Next Iron Chef Gripe

So, Next Iron Chef: Superchefs has been an addiction for me since the first episode. I love it. Seeing these celebrity chefs get thrown into ridiculous situations and getting flustered seems to humanize them and bring them to a level in which we understand them better.

My complaint is the unnecessary commercialism in this show. We had a sudden death showdown with two Kikkoman products, now we had a battle in Kitchen Stadium with the secret ingredients of Town House crackers and Entwine wine products. Do we really need to see this? I mean, there was a commercial for these products two minutes before the finale of the show. It bothered me and I felt dirty after watching this show. It's like I'm being used as a consumer whore. I predict that in the finale, they'll be cooking with Big Macs and Twix.

Gosling's Black Rum and Ginger Beer

My wife just finished And a Bottle of Rum: The History of The New World in Ten Cocktails, so we decided to stop at the liquor store and check out some of the finer rum selections. We took home a bottle of Gosling's Black Seal Rum and some of their Ginger Beer. This combination is called a Dark and Stormy. Here is what it looks like (Sorry it's only half a glass, I tasted it and somehow it just seemed to disappear.)

I'm used to the kind of rum that you normally see at parties, like Captain Morgan or Bacardi. I will never buy that crap again. This rum was only $20.99 and it tastes like good liquor. I tried it straight, just sipping, and it had more of a whiskey-like character to it, albeit sweeter. The ginger beer is exceptional. I am a ginger drink enthusiast and this is so refreshing and pungent. It doesn't taste like that gingery syrup that is added to most ginger ales. It feels really infused with fresh ginger. This drink replaces my Seven and Seven. I'll probably never buy that cheap stuff again. Plus, there's a cute seal on the label! How could you refuse that? Even my wife likes it.

I give Gosling's two slurred hips and one stumbling hooray up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We did Thanksgiving with Paige's family on Sunday, so we did a small dinner today with just the two of us and her mom. We had a Cornish hen each stuffed with portabellos, which turned out to be wonderfully juicy and delicious after the brine that I did, and we had roasted Brussels sprouts with chopped pecans and her mama's au gratin potatoes. With a pear/pecan/feta/bibb lettuce salad and a bit of Laughing Cat Riesling, makes for a fantastic dinner. We haven't even had the hazelnut tort yet. Today, my to-do list will have visual aids.

Beer that is good - Sam Adams Blackberry Wit

It's time to talk about beer. I am an one who appreciates beer and find beer to be as diverse and tantalizing to the palate as food and wine can be. I prefer lighter beers. Beer that I can drink two of and not feel full. I tend to like the sort of 'kicking a few back' type as opposed to the sipping a single glass type. Heavy beers just don't appeal to me very much. If I do drink a dark or heavy beer, I usually switch to a complimenting light beer afterwards. Above all, I really hate beers that have too much hops character.

Basically, you'll mostly find me in either the pale ales section, the lager section, or the wheat/wit/hefe section. Which brought me to tonight's beer selection.

 I don't drink Samuel Adams very often, and I'm not sure why. I love their Cherry Wheat, and have enjoyed their Boston Lager on occasion. The Cherry Wheat is delicious and has that unfiltered, opaque quality that makes for a smooth beer, albeit slighty heavy.. While the cherry flavor is very appealing, it can be overwhelming with the second glass.

Tonight I'm having Sam Adams' Blackberry Witbier. The witbier is type of wheat beer that I only discovered a few years ago from one of our many microbreweries in town. I have essentially fallen for it. It has all of the qualities I love about a hefeweizen, with none of the heaviness. This particular wit is very smooth and subtle, but has a tart finish due to the blackberry flavor. It has a 5.5% alcohol content, so it won't knock you on your butt, either. The color is wonderful. Be sure to swirl the last bit before you pour it to shake up the yeast that has settled at the bottom. You won't want to leave that behind.

Since this is my first post about beer, I have a rating system, but I might decide to change it in the future.

FLAVOR                    7/10
Very pleasing, as most berry flavored beers are. Slightly too tart after one glass.
COLOR                      9/10
A golden yellow, opaque hue that reminds me of sunny wheat fields.
BITTERNESS            9/10
Balanced. Cleanses the palate and permeates taste and scent.
SMOOTHNESS         8/10
Slightly thick. Goes down well. 
OVERALL DRINKABILITY              33/40

It's reminding me that I should drink Sam Adams more. I want to try their Winter Lager.

We're makin' lasagna!

Lasagna is one of those dishes that everyone loves, but nobody wants to make, and for good reason. It takes all day. When I got up on Saturday, I ate breakfast, made a grocery list, went grocery shopping, and then started the red sauce that I would use for my lasagna. That's all I did for the rest of the day. The lasagna only cooks for about 45 minutes, but the prep work is painstaking. Not that I mind or wish there were shortcuts. I love making lasagna. It's my signature dish, which is why you will not see a recipe. The secret is the red sauce. I don't call it marinara, because Grammy didn't call it marinara. She called it red sauce. I don't put meat in my sauce, either. That's cheating. Good cheese is also imperative. I use only whole milk mozzarella and ricotta.

While I won't give you my red sauce recipe, I will tell you a few things that I do to ensure a 5-layer lasagna that stays together when you cut it.

You can try, but you'll only get a maximum of 3 layers out of those 9' x 13' Pyrex baking pans that have a depth of only 3". You really need to get a good lasagna dish. Now, I normally would throw holy water on Rachael Ray, but I received her lasagna pan for Christmas last year, and I've made 3 lasagnas in it so far. It's terrific.

The architecture of a lasagna is very important. You can't just throw sauce and cheese and noodles into the pan 5 times and call it good. Here are the most important structural laws of lasagna:

THE NOODLES SKILLZ - The dryer the better

What I do is boil the noodles in a HUGE pot until they are al-dente. Dump most of the water, then throw a bunch of ice in the pot with the noodles and remainder of the water to cool down the water because you will be putting your hands in it. Make sure your noodles are still submerged so they don't stick. Then I will take out a noodle at a time, and hold it hanging with one hand, and run my other hand down the length of the noodle to get all the water off. then I will hang the noodle on the side of the pan to stay dry. repeat this with all the noodles. Once you have gone all the way around the pan, you can start layering them on top of each other. The goal is to have your noodles dry and ready to layer into your lasagna.

THE CHEESE SKILLZ - The glue that binds it all together

You should have gotten some fresh whole milk mozzarella. If it is in brine, make sure you take the cheese knots out and let them dry on a paper towel before you start assembling. All I do with the mozz is smash it up like playdough in my hands and crumble it on. You will need to make a thin layer that has a good amount of coverage. Don't forget the corners and sides! The ricotta we will dump into a freezer bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Then cut an eighth inch hole in the corner of the bag to pipe the ricotta onto the lasagna.

THE LAYERING SKILLZ - Why is this so complicated?

This is very important. Your shall be assembled in no order other than this one:
The bottom layer is sauce, and don't do something stupid and grease the pan or something. Then it goes in a noodle/sauce/cheese/repeat pattern. The noodles must be layered in a very specific method. Start at one of the long sides of the pan and lay down a noodle. Then lay another noodle that covers a little less than half of the one under it. Repeat until you reach the other side of the pan, then tear a noodle to fit the gap that is probably left on one of the small sides, since your pan is 13" and your noodles are only about 10". On your next layer of noodles, start at the opposite side of the last layer you did. This ensures that the layers are fortified and won't slide around when you slice them. Here is a fancy diagram I baked up.

So these are the main important things about the construction of a lasagna. The flavor is in your hands because my sauce recipe is under lock and key. When it's all assembled, just throw it in a preheated 400 degree oven for about an hour or until the cheese on top starts getting brown and melty.

Kind of like this.
Click to enlarge the cheesy, saucy goodness!

Snooze: An A.M. Eatery

My wife and I neglected to try the new breakfast restaurant that opened in town about a year and a half ago due to the wait that we were commonly met with. Normally, when I see a line of people waiting to be seated outside of a restaurant, I'm convinced that it's a place that I want to eat, but after finally dragging my wife out of bed and being told there is a 40-50 minute wait, I am turned elsewhere. So, once upon a morning dreary, elsewhere was Lucille's, a Cajun/Creole breakfast restaurant on Magnolia Street across from The Lincoln Center. This restaurant has a sentimental quality, not only because my wife is Cajun and the beignets and coffee are great, but because we were married at The Lincoln Center. In any case we arrived at Lucille's after foregoing Snooze only to be told that the wait would, in fact, be 40-50 minutes. We decided to cut our losses and wait. We were seated an hour and 20 minutes later. Now, I will review Lucille's and have plenty good to say about the restaurant operations and the food, but the hostesses just can't seem to get their act together.

I vowed on that day that we were going to try Snooze no matter what our wait was. So, next time we were in need of some breakfast out, we got up earlier on a Saturday than normal, about 8 o'clock, and we arrived at Snooze at around 9. As it turns out, the wait is reduced from 40-50 minutes to 25-35 minutes. The wait periods are a science and are like clock-work. If you get there at 9, expect exactly 25 minutes. If you get there at 10, expect 45 minutes every time.

On to the food. If you are trying Snooze for the first time, I would recommend a pancake flight. The pancakes at this place are special in a way that I did not fathom pancakes to be special. Try the Sweet Potato or Pineapple-Upsidedown cakes. They are absolutely ethereal. If you are a person that truly is able taste and feel food, this is the type of first bite that will make you put your utensils down and just take in every sensation of the wonder that you just put in your mouth. Uncontested wonder fluff is what I would call these pancakes.

The Benedicts are also available in a flight, but the standard is really all you need. I am not a man who likes eggs benedict, but my wife loves it. I tried hers and was hooked. Unbelievably delicate. The eggs are always poached perfectly, not something I am usually comfortable ordering for breakfast due to inconsistent cooking at most restaurants. These are amazing every time.

Two savory items that are of interest are the Breakfast Pot Pie, which is their take on biscuits and gravy made with puff pastry and a white sausage gravy that has carrots and celery in it, and the Cheese Steak and Eggs, an item that was moved to the always-available lunch menu that is simply incredible. They also have a Cubano that changed my mind about eggs and pickles.

The coffee is great, and they have a full bar, just in case you need some 'hair of the dog that bit you'. The decor is retro and the staff is hip and friendly. Prices are very reasonable($8-$12) and you can either sub out the hash browns(which are excellent) for a pancake, or add one for $4.

In conclusion, Snooze has pretty much black-listed most of our other breakfast locations in town. I love it and you'll love it too. You might not be blown away if you order a breakfast burrito or breakfast tacos, but all of the unique items on the menu are out of this world. Go early to avoid waiting too long. You won't be disappointed.

Here is there website. They have a location in downtown Denver, and one in downtown Fort Collins.
http://www.snoozeeatery.com/

Clean out your fridge - Making omelettes!

Omelets are perfect receptacles for most items that serve no immediate purpose in your fridge. Leftover veggies and meats and cheeses are all potential fillings. I usually go to the deli counter when I'm at the market and buy one or two slices of bacon, just so I have it on hand in case I want to make something with bacon fat. Well, today, I used the half slice I had left, mixed with a bit of red onion and a piece of Cajun sausage that was leftover from a gumbo my wife made. This wasn't your average store-bought "Cajun-style" sausage or andouille. It was specially ordered from www.cajungrocer.com, but that's another post altogether.

This is why I love eggs and omelets, in particular. You can put anything you like in them. You'll be hearing quite a bit about omelets if you read this blog regularly. I'll give a brief explanation of my omelets process.

     You'll need:

• 2 eggs - remove the yolk from one and beat in a bowl with about a tablespoon of milk
• Some melty cheese - sharp cheddar, colby, pepper jack will work, but fontina is THE best
• Fillers - Anything that you have that sounds good. Onions should be a staple.
• One non-stick omelet pan - a small pan is a must, so the eggs do not spread out too far
• A non-metal spatula - can't be scratching that non-stick surface, now can we?
• Non-stick cooking spray - for extra slipperiness if you are not using a fat-rendering meat.

First off, if you have a protein that will render fat, cook that first at medium-high heat and then add the veggies in the appropriate order (denser veggies first). If you didn't use meat, be sure to spray the pan with the cooking spray before you add veggies.

Once all fillings are cooked, remove from the pan and set aside in a small bowl or plate. Spray the pan again if there isn't enough fat left to cook the eggs. Once the pan is heated up again, add your eggs. At this point you could season with salt and pepper and some dried parsley, if desired. Fresh herbs should not be added until the fillings are, or on top of the omelet when it is done. Also, I like to add a few sprinkles of shredded cheese to this side, because the cheese will get that delicious crispy-melty flavor after you flip it.

Now cooking an omelet properly is not as easy as it would seem. You can't just let it cook till it's done, and you can't stir it, because it would just turn into scrambled eggs. What you have to do is watch for the edges to solidify and then, using your spatula or spoonula, slide under one edge and tilt the pan so that the runny parts of the egg spill underneath the cooked parts. Do this around three or four edges, until the runny stuff has all been mostly moved to the edges or under the omelet.

Now, the coup de grace, flipping that little bugger. You could go the easy route and use a large spatula to flip. Just get under one side and give it a quick shove, as not to wrinkle or fold the omelets, and flip away. You could also do the one-handed, magic flip you see them do on t.v. This takes practice, so if you're trying to impress your wife with a magic flip, be sure you've mastered it. Run your spatula around all sides of the omelet to make certain it is not still gripping the pan, pick up the pan handle and jerk forward from the elbow and then at the end of that motion, jerk up using only your wrist. Then catch. It doesn't need to ever truly leave the pan, just make a little hop. Simple, huh? Better practice, or just flip it with the spatula. Here's some video reference (not me).

After you flip, you're going to be adding fillers to only half of the circle, so when you fold it, you don't dump a bunch of toppings out. I usually add more cheese first, so it can melt and act like glue for the other stuff. Add the sauteed fillings from earlier on top of the cheese. At this point you could also add some salsa or guac or hot sauce, but I usually put that on top after folding.

Now, take the pan from the stove and get over to your serving plate. Dip your spatula under the naked side of the omelet and fold that side on top of the dressed side and let the omelet slide onto the plate.

Done. Now enjoy. Omelets are one of those breakfast items that take some practice, but are really awesome once you've gotten your groove. In case you're wondering what some good ideas for fillers are, here is a short list of foodstuffs that like being wrapped in a warm, cozy egg blanket:

white onions, yellow onions, red onions, green onions, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, purple bell pepper, mushrooms, ham, bacon, breakfast sausage, Cajun sausage, andouille sausage, Italian sausage, jalapenos, serranos, poblanos, habaneros, broccoli, broccolini, asparagus, spinach, arugula, salsa rojo, salsa verde, chili verde, chili rojo, shallots, roasted garlic, sour cream, cream cheese, goat cheese, chedder cheese, colby cheese, fontina cheese, pepper jack cheese, ALL CHEESE, fresh basil, roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, grape tomatoes, fried green tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cherry peppers, red-hot chili peppers, zucchini, squash, hash browns, mashed potatoes, leftover meatloaf, hamburgers, veggie burgers, chicken, turkey, avocados, guacamole, marinara, white gravy, brown gravy, red gravy, blue gravy, tomatillos, cilantro, black beans, white beans, hummus, baba ganoush, etc.

In short, anything can be put in an omelet.