Happy Friday! A few quick reminders- Spam entries should be in early next week sometime, and we're getting ready to ship our "Two for the Troops" tins, so if you'd like to order before it's too late, click on the ad in the sidebar to the right.
Thanks once again to Janella for a great joke, email me if you've heard a good one lately, along with your Spam entry if you've got one of those, too!
Have a great weekend, see you Monday!
Chilebrown sent along some pics of a Hawaiian-themed restaurant he stumbled upon. I think he was out doing Spam® research! It all sounds really good, and I have to say the nori-wrapped Spam even sounds good enough to try, at least:
While driving to Santa Cruz from Capitola, we smelled the most wonderful teriyaki barbeque smell coming from the 'Aloha Island Grille'. www.alohaislandgrillecom. On the way back, we smelled a different, but wonderful barbeque smell. We pulled a quick U-turn and had a wonderful meal. Kaluha Pig,Grilled Beef Teriyaki,Kol-bi Ribs, Chicken Katsu and an appetizer,Spam Musubi. Most excellent was the verdict,except the appetizer would be an acquired taste. The price was more than reasonable. It is a funky place with Tiki decorations and a nice outdoor deck. I wish it was closer!
The Spam® cookoff continues! Please let me know if you're planning on entering, so I'll know when to put up the voting post. We're having a lot of fun with this, but I also think it's a good lesson in how to work around an ingredient in a dish that's not quite up to the standards of the rest of your meal.
This "entry" from Dennis I got via email was so funny I had to share it:
Last evening I decided to create a recipe for your SPAM contest, as detailed below. However, I am unable to submit a photo for the following reasons:1. I am not allowed to touch my wife's cameras, and
2. Each time I tried to take a picture of my entry the flash refused to work.I hope this does not eliminate my entry as I think the written description alone will have people drooling. Here we go!
1. Open one can of SPAM and slice into approx. 1/4-inch strip slabs.
2. Set aside for now.
3. Take two room-temperature NY strips approx. 1 1/2 inches thick and partially slice through the center to form a pocket.
4. Place a mixture of diced garlic, onion, and Hatch green chiles in the pocket of the steak, then close with cinnamon toothpicks.
5. Liberally coat both sides of the steak with Survival Spice™.
6. Using your smallest knife, cut each SPAM slice into flower shapes (a variety of flower shapes is acceptable, nay, encouraged).
7. Place the steaks on a preheated bbq and grill to desired state of doneness.
8. While the steaks are grilling, dip the flower-shaped SPAM pieces into different (hopefully appropriate) colored food colorings.
When the steaks are done, place each on a plate, then place the flowers around the outside of the plate. While eating your steak, try not to disturb the flowers.If this sounds good, let me know. I have lots more!
HA!!! Maybe instead of food coloring you could dip them in colored powdered sugar for a more 'festive' look.
Hoo boy, this was tough! I went 'round and 'round trying to think of something different to do for my Spam® entry. Ultimately, after thinking about a place where people actually are enthusiastic about Spam®, I decided to take a stab at a dish I really don't care for- Hawaiian pizza. Traditionally prepared with ham, pineapple and green bell pepper, I realized that just using Spam® was going to be a challenge on the palette, let alone the other ingredients.
We have our first Spam Cookoff entry! Chilebrown is first off the mark with an innovative use for the venerable canned meat treat we all know and love (cough, cough):
Ms. Goofy and I had fun with this competition. While we were in Santa Cruz we ordered a Spam appetizer. We would have never even thought of such an act. I will say it was different.It was a challenge to think of a recipe. Spam can be very salty. There is a low sodium version. I chose to use 'Spam with Cheese'. Everything usually goes better with Cheese. Spam Tamale was our choice.
I traveled to 'The Mission District', in San Francisco to purchase fresh masa. I wanted to make these authentic Spam tamales. I bought the corn husks and masa. I also had a killer burrito for lunch at "Taqueria San Francisco".The Mission is a great place to eat and buy Mexican food.
I used some killer bacon purchased from the "Freedom Meat Locker" on my last 'Meat Adventure'. I chopped some onions and cubed the Spam. I cooked the bacon and onions and briefly sweated the Spam. This would be my filling. I added a little chipotle puree to the masa for flavor and color. I soaked the corn husks and then assembled the tamale.
I made three different Salsa's to accompany the tamale. I used all ingredients from the garden and some home smoked chipotle. I made Pico de Gallo, Chipotle Salsa, and Orange-Honey Habanero Salsa. The Orange Habanero Salsa was a sweet eye opener.
The tamale's steamed in a bamboo steamer for an hour. The results were very good. Ms. Goofy even enjoyed it. I think she had a closed mind coming into the competition. After she tried it she was hooked. I just had one for breakfast. What a great way to start the morning. The only problem I have now, is what to do with the two leftover cans of Spam. I am looking forward to seeing the other entries! Peace,Paul
I'll post my entry tomorrow, and a picture of the Spam appetizer that Paul mentioned in his email when I get a chance.
Keep cooking! Let's try to have the entries in by the beginning of next week, but let me know if you need more time.
Our latest Food Fight is the SPAM® Challenge. Let the contest begin! Here's a few ground rules:
• Spam® needs to be a primary ingredient, no hiding a few morsels in another dish! You need to use a full tin, or thereabouts.
• I think this time I'll put up a post for voting, and only those who enter can cast a full vote in the comments. Other readers can vote, too, but their votes in total will only serve as one tie-breaking vote. And just for another cruel twist, no voting for yourself!
• Imagination should be a large factor in the voting, I think. Be creative!
• Oh, and yes, you actually have to eat it and let us know how it turned out.
• Other ideas for rules? Leave them in the comments.
I'll award a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner. I'm going to enter, too, and vote. I'm not saying my vote could be influenced by an entry using Survival Spice™ or our other products, but... If I win, I'll donate an extra sixpack to Operation Gratitude.
Have fun with it, and email me at least one picture and your recipe! Let's try to have them all in by the Monday after next.
Happy Friday, everyone! Kathleen, once again, has provided a Friday Funny to get us laughing into the weekend, thanks! If you've got a joke to share, email me!
Have a great weekend. Get your SPAM® and get cooking!
I haven't done a post about this lately, and the sales numbers show it! Just reminding you about our program we're doing with Operation Gratitude by offering a special product for their holiday shipments to the troops overseas. For $7.99, you can buy two tins of Survival Spice™, normally an $11.98 value. We'll then ship, at our expense, your donated tins to Operation Gratitude to be included in the packages.
You can get more information about this program here. As a reminder, there's also an ad in the right sidebar so you can order at any time! If you would like to add this sidebar ad to your blog or website, email me and I'll get send you the image and the underlying code.
Just to summarize:
• You personally will receive no tins if you order this product, you are donating them to Operation Gratitude.
• You can certainly order our regular products to be shipped to you in the same transaction as well.
• Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation of $7.99 is tax deductible.
• We respect your privacy and we never share customer information, so if you would like an acknowledgment of your donation directly from Operation Gratitude, just indicate this in the "Special Instructions" box during the checkout process, and we'll forward your name and email address to Carolyn, who created this wonderful organization.
• You can donate as many tins as you like!
• If you prefer to donate cash instead, you can donate directly to Operation Gratitude by visiting their website.
Whatever your politics, our troops are overseas, and sadly will be there for some time yet. Operation Gratitude's collections for the big holiday shipments will begin soon, and their goal is to put together at least 40,000 packages on their next drive. I'd like to send as many tins of Survival Spice™ as I can afford, but I need your help!
Please, please pass this information on to your friends, family and co-workers and ask them to help. I'll be shipping tins collected to date sometime in early October. I'm going to leave the "Two for the Troops" product up for the forseeable future, but I'd love to send them more soon!
John in Chicago sends along a really fantastic-sounding lobster dish using copious amounts of Survival Spice™:
I made a sauce by taking butter and adding fresh lemon verbena & garlic and warming it to infuse the lemon verbena ................................... I grilled the lobs w/ survival spice and redusted when they came off ........................... ugga bugga
Wow. Sounds like that hits all the right notes! I've mentioned Survival Butter and how amazing it is with crab, but John took it at step further by adding lemon verbena. Nice touch! He didn't mention if he clarified the butter, but you certainly don't have to.
I'm not sure exactly what "Ugga Bugga" meant, but I assume that means it was good!
Been cooking? Email me!
It's starting to cool off here in the desert, and I found myself craving a Thanksgiving dinner. By cooling, I mean temps under 100º, but it makes a huge difference here in Phoenix.
Well, it's not Thanksgiving yet, and I didn't have a turkey on hand, but this stuffed chicken dinner satisfied my "turkey jones" nonetheless.
I mentioned this last week, and so far I know Chilibrown is in, and Biggles is starting to send Spam recipes, so he's warming to the idea. I don't know if Diana can get Spam® in Canada, but I hope she can!
I think Spam® needs to be the primary ingredient, at the very least. I'm tempted to soak it to get the flavor out, but that probably defeats the purpose.
Sharpen your knives up, and let's finalize the details this week. As I said before, I think imagination needs to be a vital criteria for the judging. I'll award a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner, just so there's some motivation!
Leave a comment if you're interested, and we'll finalize the rules.
Happy Friday, to all of you who have suffered through another work week! We have a great Friday Funny from Kathleen, who is a true master of the "Forward" button. Some of these are really funny, and made me wish I'd thought of them.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Please click on the "Two for the Troops" ad in the sidebar if you'd like to help, and remember our Spam contest below.
Cook something good, willya? Email me pictures!
We haven't run a contest around here in a while, mostly because we've all been so busy; but I mentioned this last week, and Chilebrown is up to the challenge, so why not?
How about a Spam® cookoff? Just throwing it out there to see if there's any interest. We'll have fun with it, and I'll send a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner, just so there's some motivation!
C'mon, with all of the good cooks reading here, someone ought to be able to make it edible. Not that I'm bagging on Spam® or anything, mind you...
Who's in? I think imagination needs to be a vital criteria for the judging.
(the Pragmatic Chef's Banana Pecan Bread, recipe here.)
I got these facts on bananas in an email from Kathleen- thanks! Not sure how accurate it all is, but it makes sense to me.
Eat bananas and be healthy? It worked for Elvis, didn't it? Oh. Wait...
Here's an email from Denise in Columbus, Ohio who recently moved, so she had thrown away just about everything they had in the pantry. Glad to see that you kept your Survival Spice™!:
Since we're back in the Midwest, we can't exactly grill any time we please. So, we had taken out some ribs to thaw the other day and grilled ribs were on tonight's menu.Unfortunately, it has been raining off and on today and I am not sure what it will be like when my husband gets home, so I figured I had better just slow cook them in the oven. I hate to do this, but I am kind of busy today and thought I'd just dump in a bottle of bbq sauce. Well, we don't have any on-hand. I thought I'd check on one of my favorite websites for a recipe for bbq sauce that would utilize the few ingredients I have on-hand (always find out when it's too late what I should have picked up at the store....still don't have a very good selection in my spice cabinet). I do have ketchup and brown sugar, however....so, I found a recipe for cooking ribs in a stock pot on the stove which had ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and some other ingredients I THOUGHT I had on-hand.
Well, I wrote it down and went into the kitchen to get started. I sprinkled salt and pepper on the ribs and browned them, then put them in my trusty blue-enamel pan and went to work mixing up the sauce. Ketchup, check. Water, check. Vinegar, check. Brown sugar, check. Salt, check. Paprika....uh-oh. Chili powder....uh-oh.
Well, this is looking like it is going to be some pretty blah bbq sauce at this point.....but then wait! Survival Spice to the rescue!!!! Mix it together, pour it over the ribs, thinly slice half an onion and scatter it on top, cover, and it's now in the oven at 275. I'll turn up the heat around 5:00.
I am glad that I was out of the chili powder and paprika because I am sure this will be MUCH better anyway. I really don't like ribs this way- I'm addicted to ribs on the grill with Survival Spice--and I normally hate eating foods that result in sticky, greasy fingers), but I think this might have possibilities!
Thanks, Denise! There's no shame in oven cooking anything when you can't grill, and your two temperature technique was exactly right. Low and slow until the meat's cooked, then high heat at the end to crisp them up. It's great that she kept her Survival Spice™ Survival Spice™ when they moved, I know if I could only have one spice in my cabinet, that would be it!
I have no idea what I made last night, but it was good.
Another of those market basket days, where I had a bunch of ideas what to make with what I had on hand. Pork chops and a French style mushroom cream sauce, maybe a Southwest influence with the addition of pasilla chiles; a simple pork and sausage gumbo; hot Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions- my head was filled with possibilities.
I think you know this, but this is my favorite way to cook- inventory what's on hand, then make something up. What could you make with these ingredients?
Friday. Oh, sweet Friday. Just when you think it's never going to come, the end of the work week is upon us. If the end of your week isn't Friday, hang in there!
We have another great Friday Funny sent in by Janella, who just keeps rollin' on with the funny. For the chuckle which is to follow, Janella, we salute you!
Have a great weekend, everyone. Cook something good and share it with us, willya?
I'm not sure what I'm cooking, but I know it's going to include the new Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva and Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Blanco shipment I just got in. I have to say, if you've never had a good white wine vinegar, let alone an organic, unfiltered aceto from the hills outside of Rome, you really owe it to yourself to do your palette a favor and check these world class products out. Your taste buds will thank you!
(I couldn't find a picture of the new stuff, but you had to see this!)
Okay, I'm a Python fan, so when John in Chicago emailed this, I had to post it:
Hormel offers Something completely differentThe makers of Spam are poking fun at themselves by launching a "collector's edition" Stinky French Garlic flavor, to coincide with the London stage opening of the Monty Python musical "Spamalot" this month.
RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! Unless you love SPAM®, that is!
Grilled, boiled, whatever, I love corn on the cob, which to me is one of the best things about summer. I've talked about Survival Butter before, but until Ana mentioned using it on corn on the cob, and raving about the flavor, it really hadn't occurred to me to try it.
Here's a shot of the Labor Day feast, where I tried it for the first time, and I have to say I loved it, too. I'm all for being a purist with corn, even omitting butter most of the time, but try this for a great change.
Thanks, Ana!
Pork chops and corn on the cob- sure sounds like Labor Day to me!
There's a few ways you can go with pork chops- super thin, so you can cook them quickly on high heat, leaving a nice crispy bit of pork goodness. You can also go with a thick-cut pork chop that you can still cook quickly, or smoke nice and slowly.
These were grilled over pecan wood, which is my default grilling wood these days, at a fairly high heat. I lot of people like their pork cooked to death, but I'm not one of them. For them, go the thin/crispy pork route.
Sigh. I have to talk about this for a minute, so indulge me. I really, really hate to even bring it up, because it's such a rare thing anyway and a serious buzz kill, but seriously, it's okay to eat juicy pork chops. Really. They can even be a bit pink, and still have no chance of containing trichinosis. By the time your pork is medium rare to medium, it's fine. Want to hear numbers? Okay. Trichinosis, even in the incredibly remote chance of infection, is gone at 138º. Medium rare pork is right around 145º. Even medium, around 150º, is still moist. If in doubt, use an instant read thermometer, and relax. Sorry for digressing, but the whole "pork paranoia" is so pervasive, it makes me crazy, and I think knowledgable people don't talk about it enough because it's unappetizing. Hope this helps.
Where was I? Right, chops. I rubbed them well with our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub, which is so good on pork that even the chops will send you a thank you note!
After they came off the grill, I let them rest a few minutes. Pork chops, because they're generally so lean, really benefit from resting 5 or 10 minutes or so before service.
Man, they were good. The sauce you see on the side is from a friend's company that I'll talk a bit about later in the week, but suffice it to say it's one of the best bottled sauces I've had!
... from Desert Island Foods™.com! I hope whatever you're grilling, it's got Survival Spice™ on it!
Have a safe and happy holiday. Email me your food pics!
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you're as ready as I am for the weekend, lots to catch up on now that I'm back in town.
Janella, the Jokestress of the Year for 2005, has sent in a great Friday Funny. If you've got a joke to share, email me. C'mon, anybody that gets email gets swamped by them, right? Right.
Have a great weekend, cook something good, willya? Please remember to click on the Operation Gratitude link in the sidebar, and help us send Survival Spice™ to the troops overseas!
