It's always a party with Wayne's Codeine

The other week I saw a recipe for a potato-wrapped halibut and thought, "hmm...that looks really cool, I'll try that someday."  Actually, to be honest, I really thought, "hmm...that looks really cool, but I'll probably never try that."  Well, I've kind of been feeling that I could do a bit more with presentation and thought that this would be a good venture for that.  Plus, I've been wanting to goof around with my balsamic-pomegranate reduction/caramel recipe.  The potato trick proved to be a little technical, but i think that the big trick is getting the potatoes thin enough. Once I dialed in my mandoline to the perfect setting, it was a breeze.  You lay the potatoes out next to each other, overlapping across and also down.  place your fish in the middle, then just fold over and press the seam side to adhere to the fish.  There was a really good photo of how to do this in this month's bon appetit.  Anyway, I served on top of some wilted spinach and then drizzled the reduced balsamic mixture on top.  I can't say enough about that stuff.  If you like balsamic vinegar, you'll love this.  It's really easy and can be used on all sorts of things from meat(s) to salads, or just for dipping.  recipe to follow.   ps.  notice the stray spinach leaf???  lamesters.

I also made a tomato soup the other night and we had some lovely grilled cheese sandwiches (on whole wheat sourdough).  I actually used the leftover soup to make another soup.  I took the rest of my sausages and added some potatoes, a jalapeno, and some chicken broth.  pretty tasty, but a little on the spicy side.  

DISH recommends:

OXO kitchen mandoline.  I was feeling bad for not using this thing. I got it for christmas and have just recently started to explore with it (sorry, fingertips), but so far so good.  around 70 clams.

Caution:  following recipe ridiculously easy and will make you look way cooler than you probably are... at least I hope I'm not the only one...

balsamic reducto:

2 parts balsamic  (ex. 1/2 c)

1 part pomegranate juice (ex. 1/4 c)

sugar (ex. 1 tbs.)

put in saucepot and turn heat on high, let reduce until you dip a spoon in it and the liquid thinly coats the spoon (Be careful here, you don't want to go too far).  Take off of heat and let stand about 5 min. it will thicken up and you should be able to make some sweet designs with it.  it should fall from the spoon in drizzly ribbons ( also my nickname in high school, too bad you never thought of that one, eh?).  pieces.

pps--if you botched it, and thickened too far, add a little more juice and heat up again, just not as much as the first time.

nothing rhymes with sausage

It was so nice yesterday that I just had to smoke some meat treats.  I was rummaging around my deep freeze when I ran into the sausage pile I made about a month ago.  I wasn't really happy with it when I had made it, I think I was just in a bad mood from doing it all day long.  I like to hot smoke sausages, It's just my personal preference.  I had kind of missed my little smoker.  I bought it last spring.  It's something that i had wanted to do for a while and just thought that it was a lot harder than it actually is.  Mine is a charcoal smoker, I know that there is also an electric version of this same model, but I like the old school method, and I'm sure that there is some more flavor imparted doing it this way (although, the electric method might give you more temperature control).  So, you really should pick one of these little guys up.  the box said that it could smoke up to 50 pounds of meat at a time, but I really doubt it.  I have done a pretty big pork shoulder and sausages at the same time and it worked great.  check it out, they're really affordable and kind of a fun little hobby to have.  peace.

DISH recommends:

brinkman gourmet charcoal smoker:  ok, this is the cheapest place that I found this.  I bought mine at lowes for about ten bucks more, so if your hometown has a lowe's that might be the way to go.  seriously, give it a shot.  if you can use a crockpot, you can use a smoker.  around 55-65 bucks.  pieces.

love me tenderloin

I roasted a pork tenderloin on friday night. I roasted it in a cast iron pan on top of some potatoes.  I like this method because the pork fat bastes the tates while they cook.  tasty indeed.  I did have quite a bit leftover, so ended up making two other dishes out of the rest.  The middle dish was sort of a variation of huevos rancheros (the egg is underneath).  i really like this dish, probably one of my favorite breakfasts.  the last dish was just some last minute nachos.  I had some pretty grand plans to make a roasted chicken with risotto and roasted brussels sprouts, but we got caught up in the events of the day, oh well, probably do that tonight.  

the weather was super nice yesterday.  It made me think that perhaps spring will come earlier than thought.  Although, we always get a terrible snow storm in march.

Well, I have one more post to do, so I am going to cut this one a bit short. 

DISH recommends:

Lodge Cast iron skillet:  ok, so this website lists this as way more than I would spend, just a warning.  Your best bet is to go to TJMAXX or a thrift or garage sale.  Don't pay over 20 bucks.  I use mine for everything.  Last summer, I even started putting in the coals of my weber grill and using it for stir frying, an easy way to get wok-style heat without a wok burner.

flexible vegetables or ps--i did indeed NOT invent the word "carcolepsy." Darn urbandictionary.com

Today, I find myself in the unusual position of having a little bit of extra time on my hands.  I'm not quite sure how this came about, really...I had a longer day than usual at the bakery, and I took the dog on our usual run and also worked out.  Kind of weird really.  Anyway, the important thing is that I have some time to post some stuff.  We've been eating pretty light so far this week.  We had a really good salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, grape tomos, sesame sticks, cranberries, rye croutons (from work, of course), and cucumbers. We flaked a little broiled salmon onto the top and I made a blood orange/balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing. I am actually a really big fan of salads.  They're so easy to put together and your options are pretty much unlimited.  Definitely a timesaver. 

The center picture is a ham and goat cheese flatbread (can you tell I have been lazy this week?)  Again, super easy.  I actually used some pizza crusts from work for these.  Brushed them with some olive oil, roasted garlic, and then crisped them up in the oven. 

Recognize the final dish??  well, actually I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but it's the veggie soup from a couple of days ago (that's right, make a big, fat, tasty gasp!).  I reduced it until it got very thick, added some cumin, coriander, curry powder, and cilantro and then swirled in some plain yogurt and served it over basmati.  I cut so many corners here, it was ridiculous...ridiculously tasty. Lazy? Maybe, but no one is ever going to accuse me of not getting the most out of my leftovers.  

other non-food things:  I have to admit I used to be a skeptic of yoga.  In fact, I used to not even consider it working out.  however, for the past month, I have been doing "Yoga burn."  It is a dvd I bought at target, put out by a company called Gaiam.  After one session, I felt like my body had been wadded up and thrown in a back-alley dumpster.  Even so, I kept with it and I must say that I feel pretty good about the strides I have made in my flexibility.  Being flexible is something that I think a lot of us don't think about...at all.  I know I hadn't given it much thought, but it really has helped me out at work and even just in general.  I could barely touch my toes when I started and now I am putting my nose to my knee (lying down, not standing...yet). So, I guess what I am saying is that you really should give it a try.  I am going to keep doing it. don't get me wrong, I like lifting, but there is something pretty cool about using your own body to improve your body. 

DISH recommends:

Cuisinart 4 cup rice cooker.  Yeah, I know...complete and total indulgence, but it frees up a burner and I like having a rice cooker, dagnabit!  50 clams.

Yoga Burn.  This guy's name is rodney yee.  last name short for yeecantbeseriousnobodybendsthatway. around 15 bucks.

Flu Bug Zapper or I figured out how to Hyperlink!

WOW!  Last week I was really, really sick.  In fact, I would say that I am just now getting above the 80% range.  I caught some weird sort of flu bug or something.  It felt like food poisoning, but I hadn't gone out and wife was not sick from eating the same food (at home).  Oh well, the important thing is that I am on the mend and back to posting some tasty pics.   

The pasta dish is from early last week.  I made some crab and red bell pepper alfredo.  It sounds really heavy and rich but actually was on the lighter side. The soup picture is what I made last night, I had a ton of veg knocking around the fridge and needed an easy way to use all of it. I used some onions, leeks, celery, carrots, celery root, potatoes, pablano peppers, orange and red bell peppers, anaheim peppers, collard greens, and green beans.  the broth was a veg stock/tomato juice combo.  It turned out really well.  Probably very vitamintastic!  The last photo was just me peeling a bunch of apples.  I made some apple cinnamon muffins for amy to take to a work party.  I am still tweaking the recipe a little, but once I finish it, I will be sure to post ( I think I need to cut back on the apples).

other newsworthy newsage:  I made up a word last night. We were visiting with my brother and sister-in-law, talking about falling asleep in cars.  I was talking about how when I am in a car and it hits the interstate I fall asleep, when this gem of a word came out of my mouth:  "carcolepsy"- a sudden, coma-like affliction of sleep, induced by riding in an automobile.  Don't steal it!  Use it, by all means, but it's mine...I think.

DISH recommends:

Mac 2.5 in. curved peeling knife.  Also known as a tourne knife, or bird's beak peeler.  Traditionally, this kind of knife is used for tourneed vegetables, but it makes a pretty handy peeler.  around 25-30 bucks.  check it out here!

It's a hard knock life, for Gus...

The "I love my dog Expo."  Otherwise known as the State Fair for dogs (minus the deep fried candy bars and treats on a stick).  Our Friends from Gretna (the Iskes, holla!), came down on saturday with their dog and we met up at this thing.  It was pretty much a treatfest.  Lots of booths with people handing out treats and trying to get you interested in their products/services.  Gus and Bailey had a pretty good time.  There were so many dogs there.  There were a couple of great danes that looked like ponies.  We also scored a free frisbee.  Stoked.  Nance (wife's mom) and her husband stopped in for lunch on their way back to np yesterday and we had some pretty tasty reubens (sorry no pics, forgot.) and a bombtastic wifesalad.  I also made pork chili over the weekend.  Tasty for sure.  It's actually closer to a "chili colorado," but delicious all the same.  

other newsy news:  I snapped photos for the bakery on saturday.  Got some good pics of bread and cakes, etc.  thought I would share the cream puff picture.  

DISH recommends:

The Gentle Leader.  You can see this on gus in the picture above.  It teaches your dog not to pull when going on a walk.  It's very humane and corrects them by holding their muzzle, just like the "leader" dog would do in the "wild".   around 20 smackers.  petsmart.com

here's my pork chili recipe.  It's an older one, but a good one.  

do:

2 lbs. pork, cubed

1 large onion small dice

1 red bell pepper small dice

2 pablano peppers small dice

1 anaheim chili pepper small dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 potatoes (russets, or yukon gold) diced

1 hefty bunch of cliantro, minced

1 cup beef broth

14 oz. chicken broth

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (or 2 large diced tomatoes)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp cumin seed

2 tsp ground coriander

olive oil

salt and peps

3/4 c water if needed

In a large pot or dutch oven, add 2 tbsp olive oil and saute the onions, peppers, and garlic.  When the veg becomes translucent, add the chili powder, cumin, cumin seed, coriander, salt and peps, and  1/2 cilantro.  If they start to stick add a little stock or water.  Cook veg an additional 5-10 minutes, or until they start to soften.  Add the pork and stir, cooking for about 5 minutes.  Add the potatoes, stocks, other 1/2 cilantro, and tomato.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 40 minutes to an hour.  (remove the lid for the last 20 minutes to help thicken up.  add the water at the end if you've been a little zealous with the thickening:)

 garnish with cilantro. serve with tortillas, scrambled eggs, or make nachos out of this.  tasties.

No One's getting fat except Mama Cass...Ole!

So I had these grandiose visions for my cassoulet.  I was going to make little meatballs out of the linguica sausage I made a few days ago and put them in right at the end, along with some chicken thighs, cooked in the "confit" style, but...none of those things happened.  So I ended up with a meager meat selection of just pork shoulder and bacon.  Oh well, I guess there's nothing wrong with that, per se (Yes! I've wanted to say "per se" on here for a while.), but that's kind of the whole point of making cassoulet, isn't it?  Meat Fest...oh well, it was still pretty good.  File under definite redo, for suresies.  Served it with some croutons (baguette),  a little drizz of olive oil, and some fleur de sel.  Definitely comfort food.  

It had been a while since I had used dried beans.  I quite like them, I just forget about their superiority.  It's kind of funny how cheap they are compared to the canned variety.  anyway...

other newsworthy newsbits:  The bakery (LeQ) is starting to make cinnamon rolls.  I had one today.  Let me just say, "BOOYAH!!!"  they are so ridiculously good.  Topped with some creamy cheese frosting...dynamite.  We are also coming close on puff pastry production.  I am pretty excited to get some savory treats going around there.  I very rarely eat the sweet things at work, in fact, until today, I had probably gone about a month without having a pastry (if you don't count the samples of the puffy stuff.).  Sweets have never really been my thing.  Now savory...that's another story...

newsworthy news 2.1 (thanks wife, can't believe I forgot):  My Friend of many, many moons is now a dad!  My pal nick and his wife julia are the new parents of a snuggly little boy named Liam.  I think that we are going to try and take them dinner on saturday (so if you guys see this, does that work? hahaha.) so I better come up with a dish to commemorate. he's a cute little dude. congrats pals!!!

Dish Recommends:

Le Creuset 5.5 quart french oven.  I have had mine for about 4 or 5 years now.  It's definitely starting to show some wear.  Even though I constantly recommend Staub products on here, this pot will always hold a special place in my heart.  I think it was the first piece of expensive kitchen equipment that I bought.  Ahhh, memories...  around 230 bucks.  www.cutleryandmore.com

Don't Mess with the Rosti

I have been wanting to make Rosti for a really long time.  I can't really give you a reason why I haven't ever made it.  It seemed simple enough.  Kind of like glorified hashbrowns or simplified latkes.  I thought that I would give them a go last night.  They turned out really well (thanks to Wife's mad skills, I almost ruined them on the flip, but she intervened and saved the day).  Pretty much a combo of both latkes and hashbrowns (very buttery, crispy outside, with a fluffly, oniony interior).  I think that next time I will add some cheese to the mix.  Friday night was pizza night.  We used the glorious whole wheat crusts from the bakery (you haven't tried these yet? pshaw!) and made a ham and pineapple and a barbecue chicken.  both super easy and crazy delicious. the center pic is yellow curry with chicken. My cousin Lyndi taught me how to make that dish and I must say that it is pretty delicious. it's great because you can add whatever you want for a protein. Chicken, pork, fish, beef, tofu, monkey heads, yak tails, you get the idea.  whatever you put in there is going to be great.

oh yeah, did you notice the ridiculous fat burger in the rosti pic?  I kind of felt bad after that one.  I figured it was less of a death sentence because I used really lean sirloin for the burgers.  they were topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions, bacon, and guacamole.  Yikes! Neither of us finished. Probably a good thing.  

Other newsworthy news:  Today I am going to make Cassoulet.  This is a dish I have been wanting to make for quite a while.  Traditionally, you use duck confit (along with pork butt, etc), but I didn't want to go to the trouble of making that just to use in another dish.  I am going to do mine with pork butt, and little linguica meatballs.  I had this dish in Portland and it was made with rabbit and blood sausage.  it was probably one of the best things I've ever had.  Pretty excited.  Also, time permitting, I am going to attempt to make some sort of tart.  I was wanting to do a blood orange tart, but we'll see what happens.  Oh yeah, i stumbled across this artisan knife maker's website.  WOW!  I want one.  They are probably the coolest looking knives ever.  I'll have to save some definite clammage.  this guy knows what's up: www.kramerknives.com

DISH recommends:

eating fruit:  I have been eating a lot of fruit lately (at least 2 pieces a day.) and I feel great.  It's citrus season, and I have been enjoying blood oranges, grapefruit (much to my amazement), and clementines.  I have also become a huge fan of the honeycrisp apple.  Apples to me, need to be super crisp and not at all mealy ( i hate red delicious).  These definitely meet those requirements.  check them out.

Dish's ridiculously easy tomato sauce (for pizza, breadstick dippage) 

equal parts good quality tomato paste and hot water (this rec. is for an 8 oz to 8 oz ratio)

salt and peps

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

some grated parmesan (about a tablespoon)

combine the paste and hot water, let steep for a couple of minutes.  then mix until well blended.  add spices/cheese and stir.  best if this hangs out in the fridge for about 20 min, but can be eaten right out.  So, yeah, you might look at this and say that's a crap recipe, or not legit or whatever, but I don't care.  I used to go to great lengths making pizza sauce (straight from fresh tomatoes), but this is WAY easier and I like it better. So lose your ego on this one, you won't regret it.  You can pick it back up when you are making marinara, or making hand-formed sushi. hmmm, I haven't made sushi forever....