cooking a steak indoors (*Grill stance, still required)

I suppose its only right and fair that I offer all of you some sort of explanation.  At first, my posts were delayed because I was trying to think of a way to follow up that entry on snacksgiving (not an easy task, to be sure).  Then, we were a man short at work.  Then, we were a woman short at work, which just left john and I and one helper.  for six weeks. one day off per week.  all this on top of getting a house ready for a new babe (!!!!!!!:), you get the idea. sorry for the sparse postings, my friendlies, but alas, I am but a single dish in this cupboard we call life...

Soooooo, this is my first week with two days off and dagnabit, I'm fixin' to write a blog. about steak. and iron. and gravy.  so, I hope you all accept my apology and let us march on and STEAK our claim. Let us CAST aside these IRON shackles of occupational obligations. ok, i'll stop. let's get down to this...

 Just because grilling season is all but done, there is no reason you can't enjoy a nice steak. Cooking a steak indoors is something that everyone should know how to do and should do. often. I recommend picking up a cast iron pan for this, but any heavy skillet would probably work.  the reason i go for the cast iron is because they are super cheap and maintain their heat for a long time (perfect for getting a good sear on our steak).  You want to heat your skillet over med high heat until that sucker is starting to smoke.

 Season your meat (however you fancy.  I just use salt and pepper, because I'm going to cover these guys in some gravy) and drizzle it with a little olive oil.  You want to oil the meat instead of the pan, because if you added oil to that super hot pan, your house would look like tommy chong was in the next room.

 let your steak brown for about 3-4 minutes on the first side and take this time to season and oil the top sides of your steaks.  be patient, no peeking.  leaving these alone will ensure a better browning on each piece of meat.

 using a pair of tongs, give them a flip and cook them for another 3-4 minutes.  Now, here is where a good thing can turn bad in a hurry.  If you like your steak on the rarer side, these are probably done enough for you. unless of course, you have a really thick piece of meat.  the steaks you see above were actually only two steaks that I cut down to make cooking go quickly.  If you prefer the thicker option that's just fine, but you will probably need some additional cooking, either in a 400F oven, or just longer in the skillet.  how do you tell when it is done to your liking?  you can use one of these and then consult this, but I just do this.

ok, its gravy time. Gravy is ridiculously easy to make and I am often surprised that more people don't do it. What were making here is basic beef gravy. its not a reduction or a jus or a glaze. this is just gravy.  and its what I was in the mood for.  after you have removed the meat from your skillet, turn the heat to a little lower mark, and then add a tablespoon or two of butter and let it melt, scraping the beef goodies from the bottom of the pan.  then, however much butter you added, add the same amount of flour and whisk it together until it starts to darken.

Now, add some beef stock or broth (I think i used about half of a 14 oz. can here in this pic) and whisk to combine with the butter and flour.  Let this mixture bubble up and reduce, whisking from time to time, until it reaches the thickness that you desire.

By now your meat has rested for about 5 minutes (perfect timing) and you are ready to plate up those beef treats and dig in like a BAWS! If you've never made a steak inside, I hope that you all give this one a go.  I can get down with a grilled steak, don't get me wrong, but i like the option you have with this recipe to take the juices and fat that you lose during grilling and make a tasty sauce for which to bathe your beef with.  I've missed writing this blog these past few months, hope to not take that big of a break again. thanks.

DISH recommends: getting acquainted with ol' "casty".  Lately, these are the only pans that I use.  you can pick one up from a place like tjmaxx or target or even a yard sale. keep them well-lubed and you will never go back to nonstick.
I was going to post a recipe but I thought that might be kind of redundant.  I still can if you prefer that method, but I'll just leave as is for now...
*in case you are not familiar with grill stance, I thought this was a pretty good representation.

spaghetti bolognese

I'm sure that most people have made spaghetti with some sort of meat sauce.  I know i've had (and made) my fair share of them, but up until recently, I had just not been that big of a fan of meat sauces with pasta.  That is, until I read the book HEAT. In this book, we follow bill buford around on his quest to learn more about the origins of italian cooking (which entails everything from working in mario batali's kitchen at babbo, to being a butcher's apprentice in italy.)  It is the time that buford spends in tuscany (more on this later) that inspired me to give this dish another go.  You see, the problem I have with most meat sauces is that they usually end up just tasting like a bad version of italian chili.  If I am going to deny the beauty of a traditional, meatless, red sauce, I want it to taste like, well...meat. lots of meat. I want to feel like it was worth giving up the perfect tomato sauce. I want to be rewarded with a meat trophy. and what better place to achieve such a badge of merit, than in tuscany, where most of the food is brown.

                                          

Buford spent some of his time in the book as a butcher's apprentice to a man named dario.  he is often revered as one of, if not THE best butchers in the world.  Mario batali's dad also trained under this guy before opening salumi, in Seattle, Washington.  Anyway, one of buford's tasks whilst there, was making a meat sauce that was sold at the shop.  It was heavy on the meats, with spices I had never used in italian cooking, light on the tomato, and well, let's just get to it, shall we:

Bolognese Sauce (Inspired by the book HEAT, and by my ladyfriend's constant request to meat up my sauce)
1.5 pounds mixed ground meats (your choice here, I used a pound of ground beef and .5 pounds ground pork, but you could get all crazy and use lamb, turkey, venison, yak, you get the point.  OK, fine if you want the truth, I actually had some bratwursts that I squeezed out of their intestinal home for the ground pork part.  sometimes we make food, sometimes we make do...)
2 slices prosciutto, minced
1 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red chile, minced
1 green (I used poblano) pepper, minced
small handful of flat italian parsley, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
salt and peps
2 tsp coriander powder
couple healthy dashes fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp fennel seed ( crush with the side of your knife or something blunt before adding)
1 tsp dried oregano
handful of fresh basil, stems and leaves separated, minced
port wine
big handful of cherry or grape tomatoes (left whole)
pasta water
ok, here's the do:
take all of your minced veggies (including the minced basil stems) and saute them over med heat in olive oil, about 10 or so minutes until softened and starting to golden-ize. add the prosciutto, ground meats, and a little salt and pepper.  go until your meat is browned, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon. now, add the tomato paste, cherry tomatoes, and spices (along with a bit more salt and peps), give it all a good mix and deglaze your pan by going around it a couple of times with some port wine. cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and then add your tomato sauce, an empty tomato sauce can full of water, and a little more port. turn to low and boil your pasta.   once your pasta is done check your sauce.  it should be pretty dry (if not turn heat up and cook off most of the liquid.  now, add a couple ladles full of pasta water to the sauce.  this will help mix all of the flavors and add some more liquid into the mix.  I like my bolognese more on the dry side, but this last minute addition really ties the sauce together (does it not!).
DISH recommends: HEAT.  usually I'm a nonfiction fan, but this was a really fast informative read.  If you are a fan of food and wonder what it is like to work in a professional kitchen, this is a pretty realistic representation.

for british eyes only...

around christmas time last year I made my first prime rib. ever. and while it was glorious, it was pretty darn expensive (expect to pay anywhere from $10 per pound on up to ridiculous $$ per pound if you get the prime rated stuff).  Lately, I had been craving some roast beef like it was nobody's business.  However, since I can't just go rib-roasting it up all the time, I needed to find an alternative cut to satisfy my beef needs.

On the whole, the british aren't really known for their food, but one thing that they know how to do  is roast a beef treat.  I discovered that while they do love their rib roasts, they are also fond of top round roasts. this seemed more my speed.  so I headed to the store to see what I could find and EUREKA!! top round roast spotted, not to mention EUREKA EUREKA!! 9 dollars. that's about 5 times less coin than a rib roast of the same weight.  While I was excited at this bargain, I was also pretty skeptical.  Was this going to taste good at all, I mean you get what you pay for right?  I was scared that without all of the intra-muscular fat and marbling that I was going to be feasting on something closer to resembling hydrated jerky than basking in the beef nirvana of my dreams.

But I figured that at this point 9 bucks was 9 bucks.  that was the beauty of this whole experiment.  It wasn't like I had coughed up 50+ clams for this thing, so I dove right in.  I basically went about this like I do for any roasty treats,  Veg-pile (you can call it whatever you like.  how about veg-bed, or veg-rack, or you could even call it a veg-table...ahem...), salt and peps, some herbage, throw on the well seasoned meat (always, ALWAYS, fat-side up). and roast away.  Cooked to med-rare, thinly sliced, and smothered with gravy goodness, this was fantastic!  It was the roast beef I had been looking for.  while it was much leaner than the rib roast I had made earlier, it was equally delicious, just in a different way. It was a bit chewier, but in the best way possible. I like to think of it as the beef just taking the long way home.  

Psst...Do you like gravy? If your answer is no, then you can leave this blog right now and never come back!!!...Still here?  I thought so. ok, I have a trick I use for gravy every time. remember that veg pile we rested the meat on? of course you do.  It looked so pretty before, but now it kinda looks like  complete annihilation...that's just fine.  it's probably swimming in beef fat. and needs to be drained of about 90 percent of that.  I drained my beef fat into a pot, added about a spoonful of flour and made a quick roux, and then added stock to the pan of veg, and smashed it up. put the roasting pan with the veg over your burners on high heat, add the roux and add some booze (wine, ale, sherry, port, whatever) or more stock , and then whisk and mix it all up together, scraping up the tasties from the bottom. lower heat and let it reduce to your liking and then pour through a strainer.  Now that's a gravy you can be proud of! 

A proper Bloke's Roast Beef (adapted from jamie oliver, he's british, I kind of figured it was a safe play)
preheat oven to 475 (do this now, it's important that your oven is crazy hot at the get go)
for veg pile:

2 onions rough chop

2 carrots ""

2 celery stalks ""

couple turnips or parsnips ""

garlic cloves (to your liking, you can use the whole head if you want), left whole

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 handful Simon and Garfunkel (parsley, sage, you get the rest...)

for herb paste:

6 good sized sprigs rosemary

4 sprigs sage

4 sprigs thyme

4-5 cloves garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper

the rest:(or in this case, the roast)

3-4 pound top round roast

In a good sized roasting pan or a large skillet,  add the chopped veg and herbs.  season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. toss well and set aside.
to make the herb paste, mince all the herbs and garlic together and add a couple healthy pinches of salt and pepper.  add to a a bowl and drizzle in some oil.  just enough to make it paste like, not swimming. rub this on the meat and then (I know sounds like a lot) salt and pepper the meat again, but don't go overboard. place meat on top of veg stand and either let hang out in the fridge until you are ready to roast, or go for it at this moment (this VERY moment!!!!).  put pan in oven (in middle rack) and lower heat to 400F.  if you are using a dig-thermometer (like the one i linked up there) make sure to put it in before you put the beef in the oven, it's sort of crucial to your cause (never again...) if you don't have one, don't sweat it, you can get it close by roasting around one hour for medium.  If you want med-rare, just take it out around 10-15 min. earlier. and so on. baste the beef around the halfway mark and if the veggies are starting to dry out, you can add a splash of water to the pan to prevent burnage. once roasted to your desired doneness, take the pan out of the oven and let the roast rest on a cutting board (at least 15 minsok. this is normal. pour this stuff into your gravy.  you thriftster, you...
serve with roast veggies (not posting a recipe, but what you can do here is par-boil some root veg and then toss them with oil and salt and peps and when you pull the roast out, put these in and then turn the oven to 450 to finish them off and get some color. should be done around the time everything else is).
or mashed tates. or just serve them with your favorite sides.

DISH recommends: all-clad lasagna pan. this pan says it's for lasagna, but so far has met all of my roasting needs. and it's way cheaper than their roasting pans and only like an inch smaller.  check it.
ps--like the new look?  hope so.  mames gave me a much needed make-over.  hope to actually get organized around here...

Mastering Pommes Frites...or...Les Halles fare (in love and cooking)

If you've ever tried to make some decent fries at home, I'll bet they most likely sucked. now hold on there, you might be appalled and might be cursing my name in defense of your flabby, greasy tuber sticks, but the truth is the truth. hey, I'm just as guilty as the aforementioned crime against potatodom. until yesterday, that is. I had made fries before and they were nothing spectacular. you use a lot of oil and there's all the clean up and, blah, blah, blah. you get it, I know.

A couple of weeks ago, mames surprised me with anthony bourdain's Les Halles cookbook. I had borrowed this from a friend before and while it was full of good recipes, I remembered that few of them looked like things I could make with the resources we have here ( where do I find wild boar, rabbit, foie gras, etc). apparently,at the time, I didn't see the recipe for fries, because once I laid eyes on it, I knew I would have my glory day in the hot sun with this process.

you can't really stray from this recipe and get the same results. Do you have to use peanut oil? YES! that much of it? YES!! do you really need a candy thermometer to get accurate temps? ummm....I feel like you guys get the point by now, but, YES! also, you must use russets, try to get really long ones (I used "baking" potatoes). I used 1 quart plus 1 pint of peanut oil in a 3.5 quart pot. and had to do the recipe in 3 batches.

one last thing: These are the best thing ever. crispy, not greasy at all, tender and fluffy inside, you get it, I know. make them. and invite some friends over. would be great with a nice aioli, or serve with a steak for steak frites. enjoy.

french fries, pommes frites, or whatever you want to call them: (adapted from les halles cookbook) (probably should of served four...)

3 russet potatoes, (big long ones)

1 quart plus one pint peanut oil

salt

parsley chiffonade (its for pretty)

could also season with: cajun seasoning, or a combo of parsley, lemon zest and minced garlic (have had this before and loved it)

peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch sticks. don't go too skinny, mames and i decided that the 1/2 inch ones were perfection. put them into a bowl of iced water to prevent oxidation, and leave for about 30 minutes, rinse well to get rid of starch.

put your oil into your pot and heat it up to 280F (see, that thermometer is handy right about now). what we are essentially doing here is blanching the fries first. cook the fries in batches for about 6-8 minutes. their color should be a semitranslucent white, not browning yet. remove with a skimmer and drain on a paper-towel lined baking sheet. let rest about 15 minutes.

now we are ready to fry! bring the oil up to 375F and fry the potatoes in the same sized batches for 2-3 minutes until crispy and golden brown. remove from oil with the skimmer and place fries in a large bowl, lined with paper towels (or just a clean, dry towel you don't mind washing later) sprinkle with salt (i just used plain, old kosher salt, but you could get all fancy pants and use whatever you want) and then whip out the towel, toss the fries a bit to incorporate seasoning and serve hot.

even though i did these in batches, the first batch was just as good as the last, even with the wait-time. they don't take a long time to fry after the blanching so you definitely have time to finish the process before you devour them, if you want to wait that long:) Also, after i was done, I let my oil completely cool and just funneled it back into the original bottle, ready to use for next time. thriftster...

DISH recommends:Les Halles cookbook. certainly hit a homer with that fry recipe. And I have tried the coquilles st. jacques recipe and it was equally good. check it out.

too much of a good thing is never enough???

right now I should probably be sleeping. I should be covers-to-chin in sleepsville, but I can't stop thinking about lasagna. now, for me, this is quite a shocker. I'm not what you would call a huge fan, especially not when it comes to meat versions. I have been known to make some veggie lasagnas in the past, and while they were good, it's not something I found myself thinking about the next day. The problem I have with this classic dish is that it is (99% of the time) just so dang heavy. It's usually made up of a pound of meat, a pound of cheese, oodles of noodles (wait, why don't I usually like this?), and sadly, it's just not that good. I have to credit a jamie oliver recipe for changing my mind on this one. Somehow, he managed to cram all things good in the world of lasagnadom into this dish, yet still manage to make it seem not overly cheese-laden, and really well balanced. I adapted a little bit for what I had on hand. I also did this in two stages, making the sauce earlier in the day and then when I was done with my nap, I assembled the final dish.

This would be a great weekend dinner to break bread over (bread from LeQuartier, that is!), or you could assemble ahead of time and refrigerate (or freeze) for later.

Lasagna Bolognaise (adapted from j-ol)

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

1 onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, small dice

drizzles olive oil

1 red chile, de-seeded, de-veined, small dice

handful of fresh basil (stems and leaves separated), leaves picked and stems minced

2 14 0z cans tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

healthy splash(s) of vermouth (optional...as in you have the option to leave this out if you want your final product to be lacking the sweet kiss of an apertif:)

salt and pepper

2 tsps dried oregano

lasagna noodles (I used 1 box of the flat, barilla brand)

1.5 cups ricotta cheese

.5 cups sour cream

2 oz. grated parmesan.

tomato slices

for sauce bolognaise (can be made ahead of time and frizzled, or even freezled. also, would be great over your favorite pasta)

heat a saute pan with olive oil over med. heat, when oil shimmers, add onion, bell pepper, garlic, red chile, basil stems and saute until just starting to get some color. season with a little salt,pepper, and oregano and then add your meat (you could just use beef or pork, but I thought the combo was a really good...combo) and saute until almost cooked through, stirring frequently. add some serious splashes of vermouth and scrape up the yum yums from the bottom of the pan, now, add your tomatoes, tom. paste, half of your basil leaves (you can cut/chiff them if you want, or just leave them whole)and fill up one of the cans with water and add that too. and now we reduce. You want this to end up like a thick pasta sauce. if you don't reduce enough, you'll get a watery lasagna, and no one, I mean NO ONE, likes a watery lasagna. once it is to your liking, let cool and either assemble, or store for later.

assemblage: get a pot of salted water boiling and add the lasagna noodles, just for a couple of minutes to slightly soften them, drain, and drizzle with olive oil to prevent them sticking together. grate your cheese, set aside, and then combine the ricotta and sour cream. I used a 9x13 pan for this and actually ended up a little short on the sauce, so I think it was originally meant for a smaller dish, so keep in mind that you need to either make more bolognaise, or you'll have to improvise, yay! if you use the pan I did, here's what you do: ad about half your sauce into the bottom of the pan, don't be scared. then add a layer of noodles (I did 4 overlapping each other). now, add your ricotta mixture(try to use 1/3) and spread to cover said noodles, sprinkle 1/3 of your parm over the ricotta and then add another layer of noodles. add the rest of your meat sauce, a layer of noodles, a second layer of the ricotta mix, and another sprinkle of parm. one more layer of noodles, then add the rest of the ricotta mixture. now lay some thin slices of tomato across the top and tear some basil leaves and scatter them over the tomatoes like your the business (because, honestly...you kind of are. seriously peeps, you just made a lasagna people are going to gossip about...hard). sprinkle with the rest of parm, cover with foil. you can now either bake (375 for 20 minutes, uncover and then bake for an additional 35 minutes until golden and bubbling (the lasagna, not your ego).

ps. if you be freezing this, let it come to temp before you bake it, you could ruin your pan, and the dinner inside it:(

DISH recommends: jamie olivers food revolution. gets used a lot around these parts...

I'll get it later...we've got important work to do...

You all know that I've had to simplify things here a bit lately...like really, really simplify things. For example, I have one little burner to cook on and it has all the power of about 3 disposable bic lighters, so I have to make things that are fairly quick to come together. With that said, it hasn't been all that bad. Sure, I am getting a little discouraged (I suddenly have cravings for anything baked), but it won't be much longer and things will really start to get going (have a carpenter coming tomorrow and then drywall folks after that) and we can all forget this little speedbump that pretty much derailed the dish for a couple of months...

anyway, back to my thoughts...I am starting to embrace simplicity. The photo in the middle is one of the best things that I have eaten recently and couldn't have been more simple to make. Boiled yukon golds that are just smashed with a fork, topped with this tomato sauce (i cut my onion up and then pureed everything), a few cherry toms, basil leaves (from my plant that i still haven't killed), and some fruity olive oil. all of the flavors blended really well together, but without getting lost in the final product. whole wheat baguette came along for the ride.

the other two pics are pork chili MADNESS!!! I read a very good article in bon apetit a while back about making big batches of things and freezing them for later use. Pork shoulder was one of the things they recommended. they roasted theirs, I called on the help of smokey to stock my freezer with this pleaser. Seriously though, it was really handy having that pork shoulder ready to go. would totally recommend it. Other photo is of pork chili over scrambled eggs, or as mames likes to call it: The best. thing. ever. I think she would eat pork chili for days on end.

otherstuffs: The market is in full swing, so I have been quite busy. started reading a new book. amy got a sweet new bike, and probably tons of other stuff I'm too tired to remember. will try to be more frequent in the coming weeks. Oh, also, we went to the boiler room for our anniversary. It was really good. I think that it is probably one of, if not the best non-ethnic restaurants in the state. Their staff is so good at getting the maximum amount of flavor out of their food without it being overkill. we had a few amazing cocktails (sidecar, old havana), a great first course of oxtail agnolotti with asparagus and shaved black truffle (was soooo amazing), and main courses of braised pork shoulder with morels and asparagus (and some kind of dumpling that i can't remember) with pureed parsnip and also some wagyu short ribs that were paired with lobster claws and creamed kale. if you haven't been before, it is totally worth checking out. and I think that it is really affordable for a nicer place. service is great and their bread is delicious ( naturally:)

DISH recommends: the boiler room. it is now my go to place for nicer dinners in omaha. They try to source as much local stuff as possible which is something I can totally get in to (kind of like paul rudd and that tayne fella)

at least dante had the option of getting some protein into his diet...

I love when things don't quite translate from other languages. example: Marth brought back a cookbook from china and here are just a few gems contained within: (First sentence: "How do we stick to a tight budget without assaulting our tastebuds? dining in sounds like a good answer.") another sentence talking about celery:"rich in dietary fibre, it can lower blood pressure and blood lipids significantly. especially suitable for fat people." love it.

Wanted to share a dish that mames and I really liked from last week called eggs in purgatory. Don't let the title fool you, it is far closer to heavenly than being hellish. In it's simplest form, it consists of eggs that are cracked into a spicy tomato sauce and baked until desired doneness. While that's just fine and dandy, I wanted this purgaliscious dish to be a a little heartier. I did make a pretty fiery sauce to start out with, but also added some par-boiled potatoes, and some red kidney beans to the mix. The end result was nothing short of heavenly (despite what the title implies). Served with some crusty bread (from LeQ, of course) for mopping up the lake of fire.

Also made a batch of stroganoff last week. turned out pretty good. I was out of brandy so I wasn't able to set it on fire:(

Also: USER FRIENDLY MEAT SALE!!!! don't know how much longer it is going on but stocked up on the sale at supes. Bought an entire chuck roll and turned it into a lot of roasts, stew meat, and ground beef. Also loaded up on pork. Suck and sealed all of it and sent it into the icy depths of the basement.

eggs in purgatory

1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes

1 onion, diced small

tsp (or more if you like) chili flakes

salt and pepper

2 potatoes, peeled and par boiled

1 can red kidney beans

4 eggs

turn oven to 400F.

In an oven-safe skillet, saute onion in olive oil until it gets some color, add salt and pepper and chili flakes. add tomatoes and smash with back of spoon. let reduce until sauce starts to thicken, you can keep smashing tomatoes or leave chunky if you like, up to you. add potatoes, beans, and a little water if sauce is getting too thick. check seasoning and adjust if necessary. make little wells in sauce and crack eggs into pan. bake until eggs are set or until desired doneness.

Some other nice additions for the sauce would be: olives, capers, artichoke hearts, bacon, ham, roasted red peppers, etc. This is a very versatile dish that you can customize to your liking. try it out for breakfast or any other time you feel like getting your egg fix.

DISH recommends:

Lodge cast iron skillet: bought one of these for work and we are using it a lot. nice to have around since you don't really have to wash it (kind of like winter coats! )

I have a kitchen in my basement...or VIVA la VIDE!!

one of the things I love most about cooking is the experimentation process. I get a pretty big kick out of trying new dishes, but I also really like trying new ways to prepare things, whether it be deconstructing a dish and finding out an easier way to get the same (or better) results, or whether it involves a new tool that might help the process. A couple of weeks ago, i picked up a vacuum sealer. I had always wanted one of these and was elated to find one at tuesday morning for like 75 percent off (they might still have one left, bottom shelf). So for, 25 clams, i was halfway to making myself a sous-vide rig (you can buy this one, of course, but it is wicked expensive, and I just can't abide by that.). I had heard of people making their own setups with slow cookers and was pretty intrigued. I already had the crock pot, so I filled it with water and set it to low. While i was waiting for it to heat up, I vacuum sealed a goose breast that i rubbed with some coriander, caraway seeds, and cumin seeds that I had pulverized in my molcajete, also drizzled some olive oil in there too. Once Crocky had heated up, I just dropped the sealed goose breast in the water and let it hang out for about 3 hours. How sous-vide works is this: You take out all the oxygen that can touch what you are cooking and bathe it in a really even heat. What does this mean? Well, a really delicious, end product that has lost virtually no flavor in the cooking process. A quick sear helps out the appearance of meat greatly when you use this process (otherwise, you end up with something that looks, well, kind of gross). The goose breast was a really even pink the whole way through, and I was pretty happy with the results, this being my first try and all. I'm anxious to see how this process works on a thick steak, like a tenderloin...

Also tried my hand at making gnocchi. If you've never had it before, it's basically pasta that has been made with the addition of potatoes (however, you can also make semolina gnocchi, but for the sake of time we will stick to the potato version for this post). It turned out pretty good. It was a good vehicle for a creamy sauce with some lacinato kale and peppers.

ok, otherstuff:

We received our kitchen cabinets over the weekend and are now waiting on some estimates from a plumber as we have to get a gas line put in, etc, etc, blah, blah...(can you tell I'm getting impatient here:) Papa DISH and i are going to try our hand at installing them ourselves. Hopefully with my nerves of steel (obvious joke) and his unfaltering enthusiasm (My dad is pretty pumped for this project, for reals), we can make fairly short work of it.

Also: finally solved the rubiks cube. whoever said that thing was for 8 year olds was a nutjob.

Also Also: am going to be without a sink for almost a month. just know that if you come over for dinner, I probably washed your dishes with my shampoo...

oh yeah, almost forgot (for melissa)

Quick chicken stock:

at least 2 chicken backs/wing tips/etc, hacked into 2 inch pieces (invest in a heavy cleaver, save your chef's knives from getting chipped. (It's crucial to hack these up as the marrow is what gives the stock that hearty robust flavor (i save mine in the fridge until i have enough)

1 onion.

couple bay leaves

salt (start with 1/2 tsp, you just want a little in here, most likely, you will be adding this to other dishes that you will also salt)

water to cover

heat up a stockpot on med, and then saute the chicken back pieces with the onion until you get a little color going on. turn heat to low, then cover and sweat ingredients for about 5-8 minutes. increase heat to high, add water, salt, and bay leaves. bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and cover and simmer until rich and flavorful (about 30 min). skim foam, strain, and discard solids. or, if you are like me, pick over the carcass and make something chickeny (there's still some meat on that bone, son!)

take comfort in this...

Sometimes I wonder if the only reason that Valentines day is in february is to distract us from the awfulness of this wretched month. I have said for the longest time that I hate february. It's cold, dreary, and I swear that its 28 days feel like 56. So, what's a disgruntled chap to do with this most melancholy of months? eat...things...in...bowls. More specifically, comfort foods. Nothing gets me out of a feb funk faster than a warm bowl of soup/stew/curry/whatever. I think that most of us have the wrong idea about comfort foods; meaning that comfort is associated with things that are bad for you, or at least not necessarily all that good. However, the tasties you see above were not only delicious, but also pretty good for you as well.

First pic is a fried rice with leeks that is topped with a sunny side egg and sprinkled with crisped ginger and garlic. We had it for chinese new year. it was really nice because the richness of the egg yolk, along with the leek had a really nice, velvety texture that contrasted well with the crunch of the ginger and garlic.

Next up was an elk stew with parsnips and carrots. Just threw some leeks (had a little left over from what I didn't use in the rice), carrots, mushrooms, parsnips, and chunked elk meat (all seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, and fresh rosemary) into a dutch oven along with one beer and one can of beef broth, set the oven to 250F and took a four and a half hour nap. when I woke up, it was perfectly done. I honestly spent about 10-12 minutes putting this dish together. you could do the exact same thing in a crock pot if you wanted to.

Next up was a chana masala so we could get our weekly curry fix in. I'm really not kidding on that one by the way. If mames and I don't get curry at least once a week, things can get pretty nasty around here...

Last was a parsnip and ginger soup. It was interesting because the end product almost tasted like sweet potato. another really easy dish. Just sauteed some onion and garlic, then tossed in about 3-4 parsnips, a couple carrots, 2 stalks celery, and about an inch piece of peeled and diced ginger, salt and peps, and then chicken stock to cover. let go until the veggies were tender and then blended it up. I topped it with some sourdough croutons and some cilantro. I did fry some bacon to top it with also, but ended up eating all of it while i was waiting (anyone else ever have this problem?)

non-foods:

Have been spending a lot of time lately trying to solve rubiks cube. have gotten close a couple of times, but not totally solved. I hate/love the rubiks. can't believe they sell this thing in the kid's toy section of stores. anybody else out there ever solve one of these? let me know.

Went and saw shutter island last night. All in all, pretty good. I had already read the book so I knew all the twists and turns already. Scorsese and Leo seem to make a pretty good team.

Had a minor kitchen freakout...turns out the guy forgot to add our window measurements in when laying out the cabinets in 20/20 (which almost resulted in mames' lovely face melting off of her skull and the walls of our house being cloaked in a tapestry of obscenities:), but we figured everything out and now all seems to be right with the world.

Oh yeah, got some new clogs for work. I'll have to get back to everyone on how they hold up as I've only been wearing them around the house. I used to only wear birkenstocks for clogs, but bought a pair of sanitas as they are supposed to be more supportive. Bad thing is, I'm like three inches taller in them. we'll see...

DISH recommends:

Cuisinart 4 cup rice cooker. I use this little guy all the time. I know that having a rice cooker is kind of an extravagance, but I just.don't.care. It's an extravagance I can embrace (like my body pillow made out of gold lame fabric).

Even hell is starting to feel the pains of recession...I hear they started paving their roads with BAD intentions...

Lots of new stuff happening lately. Have been making a lot of changes at the bakery. we are starting to bake a lot of "Miches", which are round 1 kilo loaves of bread that look super cool and if purchased will make you the envy of everyone else in near vicinity. We proof them in baskets which give them a really cool design and then slash and bake them. They are baked a little longer than normal which gives them an excellent crust and also more lasting power. many people also believe that the flavor of the bread actually changes and improves over the first few days. if you haven't been in in a while, be sure to stop in and check out the new stuff. Have been working on a take and bake croissant process also. Did a few today at my house and they were awesome. I just set them (frozen croissants) out overnight on my countertop (on a sheet pan and brushed with veg. oil) to proof and when I woke up this morning, they were ready to go. they had great oven spring and lots of great layers when cut open. Flaky, buttery, goodness has never been easier to achieve! which is good, because flaky, buttery sadness...well, that road just leads to loneliness...

Also picked up a trainer for wifeshow and I to hook up to our bikes so we can ride inside during this crummy weather. I had to do something...was starting to get pretty crazy. It's been a really great addition to my reg. workout and I already can't imagine not having it. i like to watch dvd's of tv shows (arrested development, currently) while i am riding, an episode is just under 30 minutes, which is a decent amount for an indoor ride. Also, picked up (and received) some new kitch gear recently. sur la table in omaha had some all clad mc2 stuff on clearance and I also picked up a Shun santoku knife. I love both of them equally...simultaneously. I have been really impressed with the shun stuff that I have and would definitely recommend them to peeps. Also received an all-clad grill pan from my pal nick. used it to make some pork chops and was really impressed with the even heat it produced. have a feeling that it's going to get some major usage in the months to come. Have also been reading quite a few books lately. Most notably, the girl with the dragon tattoo. was a great thriller, pick it up for a really good read.

ok, getting too sidetracked...FOOD! I can't say enough about jamie oliver's new cookbook. everything i have made from it has been so good. the meatball dish was a little spin-off of his recipe for "pot roast meatloaf". the combination of smoked paprika, tomatoes, bacon, and chickpeas makes for one crazy delicious end product. please try this one out, you won't be disappointed. other dish is a vegetable jalfrezie that I served with papadum and rice. also from the same cookbook. can't say enough good things...

Pot roast meatloaf: (adapted from Jamie's food revolution) serves 4 hungrys or six regs.

2 onions

olive oil

sea salt and fresh ground peps

1 level teaspoon ground cumin

1 heaped tsp ground coriander

12 cream or plain crackers

2 tsps dried oregano

2 heaped tsps dijon mustard

1 pound ground beef 1 large egg 2 cloves garlic

1 fresh red chile

1 tsp. smoked paprika 2 tbs worcestershire

1 can chickpeas

1 28 oz can tomatoes 2 tbs balsamic vinegar

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

12 slices bacon

1 lemon

for meatloaf:

preheat oven to 475. peel and chop one onion until fine. place in frying pan on med heat with olive oil, salt and peps. add cumin and coriander. stir every 30 seconds or so until they get some color (around 7 min.) transfer to bowl to cool.smash up the crackers and add to the onions along with the mustard, oregano, and ground beef. crack in the egg and a good pinch of salt and pepper.mix well with clean hands (yours or a willing partner's). once mixed, mold into a football shape and rub with a little oil. can be cooked now or wait and refrigerate until needed. when ready to cook, place meat in dutch oven (or baking pan), uncovered. put into preheated oven and turn down temperature to 400F. bake 30 min.

for sauce:

peel other onion and chop fine. peel and slice garlic. finely slice red chile. place onion, garlic, and chile in a large pan over med high heat with olive oil, paprika, and salt and peps. cook around 7 minutes again, until goldy-like. add unpronounceable sauce that starts with a wor, chickpeas, tomatoes, and balsamic. bring to boil and then turn heat down to simmer for about 10 min. taste and ad more salt/peps if needed.

to finish:

pick off rosemary leaves from stalks and put into little bowl. remove meatloaf from oven, and pour off fat into bowl of rosemary leaves. spoon tomato sauce around the meatloaf. lay slices of bacon on top of meatloaf and sauce. scatter over the beefy,rosemary leaves. put dutch oven (uncovered) back into oven for 10-15 minutes or until the bacon is done to your liking and sauce is bubbly and thick and delicious.squeeze some lemon wedges over finished dish and snarf. parsley chiff looks good here...

DISH recommends:

all clad mc2 cookware. loves it...hard. hefty, consistent, and easy cleanup. apparently the things that I love about cookware are also the things I love about trashbags.

shun premier santoku. Love the sharpness of this wifeshow sized knife. actually bought it sort of for her but have been using it a lot:) still love my mac, but shun has moved up in the ranks for me...

Jamies food revolution. A very popular cookbook around our house right now. pick it up, it's well worth it and really easy to follow.

Because "mole" sounds better than dried pepper, peanut butter chocolate tomato meat sauce

Mole Poblano holds a special place in my heart. I grew up in a place that had wonderful mexican food, much, much different than the awful sludge found here in lincoln. Mole was something that a lot of mexican families were very proud of, not to mention very secretive with. Want to get a families mole recipe off of them? Nice try. You'd either have to marry into the family or break into their home to get it. Which is exactly what people will be wanting to do to you once you master this:) Exaggeration? possibly, depending on how good my memory is here:) Seriously people, this is a special one that I have been tweaking for a couple of years. This is real mexican food. not cheddar cheese laden, sour creamified fluff. Get good at this dish and you will have something in your repertoire that can stand up to any dish, no matter how fancy pants it is.

Hardware: tea kettle/big pot/blender

Dish's mole poblano:

5 -6 dried ancho chiles, (stems and seeds removed)

handful of raisins

1 tbs epazote (wrapped in cheesecloth) (optional, dried herb found in mexican aisle of grocery)

2 slices stale bread (i use pain de campagne, i think it gives a good rustic flavor)

28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice

2 med sized onions

1 red bell, diced fine

2 poblano peppers diced fine

3 cloves garlic

handful celery leaves, minced

handful cilantro, minced

2 tsps chile powder

2 tsps cumin seed

2 tsp coriander powder

couple tbs peanut butter

1 round bar of ibarra mexican chocolate

1 heaping tablespoon turbinado sugar (you could use white or brown, just had it out)

fresh chiles, sliced (depending on your hotness/masochist tolerance)

meats of choice / i happened to use pork butt this time, but it's delicious with anything. could also be used with potatoes or beans or fried polenta for a good veggie main dish.

Fill kettle with water and bring to a boil. Put dried anchos, raisins, and sachet of epazote in a large bowl, fill with water, just enough to cover. let sit for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat some olive oil and saute your onion, garlic, peppers, celery and cilantro leaves until you get some color on them, and then add some salt, pepper, and your chile and coriander powder and the cumin seed. lower your heat, adding stock/water if the bottom of your pan is getting too much color. After about 20 minutes, remove the sachet of epazote, and pour the can of tomatoes and tear up the bread into the bowl with the dried peppers. Pour this mixture into a blender (you'll have to do this in batches) and puree until smooth. (when pureeing hot liquids, never fill blender more than half full and give quick, short pulses, otherwise, you could burn your pretty face off). Add the puree into your pot and also add your peanut butter and mexican chocolate. I'm going to be a stickler here and say that you must use nothing other than this chocolate, it has the perfect amount of cinnamon in it. you'll just have to trust me. keep stirring until everything has been incorporated, and then turn to low. Now it's time to add the well seasoned (salt and pepper) meat of your choice. Like I said, I added pork butt this time, but you are pretty safe with anything here. The key is to simmer away until what you are braising is incredibly tender. You can leave the pot on the stove for this, or, if your vessel permits, simmer away in the oven at 300F for about 4-5 hours, checking periodically. Alternatively. If you wanted to make this a veggie dish, just simmer some root veg in here (potatoes, carrots, etc) for a couple of hours. some soaked, dried beans would also be a great addition, just simmer until they are ready (prob at least a few hours.)

serve with fried tortilla chips (cmon you went this far, just fry them yourself, you won't regret it!), some rice and guacamole.

DISH recommends:

Oster classic beehive blender. Three years and running and this blendy has never let me down. now that I said that, it will probably break...

Primal fears...

For whatever reason, I had always been scared of making a prime rib. I guess it's because it seems like a big investment to have turn out poorly, so the other day when I saw one on "manager's special (aka, buy me before I go bad) at supe's I was ready to finally face my fears. My plan of attack was a simple one: trim off some fat, smash some herbs and garlic on top and roast away. I was baffled by how ridiculously easy this was. I will recommend, however, that you pick up a probe thermometer like this, to make your life that much easier. Just set the desired internal temp and an alarm will sound when ready. couldn't be easier. Oh, and those potatoes that I used as a roasting rack...awesome. 1.5 hours of basting with herb crusted beefhunk made them crispy, beefy, potatoey...gurgle, gurlge...

Herb crusted Prime rib

hardware: roasting pan (or big skillet), probe thermometer (preferably with alarm, see link above)

3-5 lb rib roast

8 sprigs thyme, fresh

6 sprigs rosemary, ""

6 good sized garlic cloves

couple tbs olive oil

sea salt. black pepper

2 med. size potatoes ( i used klondike rose)

oven at 450F

mince garlic and herbs together until very fine, add to bowl with olive oil until thick paste forms. trim roast of excess fat (you still want a decent amount, just not the inches they leave on at the butchers.), salt and pepper generously, then add the herb and garlic rub to the top and the sides. Slice potatoes longways into thirds, trimming off round end so all sides have a square edge. Lay potatoes out on pan so roast can rest on top , see pic. Roast @ 450 for 10 -15 min., until a golden brown crust starts to form, then lower heat to 350 for the remaining time (prob 1.5 to 2 hours depending on size of roast and preferred doneness.) Eat delicious potatoes asap, share with a friend, if you are nice.

let roast rest about 20 minutes before carving.

DISH recommends:

Mastering Beef and Veal. A really, really, good book on beef/veal cookery. I consider this an indispensable book for the meat lover. The williams sonoma books that I have, I really like.

Tick tock, you don't Strop? well, you should.

I am a classic non-listener. I can't explain it. It's not that i don't hear you...it's mostly that I think I'm right...about everything:) ok, I hope I'm not that bad (no comments on aforementioned subject, wifeshow), but I kind of feel like I can get that way about certain things. for example, I thought that I had a pretty decent idea on how to sharpen my knives properly. They were in need of some love, so I got out my stones and steel and as I was getting ready to take them to a respectable level of sharpness, I thought, "Hey...maybe I will do some research on knife sharpening." You see, I recently bought a new pairing knife and it pretty much floored me with how much sharper it was than my current line-up. I thought that maybe I was missing something. I found a pretty informative website called japaneseknifesharpening.com. it was talking about stropping your knives after sharpening them. I had never really done this before. WOW! couldn't believe the difference that it made. I used an old belt and stepped on one end, pulling the other end tight and then ran the knife's edge up and down the back side of it at a slightly aggressive angle (a little more than you would use to "steel" it) 5-6 times. if you want to take your knives to a new level (we're talking razors here, my arm hairs are scared to death, like they went to a midnight showing of paranormal activity) try it out. You could, however, buy a super fine grit expensive stone to get rid of the burr, but come on, whose wife doesn't have an old leather belt lying around? HA! (just kidding mames, used my own:)

ok, food: It's fall, which means it's time to get your roast on. all you beefeaters out there (the meat not the gin) had better fire up the oven, set it to low, grab some root veg and a hunk of meat, a dutch oven and set your watches to party. I like to chunk up some onion, potates, carrots, turnips, etc., season liberally with salt and peps olive oil drizz, and then set my beefhunk (a little thyme, a little rosemary, salt, peps, and paps) on top and then add some stock or beer (enough to come up about 1/2 way), put the lid on and slow roast at 300F for about 2 hours. can't be beat. after it's done, I let the meat rest, take out the veg with a slotted spoon (put in a bowl, it's too hot for your face at the moment), and thicken up the gravy with some roux and more stock. tasty.beefy. other pics are red beans and andouille and also shahi paneer. I based it off of this recipe, but ended up using a little tomato paste (my pal anuj tipped me off on that one) and also red chile instead of green and also some chaat masala (mdh brand. actually a long story, couldn't find any here and ended up getting some brought back from chicago. really funny, because they don't have it on their website either:)

So, I imagine that everyone making a thanksgiving dinner is either freaking out about everything they have to do, or has already started. Hopefully, most everyone is in the second category. Start doing little things like prepping veg that is preppable and making your compound butter that you are going to shove under the skin of the breast. You were planning on that, right? of course you were, but if not, I'll post it at the end.

DISH recommends:

le creuset 5.5 quart dutch oven:

or

Staub 5 qt dutch oven

either of these is a great pot to have in your kitch. I use mine every week and can't say enough good things about them. a bit of change to fork over, but so worth it. good for braising, stews/soups/frying/risottos/sauces/justabouteverything. would make a great gift for the hols. alittletip: there is a red one at tjmaxx right now for way less than the one I linked up. cheers

compound butter for your turkey:

1 stick butter

leaves from :

2 sprig rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

3 sprigs italian parsley

and about three sage leaves.

throw it all into a food processor, and blend it up. after combined. roll it up in parchment and fridge it. do this ahead of time. one less thing...

when you are ready to cook your bird. loosen the skin of the breast and rub (well-softened, as in take out the butter on thanksgiving morning and let it hang out for an hour or so) the compound butter all up in that turkeys business. super basty, super tasty. Do this after the brining process! and for extra goodness, lay some bacon/prosciutto/pancetta/jambon across the breast for the first hour and a half of roasting. once you are close, remove it (this will even out the browning process) and set aside. I like to crumble this stuff into my gravy.

going to have thanksgiving here in dishville this year with nance and carroll and three dogs. should be a good time. pieces.

The end of one season, the start of another...

I can't believe that the farmer's market is finally over. A collective sigh of relief can be heard all through the bakery as things (at least on friday nights), hopefully slow down just a touch. I have sooooo many things that I want to accomplish before next may, so I've had to prioritize. Here are a few:

Start Kitchen Remodel: It literally kills me to know that I have a brand new super sweet convection oven just camping out down in my basement. I pretend it's not there. However, I don't really want to start remodeling in the dead of winter so this whole subject is kind of up in the air. We have our cabinets picked out (sort of), Wifeshow has been drawing out the kitch in her sparetime, we are just waiting it out until our cabs go on sale again...

Resume production of dishbook: Yeah, Yeah...you guys try and write a book. it's super hard (right Marth!). Not only do you have to have original ideas, you have to have the time, and more importantly, the motivation, which I've been lacking greatly here in the last few months. Although, I've been thinking of enlisting a certain crafty lady, if only I can steal her away from her awesome sewing machine and borrow some of her fairy dust to sprinkle on my computer... (seriously, mia, think it over, I don't know when you would have the time but...:)

Acquire some new furniture: It's time to get some new stuff. you know that old couch that was your first piece of furniture that you moved from apartment to apartment? yeah, that's where we are.

Try and take some sort of vacation: oh man do we need this one. Two people, each working around fifty hours a week. different schedules. you get the idea. We see each other for about 3 hours per day during the week. hopefully we can get away for at least 3-5 days. don't have anywhere in mind though, mames has to go to alaska later on, maybe I'll meet her there...

ok foodstuffs: if you have never roasted a piece of meat all day long, put it on your list of things to do this next weekend. The first pic there is an all day roasted pork shoulder. It was around seven pounds and it cooked from 9am until about 6 pm. The trick here is to start the roast off at a really high heat (450-500F) for about 20-30 minutes, and then knock it down to 250 for the remainder of the time. you can season the beast however you like. I just did some herbs (scarbourough fair style) and salt and pepper. You score the skin on top and give the meat a good rub down, getting into all the scored areas. I rested the shoulder (always, fat and skin side up!) on some roughly chopped veg (potates, turnips, onions, celery, and carrots) and then just let it do its thing. the roasting meat and herbs perfume your house with a great smell. Your neighbors will be jealous, even more than normal:) about an hour before the meat is done, tip a whole bottle of white wine into the pan and let that cook for the last hour. when it's done, pull the roast out and set aside for about 20 minutes before you start dismantling it, and pour some stock (chick or veg) into the roasting pan and let it reduce to your liking. You could thicken it if you want a gravy, but I just kind of like "jus" style. Served with some sauteed lacinato kale. Next pic is some braised elk and carrots with super creamy mashed potatoes, which were kind of an accident, but will become a mainstay now. here's the do: Peel the tates, salt the cold water and set them on high. let them boil for about 4 minutes and then cover and turn down to low and let cook for about 35 minutes (seems like a long time, I know, just go with it). Drain water and then smash with butter and sour cream (no milk!) until desired consistency is reached. Yeah, they're fatty, but seriously how often do you eat mashed potatoes? well, you might eat them more if you try it this way...season with salt and peps. next dish was butternut squash soup with braised kale, mushrooms, and bacon. a very good soup that will definitely ward off the frigid briskies. Last dish was chicken madeline, a dish I made up for the Iske's. basically chicken paillards, sauteed with brocolli, caramelized onions, and garlic, then simmered in parmesan cream and served with roasted potatoes.

ok, non-foods: Last week, we bought some power tools. Nothing that I ever thought that I would be saying, but, hey, this is definitely a year of firsts. We debated and debated and decided to go with dewalt stuff, and let me tell you, I couldn't be happier. Very well made and definitely full of zip. I've already used the reciprocating saw that I never thought I would use...

Also, Back to foods: sorry, almost forgot. I eventually knew this was going to happen, but have been putting it off for a while...Wifeshow and I are switching to buying organic stuff. Well, right now we've converted to just produce (except for a few things). We are so close to open harvest now and the quality is just so much better. If there is one thing I hate, it's mediocre produce. I thought that there would be a huge increase in cost, but honestly, we did the math and we only spent 5 extra dollars. 5 bucks, peeps. To me, that's totally worth it, just have to be smart about what we buy there. It may not necessarily be better for our bodies, but I know that it is better for the earth. and it's kind of cool that my carrots came from only 5 miles away, instead if a bajillion. if you haven't been there in a while, check out open harvest. they've remodeled the place, and it's pretty nice. hmmm, I forgot to post the cassoulet recipe again....perhaps later in the week...

DISH recommends:

Bubbies Pickles: It used to be my goal to find the best pickle in lincoln, or nebraska for that matter. until a while ago, I had given up, everything that I had found was lackluster and just riddled with neon green chemicals. that was, until, I picked up a jar of these hunger inducing gems. I can't recommend them enough, just be prepared to shell out 7 bucks a jar ! (Got mine at open harvest)

Duck, Duck, Loose!

For the longest time now, i've wanted to make some duck. It's something that I am not the most familiar with, but I do enjoy it quite a bit. For whatever reason, I kept putting it off, until last week, when I decided to just go for it. Made a cherry cider and balsamic reduction to drizzle over the top and also had some potatoes and asparagus that were roasted in rendered duck fat. Pretty decadent dish, but you know, sometimes you just have to...

Also, the legs and thighs were smoked and then used in cassoulet (will post recipe later, would make this too long), along with smoked pork butt and smoked sausages. That dish was so good that I had wolfed it down before I realized I didn't take a picture. Other dish is veggie risotto, probably an effort to offset the massive meat consumption. Speaking of ducks, wolfing things down, etc, here is a story from my childhood, thought you guys might enjoy this:

"The Year of the Duck"

“You have to come over and check this out.” Those were the words coming from my best friend on the other end of the phone line. It was his birthday, and I was sure that his parents had just given him a super Nintendo. After all, it was all that I had been asking him to ask them for. I was out the door in record time, pedaling toward marioland. I don’t even think that I hung the phone up. On the way there, I thought about how much my life was about to change, how I was going to play a super Nintendo before my brothers, and how jealous that would make them; especially when I wouldn’t tell them anything about it.

When I got to his house, I knocked on the door and tried to contain my excitement. I’m sure one of his parents answered the door, but I couldn’t concern myself with such trifle things as saying hello, so I ducked under his mom/dad’s arm and ran back to his room. There he was, on his bed with his back turned to me crouching over his great new “Excalibur” of a present. I took two steps sideways to take in the glorious view of the machine that would dictate our lives for the next year, only to find that what I had come over to see was a baby yellow duck. “I named him “Mighty Duck!” said my best friend. “Do you want to hold him?” Now, of course I didn’t want to hold the duck, I wanted to escape into a land where eating mushrooms makes you bigger and where plumbers can defeat angry, hammer-throwing prehistoric turtles. I wanted to feel the sweet sting of sweat that only comes after an all-nighter of intensive 16-bit video game overload, but all I could say was “Sure.” So I reached out my hand, letting go of my hopes and embracing what did not at all resemble the second player controller. “I think it’s the best present ever!” he said. “It’s pretty great,” was my apathetic reply. What was I suppose to say to him? It was lame and that we couldn’t use it to play contra? About that moment, Mighty duck pooped on my hand. That was it; any hope this duck had of me being nice to it was over. My friend laughed and I wanted to smear my poop hand all over his face, but it was his birthday, and even I wasn’t that mean…yet.

As the duck grew, so did my hatred for him. It would follow my friend around wherever he went and he treated it as if it was his new best friend. The duck was even getting in the way of our playing “home run derby.” That was our favorite game, since we had no super Nintendo. His yard was our baseball field and it was pretty hard to hit a home run. That stupid duck was always in the way. Let’s just say that a lot of low grounders were aimed in the duck’s general direction.

One particular day, we were playing a pretty good game of “derby” and I happened to notice the back gate being open. “Hey man, are you going to shut that gate?” I said. “No, Mighty duck stays right by my side, there’s no need,” he said, with an almost mocking tone. For some reason that statement burned in me like a hot ember and further fueled my resentment for that stupid duck. All the frustration of not being able to live vicariously through a present I, I mean he, had never received had finally taken it’s toll on me. I knew that the next pitch was going to be a worm- burning grounder headed for Mighty Duck. My friend wound up to throw me a fastball, and just as he was about to release the baseball, it happened. A stray dog had run into the yard from the open back gate and headed towards mighty duck. The dog grabbed the duck by the neck and ran off shaking the duck until it flapped lifelessly in the great beast’s jaws. At that moment, essentially a moment that seemed like it was orchestrated by me, the ducks arch enemy, I felt something I had not experienced before. Part of me wanted to cry (a very small part, and mostly for my friend), another part of me wanted to laugh, (because seriously, what are the odds that sweet irony would rain down so heavily upon us?) but most of me was so incredibly confused that all I could do was say, “uhhhhhh…” Sometimes I think that I felt bad because the dog beat me to the punch, but that would make me a monster; sometimes I think that I felt bad for my friend who lost one of his friends in such a horrible way; but mostly I think about how much I wanted a super Nintendo and how much I hated that duck. I guess the moral of this story is, If the dish asks you to ask for something for your birthday, solely for selfish reasons, you should probably do it, or else wild, roaming beasts may run off with your present:)