A Homemade Relaxing Tea

I was at a SLOUP event tonight where one of the sponsors had donated some really delicious herbal tea (the sponsor was actually ReTrailer), and as I was sitting here tonight doing homework and wanting to drink some more tea, but also not wanting any more caffeine for the night, so I decided to take my own shot at making tea.  It seems to be a pretty awesome success!

Step 1: Heat up some water
Step 2: Pour the hot water into your mug and add:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp of lavender
• 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom

Step 3: Let steep for a minute or two

Step 4: Retrieve the cinnamon and lavender (using a spoon) from the mug

Step 5: Enjoy!

Ceviche

Ceviche is one of those dishes that I could never have enjoyed as a Missourian (let alone as a West Virginian) twenty years ago. It is only because of our modern food supply chain that I can purchase fresh cod and fresh octopus at Whole Foods in Brentwood, along with a bag of limes, oranges, lemons, cilantro... It really is breathtaking to think of all the amazing foods we have access to these days.

Here is a story that could only happen in our time. Strolling through Whole Foods yesterday, I thought to myself hey, I want to make some ceviche. So out comes my smart phone and, after a 30-minute discussion about work with a colleague who happened to be wandering through the same place and time, I finally googled "ceviche". Within seconds I was reading a recipe for classic Peruvian ceviche.

I bought 1 lb of fresh cod (of which I actually only used about 3/4), and 1/2 lb of fresh octopus, which I had the fishmonger at Whole Foods clean for me (which was great that she offered, since I have no idea how to clean an octopus). In place of the rocoto chili, I used three large sliced Bird's eye (Thai) chilis. In retrospect, I should've used twice as many. The heat didn't come through very prominently.

Because the limes were actually a little dry, it took me the entire bag of medium-sized organic limes to squeeze out just 3/4s of a cup of juice. So to keep the ratios consistent, I only put in 3 oz of orange juice and 3 oz of lemon juice.

The thinly sliced onion is actually a very important aspect of this recipe, because it provides a crunchiness to the final dish that would otherwise be just a lot of soft, pickled fish.

I let my fish "cook" (technically "denature") in the marinade for nearly 3 hours, which is the maximum amount of time recommended. I served it on some slightly toasted french bread with thin slices of avocado.

Now here is the real ULTIMATE kicker, which I know absolutely must be a prerequisite in Peru, because it is so perfect... I had remembered seeing on an Anthony Bourdain episode that the marinade itself, called the Leche de Tigre (the tiger's milk), is considered the ultimate hangover helper. Plus, I mean just consider what it is. It's just begging to be consumed. I mixed 2 oz of the leche de tigre with 2 oz of Don Cesar Pisco Puro, which is an excellent Peruvian unaged brandy (pisco), over ice, flavored with a bit of cilantro, shaken, strained... YUM! I had to have two.

Clearly the cocktail is not shown above, where I actually ate (a second round, next day) on Crispini crackers with a modest dressing of Sriracha. Coconut water does go well with the dish.

The only changes I would've made to this recipe are perhaps a bit more salt and twice as much heat.

Awesome New Asian Fusion Recipe

I've been working on it for about a week now. I think it's one of my best ever for three reasons: First, it tastes like nothing else, and it tastes wonderful. Second, it's impossible to not get right. Third, it's versatile.

• Heat three to four to five tablespoons of peanut oil in a sauté pan over medium to low heat.
• Add a good, healthy portion (like say three forkfuls) of Tianjin preserved vegetable. (If you've never heard of this stuff, you should be able to find it at your local Asian market. Warning: it's addictive.) This portion gets bigger every time, but I think four forkfuls may be the upper limit.
• Add a hefty amount of fresh ginger - like a whole thumb, including the fleshy part attached to the palm, cut into slices of approximately 200 micrometers. (That's 1/5th of a millimeter. It's easier to get thin slices of ginger if you slice WITH the grain. You don't really have to use the digital calipers, but thinner is better.)

Heat until the ingredients become fragrant. This is the base. From here there are two variations, depending on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're just making rice, then...

• Shred 1 whole fennel bulb into hearty, slaw-like pieces w/a knife, add to sauté

Or, if you're making pork chops, then...

• Add 1/2 tsp of anise seeds

If you went the fennel route, you need to cook that fennel for a few minutes until it's tender. Keep the heat no higher than medium. These ingredients can burn. If you went the anise seeds route, then you just sauté for a minute more. Either way, the next step is...

• Add 1 tsp of fresh minced garlic

Heat until garlic is cooked, like maybe 1-2 minutes, then remove everything from the pan, except for any excess oil.

The next step would be to either 1) cook your chops in the leftover oil until done, and then at the end turn up the heat to give them a nice browning, and then serve w/the mixture on top of them, or 2) fold the mixture into a heap of cooked jasmine rice.

It's really, really, really, really good. I mean really good.

Unnamed fusion... dish

This will sound weird, but...

To two handfuls of jasmine rice boiling in a little too much water, add

a generous (~3 tablespoons) helping of fish sauce
some (~1 tablespoon) soy sauce
1 bag of cooked salad shrimp
a decent amount (1/4 cup) of shredded sichuan preserved vegetable
~3-4 chopped birdseye peppers (chopped loosely, with seeds)

The sichuan preserved vegetable and the sauces will provide enough salt, no need to add more. boil this until the rice just barely starts to break down (20 minutes?), and then add some ripped-up pieces of high-quality beef cold cuts (like top round). Or if you don't have that, maybe some thumb-sized pieces of roast beef.

Then take it off the heat, let the beef soak up the flavors for a minute or two. it will thicken slightly as it cools.

This is really good. It's kind of like a congee, but the rice still has too much form to really call it porridge. But it is more soupy than a conventional rice dish. I don't know what to call it, but I like it.

I call it fusion because it takes inspiration from Thai, Sichuan, and American.

I think it would be even better w/some lemongrass.

I also think it would be classier to use dry-fried strips of flank steak, rather than the ripped-up cold cuts (ya think?), and just put them on top, pyramid-like, which would also add to the presentation.

Goat Milk

Today I tried goat milk. Why? Because it was there, in the supermarket, and I've never had it before. I love it! I tastes like a milk version of goat cheese - what a shocker! I've formed a mild taste obsession with goat cheese over the past year. Now I can get that awesome flavor in my granola as well! Goat milk is delicious, and some say it's actually healthier for humans than cow milk. Huh!

Savory French Toast

Today the light bulb went on for me with french toast. I had only about a quarter-loaf of this Companion Sourdough Olive bread, and it was about 90% dry, hard as a rock. I wanted to eat an egg and some chorizo, but I needed some toast. You know already where I'm going w/this

I think I remember from an episode of Good Eats that while french toast in America is served dessert-like, some parts of the world (like France, maybe?) eat a more savory french toast. Also, french toast is supposed to be made with stale bread, and one can easily imagine how it was first conceived: You have this stale bread, so you need to moisten it somehow, but then you also need to toast it: bring on the milk-soak and a frying pan. So here I go with this sourdough olive bread, the only bread I have, so I'm forced into it, but you know, it's one of the most brilliant moves I've ever made in a kitchen! I mean this french toast turns out to be the star of the meal!

I just beat one egg (I only had two) in some milk, saw the bread brick into two slices, and soak them in the mixture for about a minute, then fry them in about three pats of butter. It is utterly and completely mind-blowing delicious! I served them with the other egg, over medium, and a nice big patty of chorizo, and my favorite China Keemun tea with honey. The faint smokiness and full body of the keemun mixes with the hearty sweetness of the honey in perfect concinnity, and pairs so well with the sourdough olive french toast and egg, I can hardly believe I threw the meal together with only the last dregs I could muster for breakfast.

Truly a good day when such an unexpected treat is discovered. I will definitely be trying more savory french toast variations.

Two sauces

Two sauces I've been working on that I should document... Neither are especially original, but they're both very easy to make, and pack a lot of great flavor.

First: Morel Cream Sauce

As you may know, we are in the waning days of morel hunting season. I happen to know that this part of Missouri produced a bumper crop of morels this year because I met two guys in the supermarket who bagged about 7 lbs. Yes, seven. I was standing in the mushroom section a few weeks ago when these two guys walked up to check the price on the dried morels, which was $10/oz. They were like dude! I suggested that they were so expensive because morels are rare and delicious. They were like yeah, we just collected about 7 lbs of them. I was like what? Then he pulled out his phone and started showing me pictures, like the one with the mushroom cap bigger than a PBR can. Sadly, they wouldn't sell me any, but they did graciously invite me to a pot luck where they planned on unveiling them.

Anyway, I went ahead and bought that box of dried morels, as well as a few fresh chicken breasts, a bottle of Louis Jadot Chardonnay, some shallots, and some cream...

You need:
- 1/2 pint of cream
- 1 bottle of white wine
- 1 oz dried morels (or 4 ounces (?) fresh)
- 2 shallots
- olive oil
- 1/4 tsp of minced garlic
- some kosher salt
- Guldens Brown Mustard

1. Dice 2 shallots fine, sauté in olive oil with 1/4 tsp of minced garlic.
   
2. Wash dried morels thoroughly, and then soak them in lukewarm water for 3-4 mins.
   
3. Loosely dice the morels, then squeeze them lightly to get rid of the excess water, and put them in them pan, along with about half the bottle of wine.
   
4. Add kosher salt and Guldens Brown Mustard. The amount of mustard is important. It is definitely an important flavor in this sauce, but you don't want it to be at the forefront. It is third in line to the mushrooms and the wine, I would say... maybe even less. Put in no more than two good sized squirts... probably should be about 1/12th of a cup.
   
5. After reducing by 1/3, add about 1/2 pt cream, and reduce by about 1/3 (or to taste).
   

Serve with rice or grilled chicken breast, or steak, or whatever. It's awesome.

Second: Honey Chile Sauce

For some reason today while I was walking through the supermarket, I suddenly decided I am going to start eating a lot of fish. I bought a fresh cod filet and a flounder filet. Earlier I had bought some honey simply because mine was pretty much crystalized. So when I got home, I noticed that I have like 4-5 different kinds of chile powder, so I decided to do a honey chile sauce. It is perfect for fish, because it gives it a nice sweet-hot zing without adding any fat.

You need:
- Honey
- Ancho chile powder
- New Mexico chile powder
- 1 shallot (or 1/2 yellow onion)
- 1/4 tsp minced garlic
- ground coriander (or maybe fresh cilantro, but I haven't tried that yet)
- olive oil

1. Dice the shallot fine, sauté in olive oil with 1/4 tsp of minced garlic.
   
2. Squeeze in as much honey as you want sauce (say 1/4 cup). Add equal parts ancho chile powder and New Mexico chile powder (about 3/4 to 1 tsp each), and perhaps the same amount of ground coriander, or probably a bit less.
   
3. Let this stuff bubble for a couple minutes, then it's ready.
   

There are dozens of ways to develop this simple sauce even further, or even just alter the basic ingredients. Serve with grilled or pan seared whitefish (like cod). Also good with rice, and probably grilled chicken or pork ribs.

Stew au Poivre

... Not Steak au Poivre. I didn't want to spend $6/lb on filets mignon of questionable quality, and didn't want to wait for a better selection, so I improvised this dish from regular stew meat, presumably chuck, and I do believe it is at least a promising beginning. The inspiration for this came from Alton Brown's Steak au Poivre, which I have made before, and used way too much pepper. It was pretty tasty anyway.

This recipe could be emboldened, I think, is how President Bush would say it. For instance, allspice is like a conservative cook's clove. You could go all in with clove, perhaps. Also, heavy cream is what Alton Brown actually calls for in his Steak au Poivre, not half-and-half, but that's a bit too rich for me, and we're using a pint of half-and-half, which theoretically does contain 1 cup of heavy cream (two cups in a pint), which is the amount he uses.

The taste of the cognac is really subtle, even though it seems like we use a lot. I like the amount of attention it receives in this recipe, but if you're completely crazy for that flavor, just add more at the end.

There are no doubt other spices we could add to complement the cognac, but I would have to perform a more in-dept olfactory, and perhaps gustatory investigation, to be completely pretentious.

This recipe requires:

1 lb of stew beef (a.k.a. top round, bottom round, or chuck cut into bite-size pieces)
2 yellow onions
2 red potatoes
1/2 stick of butter
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 cups of flour
32 oz. vegetable stock
1 pint half-and-half
1/2 cup whole black pepper corns
1 tsp allspice
About 4 cups of Courvoisier (could substitute with more veggie stock)

Crush the pepper corns into very coarse pepper (like the pieces should be about 1/4th to 3/8ths of a pepper corn) and set aside. I do this by putting the whole corns in a little pile between two paper towels and beating them with a rolling pin, then separating out as well as possible the big pieces. We want about 2 tablespoons of the big pieces. The dust can go away.

Cut the butter into pieces and put in stainless steel stock pot with the olive oil. The oil is primarily to keep the smoke point of the butter down, so use however much you feel is necessary.

Thoroughly coat the beef with flour and shake off excess. Put it in the pot to brown. You want it to brown on all sides at a high enough temperature to create some crust on the bottom of the pot. While it's browning, chop the two onions and dust them in flour the same way, shaking off any excess.

Once the meat is browned, remove it from the pot and put in the onions and the pepper. Sauté the onions over medium heat, then remove and put aside with the meat.

Now there should be a lot of brown crust in the bottom of the pot. I hope it did not actually burn black. It should be dark brown, but not burnt. If it actually burned, you either had the heat too high, or you need a pot with a thicker bottom that distributes the heat better. My pot has a paper thin bottom, so I have to be careful about the heat.

Now comes the deglazing. Open the Courvoisier and turn the heat up to high. Let it get hot for a few seconds, then pour in the cognac. I don't really know how much to tell you to pour in, but about 1/2 inch or so deep. That will come to a boil. Back off the heat to where it's boiling, but not like crazy, and stir as much as possible, trying to loosen up any pot crust that didn't deglaze immediately. Do that until it thickens, then add the vegetable stock.

Cut up the two potatoes into bite-size pieces and add to the stock, along with the meat, the onions, and the allspice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer 20 mins. Then remove the lid and let reduce for another 20-30 mins, until all the ingredients are showing because the liquid is so low.

While it's reducing do NOT stir it too much. You'll cause the potatoes to break down making it too starchy. Or maybe you like it that way, I don't know. You could also just add the potatoes 20 or so minutes after you've started the simmer.

How long should you let it reduce for? Well, you're about to add a pint of half-and-half, so however much you think would be sufficient to maintain a thick consistency after that happens. I would say let it reduce by about 1/3rd.

Turn off the heat and let cool for a minute or so, stirring gently. Pour in the half-and-half and one tablespoon of cognac. Mix thoroughly. Serve.

Beef Daube Notes

The Beef Daube recipe has held up exceptionally in the refrigerator all week, and I haven't tired of it in the least.

Favorite method of consumption: served over chunks of toasted French bread.

Adventures in Beef Daube

So I had this 3 lb. bottom round sitting in the refrigerator for two days, and I figured I better do something with it quick. I got online and typed "bottom round" in the search bar at cooks.com, and got a lot of hits for pot roast, sauerbraten, and beef daube. Ah... beef daube. I remember enjoying it at a French cafe in Kirkwood, MO. The cafe was aptly named Cafe Provençal, since it specializes in Provençal cuisine. So I figured I'd give it a try...

I settled on this recipe as my main direction, called Daube Bignami. I cut the roast into large pieces, and followed the recipe, substituting garlic powder for chopped garlic because I didn't have any fresh garlic. I used about half a bottle of Red Bicycle merlot I had on hand, and covered w/about two cups of water. I let it simmer for about an hour, filling the house with a nice wine-food smell, and then I started taste testing the broth.

I must say it was pretty bland. I hadn't added any salt yet, so I added about a tablespoon of kosher salt and let it simmer for another 10 minutes then tried it again. Eh, getting better, but not there. I started leaving it uncovered so it would reduce into something more bold, but it was still not getting there. Finally after about 2.5 hrs of reduction, the meat was getting so tender I was afraid to let it go any more, so I took the meat out, into containers, and into the fridge, and then proceeded to reduce the broth more aggressively.

All the while I'm doing this, I was studying my calculus, like a good boy, and sipping on my Vernors ginger ale. Vuuuhnuhs, as I like to call it. Mmmm... it's so good. I'm sipping some now. But at the time I was remarking how well it played with the taste of that broth. So I decided what the hell, that broth is lame, so I'm going to throw a couple pieces of ginger in there. I happened to have some crystallized ginger on hand. In go two pieces, and a little white pepper.

As I'm waiting for that flavor to be incorporated, I'm looking at the spice rack, and I see that tin of lavender that I never get to use. Well, lavender is everywhere in France, from what I understand, and this is a French dish, and lavender is often a flavor in French wines, I think... so... what the hell.

In goes about a teaspoon of lavender... 30 minutes later... mmm! I mean mmm!! Finally managed to turn the corner w/this dish. I think I'm onto something here.

OK, it's been reducing down to almost nothing, and it's gotten very thick, just where I want it. I've cut off the heat, and stirred it well, and now it's just steaming off a little more, and I'm going to pour it over the meat that's already been removed to the plastic containers in the fridge, and let that mellow overnight. I have a feeling tomorrow's lunch is going to rock!

PS: After posting this, I went to Google to find a picture to put up with this post, and quickly learned that lavender is actually one of Provence's primary attractions. Ha! Just type "provence" in Google's image search, and see that about half the pictures that come up are fields of lavender. Imagine that. I also searched for "beef daube lavender", but found only one beef daube recipe that calls for lavender, so maybe it's like a secret ingredient or something... seems like it would be more of a standard for the consummately Provencal dish.

The picture I've posted here is of an actual lavender field in Provence. I wonder if the lavender I have came from there.

Cardamom Porridge

Porridge is just a generic name for some grain boiled in water until it thickens, like oatmeal. I have always just called oatmeal oatmeal, but porridge sounds more quaint, so there you have it.

I decided to try McCann's Steel-cut Oats when I saw them on a shelf at the Schnucks on Arsenal. It turns out they are quite different from the Quaker Quick Rolled Oats I was raised on. For one thing they have a much more robust texture than quick rolled oats, and they have a stronger, and much more distinct flavor as well. They are oats, so they taste like oats, but the taste is more structured than quick rolled oats. They also take much longer to cook - about 45 minutes, between boiling the water and then the oats.... but it's definitely worth it.

I left the above picture unscaled, so you can see what they mean by steel-cut oats. Click on the image to see the up-close-and-personal details of the oats.

I've tried a number of different combinations of flavorings before I finally devised one that preserved the excellent flavor of the oats, and the traditional presentation style, as well as bringing in something new and exciting (at least to me it is... you may not be able to get as excited about oatmeal as I can).

This serves 1-2 people, depending on how much of a main course you make it:

3 cups of water
3/4 cup of McCann's Steel-cut Irish Oats
1 tblsp. unsalted butter
4 tblsp. sugar (to taste)
1 tblsp. ground cardamom seeds (cardamom powder)
1/2 cup red flame raisins (or raisins of your liking)
3 cups milk

Bring the water to a brisk boil, add the oats, and stir until they begin to thicken, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes (the can says 30, but that's always been too much for me... might only need 20 minutes really). Stir the oats occasionally while they're simmering to keep the water and oats thoroughly mixed, and to prevent them from burning on the bottom of the pot.

Once they oats are done, remove them from the heat.

Add the butter, sugar, cardamom, and raisins to the oats, and stir until mixed well. Then let it cool for about 10 minutes. This will give it time to set up nice and thick, so it will hold up better in the milk.

To serve, spoon out a portion of oats into a bowl, then pour about 1 cup of milk over them, or until the oats just peek through. Serve promptly, so the oats are still hot underneath the cool milk. The milk will cool each bite of oats, but the oats will retain their natural consistency and flavor. Yum!

This dish is really outstanding comfort food. It would be great to have for breakfast, but since I don't get up early enough to spend an hour making breakfast, and you really can't re-heat oatmeal (so I've learned), I make it for dinner.

You can really deck this dish out by sautéing the raisins in the butter with almonds, and just admit that it's actually the Indian dessert, Kheer, served as breakfast (or dinner, in my case), but with oats instead of rice.

Here is a video from Off the Shelf Cooking with Ameena for a simple, easy Kheer: http://showmepods.com/kheer.html.

Qabili Palau

Sameem has AWESOME food... at least that's what I've heard. I can tell you that they have AWESOME Qabili Palau, because that's the only thing I ever get there. I've never moved past it. It's too good. So that I can get my fill of it, and move on to other dishes at Sameem's, I've decided to bring the dish into my own repertoire.

For starters, Sameem makes theirs with a leg of lamb. It's totally amazing, but in order to make it a more affordable dish, as well as one that can be cooked in a large skillet, since I don't own a casserole, I'm going with 2 defrosted, boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

This recipe requires parallel processing. Be prepared. To minimize pipeline stalls, go ahead and prepare your carrots in advance, because that is the most time consuming part of it. Julienne two carrots into 2" strips, and set aside.

Start by browning the two chicken breasts in about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil with about 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter. Grind some fresh pepper over them, and a bit of kosher salt. It should take about 3-5 minutes per side.

Oh, by the way, I just came across this website is like Youtube for cooking. There are some SERIOUSLY good looking recipes to be had here... http://www.videojug.com/tag/indian-recipes

Anyway, while the chicken is browning, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in another pot, and add 1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter. Then cut up 1 large sweet onion, or two small ones. The water should come to a boil about the same time the second side of the breasts are done browning.

Put the breasts in the boiling water, and reduce to a simmer. Put the chopped onion in the oil the chicken just came from, and cook until the onions are golden brown.

Once the chicken has simmered in the water enough to make a fine broth, remove the chicken, and set aside. Add 1 tsp of saffron to the water, and let simmer or lightly boil.

To the oil and onions, add about 1-2 tsp of cumin, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 tsp of ground cloves, or a few whole cloves, a few cardamom pods, if you have them (I actually did not), a bit of nutmeg, 1 tsp of sugar (I used turbinado), 1 tsp of kosher salt, 1 tsp of ground coriander. You can jack up these values if you think there's not enough spice in there.

Now add two handfuls of raisins to the onions and spices. I used the Sun-maid Jumbo Mixed Raisins, as always.... they're sooo good! Cook that until the raisins are plump, then add the carrots, and let it all cook until it looks and smells too good to be true.

Meanwhile, you'll need to rinse off about 1 1/2 cups of basmati rice, and bring the broth to a boil, if it's not already. Once the onion, raisin, and carrot mix is ready, drop the rice in here, and turn it in until well coated. Then pour the boiling broth in there, and cover it up, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the chicken breasts into cubes. I guess you could've put them in with the rice, or not. I didn't.

That's all there is to it! Serve with a tall glass of lightly sweetened Darjeeling iced tea. Dishes like this prove that God does love us, and wants us to be happy. Sorry for the out-of-focus pictures. I'll try to put better ones up there next time I make it.

Good Eating in Sunset Hills, MO

Well, I must admit, I've found two shining oases in the desperately bland suburban landscape I've been cast out to. Growler's Pub, and O'Leary's are both within a mile or two of my office, and they both have some unique culinary delights that should not be missed.

O'Leary's is the first place I learned about. On the outside, it's a completely uninspired strip mall occupant on Lindbergh Blvd, about 1000 yards south of the Comp USA that is shutting down. On the inside, it's a nicely decorated Irish-themed sports bar with good lighting. They have the best hamburgers in town! The beef is fresh and juicy, and the buns are thick, soft, chewy, and delicious. My favorite burger is the fried jalapeño burger. Glory be, it's absolutely brilliant! The fries are very good too, and are served with a tasty dip, like ranch dressing mixed with a hint of ketchup. I guess it's kind of an Americanized version of Mary Rose. It works. This is my kind of soul food.

Now on to Growlers... This place is one of the quirkiest little buildings you'll find. I think it's like a Tudor-style cottage, with multiple gabled roofs, dark exterior wood trim. And it's sitting on the side of a 4 lane highway. Inside, they've done some truly whimsical decorating, with what appears to be authentic old Victorian wood trim on the windows, probably salvaged from an old St. Louis mansion. It is not really installed correctly, and it's much too big for the windows it surrounds, but I can't tell if that was intended or not.

Anyway, it's interesting to look at, but the important thing is that they have a sandwich called the Banana Cured Pork Sandwich. It's a succulent, juicy pulled pork sandwich topped with swiss cheese, and this stuff called banana ketchup. I had never heard of the stuff, but there is actually a Wikipedia article for it. To me it tastes kind of like a strongly flavored, thick apple butter. The bun is just outstanding, and the much better than average sliced pickles and unlimited fries served with it combine to make this a memorable sandwich.

Red Flame Salsa

This may sound weird, but it's really really good, and you need to try it... Next time you're eating a tomato-based salsa with chips, mix in some Red Flame Raisins! I don't know what made me think of it, but I was eating some Tostitos Gold with Pace chunky salsa the other day, and I wondered what it would taste like if I threw in some raisins. I was hesitant to try, because it doesn't seem like a good combination at first, but I am so glad I did!

I mixed in a hefty portion of Sun-Maid Mixed Jumbo Raisins (a mix of Thompson, California Golden, and Red Flame raisins). At first I couldn't tell if I liked it or not, but slowly I realized that if you narrow it down to just the Red Flame raisins, it sings! Use lots of raisins, not just a few. It's difficult to overpower the intensity of the salsa with the mild sweetness of the Red Flames, and the chewy texture the raisins add to the salsa is really exciting.

Enjoy!

Lamb Stew w/Dumplings

Well, I've recycled my venison stew recipe, and made some modifications for using fresh lamb, and I think it was another success. This time, I was using fresh lamb cut into cubes (labeled and sold as stew meat at the supermarket... not sure what cut it came from), and I also did not have any fresh rosemary, so I used the dried stuff, and I didn't have any milk, so I mixed up some dry milk, and I didn't have any celery, so I just put in a couple more carrots, and didn't have any vegetable stock, so I just used water, and I now wish I had used the fresh cauliflower I have, but forgot about it, because it would've really given the stew some serious vegetable presence, but the real winner I discovered with this stew was the use of... Turmeric!

Yes, I added about a tablespoon or two of Turmeric, and it really brought the stew to life with a rich yellow color, and, combined with the coriander, a very slight reference to curry, which of course goes hand in hand with lamb. The use of dried rosemary actually helped the recipe, I think because it came through stronger than before, and it really did nothing but improve the bouquet.

To start this stew, I browned the meat in the oil and butter, then removed the meat to a bowl, and continued with the venison recipe, making an onion roux. Then deglazed w/water, added the meat and the rest of the veggies, added the spices, brought to a boil, and then reduced to a simmer for about an hour or so. Then made the dumplings, cooked them 10 minutes uncovered, 10 covered, then removed the stew from the heat to let cool for about 30 minutes, then served.

Deeeelishus!

Venison Stew with Dumplings

I got pretty lucky with this one, because I didn't use a recipe. Turns out stew is pretty easy when you have the right ingredients...

1 large jar of pressure cooked venison (thanks Katie & Tim!)
6 celery stalks
4 carrots
3 potatoes (Idaho Russets are probably best for stew... that's what I used)
2 onions (I used Vidalias)
3 bay leaves (I used fresh, but not sure if this matters)
1.5 tbsp unsalted butter
1.5 tbsp oil (I used canola)
about 1.5 cups of regular flour
about 2 cups of Bisquick (regular or Heart Smart)
about 1/2 cup of milk (your preference of fat content)
about 2 cups of stock (I used vegetable stock)
some kosher salt
some pepper
some fresh rosemary
some mustard seed
some coriander

Clean and chop the vegetables. I like them all in small chunks except for the potatoes, which should be large chunks. Make a light roux with the flour, butter, oil, and onions (how to make roux shown here and here). Deglaze with the stock, and put in the rest of the vegetables. Let that cook down for a little while, then add the meat, with its juices, about 4 quarts of water, and the salt, herbs, and spices.

Let that whole thing simmer uncovered for about 1-2 hours. If you feel like you added too much water, you may need to let it cook off longer. I didn't actually measure the water, but I think it was about 4 quarts. You don't want the stew to become too thick while it's cooking because believe-you-me, after spending a night in the refrigerator, it will be twice as thick as it was when you put it in there.

About 25 minutes before the stew is done stewing, mix up your milk and Bisquick to make a thick dough (if it's too thin, it won't hold up well in the stew) per the directions on the box for "dumplings", break off a random piece about 2 inches in diameter (don't roll it up too much, the irregularity gives it more visual appeal), and drop it in the stew. Continue dropping slightly spherical chunks of dough into the stew until the top is covered. My pot takes about 8 dumplings to cover. You'll notice the dough expands fairly quickly to about three times its size in the stew. Let that cook for 10 minutes uncovered, and 10 minutes covered.

Turn off the heat, and let the stew cool for awhile. You may want to pull the dumplings off the top with a slotted spoon and set them aside so the stew can thicken faster (steam escapes faster that way).

Traditional Irish

There's a new Irish restaurant here in St. Louis called The Dubliner. Before my office was moved out to soul-crushing suburbs this month, we ate lunch there a few times. I quickly became a huge fan of the boiled bacon with parsley sauce, and I think I'm finally approaching a quality reproduction at home. To begin with, it's not actually boiled bacon, like you're thinking. This was actually pulled pork loin, I'm pretty sure.

So I bought a pork tenderloin today, and went home and made a vegetable stock. I had to get rid of some old veggies anyway. I used baby portabella mushrooms, zuchinni, boston lettuce, a bunch of parsley, some celery, about 4 carrots, and three bay leaves. Covered it all with water, and then simmered it for about an hour. Then I strained, and threw away the vegetables.

Next, I put the tenderloin in with the stock and about a tablespoon of kosher salt, and started that on a boil for 30 minutes, covered.

I wanted some potatoes to go with this, so I peeled four russetts, and started cooking them like I talked about a couple posts ago.

With about 5 minutes left on the tenderloin, I got out my sauce pan, and started making a roux by melting about 1.5 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a tablespoon of canola oil. I brought that up to medium high heat, and started adding flour until it looked pretty thick (but not too thick). I'm still learning the whole roux thing. It takes practice. Anyway, here's where the magic happened... when the roux was ready for liquid, I took about three ladles full of the broth that the loin had cooked in, and put it in with the roux, stirring furiously to break up the ensuing lumps, and then added about three or four cups of milk, continuing to stir and stir to get those damn lumps out.

Once I had the sauce pretty well blended, I brought the heat up to bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, I washed off a bunch of fresh parsley and chopped it. Use a lot of fresh parsley here. After chopping it, it filled both of my cupped hands. About that time the milk came to a boil. I backed the heat off, and put the parsley in. Then I stirred and stirred and stirred until the sauce evaporated enough that I could turn off the heat to let it thicken by standing.

I pulled the pork by combing it with two dinner forks (one to hold it, one to comb it). Everything turned out really well, but I think the tenderloin would've been more flavorful if I had let it sit overnight in that stock before cooking it. I'll try that next time. Or, maybe an herb marinade with a dash of salt overnight would be better. It seems to be a dry meat, and needs some kind of flavor infusion beyond just boiling it in stock.

Venison Tamales

Making tamales is fun, and the results are delicious. I found an instant masa flour in Schnucks called Maseca Instant Corn Masa Mix, and next to it a bag of corn husks called Palenque Corn Husks, so I figured I'd give it a try.

After attempting to make tamales for the first time a few days ago, I have learned a few things. There are some tricks to rolling tamales. The dough, or masa, can be difficult to work with, and folding up tamales in corn husks, and having them stay that way, a bit of a challenge. I don't claim to know much, but I'll share what I have learned.

First thing I've learned is that the tamale filling doesn't have to be anything remotely Mexican. Sure, if you want to make traditional tamales, you should probobly stick to the recipes you find online, but really a tamale can be stuffed with anything meaty, or maybe even some kind of vegetarian filling using tofu, and it will be good. The key thing to think about is if the flavor of the filling will go well with the strong corn flavor of the masa.

The second thing I learned is that folding the corn husks like the Maseca package suggests is not as tractable as tying the ends with strips of corn husk. This is a trick I picked up from a Mexican co-worker. It solves the problem of the husks wanting to lay flat after you're finished packaging the tamale.

Next, I figured out that it's much easier to pick out a good, smooth corn husk, get it nice and damp (not dripping), and use it to press the masa into the candidate corn husk that you're rolling in. That's because the masa will not stick to it. Pressing the masa with your hands is too messy. You could probobly use many things for this, but that's what I came to.

Also, I've found that you can pick out another nice, smooth corn husk, and use it to roll every tamale, then transfer the perfectly rolled tamale to a lesser husk for packaging. So, you have your husk you use for pressing, and the one you use for rolling, and the one you'll use to actually roll the tamale up in.

So, the process goes like this... You have your bowl of meat mixture, and a bowl of masa, and a stack of cleaned, dampened corn husks, and your two really nice big, smooth, damp corn husks, which I'll call your working husks. You put a portion of masa in the one of the working husks, then press it down flat with the other working husk, then put the meat in there, and roll the tamale up like a cigarette. The working husk acts just like a manual cigarette roller, if you've ever used one. Hard to explain in writing. Anyway, you then transfer the tamale to a husk for packaging, roll it up, and tie the ends with nice, sturdy, thin strips of corn husk, and put it in the steamer, then repeat until the steamer is full, or you run out of some resource.

Now, for the recipe...

3 cloves of garlic
1/2 large Vadalia onion
2 stalks of celery
1 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of unsalted butter
1 jar of pressure cooked venison
2 cups water
1 tsp of kosher salt
1 handful of fresh oregano
3 fresh bay leaves

I chopped three cloves of garlic, half of a large vadalia onion, and two stalks of celery, then lightly sauteed (it was an aggressive sweat, really) that in a medium sized pot with a teaspoon each of olive oil and unsalted butter. Then I put in a jar of canned venison which was pressure cooked in its own juices (thanks Katie and Tim!). Added water until it was barely covered, threw in some kosher salt, and brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer until it was nearly cooked down. Then added three fresh bay leaves and a handful of chopped fresh oregano, and let that simmer until there was very little juice left. Then removed it from the heat, removed the bay leaves, and strained it to remove any fluid that the meat couldn't hold. I wanted it moist, but not messy.

Now, get to rollin' those tamales! It takes a few to get into the rhythm. I use a bamboo steamer, so once it's filled, I've rolled all I can. Steam them for an hour, refrigerate (or eat) the finished product, and refill those steamers until all the masa is gone.

Good and yummy for lunch, dinner, or snack. My tamales were a bit dry the first time I made them, so I used the parsley sauce I mentioned in my last blog, and that worked pretty well (they were made with ground beef and green serrano peppers). I did make the masa with less broth (chicken) than the recipe called for, because I thought the dough was not supposed to be so soft, but this time I used the whole two cups it calls for, so they're nice and moist. Anyway, a tamale with sauce is better than one without. I think for the venison tamales, a robust wine sauce would be nice, but I don't have any wine, so I'll have to come up with something. OK, timer just went off, time to eat!

Update: These are seriously good tamales. Even without a sauce.

Potatoes

Mmm... potatoes! I've come up with a new way of preparing these little critters that is deeeelishus. Start by peeling about seven potatoes. Half them, and then quarter the halves. Boil until well done, then drain. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter (or so). Throw in the potatoes, and start frying. Toss them in the pan every few minutes until they are flaky golden brown. This will take a long time - maybe 20 minutes - because they will not start turning golden until most of the water is evaporated.

If the potatoes were not boiled long enough, they just end up like home fries, but slightly softer, creamier, on the inside. However, if you get it right, they get rounded like river stones while you toss them because they're so soft from boiling, and the golden skins are very flaky and delicate because they are broken and recreated by the tossing action.

I serve them with a parsley sauce that I have not mastered yet. I'm open to suggestions. The best I've done so far was to make a light roux with unsalted butter and flour, then add milk and let thicken, then remove from heat and stir in kosher salt and parsley. I can't remember how I did it the first time, but it was bland both times. I think some good vegetable stock is needed...

Sure would be great if I had a digital camera, I could photograph the golden flakey goodness for y'all. Maybe later this year I'll get one... the good ones have to come down in price some time!

A PB&J for the Holidays

I've been perfecting a Christmas sandwich recipe. It's basically a fancy-schmancy PB&J. Try it, change it, enjoy it, and let me know what you think...

Requires:
Couple slices of French bread
Some peanut butter
Some raisins
Orange marmalade
Ground nutmeg
Ground cinnamon
Ground coriander
Honey
Butter or margarine

Slice some French bread, and very lightly toast it. On one side, apply peanut butter, and sprinkle on some cinnamon, nutmeg, and coriander. Pour on a minor amount of honey. Toast in toaster oven until spices are activated, but before the honey melts too much. You may want to put some aluminum foil down to prevent honey from dripping into the oven. Remove from toaster, and then place the raisins on top. On the other side of bread, put on a very light layer of butter or margarine, and a decent portion of orange marmalade. Put it all together, and enjoy!

I used coriander because to me it has a kind of bright, lemon-like smell that adds to the spiced citrus theme. Some lemon zest would be a good substitute, maybe. A very delicate treatment with ground cloves and/or ginger would probobly add to the Christmas-iness of it. Also some toasted almonds would be a welcome addition, if you have them. I used a dark honey from Gibbons Bee Farm here in Missouri. I think the rich flavor works better than a light honey would. I also use light margarine instead of butter, but I'm not really convinced that that part of the recipe is even necessary. You could probobly omit it altogether. I've been using the jumbo raisin mix from Sunmaid. I'm thinking I like the flavor variations in the sandwich, but if you only have the regular dark kind of raisins, I'm sure it would still be pretty good.

This sandwich is great w/a glass of milk!