Welcome Back

Hello again.  Miss me?

I needed this hiatus. My posts became increasing preachy and I needed some time to refocus.  I didn't know it would be a year, but there you are.

In the mean time, I've still been cooking.  We've been travelling (Florence, Venice, Slovenia, Marrakesh).   I took my first cooking class.  I've been experimenting with gelatin and agar agar.  I don't have an oven but I do have crazy good skills for finding alternate heating sources to cook food.  I've explored more wild foods.  We've fallen in love with even more restaurants.

I promise to share all of it with you. 

So where to go first?  How about a few recipes and then we ease back into all this?  Here's two.  Please enjoy.

Chicken & Mushroom Mac n Cheese
2 Chicken Breasts
1 large Clove of Garlic, minced
Olive Oil
Mushrooms, chopped
Butter
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Cream
Salt & Pepper
1 1/4 cup Orzo (dry measure), cooked and drained
Parsley, chopped and Cheese, grated

Slow cook chicken breasts, with salt and pepper in olive oil and garlic. Remove chicken from pan, leaving drippings and garlic. Add mushrooms and increase heat to sauté. When mushrooms have cooked, chop the chicken and add back to the pan, and reduce the heat to low.

In sauce pan on medium high heat, melt the butter, then add the cheese and cream, stirring constantly.  When the cheese is completely melted and the sauce is smooth, stir in the chicken and mushroom mixture. Stir in the orzo.

Serve with a little grated cheese and chopped parsley on top. 


Thai Chili Bitters
1 tsp Cloves
10 Juniper Berries
1 tbsp Allspice Berries
1 Bay Leaf
1 tbsp Black Pepper Corns
1/2 star of Anise
6 Green Cardamom Pods
2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
2 Thai Chilies
Gentian Root Extract
750 ml Everclear

Follow the basic recipe for Bitters that I posted in 2010. 

After you've strained and filtered the bitters, pour it into a large non-reactive pot.  Reduce it over a very low heat.  This is the purest alcohol you can get and it's extremely volitile.  It will reduce quickly and you want it down to about 1/5 of it's original volume.  Use extreme caution if you are using a gas stove, because it could explode!  Do not cover.  Don't stir.  In fact don't even make this recipe unless you've got the fortitude to wade across a lava flow carrying that old lady who was too stubborn to leave her home until it was too late, even though Peirce Brosnan warned her to go.  But if you decide to make it, you will be rewarded with a spicy little number to accent your gin or rye.

Easter Dinner

Easter is a holiday that means a lot to most people.  For me, it's another good reason to make some special dishes.  Here's the menu for tonight.

Pheasant
If you ever have the opportunity to try real wild pheasant breasts, indulge in the pleasure.  When properly prepared, pheasant is rich, slightly gamy and  tender, yet toothsome.  This is a simple way of producing an excellent bird.
3 lbs Pheasant Breasts (boneless and skinless)
   Brine
   1 gallon Water
   1 can Coke
   1 tablespoon whole Allspice, cracked
   1 teaspoon Coriander Seed, cracked
   1 tablespoon Juniper Berries, lightly crushed
   3/4 cup Table Salt
   Combine all ingredients, and stir until the salt is dissolved.  Add the pheasant.  Soak over night.  Rinse thoroughly, and pat dry with a paper towel.

2 tablespoons Bacon Fat
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 cup slices Mushrooms
3-4 tablespoons of Bourbon Whiskey

Heat the bacon fat to melting in a heavy skillet on high heat.  Lay one layer of breasts into the fat.  Add salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes (or until slightly seared), then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove and repeat with the next layer, etc.

Reduce the heat to medium.  To the remaining fat and drippings, add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt.  Cook until the mushrooms begin to soften.  Reduce the heat to low and add the breasts back in.  Add the whiskey, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.  DO NOT boil.  This will toughen the tender meat.  You won't like it.

Cream of Sour Dock

Acorn Squash Risotto
1 Acorn Squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch "cubes"
1 Onion, chopped
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter (yes, again.  Not a typo)
1 3/4 cup Arborio Rice
6 cups Chicken Stock, heated to near boiling
Pepper to taste
1/4 Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 teaspoon ground Turmeric
1/4 teaspoon grated Nutmeg

In a very large saucepan (remember--it's going to hold ALL of these ingredients) melt the butter on medium heat.  Add the onion and squash.  Add salt.  Saute until the onion turns translucent.  Remove the squash and onion from the pan with a slotted spoon.  Add more butter and  the rice.  Stir for 7-10 minutes, constantly, until the rice starts to turn brown and starts to smell a little nutty.  Add the squash and onion back in. 

Here's the hard part.  Patience.  After constant stirring for 10 minutes, you get to stir some more.  Add 1 ladle of chicken stock.  Stir until it is completely absorbed.  Add another ladle-full and stir.  Repeat and repeat until all the stock is absorbed.  It will take time but it is worth your effort. 

Stir in the pepper, cheese, turmeric and nutmeg.  Remove from the heat and serve while hot and creamy.

Bread

Lemon Mousse
1/2 cup Lemon Juice (about 2 large lemons or 3 regular lemons)
Zest of the Lemons
1 tablespoon unflavored Gelatin
4 large Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Whipping Cream

In one bowl, combine the lemon juice and the gelatin.  Let stand for 10 minutes to let the gelatin bloom. 

In another bowl combine the lemon zest, sugar and the egg yolks.  Stir until fluffy and creamy and lemony. 

After the 10 minutes is up, heat the lemon juice and gelatin in a double boiler.  Be gentle.  Go slow.  When the gelatin is completely dissolved, and the juice is heated and aromatic, slowly pour it into the egg yolk mixture, stirring quickly.  Return to the double boiler and reheat it slowly until it STARTS to thicken.  Remove from the heat and put it in the refrigerator to start cooling.

Whip the cream and fold into the lemon mixture.  Then whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold it into the cream and lemon mixture.  Spoon into glasses for serving and let chill for a few hours.  Top with sweetened whipped cream.  Light and refreshing!

Wrapping Presents

My brother's birthday was early this month (Happy Birthday, My Brother!) and to help him with the celebration, we went to his house and made dinner.  (I like it when someone else gets to clean up the house.  Happy Birthday, My Brother!) I stuffed some pork rib chops with Parmesan cheese, dates, wild mushrooms and sage, and that got me thinking of our inclination of stuffing one food into another.  The whole concept is glorious: take a good food and then stuff it full of more good food to make one super food.  That is gluttony at its most crapulent!  (And yes, that's a word.  Look it up.) 

It's also delicious, and we who consume food nearly demand it.  At restaurants, Stuffed Crab or Stuffed Lobster grace the menu of almost every seafood establishment.  We like to dress up baked potatoes as Twice Baked Potatoes.  Chicken Kiev, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Roulades, and Baked Alaska all fulfill our need to enhance the dining experience by putting more food into the food we started with. 

Turducken.  Need I say more?

So how can you create a new dish by stuffing one food into another?  What do you need to look for?

First, of course, begin with flavors.  Find compliments.  Sweet and sour are a safe start for any savory dish, while acidic flavors are also good at cutting through heavy fats.  But find a way to surprise the audience.  Wrap bacon around a kumquat and use that combination to throw a culinary curve ball.  Now stuff it into a Cornish Game Hens for roasting!  Sweet, savory, rich, lightly acidic. . .  Mmmmm!  I'm making me hungry!

Next, think of the physics involved.  How can you get enough space open to get the goodness in?  A yin for the yang, if you will.  You also want to figure out how to keep it in place.  Remember that, when heated, some things expand and take up more volume.  Also, when heated to sufficient temperatures, proteins contract and tighten their bonds making them both less elastic, as well as smaller.  That juxtaposition nearly guarantees to squeeze out whatever stuffing you're attempting to stuff--unless preparations have been made.  Fowl is easy: a natural cavity and supporting bone structure help.  Whole fish is similarly easy.  Mushrooms, potatoes and zucchini all work well.  Steak, pork chops and chicken breasts will put up a fight.  Employ butcher's twine, skewers or a crust or wrapper to help (think: puff pastry).

For those who haven't tried it before, here's a couple of recipes to get you started in the right direction.

Stuffed Mushrooms
8 large Button Mushrooms, whole, blemish free and firm
1 small Shallot (or Onion) minced, about 1 1/2 tablespoons
2 strips Bacon, chopped fine
2 teaspoons Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar or pungent asiago, although Parmesan works well, too) sliced into little squares to cover the mushrooms

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium skillet on medium high heat, saute the bacon until crispy.  While cooking the bacon, clean the mushrooms, gently remove and chop the stems, leaving the the rest of the mushroom whole.  When the bacon is about ready, add in the shallot and mushroom stems, salt and pepper.  Saute until the shallots and mushroom stems are soft.  Add the breadcrumbs, stir and remove from the heat. 

Scoop the filling from the pan into the mushroom tops and place them onto a greased cookie sheet.  Lay the slices of cheese over the top and pop them into the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

Be careful when eating.  These bad boys can stay hot for a while!


Chicken Roulade
4 large, boneless Chicken Breasts
1/4 cup soft Cream Cheese
1 teaspoon dried Sage
1 teaspoon Thyme
2 teaspoons Parsley
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
Salt and Pepper
Plastic Wrap
The secret to this dish is making it far enough in advance to let it chill firmly before cooking it.

Lay a chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  Using a flat meat tenderizer (I use a large rubber mallet) gently pound out the breast until it is evenly flattened to about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.  Repeat for all four. 

Lay 2 flattened breasts on a fresh piece of plastic wrap, overlapping each other slightly.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then spread 1/2 of the cream cheese evenly over the chicken.  (DO NOT use a contaminated knife or spoon to scoop another helping of cream cheese out of a container.  That's how you get sick!  And my mom would have a fit!) 

In a small bowl, combine the sage, thyme, parsley and lemon zest.  Mix to combine.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the mixture onto the cream cheese. 

Using the plastic wrap to help you, roll the chicken into a tight pinwheel log.  Be sure to not roll the plastic into the pinwheel.  Wrap the log tightly in plastic and refridgerate for 8 hours.  Repeat with the other 2 breasts.

I prefer to cook the chicken on the stove top.  While still cold, remove from the plastic wrap and lay the roulades into a hot greased skillet.  Brown on each side, using tongs to turn it over.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and let cook 5-10 minutes more, or until the center reaches 160 degrees on an instant thermometer.  Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Thanksgiving!

I know many bloggers are out there, piously telling you what they are thankful for today.  That's not my style.  Today, you can be thankful for me.  It's ok.  Allow yourself to bask in my glow.  There's enough to go around. 

And as my gift to you I present a chronology of today's cooking.

We are at my parents' home, and after a big clam chowder meal last night, my body is prepared for the day ahead.

7:42   Wake up.  Stagger for a few minutes during morning preparation. 
7:48   Coffee.  Coffee brings clarity to life. 
7:50   Get the turkey out of the brine, rinse it thoroughly and dry it using paper towels.  Let it stand to continue to air dry. 
8:30   Making the cranberries. 
8:35   Cleaning up the stove where I wasn't paying attention and let the cranberries boil over.  My mom reminds me that nothing stains worse than cranberries. 
9:00   Do the dishes.  This will be repeated 7 or 8 times throughout the day.
10:30 Watch football.  My Fantasy Team is number 2 in the league, but I'm on a losing streak.  I have a rooting interest for several of the Thanksgiving Day games.
11:00 I eat a light lunch.  1 slice of bread, 1 piece of ham, a little cheese and 2 grapes. 
11:35 Start the broth for the stuffing.  Giblets, vegetable parts, apple peels, a little salt, sage, thyme and about 5 cups of water in a pot.
12:15 Assemble the rest of the stuffing. 
1:10   Dress and stuff the turkey. 
1:15   Turkey is in the oven.  It's going to cook for an hour breast-side down at 425 degrees.  Then another 45 minutes at 250 degrees. 
1:20   Help the family decorate the Christmas tree now that they've almost finished it. 
3:00   Flip the turkey breast side up, and admire its beauty.  Cook for another hour at 250 degrees.  Mom and my brother are starting to roll out crescent rolls and cooking the squash for the butternut squash soup. 
3:30   We start to set the table. 
4:00   I turn the heat in the oven back up to 425 degrees.  I take the bird's temperature.  It's about 135 degrees so far.  The race is on.
4:15   The dressing goes into the oven.  The soup is in the pot.  I start the bacon in a frying pan.
4:30   The turkey is out of the oven and is resting, covered.  The bacon is crumbled and the potatoes go into the pot to boil. 
4:45   The brussel sprouts are cleaned, split and in the frying pan. 
4:50   The potatoes get mashed.  All the final prep and meal comes together. 
5:00   We sit down to dinner. 
5:40   We all push away from the table, and the conversation slows to idle chatter. 
6:00   We start with dishes and threats of dessert.

What took days of preparation and hours of production, took only minutes to consume.  We relax and deliberate the condition of young people, these days. 

Please feel free to comment on your family traditions, your meals and recipes and any well-wishes you wish to send. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

For tomorrow's meals, we'll focus on leftovers.  Try:

Thanksgiving Sandwiches
2 slices of a sturdy Multigrain Bread
2 tablespoons Mayo
1 slice of Turkey Breast and a similar amount of Dark Meat
2 tablespoons Cranberry Sauce
1 large leaf of Lettuce
if you're really daring, 1 good spoonful of Stuffing

Assemble into a sandwich.  Eat it.  I like mine with a small dollop of yellow mustard and a few slices of swiss cheese.


Turkey Casserole
2 cups chopped Turkey
2 cups Stuffing
2 cups Green Beans or Mixed Vegetables
1 1/2 cups Turkey Gravy
Mashed Potatoes

In a large bowl, mix together the turkey, stuffing, vegetables and gravy.  Spread evenly into a casserole dish and top with a 1/2 inch layer of mashed potatoes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the gravy is bubbling and the potatoes are turning golden brown at the peaks. 


Cranberry Shortcakes
2 cups Cranberry Sauce
1 cup Sugar
6 Shortcakes (I like drop biscuits using half and half instead of milk and doubling the sugar)
1 scoop Whipped Cream

In a sauce pot over medium heat, add the cranberry sauce and the sugar.  Heat until the sugar melts and the sauce bubbles. 

Refrigerate until cool.

Heat the shortcakes, and split them open.  Spoon a generous helping of cranberries inside, and put the top of the cake back on.  Spoon another spoonful of berries on top, and add a scoop of whipped cream. 

Gluttony, The Most Filling of the 7 Deadly Sins

I've spoken before of the prodigious and bounteous nature of my Mom's kitchen.  I kid you not, this is an excerpt from a recent email sent prior to a recent visit to my parents home:

"M, is there something I can do to start roasting tomatoes? If you tell me what to get started, I'd be happy to do it. I bought plenty of garlic today and fresh mushrooms if you need any of that. Also bought fettucine and we have spaghetti here so we're in good shape with pasta. I'll make some French bread tomorrow and I have plenty of stuff for salad, either cuke salad or lettuce salad. I think I'll make meatballs, too, since I just picked up some nice hamburger. Will probably also cook up some shrimp, and as I told you, there's chicken breasts, so just let me know what you all want.

"Saturday's dinner will be lamb, new potatoes, asparagus, butternut squash, tomato tarte, dilly casserole bread, and apple pie and peach pie for dessert with vanilla ice cream and homemade peach ice cream. I cooked a beef roast and shredded the meat and am making green chili right now in the slow cooker so we can have burritos one morning for breakfast. We'll figure out something else for the other breakfast."

Keep in mind, this is a partial menu for 5 people for two days. 

The downside of such a weekend is not only in the waistline; it's also the psychological impact of such an event, or what I like to call the 5 Stages of Gluttony. 

1. Denial.  You'll hear things around the dinner table like, "This all looks so delicious!  I'll have a little of everything.  and maybe a an extra helping of that."  Or, "I'll only take one scoop of that on this pass.  I can take a second helping next time."  This is the most dangerous stage, because it sets up the strategy of your meal.  A sense of eager anticipation pervades the room. 
2. Anger.  Ok,  not so much "anger" in the beginning.  Maybe more like concentration.  As the plates fill up, the conversation around the table grows softer.  Oh yes, jokes are still made, and laughter rings out on occasion, but we slowly grow quieter and quieter.
3. Bargaining.  "Just one more bite."  How often have we uttered these desperate words, and how often have we moved right on to the next stage?
4. Depression.  A pointed silence hangs over the room.  No one looks up, but rather we all stare dejectedly at our plates.  Mom cheerfully rings out, "Who wants more?"
5. Acceptance.  The battle is lost.  The remains of the meal will now be relegated to leftovers.  We start doing dishes and anticipate dessert.

The 5 Stages exemplifies the experience, but it's not quite as hopeless as it seems.  As the dinner progresses, the camaraderie of the participants grows.  The food is delicious.  There will be legends told of our accomplishments. 

Tonight for dinner?  How about a modest salad?  And maybe some steak.  And a baked potato.  And pie . . .

Or maybe:

Mediterranean Baked Chicken Breasts
4 large skinless, boneless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 tablespoon dried Tarragon Leaves
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 medium Onion, minced
Put the chicken breasts, yogurt and tarragon into a plastic bag and let it marinade for a few hours (up to the night before).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In an oven-proof Dutch Oven (I'm using a cast iron Dutch Oven) on the stove top, melt the butter in the oil on medium high heat.  Take the breasts out of the marinade and shake the excess marinade off (a little coating is good) and lay the breasts in the hot oil.  Cook for 2-3 minutes each side, dusting with turmeric and sprinkling with salt.  Add the lemon juice and onions.  Cook until the onions start to turn translucent.  Add the yogurt and tarragon marinade to the pot.  Cover with a heavy lid.

Put into the oven and cook for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes, covered.  I served with Orzo and fresh vegetables.
3/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1/3 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Apocalypse Eventually

What will you do when the Four Horsemen ride up outside your front door and greet you with the ol' tip of the hat?  Don't think the end isn't coming.  It is.  So make plans. 

My brother and his wife had just finished watching a zombie movie with my wife and I.  Without a trace of sarcasm, irony or satire, my beautiful and charming sister-in-law deadpanned, "So what will we do when the zombies come?"  Wow.  That floored me.  I'd never looked at that question in quite that way before.  Let's examine the philosophical impact of the syntax.  Not "What if . . . ?" but "WHEN!"  This begs a follow-up question: "When the hell ARE they coming?"  Followed quickly by a third, "Is there a frosty adult beverage in the refrigerator?  I could use something to calm my nerves."

So the four of us planned it out.  (You should visit ZombieTools for more ideas.)  We eliminated the obvious scenarios that always lead to trouble in the movies.  Can't stay at home.  Zombies won't care about an alarm system on the door, so we clearly lack the necessary anti-zombie security.  And we can't/won't drive through Denver.  Traffic on I-25 through The Mile High City is bad during a light rain.  I can only imagine the troubles when the walking undead are cleaning overturned vehicles of the owner's brains.  Nope.  We're going to take the back roads to the mountains then south.  South to Canon City.  To some very basic prisons.  Now I know what you're thinking, George Romero's characters very successfully fended off a lasting attack in Dawn of the Dead by hanging out in a shopping mall.  There's one big problem anymore:  How long can you survive on Orange Julius, Cinnabon, and Godiva chocolates?  I think a prison has a number of distinct advantages: food supply, arable land, weaponry, a strong defensible position and snitches to toss to the zombies when we need a distraction.  (Too dark?  A little grim?  Not family reading material?  Well, this is real life, baby!  A zombie catastrophe doesn't care about your feelings.)

Eventually, the zombies will exhaust their own food supply and waste away.  Then we can come out of our fortresses to repopulate the earth.  With criminals.  It will be just like Australia, but without the adorable accent.

In my world, every good end-of-humanity doomsday scenario has an associated cuisine.  For zombies, naturally sweetbreads, brains and organ meats.  2012 should be traditional Mayan.  Global warming, volcanoes, and asteroids?  En flambe and fondue, of course.  Nuclear Holocaust?  There's a lot you can cook in a microwave! 

Remember the movie Alive?  I have a pact like that.  (No, not just the "you're allowed to eat my body if I'm not using it anymore" thing, because I've already made that compact with my wife, or in the event of her passing before me, anyone else.  I mean this from the bottom of my heart: "Eat me.")  I will be the one to slice and dry jerky from your butt and hike over the mountian to find help.  I'm no soccer player, but I do hunt and hiking mountains is a skill I have. 

And if the zombies invade the mountains, too?  Well... 

I wonder how zombies taste?

Tonight for dinner:

Non-Zombie Chicken in Coconut Milk and Lemongrass
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Chicken Breast per person (boneless and skinless is good)
a pinch of  Kosher Salt per chicken breast per side
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
half of 1 medium Onion, chopped fine
1 medium-sized node of Ginger, sliced thin
1 tablespoon Red Chili powder (more or less to taste)
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper powder
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon Tumeric powder
4 stalks of Lemongrass (bottom 6 inches, only, lightly beaten to begin to separate the fibers)
1 can of Coconut Milk


Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Salt and saute the chicken until lightly browned on both sides.  Remove chicken from the pan and reduce heat to medium.  Add the garlic, onion and ginger and lightly saute.  Reduce the heat to low (simmer).  Add the spices and stir quickly. 

Return the chicken to the skillet and add the coconut milk.  Simmer for 1/2 hour. 

Serve with long grain rice.

Surprises Can Be Good

As a financial advisor, I visit networking groups now and then. On occaision, to illustrate the difference between me and advisors who are not me, I provide this analogy:

"You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a financial advisor in this town. But like a great cook, a great advisor is a rare and precious find. So what separates a good cook from a great cook? The ingredients available to one are there for the other. I think it's patience and creativity. A great cook knows that some ingredients need to be added at different times to develop the flavors. It can't be rushed. And finding new ways of combining the same old ingredients may yield plesantly shocking surprises."

And I am a great cook.

That's a fun (and dare I say accurate!) analogy, but it reminds me of the problem with many restaurants. Specifically, this is why I don't eat at any of the large chain restaurants. It's not that these places are bad. Many have found great ways of giving back to the communities in which they are a part. It's not that the food is bad. Each chain I'm picking on today uses high quality ingredients and increasingly often, fresh rather than frozen or canned. No, the reason for my distain begins with the corporate training for their cooks. (Yes. I said "cooks" not "chefs.") The masses who frequent these chain restaurants have lauded the two elements which are the enemy to any artist: low cost and consistency. (Think Rembrandt vs Bob Ross.)




The food prepared at one point of sale in a chain is expected to be identical to any other point in that chain. An order of eggs over easy, a slice of ham, hashbrowns and 2 pancakes will not only have the same flavor from store to store, but will even be arranged on the plate to look identical. And to keep the prices as consistent and competitive as possible, they order the same ingredients for every location knowing exactly how much of each ingredient goes into each serving. Henry Ford's principles applied to the kitchen.

It's easy to get up on my soapbox. We demand that there be no accidents that could spoil an otherwise consistent dinner. We are willing to sacrifice surprise. But let me phrase this another way: "It's easy for ME to get up on MY soapbox." I don't have kids. No growing teenagers who need an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. When one has the luxury of time, then one has the ability to hunt for locally owned establishments. I get to know the waitstaff and chef. I can stay late and talk during the off-peak hours. I try to tip well and say thank you and tell the manager how much we enjoyed ourselves. I don't mind paying $10 more for a tab at a Mom-and-Pop restaurant if it's high quality and they are working to offer something unique.

Instead of The Olive Garden, I go to Stellas. Instead of Applebees, I go to the OLI.

Go to the chains if you have to, but I encourage you, when you have the time, take it. Follow the road less traveled. Make friends with people who take care of you. Search out people and restaurants who have a a passion for food. In short, reward yourself with a few of the finer things in life. You deserve it.

For some pleasantly shocking surprises try:

Homemade Pizza

for the Dough:
4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour + more for kneading
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dry Yeast
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar (or honey)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup of warm Water (+ more if needed)

In a stand mixer (preferably) or a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. In another bowl combine the nectar, oil and water. At a low mixing speed with a dough hook, add the wet into the dry ingredients. Continue to mix until the dough comes together in a rough shaggy mass. turn out onto a floured counter. and knead, adding flour as necessary until the dough is smooth.

Return to the bowl and cover with a warm damp towel. Let rise for 45 minutes. Punch down, turn and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Make your sauces:

Tomato
1 clove of Garlic sliced very thin (think of the scene in Goodfellas) or pressed
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (yes, the good stuff--it matters here)
1 can Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 can Tomato Paste
1 tablespoon each of dried Basil, Oregano

Heat the oil in the pan on medium high heat. Add the garilc until it nearly dissolves. Reduce the heat and stir in the sauce, sugar and paste. Stir until smooth. Add the herbs. Add a pinch of salt if needed.

Preheat the oven to 45 degrees for a thin crust pizza or 425 for a thick crust. After the dough has risen a 2nd time, divide into 3 equal parts for thin crust or 2 parts for thick crust. I like rolling the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. It makes transferring and clean-up MUCH easier. Prick it all over with a fork to keep it from getting bubbles. Coat with a thin layer of olive oil, then sauce. Add toppings. Bake it in the oven until the edges are golden brown and the cheese in the center is bubbly but not crusty (about 10 minutes thin crust, 15 min thick crust).

Some of the toppings to try:

Pepperoni
Ham
Ground Beef
Chicken
Anchovies
Sausages
Shrimp
Pork
Bacon

Mushrooms
Asparagus
Artichoke
Bell Pepper
Chili Peppers
Onions
Rosted Garlic
Pineapple
Mandarin Oranges
Apples
Tomato Slices

Spinach
Basil
Rosemary


Pesto
Alfredo
Sweet and Sour
Tomato
Olive Oil (with a little Balsamic Vinegar)



Anything else you want to try--it's yours to experiment




Banana Chicken Tacos


1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt
2 tablespoons Chimayo Chili Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
1/8 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1 Banana sliced
6-8 Corn or Flour Tortillas


Slice the chicken into 1/4 slices and saute in hot olive oil. When it starts getting brown on all sides, reduce the heat to medium or medium low. Add the spices and continue to stir until evenly coated. Add the banana. If the banana is ripe enough, it'll become a sticky sugary sauce.


Serve it up in the tortillas with grated cheese, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc.

Food and Illness

I have a cold. Or a sinus infection. Or probably more accurately, sinusitis. Lovingly, happily, zealously, friends have come to the rescue offering (or insisting on) home remedies for getting rid of whatever bug ails me.

Knowing that even a Nobel Prize winning scientist like Linus Pauling could get overwhelmed by enthusiastic attachment to misapplied theories, improper research, and incorrectly extrapolated conclusions, what can the average Joe (or Jane) on the street believe?

While growing up, my Grandfather prescribed Blackberry Brandy for nearly every internal disease my Mom or her siblings could face. (My Dad's Dad, by contrast would use Kerosene. "Cut off your finger? Let me dunk that stump into my cure-all jar of Kerosene." No, it wouldn't make the finger grow back but it would certainly re-focus the attention from whining about your finger. My wife's Grandfather carried the same zeal for enemas!)

Several people recommended echinacea. Not at all surprising is that the conclusions are inconclusive. Well, nearly inconclusive. Tests aimed at preventing a cold all came back negative. Echinacea will not prevent a cold, but it MAY reduce the effects and duration. It seems that researchers are having difficulty determining what part of the echinacea plant is effective, and how it should be produced. Note: according to the research I read, there is a 58% chance of showing reduced symptoms by 1-3 days versus those taking a placebo. Modest improvement, yes, but hardly a silver bullet.

Some of my dearest friends insisted on garlic, two of them vehemently. (If you're reading this, you're not one of the vehement ones.) I know of some of the research done on garlic for cardiovascular diseases and cancer. It has conclusively been shown to fight off bacteria, viruses and other little beasties in a test tube. (I imagine the Sharks and the Jets fighting on neutral turf, snapping their little molecular fingers, dancing their little microscopic dance.) Unfortunately, garlic as a prevention for a cold looks bleak. IF you take garlic everyday for 3 months before being exposed to the viruses most associated with a cold, you may have a slightly better chance of staying healthy. There is so far no evidence for garlic treating a cold once you have one. Garlic still rocks, and I cook with it often. But I'll rely more on its flavor than medicinal qualities.

I love Chicken Soup. No, it doesn't really cure a cold, but warm broth and a multitude of basic nutrients provide immediate comfort. Oh wait--research DOES show that chicken soup can help, at least in vitro. (The Jets and the Sharks have someone else to rumble with.) And usually someone else is making it for you, which means you're being pampered. While most naturopathic remedies feature a product that can be sold in capsules, drops or other refined form, anyone can make chicken soup and even in can form, the competition keeps the price low. Just make sure you have good chicken and lots of good veggies.

As to treating the symptoms, I recommend a Hot Toddy or the Virgin Hot Toddy: Lemon and Honey. Warm liquids and honey both soothe a scratchy throat, and lemon provides a modest mucus-clearing ability. To add bourbon or not is a matter of preference, although alcohol in moderation does promote a good night's sleep.

So what's the best? I recommend cuddling up with someone who will put up with you, eat some chicken soup, drink a hot toddy, and get lots of rest. As Leonard told Joel Fleischman in the "Heal Thy Self" episode of Northern Exposure: "The doctor's job is to make the patient feel more comfortable until the body can heal itself." There is some wisdom to that. If a hot toddy and chicken soup work like that for you, great. If it's a garlic enema with a vitamin C chaser, great. Just don't tell me about it.


Chicken Soup
1 whole Chicken, skin removed
Water
Salt and Pepper
1 Onion
4 Carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks Celery, chopped
10 medium Button Mushrooms, washed and sliced
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
2 California Bay Leaves
Noodles (1 1/2 cups, uncooked), Rice (1 cup, uncooked) or Potatoes (4, peel left on, washed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

Remove the giblets, and throw the chicken (with the neck) into a large stock pot. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon each, maybe a little less pepper). Add the bay leaves. I like to keep the onion peel and carrot peel and put them into a cheesecloth satchel and add to the pot at this point. If you want to, it adds to a more complex broth.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer. Let it bubble for 2 hours. The gelatin from the bones begins to break down and the meat gets very tender. Remove the chicken (and the cheesecloth satchel) from the broth, but don't take it off the heat. Let the broth continue to simmer. Using forks, seperate the large pieces of meat from the bones. Let it cool enough to use your hands on the carcass.

Take as much meat off the bones as you can. Shred it or chop it. Put it back in the pot with the veggies. If you're using rice or potatoes, add them now. Let simmer for an hour. (If you're using noodles, add them about 20 minutes before you're ready to serve.)

Left overs are great.

A Super Bowl Party to Remember

It was a great game and I'm pleased as punch that the Saints won. But the real story for us was the party we joined.

We were grossly unprepared.

Our friends invited us to their aunt and uncle's home. A long way out, east of town, nearly an hour's drive by interstate. "Bring an appetizer to share," we were told. I made a kind of chicken skewer with 3 kinds of dipping sauces. Something simple and somewhat out of the ordinary.

When we arrived, the spread was already laid out. Peeled jumbo shrimp, chips and dip (a great layered dip, btw), vegetable crudites, brownies, cookies, candies, flowing wine, bottomless beer and sodas. Our chicken fit in well, but already paled in comparison to the shrimp. Oh! if we had only known!

We ate for an hour before the game. THEN we were informed that dinner was going to be served. Roasted lobster tails, king crab legs, rigatoni al pomadoro, two kinds of salads, homemade pizza . . . there was probably more, but that's all I could get to.

Now, my brothers and I have a training ritual for events like this. For a Thanksgiving feast with the family, for instance, we will start eating a few days in advance, stretching our stomachs as best we can. Each day we'll eat a little more than the last. Then the day of, we'll fast until the big meal. In this way we can maximize our caloric intake in one truly glorious bout of gluttony.

How woefully unprepared for such a Super Bowl party. Pity.

Next year will be different.

Chicken Skewers

8 large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
Bamboo Skewers, soaked in water overnight

Marinade the chicken in the soy and olive oil for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the chicken length-wise into 1/2 inch strips. Skewer the slices and lay on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Buffalo Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon Tabasco Sauce
2 tablespoons White Vinegar
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon Dark Brown Sugar

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, over medium high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients in order, stirring as you go. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Best served hot and in an open area. It will sting the eyes.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cloves of Garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup old Jellies or Jams you have laying around (I used am apricot jam and grape jelly)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, over medium high heat. Saute the garlic until just soft. Add the jellies, stirring quickly until they are thoroughly dissolved. Add the vinegar and soy sauce and continue to stir and simmer until reduced to a slightly thicker liquid. (You can use a little more vinegar if you like it a little more tangy.)

Serve hot or cold.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

2 tablespoons Canola Oil
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 tablespoons ground Chimayo Red Chili Powder
1/2 cup smooth Peanut Butter
2-3 dashes of Tabasco
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Stirring quickly, add the garlic and chili powders. Stir until thick and smooth. Reduce the heat to medium low. Stir in the peanut butter, Tabasco and soy. Keep stirring until smooth. Best served warm.

What a Little Knowlege Will Do or A Day of Decadence and Good Business Sense

Make no mistake. I love my chosen career. I love the people I work with and work for. I love the thought process I have in seeing the relationships between people and their money. And I love that I can make my own hours.

After a good day of dedicated effort and rewarding results, I left the office for my favorite establishment to meet a good friend and client. We weren't talking shop other than to expound on the joys of life, and we had a few beers and a dozen wings. (Smithwicks at OLI. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.) More friends joined us. What little bit of decorum we had flew out the window. Laughter. Raucous behavior. Looks from other tables. In short, our kind of fun.

But OLI, beer and wings was not our true plan. My friend and I soon journeyed to a little cigar establishment in Lafayette, Barlow's Premium Cigars and Pipe. For years, I have enjoyed the occasional cigar as any red-blooded American man will. But never before has it been an experience. I've been missing out on the joys of what a truly good cigar can bring to the party and what kind of parties can be found at true gentleman's retreat. (Not to be confused with a gentleman's club, in which may be found cigars, but the attraction is really anything but gentlmanly.) More importantly, however, I was transported to a time and place of Men. Like my imagined hunting lodges of old Europe, we didn't care about the work-a-day rabble trudging on in their self-imposed chains, nor did we worry about our own trials and tribulations that we'll face tomorrow. No. We told stories of larger-than life exploits. Of hunting and fishing and golf and sports. Of kids and family. Of stupid things that men and boys do when women aren't around to provide good counsel. The men here are leaders in their respective industries and many of them celebrate their success with the one thing more precious than all the money they could make: leisure time. Yes, they also all seemed to be rather happy men in their families, their businesses, and their accomplishments in whatever their personal endeavors may be. We all reveled in the stories we could tell. And we smoked cigars.

My friend is an educated connoisseur of cigars, well able to distinguish between regions and wraps and seeds and flavors. He knows how each will smoke, its ash, and the length of time one should savor its rich aroma. When you first enter Barlow's the musky, smokey, leathery smell embraces you and invites you in further. And the humidor is where the magic is ensconced. Dozens of brands, each with muliples of shapes, lengths and girths and styles. He asked what flavors I liked and what type of cigar I'm most familiar and made a few recomendations. I chose an Illusion Epernay. Similar to a robusto in size, its flavor was earthy and nutty, not unlike good forest mushrooms, with a little bit of leather and oak. And then it hit me. This is very much like drinking wine or scotch. You don't have to know every little detail to enjoy it, but if you're aware--truly present to the experience--you'll recognize tastes you already know and love. You need to release yourself from the pretensions of what you're doing and just enjoy it for what it is. When you start to taste the flavors you'll know if it's right for you. Like something sweeter with a bit of chocolate? Or something a bit more bitter like coffee and chicory? Or perhaps a little more floral? I look forward to each of these and to discover new combinations I haven't yet imagined.

I expect you'll hear more from Barlow's.


Tonight's Dinner:

Pan Seared Chicken in a Citrus Sauce with Garlic and Rosemary

4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Orange Juice
2 tablespoons fresh Rosemary Leaves, minced
3 large cloves of Garlic, minced
Zest of 1 Lemon
Corn Starch slurry in Orange Juice

In a heavy skillet, on high heat pour in 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil. Heat it up until it moves like water in the bottom of the pan when you swirl it around. Using tongs, lay the breasts into the oil--be careful, it WILL spatter. Sprinkle with salt. Brown the bottom then flip. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Don't put the pepper on until the side browns. Pepper burns and looses its flavor, or at worst could turn bitter.)

Reduce the heat to medium low, flip the breasts and pepper that side, too. Remove the breasts from the skillet and set aside for a moment. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and quickly sautee the rosemary, garlic and lemon zest. Add the lemon and orange juices and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken back in and simmer at a low heat for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a serving platter and add the corn starch slurry to the sauce in the pan. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk until smooth. Let come to a boil and thicken the sauce. If it's too thick, you can thin it out with more orange juice or even some chicken broth.

Serve over bowtie pasta with a sprinkle of shredded parmasian cheese.

The sauce would also be good on salmon.