Roots Less

I've never been much of a beer drinker. It's just never been my thing and that's unfortunate living in a town that arguably has the best available selection of beers in the world. Part of the reason for the vast selection is the late Jim Kennedy of Admiralty Beverage who had a long list of world beers long before it was trendy. The culture of Portland is a large part of the equation as well; with microbreweries in all quadrants and fine dining restaurants with beer lists longer than most restaurants wine lists.

For a long time I looked at an opportunity to drink beer with the same enthusiasm I usually reserve for an invitation to a white zinfandel tasting. But times and tastes change and now I find that I'm drinking more beer than wine over the last month or two. I don't know how long that will last, but I'm having fun sampling beers from around the world.

Portland is blessed with more than it share of bierstubes and some of them sell by the bottle as well. One of the oldest, if not the oldest biercafe/bottleshop in town is Belmont Station. I've been shopping and sampling here lately. It's far enough away that it's not too convenient and close enough that it's not a pain to get to.

Last Tuesday Belmont Station hosted a vertical tasting of the recently closed Root's Brewing Epic Ale. They served the 05, 06, 07, 08 and 09 versions. I was sure it was going to be a zoo and I decided to pass on this once in a lifetime, last chance opportunity. Wednesday I stumbled in to Belmont Station looking for a beer or two to take home and low and behold the opportunity to try all five versions was still available. I grabbed a seat and placed my order.

 I didn't take notes and it's been a few days, but here are a few of my general impressions. 2005 - Wow! this is a phenomenal product. Hints of smoke, a mouthful of toffee and espresso. It was rich and sweet; like a port aged in a scotch barrel. 2006 - the little brother of the 05. I don't think it will reach the depth of the 05, but it was my second favorite. The 07 & 08 showed the same character of the first two, but didn't seem as well built and it didn't seem to me that they would ever become what the 05 or even the 06 attained. The 09 was my third choice and it seemed to be built to go the distance. I don't know that it would become the 05...but you can only hope and then hope that a few years down the road you get the chance to find out.

So the brewery is closed and I won't get this once in a lifetime opportunity again, but I'm glad I did make it in and try the line up.

So it's Boxing Day (and the Feast of St. Stephen) and I'm distinctly lacking in ambition today. Plenty that I should be doing; laundry, dishes, vacuuming and the like - just the time to procrastinate and write to this poor neglected blog.

I made some oyster stew today and it turned out really well. I had all the ingredients on hand and it came together really well.

Keith's Damn Good Oyster Stew

1 Pint of oysters and their liquor
1 quart of milk
1 cup of half and half
1/2 a large onion - chopped
3 stalks of celery - fine dice
4 slices of good smoked bacon - diced
Salt, Pepper, Old Bay Seasoning
a splash of Absinthe or Herbsaint if you've got it. It's traditional in New Orleans oyster dishes and adds a hint of anise.

Saute the bacon until it's crisp and remove from pot and reserve

Saute the onion and celery in a couple tablespoons of the remaining bacon fat.

While the onions and celery are cooking; put the oysters and their liquor in a pan and poach them until they are just cooked. Set them aside to cool.

When the onions and celery are softened and before they brown add the milk, half and half and the liquor out of the poached oysters. Season with a couple of good shakes of Old Bay or salt. Add a couple of grinds of pepper and a splash of Absinthe or Herbsaint.

Cut the cooled oysters into 3 or 4 pieces.

When the stew mixture is getting hot but not boiling, add the oysters and bacon and give them a minute to warm up.

Serve it with Oyster Crackers, Pepper, a shake of Old Bay for color, some Tabasco and a cold beer (I'm drinking a Deschutes Jubal Ale)

A Home Run and a Foul Ball

I needed a three day weekend. The nature of my temporary position filling in for my old job requires full time work - no vacations, no sick leave - welcome to the real world! It makes me appreciate what I used to try not to take for granted and appreciate it even more in hindsight.

In spite of having a three day weekend I've been as cranky as a sow grizzly with a sore tooth. I'm coming out of it now, but I couldn't stand being around myself most of the weekend I was so crabby.

I've been trying to be productive and addressing the lengthy list of long neglected chores.

I fixed the lawn mower and mowed. The lawn was only mildly horrendous - the lack of water had slowed the growth of the lawn and only the weeds needed to be topped.

Got caught up on laundry, washed all the damned dishes and did a couple of plumbing repairs.

The plumbing repairs were minor but aggravating; a leaky faucet and a bad toilet fill valve. The faucet repair went smoothly; the toilet valve not so much - my fault really, I wasn't paying attention and left out a washer. It wouldn't have been an issue if I'd been paying attention. Always, Always, Always! Check your connections right after you turn on the water! Don't get distracted selecting a bottle of wine to enjoy as a reward for finally getting off your ass and doing something. Fifteen minutes later when I finally made it upstairs to open the bottle of wine and Oh Yeah, check the plumbing repairs, I was faced with a minor flood. It wasn't biblical and certainly the bathroom floor needed to be mopped.

I decided that I'd make a couple of items I'd bought ingredients for when I'd hit up the Hollywood and Montavilla Farmer's Markets. A homemade version of Chinese Plum Sauce and a homemade version of Sriracha Sauce.

I'm not a big fan of plum sauce, but I don't hate it either - it's just not something I use. The recipe sounded good, the comments section was positive and plums are in season - what could go wrong? Not an epic fail, but Heavens to Betsy, did any of these people actually make the recipe? The stuff was distinctly not thick - thin and watery. All is not lost though; the flavor is good and hopefully it won't taste nasty when I reduce it down. It's simmering away right now. It does smell really good.

The Sriracha Sauce got started last night. Chop up some red pepper and garlic, soak overnight in some vinegar and salt, cook it up with a bit of sugar and blend away! Booyah! This stuff rocks!


Homemade Sriracha (Rooster Sauce) from Food52.com

Makes about 2 cups

• 1/2 pound red fresno chiles, coarsely chopped - I used red jalapenos
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar - no I didn't have palm sugar in the house - I had to go out and buy it

1. Place all the ingredients except the sugar in a jar and let sit overnight to mellow the heat of the peppers. I guess one could consider this a brine.
2. Place the mixture and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Transfer to a blender and puree for about 5 minutes, until a smooth, orange-red mixture forms. Run through a fine strainer and smush out as much juice as possible. 

This was the first time I've used palm sugar. It's got and interesting flavor, almost like sweetened condensed milk - a bit of a caramel flavor. They say you can substitute light brown sugar, but I thing I'd just use white sugar.

Read more: http://www.food52.com/recipes/6441_fresh_sriracha_aka_home_made_rooster#ixzz0yn2XBilq

 

Good Stuff - I'll be making more of this soon

 

 

A Father's Day Post

Happy Father's Day to all of you Fathers out there.

Nicholas Kristof wrote a moving tribute to his father who passed away a couple of days ago.

I've got a late lunch, early dinner cooking right now - a one pot meal by Cook's Illustrated's reckoning. Granted you only cook in one pot, but I'm one of those mise in place [miz ɑ̃ plas] kind of guys: yeah, me and Tony Bourdain - it's our religion. So while it only messes up one pot, I've got a sink full of dishes, ramekins, utensils and other implements of destruction waiting to be washed.

I can rationalize my procrastination about doing the dishes by using the excuse that I'm only addressing the issue of the much lengthier procrastination of writing on a blog post. Hmmmm... a very awkward sentence and I haven't even partaken of intoxicants at 11:45. Noon will be here soon!

My god I need a drink - I've got World Cup Soccer on the tube. The Beautiful Game! A game played by players whose names I can't pronounce, from countries I've never heard of, playing a game I've never understood - and the crowd is blating on the vuvusula; a dime store noisemaker thusly and accurately described; "But when thousands of people toot them simultaneously, you get a loud, incessant hum that makes the entire stadium sound like it's being attacked by angry bees. It's a staple at any South African soccer match and ... surprise! Everyone hates it!". So far the only good reason I can think of that I'm still watching is that it gives me something to whine about.

The best thing about the soccer match so far is that the Brazilian's have a player named Kaka -I'd heard a couple of shouts of caa caa, before I figured out it was a players name.
 
By the time I get done writing this post I'll probably have eaten and partaken and will be able to critique the effort. So far it's smelling pretty good.

Southwestern One-Post Chicken Rice - via a blog posted to Saveur
One-Pot Southwestern Chicken and Rice  (Cook's Illustrated)

Serves 4 hungry people - this could easily serve 6, especially if you added a few more pieces of chicken

You can substitute any semi-soft shredded cheese, such as fontina, Gouda, or Colby, for the cheddar.

4 split bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or 4 thighs
2 tablespoons salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped medium - I used a large one - there's no such thing as too much onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic , minced
1-1/2 cups long grain white rice - I used brown jasmine rice
3-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth - I used homemade
1/2  cup dry white wine - I used white vermouth
4 ounces cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup)
1 15.5 ounce can of black beans, drained, and rinsed with water
1 10 ounce package of frozen corn, thawed and patted dry - I used a can of corn
1 4 ounce can of green chiles - this wasn't called for in the recipe - but, hey it was a SW recipe!
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salsa for serving

I also added a tablespoon or two of chili powder and a couple of teaspoons of ground cumin

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, leaving the fat in the pot.

Add the onion, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the fat in the pot and place over medium heat. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir in the rice and cook until the edges turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the broth and wine and bring to a simmer.

Return the chicken to the pot, skin-side up. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is fully cooked through and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 25 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Stir in the black beans, corn, cheese, and cilantro. Let the cheddar melt for 1 minute. Season the rice mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with salsa.

I served it with the cheese strewn on top, not stirred in.

This made a slightly loose rice dish - not quite risotto. I think you could make a big batch of this and serve it buffet style for a real football game. I'd accompany it with a couple of salsas, a bit of sour cream, some lime slices and some tortilla chips.

I had brunch with some friends at the Country Cat recently. We all had a cocktail called "El Gato Verde". Basically it's a margarita made by muddling some celery and cilantro in the mix. We all liked it, but thought it might be made a bit better with a bit less celery, a bit more cilantro and spiced up a bit with a dash of hot sauce.

El Gato Verde - the Green Cat

2 oz Sauza Hornito's Tequila - I used Lunazul Reposado
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz Cointreau - I used housemade orange liqueur
an orange slice - 1/2 of a quarter inch thick slice of lime
a couple of drops of Damiana tinture - recipe below
a 3 inch stick of celery cut in 3 or 4 pieces
a couple of sprigs of cilantro
a dash of Tabasco or a chipotle hot sauce for a smoky hit.

Muddle the orange slice, cilantro, celery, hot sauce and damiana tincture together.

Add the rest of the ingredients and shake vigorously with ice.

Strain into a highball glass on the rocks - a salted rim if you so choose.

Housemade Damiana Tincture

2 Tbl damiana
1/3 cup silver tequila

Mix it in a jar and let it steep for a week.

Strain through a coffee filter and store in an amber dropper bottle

BTW - Brazil beat Ivory Coast 3 to 1. Kaka got flushed...er red carded.

A Damn Good Sandwich

I was cruising the internet after work on Friday and saw an article on Salon.com about a Boston area restaurant's unexpected hit menu item - a roast beef sandwich.

I like a roast beef sandwich as well as the next guy, but I couldn't imagine what you could do to make it a big hit/menu favorite. I realize Arby's has built an empire on roast beef sandwiches so my first thought is it wouldn't be hard to improve on that mass market mediocrity.

So what's the secret to an awesome roast beef sandwich? The basics of course; good meat, good bread and good toppings. This one uses a couple of unusual ingredients and the combination is sublime.

So add Cutty's in Boston to the places I want to check out if I ever blow this town. I want to go to the mother ship and try this sandwich. I want to see how my version stands up to the original, because frankly the one I made is the best damn roast beef sandwich I've ever had!

I made a few changes to the original Cutty's Amazing Roast Beef Sandwich Recipe - I get the impression that Chuck Kelsey, the owner of Cutty's would approve; it sounds like he's a pretty good guy.
So the basis of this sandwich is Roast Beef and Cheese on a Bun. What sets it apart is some jazzed up thousand island dressing and some crispy deep fried shallots - a Vietnamese touch that puts it over the top.

The Kutty Sandwich

Ingredients:

• A Kaiser Roll or a Pub Bun - the original sandwich calls for a pepper brioche roll - I don't know of anything like that available around these parts - but it sounds like a fine idea.
• Thinly sliced roast beef - you can buy it from the deli or make it with the recipe below
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese - I used Tillamook Vintage White
• Jazzed up Thousand Island Dressing (Thousand Island with bit of horseradish to taste) or use the recipe below
• Crispy Deep Fried Shallots - recipe below or buy them pre-made at an Asian Market. You might get by using those Durkee's French Fried Onions of Green Bean Casserole fame, but I don't think it would be the same

 Method: 

• Pre-heat the broiler while you're assembling the rest of the ingredients
• Split the Pub Roll and and top each half with a slice of cheese and put under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the roll are browned.
• Top the bottom half of the the bun with a pile of thinly sliced roast beef
• Top the pile of roast beef with a tablespoon or two of the Thousand Island Dressing 
• Pile on some of the crispy shallots
• Put the top half of the bun on the sandwich and prepare to be amazed!

Roast Beef

1. Salt and Pepper a two plus pound sirloin tip roast - put it in a ziplock bag and refrigerate overnight
2. The next day pull the roast out of the fridge an hour before you're going to cook it
3. Preheat the oven to 500 and let it heat for 20 additional minutes after it comes to temperature - I can't emphasize enough how important it is to properly preheat an oven! Listen Dammit! I know what I'm talking about!
4. Put the roast in the oven and turn the oven down to 475
5. Cook the roast for 5 minutes per pound - I had a two and a third pound roast - I cooked it for 12 minutes.
6. Turn the oven off and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!
7. Let the roast cook in the oven for 2 1/2 Hours and DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!
8. While it's cooking make sure you have a really sharp knife - if you don't, you've got about two hours to get it sharp 
9. Okay, now you can open the door and pull out the roast - let it rest for 15 minutes
10. Thinly slice the roast - as thin as you can - this is why you have to have a really sharp knife

Housemade Thousand Island Dressing

• 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup bottled chili sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped drained pimiento
• 1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle or cornichon
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 2 - 3 tablespoons horseradish

 Mix together all of the ingredients except the horseradish.

Horseradish varies in it's heat level - the idea here is to have just a bit of the heat and taste of the horseradish,  so add a the horseradish a bit at a time until it's right.

Crispy Fried Shallots

Ingredients:

• two cups of peeled sliced shallots - slice them a scant 1/8th inch thick
• four cups of canola oil

Method:

1. Slice the shallots and lay them out on a sheet pan to dry for 20 or 30 minutes
2. Heat the oil to 350 in a deep sauce pan - a 3 qt pan is good
3. Add the shallots to the oil - be careful - they have a lot of water and the pan may want to boil over
4. The oil temperature will drop to about 250 - keep it here and cook for 10 to 15 minute until the shallots are caramel brown - peanut butter brown is almost too much.
5. Drain the shallots on several layers of paper towels

This will keep for a week or so in a covered container

Since it's Kentucky Derby Weekend - I've been drinking a few mint juleps

Mint Julep

• 2 to 3 ounces bourbon whiskey – I used Buffalo Trace
• 4 to 6 sprigs of mint
• ½ to ¾ ounce simple syrup (1 cup water, 1 cup sugar – bring to a simmer and then cool)
• crushed ice

1. Add mint to bottom of glass.
2. Add simple syrup and gently muddle mint into syrup, rubbing it all around the sides of the glass. Do not over-muddle the mint - the idea is to bruise it and get the essential oils into the syrup
3. Pull out most of the mint, leaving the minty syrup behind.
4. Fill glass halfway with crushed ice.
5. Add bourbon. Jiggle ingredients but do not stir.  The drink should get mintier and a bit sweeter as you get to the bottom of the glass
6. Add crushed ice on top until mound forms.
7. Garnish with large mint sprig

What's in a name? That which we call a rose

The Monkey Gland is a most unfortunately named cocktail. Frankly it bothers me more than just a little that I like this cocktail as much as I do.

I don't know if there is another drink that I like that has a name with such an "Ick!" factor. I suppose that this is one of those "a Rose by any other name would smell as sweet" things.

I like Manhattans - the name sounds like a sophisticated cocktail from a sophisticated city - I can imagine drinking them at a cocktail party in a Manhattan Loft with Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond playing a soft version of Take Five in the background - not on a cd or vinyl - the two of them together again - I know Desmond is dead, but I saw him playing with Brubeck once; front row, center. Amazing - pretty vivid imagination in play here don't you think, but I really was front row, center.

A Sazerac conjures up images of a smoky joint in New Orlean's or bottles of Rye Whiskey, Absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters. Max Rebennack; Dr. John the Night Tripper playing "Right Place, Wrong Time"

Martinis make me think of riding the Green Tortoise to San Francisco - My cousin Mark picked me up - several hours late and I was irritated . We stopped and had a pint of Anchor Steam with a couple of Martini backs to calm me down. It was some funky place that served barbecue turkey legs. I guess I should have some Grateful Dead song rolling as I write this bit, but frankly I'm drawing a blank - Truckin' doesn't really seem like appropriate martini music - but then again, barbecue turkey legs don't seem like the kind of finger food that would go with martinis either. Canapes and Julie London would be more like it.

I don't have any positive imagery with the Monkey Gland cocktail. Somehow what comes to mind is a doctor doing physicals on a bunch of naked guys lined up at the old military induction center near SW 5th and Taylor in my aborted attempt to join the Navy in 1972 - maybe Country Joe McDonald got through to me. Sorry, it's not a pretty picture - more "Ick Factor"

Maybe there is hope though as noted below it was also known as the McCormick - which somehow reminds me more of little tins of herbs at the grocery store. Then again, the story also includes the real origin behind the name of the cocktail.

From the Washington Post – Washington, D.C., Apr 29, 1923:

“Preparing for a busy tourist season, Frank, the noted concocter behind the bar of the Ritz, has devised a new series of powerful cocktails, the favorite of which is known as the “monkey gland”, or , as it is popularly called, the “McCormick.”
Like Frank’s “poixxito quinte” [?] gloomer raiser, the monkey gland requires absinthe to be perfect, but its amateurs have found anise a substitute with a sufficient kick.
For the benefit of friends over in America who have not exhausted their cellars, here is the recipe: half and half gin and orange juice, a dash of absinthe, and a dash of raspberry or other sweet juice. Mix well with ice and serve only with a doctor handy. Inside half an hour the other day Frank purveyed forty of these, to the exclusion of Manhattans and Martinis.”

 Monkey Gland or McCormick

1 1/2 oz. London dry gin  (I use Cascade Mountain Gin)
1 1/2 oz. orange juice
1 tsp. grenadine - make your own - it's so much better
1/2 tsp. Absinthe

Stir with cracked ice and strain.

Mystery Meat with Music

Somewhere in the dim dark past I read or heard about Taylor's Pork Roll; New Jersey's version of Spam. Over the years I'd seen references to it on food blogs and even heard it celebrated in a song called "Pork Roll, Eggs and Cheese" by the band Ween. I was determined to try it if I ever made it to New Jersey - you know one of those Bucket List things...

So this morning about 4 AM when I was wandering through QFC picking up some Rotel Tomatoes and Velveeta I thought I was hallucinating when I looked down and saw three plump packages of Taylor's Pork Roll in the deli case.

At $9.95 a pound it seemed like a relative bargain compared to a trip to New Jersey. So I abandoned my plan to be at HAVL in SE Portland at 8 AM for a steaming and spicy bowl of Bun Bo Hue and set course on plan B.


When I got home I put away the groceries and did a few other chores while waiting for the sun to come up. Finally it was time to make a fine Saturday Breakfast.

One of the celebrated uses of Taylor's Pork Roll is the Jersey Sandwich. This Sandwich is what the song was about. It's what an Egg McMuffin aspires to be: a Kaiser roll topped with cheese, egg and the centerpiece "Taylor's Pork Roll". At least I hoped it would be what an Egg McMuffin aspired to be.

I had all the ingredients at hand. I'd picked up my favorite roll for burgers at QFC - they're called "Pub Rolls" and they're made by Portland French Bakery - if you've ever had a brisket or pulled pork sandwich at  Podnah's Barbecue here in Portland, you've had a Pub Roll. They're so much better than a hamburger bun, but still maintain the traditional soft white style - it's hard to describe, but once you've tried them you'll wonder why anybody uses anything else.

For cheese I had some Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar. This is my favorite for a toasted cheese sandwich or melting on a cheeseburger. This stuff is the bomb in Macaroni and Cheese. Martha Stewart would say "It's a good thing"

Sitting in the fridge were a dozen farm fresh eggs that I'd received as a peace offering from a coworker after a beef at work. A carton full of eggs in brown, white and green from her girls - the flock of chickens she raises. They ranged in size from a couple that weren't much bigger than a large olive to one behemoth that was double the size of any extra large egg I've ever seen.

New Jersey Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Pub Roll or Kaiser Roll
• A Couple of nice slices of cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs
• 3 slices of Taylor Pork Roll - it's traditional to put five or six slices in to the edges of the meat to keep it from curling when it cooks.

Method:

• Fry the pork roll until it's nicely browned and flip it over to brown the other side
• Put the a slice of cheese on the inside of each half of the buns and put them under the broiler - keep an eye on them - they'll cook quickly..
• crack the eggs and mix with a teaspoon of water - make a plain omelet - just like Julia taught you
• put the omelet on the bottom half of the roll and top with the three slices of pork roll and the top half of the bun.

This thing was so damned good I made a second one an hour later. The pork roll is really tasty. It looks vaguely like a roll of Spam, but the texture is firmer and the flavor is totally unexpected - a bit smoky and it's got a tangy cured flavor.

It's almost noon in Boise - but no cocktail for me - I'm driving.

Let Them Eat Fish Cakes

One of the bounties of the season here in the Pacific Northwest is Spring Run Chinook Salmon - known as Springers - not to be confused with the dog breed that I'm very fond of.

Time for a slight digression and I find this vaguely disturbing - it appears that I share two things in common with George W. Bush - we've both owned springer spaniels and a black cat named India. W apparently named his dog Spot (picture at right) after the the dog in his favorite book. 

So back to fish - my buddy Jeff, the great and generous fisherman, shared a chunk of his first fish of the season with me. This is the fourth year in a row that I've been on the receiving end of his generosity. I'm prepared for this to be a lifelong tradition.

I steamed the fish on a bed of aromatic vegetables and dry vermouth. It picked up hints of the anise from the fennel. There was way more than I could eat and I was faced with the enviable issue of left over salmon.

One of my favorite ways to deal with leftover fish is to make fish cakes - I usually just wing it, but I remembered a recipe for Cod Cakes in an issue of Saveur that I had laying around. I substituted salmon for the cod. This recipe is really good, but it's a bit more fussy than the ones I just throw together.

I served this with some asparagus and a nice Sparr Gewurztraminer. One of the nice things about this recipe is the preparing of the salmon cakes ahead of time. You don't need to cook them all at once. You can cook them up as you want over a couple of days or you can cook them up and make a sandwich with the leftovers.

Salmon Cakes 
- based on a Cod Cake recipe from Saveur

6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 russet potatoes (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 1⁄4" cubes (I used a couple of left over baked potatoes)
Kosher salt, to taste - I used several generous shakes of Old Bay Seasoning
1 lb. steamed salmon filets
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1⁄2 cup dried bread crumbs - I used Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill or 2 tsp of dried dill
2 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsp. unsalted butter


1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add celery, onions, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer celery–onion mixture to a large bowl and set aside.

2. Put potatoes into a 4-qt. saucepan and cover with salted water by 1". Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; transfer half the potatoes to a plate. Set aside to let cool. Transfer remaining potatoes to a bowl and mash with a fork. Transfer mashed potatoes to reserved bowl of onion mixture; set aside to let cool.

3. Add salmon, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, herbs, egg yolk, and lemon juice to the potato–onion mixture and stir vigorously to combine. Add the reserved cubed potatoes and the salmon and mix gently to combine. Using your hands, divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form into 3"-wide cakes (use a 3" ring mold if you have one). Transfer cakes to a wax paper–lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Working in 2 batches, heat 1 tbsp. oil and 2 tbsp. butter in a 12" cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon cakes and cook, flipping once, until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer cakes to a serving platter; serve with chowchow, if you like.
SERVES 4

Chowchow

1 1⁄2 lbs. green tomatoes, cored and finely chopped (I used the greenest tomatoes I could find at the store)
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tbsp. kosher salt
1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄3 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1⁄2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1⁄2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp. celery seeds
1 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
1⁄4 tsp. ground coriander
10 whole peppercorns
10 whole cloves
10 whole allspice berries


1. Toss tomatoes, onions, celery, and peppers in a large bowl with salt; cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight. Transfer vegetables to a sieve and press to extract excess juices; discard juices.

2. Transfer vegetables to a 6-qt. saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Cover, bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft, about 2 1⁄2 hours. Transfer relish to a jar and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Note: I made a double batch and water bath canned 4 pints

MAKES ABOUT 2 PINTS

 Since I now have an abundance of housemade orange liqueur I've been trying a variety of recipes that call for Cointreau. This one is pretty fine and makes a nice after dinner tipple.

Argentina Cocktail

·    1 oz gin
·    1 oz dry vermouth
·    ¼ oz Cointreau or housemade orange liqueur
·    ¼ oz Bénédictine
·    1 dash orange bitters
·    1 dash Angostura bitters
·    Stir well with ice and strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Spring has Sprung

It was a beautiful day in Portland yesterday. Spring Equinox fell on a perfectly lovely spring day. I had daffodils, hyacinths and a couple of straggler crocuses in bloom.

I spent the day doing battle with the laurel hedge in front of the house. I'm trying to whack it down to a manageable size and still maintain the privacy screen it provides. It's a long slow process - you'd think I was Michelangelo working on the marble sculpture of David.

The beautiful weather got me thinking about summer drinks. One of the cocktails enjoy in the summer is a Gimlet. It's a simple enough drink; half gin and half Rose's Lime Juice and yet I've always thought it could be a bit better. The Rose's Lime juice is made with HFCS instead of sugar (apparently it's still made with sugar in Canada) and it seems overly sweet. So I was delighted when I came across a recipe for a homemade lime cordial while poking around on eGullet a few months ago.


Yesterday after I'd had enough of tormenting the hedge I hit the two local Asian markets for limes and kaffir leaves. It only took about twenty minutes to get the limes peeled and juiced and get it simmering. I let it cool and settle overnight and ran it through a coffee filter this morning. So here I sit enjoying the first Gimlet of the year and it's much better than what I'm used to and all that I'd hoped for.


I"ll be drinking a lot of these this year since this made about three or four times the amount of lime cordial that I usually go through in a year. This is limeade for adults with the added benefit that a regular ration of it will help prevent scurvy!


Housemade Lime Cordial

Submitted by: Katie Loeb on Recipe Gullet

The below recipe will make about 5 cups of lime cordial. This works in gimlets (vodka or gin) for cocktails, or as a base for limeade, or with ginger beer for a non-alcoholic ginger-limeade with a bit of club soda splashed in with the cordial and ginger beer.

3 Cups  Water
1-1/2  C Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar
1/2 Tbls Citric Acid (available at homebrew shops)
1 tsp Tartaric Acid (available at homebrew shops)
2 Cups fresh lime juice - This will be 15 or 16 large limes
Peel of 4 limes
6 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded (Get them at a Thai or Asian Market)
1 tsp Rose water
1 tsp Orange Flower water

Stir sugar, citric acid and tartaric acid together with a whisk. Bring water to a boil, then add sugar mixture. Stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar mixture into water. Add lime juice, lime rinds, kaffir lime leaves and stir. Heat mixture for 10 minutes on high heat, turn off heat, cover and cool overnight. Strain out lime rind and add Rose and Orange Flower water. Refrigerate for another day before using (the flavor continues to change a bit). Stored in the refrigerator, it should keep better than simple syrup.

Gimlet
1 1/2 oz Gin
1 1/2 oz Lime Cordial


Mix the ingredients over ice in a highball glass and garnish with a slice of lime
 

Beet Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar)

Beets are one of those love or hate food things. Some people find the earthiness of beets a bit too earthy. Personally I love beets. Give them to me roasted, pickled or the out of the can pile them on your salad at the salad bar type.

The only problem I have with beets is the color or more accurately the way a beet wants everything it touches to be beet colored. I'm pretty sure the first person that ever got caught "Red Handed" had been stealing beets. One of my wooden cutting boards now looks like it's some exotic wood like purpleheart instead of maple.

A few weeks ago I made a batch of borscht,  basically a beet stew, for a friend's sister that has been undergoing radiation treatment. The recipe called for 4 large beets. The older I get the more frustrated I get about descriptions like "4 large beets". Large compared to what? I've seen baby beets that were the size of cherries. So does that mean a large beet is the size of a tennis ball? Perhaps a the size of a softball?

I ended up with some extra large beets - maybe the size of a medium cantaloupe - you know what I'm talking about - larger than a large grapefruit, but smaller than a soccer ball.

I bought five of these beet behemoths, because really if you like beets, can you ever have to many? Maybe I was just channeling some long gone Russian peasant. As it happens I think each of these beets was the equivalent of about six of the large beets that the recipe's author had called for. When all was said and done I had a couple of gallons of borscht - plenty for the sick sister, the healthy sister, the other healthy sister, their families and even quite a lot for myself.

It was good stuff. So yesterday I made another, more modest batch.

Borscht Recipe

The original recipe is from Elise Bauer's Simply Recipes - this is a simplified version.

Ingredients

* 8 cups beef broth
* 1/2 lb beef chuck, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes
* 1 large onion, peeled, medium dice
* 4 large beets, peeled cut into 1/2 cubes - 4 cups
* 4 carrots, peeled, chopped into medium dice
* 1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
* 3/4 cup chopped fresh dill or a couple of Tbls of dried dill
* 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
* 1 cup sour cream - to garnish when serving
* Salt and pepper to taste


Method

1. Add all of the ingredients, except the sour cream, to a pot
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the beef is falling apart tender - 1 1/2 to 2 hours
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar.
4. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and a pinch of dill.

Serves 6

I drank a nice lighter Pinot Noir with this. No cocktail after dinner, but I did have a bit of Johnny Walker Red and the slight smoky peaty note was a good finish to the meal.

Red Beans and Ricely Yours

First off, nothing else that I cook smells as good as this does when it's cooking! First you smell the onions, then you smell the seasoning and finally the smokiness of the ham hocks and andouille.

I've developed a bit of a thing for all things Southern the last few years and it seems to manifest itself most often in Red Beans and Rice.

Red Beans and Ricely Yours is supposedly the way Louis Armstrong signed off his letters. It was an homage to his upbringing in New Orleans and to his one of his favorite meals as well - I'm with Louis on this one.

Red Beans and Rice are a New Orleans staple to this day. They're cheap and filling and really, really good if made right. Hell's Bells - even the funky beans in a bag version from Popeye's will do in a pinch. That might just be because for better or worse they were my introduction to the genre.

I've used a couple of recipes over the years, but my go to recipe these days is Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Pages Recipe. The secret sauce so to speak of this recipe is the Creole Seasoning Blend

Creole Seasoning - A slight variation on the Gumbo Pages recipe - mostly because it used what I had on hand.

• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried sweet basil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoon celery salt
• 5 tablespoons sweet paprika 

Red Beans and Rice

Soak the beans overnight.

1 pound dry red kidney beans - soaked overnight

1 can diced tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

5 ribs celery, chopped

5 cloves of garlic

1 large smoked ham hock

1 lb smoked andouille -sliced in half lengthwise and cut into 1/8" slices

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed

3 bay leaves

A couple of big shakes of Tabasco

3 T Creole Seasoning

2 or 3 T of Ham Base or salt to taste

Cover the beans with a couple of inches of water and add the rest of the ingredients

Cook for three hours or so until the beans are really soft.

Serve over steamed white rice with a bottle of Louisiana Red Hot Sauce on the side to add some heat to suit.

Since this in a New Orleans's dish I mixed up a couple of Sazeracs to go with the beans. Tragically I'm out of Rye.....so I made the Cognac Variation. Since the French settled New Orleans, the Cognac Version was most likely the original.

Sazerac

• 1/2 teaspoon absinthe
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 4 dashes Peychauds Bitters 
• 1dash of Angostura bitters  
• 2 ounces Cognac 
• Strip of lemon peel

Pack a rocks glass with ice. In another Old Fashioned glass, moisten the sugar with just enough water to saturate it, then crush. Blend with the whiskey and bitters. Add a few cubes of ice and stir to chill. Discard the ice from the first glass and pour in the Absinthe and coat the inside of the entire glass,Strain the whiskey into the Absinthe coated glass. Twist the lemon peel over the glass so that the lemon oil cascades into the drink, then rub the peel over the rim of the glass. Some folks say it's sacrilege to throw the peel in the glass - being the heathen that I am, I toss it in.

Rhymes with Orange

I've been looking for Seville or Sour Oranges for years - I'd heard rumors of them being available locally, but usually just after the nick of time.

This year I hit the mother lode while browsing around Barbur World Foods out across from the Park & Ride Station on Barbur at Taylor's Ferry Road.  I picked up several pounds of the them while I had the opportunity. I knew I wanted to try my hand at making some marmalade and some orange liqueur.

These babies were really aromatic sitting there in the fruit bowl. They perfumed the whole house - it was a treat to walk through the front door and smell the oranges.

I had a couple of recipes for marmalade that I'd saved the links for. One of the recipes was on David Liebovitz's Blog, the other was Rose Prince's recipe on the Telegraph - a British newspaper. I don't have a clue who Rose Prince is - she may be the Martha Stewart of the United Kingdom for all I know. David Liebovitz on the other hand is a former pastry chef from Berkeley's famed Chez Panisse and a prolific writer on all things sweet.

I basically followed Ms. Prince's recipe and the only issue I have with the results is that the marmalade is a bit on the runny side. Next time I'd add some pectin. The jam firms up when it's refrigerated. It's tasty on toast or pancakes. I'm not a big jam or marmalade eater so most of this will go as gifts or get used in deserts that call for jam or jelly.

I'm much more pleased with the liqueur. It's a very aromatic and substitutes well for Cointreau or Curacao in cocktails. I've got a near lifetime supply at this point having made nearly a gallon of the stuff. It makes a mean margarita, but I thought that since in my mind the marmalade is such a British thing I needed to make a cocktail that at least sounded like it had British origins, so I whipped up a "Churchill" - probably need a bulldog and cigar to really enjoy this one!

Churchill Cocktail
1 1/2 oz Blended Scotch - I used Famous Grouse
1/2 oz Housemade Orange Liqueur or Cointreau
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/4 to 1/3 oz fresh lime juice - this is the juice of half a small lime

Shake or stir in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Housemade Orange Liqueur

Peels of  three Seville oranges - use a vegetable peeler and just take the orange part
750 ml of 100 proof vodka
10 oz evaporated cane sugar or 1 1/4 cups
5 oz water

Soak the orange peels in the vodka for two weeks - strain the extract through a coffee filter

While the extract is filtering make simple syrup from the sugar and water - mix them in a pan and bring to a boil. When it's cooled down add it to the extract and bottle it up in some 375 ml bottles - you'll get about 2 1/2 bottles out of the deal.

Laundry Day or I'm a Nattering Nabob of Nincompoopery

I have observed over time that there are two kinds of people in the world; those that can fold laundry and those that can't. Those that can are almost always women or those few men around who made a career of the military. In the case of women I'm pretty sure it's one of those XY chromosome things. For those men that make a career in the military I've often wondered what came first; the ability to fold laundry or the career in the military?

You may be asking yourself "why is he writing about folding laundry?" Well the answer is that I'm sitting in the laundromat on this damp Superbowl Sunday. I come to the laundromat two or three times a year when I have items too large for the superduty large capacity Maytag at home. I'm washing a comforter that was barfed on by a cat in the middle of the night - something that happens, oddly enough, two or three times a year.

One thing I have discovered about barfing cats; when they start to barf, all you can do is sit back and let it happen and when it's over clean it up. The worst thing you can do is try to grab them. If you make a move towards a cat in the act they dash under the bed or behind the couch. The net result is more work, because now you have to move a piece of furniture to get to the damn mess. The up side to this is that I probably needed to clean under the bed or behind the couch anyway.

Notice the upper right hand corner of the drawing

Back to folding laundry..... I'm formalizing my observations about the two kinds of people after several years of observation and conversation with folks here at the laundromat. Women and retired military types always fold their laundry before they leave and they seem to do it quickly and effortlessly. The rest of us pile it into our baskets and quietly scurry away to fold our laundry, at home, in shame. When I fold my laundry each lumpy item bares little resemblance to the similar item I've just folded. Quickly hidden away in drawers; it's out of sight and out of mind. The only satisfaction I derive from this operation is that I don't have baskets full of wrinkled and unfolded laundry strewn about the house.

It's Super Bowl Sunday and it feels cold and damp. I'm making soup to ward off the chill.

Super Bowl Chicken Stew

Based on a recipe from the Kitchen Parade Blog

• 1 really large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 pounds bone in chicken thighs - skin removed
• 3 carrots sliced into 1/8th inch coins
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1 apple, cored and chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups dry riesling
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon summer savory or sage
• 1/4 teaspoon basil
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of flour

Brown the chicken thighs in olive oil until they're cooked through and remove to a platter

Briefly saute' the carrots, celery and onions until they're just softening up a bit.

Add everything else but the flour into the pot and bring to a simmer.

Cook until the sweet potatoes are done.

Fish out the thighs, while they cooling do the step below and then remove the bones and shred into bite size pieces.

Mix the flour with a bit of water and then mix in some of the broth from the stew - stirring constantly to avoid lumps - add the mixture to the stew and cook for another five or ten minutes to thicken and cook out the flour taste.

Return the shredded chicken to the pot and serve.

I'm going to drink a 2007 Bethel Heights Gewurztraminer with this, but you could go with a Riesling or the beer of your choice.

The Cocktail of the Day is the Mythic Wood, which I wrote about here 

A note on the Day after Superbowl - I don't know why I didn't pick the Sazerac as the drink of the day yesterday - it would have been appropriate as it is the national drink of New Orleans!

The Map of the Cats Brain Cartoon was Originally published in MS Magazine, Vol III, #1, July/August 1992

Life is the Pits!

It was one of those weeks where Friday couldn't come soon enough. Wednesday morning I went out to head for work and discovered that my car had been broken into. The driver's door window was broken out and shattered glass was all over the interior of the car. Apparently they thought they needed the things in my car more than I did. I've seen enough of the PPB talks on car prowls that I didn't have anything of value in view and very little of value in the car. The value of the items taken was less than $25 - the window was $155 to replace.

Late last summer I ate apricots at a furious pace and managed to collect an ounce of apricot pits to make apricot kernel liqueur. An ounce of apricot kernels is about a 1/3 of a cup. Doesn't sound like much but it represents a lot of damn apricots!

The inspiration for this came from Matthew Rowley's Whiskey Forge Blog

Please Note! Apricot kernels contain cyanide in trace amounts! The minimum lethal dose is about 3-4 ounces of raw apricot pits. In other words you'd have to drink in excess of three 750 bottles of this liqueur to approach this. I think most of us would pass out or throw up before we reached that level and if we didn't we'd probably wish we were dead when we woke up later.

Amaretto is considered to be an Almond Flavored Liqueur, but in fact it can be made with apricot kernels or almonds or both.

Housemade Apricot Kernel Liqueur

Ingredients:
16 oz 100 proof vodka plus a bit more
1 oz shelled apricot kernels - you can buy them by the pound on Amazon or eBay
12 oz agave Syrup
12 oz water

Method:

Put the apricot kernels and vodka in an air tight glass jar and stash away in a cool dark place for several months.

Strain the resulting extract through a coffee filter and add additional vodka to bring the total back to 16 ounces.

Add the 16 ounces of filtered extract to the water and agave syrup and mix thoroughly. Pour it into bottles and seal tightly - store it in a cool dark place.

Godfather

1 oz Blended Scotch
1 oz Housemade Apricot Kernel Liqueur

Mix in an old fashioned class filled with ice cubes

There are more drinks and links Here

Yin and Yang

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. It was pretty nice outside too.

I went down to Salem to make sausage with my friend Daryl. Daryl earns his keep as a caterer (he and his wife Leslie own Loustic Catering in Salem), but we started making sausage together before he got back to cooking professionally. He's catering a big Superbowl party and we used the sausage making as an excuse to get together.

We made four kinds of sausage yesterday, two with pork and one each with lamb and chicken. We've developed a couple of our own recipes over the years but all four of these were from Polcyn and Ruhlman's book "Charcuterie".

There are several things I enjoy about sausage making; first and foremost is getting together with a friend, but beyond that is the ability to control the ingredients and tweak the flavors to our own tastes.

The breakfast sausage recipe needed a bunch of tweaking after tasting a bit - we added more sage, a bit of nutmeg and a bunch of red pepper flakes. I had some this morning for breakfast and the seasoning was all good except for too much garlic! I'm not a garlic fan first thing in the morning. We've got our own recipe for breakfast sausage that I much prefer. The one thing I did get from this recipe is how much fresh ginger you can put in and not have it dominate the flavor. I'm going to add more ginger to our breakfast sausage recipe the next time I make it.

The other pork sausage we made was the Sweet Italian Sausage. I've been told that traditional Sweet Italian Sausage has no garlic in it. This has plenty! It makes a very flavorful sausage that is great grilled or used in spaghetti sauce or in a lasagna.

We made a lamb and rosemary sausage the was chock full of rosemary. I'm really looking forward to throwing some of these on the grill when it warms up. I think this sausage would really pair well with a Zinfandel, Southern Rhone wine or a jammy Las Rochas Garnacha.

The final sausage we made was a chicken sausage with roasted garlic and oregano. I have to say I'm not usually a fan of chicken sausage, but this one turned out pretty well. The original recipe called for duck and substituting chicken was just the first of many deviations we made from the recipe as written. The final result bore little resemblance to th e original. We had some left over and were throwing some ideas around about how to use it and we came up with using stuffing a chicken breast with it, wrapping it in prosciutto and baking it or using it as a stuffing for mushroom caps. You could serve the stuffed mushroom caps with a lighter Pinot Noir or a Sauvignon Blanc and it would be pretty tasty.

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I thought an earthy Belgian Ale would be good with these chicken sausages. I need to see if I can get a couple of more bottles of Gilgamesh Cranberry Saison - the tart cranberry component and lack of hops makes this beer easier for me to match with food (their Hopscotch Scottish Ale is also very good). It's a seasonal product and they don't yet have wide distribution, but if you live in the Salem or Portland area you may be able to arrange for a delivery by contacting the folks on the website.

Daryl threw together a wonderful bright squash soup for lunch. He served it up with a tossed salad with a miso vinaigrette (I need to get the recipe!) and a really good bottle of 2007 Bethel Height's Gewurztraminer. I have to say that it is the best American made Gewurtz I've ever had - I might have mistaken it for an Alsatian version if I hadn't seen the label.

I brought home some of the left over soup and had it for dinner last night. It was so good I decided to make it again today. It's equally good on a warm, bright day (Yang) or a cold dark day (Yin). Daryl used Sweet Meat Squash and the soup was canary yellow. I used a couple of small Kobucha squash and the soup has a much oranger hue. I think you could probably make this with carrots or sweet potatoes and it would be pretty darn good.

Daryl's Yin Yang Winter Squash Soup - I'm drinking cheap TJ's dry sherry with this as I type!

4 cups Winter Squash - peeled and cut in to large chunks
4 cups chicken broth - homemade if you've got it
4 large cloves of minced garlic
4 T minced ginger
1 cup cream, half and half or milk - of course it will be richer if you've got cream, but you suit yourself.

Throw the squash, broth, ginger and garlic in a pot and cook until the squash is tender

Blend it with a stick blender or in batches in a blender.

Add the dairy and warm it up if necessary.

Add salt to taste if necessary.

A follow up to a cocktail recipe I posted a couple of weeks ago

Modified Lion's Tail

• 2 ½ oz. Bourbon Whiskey
• ½ oz. Allspice Dram
• ¾ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and serve.

I find this is more to my liking than the original and very tasty original recipe posted below. I like the match of the lemon with the vanilla notes of the bourbon and with the lower acidity of the lemon, the additional simple syrup isn't needed.

Lion's Tail

• 2 oz. Bourbon Whiskey
• ½ oz. to ¾ oz. Allspice Dram
• ½ oz. Fresh Lime Juice
• ½ spoonful of Simple Syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Late Night Reading

My reading usually tends towards mind candy like mysteries or the occasional science fiction and the occasional smattering of how to books and cookbooks. I also enjoy magazines, but I've stopped buying or subscribing because once I get them in the house I can't seem to get rid of them.

Lately I've been reading a couple of biographies; Paul Shaffer's "We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives" and Craig Ferguson's "American On Purpose: The Improbable Adventures Of An Unlikely Patriot". Both of these books are written by late night personalities. While both are naturalized American citizens and stars in their own right; the similarity pretty much ends there.

Paul Shaffer's book is quite entertaining. It's full of anecdotes and stories of his youth and his career. I hadn't realized the extent of his involvement with Saturday Night Live and how his career was so entwined the likes of Martin Short, Eugene Levy and other show biz Canadians. Shaffer's life started comfortably middle class and he's really never seemed struggle on his journey. The book is sweet little bites that can be enjoyed chapter by short chapter. While there are no earth shaking revelations; it's a worthwhile read.

Craig Ferguson's story is quite a bit grittier. He grew up in government housing and seemingly always made the wrong choices. His bawdy sense of humor is apparent from the start and his ironic tales make me laugh out loud. While Shaffer's tale is light and airy, Ferguson's book is darker and much more intense. I usually need to read a bit of something else afterward for a change. Don't get me wrong the book is funny, just dark and stormy as he describes his alcoholism and failed relationships. I'm only about a quarter of the way into the book, but it's a much more compelling read than Shaffer's book. I may have to start watching Ferguson's show again. I've found his humor a bit repetitive in the past, but I may appreciate and understand it more after reading this book.

On a cold winter evening, with the fire in the woodstove dying out, a mug of hot chocolate with a wee dram of demerara rum is just the ticket to accompany your late night read and it just might even be good for you!

Spiked Cocoa

• 6 oz of hot milk - I heat mine up in the microwave in a microwave save mug
• Housemade Chocolate Syrup to taste - Recipe follows
  
• 1 oz of Lemonhart 151 Rum - stir this in after you've heated the milk and mixed in the chocolate syrup

Housemade Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups organic evaporated cane sugar - this can be purchased at Trader Joe's or Costco
• 2/3 cup premium cocoa powder - I used Dagoba
• 1 tsp. real vanilla extract

Method:

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a two quart sauce pan - this stuff want to foam up so use a larger pan rather than smaller.
2. Add the cocoa and stir continuously for 3 or 4 minutes - you'll need to turn the temperature down a bit, but keep it boiling. I use a flat whisk the reaches the corners of the pan.
   
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla
4. Let it cool a bit and pour it into a clean glass jar.
5. You can't get all the syrup out of the pan, so pour in a bit of milk and return the pan to the heat and stir to mix and make your first cup of cocoa with the pan drippings!
   

Makes a generous two cups. Refrigerate

Happy New Year!

It's Friday. It's the weekend. It's time to clean house!

It would have been nice to start the New Year with a clean house.....but let's face it Pig Pen is my idol. The kid made a career out of being a mess; if only I could do the same.

I've been washing dishes; all by hand, no dishwasher but me in this house. Washing and folding laundry. Cleaning out the refrigerator and finding a few buried treasures including some that are usable and the inevitable science experiments.

All of this would be easier if I'd stayed home last night and gone to bed at a reasonable time. But no, I went out, had a wonderful time and finally made it to bed at 0330. Fortunately I passed up on most of the wonderful selection of alcohol and partook modestly of the extravagant bounty of food available last night. So while I'm moving slowly today, I'm not in pain.

It was a wonderful time last night. Ringing in the New Year with a small group of friends. The people and the conversation were eclectic. Solving the worlds problems, a bit of reminiscing and a lot of laughing.

The treasure in the refrigerator were a couple of bags of cranberries. I'd bought them the day before Thanksgiving when I thought I was responsible for making the cranberry relish. They've been hiding in the back of the produce drawer ever since. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade - when life hands you cranberries, make Cranberry Liqueur!

Cranberry Liqueur - Gunther Anderson's recipe with minor variations

Ingredients:

• 2 - 12 oz bags Oregon cranberries
• 2 Satsuma Mandarins - peel and all
  
• 2 1/4 cups vodka - I used 80 proof
  
• 2 1/4 cups sugar (use good organic evaporated cane sugar)
• 1 1/4 cups filtered water
• 4 cloves
• 8 allspice berries
• 1 cinnamon stick
• peel of one small lemon

Method;

1. Process cranberries and mandarins in a food processor until finely chopped - do it in two batches
2. Put all ingredients into a half gallon jar
3. Store in a dark corner of the kitchen for four weeks and give a shake or two daily
4. Line a colander with cheese cloth and strain.
   
5. Squeeze the cheese cloth to extract as much liquid as possible
6. Let it settle for a few days and then pour off the clear liquid and strain through a coffee filter.

According to the recipe this is based on it should make about 6 cups. For more information on making Liqueurs visit Gunther Anderson's liqueur pages

Here's a cocktail that looks like it would be good - I'll report back later!

Gundalow

2 1/2 oz Vodka or Gin
1 oz Cranberry Liqueur
2/3 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1 lime slice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and stir. Double strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with lime slice


Happy New Year!