Mushroom Lentil Loaf

I wanted to try my hand at a veggie "meat" loaf... I do love a hearty loaf, and I love the leftovers on a sandwich. I ran across this recipe, and since I love mushrooms, too, I started there. (Vegan dishes need that umami for deeper flavor, and I figured this one would be loaded with it.)

Of course I substituted the eggs for vegan chia "eggs," and the parmesan for "parmezano sprinkles," which I make up in large batches (I use raw cashews, however). Still, I found that while this loaf came out of the oven in loaf form and had great flavor, it was much too crumbly and fell apart. I made some adjustments, and came up with the following recipe - which includes cooked lentils, breadcrumb, and lots of (chia) binder to hold the whole thing together. I also squeezed out the mushrooms and the green veggies after cooking - the veggies stay juicy but don't add extra water). I was really happy with the results.

I recommend doing some of this ahead of time to ease the prep - the peppers can be roasted the day before, and the mushrooms cooked down and refrigerated. I also use my food processor on "pulse" to do all the chopping. I do them all separately, and add them to the mixing bowl as I go.

 Mushroom Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned, chopped semi-fine
• 3/4 cup nuts (cashews or walnuts work the best) pulsed small but not too fine
• 2 blackened green peppers, peeled, patted dry and chopped semi-fine  (see link for prep - I use a plastic bag to steam them before rinsing and peeling)
• About 1 1/2 cups green beans, asparagus, cooked down spinach, or any combination thereof, squeezed in a clean tea towel after cooling and pulsed semi-fine - I use frozen veggies and just microwave them
• Binder - about 1/2 cup chia or flax powder, added to 2 cups water, whisked, and refrigerated for 15 minutes or more (this is your "egg")
• About 1-2 cups cooked lentils - I followed the instructions and cooked a whole bag, putting the leftovers in the fridge - I'll tell you what I did with the leftovers later
• About 1/4 cup Parmezano Sprinkles
• Seasoning to taste - you can taste a vegan meatloaf mix as you go! I added salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard (about a 1/2 teaspoon of each)
• 2 Tblesp. BBQ sauce
• 2 Tblesp. ketchup
• About 1-2 cups panko breadcrumb, seasoned or otherwise

Topping:

• About 1 cup ketchup
• about 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• about 1/2 cup brown sugar

So after you've given everything a good squeeze in a clean tea towel, pulsed it into the food processor and combined it, it's time to use your noodle. It's a "feel" thing. I leave the breadcrumb until last - then I add it until I feel the mixture is pasty, with enough body to be a little on the stiffer side. Your mixture shouldn't be soupy, and it shouldn't be so dry that you can construct a massive Devil's Tower out of it. Clear enough? You can mess quite a bit with the proportions, but try to make sure that the base is still mostly mushroom mix. This is what keeps it juicy, and less like a dense loaf of bread with ketchup on it, and more like an entrée.

I like to line my pan with aluminum foil, with some sticking out the sides to form handles to pull it out with after it has cooled. Then I spray the lining with nonstick spray.

Mix the topping in a separate bowl, and glaze that sucker. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of doing it in individual muffin tins, just to increase the surface area that will accept glaze. It's all about the glaze.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about an hour. If the top gets too brown, cover with more foil (mine doesn't). Shown here with purple cabbage...

Let it cool just a bit, then lift out with your foil handles, and unwrap fully.

Slice.

I like to put more ketchup on mine, because that's just how I do.

Great the next day, with, or course, more ketchup on a sandwich. Stay tuned for leftover lentil ideas.

German-ish Christmas Eve

I've hosted a few holiday meals since I've had the kids, but until this point, they've mostly involved paper plates at service time, lots of extra sticks and leaves in a messy front yard, a microwave I've had no time to clean that mornings splatter out of, and a very pretty vase that I'd put on the table, but forgotten to get flowers for. And I remember these things, because I've had the same two relatives who were only too happy to come over, and point these details out to me. Happy holidays!

Okay, so I'm starting with a little bile, there, but truly, TRULY, I love to host dinners. And I really do own a plate service, and some serving platters! So I was really excited when our friends Nick and Ania, and their two handsome little fellas could come over for a Christmas Eve dinner. My girls are just old enough to let me get some stuff done, and my sweet husband is only too happy to vacuum for me. (Also, we raked the leaves this year! Woo!)

Nick has a Germanic tattoo on his arm, and Ania is Polish, so I guess those things came together in my head to give me the idea of having a generally Eastern European, completely inauthentic-themed meal. You know - cabbage, potatoes, meat, and a beer or two. That sort of thing.

I started the meal with something that has nothing to do with Eastern Europe, and everything to do with "festive": Brooke's artichoke spinach dip, with toasted pita points.

Then, the one-two punch: the humbly self-titled World's Greatest Cornbread. I wanted to serve some bread with the meal, and nothing gathers compliments like Old Faithful. Also, I have put a piece of this bread on the bottom of a chili bowl many times, so I thought it work well to go under the brisket, and sop up some beefy juices. You see a clear theme now, right? Farm-y, Fourth of July picnic-y, BBQ-y, German-y. Makes sense to me.

Now for the brisket. My success in getting this meal together (with two kids three and under, and a heavier work-week up until the day before) is three-parted: 1) use internet rankings to find new recipes, and combine them with old stand-by's, 2) start everything two or three days ahead of time, and 3) get the groceries delivered. This last part freed up some extra time for me (for doing stuff like ironing tablecloths, and watching more television), and reduced my stress quite a bit. So I went with what was on special on Peapod - brisket!

I had never made it off the grill and in the oven, but my arch-nemesis, Paula Deen, had a very highly rated "Texas Oven-Roasted Brisket" recipe on FoodTV.com. Easy, no-fail, and no mayo or stick of butter added (as is her wont). It was very simple, very tender and we could have fed at least four more people with the 5 to 6 pound brisket. It made lots of juice in the pan that wasn't greasy (I had trimmed off the fat before cooking), and went down over the cornbread. (I did cut the salt down, as some reviewers had recommended). Mmmm. Many thanks to the Smiling Silver Blob for that one. (So mean, but come on. That woman won't rest until we all have diabetes.)

For sides, I didn't want to go too far over to the picnic side of things with lots of mayo. I had to have some warm German potato salad, which I've never made at home. I stumbled on this recipe, and was able to prep everything but the dressing ahead of time. I stored the cooked potatoes and bacon in a ceramic dish, then just took them out and put them over the oven vent on the range top while the brisket cooked. The potatoes warmed through, and I just had to mix the dressing. I've never made dressing like this, but the taste was just what I wanted it to be. It's a keeper!

Lastly, I had to have the stewed red cabbage that I've had in German restaurants. I got lucky again, and Googled up this recipe. Again, it tasted exactly like what I had pictured in my mind, and as a bonus, it might be the easiest thing I've ever cooked in my life. It actually started a small marital rift when Nick said to his wife, "I like this cabbage a lot. I'm not crazy about cabbage, but I would eat THIS cabbage." Don't slight a Polish woman's cabbage.

As usual, I just kept tasting and adding seasoning to everything as I went, which I think is the biggest secret to dinner-party success: taste it before you put it in the serving plate (and I added a bit more sugar to the German potato salad). Everything worked together really well, and I got some new "old stand-by's" out of the deal. Also, all of this stuff re-heated beautifully for almost a week! (I really should have invited more people).

For dessert, we had served coffee with some home-made candy: I got this idea for white chocolate lollipops from Ina Garten (nothing catty to say about that lady, I just love her food), and I made Ritz-cracker cookies, which are peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, inside a Ritz sandwich, rolled in melted Hershey bars. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the huge batches of candy I made, but ah well! Some things have to fall by the wayside. I'll post about the cookies later... I added a pinch of coarse salt to the top of each of the lollipops, and I think it really worked well with the sweetness of the white chocolate.

With the delivered groceries and the head-start, I was able to help the elder child construct a centerpiece that would bait any plump little German kids into an old witch's oven (if this old witch were into that). I made the squiggles, but she dazzled me with her path creating, shingling and paving ability! As you can (partially) see, we had a lovely street light feature, until the younger child decapitated and ate it...

Incidentally, we bought the Wilton pre-baked gingerbread house, and I was shocked (at demolition time) at how delicious and flaky the gingerbread was. I expected it to taste like plywood, since the function was similar - but it had lots of spice. Lots of sugar, sure... But there's a time and place for that! (And the time is Christmas).

Hope your holidays were as happy as ours were!

Smoky Greens and Beans

"Soul Fazzole" remix! In the past, I've used leftover collard greens to make a soup, naming it this because it's a bit like pasta fagioli, but with collards and smoky meat. This time, I started from the beginning and made one or two additions. It's a great way to get rid of a couple hot dogs, or a little bacon, ham or whatever you got. ***

1 bunch collard greens
1 red onion (regular will do)
2 or 3 turkey hot dogs, small diced, or 4 strips turkey bacon
32 oz. chicken stock
64 oz. water
1/2 pound large rigatoni noodles
1 15 oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Add the diced onion to a dutch oven or other pot with a little oil. When softened, add diced meat and brown a minute or two. Add large diced, washed and drained collard greens and a splash of the stock. Cover, let soften and cook down, stirring occasionally. When reduced, add 1 container good stock, and about twice that amount of water. Bring to a boil, add pasta and beans, and cook until al dente. Add BBQ sauce, taste, and season. This dish is good for you, and costs pennies per serving. And even the picky child loved it.

*** I'm not a hot dog advocate in general. Though I'll admit I love the way a good hot dog tastes, this is not a regular menu item around our house (despite the fact that I powered down God knows how many during my pregnancies). However, thanks to Mickey Mouse and his goddamn "hot dog dance," and a certain Mo Willems pigeon, the elder child was asking for hot dogs non-stop (having never had one). Fool that I am, thinking she would actually try one, I stood in our grocery store for 20 minutes reading hot dog labels. Most of them, including the veggie dogs, are filled with horrible things even BEYOND whatever it is they do to the meat (liquid smoke, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates etc.) I finally settled on some turkey dogs that had none of the "ates" in them. Naturally, she wouldn't eat them. Hence, the need to use them somewhere. They actually added a nice smoked flavor to this dish. You could use anything with a smoked flavor that you have lying about, even smoked sliced turkey.

Game Day, and We Don't Care

BBQ chicken goat cheese pizza for the Superbowl, cuz we're a bunch of snobby a-holes. Here's the link if you wanna make it.

Pizza Stone and Pizza on the Grill

Lookie my new toys!



I've been messing with this all summer. I bought a pizza peel (the big paddle), and a large rectangular pizza stone on Amazon.com. I went by the ones with a high rating. I have been buying the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's, and I've had a lot of success with that. But you could make your own. I tried Pillsbury refrigerated dough on the stone once, and it scorched on the bottom and was raw on the top. I had to throw it out. But at a lower temperature, it might have worked.

I started this because I've never had a crispy bottom crust in the oven, ever. Sure, Boboli work, but I wanted real pizza: chewy inside, floury on top, and crunchy on the bottom. Well, turns out you need a stone. And it could not be easier.

You build the pizza on the paddle, and you're supposed to use corn meal. Well, I've used Italian breadcrumb, and that seems to work okay. The purpose of this is just ball-bearings... You know, to move the dough off of the peel easily. The stone gets pre-heated on the propane grill (or in your oven). Mine gets up to just over 400 degrees (medium-high works pretty well). Also, you MUST use room temperature dough. Otherwise, it's like trying to roll a rubber band. Also, it won't puff up while cooking.



I use marinara out of a jar, but I've found it can be watery. You can mix it with tomato paste and heat it, or barbecue sauce. Or, just touch a paper towel corner to the watery parts when it comes out, and the water will wick up into the towel.



I've made all kinds of pizzas this summer, but all a little bit healthy. Turkey sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella... Take my advice and use the shrink-wrapped cheese, not the kind in water. Too much water on your pie. And I dunno about you, but I've never sat on Santa's lap and asked for a watery pie.



After some trial and error (and a lot of blackened dough), turns out these babies cook in about four minutes! (Lets see Domino's beat that). But you want to burn it just a LITTLE bit... This is supposed to simulate the coal or wood-burning pizzeria oven, after all!



I also bought a honkin' pizza blade to cut the pizza with, shaped kind of like a saber and a mezza luna combined (they have them at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Your little wheel just isn't ready for this kind of crunch.

Turkey Marinara Burger

What better time to post a run of burgers than the week of July 4th? Most of these are "alternative burgers," since I thought perhaps this might be the only time of the year when we all might be a little burnt out on the regular kind. In the last week, I've seen a thick, juicy looking, Grade A veggie burger at not only J. Alexander's steak house, but Wrigley Field as well. It's a beautiful time to be alive, friends.



I'm starting things off with something simple (it IS a holiday, and I've had a long day of rainy ball games, dinners out, baby baths and two Old Styles, though not all concurrently). This is a ground turkey patty, having seasoned the meat with Italian seasoning and garlic, salt and pepper. I topped it with melted mozzarella, marinara, and put it on a toasted, buttered roll. I also had some leftover pesto, and I shmeared that on the bottom part of the roll, though you don't necessarily need that part. Deliziosamente sciatto! Which means, "deliciously sloppy." I think.

Battle Potato

My good (well, she's "great," actually) friend Ann has a sister who is battling MS. Every year Ann joins in the fight against the disease by captaining a team for the MS Walk (to hear Ann and her sister Maggie's story or to make a donation at any time, go here.) As a "thank you" to her friends and donors, she threw a party this year and called it "Battle Potato," in the style of Iron Chef on the Food Network. In case you're the last person on the planet not to see the show, everyone was to bring a dish with potato as an ingredient. Then the guests vote on their favorite, and the winner jumps on his or her cutting board, and shouts "IN YOUR FACE. FOR MS RESEARCH" at all the other guests, while brandishing a butcher knife. And now (it must be said), "Allez cuisine!"

Ann decorated the place all purty with potato centerpieces.



The guests who cooked were given numbered cards to place by their dishes, for the vote later on.



One gi-normous nerd brought a title card for her dish, and pinned her number to the card with an Idaho potato button that she just happened to have brought. Who's the geek?



My card reads, "Twice-baked ranch potatoes with scratch chicken BBQ." Poor Ann had other guests asking her, "where's my title card?" And she had to keep saying, "Uh, she made that." Well, you know what? You could have made your own, too. Don't hate the player.

There were more dishes than I imagined would be there. Curry salad, egg pie, thai dishes, and au gratin. I began to sweat. And eat. Eat and sweat.



I really, really enjoyed the food. When I saw the potato desserts, I knew it was over. There were chocolate-dipped chips, and cream-cheese frosted potato spice cake. There were DOUGHNUTS. How do you compete with that? Might as well just fill my plate.



Some folks got in a time-crunch, and were still courteous enough to go and get what people really like, and then arrange it artfully on a plate. Thanks Abby! Truthfully, I probably had more of the fries than anything else... So now I was contending with food science. You can't argue with years of testing for aroma and "mouth feel."



Or, have some red wine.



Then, form a totem pole, because it mocks both ancient Native American customs as well as your own ridiculously short stature. Everyone wins!



After eating, we all were to vote once for "Best Tasting," and once for "Most Creative." Ann had potato-shaped ballots to write the numbers on, and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head receptacles to put them in. Aw, shmoosh.



And when the votes were tallied, my friends Anna and Adam won for "Most Creative" for their chocolate-dipped chips, and I won for "Best Tasting." Yay! I think it is POSSIBLE that some people pitied the sad girl who made the title card... Or as Jason ribbed me (who baked the cake at #6), he was pretty sure some of his votes got construed as my #9. Also possible. But Jeff said, "I counted those votes. I know my sixes from my nines." What's an election without controversy?

My prize was a colander, filled with everything needed to make a pasta dinner. Which is crazy, because that's exactly what I gave Ann as a wedding gift about a decade ago, only with a double-boiler instead of the colander. So now, I'm pretty sure I owe her a wedding gift. Still, I'm stoked because I can really use that colander!



I can't wait until this party goes again next year. And if I win again, I'll try to be more careful brandishing that butcher knife. (Sorry honey - but you were already missing most of your hair anyway, right?) Thanks for the party, Ann. It was awesome.

Here's my recipe for the potatoes, only this time, I added Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix to the potato mixture. I also refrigerated the baked potatoes overnight in their foil, and they were a lot easier to scoop out the next day.

BBQ Chicken Pizza and Twice-Baked Potatoes

I know I've shared my recipe for BBQ chicken in the crockpot before, but oh lord, I'm getting good at this.



It's finally got that dark mahogany color and smoky flavor that I want it to have. Here's the new and improved recipe:

two cups of ketchup
one cup of mustard, any kind
two capfuls of liquid smoke
about a quarter to a half cup of molasses
one cup of packed brown sugar
as much Red Hot sauce as you think you’ll like
one dark beer, or a couple of shots bourbon for a thicker sauce
half a medium onion, diced finely
two cloves diced garlic
a heavy shake of cumin (don’t be shy) and a shake of coriander
salt and pepper (plenty of black pepper)
two small cans of tomato paste (this is the new part - my sauce was coming out too runny)

(This is the same recipe that I printed here for the beef ribs. You can really plunge any meat ya like into this sauce, and it'll come out tasty. Or in a pinch, use shoe leather.) In this case, I put two packages of chicken into it, and cooked it for six hours. When the chicken shreds very easily with a fork, shred it all up right there in the Crockpot. This recipe makes a ton of chicken. I freeze half for another time. You can use some in tacos, on buns as sandwiches, or on a pizza (great with goat cheese and thinly sliced red onions, and more cheddar on top).



I decided some would be great on top of some twice-baked potatoes. So I made up a recipe for those, and it came out great. First, bake four potatoes. Use the big brown russet or baking potatoes for this. Scrub them, pierce them with a fork in several places, salt them liberally and put a dab of butter on top of them inside some foil. Wrap them up and bake them for about an hour to 75 minutes at 400 degrees. (I've read some recipes since that insist you don't use the foil - I'll try this next time. But I didn't want the skins to shrivel, and they didn't doing this with the foil.) When they come out, vent them a little and let them cool until you can handle them. Then scoop out most of the insides into a bowl, leaving about a half-inch of flesh. You can't really scoop all of it out, because then the skin will be too thin.

To the potato flesh, add one brick of cream cheese (light is fine). Sauté one diced half-onion and one clove of crushed garlic in a little oil, and add that to the mixture, plus a little salt. Mix, and put the mixture back in the potatoes (I had returned them to the foil I used before). Then top with cheddar, and bake at 375 degrees for about fifteen minutes.



You can top them with bacon or anything else you like. I put the BBQ chicken on top, along with scallions and light sour cream (hey, every little bit helps.)



They were mounded so high, we ended up just eating a half at a time, so it made lots of nice leftovers.

Hey, love BBQ, bacon, swearing and hardened arteries? You have to check out this post on my brother's blog (he's the funny one in the family.) But don't go if you don't like the swearing. As a matter of fact, what are you still reading my goddamn blog for?

Crockpot BBQ and Easy Smashed Potatoes

I've been shopping at Costco more often, in an attempt to make several portions and thereby keep our food costs down. Neither of us mind leftovers, so that works out well.

A couple of weeks ago I grabbed some boneless beef ribs on sale that looked tasty. I decided to try to make some "Crockpot BBQ" out of them instead of slow-cooking them in the oven.



I seared the meat in a skillet first on all sides, using a nice hot pan and then I seasoned them at that time, as well (salt, pepper, garlic powder). Then I put them in the slow cooker with what has developed into my bar-b-que sauce recipe (I keep tweaking):

two cups of catsup, or ketchup if ya nasty
one cup of mustard, any kind
two capfuls of liquid smoke
about a quarter to a half cup of molasses
one cup of packed brown sugar
as much Red Hot sauce as you think you’ll like
one dark beer, or a couple of shots bourbon
half a medium onion, diced finely
two cloves diced garlic
a heavy shake of cumin (don't be shy) and a shake of coriander
salt and pepper (plenty of black pepper)
two small cans of tomato paste (this is the new part - my sauce was coming out too runny)

I cooked the beef for about six hours. I had to skim fat (oil) off the top, because the ribs were pretty fatty. However, after that was done the beef didn't have any big pieces of fat on it, because it had all been rendered and skimmed off the top. (Now I dunno if that's for everyone, but I happen to be what the epicurean ladies call a "real man" in my cooking.)

I made smashed 'taters, too. Several years ago I started making these based on something I saw Rachel Ray do with red potatoes. It works with those, but I like the Yukon Gold even better. If you haven't tried those potatoes, you really must. They're buttery, and the skins are light.

I scrub the potatoes (about 6-8 of them), then I dice them and boil them with plenty of salt in the water. I don't peel them (they're better for you this way, anyway), I just remove the bad bits and the "eyes." I drain them, then add one container of cream cheese (believe it or not, the fat-free works fine, too), and enough chicken broth a bit at a time until they are the consistency I want using a hand potato masher. Then I add salt and pepper to taste. Without the peeling and the whipping, making mashed potatoes this way is just as easy as making any other veggie.

I served it with green salad or a green veggie (taking back my "real man" status, perhaps), and DAMN. I have to say I just about sprained a muscle patting myself on the back over this one. Hoo doggie! I think it came to about $1.50 or $2 each serving. Lots of leftovers, too, and the taters just soak up that sauce.

Steaks, plus Grilled Salmon with Dill Sauce

Ah, summer, we hardly knew ye. Between morning sickness, and later on, simple intolerance of the summer heat in my huge-anic condition, I didn't get outside much this past summer. But we did manage to purchase a nice Weber gas grill. We spent a little extra just to get the Weber, and boy do we loves it.



The first thing we grilled were some simple steaks. I marinated some strip steaks in a plastic bag with soy sauce, olive oil, and some herbs from our garden. (And by garden, I mean two herb pots.) I salted and peppered them, and cooked them to a perfect medium as per the Weber instructions. I even let Chris turn them once. For the photo, of course.



They came out perfectly done, and with lots of flavor. Lets grill some more stuff, I shouted!



Over the summer we grilled chicken (several times), tri-color turkey burgers, and bratwurst. Every single one came out wonderfully well. But I think the salmon we grilled was my favorite.



I seasoned the fish very simply with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Then I made an easy dill sauce that I sort of just made up on the fly. I squeezed the juice of two lemons into a Pyrex glass cup, and put a half-stick of butter into that, and melted it in the microwave in less than a minute. I added chopped dill, a smidge of sugar, and about two heaping tablespoons of sour cream and whisked it all together right in the Pyrex. I served the fish with cooked grains and steamed broccoli, and poured that sauce over everything.



Now that there is snow on the ground, I think we'll keep bundling up and going outside to grill. For four to eight minutes of freezing half to death, it's totally worth it!

BBQ Beef Ribs in the Oven

Last summer, we weren't allowed to have anything but an electric grill on our balcony, and what's the point of that? We wanted to wait until we were home (house, specifically) owners and get a gas grill. So I made BBQ beef ribs the way any condo owner would: on the stovetop and in the oven.



I did beef ribs for a couple of reasons. I still did not eat pork if I could help it (which I will return to as soon as this meat-loving baby leaves my system), and my friend Lindsay was coming over. In her pregnancy, the smell of any pork made her sick. Funny how bossy these kids are in utero, eh? Upon shopping for my dinner party, I discovered that a gigantic slab of beef ribs are about SIX BUCKS. Wow! This is gonna be great, I thought! I'll feed everyone on the cheap, and please the whole crowd.

Well, mmm... Not so much. The recipe I used wasn't the problem. I wanted to poach the ribs first, then finish them in the oven, so that they are fall-off-the-bone tender. I'm sorry to say that I apparently did not print out the recipe as I normally do, and while I remember it being an Emeril recipe, I cannot find the exact one that I used. However, it was similar to this one, only not so complex. I basically covered the ribs in a large pot, using a lot of water, some broth, and a couple bottles of beer. I added peppercorns, a couple bay leaves, salt and pepper, and some rosemary (use a light hand with the dried rosemary -- the flavor REALLY comes through) and I think some carrots, celery and onions. I poached the ribs for about a half-hour, or until the meat started pulling away from the bones (per the instructions that I now cannot find.)

Next, I put them in the oven on a foil-lined pan. If memory serves, I did them with a light spice rub (salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, paprika and a little cayenne), and cooked them low and slow (250 degrees) for about 30-45 minutes, covered in foil on top. Then I removed the foil from the top, brushed on some BBQ sauce (yes, store bought), and finished them off under the broiler. You'll notice that in this particular Emeril recipe I'm linking to here, he boils them longer and skips the low-and-slow part to go straight to the broiler. Most poaching recipes I find for ribs do one or the other.

They were beautiful when they came out!



However, I found that the beef ribs had disappointingly little meat on them. After cooking, they were mostly bone. Guess there's a reason why those are so cheap!

Still, I would do a similar recipe the next time I do ribs. We are now the proud owners of a Weber gas grill at our new house, which get its maiden voyage today with a couple of steaks (I figured on starting slow.) When I do the ribs, I'm gonna use a recipe that's a combination of poaching, and low-and-slow cooking on the grill. Some folks say that ribs should have a "tug" on them, but I don't agree. I like them to be very, very tender.

But there will be potato salad! I've finally learned to use a very light hand when adding the mustard.



Our friends were gracious about gnawing on the big beef ribs, and Baby #1 seemed to enjoy the experience, too.



We'll let you know how the grill works out!

Chicken Tikka Masala

I find it is a bit intimidating to use new spices, but my curiosity about food tends to drive me over that fear. And I'm always pleasantly surprised to find that most dishes, the world over, contain plenty of familiar ingredients. The "base" for this dish could be the same as any number of Mexican or Italian dishes you may have made before. The only thing that may be new to you about it is the garam masala spice, which is available in most grocery stores now.

Give it a shot -- if you like warm, medium-heat dishes like chili with seasoning that is a bit more complex in flavor, you'll like tikka masala. I've changed and simplified a few things from the recipe I have, and the following recipe reflects my changes.

Marinade

• 1 cup plain yogurt


• 2 T. lemon juice


• 2 tsp. mediterranean seasoning, or just 2 tsp. cumin, and 2 tsp. cinnamon


• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes


• 1 tsp. salt


• 1 tsp. ginger


• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips or large cubes

Sauce

• 1 T. butter


• 2 T. flour


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 jalapeño chili, minced


• 2 tsp. ground coriander


• 1 tsp. each: ground cumin, paprika, garam masala spice


• ½ tsp. salt


• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce


• 1 ½ cups fat-free half-and-half


• ½ cups chopped cilantro

Combine everything on the "marinade" list, including the chicken. Marinate in a plastic Ziploc gallon bag in the fridge for at least 2 hours (overnight is better.)

If you have a grill pan like I do, you can just grill the chicken on it directly. If you have a charcoal grill, thread the chicken onto skewers first (tastes better is you got the coals). My recommendation, either way, is to only partially cook the chicken. It goes into the sauce and will cook the rest of the way. If you thoroughly cook the chicken first, you will probably find it a bit dry after it goes in the sauce. I know it is a little creepy purposefully undercooking chicken, but trust me, it will fully cook in about a minute in the sauce.

Set the lightly grilled chicken aside on a plate (don't re-use the plate, just wash it later), and make the sauce. Melt the butter and flour in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and jalapeño, and stir for a minute. Stir in the seasonings, and salt. Combine the tomato sauce, and stir for one minute. Add the fat-free half-and-half, and simmer until the sauce thickens.

Add the chicken to the sauce (remove it from the skewers if you did this) and let simmer for a couple of moments. If you want to be sure that it is cooked, just take one of the thicker pieces out and cut into it. Don't overcook it.

I like to serve this over egg noodles with the cilantro over the top, but I think it would also be good with potatoes and peas. With the fat-free half-and-half instead of cream, it is really a healthy dish, and if you do the marinade the night before, it is also pretty quick. I served it with avocado slices with lemon, salt and pepper once -- and now I consider this to be a must-have accompaniment!

Bernie's Southern Bistro

On a lazy afternoon, Katie and I went for chow just down the street from her place. I'd seen Bernie's Southern Bistro on one of my walks about the neighborhood, and since she is pretty new to that area herself, she had never been there either, and it was a perfect spot for us to check out together.



It was another incredibly beautiful, sunny and mild Portland day, and we were excited to dine al fresco. Bernie's, as Katie noted, had made a what we thought was a fairly bold move: the dining room wasn't even open. It was as though Bernie's was telling you, "There is no excuse for you not to eat on our patio today." And they were right, in my opinion.



The patio had a modern, Asian aesthetic. It was simple and casual, like a friend's well-maintained front porch. (The one with the manicured plants, and the re-finished vintage furniture, not the one with the musty upholstered love seat.)



As it was close to dusk, we picked a spot out of the direct rays of the setting sun. Katie had told me that Portland service was notoriously slow, and at first, that appeared to be the case. Our hostess said, "and can I get you anything else?" and I said, "do you have iced tea?" mistaking her for our server. She said, "I'll get your server," but no one came for several minutes. I think we may have hidden ourselves a bit too well in the corner, but presently, we got a friendly waitress who didn't stay away after the first delay. I got sweetened tea, and it was lovely -- made with sugar syrup as is proper. Katie got a deliciously chilled martini that had grapefruit juice in it. I thought the little iced caddy that carried her refill was innovative.



Katie, in my opinion, did a great job channeling Coco Chanel while we enjoyed the sun.



We got complimentary cornbread and honey butter. The bread was light and soft with just a little grit, as Katie said she likes it. Was it as good as the ultimate cornbread? No, no, of course not. But it was very good.



All of the starters looked very tasty, but of course we had to try the fried green tomatoes. They came on a mayo-based sauce, nicely seasoned and piping hot. I wanted them to be just a bit more well-done, but they were very good. They were crispy, and the breading wasn't too thick. We even ate the garnish.



When dinner came, one of the entrées we had ordered had been substituted with the meatloaf (which did look really good). Our waitress swapped it out fairly quickly, apologizing, and told us she would give us any dessert we liked with her compliments, which I thought was very nice. She needn't have worried, since Katie and I were sharing, anyway, we simply started on our first entrée, the smoked brisket with blueberry BBQ sauce, and a cheese and whitebread casserole (not appearing on the Bernie's website menu at the moment). I have a blueberry BBQ sauce recipe I've been wanting to try for some time, and I love brisket like I love beer and discount clothing, so I had to try that. Katie suggested the fried chicken, and I told her she was my soulmate.



My pic doesn't do the brisket justice, but it was perfect. It melted in your mouth, had just a light smoke, and even the sides were great. The asparagus was cooked with just the right amount of snap, and that whitebread and cheese soufflé (or casserole) had that flavor like something you'd get in a real southern diner. I wanted to dive into a mound of it, suffer a cave-in, and eat my way out.

When the fried chicken arrived, I didn't think it looked like it would be crispy. Happily, I was very wrong. It was well-seasoned and crunchy all over. Jack Sprat (I mean Katie) had the piece of white meat, and I had the boneless piece of thigh. The mashed potatoes and gravy, and the smoky and just-the-right-amount-of-heat greens were heaven.



We were stuffed, but of course we accepted our free dessert. We settled on the bananas foster bread pudding. I'm sure it was better warm, but Katie and I plowed into it cold later that night, and it was still sinfully rich and delicious.



Bernie's was, to me, just how dining should be: unpretentious, authentic, al fresco on a perfect day, beautifully presented, moderately priced, and within strolling distance from your own home. Especially after enough martinis.