R.I.P. Merle Haggard

Sad to note the passing of a truly great singer, songwriter, and musician.

Merle had some great hits, but most of what he wrote and performed should have been even more popular than it was.

Perhaps the angels with their Silver Wings can help to Sing Him Back Home to where the Good Times Ain't Over For Good.

Go spin a few Haggard tunes and have a beer (to celebrate National Beer Day on top of it). I think Hag would approve.

Pescage du Jour - 17 February 2016

What's so special about a Blue Plate Special?

That, of course, depends upon the specifics. In this instance we're considering that revered combination of salmon patties and spaghetti, and that actually can be something special.

When I got home from work, Heidi informed me of the selection for that evening's meal - my only task was to create the patties. After opening a brace of cans of salmon, finding the panko (it was right in front of me, of course, that's why it took so long to find it), getting the horseradish sauce, lime juice, and so forth, it was only a matter of minutes to create a tasty blend of meat, flavours, and binder which was ready to become nice crispy patties.

The spaghetti went into the pasta pot, the sauce had already been created and was heating nicely on the back burner, and so it was time to fry those patties. (Perhaps sauté is more correct, but since I was going for crispy, I think it really was fry.)

Once the pasta was done and drained, the patties were removed from the warm oven where they had rested after being taken from the skillet. Noodles and sauce went down first, then a couple patties, then another splash of sauce and a dusting of shredded cheese (a blend of parmesan, romano, and asiago) and we were good to go.

Oh, and so was the meal - tasty as always, and all thanks to Heidi's announcing her craving.

Delicious and highly recommended.
Cheers.

Carnage du Jour - 15 October 15

As you no doubt already know, bratwurst is a staple and a treat chez nous.

Well, leftover brats are a joy - grab a bun and heat them and enjoy, slice them into a cream sauce over pasta and enjoy, add to a quiche or omelette and enjoy, grab one cold from the fridge and enjoy, the list is endless, and each entry ends with "and enjoy."

We had several (purposely) leftover brats in the fridge and somehow the idea of a bratwurst pizza (or bratzza, if you will - or even if you won't) came to both of us, so in the spirit of serendipity, kismet, and/or Providence, that was the next project.


Not being a baker / doughmaker, I chose to purchase a very nice-looking whole wheat pizza crust at the market, but from then on it was all us:
Brats sliced to replace (much thinner) pepperoni, shredded Amish Swiss cheese to replace the mozz (isn't there a better way to shred cheese than those deadly box graters?!), a sauce of leftover alfredo jazzed up with some Gulden's brown mustard, and sauerkraut to replace any and all vegetable toppings.




You no doubt wonder how it turned out, but given the size of the pizza and the near-total lack of leftovers, we have no doubt that this is  an application which will be repeated here at Cleveland.


Delicious, desirable, and most definitely highly recommended.

Carnage du Jour - 09 October 2015

Surf and Turf - a classic.
Yes, but even classics can use a twist now and again, right? Of course right.

So ...
How about some beautiful wild-caught salmon from Alaska and a couple gorgeous lamb chops? We've got surf and turf there for sure.

"Ah, but with what else?" I hear you ask.
How about bow-tie pasta, lightly dressed with some alfredo sauce, and green peas (my favourite colour for peas)? Oh, and a bit of chipotle bearnaise sauce to go on anything and everything?

If you said "yes" to that, then you answered wisely. This was a delicious meal.

The salmon was dusted with Old Bay and a bit of corn meal, then sautéed on the flesh side first, finishing on the skin side. That happened as the pasta and peas were finishing, as were the lamb chops which got a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, then under the broiler with some red wine in the pan beneath to stop any flare-ups and to impart a bit if extra flavour.

Oh my, everything went together like lines in a Bach chorale - as each flavour expressed itself, it created a suspension  - a space for the next flavour to fill and make itself known.

I had intended to grate a bit of orange zest over the lamb and salmon, but I forgot, and I think it was just as well that I did. That would have been fine, but there really was no need for any more notes (too many notes!) in this savoury composition.

Delicious and highly recommended.

Pastage du Jour - 18 September 2015

When camping in Canada, one wants to eat some classic Canadian cuisine, eh?
What could be more Canadian than poutine? How about Kraft Dinner? (Yes, just as was celebrated by the Bare Naked Ladies, Kraft Dinner.)

Ah, but cooking at a campsite in bear country brings with it some extra considerations. How to clean up? How to dispose of any leftovers? Et cetera?
So, disposable foil baking pans to the rescue!

We brought some nicely salted water to a boil in a 9" foil baking pan over one burner of our handy Coleman propane stove, then added a tad of oil to prevent sticking (never mind what Alton Brown has said on this topic. He's wrong.) and into the water went the noodles.

Once they noodles were cooked through (it took a bit more stirring to make sure they all cooked pretty evenly under these circumstances), we drained the pasta into the lake (where the ducks seemed to think the slightly-flavoured water was quite interesting), and added 4T of butter, the cheese sauce packet, a little bit of milk, and a few tablespoons of herbed goat cheese to make the cheese sauce cheesier and creamier.

With the addition of some leftover pulled pork, this was a spectacular meal eaten in a beautiful setting with a spectacular view.

Delicious.

Carnage du Jour - 23 July 2015

Beef tenderloin.

Yes, that's correct, BEEF tenderloin this time, not pork. While it's not as versatile - beef just has more inherent flavour, I think - it's still a very nice cut of meat.

So, how did we do this one?
First off, it was rubbed with a bit of dry mustard, salt, pepper, and Hungarian paprika.
Next, while those flavours melted into the meat, the fire was started in the Weber (charcoal, of course), and a couple chunks of apple wood were soaked in water.

Once the fire was ready, it was all scooted over to one side of the grill so I could cook the meat with that often-elusive indirect heat.

It took some time, but not really all that much, for the meat to get a nice surface colour and some firmness. Then it was time to check the internal temperature with my trusty instant-read thermometer. (What a handy gadget that is!).
Once we hit 140F (60C), it was pulled off to rest.

We had some lovely rolls - somewhat crusty, a bit yeasty, very tasty - so sandwiches were the order of the day. I took some sour cream, the juice of a couple small oranges, a bunch of crumbled gorgonzola, salt and pepper, and a bit of powdered ginger to make a sauce for the sandwiches. It was delicious (a bit runnier than I would have liked, but it firmed up as it sat), and this will definitely be repeated.

Delicious and highly recommended.

Cornage du Jour - 21 June 2015

I know, my normal usage would be for this to be a Vegage du Jour, but this corn was good enough for its own coinage.

Corn on the cob on the grill.
Sure, it's trendy, it's hip, it's all those things I normally avoid.
Still, it's also delicious, so I had to ignore my normal behaviour and do it anyway.

When I have grilled corn in the past, I have simply soaked the corn (still in the husk) and grilled it until it was done - basically steaming it until it almost smokes from the char on the husk.

I may have noted here in the past that when I boil corn on the cob, I like to add sugar and chipotle powder to the water to give the corn a bit of extra flavour.

The corn we had was partly shucked, so I knew I couldn't do it quite the way I always do, but it wasn't going to be all that different.

It being Father's Day, my flavour consultant, Christian, was in the house.
Something had been said about something or other that made me think of coconut. I have no real recollection of what that might have been, but hold that in mind for a moment.

I decided to soak the partially shucked corn in my normal water with sugar and chipotle before dropping it on the grill. Then inspiration struck.
Do you remember the coconut? Well I did, and I asked Christian to check the combined scent of the flavours, and he concurred: this could be great.

After about a 10 minute (15?) soak, the corn went on the grill (covered, wet husk side down) with some rotation and such - including a final flip to corn side down - until it was steamy hot and delicious.

Oh, did I mention it was delicious? It was.

This is definitely to be repeated, and is highly recommended,
Enjoy!