Monday, November 19, 2007

Turkey Day is a comin'

Well, I haven't posted in a while because we're getting ready for our trip south to spend time with family for turkey day. John and I did manage to make Panocha this weekend (yes I know the spelling is wrong...that is my mom's spelling, and I used her recipe, so deal with it). It was AWESOME! Finally a success at making candy. The last time I tried to make this stuff, I blew up my candy thermometer. (Something my mom was too cool to use). I was planning to take a picture of it and post it, but....it got ate. Sorry. I still haven't had a chance to roast my bones. I hope to when we get back from the Turkey Day Holidaze. So! Live well and prosper! See you in a few days, with a few extra pounds hangin' around.
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Monday, November 12, 2007

Love That Meatloaf

NO! NOT THAT MEATLOAF!

THIS!




It's cold and rainy outside. It's a good night for comfort food, and what better comfort food than MEATLOAF? Not too many that I know of. So here's the deal tonight. I happened to have some left over ground deer meat blended with Italian sausage spices. I searched meatloaf recipes on Epicurious.com, and I found a buffalo meatloaf recipe. I thought, "what the hay. Why not use that? Venison, buffalo, it can't be too different, right?" Yeah I know, it can be quite different. But, the fat content may be similar, so I thought it just might work, plus the fact that one of the recipe reviewers used straight beef and loved the recipe told me it would be a go. So if you want to check out the recipe go here: Buffalo Meatloaf With Spinach and Roasted Baby Potatoes I have made some minor adjustments. First and foremost, the meat. I'm using a half pound of organic grass fed beef (all I can afford ....that stuff is ridiculously overpriced!) and a half pound of the ground venison "Italian sausage". I lowered the red pepper content since I'm serving it to my kids. I kept the spices the same, except for a little garlic powder being mixed in with the tomato sauce that I put on top ( instead of red pepper). Let's see, is that it? The only other changes were to the rest of the menu. I used fingerlings instead of the baby potatoes they called for, and since my kids, or at least one of them, has an issue with spinach, I steamed broccoli for them. I still sauteed spinach in olive oil and seasoned it with salt and fresh lemon juice and dinner was served. I will give you the family verdict asap!
Happy dinning!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Dem Bones

The other day I was walking through our local Ray's Food Place and discovered this:


All I could think was, "too cool!" I could roast my own marrow bones. Yes! My fantasy is to make them taste like the roasted marrow I had at Restaurant 301 for our anniversary a couple of years ago. I've loved marrow since I was a child, and my father and I would fight over the marrow in the bone on the round steaks mom would cook up about 3 nights a week, or so it seemed. The roasted marrow at 301 brought back a lot of childhood memories. The chef took this way beyond that little bit of round steak marrow though. The texture was buttery and a great contrast to the crunchy toast it was meant to be spread on, and the flavor was simple and smoky. It was paired with a dry rose, which was perfect with the smoky flavor.

But, having never cooked marrow bones before, I wasn't sure what to do. In searching for a recipe I discovered that Anthony Bourdain's death row meal would be Fergus Henderson's roasted marrow and parsley salad. ( He likes to play this game where he asks you what your death row meal would be). Well I just happened to find that very recipe on line.

So here is Fergus Henderson's recipe, and I hope I can make it good enough to be worth declaring as a death row meal

* 12 x 7-8cm pieces of middle veal marrowbone a healthy bunch of flat-leaf parsley, picked from its stems
* 2 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced
* 1 modest handful of capers (extra-fine if possible)

Dressing

* juice of one lemon
* extra virgin olive oil
* a pinch of sea salt and pepper
* a good supply of toast
* coarse sea salt

Method

Put the bone marrow in an ovenproof frying pan and place in a hot oven. The roasting process should take about 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bone. You are looking for the marrow to be loose and giving, but not melted away, which it will do if left too long (traditionally, the ends would be covered to prevent any seepage, but I like the colouring and crispness at the end).

Meanwhile, lightly chop your parsley, just enough to discipline it, mix it with the shallots and capers, and at the last moment, dress.

Here is a dish that should not be completely seasoned before leaving the kitchen ... A last-minute seasoning ... by the actual eater ... especially in the case of coarse sea salt, gives texture and uplift at the moment of eating. My approach is to scrape the marrow from the bone on to the toast and season with coarse sea salt. Then a pinch of parsley salad on top of this and eat. Of course, once you have your pile of bones, salad, toast and salt, it is "liberty hall".

Serves: 4

This recipe is taken from Nose to Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson. Published by Bloomsbury and distributed in Australia by Allen & Unwin. $45 (HB).

And hopefully it will taste as good as this looks:

Saturday, November 3, 2007