to mash, squeeze the cloves into a small bowl and mix with three tablespoons of soften butter. I got all crazy and broke out the immersion blender, mostly because I really like my immersion blender. It’s a toss-up as to if my favorite tool is the immersion blender or the crock pot, lets just say I have no plans to part with either any time soon. Now… take your flattened pork cutlet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and layer on one half of the cutlet a slice of gruyere, a tablespoon of the garlic butter, two thin slices of black forest ham and a second piece of gruyere.

First layer of filling on cutlet

Fold over the other half of the cutlet and press the edges to seal. I gave it a few taps around the edges with my meat mallet but use your own judgment on that one. Just ensure that it’s properly sealed and your melted goodness doesn’t end up leaking into your oil. I let the formed cordon bleus rest while I prepared the other dishes so insert a pause at this point and get everything else together. When everything else is cooking merrily along, bread the cutlets by dredging in seasoned flour then a beaten egg and finally, breadcrumbs. Fry in medium-hot oil until nicely browned on the outside, turning once to ensure even cooking on each side.

Cordon Bleu after frying

Transfer to a paper towel lined dish to drain for about two minutes before plating. Bask in the appreciation of your dinner guests.

Potatoes chopped for mash

The potatoes: The thing I like most about mashed potatoes is how damned simple they are to make. It’s a real hands off dish when it comes down to it. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in 4 medium sized red potatoes, cut into eights, unpeeled. Boil this until they begin to soften. If you pick one up on a slotted spoon, you should be able to break it apart with a push from a fork or in my case, a finger. Once the potatoes are soft enough, drain them in a large strainer. Return the strained potatoes to the pot you boiled them in and drop in 4 tbsp butter, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup heavy cream and six cloves of slivered garlic. Mix well with a hand blender until they have a smooth consistency and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with gravy.

Onion-Sage Gravy: this dish starts with half an onion finely chopped and sweating down in a bit of olive oil. Once the onion is softened, add flour (gauge the amount on how thick the gravy is, start with about 1/4 cup but adjust as needed… the liquid and flour balance is a tricky thing), a tablespoon of sage, and salt/pepper to taste. Stir the mixture over the heat until the flour begins to brown a bit. Then, pour in about a cup of milk and stir until everything is completely incorporated. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue stirring as the gravy heats up and comes together. Its critical that you continue stirring to discourage the formation of clumps in the gravy. Adjust seasonings as desired and serve over the potatoes.

The Creamed Spinach: this dish most of all expresses the ad hoc nature of todays cookery. I had seen a few recipes but in the end I decided that making a baking spinach dish was not all that deep and I could probably work it out. Take a bag of salad style spinach greens and blanch in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes until the leaves wilt. Drain well and transfer immediately to an oven proof dish. Put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes to completely stop the cooking, this will preserve the nice bright coloration of the spinach. While the spinach is cooling, sweat down a whole yellow onion in a bit of olive oil over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent. You want the edges of the onion to just start to brown but not completely caramelize. Your spinach should be cool by this point so remove it from the freezer and drop in the softened onion.

Jalapenos sliced for spinach dish

Julianne cut two jalapenos, one green and one red for color variation for a nice appearance in the finished dish. Add these to the spinach along with 1/2 cup of cream and a liberal twist or three of salt and pepper. Stir well to mix evenly. Top with a layer of breadcrumbs and dot with butter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Share and enjoy.

Spinach before topping with breadcrumbs

The watchword for today’s meal was subtlety. None of the flavors reached out and slapped you but each of the three dishes had subtle flavorings that carried the dish and made the overall plate a well rounded meal. I was very pleased with the results, especially the ingredients ratio of the cordon bleu. It is very tempting to go overboard with fillings on dishes like cordon bleu but with a nice thinly pounded cut of meat you get a much better balance of flavors by practicing restraint. The meal was topped off by another serving of the fine Leffe which is again the best beer available here currently.

Finished Meal Plated and ready to eat

It’s bittersweet that this is the last meal Eddie and I will have until next year as he is leaving on vacation this Thursday. Unequivocally, I am happy for him, a bit jealous that I have 13 days now to go and two meals that I will be flying solo for. Its strange, this project was original envisioned as a solo outing but fortune brought Eddie and I into the same orbit so it evolved into a shared experience. This does however offer some latitude in my next two meals, no real constraints in timing and only myself as an audience. So, I have decided to do a couple of non-dinner excursions, the first of which will probably be a Eggs Benedict with homemade English muffins and hollandaise sauce. Meal 32, scheduled for the evening before I finally fly home to see my family will be a dolled up version of a hash brown dish I have become addicted to for breakfast. I’ve been wanting to share it for quite some time and I look forward to giving it the “feasts treatment”.

Also, I plan on documenting the two meals I am making for friends and family while home, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve so be sure to check in over the holidays.

Bar Food 3 – Epic Failure

I appreciate irony. it makes me smirk when i recognize the world balancing out in a humorous way. it appeals to the cruel side of me. tonight, it’s a dish best ate cold to be sure…

so, now that the pool league season is over, Yumi, the owner of the VIP where Eddie and I play pool is throwing us a party, pizza, beer, celebrate a good season and have a good time. well, if nothing else, i was raised with manners. i couldn’t dream of coming to a party, even one in my team’s honor without bringing something… ok, food and drink are covered, no need to venture into that territory so… i decided to take a dessert. not just any dessert but a kick ass, in your face, giant new york style cheesecake. everyone loves cheesecake, its so decadent you feel like you need a shot of penicillin after eating it. so yeah, cheesecake it is. i went shopping today instead of my normal thursday shopping trip in order to make it and give it a nice overnight chill. all is well, great recipe from epicurious: New York Cheesecake, a nice relaxing evening of videogames, catching up with season 3 of Eureka and baking a dessert. hell, i even bought a brand new spring form pan specifically for the job tonight. i needed one anyway, or so i told myself.

oh, did i mention irony? yeah, i think i did. well, here it is… i make the graham cracker crust, line the pan and blend together the ingredients for the cheesecake. it looks good, smells good and tastes good (of course i try everything along the way, how else would i know how it’s going to turn out?)… the directions call for a pan underneath the springform pan in case of leaks… in case of leaks, hah! well, the only pan i have that is big enough for the job is my pizza pan. unless we have a leak like a failed dam, it should be plenty big enough to catch some drippings. so, cheesecake on the pizza pan, pizza pan in the oven. my pizza pan is a bit big for the oven but it squeezes in nicely on the rails that hold the racks in the oven. so, oven at 550 as required, cheesecake in the oven. 12 minutes, during the wait, i start reading the reviews of the recipe. numerous people are talking about how the top of their cheesecake was scorched by the high heat in stage one… well, i can’t have that, scorched cheesecake is not appropriate. nope.

so, i open the oven and…

the pan that i put under the cheesecake to prevent drips tilts forward, dropping the entire cheesecake into my oven, down the front of the door and under the heating element. it was there to prevent spillage and it ended up causing the whole damned thing to end up inside my oven! get it, isn’t it funny? oh, i’m laughing… i’m laughing hard.

wow, we get irony and sarcasm in the same post… you are lucky readers!

No cheesecake and i got to clean up this damned mess. yeah!

***ADDENDUM***
to paraphrase Kaelthas (sorry, wow geek moment) “New York Cheesecake was merely a setback”… i went ahead and made a pumpkin pie which is more of a pumpkin tart i guess in that it is free standing with a partial shell on the bottom. based on the recipe at epicurious The Ultimate Pumpkin Pie but i still wanted a graham cracker crust so guess what? i made mine with a graham cracker crust. its still cooling so i probably should have waited to transfer it but i’m impatient. i narrowly escaped cracking it, bad enough there is a blemish on top from my testing knife insertion that grew a bit. anyway, here is a photo, review to follow tomorrow after i actually get to try it.

oh, and did i mention, taking pumpkin pie to the bar means i will have to supply the girls with a can of whipped cream. if thats not the lead in to a bad porno, i’m not sure what is…

Pumpkin Pie cooling