October 01, 2004
I ate a donut today.
It was a chocolate cake donut with chocolate icing on top.
Stuck in the icing, was Cocoa Puffs.
It was a good donut.
Posted by Lee at 04:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2003
Iron Chef Night!
WOW! What a cool way to spend an evening with friends!
Last week at Movie Nite, somebody (might have been Rusty) thought it would be fun to nominate some people to compete in an Iron Chef competition for the next Movie Nite.
For them what's never watched Iron Chef on the Food Network, it's a pretty straightforward concept. Two master chefs, assisted by seven or so sous-chefs, compete in Kitchen Stadium in a Cooking Showdown. One contender is always one of Chairman Kaga's specially trained, carefully selected, incredibly gifted Iron Chefs. The other contestant is a prominent chef, most from Japan and other parts of Asia. Each chef must prepare a full meal (typically four to six courses), each highlighting this week's Secret Ingredient. Past Secret Ingredients have been thinks like sea bass, Kobe beef, octopus, traditional Japanese cabbage, et cetera. Each chef must complete the meal in one hour. Since we would be a) short on minions and b) sharing the same kitchen, it was decided that we'd get 90 minutes to cook. Trust me, it was still absolute culinary insanity.
So, all week, this idea has been intriguing more and more. I'd been nominated to be one of the cooks. My friends MattW, MattM, and Gene were also tapped. (Yes, I know eighteen people named Matt.) MattW (Iron Chef Six-Speed) and I (Iron Chef Dogcow) were selected to form Team Weezer, and Gene (Iron Chef Boyardee) and MattM (Iron Chef One Hand Clapping) formed Team Wasabi.
The secret ingredient was announced last Friday: We would be cooking with....*drumroll*
See, now I was all excited. My teammate and I started thinking up recipes. At first I'd considered a straight-up apple pie (since I automagically start thinking about dessert first), but we finally agreed that an apple baklava would be really interesting and impressive. We decided early that we wanted to do a salad, and found a really interesting recipe for a spinach and apple salad with a hot dijon dressing with cider vinegar. For our main course, we originally talked about working out a pork tenderloin with an apple-bourbon glaze, but MattW came up with a great idea for a baked salmon with seasoned potato cakes and apple-lemon butter cream sauce. Once I read the recipe, I knew that the decision had been made.
So today, we made our list and invaded Central Market (which was a rotten idea on a Sunday afternoon: It was a ZOO in there!). We then went over to Captain Dave's fish market (best in North Dallas, bar none!) and got some Coho Alaskan salmon fillets. Magnificent creatures.
Then we headed over to our impromptu Kitchen Stadium (Rusty's house) and started staging. We typed up our menu, organized our ingredients, and then got to kick back and drink some cider. You know, to get us in Tha Mood.
MattM and Gene arrived, and they had their game faces on. They had done a lot of organization ahead of time, and it really showed. Their menu didn't give me a lot to go on, as far as what they were up to, but these two are guys I know always make stuff I love to eat. So I knew we'd have our work cut out for us.
Sarah (bless her heart!) came up with a great idea for Spectator Bingo. She printed up cards, each with a four-by-four table of events that might happen during the cooking (Somebody curses, somebody sets something on fire inadvertantly, somebody dances around, somebody yells at a minion, steals opponent's food, goes potty, starts sweating, etc.). First person to get four events in a row gets to lick the spoon. I thought it was a great way to get the crowd (the half-dozen or so hungry mouths we were going to feed) to play with us while we were working.
Spectator Bingo Card
So, at 7:30, the flag went up! I immediately panicked. Heh. (Note: Everybody was working hard. We had two "minions", or helpers, who we tasked with preparing ingredients and primary assembly tasks. And the four chefs were going nutty, dancing around each other, trying to find counter space. I paid almost no attention to anything other than what I was doing at the moment, so that's what I'll talk about.) My first priority was to get the baklava in the oven, since I knew that needed to cook the longest. First, I had to cut up the apples (and my finger: hope somebody got that point on Spectator Bingo!) and get 'em cooking. That only took twice as long as I thought it would. What I didn't count on was the fact that phyllo dough is absurdly hard to deal with. I figured I'd get the baklava in the oven in about 20 minutes. Hah. An hour later, I stuck it in the oven. Fortunately, Matt took the initiative to do the salad dressing and cook the bacon, otherwise we'd a been dead. Then, poor Amy noticed the walnuts I was putting in the baklava, and informed me that she is deathly allergic to 'em.
oh good. Narrowly averted trip to the emergency room. Good planning, Lee. Eek.
So, I made half the baklava nut-free (which, appallingly, found a large audience even among the non-nut-allergic. Heathens.)
Rusty, Lee, MattM, and MattW, and Gene.
An aside: Single ladies out there, you need to know something. Of the six men working in this kitchen tonight (including Tommy, who's not in this pic) four are single. Y'all best make your bids now.
I finally got the darn pastry in the oven, absolutely convinced it was going to be an utter disaster. I was determined not to let on, and put my shoulder to the wheel on the next course.
My next mission was to julienne the potatos (which were both FREAKIN' ENORMOUS) for the potato cakes. That brings us to, oh, an hour and twenty minutes elapsed. Gene and MattM are starting their presentation to the judges, and we are nowhere close to finished. Rusty stepped up to the plate (or stove) to cook the potato cakes as MattW furiously stirred the butter cream sauce for the salmon. The baklava needed some attention, so I finished the glaze (honey and juices from the earlier apple cooking process), threw it on top, and caramelized it with my torch. (That was fun.) I finished the baklava just at the 1:30 mark, but our potatoes are not done. We decide that we're just going to kick it out as fast as possible, and commit seppuku for the judges later. I assembled the salad, and started serving the judges.
Twenty minutes later, we got the potatoes all done, assembled the platter, and served the salmon. Then, all that remained was to cut and serve the baklava, and collapse in a heap.
Let me emphasize: I take full responsibility for the schedule overrun. The baklava was my baby, and it took FREAKIN' FOREVER. MattW did an amazing job executing the complicated parts of the other dishes, ON TIME I might add, and making them perfect. w00t!
So, finally, it was time for the judging. I started by eating a plate that the opponents had prepared for me. They'd made a Traditional Potsticker with Apple and Pork and Soy Ginger Sauce; Apple Potato Samosas with Apple-Tamarind Chutney and Mint; and Baked Drunken Apples with Currants and Blueberries in an Amaretto Glaze.
Suffice it to say, they were in fine form.
The potstickers were really good. Gene had rolled them out and stuffed them by hand, which makes 'em extra yummy. MattM's samosas were absolutely smashing. All KINDS of very strong flavors, all bold and strange and delicious. The chutney on top was, well, not to be believed. Knocked my socks off. I thought that with this dish, they had it in the bag. The baked drunken apples were also really awesome. Later, we discovered that the liqueur MattM had made for the marinade makes a really nice moonshine-y sippin' drink. Kinda like a mulled wine, only with RUM in it. Dee-lish. MattW and I both agreed that all their dishes were just amazing.
Team Wasabi's Meal
Clockwise from top: Apple Samosa, Apple Potstickers, Drunken Apple
I was ready to concede right there. I thought that all three dishes did really neat things with apples, and all were flavors that I'd never encountered before.
Finally, I got to taste our own work! I was, frankly, a bit worried about the salad. When I'd first tasted it, it was really mustardy and vinegary, but we threw in some olive oil and sugar, and threw it in the food processor. It came out bold and strong, but not overpowering. Served warm on the fresh spinach and crispy apples, it was really good. The salmon (which I had almost nothing to do with) was absolutely marvelous. A superb cut of fish, baked to perfection by MattW, topped with a magnificent sauce, on seasoned potatoes. Lots going on. Lots of yumminess. I wanted more. Then, was the dreaded baklava. I hadn't told anybody, but I was sure I'd blown it. However, when I finally got to eat it, it was nicely caramelized on the top and tender all the way through. I was surprised, and really happy.
Spinach Salad with Apple
Baked Coho Salmon with Apple Butter Sauce
Apple Baklava
And then? The judging. Each dish was tallied on Taste, Originality, Honoring the Ingredient, and Presentation. All four of us agreed that really, we'd ALL won. All the dishes were magnificent, and we'd all had a really great time preparing them. I told MattM and Gene that, had I been judging, I'd have given it to them.
But, after the scores were tallied, on a total score of some 300 possible points from the three judges, MattW and I had won by two points.
I literally couldn't believe it. My running tally in my head had put the other team ahead by ten, and I was proud to have made such a good showing. But, to actually win? I was flabbergasted.
And really happy.
Next time, somebody else gets to cook, though. And the cleanup (performed by the judges) was, well, daunting. I got to loaf. Yay!
The Carnage
More pictures are available, and recipes for all six dishes will be available on Rusty's recipe database.
Posted by Lee at 02:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 16, 2003
A Roman Orgy...
Well, the food part at least.
This past Sunday,Movie Nite this week was Roman Movie Nite. Well, Greek and Roman.
Okay, let me rephrase. This past Sunday, Movie Nite was People Who Wore Togas And Are Dead Movie Nite. Right. Moving on.
We had a loose theme around Roman foods. Rusty and Sarah brought a pear souffle and a dish involving melon. Becky brought some zucchini thing that was yum. Amy brought a spectacular Greek salad. Many other people who will email me angrily that they brought other stuff, and I don't remember who brought what. Much love, peepz. Weyandt distinguished himself roasting a leg of lamb. Very very impressive work. I made my Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake. People (particularly tha ladies) seemed to think it was, well, phenomenal. Heh. They were right.
Now, one of the guests just took the theme to eleven. Jeff's brother Mike wore a full-on TOGA! Now, of course, Jeff wore a kilt, so maybe it just runs in the family. Nonetheless, it earned Mike first crack at the lamb. Good work, man!
So, we watched Clash of the Titans, which is one of my faves. We also watched Caligula, which is a pretty notorious flick...and good reason. The movie had pretty well no redeeming qualities. It was really, really gross. Avoid.
Next week, we're going to have an impromptu Iron Chef competition at Rusty & Sarah's house. I thought it was really cool that, at the party, we found six people who wanted to compete. All were around my age, and all were men. So, for all you people who think that men don't know what they're doing in the kitchen, you need to come eat with us. We'll show you the error of your ways. Of course, our female friends are also magnificent cooks. Pretty much, if you want to eat well, you want to be eating with us. We can probably cook better than you.
Saturday night, I went over to visit my friends in Ft. Worth for a Gallery Walk. My new friend Chrystal works at for the Arts Council in Ft. Worth, and invited us to join her for a walking tour of the really impressive variety of art galleries over there. The culture scene is pretty impressive. Thursday, Erin and I had gone to the Modern and to the Kimbell, so Saturday we went to some smaller shows. Some stuff I liked, some I didn't. Gallery 444 was interesting. It was a neat little house that had been converted to house several installation art pieces. Very cool. That night, there was an after-party at the Arts Council. There was a body-painter who painted a woman, who then went out and did some fire-twirling. If you don't think that scantily-clad women with fire is art, well, suffice it to say that I disagree. Vehemently. I also managed to assist Chrystal with camouflaging a wine-spillage episode on her very pretty cream-colored dress. No, I did not spill the wine, but she allowed as how I was pretty cool to be able to help her fix it. My mastery of the masculine arts is one step closer to fruition. We also got to see a guy try to start a fight with a broken beer bottle. That's to say, the guy had a beer bottle, broke it, and tried to start a fight. Thought that only happened in movies.
If nothing else, I'm way more cultured now than I was when I was employed. : )
I just gave my grandparents my new web site address. Hi Grandma! Hi Granddad! Hope y'all enjoy my yammering. : )
(Oh, and Grandma? That bit about cooking better than you? I wasn't talking about YOU. Because you're the bestest. It was a non-specific, rhetorical "you". Not "you" like "YOU", "you" like "pretty much everybody on the planet except for my grandma. OK, and my mom. And dad. Oh yeah, and GramMarje. And the rest of my family. They're pretty good too." That kind of "you". : )
Posted by Lee at 12:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 27, 2001
Sarah's Birthday Cake
Thursday, December 27, 2001
OK.
So we're in the wayback machine.
I went over to my friend's house the other, ah, month. It was Sarah's birthday, and I decided to bake her a cake. (The cake was also sorta for Emily, a very charming young lady I was attempting to impress with my baking prowess, but who was much to my chagrin getting ready for New York. Shows what SHE knows.) I planned on baking her a Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake, because it's yummy. So, I asked my friend Emily to take the springform cake pan over to Sarah and Rusty's house, to put in their freezer to set the tasty Oreo crumb crust. I was going to follow a bit later, after I finished making the batter. (This came together at, like, the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.)
So, I finish the batter, leave it in my cool Kitch-N-Aid 6-quart mixer bowl, and put said bowl into my car. I was sorta in a hurry, so I was driving my car with some, uh, alacrity.
OK, so here's what lateral G's do to cheesecake batter in a spherical bowl.
So now I'm SORE annoyed. It gets better.
So I walk up to the door, with a big scowly-face. Sarah answers the door, takes in the scene, and very courteously stifles a laugh.
My friends manage to refrain from laughing VERY loudly in my face, and help me clean up the car, and then eat the cheesecake (which turned out pretty darn good, although not quite as deep as it shoulda been.)
Without further ado, here's the recipe. Which rocks.
Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet choc chips
1/4 cup Kahlua liqueur
2 tbsp butter
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Sour Cream, Daisy brand, room temp
2 pkg (8 Oz) cream cheese, room temp
chocolate wafers, pulverized
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp sugar
9" Springform Pan
DO NOT SUBSTITUTE BRANDS. Other Sour Creams are not pure cream and their additives may affect the cake. Crumb crust: Pulverize chocolate wafers in food processor, measure and return to food processor bowl. Add sugar and melted butter, blend. Place in bottom of springform pan and tamp down solid. Cool in refrigerator to stiffen.
Cheesecake batter: Melt chocolate chips, butter and Kahlua in microwave. (about 1 min, stir, 1/2 min--watch carefully) Beat eggs in mixing bowl; add sugar and salt, then sour cream. Blend well. Gradually add softened cream cheese, blend until smooth. Add chocolate to cheese mixture and blend until smooth, increasing beater speed if necessary. Pour into springform pan with chocolate crumb crust. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until center is just firm--do not overcook, center will continue to cook as cake cools. Keep an eye on the edges. If they start to dry out excessively before center is set, reduce heat 25 degrees. You may put a pan of water on the rack below the cake to help keep it from cracking as it bakes and then cools. Remove from oven when done. Run a sharp knife around between the cake and the pan. Cool for one hour, then refrigerate covered for several hours or preferably overnight. This is a good cake to cover with plain or chocolate-flavored whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
Posted by Lee at 01:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 07, 2001
BBQ Ribs
Sunday, October 7, 2001
I'm putting up my dad's barbecue sauce recipe, which I've fooled around with some. (Mostly just by adding beer.) It's really tasty. I'm also including instructions for cooking yummy Baby Back Ribs. Lemme tell you...Chili's gots nothin' on me.
Lee's Shiner Barbecue Sauce
1 1/2 cups catsup
4 tbl vinegar
4 tbl worchestershire
2 each onion -- chopped. Red onions are nice.
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic -- minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar (molasses)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 bottle Shiner Bock
Add beer (carefully!) to sauce, add all ingredients, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. If the spirit so moves, add a bit of cornstarch or masa dissolved in warm water to thicken.
Baby Back Ribs
Now, there are as many ways to do ribs as there are pigs in Christendom. But this is the way I like 'em.
Start with Enough Ribs. Enough Ribs is a nebulous quantity. Guesstimate that one rack will maybe just barely satisfy two people, and go from there. For appetizers, three people per rack should be ample.
Get a big pot, at least as tall as the ribs are broad. You want to stand the ribs up on end, and wrap them around inside the pot. I use a huge Calphalon soup kettle, and it holds two racks nicely around the sides. Pour in about 1-2 inches of beer. For my kettle, that took two bottles. I used Shiner Bock, which is now my go-to cooking beer. One of these days, I'll try the same thing with Guinness. I think the rich chocolate flavour of Guinness will make for a very interesting base. Note: Please do not use some nelly American pilsner for cooking. You might as well use water.
Steam the ribs for about half an hour. This will greatly reduce your time on the grill.
Now it's time for fire. If you have a two-burner gas job, light one burner and cook the ribs on the other side. You can achieve a similar effect by putting all your charcoal on one side of the grill, and cooking on the other side. What I do is cook 'em indirectly for about 15 minutes turning once, then put them over direct heat for about three or four minutes per side to give 'em a crispy outside.
If you want, experiment with some of the commercially available dry rubs on the ribs before you throw 'em on the grill. There are lots available (I like Lysander's).
I like to serve my BBQ sauce on the side. You can, if you wish, baste the ribs with sauce as they cook. I prefer to let the delicious flavor of the meat speak more loudly, and use the sauce as a condiment.
Please email me and let me know what you think!
Whew! That's good eatin'!
Posted by Lee at 12:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 13, 2001
Cookin' at South Fork
Monday, August 13, 2001
What an evening. I just helped a co-worker teach a cooking class at Southfork Ranch. Yes, THAT Southfork Ranch. *insert theme music to Dallas here* It was pretty cool. I was responsible for grilling the veggies, the steaks and the pork kebabs. I was cooking on charcoal, which frankly is not my preferred method, and I was running two grills simultaneously. That's tricky. I was also cooking vegetables, which is not my forte. So, I threw the veggies on the grill, turned around twice, and they were already, ah, piquant on the bottom. (That means they were a bit on the crispy side).
Oops.
I tried a bit of the green pepper, and it was actually pretty good. The potatoes, however, were still a bit on the rigid side. So I threw everything onto my already overcrowded, slightly cooler grill, and proceeded to start the steaks. Well, this must have been some kind of nuclear Jedi bad-ass charcoal, because those steaks (some LOVELY 3/4" thick USDA Prime sirloins) were done RIGHT NOW. Overdone for my taste, as a matter of fact. So, I was a bit annoyed with myself. I sliced the steak, and subjected it to my rigorous quality assurance testing, and proclaimed it fit for human consumption. I served it to the people in the class, and they kept asking for more. Guess it wasn't too done for them.
As I was grilling the pork kebabs (I had my timing right by now, and the charcoal had settled down a bit), I had a moment of clarity. As I was standing there, outside Miss Ellie's Deli, presiding over two grills worth of very good food, watching the sunset, I was taken by a profound sense of place. I was totally in touch with my environment for just a few moments. It was a really amazing experience! I just stood there, tongs in hand, smelling the food and listening to the wind (such as it was) through the trees, and enjoyed the sunset.
Ahhhh...serenity.
Then I had to get back to work. Turning 20 kebabs so they won't burn takes some doing, particularly if you don't want your own flesh toasted at the same time. The kebabs turned out perfectly, and all the grillin' was done. So I went inside and helped serve food, grinning like a fool because I was having such a good time. A very very very enjoyable evening.
And, since you asked, here's a great recipe for steak.
Cowboy Grilled Sirloin
(Everybody say YEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAH!)
Start with the rub. Here's a recipe for JoAnn's Beef and Brisket Seasoning.
- 4 Tbsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
3 Tbsp "William's" Brand Chili Seasoning
3 Tbsp "Lawry's" Brand Garlic Salt
2 Tbsp Coarsely Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Sweet Paprika
1 Tbsp Dried Thyme
Combine all ingredients well, breaking up any chunks. Store in an airtight container, and shake vigorously before use.
As for the steak, do yourself a favor and find a good meat market. Buy a nice piece of USDA Prime grade sirloin. It's not terribly expensive, and it's worth every penny. (The shop I work in charges $7.99/lb)
- 1. Brush the steak with olive oil on both sides.
2. Sear the steak for about a minute on each side, on a hot grill. (Hot means that you can hold your hand five or six inches above the coals for a five-count without snatching your hand away.)
3. Pull the steaks off the grill onto a platter. (DO NOT use the same platter you used to bring the raw steaks to the grill! Food poisoning BAD!)
4. Season the steaks with the rub. Don't go crazy, just sprinkle the stuff on both sides of the steak.
5. Grill to desired doneness. (Guesstimate 4-5 minutes per side, but keep an eye on it. Have somebody teach you the touch test for steak doneness...otherwise, carefully cut into the more-done side of the steak to check the interior)
Hey, if you like Stick Figure Death Theatre, you'll love Genryu's Blade.
Posted by Lee at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack