A Happy 1st Anniversary
One year ago we were in New Hampshire getting married. It was the wedding that should have taken place in San Francisco in November of 2008.
Actually, it was the wedding that should have taken place 16 or so years ago when all of our parents were alive to be there with us, but that was not to be. Instead, it was a tiny gathering of fabulous friends officiated by the best damned JP in the state of New Hampshire, our dear friend, Marlene.
It was a great day. We had forgotten our dress clothes and got married in blue jeans. A much more fitting ceremony than fancy clothes. Definitely a Tim and Victor Event.
After a few days on Cape Cod with our friend, Dana, it was back home. A few days later another friend, Jessica, had a party and surprised us with a fabulously-delicious wedding cake! And a 1st Anniversary Cupcake!
I froze and vacuum-packed the cupcake and last night brought it to the refrigerator to thaw.
For dinner, we had strip steaks with grilled onions, baked sweet potatoes, and roasted corn. I considered doing burgers, but decided a steak really was more fitting for a First Anniversary - we can have burgers on our 17th Anniversary next month!
And just in time for our Anniversary, our new iPhones arrived today.
Fortunate doesn't begin to describe us.
Chicken-Fried Steak - Adluh-Style!
Back when my parents were still with us, we'd often go to a restaurant in Daly City called Lyons. Actually, whenever we'd go out to dinner with them we always went to Lyons. And my father would always ask me if I was getting the Chicken-Fried Steak - and I almost always did.
Lyons was a bit of an upscale diner that had been around as long as I could remember. At their peak, they probably had 65 or 70 restaurants. The food was typical of a diner-type chain... Glossy menu with a dozen types of burgers, salads, and a host of standard dinner entrees - of which the aforementioned Chicken-Fried Steak was one. They went bankrupt right around the turn of the century. I don't think any of them are around anymore.
Their CFS was served with the requisite Country Gravy - a cream sausage gravy - and almost always with either peas or green beans. My parents liked the predictability. I just found it amusing. While the food was adequate, one didn't go there for the grand cuisine. We went for the company.
Fast-forward a few years and I have in my kitchen, a bag of Adluh Carolina Breader. Just the thing I need to make a Chicken-Fried Steak at home! I make CFS at home a coupe of times a year - and made it last year after we got the deep fryer - but I was really looking forward to seeing what "Carolina Breader" would do.
What it did, was make a most-excellent Chicken-Fried Steak!
I was quite pleased with the end result. Knowing that it was a fully-seasoned mix, I didn't add a thing. I dredged the tenderized steaks in the breader, dipped them in egg, and then dredges again.
Just for grins and giggles I fried them in a combination of grapeseed oil and bacon fat.
After they were cooked, I pulled them out of the pan, added some mushrooms, and make a quick pan gravy. I used the dredging flour as thickner.
The Carolina Breader has a great crunch and an excellent white pepper kick. That was the one thing that really reminded me of all those dinners with mom and pop! Pronounced but not overpowering. Great balance.
I'm glad there's still plenty left. I see a fish-fry in my future.
You can buy Adluh products online at Adluh.com.
Beef and Peppers
The poor stove. It takes such a beating day-in-and-day-out. As do the ovens. We just cleaned the ovens and already there's a spill causing billowing clouds of smoke in the kitchen.
We are just destined to never having a pristine kitchen.
Oh well.
We eat well - and that's really all that matters.
And speaking of eating well... the backyard pepper plants are still producing peppers. It's amazing.
And they're really good, too! The bell peppers are sweet, crisp, and full of flavor. Unfortunately, while they have nice flavor, the red peppers have absolutely no heat, at all. None. Zero. Zip.
I'm thinking they just needed more heat, less water, and less humidity to really develop, but flavor-wise, they're okay.
With still more peppers growing, a pepper steak stir-fry seemed to be in order.
I marinated strips from a couple of sirloin steaks in 2 tbsp sriracha sauce (Thai hot sauce), 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp rice wine, and 1 tsp ground ginger. Into the hot skillet they went with a bit of sesame oil. Onions and peppers followed. I drizzled in a bit of the marinade, brought it all to a boil, and served over the red rice.
I really, really like the whole grain red rice I get from Lundberg. Actually, I get several of their rices and blends. Since our local stores stopped carrying it, I now buy it online. Helping to keep the United States Postal Service in operation, one package at a time!
It had just enough heat to be interesting, and the rice added a great textural balance.
And there's even more peppers to come!
Grilling Steaks
Temperature is falling. Time to grill!
Well... Anytime is the time to grill, but there's something about those colder-weather grillings that are just a tad more special.
I've been slowly slipping into soups-and-stews mode. Lots of homemade bread. But I also still have several steaks in the freezer that should be used before Memorial Day 2012.
We're lucky we can grill year-round. The grill is under cover and even in the worst snow storms, I've been able to get out there and get it going. As long as I don't run out of gas...
So tonight's dinner was a s basic as basic can get - strip steaks, baked potatoes with sour cream, and green beans. Oh, and not pictured was toasted garlic bread made from the bread I made a couple of days ago.
And it was good.
Nothing fancy, no exotic seasonings, just a good steak and a good baked potato - oven-baked, not microwaved.
Bring on the weather. I'm ready!
Bread and Beef
Tonights dinner came about courtesy of Cooking Light magazine.
I've subscribed to Cooking Light on and off for years. It can be good for ideas now and again and it can have some useful information now and again, but I rarely actually follow any of the recipes.
Nothing unusual in that as I rarely follow any recipes...
We had some dates in the 'fridge that needed using up and this months issue had a recipe for chicken and dates. The Cooking Light recipe, printed below, really sounded fun. Problem was, I didn't have any chicken. But I had some beef. Not having an ingredient has never been a good reason not to make something.
A recipe was born!
Chicken with Dates, Olives, and Cinnamon
David Bonom, Cooking Light
October 2011Ingredients
- 12 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cups sliced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- 18 pitted manzanilla (or green) olives, chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup whole pitted dates, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Preparation
- Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 6 chicken thighs to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon butter, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and remaining 6 chicken thighs.
- Add onion and ginger to pan; sauté 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add olives; sauté for 1 minute. Add flour and the next 4 ingredients (through cinnamon stick); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for 1 minute. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 12 minutes. Stir in dates; simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in juice, and garnish with basil.
I more or less followed the recipe, substituting cubed beef for the chicken thighs and beef broth for the chicken broth. The spices worked perfectly with the beef - and I'm sure they'd work equally well with just about anything. It was rich without being overpowering.
Of course, what started the whole stew-ish dinner idea was that I wanted to bake a loaf of bread. I still have starter from my last pugliese loaf and thought a cruisty loaf of something would be the perfect way to enjoy this slightly-chilly day.
What I didn't expect was for it to literally be an all-day event.
This particular bread calls for a biga - a starter - but doesn't call for any more yeast - as do most other breads. Since I was starting out with a refrigerated starter and the house wasn't exactly hot, it took several hours for the various risings to happen. But it was worth the time!
Pane Di Como Antico
Carol Field The Italian Baker
- 3/4 c Biga
- 1 1/2 cups water at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
- 3 cups To 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- Cornmeal
Cut the starter into small pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add all but 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the water and mix until the starter is in fine shreds and the liquid is chalky white. Stir in the whole wheat flour and most of the all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time. When the dough is a fairly rough and shaggy mass, stir in the salt dissolved in the remaining water. Knead on a floured surface, sprinkling with up to 1/2 cup additional flour and using the dough scraper to scrape up the fine film of dough that will accumulate on the sork surface, as well as to turn and lift the dough. After about 5 minutes of kneading, slam the dough down hard several times to help develop the gluten. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, a total of 8 to 12 minutes. The dough should still be soft, moist and sticky.
By Mixer:
Mix the starter and all but 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the water with the paddle in a large mixer bowl. Mix in the flours and then the salt dissolved in the remaining water. Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until soft, moist, and sticky but obviously elastic, about 4 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface, sprinkling with additional flour, until smooth but still soft.By Food Processor:
Refrigerate the starter until cold. Process the starter and 1 1/2 cups cold water with the steel blade and remove to another bowl. Change to the dough blade and process the flours and salt with 2 or 3 pulses to sift. With the machine running, pour the starter mixture through the fed tube as quickly as the flour can absorb it. Process 30 to 45 seconds longer to knead. The dough will be moist and sticky. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface, sprinkling with additional flour, until the dough is smooth but still soft.First Rise:
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it has numberous bubbles and blisters under the skin.Shaping and Second Rise:
Divide the dough in half on a lightly floured surface without kneading it. Shape into 2 round loaves. Let them relax under a cloth for 20 minutes. Line baking sheets or peels with parchment paper and flour the paper generously. Roll each ball into a fat cylinder and place seam side down on the paper. Dimple the loaves all over with your fingertips or knuckles, as for focaccia, to keep the dough from springing up. The dough should feel delicate but extreme.ly springy. Cover the loaves and let rise until doubled, with many visible air bubbles, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.Baking:
Thirty minutes before baking, heat the oven with a baking stone in it to 425° F. Sprinkle the baking stone with cornmeal. Carry the peel or baking sheet to the oven and very gently invert the dough onto the stone. Gently remove the parchment paper, peeling off very slowly. Immediately reduce the heat to 400° and bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool on wire racks.This dough can be made ahead and placed in the refrigerator for the second rise; the flavor is better with the long cool development of the yeast.
Serve this with stews and meats with rich sauces, with green salads, fresh cheeses, sliced salami, and smoked meats.
The long, slow rising made for a most excellent bread! This was very reminiscent of the San Francisco sourdough breads of my youth. It was crusty, chewy, and really flavorful.
It's amazing what nothing more than flour, water, salt, and yeast can produce.
Meatloaf and Adluh Biscuits
Light, flaky biscuits are any cooks dream. I've made a few of them in my time and have always remembered "a light hand produces a light biscuit." Biscuits are not difficult to make, but I must say I've had some that were - to be kind - less than light. Basically, you don't over-mix them.
I have always mixed my biscuits with my hand because it's the quickest way to mix and takes the least amount of working the dough. So when my goodie-box from Adluh arrived, I was just a tad skeptical when I saw the Adluh Yellow-Flake Biscuit Mix.
It's no secret that I don't use a lot of mixes - any mixes. I generally just like to put my own things together. But I was making meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy and those biscuits were calling my name.
First thing I did was add too much milk. I added some self-rising flour to compensate and hoped for the best.
The hoped-for best was outstanding! These were some fine biscuits! Light as air, flaky, the epitome of what a biscuit should be. I was impressed. And I was even more impressed that even screwing them up didn't screw them up. Talk about a forgiving mix!
They went perfectly with the meatloaf! So perfectly, in fact, that Victor had meatloaf sandwiches on biscuits for lunch, today!
And trust me, the picture doesn't do them justice. They really were good!
And my meatloaf is as basic as basic can be, with no real recipe or set amount of anything.
I use:
- ground beef
- chopped onion
- garlic powder
- bread crumbs
- catsup
- mustard
- an egg or two
- worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper
Form into a loaf and bake.
Really. that's it. And it is virtually always served with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas. It's Victor's favorite meal. Who am I to argue?
It really is the most basic a meatloaf can be.
For more fun stuff from Adluh, you can order online at AdluhStore.com.
Fresh Bread and Beef Stew
I'm still baking bread - and loving every loaf of it. This is a James Beard bread that only takes a couple of hours from start-to-finish. There is no second rise. The loaf is formed and it goes right into a cold oven.
It's magic.
It's also really good. Great texture and a really crunchy crust. I'm still using the Daisy Organic Flour.
I'm loving it!
James Beard French-Style Bread
- 1 1/2 pk active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 cups warm water (100-115 deg.)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 5-6 cups all-purpose or hard wheat flour
- 3 tbsp Yellow cornmeal
- 1 egg white mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.
Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.
Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk..1 1/2-2 hrs.
Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal, but NOT buttered.
Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife, brush the loaves with the egg white wash.
Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.
I cut the recipe in half and just make one loaf at a time. This is a serious one-day bread. It does not like being around more than that. But it makes great bread crumbs!
But it does like getting slathered in butter and then dipped into a big bowl of beef stew! I like it, too!
Stew is stew. I don't have a recipe. I just make it.
Veal Chops and Yet Another Computer
Third time's the charm!
So... what are the odds of getting two computers within 4 days that had identical problems? While I have no idea what the actual odds might be, the folks at MicroCenter came through with flying colors. "We will make this work for you." is what they told me - and they did. It's nice to see that sort of customer service - it's been a while since I've experienced quite that level.
I now have to install all of those programs for the third time in a week. The little robot at Microsoft is really tired of me calling, I'm sure. I know I'm tired of calling it.
But it matters not, really. The computer is running, I can get back to playing Scrabble, and taking pictures of dinner.
I had a couple of veal chops - veal porterhouse, actually - and wanted to do something other than grill them. I started leafing through some old Bon Appetit magazines that are still around cluttering up the house and found a recipe for Basil-Crusted Veal Chops. We just happen to have lots of fresh basil so I gave it a whirl.
It was g-o-o-d! One of the most simple recipes imaginable - but loaded with flavor! The basil-crust would be perfect on any number of things - from chicken to fish. The one ingredient that took it from ordinary to extraordinary was just a bit of seeded Dijon mustard. I'm definitely going to keep it around.
Basil-Crusted Veal Chops
- 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
- 1/4 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons coarse-grained mustard
- 2 8-ounce veal loin chops (each about 1 1/2 inches thick)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix basil, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, Parmesan, butter and mustard in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Pat veal chops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add veal. Cook until brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove from heat. Press basil mixture onto top of veal chops. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon remaining breadcrumbs over each. Roast in oven until cooked to desired doneness, about 15 minutes for medium-rare.
My chops were much thinner (maybe 3/4") so I cooked them at 425° for about 10 minutes. They came out medium rare and juicy.
The potatoes were baked with fresh rosemary, garlic, and olive oil. The baby broccoli was steamed and then drizzled with melted butter mixed with balsamic vinegar.
Simple but effective.
The veal chops really did come out good. The crumb top really has a lot of flavor.
So... time to start installing more programs. Hopefully, this will be it for a loooooong time!
Skirt Steak Cuban-Style
There are so many things to cook - and I feel as if I make the same things over-and-over-and-over...
I'm in a rut.
No... I take that back - it's not a rut. I'm ready for season-change. I've been living in a closed-up house with air conditioning because it has been so miserable outside. I'm ready for open windows and cool nights. And no humidity.
The next few days are supposed to be relatively nice before the rains return on the weekend.
But it's sill officially summer, so I should be thinking officially summer-type food.
Skirt steak to the rescue.
Skirt steak used to be an inexpensive cut of beef. Great for fajitas and great for Asian stir-fry's. And then it got popular.
Like everything else.
We have fresh peppers still coming from the garden, so I decided they would be the focal-point. The recipe idea was based in part by a fish I had at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman a few years ago. I remember peppers and raisins and cinnamon and allspice. I think the fish was grouper. It was really good.
But back to the present... I just did a simple salt, pepper, garlic rub on the steak because I was going to put that fairly flavorful pepper topping on it.
Caribbean Peppers
- 2 bell peppers, cut in thin strips
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup coconut vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup raisins
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch allspice
- pinch cloves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Lightly saute peppers in a bit of olive oil. Add almonds and lightly brown. Add tomato paste and cook about 2 minutes, stirring all the while.
Add vinegar and then water, scraping pan. Add spices and raisins and heat through.
Serve over beef, chicken, pork, or seafood...
Really simple and really flavorful. It adds a nice touch to an otherwise uneventful plate!
Ground Beef. WWMD?!?
I had pulled out a package of ground beef from the freezer with no real idea of what I was going to make tonight. This seems to be more and more of a common theme with me. Get something out of the freezer and deal with it later. Unfortunately, more often than not when I finally start thinking about it the mind comes up blank. The ideas just weren't there. So I decided to try and channel my mother. She was queen of ground beef. She knew a million and one ways to stretch a pound of hamburger to feed 8 people. What Would Mommy Do?!?
I started rummaging through the cabinets and came across a single packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. A yellowed single packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. It had been around for a while. It had to have been bought for some sort of gathering where we had Onion Dip. When my brother was here in 2003? Victor's mom's 75th birthday party when we had a really huge gathering?!? (She turned 85 this past May.)
I don't really know. I just know it wasn't really very recent. It didn't even occur to me to throw it out. The shelf-life has to be just short of plutonium.
So... I started thinking back to those thrilling days of yesteryear and some of the things Mommy Dearest put onion soup mix in. Meatloaf, for sure, but I wasn't really in a meatloaf mood. I decided on the next best thing - meatballs!
In just a couple of minutes I had mixed up ground beef, bread crumbs, chopped celery, chopped parsley, half a package of onion soup mix, pepper, and an egg. I scopped them onto a sheet pan and baked them off at 350° for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile I made the gravy... I sauteed mushrooms in a bit of bacon grease (Mommy always saved her bacon grease) and when they were browned, I added a splash of Marsala. (Mommy also cooked with Marsala a lot.) Then added beef broth and the other half of the onion soup mix. (My mother would have used bouillon cubes and water and the soup mix. I never buy bouillon cubes. Ever.) I then did a quick thickening with cornstarch and added the cooked meatballs to reheat.
Extra-wide eggs noodles and frozen peas were the perfect accompaniment.
And ya know... it actually wasn't bad. There were a couple of onion pieces that didn't quite rehydrate, but overall, it wasn't bad. I don't think I'll be rushing out to replace the onion soup mix any time soon but it was fun trying to recreate a childhood recipe without having any idea whether I had ever had it before or not. Of course, if I didn't have these, I had something pretty similar.
Thanks, Mom!
Burgers
I love a good burger.
We had some great burger joints in San Francisco when I was growing up. Beeps Burgers, Tic-Toc, Whiz Burgers... The Cable Car, The Hippo, Red's Java Shack. Bill's... Hamburger Haven... and the French Burger at Original Joe's.
San Francisco was - and is - a Burger Town. All but The Hippo and Hamburger Haven are still around - and many, may more have opened over the years. Hamburger Mary's isn't exactly what it was 40 years ago - in fact it's a franchise, today - but there's also Barney's, Super Duper, and Hall of Flame to name but a (very) few.
We had Fat Boy two blocks away from us at 46th and Sloat before it was torn down to build a Doggie Diner in the mid-'60s, but even DD had a reasonably decent burger.
The great thing about burgers in San Francisco was that they were all local. Zoning, unions, and better-than-average eating habits kept the chains out until (I think) the mid-70's when McDonald's finally won a lawsuit. We had food that was fast. We didn't have fast-food. No golden arches, crowns, or girls in pinafores. No KFC. We had Chicken Delight.
I've mentioned a few times what a great place San Francisco was to grow up. This is but one of the many, many reasons. The food was superior because the people demanded superior food. They still do.
Fast-forward a few years and move east a few thousand miles and thoughts of those burgers are clogging my arteries as I type. Sitting outside on the patio at Bill's on one of the rare nice Summer days in the Outer Richmond. Sitting in a drive-in in my 1957 Ford Fairlane (my first legal car) with a greasy burger wrapped in waxed paper. A Swiss burger with bacon, avocado, tomato, and sprouts. The Western Burger with BBQ sauce and cheddar. Pure heaven.
I didn't think about any of those places until I bit into tonight's burger. Had I been thinking, I would have had hand-cut french fries along with the home made rolls instead of frozen cubed potatoes. Maybe even a milk shake. No... I wasn't thinking...
The first bite really did it for me. A crunchy, crusty roll and everything just slipping and sliding around. And I was a total minimalist! I didn't put half the stuff I normally put on a burger! Just cheese, sliced tomato, pickle, mayo, and catsup. You know a burger is good when you have to get up after only eating half to wash your hands. No amount of napkins was working. Had I put any more on it I would have had to eat it standing over the sink. It really was that good.
So do yourselves a favor. Eschew the national chains for your next burger and hit up one of those greasy burger joints of your youth. Wear old clothes and bring the kids. Remember what a real hamburger tasted like and what it was like to need a half-dozen napkins to eat one!
And don't worry about making a mess.
It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.