Monthly Archives: August 2008

08.28.08
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Spicy Beef

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Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so betwixt the two of them
They licked the platter clean

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Cooking for two can present problems at times.I love beans. My wife tolerates beans. I can get away with a bean dinner about once a fortnight, so I satisfy my beans Jones at lunch with the leftovers when she’s away.I love spicy food. My wife is averse to spicy foods to the point where she says it’s painful. How can something so good for one, affect another in such a completely diverse way?Our experiences of the past two days illustrate a story of steak and chiles and leftover steak and other chiles; a wholly unsatisfactory dinner (for one), a delight (for the other), and ultimate harmony.It all starts with a flank steak. We both love flank steak. A flank steak is about 1 1/2 pounds — way too much for dinner for two — so leftovers make a second meal (or more).I do most of the menu planning and cooking — Carol has a real job — and I like to try new stuff. I saw a recipe in the Chronicle by Joyce Goldstein for Grilled Skirt Steak on a Bed of Grilled Poblanos & Onions. It looked really good to me, flank steak can stand in for the skirt steak, and I trust Joyce Goldstein’s recipes.
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08.19.08
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Cooking from the TV

Tomato and Sausage Bake

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Tomato and Sausage Bake Adapted from Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake, from the Food Network show JAMIE AT HOME by Jamie Oliver. The show is based on the book of the same name.When I got home from the Farmers Market on Saturday, Carol had Jamie Oliver’s show, Jamie at Home, on the kitchen TV. He was doing a show on tomatoes. What luck, I had tomatoes in my bag. Jamie’s recipes are always easy and usually good, especially the ones from this show.I stopped and took notes, even as C was saying, “You can get the recipe on the internet.” When the show was over, I went to the Food Network website, found the “Tomatoes” show and copied the recipes to a Word document. Then I checked my notes against the recipes. As usual, there were differences.Warning: When you see something interesting on a food TV show — take notes. You can always look up the recipe on the internet, but sometimes it’s a similar recipe, not what you saw. Also, on TV you can see techniques that aren’t noted in the recipe.In this case, for example:

Recipe — cherry tomatoes, TV — he did it with whole tomatoes of varying sizes and colors. Recipe — 375 ° oven, TV — he cooked in an outdoor, wood fired brick oven. Now he wouldn’t write a recipe for an outdoor, wood fired brick oven, but the temperature in that oven is way higher than 375. Recipe — No bacon or salt pork. TV — he started with bacon or salt pork in the pan and rendered the fat, then took out the bacon and flavored the fat with herbs. Recipe — Chopped garlic. TV — Unpeeled garlic cloves. Recipe — He put everything in the pan at once and popped it in the oven. TV — He put the tomatoes in first to blister the skin, took the pan out and pulled the skins off. Then added the sausages and back in the oven.On TV, he did some “extra dishes” with the leftover sauce. The recipe on the internet said, “Our agreement with the producers of “Jamie at Home” only permit us to make 2 recipes per episode available online. Food Network regrets the inconvenience to our viewers and foodnetwork.com users”

Anyway, you get the drift. Take notes.

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08.11.08
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Eats on the Cheese Road

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Québec, Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on the way to the grand Festival of Cheese in Chicago. Much of the trip was in quest of eating miles and the food was what was there when the driving stopped, although we hoped for the best. The best (aside from the festival itself); we were able to choose — St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis, Aja Steak House in Chicago, and my sister’s home cookin’. The worst; we just had to eat something: Wendy’s in Logan, Ohio. We just stumbled onto the Palace Grill in Chicago’s North Loop — by far the best value. The yawning middle of quality included novel destinations — Hooters, Harry Caray’s — and restaurants on an agenda in Lancaster (see also Ohio Eats).

In mid-June, Eric, cheesemaker at Monroe Cheese Studio, and number one son, emailed to say he was driving the Maine Cheese Guild‘s entries to the American Cheese Festival in Chicago at the end of July. He wondered if I wanted to come and help drive. I’m a sucker for a road trip and had nothing pressing on my plate, so I said, “Why not?” The fact that my wife Carol hates road trips and I hadn’t been on one since ought-four made the decision easy.

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It turned out that the best way to make a connection was for me to fly from San Francisco to Montreal where Eric would pick me up and we’d be off across southern Canada to points west. Come with me for a plethora of food experiences, warts and all.
Wednesday Breakfast
Air Canada Flyover, USA
Air Canada is nice. I was able to pre-purchase my meal with my ticket. Of three choices offered, I chose an ‘Egg macmuffin’ sort of thing that came with a generous bag — not packet — of cashews. Am I giving ratings in this treatise? I think not.

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Wednesday Dinner
Bud’s Place Brockville, Ontario
We checked into a Day’s Inn (free wi-fi was the clincher) and went to dinner down the road toward the St. Lawrence River at Bud’s Place. We walked into a big, dark barn of a place with a big center bar, occupied by only a few people. It did not look promising, but the bartender suggested the roof terrace where we enjoyed the service of Katy, our smiling, enthusiastic waitress, and a decent view of rooftops falling away toward the river. The menu was straight from Fred’s Frozen Foods (I know, my brother used to work for Fred’s), but nicely prepared and cheerfully served by the wonderful Katy. I had the Cajun Catfish and Eric, the Steak Sandwich.
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08.11.08
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Eats on the Cheese Road (continued)

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Québec, Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on the way to the grand Festival of Cheese in Chicago. Much of the trip was in quest of eating miles and the food was what was there when the driving stopped, although we hoped for the best. The best (aside from the festival itself); we were able to choose — St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis, Aja Steak House in Chicago, and my sister’s home cookin’. The worst — when we just had to eat something: Wendy’s in Logan, Ohio. We just stumbled onto the Palace Grill in Chicago’s North Loop — by far the best value. The yawning middle of quality included novel destinations — Hooters, Harry Caray’s — and restaurants on an agenda in Lancaster (see also Ohio Eats).

Here we continue the trip as we cross the Ohio River bound for Lancaster.

Monday Lunch
Wendy’s
Logan, Ohio
Bob Evans
Lancaster, Ohio

The plan was to drive for a while and then stop for some sort of breakfast. We got through Fairmont and then got on Route 50 bound for Clarksburg and Parkersburg. The road was big and empty and beautiful as it rolled through the short and tall hills of West Virginia. I had always felt West Virginia more rugged than beautiful, but I hadn’t been on this road. What we saw of Clarksburg had no attractive food options, nor did Parkersburg.

Once we crossed into Ohio, more of nothing continued. We drove straight through to Wendy’s in Logan for a pre-lunch; Junior Bacon Cheese Burger, “made fresh for you.” NO, it was not, cold in the middle.

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With no other attractive options, we settled for the familiar, Bob Evans in Lancaster for lunch. We were served by the cute and perky Michaela, and learned that she had just turned 18. “I’m an adult now,” she said. “Is she coming on to me?” I dreamed. I had my usual Fried Mush and Sausage Gravy. Eric ordered the Big Breakfast of eggs, home fries, and sausage with an order of Biscuits with Sausage Gravy on the side. Big food. Continue reading →

08.05.08
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Summer Grill

Corn, Peppers and BratsWith all of the pleasurable traveling I’ve been doing, there hasn’t been much time to write about cooking real food. It was great to get back to the Saturday Farmers Market.The summer Farmers Market brings lots of good things, corn and bell peppers among them. An onion, a grill and some good mixed brats, some butter and a skillet all came together to make a flavorful, quick, hearty and lip-smackin’ good dinner.grill_raw.jpgHere’s the corn and bell peppers ready to go. No prep needed, except cleaning up the corn.grill_cooking69.jpgThe hot grill is going — opened for the picture. Besides the corn and peppers I had half of a sweet onion and 1/3 of a red onion left from other things, as well as three Johnsonville Beef Brats and two Stadium Brats. In about 4 or 5 minutes, the Brats were browned; the vegetables went for about 8 minutes.grill_cooked71.jpgI could do the grilling about five o’clock when it was really nice outside and let the food wait until dinnertime. The peppers are sweating in the paper bag.grill_plated72.jpgWhen dinnertime came around, the corn and peppers were sautéed in butter and the Brats put in a 200 ° toaster oven to warm. Cherry tomatoes and a bottle of Cline California Zinfandel completed the picture. Yum.

08.01.08
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Cheese Road

Inside the American Cheese Society Festival of Cheese

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In mid-June, Eric, cheesemaker at Monroe Cheese Studio and number one son, emailed to say he was driving the Maine Cheese Guild‘s entries to the American Cheese Festival in Chicago at the end of July. If I wanted to come and help drive, my lodging and some food would be covered. I’m a sucker for a road trip and had nothing pressing on my plate, so I said, “Why not?” The fact that my wife Carol hates road trips and I hadn’t been on one since ought-four made the decision easy.

But to do this trip, I’d have to fly red-eye to Boston to hook up with Eric, then drive 16 hours to Chicago. Not attractive. Looking outside the U.S. box I found that I could fly 6:30am to 5pm to Montreal and have Eric pick me up there. That makes a shorter trip to Chicago and no red-eye. Now my juices were flowing with anticipation. Who knew what age 70 would bring.

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The American Cheese Society Conference and Competition Awards. All I knew was that last year it was in Vermont and Eric won third prize for his Thistle Blue Cheese.

How big is it? Research told me that last year 1,209 cheeses and dairy products were entered involving 181 producers from 30 states and 3 Canadian provinces. It took 30 judges to determine the prizes. Wow. Eric sent me a form to volunteer for work setting up the Festival in exchange for a free apron and a ticket to the evening Festival tasting (worth $85). Who could pass that up? Continue reading →