January 2007 Archives

Man, this is one of those times when Phoenix is way too far from Chicago, as I found out when I read this email from John recently:

Caroline (Frenchy) is making her famous Boeuf Bourguignon, and here is a pic of the Chocolate Pave Cake that I made. We are having a few folks over tonite and wish you were here.

She said she simmered the beef for 7 hours, and to tell you her accomps were endive and walnut salad w/raspberry vinagrette, and snow peas teased in butter /boiled potatoes w/ butter basil

What a terrific menu, lots of great combinations of flavors, and nice simple side dishes that do what they're supposed to do- accompany the entreé without adding conflicting flavors.

For those who may not know, a pavé cake is ususally a layered cake with buttercream and frosting. It's called a pavé because it resembles a paving stone, rectangular and not too high.

Y'know John, with a little notice I can probably make your next bash. Kudos to you and Caroline for a great job!

Happy Friday, folks! We have a great Friday Funny from Janella to get the weekend started.

Enjoy yourselves, and try to get in the kitchen and cook something special. As always, please email me a picture or two of your culinary creations!

Thanks for reading, and for your support of Desert Island Foods®.com.

Okay, I have no idea if Jack loves them or not, since no one on that show ever eats, but that's what I made last night. There are lots of varieties of meatballs, along with meat choices- beef, veal or pork, but for a meatball sandwich I like straight 100% beef. I mixed the beef with some homemade bread crumbs, eggs, fresh parsley, lots of garlic, and enough salt that it doesn't taste bland.

I browned these off on a sheet pan while I buzzed up some crushed tomatoes with an immersion blender, then added uber amounts of garlic, some parsley, and seasoned it with dry thyme, kosher salt, and copious amounts of crushed red pepper and Survival Spice™, which adds a lot of flavor to tomato sauces, while keeping it recognizable as an Italian sauce. I added the meatballs to the sauce, and let it simmer for a few hours.

Got some good rolls from the bakery, and sliced them, along with some pepper jack cheese, making sure that the sandwich would sit flat on the sizzle plate. If you line the sides of the roll with cheese, the sandwich won't soak through as quickly, and don't overdo the sauce if you don't want to wear it! I topped it with a little greated parm cheese, got it hot in the oven, then turned on the broiler for a few minutes at the end.

Jack would be proud. I hope he wouldn't kill me for it.

Buy through Amazon link:
The Norman Rockwell Illustrated Cookbook

I know- you've got a million cookbooks already, but seriously, this book that I got for Christmas is a treasure. Full of great American recipes that go from soups to entreés, breads, side dishes, sauces (excellent) and classic desserts, it represents the epitome of American cooking. I love the sensiblilities of the recipes- not too simple, not too fussy, just a lot of really good information. I've seen this book used at Amazon for a couple of bucks, and it's a steal for that price.

I can't wait to make some of this stuff.

It's a chilly Friday here in the desert, and everywhere else, as far as I can tell. How about a Friday Funny, sent in by Kathleen to generate some Chuckle calories? It won't warm you up like a cup of truck stop joe, but it'll probably sit in your belly a little better...

Have a great weekend, everyone! Keep those food pics coming!

Thanks for reading, and shopping at Desert Island Foods®.com.

Pesto is such a versatile sauce, and although there are a bunch of variations out there- mint, cilantro, parsley, etc., I prefer the classic basil recipe myself. It's a no-cook sauce, which is great on a hot day, and you can dress veggies, or even meat with it. Try the pesto infused chicken in the link, it's really good.

For a quick weekday dinner, you can't beat it. The fact that I had some leftover whole wheat penne meant that all I had to do was saute up some hot italian sausage, throw the rest of it in the pan to heat up, give it quick toss, and that was it.

This is the second pesto picture I've posted, and I still haven't figured out how to plate and shoot it right. Anybody have any ideas? I tried to hit it with more light this time, but it just looks washed out to me.

(Photo: Paul "Chile" Brown, of his beef brisket)

Chilebrown is a patient man:

I woke up at 3:30 am to put this baby in. It is only up to 152. I got the hardly can waits.

I'll bet it took a while. Brisket has lots of connective tissue, and it's not uncommon to cook one at low heat for 8 hours or more to fully break down the fibers. Follow the link to learn more, or just scroll down to drool over the finished dish...

I emailed him to ask him what rub he used on it:

Yours, of course. Man it was the bomb.

Pretty serious looking brisket, Chile, I'll bet it was worth the wait. How long did you end up cooking it for? Let's hear some details!

(Photo: Chilebrown's Smoked Beef Brisket)

(Me, in my younger days, wish I had this shot in color. Good times, man, good times...)

Happy Friday, everyone! With all of us strictly adhering to our New Year's resolutions about getting in shape (HA!), I thought this Friday Funny from Diana would be appropriate.

Enjoy your weekend, and cook something good! Email me a picture to share or if you've got a good food story. I've been getting quite a few great links lately that I'll post next week.

(Crazy plating, I know, but ya gotta try stuff...)

I just had to have a steak for the Florida/Ohio State (blowout, as it turned out) game last night, so I grilled off a nice strip of tri-tip, rubbed with our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub. I've mentioned this before, but grilling tri-tip, even a strip like this where you're tempted to sear it off, is much better cooked over medium heat so you've got time to break down the connective tissue instead of tightening it up.

I was going to just grill the red onions and portabellos, too, but then I had a bit of inspiration. I sauteed them instead with a bit of thyme, using more oil than I normally would. What did I do with the oil after the veggies were done? Poured it over the steak, of course. You've got all this lovely infused mushroom, thyme and onion flavor going on, why waste it?

It was awesome. Survival Spice™ by itself is all you need, of course, but the extra flavor wallop from the oil was a nice change.

Been cooking? Email me what you've been making!

This one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year- a set of 3 measuring spoons labeled "Smidgen, Pinch, and Dash." I did a little research and found out that traditionally a dash is 1/8 teaspoon, a pinch is 1/16 t, and a smidgen is 1/32 of a teaspoon. Do you think our grandmothers knew that?

Here's an Amazon link, if you've got to have a set of your own!!! Bear in mind, I would make a big fat honkin' dime if you were to buy them through this link, so obviously the promise of riches could be clouding my judgement...

Happy First Friday of 2007! Still getting back in the groove here, but here's a quick Friday Funny. Sorry, I don't recall who sent it to me, because I forwarded it to myself.

Have a great weekend! I'm making some Cowboy Cupcakes for a party on Sunday, hopefully the picture will turn out better than last time...

Email me your pics! I've got a few to post already, but it's great to see what you've cooked up.

Travel Day again today, but finally I'm headed home, ready to get back to work!

This was a pan-fried salmon filet that I marinated in soy, mirin, lemon juice and some chili/garlic paste. I'll admit, brussel sprouts weren't exactly the traditional Japanese accompianment, but they tasted good! I just steamed them, and added some butter and S&P.

Now, if I had eaten like this the whole time I was in the Midwest, my jeans wouldn't be so tight.

Say, are those Christmas cookies?...

(Photo: Chilebrown's Prime Rib)

Happy New Year!!! I'll be home midweek and haven't been cooking much, but Paul has. Check out the prime rib he emailed me a picture of recently.

Have a drool over that, and I wish everyone the best for 2007!