Ok, get ready… here is the lesson that i learned over the last year, the one thing that cooking these 48 feasts has taught me… ready? suspense is killing me, i’ll tell you that quite honestly. here it is. The food is not the most important thing. i know, crazy talk, considering this is a cooking blog but the overwhelming lesson that i have learned is that no matter how perfect the ingredient, no matter how flawless the cooking technique, regardless of the precision timing of the preparation, none of it really matters without the people you care about. meals are just empty calories that keep you alive without the company of others. the meals, at the end of it all, are more about the people than they are about the food.

and so, for the capstone to this project, i decided to go with a twin bookend to the feast before the feast, the first meal documented in this blog… that meal was prepared for friends and family as a farewell on my departure to korea. now, a year and a bit later, i decided the most appropriate messure was to cater my own going away party, one last little treat for the girls of the VIP club and a bit of mindless self indulgence for me…

The menu is a bit varied on this one, two primary reasons… firstly, i was cupboard cleaning, trying to maximize use of what was in the cabinets to prevent avoidable waste. secondly, being the nice guy that i am, i asked the girls at the VIP what they would like me to cook, no limits, whatever, just name it… you can imagine my disappointment when the first request was for fried rice. a bit pedestrian for my tastes and being in korea, not exactly exotic. with some pushing, i managed to also get a request for hotwings, pasta and broccoli cheese soup. i added to those three type of bread (gotta use up that flour!) and there you have it, a full days cooking and quite a meal.

pausing for plane ride from Seoul to Tokyo, will continue to update this after i get network access again, enjoy the work in progress and ignore the rough notesw before, since i am in transit, i need to keep things somewhere…

Chicken Wings are one of my absolute favorite “bar foods”. they are convenient, easy to make and have an infinite variety of flavor possibilities. i owe a great debt to Alton Brown for my chicken wing prep method, it was he that first showed me the method of steaming the wings to defat them prior to the roasting step. because of my space limitations in my far away kitchen, i used a roasting pan with a rack elevated over an inch or so of water for the first cooking step. this method works admirably well and even given the options of stove top steaming, i am likely to continue doing it this way. For this meal, i made ten pounds of wings with two different flavor options. i decided on doing a mango pepper wing and a traditional Tabasco flavored wing. the first step for both is obviously the same, steam the wings in the aforementioned roasting pan in batches in a hot oven for about 30 minutes per batch. cool the wings. For the actual cooking stage, roast them in a dry pan at 375 for about 20 minutes, turning once. if they aren’t browning up to your satisfaction, well, cook them a bit longer

The Mango Pepper wings: this recipe resulted in my absolute favorite quote of the year. overheard after someone got their first taste of these fiery treats: “Those wings are a violation of the Geneva Convention…”. ok, i did go out of my way to make them a bit on the hot side. to my credit, almost all of them were gone by the end of the evening so they must have had some redeeming qualities. it was a source of constant amusement to see people’s reactions when the first taste gave them a little sweetness and then the fire kicked in and they rushed for bread or beverage. yes, i am easily amused.

(still updating, give me a break, back with my family and actually have a life again… i promise to complete the final entries in the next 48 hours)

Chicken Wings
-Traditional
-Mango Pepper

http://www.copykatchat.com/archive/index.php?t-27203.html

Bread
-Black Olive and Pepper
-Jalapeno and Tomato
-Black Forest Ham and Gruyere
Pasta
Fried Rice
Broccoli Soup

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-and-cheddar-soup/detail.aspx

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fried-Rice-354350

let’s get this out of the way… anyone who is confused at my unbridled amusement at the mere mention of PORK CHOP SANDWICHES!, please follow this link and then get back to me. after you stop giggling uncontrollably, continue on with the blog. if for some odd reason you fail to see the humor, perhaps my blog isn’t really for you after all…

ok, simple meal this week, the aforementioned pork chop sandwiches (which i will stop capitalizing, i got it out of my system now) topped with caramelized red onions, mushrooms and gruyere cheese with pan fried broccoli. tasty to say the least but simple on the relative scale of things.

everyone who reads my blog knows by this point that i love my slow cooker. crock pots are one of the absolute essentials in my opinion, they work magic on just about any type of meat. so, i took the three pork chops left in the freezer, liberally salted and peppered them and tossed them into the crock pot. add to this a bottle of sam adams noble pils and a bit of sage. cook for eight and a half hours, turning often. remove any excess fat and all the bones, not just the excess ones. drain and cool slightly.

meanwhile, slice up a medium sized red onion and about six white mushrooms. saute these in a saucepan over medium heat with a knob of butter until the onions brown.

once the onions and the meat is ready, slice up a few large slices of king’s sweet Hawaiian bread. toast the bread on both sides under your broiler. top one slice of bread with the stewed down pork chops and the onion/mushroom mixture. add to this two slices of gruyere and broil until the cheese melts. enjoy and try not to laugh about the video while enjoying your pork chop sandwiches.

I wanted something simple and understated to go alongside this but something quite tasty. that’s not asking for much is it? so, i settled on broccoli, touch fried in butter with just a bit of salt for seasoning. easier done than said, melt a large knob of butter in your saucepan and add in the broccoli, frying until the tips become crisp and slightly blackened, turning once and once only. serve immediately.

it was a simple meal but one that was very satisfying. it served the purpose of helping to clean out the cupboards and gave me an immense dose of humorous satisfaction. yup, i liked it…

(working on the laptop in the airport, having issues uploading the pictures, they are forthcoming)

well, bags to pack, posts to write, check out the new blog and enjoy…

“Heat Strategy,complete colleague average occasion show fish special picture side sequence consider build answer capacity security convention parent accompany labour baby limit spend press row method attach herself route link position none individual criminal time alternative value hill succeed detailed medical central listen shoulder wonderful cat must lift tour indicate generate sex access back drive just beginning heart chain strike lay second publication aircraft watch hide variation planning give sir answer income system representation advice care must member close story allow insurance increase tree somewhat intention woman able recognise suffer existing degree that boy”

read what meaning you will into it, i enjoyed it for what it is. its almost joycean in its beautiful randomness.

Scotch eggs with sausage layer formed

The Scotch Eggs: I decided that this would not be quite right without me messing about a bit with it. I decided to go with chorizo instead of standard sausage on the eggs, both from personal preference and hey, I’ve got three weeks until I pull up stakes and shuffle off the immoral coil. It’s all about the cabinet cleansing and using what is available.
So, for the three scotch eggs, bring a large pan of salted water to boil and add in four room temperature eggs. Yeah, I said four… you absolutely have to test the eggs for doneness and the best way to do that is obviously to eat one. So, add in one extra egg for your little chef’s treat, confident in the fact that you are doing it to ensure your final product is cooked to perfection. Boil the eggs for 7 1/2 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the eggs cool slightly and then run under cold water. Shell the eggs and rinse to remove any stray bits of eggshell. Meanwhile, dice up a shallot and cook until translucent in a bit of butter. Mix this with three links of chorizo, casings removed.
Add a pinch of mace, 2 tsps or more of fresh sage and the zest of a lemon. Mix well by hand, its very visceral and satisfying. Coat your three eggs in a thin layer of the sausage mixture, pressing gently to get a nice even layer with no breaks. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or so to set the eggs. Bread the eggs by coating in beaten egg and rolling in bread crumbs. Two passes through makes for a better crust, just try to not make too much of a mess. Deep fry for about 6 minutes until golden brown.

Scotch Eggs draining on paper towels

Slice in half to serve, warm or cold according to your preferences.

Filling the Pasties

Cornish Pasties: Reading the history of Cornish pasties, I learned that originally the crust was to be hard enough to withstand a drop down a mineshaft. I personally aimed for something a little lighter and flakier, if you recreate this recipe yourself, try not to drop them any large distance, they will likely not survive. However, if carefully transferred from baking pan to plate, they will taste pretty damned good. There is open debate on if the ingredients for a pasty should be cooked at all prior to filling. I took the middle ground on this and while all my vegetables were added simply sliced and raw, I seared the beef on both sides before chopping it for inclusion in the filling.
Take a 1/2 pound of a relatively nice cut of beef and salt and pepper both sides. Sear in a hot pan to seal each side, not enough to cook through but simply brown the surface. Slice into bite sized pieces and mix in a large bowl with one diced potato, one diced onion and a diced parsnip. Add salt, pepper and sage to the mix and set aside. Make a pie crust from 1 1/3 cup of all purpose flour, 8 tbsp butter, 1/8 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of salt and 2 -3 tbsp of ice cold water. Cut the butter into the flour with the other dry ingredients until the mixture starts to come together in a rough crumb texture. Add just enough of the ice water to make a workable dough. Knead well and then roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut rounds from the dough using a small plate as a guide. As I made 2 savory and 2 sweet pasties, I of course made four rounds. Layer these on a plate with a little dusting of flour to prevent them from sticking and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup of frozen peaches, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of sugar and the zest of a lemon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until most of the liquid is cooked out of the fruit compote. Cool mixture.

Pasty fresh from the oven

Fill the pasties with the savory and sweet mixtures, two apiece, leaving a 1/4 inch border clear to allow for a good crimp around the edge. Cut small slits into the upper surface of the pasty to vent steam during cooking. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 – 60 minutes, until the pasties are nicely browned. Serve and enjoy.

Cabbage cooking away

Creamed Cabbage with Bacon: This recipe is dead simple and extremely tasty. I am always struck when the simpler preparations turn out this good, again this was a dish that I just couldn’t stop eating, there were definitely no leftovers… using the pan that you seared the beef in, melt a knob of butter and sweat down a large thinly sliced onion. Using the same pan as the beef allows for all that delicious fond to impart a great flavor to the dish. Once the onion is softened and slightly browned, add in three sliced of chopped bacon. Cook until the bacon is almost done. The original recipe called for the bacon to be cooked crispy separately but I opted for the single pan method. Add 1/2 a head of shredded cabbage to the pan, stirring well to distribute the tastiness of the bacon and onions. Cook down until the cabbage begins to soften and then add about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Stir well and cook down until the cream develops into a lovely sauce. Salt and pepper to taste and serve nice and hot.

Meal Plated and ready

This was a great meal with really satisfying leftovers. I look forward to trying these in the future, probably with turkey sausage to appease my wife but I am sure that it will be tasty nonetheless.

So, three dishes, as per norm, starting with blinis and caviar, alongside Istrian Gnocchi with Truffle Cream and some Fried sauerkraut cakes with kielbasa to finish it off. Quite satisfying in an extravagant sort of way. Truffle cream and caviar in the same meal? Color me convinced. The three recipes were sourced from epicurious (go figure) and followed fairly closely. I did a bit of modifications on the Blinis, they called for using a pancake mix, I went ahead and made some savory pancakes from scratch and simply topped them with caviar. A dollop of sour cream would have been nice but unfortunately, I large plate of nachos the night before reduced my sour cream supply to zero. Such is life, it still turned out nice…

Blini on the griddle

The Blini: I went the simple route with this, mixing 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, a tsp of baking powder, a twist of salt and a drizzle of olive oil in a mixing bowl. Add to this a nice dash or oregano and marjoram. Stir well and cook on a hot griddle until the surface develops air bubbles. Flip and cook a few more minutes until brown. Serve immediately topped with chilled caviar and sour cream/smoked salmon if you have it available. I didn’t but that’s ok

Gnocchi formed and ready to cook

The gnocchi: The original recipe can be found here and I followed it fairly closely, just halving the quantity based on my solo dining. I think this recipe deserves a closer look, perhaps my technique was a bit off… my gnocchi turned out a bit denser than I would have liked. Instead of truffle butter, I used a fresh knob of butter with a drizzle of truffle oil to finish it off. Same basic principle and it’s what I had on hand… the flavor was outstanding, I am sold on anything with truffle oil, I can only imagine the absolute ecstasy that a real fresh truffle would bring. Perhaps it’s best that I never find out, I would probably be in very poor financial shape if I got too used to the flavor of truffles.

Sauerkraut Cakes frying away

The Sauerkraut cakes with Kielbasa: the primary issue I had with this recipe is that kielbasa is so damned tasty, I couldn’t help snacking on it, both cooked and uncooked. Just thinking about it now, I really wish I had some left over… mmmm, tasty. Anyway, simple to make and fairly quick. Drain the kraut really well and mix in the eggs, scallions, flour, salt and pepper. Form into flat cakes and shallow fry in hot oil until brown and crispy. Drain well on paper towels. Meanwhile, slice up your kielbasa into 1/2 slices and fry both sides to brown. Top the sauerkraut cakes with the kielbasa and eat immediately. That last pasrt is probably unneeded, these things are so tasty that you will have a hard time not eating them immediately.

Overall, a fancier meal than your average that had a fairly low effort level and prep time. It was enjoyable to cook and even more so to eat.

Meal Plated, ready to eat

Also, the vodka helped a lot.

Excessive indulgence is always a gateway to enjoyment as long as it isn’t taken to too much of an extreme. This meal was extravagant and decadent. It far outreached the necessities of an individual’s dining needs. But hey, sometimes, that’s just what the doctor ordered. This meal centered around a whole leg of lamb, roasted Mediterranean style on a bed of vegetables, offset by cauliflower stewed in tomatoes and spinach with chickpeas. It may not sound extravagant at first read but the divergent flavors, textures and color combinations made for a gorgeous and delicious plate of food. This truly was an amazing feast and I am extremely happy that I have leftovers to last for the next week. Well, maybe they will last, as good as the food was it may not…

All the recipes here were sourced from Claudia Roden’s New Book of Middle Eastern Food which I will go out on a limb and say is an essential volume if you enjoy food from the region. It’s diverse, well written and accessible. I think I am starting to sound like a salesman but really, you should buy it.

Leg of Lamb with Onions, Potatoes and Tomatoes: This dish proves my constant point about using good ingredients cooked in the proper manner and getting outstanding results. The preparation isn’t complicated, a bit of work followed by a bit of waiting for the roasting followed by a lot of enjoyment. Exactly my sort of thing. Throughout this meal, I made the slightly unusual substitution of red onions for all onions called for in all recipes, this is because to a last one, all yellow onions at my local store were of questionable quality. And by questionable, they were practically rotting in the bins. I have no idea how a produce manager could in good conscience leave poor produce like this out for sale but I have long ago stopped asking silly questions about military stores. Suffice it to say, I used red onions. A leg of lamb is a fairly large piece of meat to work with, probably one of the more unwieldy things I have cooked. The sheer size of this particular leg drove me to have to break it down into two pieces. I am by no means a professional butcher but I do understand a bit about the anatomy of knees so I had an advantage there. This being said, it was still a difficult process of separating the upper and lower portions of the leg to fit in my grossly inadequate pan. It took quite a bit of strategic cutting and muscle to get the job done. But done it was, two manageable pieces that would fit side by side in my cooking vessel. All this digression aside, this dish is dead simple.

Vegetables in the pan for the Lamb

Quarter two onions and spread on the bottom of a roasting pan. Add to this two large potatoes cut into chunks and three large tomatoes cut into large pieces. Take your leg of lamb, brought to room temperature, and pierce the flesh all over, inserting around 15 cloves of garlic all through the meat. Salt and pepper both sides of the lamb and place atop the vegetables. sprinkle liberally with oregano.

Leg of Lamb, ready for the oven

Roast in a preheated 325 degree oven for two and a half hours or done to your satisfaction. Use of a probe thermometer is highly encouraged. I would have but mine is in Colorado with the rest of my life so I had to made due with timing and visual inspection. The last time I made a leg of lamb I had undercooked it a bit so I opted on the other side this time and came away with a beautiful piece of meat with a crispy layer of fat on the outside, wonderfully tender and flavorful. Also, using this method, the vegetables will be slow cooked in the drippings from the lamb, outstanding!

Fresh from the Oven

Spinach with Chickpeas: I have been on a spinach kick lately, something about the vibrant green and slightly astringent flavor, yeah, it suits me just fine. This is a great method of preparation coming out mild and flavorful and quickly done in about 25 – 30 minutes from inception. I used canned chickpeas and frozen spinach but fresh of both can be used as well, just ensure you soack the fresh chickpeas overnight and thoroughly wash the fresh spinach. In a large pan, fry six cloves of chopped garlic with 1 1/2 tsps of ground coriander in a bit of oil until they get really fragrant. Drop in the spinach and put a lid on the pan, dropped the heat to medium low to give the spinach time to mix in with the spices. After the spinach has fully incorporated with the spices, stir in the chickpeas, add salt and pepper to taste, not too much and cook covered for a few more minutes. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon overtop and serve hot (or cold according to the cookbook but I would go for hot…)

Okra cooking away

Okra in Tomato Sauce: Funny story here, well funny to me at least… I had initially planned on making Okra with Garlic and Coriander which is the recipe next to this one but when I made my shopping list, I wrote down the ingredients for this recipe not the one I had originally slated. Strange, I got home and was wondering what exactly I needed a bunch of cilantro for… then I noticed that yup, transcribed the wrong ingredients to the list… improvise, adapt, overcome. I used frozen okra for this dish, whole pods, not the insipid chopped battered ones that I enjoy in a certain frame of mind… I was a bit lazy here as well and skipped the step of chopping off the stems and caps of the okra, choosing to cook them whole and unaltered. Turned out great as well… start with a large onion cut into thin slices and fry in a bit of oil until caramelized. Add four cloves of chopped garlic and fry for another few moments. Add the okra and cook, stirring often until the okra soften. Add 3 large chopped tomatoes, the juice of 1/2 a lemon and salt/pepper. The recipe called for 1 – 2 tsps of sugar as well but since I used red onions which have a higher sugar content to my taste, I skipped the added sugar. Cook until the tomatoes break down and a sauce forms, around 20 – 25 minutes. Stir in a small bunch of chopped cilantro, cook very briefly and serve…

Meal Plated and Ready

Well, I think I gave a glowing enough review of the results in the opening paragraph that I don’t need to flog the deceased equine.
Suffice it to say it was really, really good and I am looking forward to the leftovers… enjoy.

This week, as usual, is made up of three dishes, Chorizo and Cheese Chili Rellenos, Quelites con Frijoles (Spinach and Beans) and a Cilantro and Green Cabbage Slaw. All three recipes are sourced from the excellent El Charro Café Cookbook, a wonderful collection of recipes and anecdotes from a family operated Mexican restaurant in Tuscon. I have never been there but through the pages of the book and the recipes that I have tried, I feel like their dining room would be as comfortable as a favorite pair of jeans. I don’t mention cookbooks in my blog unless I feel they are worthy of attention so please, if you enjoy my style of cooking and value my opinion, get yourself a copy of the book or better yet, make a visit to Tuscon and try it first hand.

Chilis cooling on the pan

The Rellenos: Rellenos are quite versatile in that you can stuff them with just about any savory ingredient you like, change up the batter to meet your own preferences and top them with just about an compatible sauce you might think of… I went with a fairly basic interpretation here, roasted Anaheim peppers filled with a mixture of chorizo and shredded Mexican cheese, fried and topped with a sprinkling of cheese. Easy peasy and tasty. I have modified the recipe to feed just me as sad lonely greg is eating alone these days… Roast 2 anaheim peppers in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes until the skin starts to blister. Turn once during roasting. Let them cool slightly and then gently peel off the skins of the peppers, doing your best not to tear the peppers and leaving the stems intact. This is much easier if you put the peppers in a brown paper bag for 15 minutes to cool them, don’t ask me why, it just works. I didn’t have a brown paper bag so I just had to be careful. Carefully make a slit lengthwise in each pepper. Meanwhile, it a hot pan, crumble two links of chorizo, skins removed and quickly fry up to cook but not overcook the meat. Break up the meat as much as possible so that it resembles cooked ground beef with a tasty difference of course. Let the meat cool and mix with 1/2 cup of shredded Mexican cheese. Gently stuff the peppers with the chorizo and cheese mixture being careful not to overstuff the peppers as that would complicate your frying… make a batter from 2 eggs, 2 tbsps flour, a twist of salt and pepper, a drizzle of oil and copious amounts of cayenne pepper. This batter will turn out fairly thick and should coat the peppers well. It helps to pat the stuffed peppers dry with paper towels before dipping in the batter. Deep fry the chilis in hot oil until well browned, gently turning once during frying. Its critical to try to avoid the filling spilling out during the frying, I work out this problem by shallow frying the peppers so that they aren’t completely submerged, slit side up during the initial cooking and drizzling a bit of extra batter onto the top of the chili during cooking. This should soft set during the initial frying and create a barrier for when you turn them over. This may be too much work and there is probably easier methods, I don’t do enough deep frying to really claim much expertise in that area. Drain the peppers on paper towels and top with a bit of shredded cheese.

The Spinach and Beans: While on vacation in the states, I picked up some anasazi beans, primarily for their unique mottled coloration. I started the beans around 3 hours before the main meal preparation to allow them plenty of time to cook. Start simply with 2 cups of beans and 4 cups of water in a large pot. Add to this a whole head of garlic, peeled and crushed. A bit of salt, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer over medium heat for 2 1/2 hours. Sweat down a whole chopped white onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Add a package of frozen spinach and stir until the spinach incorporates into the onions. Transfer the spinach and onions into the pot with the beans and cook for a few more minutes. Stir in a 1/2 cup of half and half, salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. The original recipe called for additional garlic and crumbled cheese in the beans but I skipped these, opting for a milder side dish to offset the rellenos.

Salad Arranged in Container

Cilantro and Green Cabbage Slaw: I enjoy salads that I can make by prepping all the ingredients, making a marinade and then just shaking the hell out of everything in a large tupperware to mix and coat. And believe it or not, that’s all the knowledge you need to make this dish. Make a dressing from 1/2 cup oil, the juice of one lime, 1 tbsp vinegar, 2 minced cloves of garlic and a bit of salt and pepper. Finely shred 1/2 a head of cabbage and combine with 1/4 cup of minced cilantro. Pour the dressing over the greens and shake in a covered tupperware to combine. Top with diced green onions, sliced cucumber and thinly sliced radishes. Finish off with some lime wedges and dried chili flakes. Chill for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Meal Plated and Ready to Eat

As usual, this meal provided points and counterpoints of flavors and textures, the key components I aim for when building a meal. The sharp flavors of the chili relleno were well balanced by the creaminess of the beans and spinach. The crisp coolness of the salad were a welcome diversion from the piping hot melted cheese and chorizo. Overall, tasty and well balanced. i hope that you enjoy it as much as I did if you choose to take the time to make it…

Five meals to go…

This meal was intuitive. The thought process was fluid and natural.
This was primarily because the main course was dictate by the leavings in Eddie’s freezer which I inherited upon his departure. It made the choice easy. He left me with a large selection of food, amongst which were a number of pork chops. I don’t have much experience with pork chops, it is not an item that is normally in my rotation given my wife’s aversion to all meats excepting fish and fowl. But, I decided, there will be no waste in this process, cook and see what the result is. I decided on a traditional approach, pork chops with an apple sauce, a veggie dish and a starch, in this case potatoes. However, I’ve never been one to leave well enough alone so I had to spice it up a bit. A bit of thought and here is what I came up with: Beer braised pork chops with a habanero apple sauce, roasted curried cauliflower and gorgonzola potato skins. Tasty just reading it, I’m sure you will agree…

Ingredients in the pan for apple sauce

The Apple Sauce: As you probably have gathered if you follow my blog in the least, I enjoy dishes that involve a bit of preparation followed by unattended cooking to reduce down or fully cook the ingredient. I like the manual labor of slicing and dicing and setting everything up but I also like the leisure involved in slow cooking with the occasional stir and letting flavors develop. Apple Sauce is like that. I peeled and cored three Braeburn apples and then cubed them into 1 inch pieces.
Drop these into a saucepan that you have a lid for followed by the zest of one lemon, one habanero sliced into extremely thin threads, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of water. Bring to a boil, stirring to combine well. After the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, add a dash or two of cinnamon and let simmer until it reaches a nice consistency. You know, like the consistency of apple sauce… that’s what I would call nice considering that yes, this is an applesauce.

Pork Chops simmering in the Beer

The Pork Chops: Another simple dish without too many moving parts, quite to my taste… take two pork chops and ensure that they are dried well. Salt and pepper both sides, pressing the spices into the meat with the palm of your hand. Sear both sides in a hot pan with a bit of oil. Once both sides are nicely seared, pour 1/2 a bottle of good beer overtop (I used sam adams noble pils because first, it was what I had and second, it’s a damned good beer). Reduce heat and let cook away until the beer has reduced to almost nothing, about 25 minutes. Serve with a nice dollop of applesauce on top.

The potatoes: This was a dish that was born from pure inspiration, there’s nothing to it really, its just a modified baked potato but the gorgonzola makes it quite attractive with a flavor bite that will make you beg for more. Bake a potato at 400 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes until the skin starts to wrinkle and the potato is pliant to the touch.
Remove the potato from the oven and let slightly cool. Slice the top and bottom third of the potato away and discard the center (well, my discard, I sprinkled it with salt and pepper and ate it. How you get rid of trimmings in your kitchen is your business). Give the two potato skins a generous twist of salt and pepper and pile on some crumbled gorgonzola. Run this under your broiler for about 5 minutes until the cheese melts and gets just a hint of brown. add on some chopped green onions and serve immediately. Make extra, you will want them.

Cauliflower tossed with spices

The Roasted Curried Caulifower: This is the only dish that
I used a recipe for this week and it is remarkably similar to the curried cauliflower that I normally make on the stove top when I make Indian food for the family. However, I think I enjoyed the flavor and texture of this method even more so I will probably add it to my standard rotation. It turns out quite nice. I followed this recipe fairly faithfully but added cayenne pepper to the sauce along with the other ground spices because I do like it a little spicier. I’m going to skip the retyping of the recipe, please follow the link to epicurious for the run down. It is definitely worth the time to click through…

Meal plated and ready

This meal is best served with a lager or pils in my opinion and luckily, I had another Sam Adams Noble Pils on hand and it certainly worked. Two more things that I learned this week is that a meal like this definitely sets you up for enjoying a bit of butter pecan ice cream while sitting on the couch and that leftover gorgonzola and proscuitto makes one hell of a sandwich.

Next week, which is sooner that later due to the delay in posting this, I intend on making chorizo and cheese rellenos, spinach and anasazi beans and a cilantro and green cabbage slaw. Check it out, it should be tasty.