June 2006 Archives

Friday, Friday. Okay, it was never a Mamas and Papas song, but it's music to my ears! It's time to start thinking about what to make for the Fourth. Do you know what you're having yet?

Janella has 'laid down the law' with the Friday Funny she sent in, thanks! If you have a good joke, a cool food tip, or a picture of a dish you're proud of, email me! We love to get them, and it's especially gratifying to get pictures of things you've made with our Survival Spice™ seasoning and barbecue rub.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Cook something good, willya?

It's always interesting to hear about someone who's as passionate about food as Chris Bianco, owner of Pizza Bianco here in Phoenix. His pizza has been voted "Best in America", and this article is truly inspiring:

His hands are on every pizza that slides onto his tables. The menu offers just six pizzas, three salads and two appetizers. He grows his own herbs, designed his own oven, even painted some of the canvases on his walls. He starts work at 7 a.m., and stops around midnight. He hasn't called in sick/bored/in San Diego in four years. When he wants a vacation, as he does every August, the restaurant closes. He won't eat caramels, because he feels that the candy is in charge, and not him.

Great article about a true perfectionist, check it out.

Hmmmmmm...... interesting idea, anybody tried these?

Now the SAVU Smoker Bag comes in Hickory too! One bag smokes anything -- beef, pork, poultry, fish, seafood and veggies -- in your oven and on your grill! Just place your food inside the top layer of this 3-ply foil bag, seal it up and place it in your 475 degree oven or on a hot grill, and you've got a delicious smoked meal in minutes!

As far as I understand it, it's a foil bag lined with a type of natural wood oil/resin that imparts a smoked flavor to whatever you put inside. They give a few applications I can understand: in an indoor oven, and on public grills that are in tough enough shape that you wouldn't want to put your food directly on the grates without some serious scrubbing, but I can't imagine using them on your own grill, gas or otherwise. Even on my gas grill I have at home for weeknight meals, I've just inverted one of the V-shaped burner covers. I crank that burner up on high and just toss my soaked wood chips onto the cover, which gives good results. I would also recommend a cast iron smoker chip box, too.

So, what do you think? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

(Disclosure:: I would get a tiny percentage if you bought this book through the link. What's 4% of $3.00? Lucrative!!!)

Sad news in the restaurant world:

Sam'l P. Arnold, restaurateur, food historian, raconteur and promoter of all things Western, died Thursday (June 8) in Phoenix. He would have been 80 on June 28.

...One of his proudest moments was hosting a Summit of the Eight dinner in 1997 for the visiting heads of state, including President Bill Clinton. The other was teaching Julia Child to open a bottle of champagne with a tomahawk, a feat she would later repeat on a late-night show.

I've eaten at The Fort a few times, and it was excellent both times. Though famous for its exotic game dishes, a faddish "tourist trap" it wasn't.

Sam Arnold, from what I've read about him over the years, was a real character, and quite an innovator in the world of food. Passionate and knowledgeable about every ingredient that went into The Fort's menu, I'm glad to see that the restaurant will live on.

I own the cookbook I linked to above, and enjoy the recipes, along with the colorful stories that accompany them. His style of cooking has been an influence on mine, particularly on dishes such as the Traditional New Mexico Pork Chile I posted about here last year. The way he celebrated simple, well-executed recipes was particularly inspirational.

Check out The Fort if you're in the Denver area. If you listen carefully, you might still hear Sam's cry of "Waugh!" that he was famous for.

(Photo: Mary)

This wraps up the dishes I made for Cuban Night, a fun Cuban Food-Fest we had recently. In addition to the Fried Plantains and Masitas de Puerco, I made a few other Cuban staples.

(Scaled down example of our new online coupon)

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You do nothing but soak up the love...

Friday. Whew.

This week's Friday Funny comes from Tom, from Willie V's Catering in the great state of Oregon. Don't know if there's a lot of mules up there, but the joke's funny!

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'll be traveling on business all of next week, but I'll be posting as usual.

Cook something good, willya? Email me pictures! We love pictures, just remember to take out the REMOVETHESEWORDS from my email address, unless you're a spammer, in which case you're cordially invited to choke on them.

(Photo: Yahoo)

... For a $100 burger today:

The burger debuted Tuesday at the restaurant in the Boca Raton Resort and Club, where a membership costs $40,000 and an additional $3,600 a year.

"We've never had a hamburger on our menu here so we really wanted to go to the extreme," restaurant owner Marc Sherry said, calling it "the most decadent burger in the world."

At about 5 1/2 inches across and 2 1/2 inches thick, the mound of meat is comprised of beef from three continents - American prime beef, Japanese Wagyu (Kobe) and Argentine cattle.

Okay, it's probably great, but geez, it doesn't even come with a Coke! I've seen places that have a $100 deal, but it's a burger with a bottle of Dom Perignon. That's more like it.

Ever had Kobe beef? What's your favorite burger? Mine includes Survival Spice™, of course...

(Desert Island Foods™ Gourmet Gift Basket)

I'm happy to announce that we're starting to ship our new Gourmet Gift Basket. If you have someone that's a serious food lover and/or a serious cook, this is for you! It features:

• Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, voted one of the top 7 olive oils in the world by Taste magazine.
• Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Blanco, an amazing organic white wine vinegar.
• A tin of our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub.
• Our high quality, colorful DIF logo apron; comfortable, with an adjustable strap and two pockets.

Only $59.99, truly a great price for fantastic products. Along with a nice gift basket, clear cellophane wrap (picture shot on a light background so you can see it), and a colorful raffia bow, It ships fully assembled and comes out of the box looking great!

Here's another shot of the fried plantains I made for Cuban Night recently. As I mentioned the other day, plantains are basically a larger, starchier banana. They make an interesting substitute for potatoes, kind of a cross between a regular potato and a yam. It's a simple dish, just peel and slice them on the bias: heat some peanut, corn, canola or even light olive oil: fry until golden brown and a bit crispy, then let them drain on paper towels. I like a bit of kosher salt on them, but that's purely subjective.

Update: In the comments, Prairie Biker mentions topping his twice-cooked plantains with "aji chombo", which is a hot sauce made from an aji pepper, which has similar heat to a habenero. I couldn't find the one I've had before, which kicks butt, but I put up an Amazon link to a sauce that looks like the real deal. I always keep Sriracha sauce around, myself, to add a little kick to just about anything.

(Photo: TPC's halibut filets with mystery breading)

I'm always fooling around with new stuff- some of it with a goal in mind, but some of it simply out of curiousity. I'm not one to search the Internet for recipe ideas, though I'm glad those of you that have found this site and Desert Island Foods™.com via a web search did! As a result, I come up with things that are great, outright failures, or something in between.

This was sort of an "in between" result. I still haven't forgotten Dr. Biggle's request for fried chicken, but I don't want to do anything too predictable, so I keep accumulating unlikely breading ingredients and playing with them as I get a chance.

Sure, the filets were oiled and rubbed with Survival Spice™, but can you guess what else I used?

Happy Friday, everyone! I'll try to get another post up today, but in the meantime here's a great Friday Funny from Chuck.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Cook something good, por favor! Email me pictures!

(Photo: Mary)

I love pork. There, I said it. Of course, if you find that shocking you probably haven't been reading very long, because we've all cooked quite a bit of pork around here over the last year or so.

One of my favorites is Masitas de Puerco because it combines multiple cooking techniques- a slow braise that renders fat and tenderizes the cut, and frying, which results in a crispy bit of pork with a moist, succulent center. As with any good braised dish, the braising liquid is used as a finishing sauce. Serve with white rice, black beans, fried plantains and white onions.

Busy day around here, but I wanted to post a link sent to me by John a while back about how the food our troops overseas eat every day has changed:

Advances in coffee culture have even extended to "meals ready to eat," the portable field rations that are a constant source of nutrition in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the newest versions will contain chocolate-covered espresso beans.

And in a nod to the increasing ethnic diversity of troops, some M.R.E.'s will soon include snack bread flavored with chipotle, packets of salsa verde and spice mixes from the New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme.

"The culinary expectations of our war-fighters are rising each year and we want to make sure the palate is well entertained," said Gerald Darsch, director of the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate.

Other new field rations include an expanded line of vegetarian dishes, including lasagna and chicken pesto pasta.

The article also mentions some home-based organizations like Treat the Troops.org that send cookies and other goodies to soldiers.

Lots of links to organizations that help, give what you can.

(Photo: Mary, of Cuban Night)

Over the weekend, some foodie friends and I got together for another internationally themed food night. This time the theme was Cuban food, which I love. Hearty, flavorful and like all the cuisines of the world, influenced by the indigenous crops of the area. Things like onions and limes are familiar, of course, but many Americans have never had varitions of familiar fruits such as plantains and Seville oranges, which are staples in the cuisine of Cuba.

Plantains are a larger, starchier version of bananas. Less sweet to begin with, the starch factor increases the longer the picked plantains are stored as the sugars convert to starch. Sliced on the bias and fried, I like to lightly salt them as they rest on paper towels. Good stuff.

Seville oranges are a tart variety. Naranja agria (sour orange) juice is a key ingredient in mojo, a "mother sauce" of Cuban cuisine. If you don't have the real deal, a fine substitute to add lime juice to orange juice, roughly 1 part lime to 3 parts orange juice.

I made fried plantains, a garlic chicken dish, some masitas- fried pork, and the traditional onions that accompany them. My friend and ace photographer Mary made some really good red beans and rice to go along with it.

I'll post some individual dishes this week, but you owe it to yourself to try Cuban food if you've never had it. I just wish I would have had a Cuban cigar for dessert...

What did you have for dinner last night? Email me!

I'm trying to watch what I eat these days, but there's no reason that healthy food can't be delicious, too.

Here's a Saturday night dinner, boneless, skinless chicken breasts rubbed generously with Survival Spice™, grilled then basted during the last 10 minutes with a BBQ sauce that I'm evaluating. I'm not a big fan of boneless and skinless chicken and I prefer my BBQ with sauce on the side, but I find that if you don't overcook it, it does absorb flavors really well. Plus, it's something different, which is refreshing in and of itself...

The veggies, a red bell pepper, Italian zucchini, yellow squash, and a red onion were marinated for about a half an hour with Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino BIanco, kosher salt, and a little bit of Survival Spice™. Take your time with them, especially the onions, so that you carmelize your veggies well.

As I proved to myself with the Scaryaki Stir Fry and the Scaryaki Hallibut Salad, I think it is actually possible to eat well and still be satisfied at the end of your meal. I think big flavor is the key to achieving satisfaction. There's nothing more frustrating than pushing back from the table after suffering through a bland, "healthy" meal, then berating yourself a few hours later after you've binged on ice cream.

Quality ingredients, simple yet well executed preperation. I can live with that.

Are you trying to eat better? Share your tips!

(Photo: Mary)

Still haven't gotten your Father's Day present yet? Our BBQ Lovers gift basket is in stock, ready to ship in plenty of time before next Sunday if you order soon.

It's the perfect gift for Dad! It contains:

• A tin of Survival Spice™ along with a booklet with tips for use.
• Our popular DIF Logo Apron.
• An E-Z Hook®.
• A nifty Survival Spice™ refrigerator magnet.

The packaging includes a cool dual tone basket, with clear cellophane wrapping (it looks colored in the pic, I know, it was shot against a light gray background), and tied up with colorful raffia.

Only $29.99! We also have cool DIF T-shirts, plus everything in the basket is available seperately, too, including Survival Spice™, a gift Dad (and you, of course) will love.

Once again, the door to another weekend lays ahead. Are you doing to walk slowly, purposefully, deliberately towards it, or are you going to sprint like a supermodel running for the bathroom after a binge at the HomeTown buffet?

I'm a sprinter, myself.

We've got another blonde-colored Friday Funny from Janella, who must have some kind of joke magnet installed in her computer, thanks! Got yer own joke, email me, just remember to take out the REMOVETHESEWORDS from my email address, or it'll get treated like a Nigerian million dollar bank scheme.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Cook something good, willya?

(Uh, I didn't make this...)

This is hardly my more typical gourmet-inspired post, but I got an interesting email from Janella recently with a time saving idea for making a lot of omelets. Basically, you put your ingredients into Ziploc bags, then boil them. She hasn't tried this, and neither have I, have you? Would you?

She was surprised by this cooking method, but the fact is an awful lot of restaurants buy their eggs in bags, then boil them instead of scrambling them in more traditional ways. This is why you get scrambled eggs with no color (or flavor, really) so often.

I'll post the text of the email in the extended entry, because it is a real time saver, but I would recommend that if you try this, at least saute your omelet ingredients first, so that you can impart as much flavor as possible. Thanks for the email, Janella! If you hear about something you'd like to share, email me.

I prefer my omelets like this, of course:

(Photo: TPC's Omelet with grilled salmon, pepper jack and chives)

(Photo: TPC's Scaryaki Stir Fry)

Dinner last night was a fairly simple but really good stir fry I threw together, using what was on hand. Hmmm, I say that a lot, don't I? I guess it's just my M.O...

While I cooked some brown rice, I marinated a few chicken breasts in soy, Sriracha hot sauce, chili garlic paste and sesame oil while I chopped a red pepper, some scallions, washed some bean sprouts and opened a can of water chestnuts. Heating my wok on my hottest burner, I heated some canola oil and stir-fried the chicken, then removed it to a bowl. You should always add the whatever's going to take the longest time to cook first, so in went the red pepper. A few minutes later I added the scallion, then the water chestnuts and finally the sprouts.

I added the chicken back in and added some chicken broth, reduced it and some more of the marinade ingredients. Some toasted sesame seeds finished it, and it was ready in 10 minutes.

Proper stir fry requires high heat, so prep everything ahead of time, because your dish will come together quickly.

What did you have for dinner last night? Email me pics, if you have them!

... and hopefully, a bit wiser. My 6/6/6 birthday is today, so as soon as the orders are out, so am I!

BTW, before I run out, Dr. Biggles and I were talking about another Food Fight. We were thinking about a cruel challenge- using Survival Spice™ in a dessert. Cookies, cakes, ice cream, fruit, pie, the skies the limit. Put your evil thinking caps on!

Anybody interested?

(Photo: Mary, of TPC's Hollandaise, before garnishing with parsley and asparagus)

Great article in the NY Times, sent to me by John that discusses difficult dishes and ways to prepare them:

If you build it, they will eat it. But in the case of some of the most impressive — and even basic — dishes, the architecture is flimsy at best. Among the most feared kitchen failures are fallen soufflés, broken sauces, polarized vinaigrettes and molten baked Alaskas. All are items that require a solid foundation, a meticulously followed blueprint and dogged optimism — or an unshakable ego. But do try them at home. The building blocks to the shakiest classics follow. The ego is up to you.

Good information and some great looking recipes, check it out! I've never made Baked Alaska, but I'm looking for the occasion to give it a try.

(Photo: Mary, of her Chicken Piccata and Capellini w/truffle oil)

This was the entreé for the Italian night we had recently. My friend and photographer Mary had us begging for mercy when she served this terrific combination. A classic piccata, with breaded and browned off thin chicken filets, and a pan sauce of olive oil, marsala wine, capers, lemon juice and parsley.

She served it with some angel hair pasta she tossed with chives and truffle oil. Between this, a terrific Caesar salad, and my tiramisu, this quality of this great meal was equaled only by the friends I shared it with.

It's such a great way to have a party. Pick a theme, plan a menu and let each guest bring a part of it. A highly recommended low-stress way to entertain, I think.

We're in production putting together our Father's Day BBQ Lovers Gift Baskets, still plenty of time to order. He'll love it!

Here's a Friday Funny that cracked me up. Thanks, Kathleen!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Cook something good, willya? I'm smoking 15 pounds of pork for a party Sunday.

(Photo: John's Survival Frites)

I'm finally getting around to posting the Survival Frites from the great dinner party I attended in Chicago in May. These amazing frites were dreamed up by John, who also made the veal piccata that night.

The potatoes were deep fried until really crispy, then dressed with olive oil, minced garlic, Survival Spice™, extra kosher salt and parsley. I shot this picture while they were still in a work bowl, the oil and flavor soaked into the potatoes as they sat.

They were unbelievably, mind-blowingly good. When I raved about them as we were eating, John mentioned that the secret ingredient was the Survival Spice.

I didn't know until he told me. Amazing what a little of this stuff will do to a dish. I'll definitely be making these, soon. I just hope I can do John's idea justice.