Archive for the ‘Fun Stuff’ Category

A New Jersey restaurant has a new burger on their menu that hopefully will not attract any criminals — The Murder Burger.

[Insert your own  "Sopranos" joke here]

The burger is topped with pepper-jack cheese, sauteed onions, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and Thousand Island dressing before it is slapped on a roll. Then it’s dipped in Harp-beer batter and deep fried.

According to menu, it’s a “burger to die for.”

I’m a vegetarian, so I didn’t get to try it, but thought the name was fun.

You can find the burger at either of The Shannon Rose locations in New Jersey.

Enjoy!

And remember to always have some Fun, Friends and Adventure in your life!

Michelle

via HotPinkGeek

I don’t necessarily recommend this, but I was asked to pass along the link. WARNING: Your cholesterol levels mayrise rapidly just looking at this site:

(PICTURE REMOVED TO SOOTHE THE TENDER SENSIBILITIES OF NON-CARNIVORES)

Build a Better Bacon Explosion

I realize it’s dated, but there are some fine “dos and don’ts” at this NYT article.

My favorite?

“It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor.”

Someone was talking in the background on the radio just now, and was talking about how government regulations to disclose the salt content in food was something that wasn’t really necessary — instead, encourage people to use sea salt, as it actually lowers blood pressure.

Lowers blood pressure? Wow, wouldn’t that be nice?

I did a VERY small amount of googling, and found a number of items — but the funnest one was an article in Slate from 2005 that posits the question “Which salt is best?”

Thought I would pass it along. What kind of salt do you prefer, and why? Feel free to add a comment below.

I was researching Matt’s great posting on Timpano di Tucci, trying to figure out what pastas I would use if I were to do it, and found this funny little Quiz:

Take the quiz here

I got 18/24, took it again with my wife (who surprised me at her knowledge of pasta types) and then got 21/24. What’s your score? Try it and post in comments!

Marmalade. I think that it’s the first preserve or canning that I ever attempted. I originally made it way back in the late eighties, and, on again, off again, have made it ever since. I can’t say that I ever have bought it since I learned to make it. That being said I must add that it is perhaps the most difficult of preserves to do correctly. And doing it correctly is all about learning from your mistakes. And they can be awful. Don’t worry, it’s not impossible, and what follows is a process I developed that avoids many of the problems that can be encountered on the road to a great marmalade.

I made two types this year: A Blood Orange Marmalade and a Sour (Dundee) marmalade. I was going to do this right up on the Sour Orange, but decided against that. Instead, I’m doing it on the making of the Blood Orange Marmalade. There are a couple of reasons for this. Most people that would attempt doing marmalade are probably going to use the Valencia Orange, the standard juice orange of California and Florida. The Valencia is a very different orange from the Sour (Seville) Orange. The Sour is very sour and very seedy. The Blood Orange, however, is a bud sport of the Valencia, so, except for its beautiful color, it’s almost the same thing (As a side note, Marmalade made with the Valencia actually has its own name. It’s called “Californian Marmalade”, and it was made famous by the King Kelly Corporation of Pasadena, California).

What makes the process difficult is making sure you have the proper pectin (not hard to do) and not caramelizing the sugar as you approach gel set point (Neither is this)

Let’s begin:  Total ingredients:

4 lbs of whole Blood Oranges

2 lemons

16 cups of water

9 1/2 lbs of White Cane Sugar

Wash all of the Oranges and let dry. Using a Mandolin or a Slicer, slice the oranges into 1/8” thick slices, retaining all juice and discarding any seeds. Once sliced, cut each orange ring into four, quarter, parts. Add all oranges to a stock pot. We will get more than enough pectin for jelling by including all of the pith, pips and peel of the oranges.

Next, completely zest both of the lemons and juice them. Hopefully, you have an assistant for this. This Juicer’s name is Max and he’s real good at what he does.

Add Lemon zest and lemon juice to the Oranges, sans seeds.

Next, add the water and bring it to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes (I do this covered as I do not want to reduce the orange solution). Continue simmering until the peels become tender to touch.

Now, with the fruit tender, add the sugar, stirring constantly until it completely dissolved.

Now well start the boil process. This is where we are going to finish the cooking of the fruit, and set the gel of the Marmalade. During this process, you will need to stir almost constantly, as this will help to keep the sugar from caramelizing and the whole liquid from browning. You may need to modulate the temperature on the pot to keep it from boiling over. Try to keep it boiling on as low a flame as possible.

While waiting for a boil, place a small dish in the freezer to keep cold. We will use this to check the marmalade as it finishes.

Take a candy thermometer and keep a constant eye on the temperature. You will slowly approach  222°F. When it does, you are almost at gel set point.

At this temperature, place about a teaspoon of the Marmalade onto the chilled plate; let it sit about 30 seconds to cool. When cool, swirl the plate to move the Marmalade around on it. If it thickens and “wrinkles” you’re there. If not, keep boiling, watching very carefully and stirring constantly.

When you check shows that it is gelled, It’s ready for jarring. We used a dozen ½ pint jars, as they will be gifts, but you can use any size you want. Ladle the marmalade into the jars, place on the lid  and screw on the rings, making sure not to get any marmalade on the jars threads.

Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes, and you’re done. See? It’s not that hard at all, and it’s better than almost any you can buy.

Buttered scones with Earl Grey, anyone?

After my posting on making fresh sausage, Patrick posted a link to a chorizo recipe that I found to be incredibly enticing, tasteful and challenging. After reading it, I checked my stock of chili peppers in the larder and it found woefully lacking to attempt such a sausage. I have since stocked up, and, as fortune would have it, pork shoulder went on sale here. Well, combine the two things, and you have all you need to attempt Patrick’s chorizo. Well, plus other things, but I have them!

I am not going to go into the packing of fresh sausage in this posting as I already have and it is pretty much the same for all types (it’s just the meat and the spices that are variables). What I am going to focus on, however, is the making of the ingredients that make this one different. That’s the chili paste.

There is a great variety of dried chili’s out there, and making them into paste is pretty much the same for all of them. I have made these in the past, for dishes like Pozole (fantastic dish, BTW, highly recommend it), but I am going to tweak it just a bit to bring it in line with more traditional Mexican cooking and, I think, eliminate problems I have had in storing.

Ok, the chorizo calls for two types of dried pepper: Guajillo (pronounced wha-hee-oh, called Mirasol when fresh) and the Ancho (called the Poblano when fresh). For our discussion, I will only be dealing only with the dried varieties of each pepper.

Chances are you will be buying these peppers by the bag, unless there is a really good Hispanic store next to you.  Try to get peppers that are somewhat pliable and not too dry. It is much easier to work with them somewhat soft. If, however, you can’t obtain them this way, email me, and I’ll explain how to deal with the extremely dry peppers. (If time permits me, I’ll do it at the end of this article).

Remove the stem of each pepper and discard. Take a chef knife and make a slit in the pepper from tip to tip, and fold open. Remove all of the seeds from the inside (save some for spring if you wish to grow them). Also, remove any pepper ribs you can that are visible.

When you have them all cleaned and ready, it’s time to make the paste. Take all of the cleaned peppers of one variety and soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes. They will become very soft.

Drain and discard water.Place in a blender (this is easier to get out without waste than a food processor) and add a couple tablespoons of vinegar (I used to use water, but this is the more traditional paste-making aspect I mentioned earlier) The vinegar will work the same as water, however, the lower pH of vinegar will eliminate much of the bacteria growth problems I have found in the past when storing excess paste. If you need more vinegar, add it a tablespoon at a time. Do his until it is a thick paste, and then remove from blender with a spatula.

There you have it, chili paste. I keep many varieties on hand, and my wife, not born in Los Angeles, wonders why. Hmmm, well, to be honest, not so much anymore.

Anyway, I made this paste specifically to make Chorizo. I adapted Patrick’s recipe from the comments on foodnuts to my sausage making. It is a great recipe. There was only one problem: the recipe called for a one to one of vinegar (cup) to one pound of meat. I would cut that volume of vinegar by about 1/3, as it is too soupy, and will come out of the porosity of the casing. (That’s why I say 1/3; it’s about how much I lost.) But, nonetheless, they came out great. Breakfast on Christmas will be Huevos Rancheros made with these.

Recipe for the Chorizo:

9 lbs of pork shoulder

2 lbs fat

9 tbls Salt

1 pint of Guajillo chili paste

1 3/4 cup Ancho paste

9 cups vinegar (I’d cut back to 6)

14 tbls Paprika

9 tsp garlic powder

18 bay leaves, ground fine

3 tbls ground black pepper

4 1/2 tbls ground cumin

7 tbls ground oregano

4 ½ tsp ground marjoram

4 ½ tsp ground coriander

4 ½ tsp ground thyme

4 ½ ground allspice

Mix well; allow to sit refrigerated overnight; pack into casing. Here’s what the final product looks like:

They aren’t hot but they are very spicy! I look forward to a large meal of Huevos Rancheros, made with fresh eggs, homemade Pico de Gallo, adobo sauce and Escebeche!

Here is a tart I made for one of our Top Chef nights. I thought it was appropriate to make a nut tart for the foodnuts!

1 ready-made pie crust (I used Trader Joe’s)
3 cups pistachios, divided (2 cups and 1 cup)
1 cup sliced almonds
5 TBS butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
2 TBS half and half
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup (or more) chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven according to pie crust directions

Roll out pie crust to fit a 9-inch tart shell. Line tart shell with crust. Bake as directed for single -crust pie until golden.

Pour 2 cups pistachios and sliced almonds over the crust in a single layer. Chop the remaining cup of pistachios, set aside.

Preheat overn to 350 degrees F

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with brown sugar, corn syrup, half and half and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour the hot mixture over the pistachios and almonds in the crust.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until bubbly and golden. Let cool on a wire rack.

When cool, drizzle with melted chocolate chips (Melt in microwave in a plastic bag. Snip corner and drizzle). Garnish with chopped pistachios. I put colorful little leaf sprinkles on too because it was fall.

A word for the wise – it’s probably a good idea to put a cookie sheet on a lower rack in the oven to catch the bubbling over part.  Brown sugar and corn syrup are pretty messy to try to clean out of the bottom of your oven.

Thanksgiving!

When I was younger, I loved the holiday of Thanksgiving. A day full of family visiting, preparations for the event that seem to take days, and anticipation growing of the festival, making it larger than any run-of-the-mill day.  I’m not saying that I dislike it now, but, like most holidays and birthdays, their importance tarnishes as the years go on (especially Birthdays!). And so it is with Thanksgiving. I dislike the Bacchanal that it has become. I dislike the dishes and I especially dislike the waste. All those leftovers! Most doomed to be glanced at in the fridge and passed over (and over) until they go the way of all unwanted things in the kitchen.

That being said, I always look forward to thanksgiving, and this year is no different. We keep the menu small; so as to be able to concentrate on each dish without being rushed and produce just enough that will minimize waste from the production.

So, in keeping with the stated philosophy, we have devised a meal that will maximize these curves and hopefully make the children happy at the same time:

Humbly submitted: Our Thanksgiving Menu, 2009:

Appetizers:

• Cheese selection with crackers and wine(……..and beer)

Main Course:

• Locally raised and smoked Ham
• Butterbeans with Leek
• Deviled Brussels Sprouts
• Bourbon Sweet Potatoes
• Tossed Green Salad with Castille (blue) cheese dressing
• Cranberry Chutney
• Sourdough Dinner rolls.

Dessert:

• Pear tart, with possible pumpkin pie

That’s it. Since this is all conjecture at this point, I lack the visual support that goes with a posting. That will come later, perhaps Friday.

Till then, I would also like to wish all foodnuts a very happy Thanksgiving. Hope you have a great time with family and friends!