Jul 02
I hate Brussel Sprouts! They are the devils food and there maybe a scientific reason why.
Brussel Sprouts
There is gene mutation that exists in about 50% of the world’s population that cannot detect the bitter chemical, similar to Phenylthiocarbamide (PCT), in Brussel Sprouts.
Hence only ‘mutants’ enjoy Brussel Sprouts, which is what I have always suspected.
Jul 02
I was in Denver recently and dined alone one evening. I am no stranger to this when I travel for work, so I pulled out the smart phone map app to see what was walkable. Of course there are many places along the 16th Street Mall in Denver, all within walking distance, but I wanted to go someplace new. Lo and behold – just across the street from where I was staying I found one of my favorite kinds of places – a bistro and wine bar called Row Fourteen. Even better, my hotel had a card for a free 3 oz pour. Can’t complain about that! I grabbed a book and walked across the street to check it out. What a fantastic choice!
It was a Tuesday night and I was immediately shown to a table. When I saw the menu, it was clear I had made an excellent decision. Row Fourteen has a very intriguing, unique menu and I had a lot of trouble deciding. But thankfully my server, David, was extremely helpful. To begin, I had asked him to choose a wine for my free 3 oz pour. He brought me a 2010 Lamadrid “Single Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon (Agrelo, Argentina). When I asked about some of the appetizers I was thinking about, he confirmed that the XO Shrimp Foie Rangoons were a good choice. The total description included foie gras butter, cilantro, tobiko, and sweet chili soy. It was delicious, and the Cabernet paired well with it. I enjoyed every bite.
Michel Torino Don David Malbec
For the main, I decided on the Tender Belly Pork Loin with local bokchoy, oyster mushrooms, sorrel, and rhubarb butter (pictured). I ordered a 3 oz pour of the 2009 Stoller Vineyards Pinot Noir (Dundee Hills, Oregon), to pair with it. The pork was absolutely succulent. Flavorful. …Just yummy. There also were some thinly sliced radishes that added just a hint of bite. But I must say that my chosen pairing was not great. The Pinot Noir itself was very good. However, it actually overpowered the pork. I usually consider Pinot Noir to be the “wine for all food”, in that if there are several people at the table, all choosing a different entree (chicken, beef, fish…), but wanting to share a bottle of wine, Pinot Noir can often be the best choice. However, not this time. So instead I asked David for another suggestion, something with some more spice, perhaps. He recommended the 2007 Taltarni Vineyards Shiraz (Pyrenees Victoria, Australia), and – since the menu offers 3 or 6 oz pours of the wines they serve by the glass – I also ordered a 3 oz pour of a Malbec that he mentioned was new and not yet on the menu. The Malbec was a 2010 Don David Reserve (Calchaqui Valley, Argentina). This was the winner! This Malbec has some excellent spiciness to it and paired beautifully with the pork. The Shiraz also went well, but wasn’t quite as WOW as the Don David. Ah… What a wonderful dining experience. Not just the food, but the atmosphere and staff as well. I was very well taken care of, down to refilling my water glass. Nothing was overlooked. Except perhaps by me – alas, as I took one more look at the menu, I realized I had forgotten to ask about the Escargot Bruschetta. I decided that I would have to come back another night to try it.
Pork Tenderloin
I did just that on Thursday night. This time I came with a friend instead of a book. The main restaurant was fully booked until after 7:30, but there was room in the bar, where they also serve the full menu, so we pulled up some stools at a “community table” there. This evening, Travis was our server. He was fantastic. Again, very helpful, and very friendly. We ordered the Escargot Bruschetta with basil, fresh mozz, shiemji mushrooms, and aspen moon arugula pesto. This time I also had the Stoller Pinot Noir, and this was a much better pairing, earthy. I had not actually asked for it, but instead asked Travis to pick something for me that would go with the bruschetta. He did well! A bit later he had to go and recommend the Octopus Flatbread with pickled ramp, cauliflower, house raisins, and aleppo chile tomato sauce (pictured). He was able to twist our arms. I made him do the tough work again and asked him to bring me a red wine he thought would pair well with it. He did not disappoint. He brought me a 2009 Barbera d’Alba, Per Alessandra (Alba, Italy), and it was excellent. The wine, and the pairing. I would have enjoyed just a little more octopus on the flatbread, but it was indeed very good…
Octopus Flatbread
So, if you’re in downtown Denver and looking for a dining adventure, I strongly recommend Row Fourteen Bistro & Wine Bar. The owner is David Schneider, who is also very friendly and takes a personal interest in the customers. So, I just want to say thank you to David Schneider for opening Row Fourteen and having such an interesting menu, and thank you to David and Travis for taking such good care of me and my friend. I did not meet the chef(s), but big kudos to the cooking staff, as well as the rest of the staff who contributed to my dining experience. I look forward to dining with you again! Cheers!
Jul 02
Yesterday we picked way too many peaches at the home of our friends’ Nancy and Sam. After giving many away, I still have about 12 gallons of peaches that I need to process. Aside from making jam, ice cream, compote, liqueur, sherbert and even freezing them, I am looking for suggestions…
Ripe Peaches on a Tree
Two months later and after some great suggestions, most of the peaches have been used or frozen for use later in the year. Below is a list of the posts highlighting the different recipes / uses for the peaches that were picked:
Jul 01
With the approach of July 4th, I thought it would be fun to make my own homemade hot dogs. I had a recipe and instructions to loosely follow, available time since it was raining outside and my mother-in-law as my assistant. I read the instructions, took stock of the spices on hand and then went to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients needed.
Homemade Hot Dog with Mustard and Ketchup
Homemade Hot Dog Spices in a Bowl
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Prior to bringing any of the ingredients together, I chilled the meat in the freezer for an hour. In ¼ pound batches with the food processor I ground the Pork Fat, Ground Pork and Ground Chuck into a fine paste (15 – 20 seconds). Once all the meats have been ground smooth I thoroughly mixed them together. If you need to add an ice cube or two to bring the meat to a paste then add the ice cubes to the food processor.
Finely Ground Pork Fat, Ground Pork and Ground Chuck (Beef) Finely Ground into a Paste to make Homemade Hot Dogs
In a separate bowl, add all of the dry ingredients including the minced garlic and mix together.
Separate the finely ground meat into three equal portions and add one portion back to the food processor. Top the ground meat with a third of the spice mixture and third of the light corn syrup and operate the food processor for 10 seconds. With a spatula fold the ground meat and mixture into itself and run the food processor for another 10 seconds. Remove the combined ground meat and spice mixture into a separate bowl and repeat these steps for the remaining two portions.
Finely Ground Meat and Spices Mixed Together for Homemade Hot Dogs
Once all of the ingredients have been brought together, cover the bowl and allow the hot dog mixture to chill for 2 to 4 hours. The mixture must be thoroughly chilled because the mixture is more a paste than ground meat making the stuffing of the casings much more difficult.
You are then ready to use your sausage stuffer to make the homemade hotdogs. For this attempt, I used 21mm (small diameter) collagen casings. My thought was to peel off the casing once the hotdogs had been initially cooked.
Stuffing Homemade Hot Dog Mixture into a Collagen Casing
Once the casings have been stuffed then you are ready to cook the hotdogs. Although everything that I read said to boil to hot dog links in salted 180 degree water for 20 minutes, I thought I knew better. My concern was that I was using collagen versus natural casings and afraid that the collagen would dissolve in the water prior to the meat setting. In addition to this, because this was my first attempt in using collagen casings, I ran long lengths instead of the customary six inch links. Boiling eighteen to twenty-four inch links seemed a little difficult.
Homemade Hot Dogs After Being Cooked (Steamed)
After the hotdogs steamed for 15 minutes, they were removed from the steamer and allowed to cool. Once cooled, the casings were removed.
Homemade Hot Dogs Stripped of Collagen Casing
I pan fried two of the links and ate them with ketchup and mustard. The homemade hotdogs had the flavor one expects from commercially produced hotdogs, but because I steamed them, the fat that been thoroughly mixed with the finely ground meat had rendered out of the casing making the hot dog dry. The texture of the meat was good, and I think that if I had used natural casings and boiled the hot dogs I would have been more successful. It was a fun experiment and worthy of another attempt.
Homemade Grilled Hot Dogs on Plate with Mustard and Ketchup
Regardless, I will be bringing these homemade hot dogs to the July 4th Pool Party that I have been invited. I am sure that there will be none remaining at the end of the party.
The recipe and instructions that I loosely followed were from Bruce Aidells’ Complete Sausage Book.
Jul 01
If you are like me you hate to go out to eat and get served a crappy salad. You know the type I’m referring to. It’s the bowl of Iceberg lettuce, a few pieces of grated carrot, one slice of cucumber and maybe two cherry tomatoes if the preparer was feeling spunky. Nothing is more disappointing than getting a bowl of prepared Iceberg lettuce.
According to Wikipedia:
The word “salad” comes from the French salade of the same meaning, from the Latin salata (salty), from sal (salt). In English, the word first appears as “salad” or “sallet” in the 14th century…Salt is associated with salad because vegetables were seasoned with brine or salty oil-and-vinegar dressings during Roman times…The terminology “salad days“, meaning a “time of youthful inexperience” (on notion of “green”), is first recorded by Shakespeare in 1606, while the use of salad bar first appeared in American English in 1976.
All of which is makes for great trivia; but I must agree with Shakespeare (and those of you that know me, know that I am not a Shakespearean kind of guy), good fresh green salads make me feel better. They make me feel healthy. They make me feel alive. I suppose it has to do with all of the fiber, vitamins and minerals that a good summer salad can contain.
Ingredients of a Summer Salad
Another really neat thing about green summer salads is that, as pictured above, they go great with steak. Hit the Bonus alarm, salad another reason to grill, but I digress. Either as a side item to a steak meal or a green salad with steak added for a mixed delight of meat and plant. I cannot think of a more natural meal with remnants of our caveman ancestry.
So what makes a great greet summer salad you ask? Well I guess the answer to that question is whatever you really like to eat. The prepared Iceberg salad disappoints because it doesn’t give you the variety of vegetables that you really like. I would recommend that you allow the green portion of your salad to occupy no more than 1/3 of the total salad by volume, thereby allowing for plenty room for the fruits, vegetables and nuts that you love. Foods like:
|
Tomatoes |
Sweet Bell Peppers |
Carrots |
Mushrooms |
Raw Broccoli |
|
Walnuts |
Dried Cranberries |
Radish |
Hot Peppers |
Almonds |
|
Onion |
Raw Cauliflower |
Green Onion |
Avocado |
Basil |
|
Olives |
Cheese |
Beef |
Chicken |
Bacon |
So next time you are in the mood for a salad, skip the crappy bowl of soulless Iceberg lettuce and create a salad with your favorite dressing your inner caveman would be happy to draw about on his dining room wall.
