Recipe » One Off

Here Comes the Sun

Feb 232008

The weather in Seattle has been divine for the last several days…sunny (I know!) and in the 50′s and low 60s. No rain. The trees are starting to bud. The grass is green. (Well, it stays green all winter here.) The skies are blue and clear, and there’s a very light breeze.

It’s just what I’ve needed. I took Luke to the dog park today, got a few things from the grocery store, and watched Company, the musical that showed on PBS last week. I also went shopping for new Blu-Ray movies as I bought a new toy last weekend. Then I practiced the song I’m singing in church tomorrow, and then came home and took Luke for a swim off the docks at the complex.

Good Saturday!

I get two days off of work in a row, I get to go on vacation in a few months, the sun is out, it’s warm(ish), my class is ending tomorrow, and a new one that I’ve really been looking forward to is starting on Monday.

Plus, I made the most amazing meatloaf ever last night. (Recipe below.)

So, I’m doing far better than I was a few days ago. I’ve decided I’m going to blame my rough patch on last week’s lunar eclipse. From zodiacarts.com,

A lunar eclipse is a time of beginnings, endings, exposure and major changes. It always has something to do with "relationships". The changes are tied to how we relate and will have a lasting impression. Emotions run high, causing upsets and feelings of disorientation. Actions taken often do not have the expected results, but they do bring awareness and enlightenment. The energy of an eclipse is at its strongest during the two days before and three days after its occurrence.

At lunar eclipses we: merge, unite, announce, contact, present ourselves, bring something out into the open, make decisions, engage, rise to the challenge, make an effort, change, get a new perspective, join with others, take on greater challenges, travel at a faster pace, feel restless, feel pressured by deadlines and a buildup of emotions, and experience excitement and crisis.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Anyhow, this is a very disjointed entry, because I’m getting ready to take my 4PM Saturday Afternoon Nap (TM), and my mind isn’t fully functional. Here’s the meatloaf recipe.

1 lb. ground hamburger
1 lb. ground pork
1 egg
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
2 garlic cloves
10 Small White Button Mushrooms
1/2 Green Pepper
1 Small Onion
Fresh Artisan Bread (thick, crusty stuff)
Parsley
Oregano
Thyme
Rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Butter
Olive Oil
Milk or cream

In a saute pan, add butter and olive oil. Add minced onion and saute until 2/3 of the way caramelized. Add minced garlic, diced bell pepper, and diced mushrooms. Cook until soft. Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, add several hunks of your fresh bread, all the herbs, and a splash of milk. Blend into a paste.

In a large bowl, add meat, bacon, the bread paste, the vegetables, and the egg. Salt and Pepper liberally. Mix until well integrated. Squeezing the meat will give you a finer, denser texture (more like a pate) and just mixing will give you a looser, grainier texture. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper, and on top of the paper, mold the mixture into a loaf shape, leaving enough space around the loaf for the fat to drain away.

Salt and pepper the top lightly. Bake on the middle rack at 350 degrees until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is 165. Then turn on the broiler for another 5 minutes (watch it closely so it doesn’t burn) to set the crust.

If you even DARE consider putting ketchup on this meatloaf, I will come to your home and kill you with my bare hands.

I generally hate meatloaf, but this, I like.

Close Roast Pork Shoulder

Recipe 3 Responses »

Nov 122007

When it comes to protein, pork is usually not that high on my list. Other than bacon. But this recipe is great. Taking a cue from "The Splendid Table" from American Public Media, I’ve improvised come up with an absolutely fabulous recipe.This slow-roasted pork shoulder roast cooks in its own juices, can be cut with a fork, and has a deep, mild, savory spice. By boiling the drippings to a syrupy consistency, you also have a fantastic dipping sauce or glaze. And pork shoulder being one of the most affordable of the pork roasts, you should be able to make enough to feed six people easily for less than $10 with leftovers.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, coriander, lots of black pepper, a bunch of salt, cayanne powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, the zest of one lemon, chili powder, and cumin. Rub this mixture into all sides of the roast. Unroll a very large swath of heavy duty aluminum foil and place the roast square in the middle. Then add several whole cloves of garlic (paper removed) and a couple sprigs of parsley. Wrap the roast tightly in the aluminum foil, making sure that you’ve sealed it up so the juices can’t leak out. Place the wrapped roast in a small glass baking dish just large enough for the roast to catch the juices that will run out. Roast in a 275° oven for at LEAST four hours, preferably six. You’ll know it’s done when a you insert a fork into the meat and it falls apart.

Remove the meat from the foil package and set on a plate to rest for 10 minutes Pour all the drippings into a saucepan. Over high heat, boil the drippings until they reduce by more than half. The brown sugar will caramelize and the drippings will take on a wonderful, thick, syrupy consistency. Pour it sparingly over your meat at the table.

For those who are a fan of the southern dish Chicken and Waffles, the use of this pork on waffles, pancakes, or cornbread with the sweet sauce would be fantastic. It also makes a killer sandwich with some thick-cut, toasted sourdough, fresh dill pickles, and a spicy pepper jack cheese.

I wish y’all could have been in my house tonight. I was making my own mouth water from the smell. I certainly have a new-found respect for pork.

It’s been a long day

Luke The Dog, Ramblings, Recipe No Responses »

Nov 032007

So, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I haven’t blogged anything substantial for a long time. That’s because a) school has been getting harder, b) I’ve been busy at work now that I have a new job, and c) I’ve been pretty depressed–and doing anything substantial when you’re depressed isn’t terribly likely. Plus, blogging when you’re depressed is always a pretty bad idea. It could easily get to the point where the only time I blogged was when I was depressed and that makes for a, forgive me, despressing blog.

I added yet another new blog theme, which I really like. That’s the nice thing about running blog software on your own server…you can adjust the theme however you want. This theme had some problems with images, but I’ve updated the code, and now the images work exactly the way I want them to–unlike nearly every other theme I’ve ever tried using. It’s bizarre, because I have a wide-screen monitor (well, two of them, actually) and designing a webpage that looks good on both a widescreen monitor and a regular monitor is hard. And, since I don’t have any monitors that aren’t widescreen, I have no way to test. So, if anything goes disasterously wrong on any of my pages, please let me know. Thanks!

It has started to get "cold" here in the Seattle area. This is the first time I’ve ever lived in an apartment that doesn’t have central heating. In fact, because of our proximity to Lake Sammammish, we can’t have natural gas either. (Not that I’m complaining about that…electricity is WAY cheaper.) I have three heaters in my apartment – one for each bedroom and one for the living room/kitchen/dining room area. (Which I’m remodeling right now…pictures to come in about a week when I get paid and can afford to finish!) I have actually decided that I like having different heating zones in the apartment. The heaters work lightning fast, which is fantastic. This allows me to be able to leave the heat in a room off until I actually walk into the room. If I’m not going to be in my room all day, the heat goes off, but I can still stay toasty in the living room.

I also broke out the fireplace for the first time. I didn’t have any firewood, per se, but I did have nearly every stick Luke has carried home with him during our walks. That kept the fire going for about an hour or so. I loving having a fireplace, but I learned the hard way that I have to make sure and clean out the ashes as soon as they cool down, otherwise, Luke likes to nose around in there and pull out pieces of charcoal and smear them all over the carpet. (Once again, GOD BLESS THE MAN (or woman) WHO INVENTED THE BISSEL STEAM CLEANER!!!

I haven’t been cooking a great deal because I really hate cooking for one person. I’ve been eating a lot of canned soup and TV dinners lately. Oh, and Halloween candy. (I spent $20 on candy and didn’t get a SINGLE trick or treater…) However, I did make two things just recently: Lemon Curd and the 2nd Best Hot Chocolate ever.

Lemon Curd is basically the filling of a Lemon Merangue Pie that can be used as a topping for ice cream, toast, waffles, etc. It’s FANTASTIC. I had never made it before, but one of the mail-order food catalogs I had was selling it for $17 a jar. I was intrigued, but not $17 intrigued. So I made my own. Nom, nom, nom. Lemon curd on a toasted sourdough English Muffin is DIVINE!

Lemon Curd

4 Whole Eggs

1 C. Sugar

The Juice and Rind of 3 Lemons (Be sure to remove the lemon rind BEFORE you juice the lemons)

1/2 C Melted Butter

Melt the butter in the microwave. Combine the sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, and eggs in a stainless steel or glass bown and wisk together. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter while wisking. Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water (making a double boiler). Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Over medium-high heat wisk the curd until it very slowly thickens. Keep whisking the entire time or the eggs will curdle, and you’ll get lemon scrambled eggs. Not good eats. Refrigerate and use like jam or jelly.

Lemon curd is extremely tart, but oh-so-good.

The world’s 2nd best hot chocolate is made by using Stephen’s Mint Hot Cocoa mix. Fill a mug 2/3rds of the way with water. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add a scoop and a half of the hot chocolate mix and grate a little fresh nutmeg into the mug. Then stir the entire concoction with a fudgesicle (!!!) until the fudgesicle has melted. Cheap fudgesicles work very well, so don’t get the expensive kind. The fudgesicle makes the hot chocolate thick and creamy, helps create a fantastic little foam on the top, and cools the drink down JUST enough to be drinkable right away.

Now I must schedule my liposuction…

Dog(gone) days of Summer

Luke The Dog, Ramblings, Recipe No Responses »

Aug 272007

This Saturday was one of those late-summer, early-fall Saturdays that are the stuff of my few Norman Rockwell-esque memories. I bundled up Luke (and by bundled up, I mean put on a leash and stuck a plastic bag in my pocket) and we went to the Redmond Farmer’s market which takes place every week from May through October at Redmond Towne Center.

This was the first time Luke had been to anything like this and, of course, he was a complete and total stinker. When he wasn’t pulling on the leash and choking himself, he was stealing apples and pears from the bins of fruit on the floor. He has an affinity for apples.

The Redmond farmer’s market isn’t like the paltry market at Pioneer park in Provo. It’s huge. In Provo, you find about 15-20 booths–all set up for the express purpose of ridding the small family garden of the vegetable pestilence known as zucchini. (Also, tomatoes.) This is because the people in Utah haven’t realized that Utah is the desert, and therefore, doesn’t naturally grow good food.

In Redmond you find about 100 small family-owned farms who bring tons of veggies and fruits. Because Washington is home to many of the farms which supply the Western US with produce, you can find a goodly amount of it. You get all the standards, but you also get some fantastic unusual items as well.

I bought Corn, Apples, Pears (thanks Luke…), Green Beans, Basic, Parsley, Onions, Garlic, Peppers (purple!), Peaches, Bok Choy, tomatoes, and of course, Zucchini–all for $15. I also discovered that Luke absolutely adores green beans–all because I was desperate for something I could use as a training treat to help keep him in line.

Once I got home, I made an absolutely DIVINE pasta dish (Recipe to Follow), featuring a boneless pork chop. I followed that with Breyer’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream topped with Fresh Peaches that had been mascerated in a little bit of sugar and lemon juice.

Then I took one of those naps where you’re pretty sure your heart stops beating and you leave your body. You know the kind: the 2 1/2 hour kind. After I woke up at about 5:30, I just laid on my back on the couch for about 10 minutes in complete and total contentment.

Then, I grabbed Luke again, and we walked five minutes down to the public beach at Idlewood Park and just sat on the beach for half an hour watching the ducks and the boats as the sun started to set. Then I wrapped the whole thing up by playing World of Warcraft for several hours.

If I hadn’t been for Sunday, it would have been an absolutely fantastic weekend. :)

Recipe: Matt’s Summer Garden Pasta

2 Boneless Pork Chops
3 Cups of Short Pasta (Farfalle, Penne, etc.)
1 Small Zucchini, in 1/2 cubes
2 Tomatoes, Chopped
1/2 C. Store-bought Spaghetti Sauce
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Handful Fresh Basil, Chiffonaded
Handful Fresh Parsley, Roughly Chopped
1/2 t. Red Pepper Flakes
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper (Grind it yourself…get a pepper mill if you don’t have one)
Extra Vigin Olive Oil
Freshly Grated Parmesean (and NOT the stuff from the green cardboard can)

Get salted water boiling in a large pot for pasta.

Liberally salt and pepper your pork chop. Set aside. In large saute pan, heat oil until hot. Fry pork chop until golden brown on both sides and about 50% done. (About 4-5 minutes per side).

Just before chop is done, add pasta to the boiling water.

Remove from pan and set aside and turn the heat down to medium. In same saute pan, add garlic, peppers, and if needed, a little more oil. Sweat until just before the garlic starts turning brown. Add tomatoes, the spaghetti sauce, most of the parsley and basil and the pork chop into the pan (with any juices that may have leaked out. Let simmer on medium low while pasta is cooking, stirring occasionally. About 5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the zucchini.

About 2 minutes before the directions on the pasta say it should be done, remove it from the heat and strain, reserving about 1/2 of the pasta water, which you should add to the sauce and porkchop mixture. Remove the chop and set aside again. Add the strained pasta to the saute pan and toss to cover pasta. Let cook slightly in the sauce, helping the sauce to thicken slightly and stick to the pasta. Plate and add the pork chop on top. Sprinkle with remaining basil, parsley, and parmesean.

Enjoy!

Chili

Ramblings, Recipe No Responses »

Apr 152007

I don’t like chili. I’ve never made chili before. However, yesterday, I somehow managed to win “best tasting chili” at a chili cookoff. Go fig. Here’s my recipe — borrowing heavily from Alton Brown and “Good Eats” on the Food Network.

Cut a chuck roast into bite-sized pieces and brown in oil. Add onions, beef broth, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, chipotle chiles and a spoon of the accompanying adobo sauce, lime juice, beans (if you must), garlic powder, oregano, dried cilantro, salt, pepper, a can of green chiles, a few sweet papers (red, green, yellow, or orange) a jar of medium salsa, a couple of handfuls of tortilla chips crunched into crumbs, and tomato past. Put pot into a 250-300 degree oven for six hours. Eat. Yum.

I’m (not) in the money

Ramblings, Recipe No Responses »

Apr 052007

So last night, I had one of those dream. You know the ones. The dream where something goes really wrong, and you’re so upset about it that you wake up, and you’re not sure if the dream was real. And of course, being upset, you can’t go back to sleep because you’re trying to figure a way out of the mess you’re in, although you’re really not in that mess.

Yeah, I had one of those. I dreamt that I woke up, and my e-mail inbox had an alert from Washington Mutual saying that both of my bank accounts were overdrawn. Of course, since I’m gainfully unemployed, that’s always particularly vexing, because in my dreams, at least, the bank was threatening to send my account to a collections agency. So, at 6:30 in the morning, I was wide awake, exhausted, and trying to figure out how I could make enough money to bring my bank accounts up to a zero balance so I could close them out.

I hate those dreams.

Today, I decided I needed to take a break from sending out a whole slew of job applications and resumes. So I did. I played a little World of Warcraft, I took two naps (I love naps) and I lounged around the house. Seattle was hit with an unexpected burst of spring, and it was very, very, very nice outside today. (I now understand why people like it here so much. When it’s nice, there’s not a whole lot nicer.) Tom and I went downtown to have lunch at Ivars (I wanted to try the salmon chowder this time) and to go to the market to get some tilapia and veggies for dinner. I made tilapia “en pappiote” or however it’s spelled in French. Basically, you take a fillet of fish (any firm-fleshed white fish will work just fine), salt and pepper it, and place it on a piece of parchment paper with lemon slices, carrots, potatoes, onions, asparagus, and fennel (optional). Then you drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the whole thing and you seal it up like a pouch. I use a stapler to keep it closed. Then you bake it at 300 degress for approximately 25 minutes until the veggies are just slightly al dente. It’s quite yummy. We also had a salad of fennel, jicama, beets, carrots, and dried cherries with a homemade honey-lime viniagrette (Red Wine Vinegar, Honey, Lime Juice, Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, and Brown Mustard).

Then we finally got around to watching Lost tonight. I’m glad the show has stopped sucking so much. I, along with most of America it seems, was about ready to walk away from the show, but I knew I just couldn’t. Finally, my patience has paid off. I feel like we’re finally getting some answers, and it’s become interesting again.

Anyway, a boring day. Tommorrow, I’m going to go make $10 an hour taking construction waste to the dump for the brother-in-law of a friend of a friend. It’s something to do, I guess.

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Here Comes the Sun

Close Roast Pork Shoulder

It’s been a long day

Dog(gone) days of Summer

Chili

I’m (not) in the money

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