Another Colorado Spring Break

Question: What do you do when you run out of milk but still want pancakes?  Milk is somewhat integral to the whole holding-a-pancake-together principle. 

Follow-up question: It's a warm spring morning and you want something to remind you of the high school Spring Break you never took took to Hawaii because your parents didn't have the money to go globe trotting, even though the cool kids would metaporically rub your nose in their glorious golden tans when everyone got back from the week off, and you secretly imagined rubbing coconut-scented suntanning lotion on Becky's back, but as soon as you thought these things you had to lock yourself in the bathroom stall and think about baseball until certain physical traits dissipated.  (OK, that's not a question.)

Answer:

Tropical Pancakes
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Sugar
3/4 cup Coconut, toasted to golden brown
1 Honey Mango, peeled and pitted
1 Banana
2 teaspoons fresh Ginger, grated
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1 Egg, beaten
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk together until well combined.  In another bowl, mash the mango and banana together.  Add the ginger, OJ, egg and vegetable oil and mix until it's a homogeneous soup. 

Stirring with a silicone spatula, add the liquid ingredients to the dry.  Stir until combined. 

Heat a skillet (or two) to medium high on the stove top.  Spray with cooking spray.  When hot, add about 1/2 cup of the batter to the skillet.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Cook on that side until the bottom is evenly browned.  Flip over and cook until the other side is done and the center is cooked through. 

Repeat with the rest of the batter. 

Keep them warm in a 100 degree oven.  Serve with sliced fruit and syrup. 

Cooking for One

My beautiful and perfect wife is out of town with her mom and sister, and I'm home alone.  A time for quietude, watching sports, playing video games and puttering.  And I'm also by myself for tonight's dinner.  Yes, sometimes that happens for every one.  So what do you cook when you're cooking for one?

First of all, this is a chance to eat all those things that your significant other doesn't want to eat or won't let you eat.  Spam is at the top of my list.  (A nice fried Spam and egg sandwich with a little cheddar cheese melted on it---MMMMMM!)  H hates Spam.  I also like sardines and other canned fish, and since our bugs outing, bamboo caterpillars.  H is not especially fond of any of these.

I also eat a lot of the leftovers from the refrigerator.  Tuna casserole and day-old pizza.  I also make popcorn and eat some fruit.  I confess, left to my own devices for a day or two, I don't eat a lot of vegetables. 

But if I'm really cooking for one, what should I be making?  Does it have to be significantly different from cooking for two or more?  Short answer "no."  And "yes." 

Cook as you're used to cooking.  If you make too much, enjoy the leftovers. But try new things.  If you fail miserably, you don't have to share your embarrassment with anyone else.  This is a time for invention! 

Tonight's invention:

Banana Quesadillas
1 Banana
sliced or shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 Corn Tortillas
Butter
Chili Powder

Butter one side of both tortillas.  Place one tortilla in a medium hot skillet, butter side down.  Slice  banana onto the tortilla and layer cheese on top.  Sprinkle chili powder on top, to taste. Cover with the other tortilla, butter-side out. 

Heat until the cheese is melty and the bottom tortilla is golden brown.  Flip.  Heat until that tortilla is brown, too. 

Goes great with black beans, shredded lettuce, tomatoes and a dollop sour cream. 

Dinning at The Fort

We recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. In a brilliant moment of foresight, we planned our wedding so that our anniversaries might correspond to Denver's 5280 Restaurant Week. Never mind that we got married 9 years before the promotion started, and that it was the first date the church was available --this is our week.

For those who live outside of Colorado (or perhaps under a Colorado rock) 5280 (pronounced "Fifty-two Eighty") Restaurant Week follows the restaurant promotions of other cities but we are one mile above sea level: 5,280 feet = one mile, representative of the Mile High City. Get it? Here the restaurants feature multi-course dinners for the low, low price of $52.80 per couple (or $26.40 for a single person or a third wheel) and according to VISIT DENVER, the Convention and Visitors Bureau 281 restaurants participated this year.

We chose The Fort for our dining experience. Known for it's gourmet treatment of game meats (Venison, Bison, Quail, et al), and its tagline "Food and Drink from the Early West." I can't confirm that my cocktail was from the early West, but it was damn good. "Traders Whiskey." Fine bourbon, red chilies, tobacco and black gunpowder. Served neat, in a cordial glass. (OK, we did look it up. Find more, here.)

For the 5280 promotion, The Fort served a prix fixe menu of house salad, choice of Bison Ribs or Bison Brochette, with a quail and sides of corn with Lima beans, and mashed potatoes. Peach cobbler for dessert. They also gave us sourdough rolls and pumpkin muffins (with little apple pieces baked inside--delightful!) We ordered nothing more, and we were stuffed to the gills. Generous portions and delicious food! Because it was our anniversary, we also had our picture taken in authentic headgear (actually, I think mine was a hardhat with some buffalo fur scraps from the souvenir counter taped to it.) And although we didn't eat it that night, they gave us an additional desert of Chocolate Chili Bourbon Cake.

The picture probably would have been better served before the gluttony, but c'est la vie.
I sincerely recommend scheduling some time next year to take advantage of 5280 Restaurant Week. With nearly 300 restaurants participating in every neighborhood and small town in the Denver Metro area, everyone can find something to suit their tastes, and this is a great way of trying something new. The dates are not announced very far in advance but for scheduling purposes, please consider that no restaurant wants to lose its Valentine's Day revenue, nor try to work around the St. Patty's day hullabaloo. I don't know what the dates will be next year, but I know when they WON'T be.
For breakfast this morning:
Brule Bananas, Oven Bacon, Eggs over Easy and freshly baked Bread
Brulee Bananas

Slice bananas lengthwise and rest on a wire rack, on a cookie sheet, over a non-flammable surface. Sprinkle very liberally with white sugar. Don't substitute here! Nothing else will burn in quite the same way.

Grab your best blow torch. (Side note: do NOT spend the extra money on a "brulee torch." They are too small, are over-priced, and you have to spend extra for fuel refills. Instead, go for the small propane bottles, and a $6 screw-on torch.) Patiently melt the sugar, holding the torch relatively still until the sugar begins to burn, turns deeply golden brown and bubbly. You can refrigerate for a few minutes, but do not cover or the crispy shell will liquefy.

Bread

2 cups Bread Flour (more gluten than All Purpose Flour)

2 tablespoons Yeast

1 1/2 cups warm (110 degrees F) Water

2 more cups Bread Flour + more for kneading

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 stick of unsalted Butter, melted

The night before, combine 2 cups flour and yeast in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the water stir until everything is well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and let it do it's thing. In the morning it will have tripled or quadrupled in size.

Add 2 more cups of flour, salt and butter and mix until it comes together in a shaggy mass. Turn out onto a floured kneading surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until it's smooth. Return to the bowl, cover with a warm damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour. Punch it down and let rise in the same way for another 45 minutes.

Shape the loaf on a piece of parchment paper let rise while the oven preheats. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes (or a little more). Slice and eat it while it's warm.

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.