Ribeye Steaks with Caramelized Onions

It's an art-form to bring a pan juuuuuust this close to destruction.  And to properly caramelize onions, that's just about where you have to go with it.  And ya know that if there's an opportunity to truly dirty a pan, I'm there.

The purpose of this particular skillet-crusting was a couple of ribeye steaks.  When we decided to do the steaks tonight, Victor specifically requested the onions.  It really is his favorite way to eat a steak.

I was happy to oblidge.

The pan shows the remains of four onions sauteed in 2 tbsp butter.  When they were about 80% done, I splashed in some red wine and cooked it down.

The rice was cooked with some red pepper tapenade and then when finished, I stirred in some cheese.

Arugula sauteed in a pat of butter with salt and pepper finished off the plate.  And me.

I like cooked arugula much better than cooked spinach - and I love cooked spinach!  It's just a great way to enjoy it, and it's as versatile as can be.  Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic...  It will take anything.

The steaks were about half the size of the monsters we had in Omaha - which was just fine with me.  As much as I like to eat, even I couldn't do one of those very often.

I think a little ice cream for dessert is in order, later...


Chicken Salads and Homemade Bread

 

When I cooked yesterday's chicken, I had tonight's dinner in mind.  I knew I was going to make salads - I just wasn't sure what was going to be in (or on) them.

Cold chicken started me thinking about ham.  Victor had boiled some eggs, so A Cobb-type salad was formulating.  And then some ravioli, or tortellini, or something...

I settled on perline pasta mixed with a red pepper and eggplant dip I had in the cabinet.  Quick and easy pasta salad.

The bread was a take on the no-knead breads I've been making for a while.  I finally got a copy of the actual book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.  (It was a freebie using Zoom Panel points.)

Fun.

There was a recipe for a rustic bread using whole wheat and rye flour.  Since I just happened to have both in the cabinet, I made a half-batch of the dough last night.  When I got home today, I formed the loaf, put it outside into Mother Nature's proofing box, and in 30 minutes it was in the oven!

Half-Batch Rustic Bread

  • 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
  • 1-1/2 tbsp yeast (1 packet)
  • 3/4 tbsp kosher salt salt
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup rye flour
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients.  Let proof about 2 hours.

Refrigerate. (Dough is ready at this point but handles better when chilled.)

Preheat oven to 450°.

Form grapefruit-sized ball of dough into loaf.

Let rise about 30 minutes.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool before slicing.

It was pretty good!


Chicken on the Barbie

We're home.

What a great and fantastic time we had.  It was just non-stop laughter, fun, food, memories, and remembrances.  Along with a few clarifications.  I found out that my grandfather actually died of colon cancer when I was a mere 14 months old.  I always thought it was a heart attack.  And he was only a year older than I am, today.   Rather young.

I'm working on finding out why they all moved from Omaha to San Francisco in the first place.  I'm also finding out that facts can get fuzzy now and again.  Families are fun.

Fun... as in..  I have been "Facebook Friends" with my cousin's wife's sister for quite a while, but we had never met in person.  We convinced her to meet us at the end of our Sunday Dinner, and she took us and her sister for a little spin around the area in her bright red VW bug convertable.  We did a little sightseeing and she said that Warren Buffet lived in the neighborhood.  Next thing I know, we're driving up his driveway.

Mr Buffet has a really big, beefy security guard who was not amused.

Ooops!

But other than typically horrid airport and airplane experiences, it was a great time - and another is going to be planned for three years hence.  Hopefully all the way out west.

So...  we're home.  Back to work and back to cooking.  Life goes on...

I took a whole chicken and split it tonight, and then made a rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Hungarian and Spanish paprikas, French herbs, and a bit of poultry seasoning.  I grilled the chicken with indirect heat for 45 minutes.  I also grilled the potatoes, with the chicken above them so the chicken fat would flavor them.  Spinach on the side.

Yum.


Omaha Steaks

When in Rome, do as the Romans.  When in Omaha, have a steak.

The cousins took us out to a steakhouse that's been around for 80 or so years - Piccolos's.  On the south side of town down where the stockyards one dominated, it has transitioned from neighborhood bar to night club to a cavernous restaurant with some damned good steaks!

We headed off to the bar while awaiting the gang.  Old-style drinks poured by people who know how to pour a drink.

Into the restaurant we went - a party of 20.

The steaks are all served with an iceberg salad and choice of sides.

I ordered the 20 oz T-bone for $21.00.  Rare.  Really rare.

It was one fine steak.  The sides were a foil-wrapped baked potato and canned green beans, but ya know?!?  I was here for the steak, not the side dishes.  Besides, they were slightly fitting for the environment.

It was the perfect local haunt.


Dinner For A Hundred

You know you come from a big family when one of your cousins can seamlessly host a party for 100 relatives - without having it catered - and there is plenty of fabulous food and drink, fantastic company and uproariously good times.

That was dinner at Ed and Jane's last night.

Uproariously good times doesn't even begin to describe it, either.  Non-stop talking, laughing, eating, drinking, reminiscing about everything under the sun...

I was so busy with all of the above that I neglected to get any pictures.  There were just too many people to talk to.

I specifically brought the laptop and Family Tree program to get updates from everyone.  There's been a few additions to the family since I last saw everyone.  Quite a few.

The biggest shock was seeing how big those little kids from the last reunion have gotten.  And now married with kids of their own.  It's really evident we haven't done this nearly often enough.

Original plan for today was to have a family picnic at a local park.  Alas, it was flooded out and the venue has been changed to another cousins home - and then later, a big ol' Omaha Steak at a local steakhouse.

Maybe I'll remember to get a picture or two.


Omaha

We made it.  Finally.

Getting ready to leave Philadelphia yesterday, we remarked at how quickly we were going to be in Omaha.  Half-way across the country.  Our airport treks usually are coast-to-coast and take the better part of a day.

How quickly things change.

We were booked on Midwest Airlines.  A hop up to Milwaukee, a shorter hop to Omaha.  I even booked a direct flight - land but no plane change. And then Midway changed the itinerary.  Same flight up to Milwaukee, but a plane-change.  And then Midway left Philadelphia 45 minutes late and we missed the flight to Omaha.  And the next flight - at 10:30pm - was already over-booked.  I was not amused.

The Midway reps let us know right away that because the delays were weather related, the airline wasn't responsible for getting us on another carrier or feeding us or putting us up in a hotel.  Did I mention that I wasn't amused!?  I wasn't amused.

We did receive a "Distressed Passenger" voucher for a discounted rate at a local Best Western hotel.  I was so not amused.

While the clan was gathering in Omaha, laughing and joking, and reliving times past, we had a nice, quiet evening in Milwaukee.  I was just not amused.

But... we did finally arrive in Omaha.  We got all checked in to a very nice room - a little mini-suite - and all was right with the world.

Naturally, everyone was out doing stuff - golfing, at the zoo - but a few phone calls alter, the troops started arriving back.

We received out "Welcome Bags" that included the above cookie (which tasted most excellent!) along with a bag of candy corn, reunion t-shirts color-coded to the family branch - ours are red in honor of Pop being a fireman - and just a wild assortment of fun stuff.  Another cousin made the bags!  Fun, indeed.

Tonight we have a BBQ at my cousins that will be a lot of fun.  I'm bringing the laptop and the Family Tree program to get these deadbeats to update their family info.

I'm really looking forward to finally seeing all these folks!

Finally amused.


Off To Omaha

The Last Supper before heading off to Omaha tomorrow for a fun-filled Family Reunion!  Doctored up tempura chicken, steamed pork buns and red bean paste buns...  Quick and easy.  Just like some folks I know.

So, we're off to Omaha tomorrow.  I think I have only been to Omaha twice in my life.  First in July, 1967 - the family vacation with 6 kids in the Ford Country Squire station wagon.  Without air conditioning, I might add.  Second trip was July of 1986.  Family Reunion at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.  I flew in from Boston, stayed with my cousin, Tom, and caravaned across the state with his family.  We drove his kids crazy singing The Wild Rover.

I've been a wild rover for many a year
And I spent all my money on whiskey and beer,
And now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more.

And it's no, nay, never, (clap, clap, clap, clap)
No nay never no more,
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more.

I am genetically predisposed to annoy and/or embarrass children.  It was passed down from my father - the master at embarrassing me as a child.  As I grew older, I learned first to tolerate his humor, then to actually appreciate it, and then to really look forward to it.   He told the same 20 jokes for 50 years.  And pity the poor newcomer who came into the house.  A new audience was all he needed to start them all one after another.

He would just start all sincere and reel 'em right in.

We had a liquor store a few blocks from the ancestral home and he always ranted about them.  One day a woman  pulled up in front of the store and, with her blinkers flashing and her baby in the back seat, ran in to pick up a keg of beer. The teenager working there wheeled it out, opened the back door, and threw it in the back seat - right on top of the baby!  Fortunately, it was light beer.

I didn't say they were good jokes.

There's going to be a huge void there without him and his two equally crazy brothers.  There's a new generation out there who needs to know about the little girl who was lost in the woods for several years and raised by wild animals.  When they finally found her she had a deer face and a bear ass.

And more.

And more.

And more.

(It explains a lot, doesn't it?!?)

So...  Midwest Airlines tomorrow.  Arriving Omaha at 5:28pm.  Hospitality Suite at the hotel opens at 7:00pm.

I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of fun.

In Omaha.

Wild Rover is on a playlist on the iPod.  There's a few kids I need to embarrass and/or annoy!


Rib Eye Steaks

Actually...  It's a rib eye steak topped with shoestring fries topped with Bearnaise sauce.

Really.

The concept came from Gourmet magazine a few years back.  They used a fast-food-style french fry.  I almost did, too - we usually have some shoestring fries in the freezer - but then decided a really skinny shoestring fry was in order.  Out came the trusty mandoline and in mere moments I had a lovely mound of perfectly-slivered potatoes.

I fried them off in grapeseed oil, a few at a time.

The steaks were grilled outside and while they were cooking, I made the Bearnaise.

Blender Bearnaise

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup hot melted butter
  • 2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp tarragon
  • pinch chervil
  • 1 tsp minced shallot
  • pinch salt and pepper

Add egg yolks, heavy cream, shallots, and spices to blender.  Mix really well.  With blender running, add half the hot butter.  Add the vinegar, and then finish adding the remaining butter.  Blend until smooth.

It is just too easy.  And so good.

A bit of steamed broccoli for balance, and dinner was served.

This is one of those meals that just works on so many different levels.   Everything blends well, every taste plays off the other, different textures in every bite.  Creamy...

My stomach is smiling.


A Green Goddess and a Loose Loaf

A few days ago, a wonderful friend of ours commented that she had found Green Goddess salad dressing at her little corner grocer in her even smaller small town.  For those of us with access to mega-supermarkets and specialty food stores, galore, finding a bottle of salad dressing probably wouldn't make the list of exciting things that happened, today.  But I remember being up at the north shore of Tahoe back in the '70s and being held hostage to what the local Safeway had to offer.  We actually did our big shopping down in Reno because the pickin's were so slim.  And Reno was no gourmet metropolis.

Now...  we all know that the odds of me buying a bottle of salad dressing today are between slim and none.  But that Green Goddess kept calling to me.  I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had Green Goddess dressing.  It may have been out of a bottle in Tahoe.

I had to make some.

It's a really basic, simple dressing - mayonnaise based - that anyone can whip up in a minute or two.  And I have to tell ya.  This one just rocked.

I took a couple of liberties with the recipe - how unusual - but I didn't have tarragon vinegar or chives.  I used white wine vinegar and a whole green onion with all the green top.  And dried tarragon.

We get anchovy paste in a  tube and keep it in the 'fridge for those few times when I need one or two anchovies.  But canned anchovies in oil will keep indefinitely in a little tupperware container.

Here ya go:

Green Goddess Dressing

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 anchovy fillets
  • 1/2 green onion
  • 1 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp chives
  • 1-1/2 tsp tarragon vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp fresh tarragon

Place everything in the bowl of a small food processor or blender.  Mix well.

This would also work great as a dip!

Yum.

I put it on iceberg lettuce salads with grilled chicken breasts.  I marinated the chicken in a bit of olive oil and herbs d' Provence since I was using the tarragon in the dressing.

Oh...  and for all of you who eschew iceberg lettuce because it's so common and low on the nutrition scale but buy romaine hearts, butter lettuce, greenleaf, etc?!?  Guess what?!?  None of those have any nutritional value, either.  Sorry to burst your bubble.

And then I baked the last loaf of bread from the most recent batch of no-knead dough.  I do not know what was up with this batch, but it was the wettest dough I have ever made.    I even added an extra cup of flour to no avail.  It was just l-o-o-s-e.

This loaf glued itself to the peel and refused to come off.  Half-in and half-out of the oven, I just scraped it off with my hands and piled it on top of itself.

It came out tasting great!


Grilled Pork Chops and Banana Cake

For not having much of an appetite, we're still eating.  The colds from hell linger on.  And on.  And on.  And on.

Tonight was the pork chops from yesterday, a sweet potato and a red potato, roasted with garlic and rosemary and sage from the garden.  And frozen peas because they were there.

The chop was perfectly charred.  It was about all I could taste - until Victor's dessert.

I could actually smell this baking.

Banana Cake

  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour bundt pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix until completely combines. Add banana. Slowly add flour alternately with milk. At end of addition batter should be smooth. Divide between 2 pans.

Bake about 40-45 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

I made a chocolate ganache for the top and then covered it with unsweetened coconut.

Yum.


Chicken Soup for the Soul

Ah... ah... ah... AH-CHOO! {{sniffle::sniffle}}

Victor has come down with it, now...  I'm in the waning mode while he is waxing.  I guess it's nice that we weren't both down and out at the same time, but this just drags it on.  And on.  And on...  Yuck.

So...  It's time for some Jewish Penicillin.  Chicken Noodle Soup.  There's just nothing better.

I do have to admit that I cheated.  I used boxed chicken broth, but my not even remotely Jewish Mother would have approved.  A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do.

I'm actually feeling pretty good.  Still hacking a bit, but I feel okay.  Victor is in the early feels-like-hell stage.

This, too, shall pass.

In the meantime, we're drinking our gallons of fluid and doing all the right things.  Back to normal in 7-10 days.


A Trek To Costco

Back in the '80s,  I joined a warehouse club called Price Club.  It was, actually, the first warehouse club.  $25.00 membership and no-frills shopping.  It merged with Costco, became PriceCostco, and, later, became Costco, once again.

When I first joined, it seemed that there really were some pretty good deals to be had.  But... as time went on and the annual rate kept climbing (it's now $50.00/year) I realized I just wasn't shopping there enough to justify the cost.  And the prices were no longer that competitive.  I let my membership lapse about 6 years ago.  Never thought about the place again.  Until last week.

In the mail, I received a free 2-month shopping pass.  Free shopping at Costco  It almost went into the trash.  And then I tossed it onto the desk.

Today, for grins and giggles, we paid our first trip to a Costco store in 6 years.

I was underwhelmed.

There just wasn't anything there I wanted to buy.  I tried.  Really. I just didn't need a 60" flat-screen TV for $3199.99, don't need another laptop, or window air conditioner.  Or a back yard faux-stone dining table with fire pit in the middle - for $799.

I did pick up some AA batteries because my rechargeable ones are starting to die.  And some florescent light bulbs  'cuz I had used the last one a couple of days ago.  We walked up and down every aisle.  Couldn't spend any money.

We headed to the food side.

Oreos in a  Drum.  I'll pass.  A barrel of bright orange ball-things.  No thanks.  No. 10 cans of sauerkraut.  Nope.  I don't generally buy national brands of things in the first place because the ingredient lists often leave a lot to be desired.  Seeing industrial-sized containers of  ketchup loaded with high fructose corn syrup or bottled dressings without an ounce of actual food-product in them was downright scary.

And it was really obvious that I was the weird person in the store.  Folks were whizzing by with their over-sized carts jammed with more junk and junk food than I could consume in several lifetimes.  I did get an industrial-sized box of Cheerios for $4.79, but spent 81¢ more than if I had bought 2 boxes of store-brand O's. I keep trying to tell myself that I'm not a food snob.  It's no longer working.  I'm a food snob.  That being said, it does not mean that if I went to your house and you made me Green Bean Casserole with canned mushroom soup and French's onion pieces that I would turn my nose up at it.  Au contraire!  You're cooking, I'm eating. And I could even get through the whole meal without editorializing!  I'm just not going to go out of my way to get certain things...

I did break down and buy a couple of racks of pork ribs.  They were a bit more per pound than out at Wegmans, but they looked pretty good.  And if you look back up at the picture, you'll see just how good they looked.  And they tasted even better!

I did a dry rub on them of

  • cumin
  • chili powder
  • smoked paprika
  • Spanish paprika
  • Hungarian paprika
  • chipotle powder
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • Mexican oregano
  • brown sugar
  • salt
  • pepper

I then baked them at 250° for 2 hours and then onto he grill with BBQ sauce for about 10 minutes.

The chicken was thin-sliced breasts with BBQ sauce.

Back to shopping for a moment...

We also picked up a large bag of dog food for Cybil.  That was it.  $67.93.  Wow.  And we actually didn't need any of it.  At least not today.  And If I could only manage $67.93 in sales after not shopping there for 6+ years, the odds of me renewing a membership are between slim and none.

The Pasta salad in the photo was made by Victor this afternoon from odds and ends in the kitchen...

  • tortellini
  • celery
  • tomatoes
  • bell pepper
  • salami
  • cheese
  • tuna
  • carrots
  • sun dried tomatoes
  • olive oil
  • red wine vinegar

More simplicity!

And to top it all off...  Victor made Peach Ice Cream for dessert.

It's been a good day!