Cookies ‘n Cardio

Just because I haven’t been posting, doesn’t mean we haven’t been cooking. It’s been a busy Summer (err, Fall??) and I want you to know, that I know, that you know it’s been a while.

But if you do need a TMF’H-related culinary fix, lemme suggest my lovely and talented sister, Laurie! (pictured circa 1987?)

She started a food and healthy-lifestyle blog, Cookies 'n Cardio, back in August, and I think you’ll really dig it!! She’s also big on tweeter-space, if that’s what you’re into.

BTW – the pizza recipe she posted today is really tasty. We had it when she came to visit the LOML and SBG back in August!

Yo Quiero Taco Truck

Friday for lunch, I finally got around to trying West Valley’s infamous Taco Truck (check out AL Eats for their full review). I had one asada, chorizo and al pastor taco and they were all amazing! It was a pretty chill atmosphere (I was the only “gringo” there for the first 15 minutes), no tables, and you just set your drink on the side of the truck. I don’t know if I’d call this (area) “family friendly” (I think the LOML would definitely be scared), but if you and your bros are looking for a place for to get some authentic Mexican “street” tacos, you need to check it out (I bet it’s even better in the Fall, when it’s not 100 some odd degrees out). I didn’t want to kill the mood (and prove to the regulars that I was a newbie), so I didn’t take a picture til I was driving away (but I think this gives you a better idea).

This weekend, Jay and I also took a bro-mantic weekend to PCB, and the highlight (dining-wise*) was Friday night at J. Michael’s. Jay mentioned before that the “Ultimate” roast beef would put Parasol’s to shame . . . and he was right. This sandwich was the JAM!! I couldn’t really tell you that the beef itself was that tasty, but the pepper gravy and onions made the sandwich. (the Pepper (Cole) Slaw was also really good). Just thought you should know in case there were any roast beef bets that needed to be settled.

* Next time you see Jay, get him to tell you the Duncan Donuts Icing story.

Hi

(pleasantry, pleasantry, excuse for absence, promise to update more, etc.)

I’ve got to brag on the LOML for a minute. Yesterday afternoon, she said she had a special meal planned for dinner, and that it would be a surprise (don’t worry, it wasn’t baby carrots, baby shrimp and baby back ribs).

When I got home, the house smelled great and she had a giddy sense of accomplishment because she knew she just made something awesome . . . and she was right!!

My dear wife roasted a whole chicken with lemons and onion (a ‘la Barefoot in Paris) and served it with an arugula salad with homemade lemon vinaigrette!!!! (BTW, the salad had sungold cherry tomatoes (from Snow’s Bend) and they were the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever tasted)

I’M SO PROUD OF HER!!!!

After dinner, we decided to try the new Yogurt Lab in Vestavia . . . Amazing!!!! As you may have noticed, there has been a recent surge (over-saturation??) of self-serve yogurt shops in Birmingham in the last year (Thanks for spotting an opportunity, Yogurt Mountain), but I think Yogurt Lab is leading the pack (I’ve only tried YM, TYS, and Tuttie Frutti (Auburn)). The space was huge and the (fresh) topping selections were better than what I’ve seen elsewhere. We are definitely going back this weekend.

PS – Sorry for the iPhone picts. I've left my DSLR @ the office this week while I’ve been taking company headshots for LinkedIn, promotional press, etc.

Eat Your Veggies!

Can you tell we’ve been watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution????

But seriously, if you haven’t been watching this show (SEASON FINALE TONIGHT), you need to visit ABC’s website and watch all (six) episodes for free (with limited commercial interruptions). Sure it’s got some Extreme Home Make Over, heart-string pulling moments, but the message is great and it’s done really well. And how can you not like anything done with a British (faux Cockney) accent???

If you have been watching, I’m sure you’ve noticed Jamie is a BIG FAN of (lovely) stir fries! Soooooo, a few nights ago, the LOML and I were inspired to do the same. This was my first time cooking with bok choy and I was impressed. I probably would have tossed out the greens, but a quick search on the handy iPhone revealed you can eat those too.

Nothing too precise here. Just bok choy, onion, green bell pepper and zucchini, with beef marinated it in a combination of Teriyaki sauce, Rice wine vinegar, Hoisin Sauce, Fish Sauce, Sesame Oil. Oh yeah, and we served this on a bed of cellophane noodles . . . Tasty.

Yesterday was also the first day of our CSA through SNOW’S BEND FARM!!!! Check out the first week’s bounty!!!

Mustard Greens
Salad Mix
Baby Turnips
Radishes
Arugula
Carrots

We’re such TREE HUGGERS!!!!

Who is Sergey Chilikov??

A few years ago, I was really drinking the p4k kool-aid on this new band, Beruit. “They” were the brainchild of 19 year old Zach Condon, who recorded Gulag Orkestar in the bedroom of his parents' New Mexico house. How he recreated the sounds of 19th Century Eastern Europe on a MacBook, I’ll never know, but I was really digging it and streamed their MySpace tracks while prepping tax returns in the Spring of 2006. I ended up buying that first record, but when I played it for the LOML, she thought it was kinda scary and all the chantings/old-world music* reminded her of Muslim Jihadists (I’ll admit that not all of their songs are as cheery/pop-friendly as “Postcards from Italy”).

Well, this weekend, the LOML and I took our little one to the 12th Annual Lebanese Food & Cultural Festival at St. Elias Maronite Church! A friend of mine at work is a HUGE FAN and I was really bummed we missed it last year. My wife is such a good sport, that we didn’t make the same mistake twice.

I ordered the BEIRUT CLASSIC (Deluxe Baked Kibbee Plate) which included baked kibbee, grape leaves, spinach pie, rice, green beans (Ioobia), Lebanese Salad, and pita bread. The LOML had DJAJ MISHWI (Grilled Chicken Plate) which had half a grilled lemon chicken, rice, green beans (Ioobia), Lebanese Salad, and pita bread.

To me, there seems to be a lot of similarities between Greek and Lebanese food. I’ve ordered Kibbee (which kinda reminds me of Lebanese Meatloaf) at the Olive Branch in Cahaba Heights before, but I think my favorite dish was the green beans. They were in a tomato based sauce and had CINNAMON, which was kinda funky, but still tasty.

Apparently, there are a ton of Lebanese food fans in BHM, because St. Elias was packed. Even though the meals were a little pricey ($15 for the BEIRUT CLASSIC) I had enough leftovers for dinner last night. PLUS it’s all for a good cause. I’m glad to see so many folks supporting local events like this, and I really want to keep taking our sweet little baby to stuff like this as she gets older.

After lunch, we took a quick tour of their sanctuary which featured some impressive stained glass. You’ve probably driven past St. Elias hundreds of times and didn’t know it. It’s located right off I-65 in Southside and you can see the steeple from the interstate.

* BTW, I saw Hawk and a Hacksaw open for WILCO last spring. They were gimmicky/redundant. Not sure I’d go see Beruit play live . . .

Measure Me Sunday (week 2)

I guess you’re here for “Measure Me Sunday,” right??? Lemme just say, I thought this was a pretty good week. I got to the gym four times, and I’ve been averaging about 500-ish calories (FEEL THE BURN) on the elliptical/treadmill, so I thought I’d have a chance of pulling some decent numbers this week (Don’t I sound so Biggest Loser). Buuuutttt, there was Mr. Chen’s, and pizza for lunch, at the office, and a bunch of other EXCUSES I could make of why I actually GAINED half a pound as of this morning (yep, I’m at an even 206). Do I feel defeated?? Nope. I think this is just a lesson that I can’t half-ass this thing (literally), if I’m gonna lose some weight.

BUT, guess what I tried this week??????

Yep . . . a SARDINE and AVOCADO SANDWICH!!!!

Ok, I’ll admit the idea of sardines is a little freaky. I mean you open up the tin and they’re in there. Looking like tiny fish.

Even though they still have their tail/fins on, the heads and innards are removed so you can eat them right out of the can. Since this was my first time, I removed the tails, but I don’t think it was necessary.

I decided to try one by itself to shake off any last minute jitters before I ate the ENTIRE contents on one sandwich.

You know what? I think our pre-conceived notions are the freakiest things about sardines. They weren’t that bad at all (they actually reminded me of a cross between canned tuna and smoked salmon). I mean, I don’t think I’d eat them every week, but I could definitely see myself trying them once or twice a month??

After de-tailing, I gave mine a rough chop and placed them on a bed of fresh spinach, with sliced avocado, on whole wheat toast. I read something the other day that called Avocado “Nature’s Mayonnaise” . . . Mmmm, avocado is so good.

Anyways, the sandwich was great. Honestly, you couldn’t even really taste the sardines, but I just felt healthier knowing they were there. And when little pieces of sardine fell out onto the plate, it wasn’t that weird to pick it up and pop ‘em in my mouth.

Here’s to Sardines and all the hobo’s in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure who loved them, too.

Mr. Chen's

I was flipping through this month’s B-Metro magazine (aren’t the cover shots always a little Dave Hill-ish??) last weekend and was pretty psyched about their “10 Spots” for best international cuisine in the Magic City. Always looking for some new and tasty restaurants, I definitely wanted to check out #1, Mr. Chen’s in Hoover (so close to my office!). And after reading some reviews on Yelp, it sounded like Mr. Chen’s was the real deal!

I e-mailed Grant earlier this week to see if he’s ever been, and sure enough, he discovered it a few weeks ago and has already been twice. Well today, with nothing better (1040s? Review notes? Fixed Asset schedules?) to do for lunch, Grant, Bro-Jeezey and I set out for some authentic Chinese cooking (with REAL Asian diners!!)

Lemme just say, it was AMAZING-NESS!! If anybody ever wants to go, I am totally game.

Steamed Buns and Pan-fried Dumplings

Basil Squid and Mapo Tofu

The over-whelming favorite, Eggplant with Pork Basil in Hot Pot

And the coolest part about lunch?? At the end of our meal, one of the waitresses came around and said “You all really know good things to order” (like we were legit Chinese food connoisseurs)


PS – For “Americanized” Chinese food, I don’t think you can beat Chan Lee’s (downtown in the Harbert Center). When I worked downtown, that place was the jam!

A Boy Named Shu*

The other day I stumbled upon this article on Alton Brown’s (semi) recent weight loss (also featured on a recent episode of Good Eats). Basically he lost 50 pounds by eating Sardine and Avocado sandwiches . . . ok, not really, but he did explain 4 basic lists (food groups) and how often you should eat them (he does NOT consider this a diet).

Consume daily:
Fruits, Whole Grains, Leafy Greens, Nuts, Carrots, and Green Tea

At least 3 times a week:
Oily fish, Yogurt, Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, and Avocado

No more than 1 time a week:
Red Meat, Pasta, Dessert, and Alcohol

Foods to avoid:
Fast Food, Soda, Processed meals (TV dinners), Canned Soups (salt), and "Diet" anything

Seems pretty logical, right?? Obviously, I need to cut down on the Red Meat, Pasta & Dessert category, but I think the LOML and I get some good items from the first two groups. Well, this article has inspired me to up my Green Tea (ancrient Chinese secret say . . . sorry) and Oily Fish intake.

So far I’m on Day 3 of green tea, and it’s not that bad (it’s actually kinda bland). We’ve got the Kirkland variety here at the office (free) and I’ve been drinking it straight (no lemon, sugar, etc. – I’m sure that would be blasphemous in hard-core green tea circles). Hopefully, whatever (proven and unproven) health benefits from drinking this stuff will be worth it.

As far as oily fish goes, I’ve seen a couple of recipe posts in the last couple months that piqued my interest. The first time I had sardines (freshly caught and grilled) was in 5 Terre, Italy, and the last time was on a pizza at Bettola. From doing a search on-line, quality and taste can vary pretty widely, but I’m looking forward to trying some out sooner than later (I have a feeling the LOML will pass).

Yes, I realize the irony in posting this the night before I head out on a weekend full of Jambalaya, Crawfish/Oysters, Dixie Beer, and Bourbon.

* obscure work-related reference

It’s (Now) Easy Eating Green

For anybody who is interested, today I received an e-mail letting me know that Snow’s Bend Farm will be accepting new applications to join their CSA starting this Friday!! Wooo Whoooo!!! I am pumped!!

What is a CSA you ask??? Rachel Zoe Insler (via the AG) gave a pretty good run-down last fall, but basically, if you live in or around Birmingham, Snow’s Bend will provide (and even deliver!) fresh, farmed fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. all year long (ok, about 40 weeks long) for a (very reasonable) flat fee!

And since we learned in Food Inc. that all commercialized/industrialized food is sending us straight to Hell in a Corn-fed Hand Basket, a CSA like Snow’s Bend will help us do a better job of eating fresh and in season!

Fresh Mozzarella, Unbound

A few months ago, after Gourmet announced it was shutting its doors, a new food blog popped up to celebrate the legendary (and influential) magazine. Since I missed the deadline for December, I was determined to submit something for January. Ironically (sadly), I had only been a subscriber since December 2008, but since I kept all my old issues, I turned to the January 2009 issue for inspirado.* (to find out what exactly I’m talking about, click here)

Why did I pick one of the most difficult recipes in this issue?? I don’t know . . . Is it because I like a challenge? Maybe it’s my Italian heritage?? Too much Schnookie and DJ Pauly D?? Whatever the situation was, I spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon trying my hand at HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA!

Fresh mozzarella only has 3 ingredients: Milk, Citric Acid, and Rennet. After calling every grocery in BHM (and a few kitchen supply stores), the only place I found that carried this elusive Rennet was WHOLE FOODS. A pack of 8 tablets was about $1.50 and the Citric Acid (in the hippie herb/supplements section) was around $5. The Rennet also came with a handy little recipe guide that had more recipes for homemade cheeses (so folksy!).

The Gourmet instructions/recipe seemed time consuming, but not overly difficult. You basically combine Milk and Citric Acid, Heat, add Rennet/Water, Heat, Stir Curds, Drain in Cheesecloth, and then form Curds into Mozzarella. To quote Tom Petty “The Waiting is the Hardest Part.”

I thought the first hour went pretty well. Looking back, I probably stirred my milk too often, but I did start to see some curds form. After the first hour was up, I stirred in the warm water and Rennet mixture, and waited for the magic to happen . . . and waited . . . and waited. Another hour went by, and I never achieved the “stiffened milk mixture.” I mean, I achieved a few more curds, but nothing firm.

I might not have achieved mozzarella curd perfection, but I decided to strain what little I had and drain them in the cheese cloth. If you had seen the pictures in Gourmet, it looks like you would get about a basketball sized portion of curds from 1 gallon of milk. I got about a tennis ball’s worth. Maybe.

After hanging around for about three hours, the curds did lose some moisture, and even looked to be compacted into a little mozzarella ball shape. But this final step is where the curd really becomes mozzarella.

You’re supposed to ladle hot salted water on top of the milk curds, and let it slowly melt into a gooey mixture, which you’re then able to form into mozzarella balls (before suspending the process in cold water). I’m sure my curds weren’t robust enough in the first place, but when I placed them in warm/hot water, they just seemed to dissolve. And I definitely couldn’t form them into a ball.

After a minute or two, I ended up draining the curds and wrapping them in saran wrap to shape into some type of ball. The consistency was about the same as really soft, milky cream cheese, but not exactly what I had hoped for.

Looking back, I don’t think it was a complete loss. I bet my “cheese” would be half-way decent on pizza, but I’ll definitely try this again. What else am I gonna do with all this rennet and citric acid???

* For January 2009’s Pancetta & Pea Risotto I made last year, click here.

Cookin' with Ben, Brian, John & Roy

If you're looking for some tasty Mexican/Peruvian cusine, you should definitley check out Sabor Latino (on Greensprings). Tonight, when I was picking up some take-out for the LOML and our friends Fef & Clay, I decided to kill some time in the Tuesday Morning next door (ok, ok, i was checking to see if they had any Le Creuset on sale). And what did I happen upon in aisle 3???? LUCERO FREAKING OLIVE OIL!!

Hellz yeah, I bought a bottle!! And at $6.99 a bottle, I think it was a steal . . .

Me Roll You Long Time

Even though I only discovered them maybe 5 or 6 years ago (thank you, Pho Saigon), I’m a pretty big fan of Vietnamese Spring Rolls (I’ve also noticed I’m pretty fond of the phrase “pretty big fan of”). I’m not sure how “authentic” egg rolls from most (American-ized) Chinese restaurants are, but I feel somewhat-local when eating these fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls (gỏi cuốn).

Last week, Food Woolf posted some gourmet airplane food ideas, and since the recipe/idea seemed pretty easy, I thought I’d try to make some of these on my own. This was also my first experience with rice paper, and I’m really starting to appreciate living 2 minutes from the International Market.

TMF’H Spring Rolls
Rice Paper (try your local Asian market)
Pulled Pork (leftover and thawed out)
Sliced Chicken (cooked)
Napa Cabbage
Carrots
Cucumber
Cilantro (Basil would be tasty, as well)
Bean Sprouts

I found it was easiest to pre-slice all the veggies, prep the meat, make the dipping sauce*, and have yourself a (merry) little assembly line. When everything is in place and ready for assembly, dip the rice paper in warm water for maybe 5-10 seconds then set it on a plate, and let it soak in the water for maybe 30 seconds (I mistakenly left my first piece of rice paper in for close to a minute, and it got CRAZY pliable!!). The first item you want to lay down is a piece of Napa for support. Then add your meat and other veggies, and wrap the roll up “burrito style.” Since the Rice Paper is pretty sticky (almost saran-wrap like), they’ll stay wrapped pretty tight. I ended up making 8 (some chicken, some pork) and storing them on top of damp paper towels, while finishing the others.

Peanut/Hosin Dipping Sauce
½ C Hoisin sauce
2 Tbs peanut butter
½ Tbs rice vinegar
“Dash” or two of garlic powder
1/8 tsp Sriracha (you could add more, just be warned)
(a few) Tbs warm water (to reach desired consistency)
Peanuts, chopped

Combine all ingredients, except the peanuts, and stir until you get the right consistency. In the words of Jay, this sauce “was the fire” and really easy to make. I would dip the spring rolls in the sauce, and then place a few chopped peanuts on top before each bite.

These rolls seriously were AWESOME!!!!!** Go to your kitchen and make them tonight!!!!

* Adapted from Bee Yinn Low

** The LOML will also attest how tasty they were – and preggers friendly!!!

It's Gonna take a lot to Take me Away from You

For those of you who still care (Beuller . . . Beuller?) what other ethnic food we had two weeks ago . . . the winner was . . . NORTH AFRICAN!!

Even though I’m a HUGE foodnetwork fan, I really don’t get into the Next Foodnetwork Star. A few months ago, the LOML and I watched as Melissa d'Arabian beat out the spice smuggler, Jeffrey Saad, and after stumbling across this, I thought I’d try one of her recipes (I do want to get some harissa after watching Jeffrey’s final presentation).

One thing I’ll say before I type up the ingredients/recipes. These meatballs were a lot harder to brown and stay firm and spherical than I thought they should have (is that sentence grammatically correct?). I don’t know if I was shaking the frying pan around too much, but they tended to turn almost triangular?? Anyways, I think I saw Alton Brown bake his in a mini-muffin pan on Good Eats, and I might try that next time. Either way, I do think this would make a great meat sauce on its own, IMO.

North African Meatballs (adapted from Mellisa d’Arabian):

North African Sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
2/3 C small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ Tbs lemon juice
1 C pitted and chopped (kalamata) olives
3/4 C chicken stock
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
Pinch ground cinnamon
Salt/Pepper

Meatballs
1 egg
3 Tbs tomato paste
3 Tbs (rough) chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1.5 TBs crystallized ginger
1.5 tsp ground cumin
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C finely ground rolled oats
Salt/Pepper

To make the North African Sauce, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat, until soft, about 3 minutes. Next add the lemon juice and olives and cook for another minute. Stir in the stock, canned tomatoes, sugar, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon, and simmer to blend flavors, about 7 minutes (I omitted the wine and just used more chicken stock).

To make the Meatballs, add the egg and tomato paste and stir until smooth (was this where my meatballs went wrong – too much tomato paste??). Add the cilantro, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon and mix until well blended. Stir in the ground beef and oats, season with salt and pepper, to taste (was I supposed to taste RAW MEAT???), and combine gently after each addition. Rolling with your hands, make about 20 meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter. (I have NO idea how Melissa got 32 meatballs out of this recipe, especially with .75 lb ground beef)

In a large sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat, and brown the meatballs in batches until golden on all sides. Drain on paper towels, and after all meatballs are cooked, transfer the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes.

We had this with Couscous (and some leftover apricots thrown in). There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.

What puts the Ape in Apricot?

Last week was BY FAR the most ethnic week of cooking we’ve had at the TMF’H household. Monday we had Chicken & Apricot Curry and Wednesday we had . . . (you’ll have to come back – I know the suspense will be killing you).

So I’ve already told you I’ve become a Penzey’s Spices apologist. Now that we’re on the mailing list, we get their catalog every couple of months, and although most of the recipes have a 1980’s Midwestern feel to them, I still like flipping through and looking for some inspirado. And since I’m trying to find uses for the ingredients I bought in August, we went with the Chicken & Apricot Curry (or the less-impressively named Carol’s Easy Chicken Curry) for dinner. Sorry, I’m not typing up all the ingredients/instructions; you’ll have to go here for the details.

A few notes though . . . We cut this recipe in half and used boneless/skinless chicken breasts (I don’t think we missed any of the flavor). Also, I didn’t think the curry was that tart at all, and we didn’t add any additional sweeteners (the thought of aspartame in this gives me the shakes).

Did it pass the pregnant wife test?? Yes (although I don’t think she’ll be requesting it again in the next week or so). Until then, the search for ethnic ingredient use continues.

(Clever title involving Butternut Squash)

So every year my firm has a Thanksgiving pot-luck lunch. It’s actually pretty awesome b/c you end up with around 100 side dishes and desserts, plus more gallons of sweet tea brought in than necessary. Last year I brought a butternut squash casserole, and a few weeks ago a friend of mine at work asked if it would be making a triumphant return. With that question, I knew I’d have to bring it back.

I pretty much pulled this recipe from a bunch of different sources (mostly sweet potato casserole recipes). Like I mentioned before, I ended up making this twice last week.

The first attempt was made with the squash roasted still in its skin. I wouldn’t recommend this method b/c it was pretty difficult to get all that good squash flesh out. I didn’t take a picture of my remains, but there was a lot left in the skin.

For the family version, I ended up skinning the squash first and cutting it into large chunks. Although it took some more time on the front end, I would go with this approach in the future. As you can see from these pictures, I roasted a lot of butternut squash (and I did experience some temporary Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) dermatitis – don’t be alarmed. it eventually washed off).

TMF’H Butternut Squash Casserole
Butternut Squash (a lot - you can guesstimate how much from the pictures)
1/3 C Orange Juice
2 Eggs
½ Stick Butter (melted)
¼ C Brown sugar
1 tsp Salt
a “Dash” of Cinnamon/Nutmeg*

After peeling and quartering the squash, I roasted it for about 45 min to an hour @ 425. It came out fork tender and then it went into the Kitchen Aid. First I added the melted butter and OJ, and let it mix/puree on medium speed. I could have used more OJ, but I wanted the squash to retain its butternut-iness (of course, I lose that with the delicious crumb topping to follow). I cracked two eggs into a separate bowl and took some of the hot squash mixture to temper the eggs down. Afterwards I added the egg mixture back and mixed in the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon/nutmeg. You could check the mixer every couple minutes to make sure it was mixing to your desired consistency, and after I was satisfied, it went into a greased dish. I baked it for about an hour @ 350 (here is what the office version looked like before going into the oven).

So, my office kinda got the raw end of the deal on the topping. I didn’t really look into my “crumb” topping and ended up just throwing random amounts of brown sugar, flour, oats and chopped pecans in a bowl and then sprinkling it on top before putting into the oven.

For the family version, I poked around on the internet and found this.

1 C Flour
½ C Oats (not instant)
1/3 C Brown Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Salt
1 stick Butter, cut into small pieces

Basically pulse all the ingredients in a food processor, and after the butternut squash has baked for 30 minutes, take it out and sprinkle this on top. Afterwards it looked like this, and smelled like an apple pie.

And then we had a Happy Thanksgiving.

* I know no straight man would ever use the word “dash” (or sprinkle, for that matter) when describing anything. Please forgive me.

The Spaghetti (Squash) Incident?

Hope everyone is having a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Have you been to your local farmer’s market lately??? They’re practically giving away WINTER SQUASH*

Last week, I picked up about 27 lbs of Butternut, Spaghetti and Hubbard squash for $4 . . . yep, it was fill up as much winter squash you can fit in a box for $4!!

I’ll end up making two butternut squash dishes for Thanksgiving(s) this week (office and family), but Monday night the LOML and I took our first stab at Spaghetti Squash. I had never cooked Spaghetti Squash before, but have read/heard a lot about it the last few years.

The market had Spaghetti Squash of all different sizes/shades of yellow. The farmer told me the larger and more brightly yellow the squash is, the better it will be. He was right. I split both of our spaghetti squash (you can experiment, when they’re this cheap I guess), and the larger one definitely looked more appetizing.

It was a little overwhelming to figure out what to do with it, so we basically roasted it (face down, for 45 minutes @ 400 degrees), with a little olive oil and salt/pepper. It was good (I probably could have omitted the pepper), and we served it with some black beans and sautéed spinach/mushrooms. Also, I wasn’t sure how much I could get out of one squash, but it was A LOT. Just an FYI.

* You’ve probably noticed Winter Squash will be the hot foodie blog topic these next few weeks (Clotilde had some great ideas/suggestions this week and made a REALLY good looking gratin out of hers). Glad I can contribute my part.

I like Pork Butts and I Can Not Lie

So I’ve been on a pretty big Boston Butt kick lately (I think we’ve cooked 6 since the spring). They’re easy and feed a lot of people. We ended up cooking two (16 lbs total) this weekend for the 6 couples in our small group, and I think they were a big hit. I’m sure not all of these steps were necessary, but this how I rolled (I’m so white).

First I rinsed off the butt, and patted it dry. Mmmmm, that’s a fine lookin’ butt.

Next, I rubbed it down (Man, this is starting to sound like a Danielle Steel novel) with yellow mustard and put Willingham’s Dry Rub all over it. I saw the yellow mustard trick from a special on foodnetwork a few years ago, and I think it’s a divided topic on serious Pork Butt smokers/cooks. I’m sure any dry rub would be good, and I know the Neely’s have a really easy recipe I’ve used before. Anyways, I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge over night.

Sunday, I sliced 5 or 6 onions (about 1 inch thick) and layered on the bottom of the crock pot. Then I put the (unwrapped) Pork Butt on top and poured in half a beer (Pete’s Wicked Ale, for this butt).

The amount of liquid is kind of deceiving b/c the Butt is sitting on top of the raw onions, so it seems like there is not a lot of liquid. But after 5 or 6 hours, that meat will weigh down the cooked onions and the liquid will come about half way up the meat. If you’ve got time, I like to set the slow cooker on LOW and let it cook for 8 hours (but you could get HIGH for 6 hours).

Now, I’ve read that once you set the crock pot to cook you DO NOT lift the lid to check out your meat!! That would release all the built up steam and just add more time to your cooking. Amirite??

Well this weekend, my fam was in town for the LOML’s baby shower. My mom is a great cook and probably the biggest inspiration (man that sounds so cheesy to type) behind my love for cooking. I know everyone says their mom is a great cook, but mine really is. So we were hanging in the kitchen Sunday afternoon, and I turn around and she’s lifted the lid and is all “Mmmm, that looks good”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! Seriously, I didn’t yell at her, but it was a stern what the heck????? Anyways, she didn’t know you were supposed to keep the lid closed, so I thought I’d let you know. KEEP THE LID CLOSED!

After the meat had cooked (check after 8 hours, it may need a little more time), it was time to shred (but that meat will still be HOT). As you can see the bone EASILY came out (you can see some of the beer-soaked onions, too), and It was pretty to pick out the meat from the fat. After all was said and done, it looked like this:

BOOM goes the dynamite!