Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Leek & Potato Soup a la Gunfighter

I wrote this on Sunday night, while I was cooking...

It’s been a while since we talked about food, hasn’t it? Well, let’s see if we can fix that!

The winter is upon us, and despite today’s temperatures in the middle to high 50’s I decided that today would be a good day for soup. Not just any soup, mind you, but a variation on one of my favorites: Leek & Potato soup. Oh, I can hear you, already, sighing a soft “Mmmmmmm!” OK, so maybe that was me. In any event, I think you’ll like this.

Lets start, shall we?

The first thing you have to do if you want to make Leek & Potato soup, is to get the ingredients, which are rather simple:

4 Leeks - Try to get them as fresh as possible. Sometimes you get to the supermarket and see the most atrocious leeks on the planet. Geesh.

Celery - about 4 stalks, trimmed and sliced

Fennel - One bulb

Bacon bits - one jar (use real bacon bits if you don’t have dietary restrictions)

Half a pint of heavy cream (substitute with regular, or low fat milk, as suits your fancy)

Chicken or vegetable broth - This time I used some organic low-fat low-sodium stuff that I got at Whole Foods this afternoon (Washingtonians, have you been to the new whole foods store in Old Town? The Bomb, I’m telling you.)

Chopped garlic - It’s alright if you use the stuff in the jar… I’m not Emeril, OK?

Right, got all of your stuff?

Let’s roll!

Put on some music: Today I am starting with the Manhattan Transfer. I have loved them for years and years.

Next: Pour a glass of wine.  Pour one for your sweetie, too.




Now, let’s get busy (awwwwwwwwwwwww yeah!). First, wash and trim your celery, then chop, rinse again and set aside.


Trim the stalks and the very bottom of the bulb from the fennel, and chop roughly. Set aside.

Trim the tops and bottoms of the leeks and slice thinly.

Place the chopped leeks in a large colander and rinse thoroughly. Trust me on this. If you don’t rinse THOROUGHLY, you are in for a lovely, but REALLY gritty soup, and that’s probably not what you want.

OK, enough with the chopping and the rinsing, already!

Go into your pots and pans and find a cast iron dutch oven. If you don’t have a cast iron dutch oven, smack yourself on the forehead.

I’ll wait.

Done? OK, get your cast iron dutch oven, or whatever you plan to use, and put it on the stove.

Turn the flame to high and pour in a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, (if you say EVOO, you’ll really irritate me… so don’t). Anyway, once you put in your olive oil, add the leeks, fennel, and bacon bits (use as much or as little of those as you like), stir and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and let cook until wilted, stirring as needed.

Add garlic, stir. Cook for 3 or 4 more minutes.

Add broth. Enough to cover, with some reserved. I used a 32 oz. box.

Reduce heat to a low simmer.

Rinse and dice your potatoes.

Pour a second glass of wine.

Add potatoes to the pot, and stir. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the potatoes as well, if there isn’t enough, add more.

Check and make sure that you are simmering on low… we aren’t in a hurry here.

Answer the ringing telephone and talk to your mother in law, for as little time as possible, and then put adorable grandchild on the phone.

Change the CD. This time playing The Proclaimers - Born Innocent.

***NOTE*** I still believe that The Proclaimers should have had better success here in America. Those guys rock!

OK, you have some time. You need to simmer until your potatoes are done. 10 or 15 minutes, or something like that.

Take a few minutes to pontificate about matters of great import, like what you are planning to read for the official "bloggers day off for reading".

Whaddayamean, you “haven’t heard of it”?

Have you been reading my blog? Look to your right. No, not over your right shoulder… the right side of this blog. You see the widgets, right?

Let me explain this. On January 10th, we bloggers, especially those the know Soccer Mom In Denial, our esteemed colleague, known respectfully and affectionately in the blogosphere as SMID, aren’t going to blog. That’s right, no blogging, no reading of blogs, no exciting food posts, no book reviews, no Thursday Thirteen. Nada. Why? Because we’ll be reading books. Not only will we be reading, we will read, AND talk about books with loved ones, children, colleagues, friends, and if you are really hardcore, you will find a perfect stranger and engage them in a conversation about a great book.

I have blogged about the day here, and you can find more information at SMID’s blog.

Do this… and pass it on to your friends.

Read, encourage others, especially at risk youth. Maybe your encouragement will keep a young person out of prison or a dead end future.

It’s vital.

As for me, I will be reading this: The Revolution: A Field Manual For Changing YOUR World (emphasis mine). This book is a collection of essays about ways to fight against 12 pressing social justice issues on local and international levels.

Look for my review, soon to follow.


OK, still with me? Good! Hey, that was good, wasn’t it? A post within a post! I’m a bad MoFo!

OK, when your potatoes are done, get out your food processor. If you don’t have one, use your blender. Now, you don’t need one of those really expensive kitchen blenders to do this (I REALLY want one of those things. Well, maybe in the next life).

Use a slotted spoon or a skimmer to remove the potatoes (and the majority of the cooked down veg. as well), and process until smooth. Feel free to do this in batches.

Once you have done all of the potatoes and veg, you are nearly done.

Return all of it to the dutch oven…. And add a little broth if the soup is too thick.

Adjust your seasonings. This is the time to get creative friends. The soup that we just made is either perfect on it’s own, or is the perfect host for doing any number of really great things.

Here in Castle Gunfighter, we enjoy a lively spice rack, and I rarely shrink from using it… which is why I can really come up with some great stuff that I can hardly reproduce, because sometimes I just start throwing things into the pot. Well today is no different.

At this point, I had added a little salt, a little more garlic, and some Garam Masala, as well as a dash or three of premium fish sauce.

***NOTE*** I have changed the CD yet again, and now I am listening to Linda Ronstadt sing Blue Bayou, which came out when I was in seventh or eighth grade.

C'mon, sing with me! “Oh some sweet day, gonna take away this hurtin’ inside, well I’d never be blue, my dreams’d come true… on Bluuuuuuue Baaaaaaaayooooooou!“

Dude.

Back to adjusting seasonings. Use what you like. You can even add a bit of cheese. I used about a half a cup of cheddar cheese, and some heavy cream, as well as some kitchen bouquet, because my bride prefers her food to be not quite so light colored.

Ok. I’m done!

I am going to change the CD (Teddy Pendergrass, this time) and eat!

Bye, y’all.

Posted by Gunfighter at 11:40 PM 13 comments

Food: Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

A little over a year ago, while strolling around World Showcase Lagoon, at Disney World's EPCOT, a friend of mine told me about his method of stuffing a tenderloin. If you like to cook, you probably know that stuffing a pork tenderloin is sort of demanding, especially if your skills with cutlery aren't what they should be. My friend gave me an idea that until recently, I hadn't put into practice... I decided that it was time to make it happen.

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

The first thing I did was to put on some music, because you know that Chef Gunfighter likes to get his groove on when he cooks. Yes, what you see is correct, I bought that 70's R&B collection from Target. Don't laugh, the play list is very cool. It starts with that all-time favorite song, made for rubbing bellybuttons, the Marvin Gaye classic: "Let's Get it On".




Anyway, I was going to use a mushroom stuffing for this tenderloin, and got started by chopping a bunch of chives and setting them aside.




Next, I chopped a small onion, and a package of fresh, white button mushroom. I sauteed the onions until they were clear, then added the chives and mushrooms.

Continue to saute together until the mushrooms release their liquids, and reduce by about 80%, add a dash of minced garlic here (if you like garlic), and a half teaspoon of ground caraway seeds. Salt & pepper to taste.

Once finished add a tablespoon if bacon bits (use real bacon). Stir, drain well, and set aside in a mixing bowl. Add a tablespoon (or two) of high quality mustard, (I used the full-grain brown mustard).



I have a small family, so using a large tenderloin is seriously wasteful, so instead, I used a rather small (and therefore inexpensive), pre-trimmed, tenderloin from the supermarket for this dish.

OK, knives out! Lay the tenderloin on the cutting board, and using your free hand press down at the end of the tenderloin where you are going to begin your cut. Holding your knife flat, cut a flap in the tenderloin like you see here.

Next, make another cut, similar to the first, which will leave you with two flaps that open from the center like wings.





Spread the stuffing on the center portion.....








...and then close the flap.

Repeat until you are finished.







Pause here to wash your hands, which will be a real mess by now. Pour yourself a glass of red wine. You know, the kind that I like, cheap... usually from a bottle with a screw top. Hey, I'm a Philistine... sue me.

OK, take a minute or two to do some dancing. If you have a partner, great! If you don't have anyone to dance with, dance alone!. Remember what I said about getting down with your bad self, it's important!

OK, calm down, have a last sip of your wine, and put your tenderloin in the oven... bake at 375 for until finished... you'll need a meat thermometer to determine doneness, because different sized cuts of meat require different cooking times.

When you are finished, it'll look something like this:



Put on some good music (I recommend Andrea Boccelli), and serve with pasta & veg.... and more wine.

GF

Thoughts On A Saturday Night

** Goodbye, and thank you, Senator Craig. I guess you couldn't bullshit your way out of this one, eh? You are a criminal. A stain on society. An additional stain on an already dirty GOP (and Senate). Oh, and good riddance, too.

** Michael Vick, I don't care how sorry you are. I don't care that you now acknowledge your "immaturity. Get thee hence, you miserable wretch, to a federal penitentiary and repay your debpt to society. You just can't go araound killing
"Man's Best Friend" and get away with it, once you had been discovered.

** To the lady pushing the wheel chair at Epcot a few days ago, that crashed the wheel chair into the back of soccergirls legs: If you weren't old and a woman, I would have punched you right in the f***ing face.

** To the parents who let your no-older-than-ten year old daughter wear a bare midriff T-shirt that read: "Hot Lover": I wish it wasn't unlawful to punch parents in the face for doing stupid shit like this. What were you thinking? Why? In what kind of world is this sort of thing, OK?

** To the ladies wearing four-inch heels at Disney World... what kind of chemicals have you been indulging in?

Friends,

I will be on my way home tomorrow morning. I suppose it'll take us about 12 hours to get there, unless we decide to stop for the night.

We have had a great vacation. Between Disney World, Sea World, and other fun places, we have had a good time together, which is what our vacations are all about.

Next week, I will send you my vacation report. ... and get back to blogging on a few more serious issues.

In the meantime, DC area readers, prepare for happy hour next friday... if you are still available.

GF

Roast Chicken

I may have mentioned, at one time or another, that one of my most favorite comfort food dishes is roasted chicken and vegetables. I bought a chicken last week, and decided that this Saturday would be a good day for it.

Here we go:

It is a simple dish, and can be amended to suit virtually any taste (unless, of course, you are a vegetarian).

I started with Fennel, baby Yukon gold potatoes, baby carrots (those two items figure heavily in Gunfighter cuisine... have you noticed?), two large red onions, garlic, red pepper paste, dill, salt, and Italian dressing.

I also used some Jamaican Jerk seasoning for the chicken's skin. I'm not much of a chicken skin fan, but Mrs. G loves a crispy chicken skin... so there you are. I try to be accommodating.

As always, before I get started, I have to find my music of the day. Today's cd's are wildly different, but they suit the audience at particular times. I am starting with this: "We Sold Our Soul For Rock and Roll", the classic Black Sabbath compilation... from back in the days when Ozzy Osbourne still fronted the band... and before he became a television star.



When I said that music varies for the audience, I wasn't kidding. You see, the best time for me to crank my Ozzy tunes is when Mrs G isn't home yet... and she wasn't!

Rock on, loudly!

As with most of the things that I cook, this dish starts out with the obligatory slicing and dicing of potatoes:



Onions:



...and fennel (just the white part).



Add the carrots, some dill, garlic, and red pepper flakes (to taste). Add a table spoon (or two) of Italian dressing and toss:



Thoroughly rinse your chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

On a cutting board, rub a bit of salt (I use the coarse Kosher salt)...



In the chicken's cavity, then rub the chicken's skin with a tiny bit of olive oil (or other flavored oil if you prefer). Don't forget to oil the wing tips, or they'll burn almost instantly. Next, rub the chicken with whatever seasonings you like... today, I'll be using Jamaican Jerk seasoning.

Take your lemon, cut it in half, and push it into the cavity.

***Pause here to bang your head while "Iron Man" blasts from the stereo***



I usually use a stand-up roaster when I cook a chicken. If you have never used one, I suggest giving it a try. They aren't expensive, and if you are careful of your fat intake, this will help a bit. With one of these little doohickeys, the juices from the roasting chicken run into your pan, and you chicken doesn't wallow in them.

Place the roaster in the roasting pan... I usually use a foil pan... saves lots of cleanup work, and spread the tossed vegetables in a single layer (if you can) in the pan.

take a sheet of aluminum foil and make a tent over the chicken. The foil will keep the direct heat off the skin. Remember, You will be cooking at high heat, so you don't want the skin to cook too quickly.



Put the chicken in the oven, and roast 25 minutes at 500 degrees.

After 25 minutes, remove the foil, reduce the temperature to 425, baste, stir the veggies and continue to roast. If there isn't enough pan juice to paste the chicken, try adding a splash of sherry. If you don't have/won't have any sherry, use a splash of chicken broth.

I have to change the cd now, Mrs G is home, and isn't really into Sabbath. I convinced her to listen to the metal perfect that is "Fairies Wear Boots"...



...and then put on the new Jane Monheit cd...



...called "Surrender". Go out and buy it today!

Anyway, listening to Jane Monheit is ALMOST as good as listening to Ozzy. She has a beautiful voice. We saw her perform live at The Birchmere two years ago, and she was great!



Hold the presses! When I went to the Birchmere's website so I could link it for you, I saw that two of our favorite acts are going to be appearing later in the year. Jane Monheit will be BACK at the Birchmere on August 10th and Tuck & Patti will be there October 20th.

Woo Hoo!

Oy... have you put your chicken back in the oven? Good!, go have a glass of wine, with someone you love.... and spend another 30 minutes listening to music and/or reading.

OK, baste, stir, etc... as needed from time to time until your chicken looks done. If it looks done, insert a meat thermometer into the chicken's thigh, and make sure that the internal temperature reaches at least 180 degrees. Your total cooking time will take about ninety minutes (depending on the size of the chicken).



I prefer using smaller chickens... I think that they are more flavorful.

After you remove the chicken from the pan, let it rest for about 10 minutes before you carve it. During that 10 minutes, return the oven to 450 degrees, and put the vegetables back in... if you like , grate some cheese over them and let that melt (I used gorganzola).

Here is your end result.

Carve, serve, enjoy.

Spaghetti

Have I done a Spaghetti post before? I can't recall, so here goes!

Spaghetti, a la Gunfighter

I started with all of the usual suspects: Spaghetti (I hope that the fact that I don't make my own pasta doesn't make you hate me), A jar of Prego spaghetti sauce (I Hope the fact that I don't always make my own sauce doesn't make you have me), Onions (I hope the fact that I don't grow... oh never mind!), carrots (yes carrots), anchovies (I'll explain about them later), and sausage (I use turkey sausage).



As usual, when I cook, there has to be music... So, tonight's music will be: "The Best of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, and "The String Quartet Tribute To Van Morrison". These are two of my favorite CD's, and if you aren't familiar with either of them, I highly recommend them. The first CD covers the work that Marvin Gaye did during his unfortunately brief collaboration with Tammi Terrell before her untimely death in 1970. The songs are beautiful, and they evoke memories of my childhood. The standout song that many of you will remember is: "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" (which was covered by Vince Gill & Gladys Knight a few years ago). On the Van Morrison tribute CD, you will hear the music of one of the industry's most talented artists played by classical string quartets... what you will learn from this CD is that good music lends itself easily to nearly sort of genre or arrangement, it is the mark of high quality. Of all of the great tracks on this CD, for me, the stand out is "Have I Told You Lately, That I Love You?".

My friends, Spaghetti is one of the easiest things in the world to make... which is why I made it the other night. I didn't have anything special planned, and we were on the tail end of the shopping period (I try to a major grocery shop only twice a month), and spaghetti is a favorite in our house.

Let's begin, shall we?

Pour Yourself a glass of wine. Yes, I know that it seems that all of my recipes start like this... but they don't. Next week, I'll have a beer, ok?

Start your music.

Next, fill the pasta pot and put it on to boil. (Mrs G. gave me this pot as a gift about three years ago... it gets good use!)

Thinly slice the onions (the thinner the better... I use my Chinese cooking knife for this. Careful not to slice your knuckles... it hurts!), and saute in olive oil.

NOTE: I use Carapelli's Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but, I ain't Rachel Ray, so don't expect me to say "EVOO"

If you are like us, you like your onions practically caramelized, so start early enough to let them cook a long time. Before the onions are done cooking...

Take about a cup of baby carrots and chop them in a food processor, and add them to the onions.


About the carrots... you can eliminate them completely if you don't like them, but believe me when I tell you that you won't really taste them... more on that later. The main reason to add them is that they neutralize a lot of the acid that is present in tomato sauce, which is a real plus for someone like me, that suffers from acid reflux.

When the carrots & onions are done, set them aside.

Prepare your sausage: I always take the casings off the sausage before I cook it. If you have never done it, try this: Hold the sausage across your palm, use a paring knife or a vegetable knife and find the beginning of the casing, holding the knife nearly flat, lift the casing and slice through it, working your way to the end of the sausage.

In a frying pan, using some Olive oil cooking spray, cook the sausage over medium/low heat, until just about cooked through. Set aside.

NOTE: While the sausage cooks, take some time to sing along with the music, dance if you must, and have some more wine. These things won't make you a better cook, but it will make cooking more fun.

In the same pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and the contents of a can of flat anchovies (without the oil they were packed in.). Cook until the anchovies disintegrate, and form a paste. This won't take very long... and while they are cooking... slice the sausage and use a food processor to crumble it.




Now, here is the fun part: Take a tablespoon of this stuff: "California Sun-Dry, Garlic w/sun dried tomatoes, and mix it with the anchovies, and combine. Cook on low for a few minutes.

Once those things have had a chance to combine, add the sausage, carrots, and onions to the pan. Stir and let cook together for a few minutes.

Add the spaghetti sauce and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

When your sauce is done, season to taste.

Boil your spaghetti until al dente (What, you didn't know that I speak Italian?)

Drain, but don't rinse, the spaghetti.

How you serve this is up to you, at Chez Gunfighter, spaghetti is serves with the sauce mixed with your pasta... do it however you like. One benefit of mixing the spaghetti with the sauce is that any excess liquid in your sauce can be absorbed by the pasta AND the carrots. This is helpful if anyone in your home has issues about "wet" food.

Don't forget the garlic bread!



Mangia!

Food on Friday

"Shoot 'Em Up Friday" will be on hiatus, until I get something new and fun educational to blast apart shoot. Instead, I am starting a new Friday feature about food.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked a couple of the moms of my soccer players if they had any good recipe ideas, because I sometimes get in a rut when it comes to cooking. One of the moms (I asked moms, because usually it is moms who bring the girls to practice) gave me this one, and we tried it this week.

Popeye's Delight

1 Roasted Chicken - de-boned and chopped (or 4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed)
4 1/2 cups of cooked rice (use your favorite)
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup (I used 2 cans of Cream of Broccoli)
8 oz. Cream Cheese
Chicken Bullion
1 10 oz. box of frozen spinach (THAWED AND DRAINED THOROUGHLY)
1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped Scallions
6 slices of bacon (I used a jar of bacon bits)
8 oz. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (use a sharper cheese if you wish)

Heat oven to 350.

Chop or dice chicken, set aside

Cook bacon until crisp, crumble & set aside

Cook rice until done (use bullion to flavor your rice if so inclined), set aside

In a pan, combine cream cheese and soup. Heat gently, until cream cheese melts.

Combine soup mixture, rice, scallions, chicken, and (defrosted and DRAINED) spinach, and half of the Monterrey Jack.

Salt & pepper to taste (I added a teaspoon of chili pepper paste, and a teaspoon of garlic paste).

Use bacon grease to coat casserole (I used Olive Oil Pam).

Turn into casserole and bake, covered, for 90 minutes or until heated through.

Remove cover, sprinkle with remaining cheese and crumbled bacon.

Bake, uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until cheese topping is melted.

As I said, I tried this recipe and it was REALLY good. Now, as you can see, this isn't really a recipe for those that are counting calories or cutting carbs... this is straight comfort food folks.

A few notes:

Many of these items can be prepared early, and for the sake of convenience, I used a pre-roasted chicken from the local supermarket.

I used two cans of soup, because I thought the casserole might be too dry... it worked well without making it soupy.

The chili pepper paste was a winner, but didn't make the casserole hot or spicy (or else soccer girl wouldn't have eaten it!)

Be sure to fully drain (I squeezed the water out) the spinach.

I am here to tell you that the folks at Casa Gunfighter enjoyed this dish on Wednesday, and had it again last night. It's a keeper. Soccer girl actually asked me to promise to make it again next week. That's high praise.

If you try it, please tell me your results.

GF

The Things You Learn

"…And if you aren't careful, you might learn something along the way"

Do any of you remember that last line from the introduction from the 1970's cartoon; "Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids"? Bill Cosby, the producer of this cartoon believed that kids could be entertained, and taught lessons at the same time. I happen to agree with this, and things happen in my life with enough regularity to constantly reminded of it.

For instance, the last day of our spring break getaway to Williamsburg, Virginia, we went back to the Colonial area for one last visit before making the two hour drive back home. The first place that we stopped was the home of Mr Benjamin Powell, who was a home builder in Williamsburg, circa 1763-1783. The original structure is still standing and has been restored to the original condition to the point that the original floorboards are still in place (and they don't squeak!).

Upon entering the house, a historical interpreter in period costume, told us about the house, and the things going on there, and about the business of Mr Powell. One of the first things that you notice about Mr Powell's house is that it is easily one of the largest houses in the town. You see, in those days, unless you were one of the gentry, you probably lived in a house that had two rooms, one of which was the kitchen. If you were of the middling sort, especially if you were a farmer, you may have had two rooms in addition to the kitchen. Mr Powell was neither gentry nor farmer, nor planter. He built houses. Seeing Powell's house was a present day reminder that even back then, people who were in the building trades ALWAYS did well (probably because he was using some of the paid for materials on his own house).

To the point... while Mrs Gunfighter and I were talking to the interpreter, Soccer Girl and some other kids were playing a period board game in the other room. She was having a great time, so Mrs G and I went to the kitchen to see what the cook was making. Among the many things he was cooking in the large, open, brick oven was a fragrant onion soup. He took note of my interest and gave me the recipe, which is original to about 1759.

I am making that recipe today.

As with any recipe, I have added some things that I think would either improve the recipe or at least ad some things that I believe that I would enjoy.

Shown below are most of the ingredients that I started with.

Ten medium onions
A bottle of cream sherry
A six-pack of Woodchuck Cider
Some chopped garlic and sun-dried tomatoes
Two egg yolks
A half teaspoon of flour
4 slices of bacon
A stick of butter
A quart of water
1/2 teaspoon of vinegar
Salt, pepper, etc… to taste.



Find a CD. Something cheerful and peppy. Something that might even make you dance while you cook. Music chases the blues away, you know. It aids in having a positive cooking (and blogging) experience (did I mention that I am blogging about this in real time? I'm so pathetic).

What am I listening to? Some Workout Music from The 80's CD that we bought at Target.

Chop the onions fairly small, but no need to mince.



Fry the bacon in the Dutch Oven

Melt the butter… the whole stick, in the dutch oven.

Add the onions… stir from time to time. Open a bottle of the chilled cider, and pour yourself a glass.

Fry (as opposed to saute. This is a recipe from the colonial era, friends, we weren't sauteing in those days!) the onions for about 15-20 min, depending on the doneness of the onions.



Add the garlic/sun-dried tomatoes



Add the flour



Add the water, and bring to a low boil, reduce to a cheerful simmer.

Have another cider (or sherry), if it strikes your fancy. Turn up the music and find your kids/spouse/partner and seriously rock out. If you have a girly-girl daughter, then dance with her, and make sure that you dip her. Dipping is important to at least one eight year old that I know.

Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes… the soup, not you!



Divide the yolk from two eggs, and add them to a small mixing bowl.



Add the vinegar to the yolks, whisk until smooth. Add to the simmering soup.

Simmer another 10 minutes.

Adjust seasoning.

Done!

Garnish with some crumbled cheese, if you like.. I used blue cheese, but your mileage may vary.



If you have some crusty bread, you can spread some of the garlic/sun-dried tomato on the slices and lightly toast/broil.

As an accompaniment, I tossed some thin spaghetti with some pesto sauce from a jar.

All was served with some inexpensive, screw-top Chianti. (don't laugh. I'm a peasant. I like good food, but expensive wine is wasted on me. I have a cheap palette, which makes me a fairly cheap date… so I've got that going for me, which is nice).



Tonight's dinner music is Andrea Boccelli's "Romanza" CD. It's too bad Mrs G is sick (she has a bad cold). If she weren't I might score after a meal like this. As it stands, I'll have to settle for watching the Auckland Blues (from New Zealand), play the Johannesburg Cheetahs (from South Africa) in a rugby match that I recorded yesterday.

Sooo good!

Food... Because We All Love It!

During the recently concluded holiday festivities (well, almost concluded... Epiphany is swift approaching) we spent a fair amount of time preparing and eating favorite foods. It isn't any different in our house.

So with little additional comment, here is a little culinary eye candy.

This is the Ham that I baked on Christmas Day:



Which was accompanied by Pan Roasted baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, tossed with black pepper and dill:



I spent so much time cooking on Christmas, I gave myself a small reward for my efforts:



The ham was really good. I think I did a rather fair job for my first time out. Apparently both of my girls thought the same, considering how much of it Olivia had. When I stop to consider that S had a second (small) helping of ham (rare, as my Mrs isn't a big fan of any sort of meat... except bacon), I guess my efforts might have been a little better than fair.

NOTE: I don't know where some people get their information regarding the preparation of a bone-in ham, but 18 minutes per pound is absolute rubbish. Twice that is more likely.

GF

Applesauce

When I want a special dessert, I make applesauce.

That's right... applesauce. You remember applesauce, don't you? You probably fed/feed it to your kids. You probably remember eating it yourself, in your youth.

Well, I not talking about generic, off-the-shelf applesauce, I am talking about the most sublime dessert treat there is (even better than whipped cream right out of the can).

So here is Gunfighter's recipe for applesauce... feel free to use it or change it as you wish:

Ingredients:

8-10 Granny Smith apples
Apple Cider
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lime


Cut the apples into quarters



Core the apples (use an apple core remover, if you have one... I don't)



Place the apples in a pot (the more sauce you make, the large pot you are going to need, of course)

Add lime juice.



Cover apples with cider (apples float, so just guesstimate!)



Simmer for about 30 minutes (check frequently, your mileage may vary)



When the apples are soft enough, use a potato masher to remove the pulpy fruit from the skin.



Using a spoon, remove the apple skins from the pot.



Your proto-sauce will look a bit like this (please note the color)



Add vanilla extract.

Add cinnamon sugar.

Simmer on low, stirring frequently, for about 2 hours. (your house will smell sooo good by now!)

You are done when your applesauce is of the right color and consistency for your taste!



Now... the good part!

Take out your ice cream of choice (vanilla bean for us), spoon it into a bowl...



Spoon warm applesauce over your ice cream and enjoy!



I am telling you right here, right now, that if you serve this to friends/family/sig. other, you will be exceptionally popular.

Trust me.

This is the nearest thing to seeing God as you are likely to get when eating.

Fried Rice, A Recipe With Pictures

After picking up Olivia from school (and going to Wal-Mart and the supermarket, and helping with homework, and installing a smoke detector, and assembling a bookshelf, and making Olivia's dinner) it was time to make dinner for Susan and me.

I decided to make fried rice, so I started pulling things out of the cabinet to make it happen. As is my custom, I got out a CD to cook to, and here are the things I started with:



I poured myself a drink and got right down to it. The recipe is as follows:

1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 cup uncooked Jasmine or Basmati rice (or whatever rice you like... this is a democratic kitchen, friends)
1 Tbsp Thai Chili sauce
1 Tbsp Biryani paste
1/4 lb baby carrots (or more if you like)
3 trimmed chicken breast halves, diced or shredded
1 jar of of roasted red peppers
Garlic Pepper
1/4 cup Sherry

Steam the carrots until done, and set aside.



While the carrots are steaming, cook the rice according to your own liking. I sue chicken broth and a tablespoon of fish sauce instead of water.



Trim and dice the chicken.

Sprinkle chicken with garlic pepper.

Sprinkle chicken with 1 Tsp of cornstarch, combine.

Combine chili sauce and biryani paste.

Mix chicken with chili sauce & Biryani paste



Combine the sherry and the cornstarch and set aside.



Slice the red peppers and set aside.



The next step is important, so pay attention:

Wash your hands thoroughly and dry them completely (careful about this folks, you are working with raw chicken!).

Pour yourself another drink and listen to some very cool music. Tonight's selection was "Dublin To Dakar - A Celtic Odyssey" from Putumayo Music. This CD is a fusion of Irish/Celtic music, with music from Senegal.

Susan came home about this time and we chatted for 30 seconds before Olivia wanted/needed mommy time.

During this interval, the phone rang, and it was Jeff, Olivia's Godfather, calling to wish me a happy (belated) Marine Corps birthday (he had been on travel).

By this time, Olivia had been settled, I had poured Susan a glass of wine, and it was time to resume.

I put the wok on the stove and heated it until it was nearly smoking.

I added the wok oil and then the chicken, and stir fried.



I set aside the chicken, and stir fried the peppers and carrots together for about 3 minutes, to heat through.

I deglazed the wok with sherry, and then fried the rice.

Once the rice was fried, I added the chicken, carrots, and peppers.



A few minutes to combine, and a sprinkling of the sherry cornstarch mixture (use if you like your fried rice a wee bit sticky), and onto the plate!



(Please note that at the top of the picture, you can see where I was writing down what I was doing)

Change the CD, serve and eat! (and it was sooo good!)