Monthly Archives: May 2013

05.31.13
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Road Eats 3 :: Las Vegas

(It’s about time I got around to continuing my Spring Training recollections.)

Glad to be here.

Not exactly Las Vegas, but very close. When trip planning, we decided that since we were driving all the way from Phoenix, it would be safe to spend the first night in Boulder City and avoid checking into a huge Vegas hotel possibly late in the evening. Even though we got to Boulder City before 4pm, it was a wise choice. The Boulder Dam Hotel was quite nice. Historic. Very comfortable. The Lobby/Parlor had a fireplace going and people were actually sitting around there. In addition to the front desk, there’s a dining room on the first floor. Rooms are on the second floor.

Boulder Dam Hotel

We took a walk around town to get the lay of the land and check out places we might eat. The hotel clerk (probably the owner) was quick to recommend Evans Grille. We walked there and the place was bustling at quarter-to-seven.

The menu was down home and interesting, with a Greek bent. I ordered a cup of Barley Soup and Tilapia with a side of angel hair pasta. Carol, the Special Greek Salad with Lamb and Chicken (she LOVED it). There seems to have been a pink light in the place, but it wasn’t noticeable to the naked eye.

Tilapia

Greek Salad

Of course the servings were large enough for two meals — the families around us were all taking home boxes. We’ll be in Las Vegas tomorrow, hardly a spot for leftovers. Continue reading →

05.29.13
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Freezer up!

We moved into our swell flat on Russian Hill in San Francisco in 1992. It was built in 1935, the last on the west side of Russian Hill after the earthquake and fire. Swell in every way — including a parking space in the garage — but the refrigerator in the remodeled kitchen was 30 inches wide with a freezer on top. Not swell.

We lived with that until 2003. Enough. No space to put away tomato sauce and other stuff I make in season to enjoy later. I went out and bought an “undercounter” freezer at Sears. Carried it home in the back of the SAAB. We didn’t really install it under the counter, but beside the counter with a microwave on top. That was a huge improvement, quadrupling our freezer space.

There’s the freezer on the left.

Last year we moved to Reno and bought a six-year old house. Wow. The space provided for the refrigerator was big enough for a double door refrigerator with a freezer drawer under. We went out and bought one of those puppies, relegating our “undercounter” freezer — still useful — to the garage.

Our new Reno fridge.

Undercounter freezer in garage with car.

Trouble is, it got so we dreaded using it. It was on the rather cold garage floor and we had to get on hands and knees to look in and get stuff out. And if the car was in the garage, the open freezer door just scraped by the front bumper — unless we parked an inch or two too far in.

One day, on my knee trying to fish out some sausages, a pound of ground beef and a ham steak came sliding out and rattled onto the floor; the ham steak slid under the car. Damn!! (I might have said.) Frustrated, I rolled back my head and gazed skyward… nothing up there but the garage ceiling. But wait, there’s nothing above the “undercounter” freezer. Why not lift the sucker up??? I can put it at eye level. Sounds like a plan.

Freezer up!!!

Hey… frozen food at eye level. What a concept.

05.20.13
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QUAIL

California Quail

I can’t believe I haven’t written about Fatted Calf Fig and Sausage Stuffed Quail. I first made it in September of 2010 and have cooked it one or more times a year since. It is so good and rich and well, different. Here’s the way Fatted Calf announced it:

Finally Figs
Finally, figs!  Beautiful, fat, dusky figs oozing with droplets of ambrosial sap from nearby Capay valley! That means, finally, fig and sausage stuffed quail.   And not just any quail but beautiful, plump, naturally raised Wolfe Ranch (http://wolfequail.com/) quail from Vacaville.
Farmer Brent Wolfe has been raising quail and other poultry his entire life and has developed his own breeding stock.  That means that the quail spend their entire lives on Brent’s Vacaville Ranch.  And Brent’s quail grow big, much bigger than your average quail, making them just perfect for stuffing.
The quail come straight from the farm to the Fatted Calf kitchen where they take a brief bath in brine that keeps them moist and delicious.  They are then stuffed with perfectly ripe figs encased in a blanket of lemon and herb sausage.   Roast in a hot oven or on the grill and as the skin turns golden brown and the sausage juices baste the quail internally, the fig becomes molten caramel.  Savor the first bite, finally!

I’d have to say that the quail was every bit as good as it sounds

A little research told me that less than a week after we dined on the Fatted Calf Quail, we left for Kyiv, Ukriane to attend son Brian’s wedding service and meet Natasza’s parents. Quail seemed to slip down the list of writing subjects.

In any case, we took pictures the first time and again when we grilled it last week, so here’s making up for lost time.

Could not be simpler to prepare:
• Brown the quail.
• Roast the quail.
• Make some elegant accompaniments.

Naked Quail stuffed with sausage and a fat fig

Brown the quail; roast the quail

It took about 8 minutes to brown the quail on all sides, then another 12 minutes or so to get it to an internal  temperature of 160°F; a total of 20 minutes. Continue reading →

05.02.13
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get yer ROX on

Somewhere back then — either just before or just after we moved to Reno — there was a splashy ad in one or more of the splashy cooking magazines we get — do you know how inexpensive actual glossy full color cooking magazines are these days? — for SALT ROX.

Hmmmmm… interesting idea, and probably does what it says, but awfully expensive. Costs more than all of our cooking magazine subscriptions, combined; $112, including shipping. We let it pass.

Months later, a UPS package is left on our porch. Darned heavy.

Hours later, Carol asks me to take a look at “your anniversary gift” so I can try it before Eric and Alison visit. The deluxe 8 x 12 x 2 inches Hamalayan SALT ROX. Darned heavy. Carol got a Living Social deal — $49 including shipping, a $63 savings.

Nothing left to do but try it. We can give it a good test with something particularly bland like skinless, boneless chicken thighs. There’s even a recipe on the ad for Grilled Lemon Dijon Chicken Breasts (we don’t do breasts, we do the ever-so-slightly-less-bland thighs). To round out the dinner, I chose to do a Cabbage Panade recipe by Deborah Madison from her new cookbook, Vegetable Literacy (10 Speed Press).

[Make garlic stock, saute a sliced onion with juniper berries and sage leaves, add cabbage and cook until tender, layer in a baking dish with cheese topped rye bread slices and bake.]

Salt ROX

Cooking on the rock is very different than straight grill cooking. One must start with the rock on a cold grill, for fear of cracking the rock by putting it on a hot grill (also for fear of burning my fingers… did I say that sucker is heavy?). I was surprised that it doesn’t take much longer to heat up the grill with the rock than without the rock… about 20 minutes.

I marinated and dried and oiled my thighs and when the grill was ready, put ‘em on. Boneless thighs don’t take long to cook — I figured six or eight minutes to 165°F.

thighs cook

When I opened the grill to turn them, I noticed they were “cooking wet.” Of course, they’re on a rock. The juices from the meat can’t drip into the fire (oh, a little runs off the edge). The ROX folks say “It’s like brining without the water!”

Sure enough, after about 6 minutes the thighs registered 165 and I took them inside to rest.

ROX chicken thigh with cabbage panade and a 2012 Bonny Doon Picpoul

The chicken was excellent, moist and flavorful with a pleasant salty undercurrent. Yum. Sadly, the Cabbage Panade imagined as a perfect accompaniment, wasn’t much, lacking in flavor and the texture mooshed.

So, the SALT ROX worked.

burger with roasted potato, ROXed onion and 2012 Cline California Zinfandel

One more test with hamburgers. Once again, they were moist, but the mildly salty edge was masked by the stronger meat flavor.

SALT ROX has rules:
start cold on a cold grill or in a cold oven.
let the rock cool completely before moving.
do not wash with anything, including water.
scrape “clean.” Stains are okay.

ROX after use for chicken thighs

ROX after use for beef patties and sliced onion

So… we got our ROX on. How often will we use it? Don’t know. But it seems like a good thing for chicken thighs and fish wouldn’t be a stretch. We also have our totally wonderful grill pan, and grilling season is coming on strong.