Tuesday, January 20. 2009
Thursday, January 15. 2009
Never use a wine for cooking or marinating that you would not be very happy to drink in a glass.
Dr. Joy Bliss
Wednesday, January 14. 2009
In the mailbox today, on one of those long sticky-notes:
 "Irish woman looking for a housekeeping job or helping out on weekends. Please call: (phone #)."
How can one not give her a call? "Helping out" sounds darn good, and so does "Irish." But can she split logs, remove spiderwebs and dustballs the size of raccoons, and do the laundry without bleaching everything to smithereens? And can she make mashed potatoes?
Surely the latter. But I already know the Irish Secret: A whole stick of butter, a thing of sour cream, a cup of heavy cream, and a mountain of salt and pepper. Almost forgot one minor detail - a bunch of boiled potatoes in there too, mashed to a lumpless mush by strong Irish arms.
Monday, December 22. 2008
Somehow, in our post on the variations on the classic Bloody Mary, our editor forgot to include the Bloody Maria. Try it during the holidays, for breakfast or brunch. Tequila and horseradish!
Saturday, December 20. 2008
I am a fan of meat pies: Chicken (or turkey) Pot Pie, Shepherd's Pie, and Steak and Kidney Pie are my favorites. And of course micemeat pie is really a meat pie too. For our Maggie's Farm Venison Cookbook, Mr. Free Market offers his Venison and Mushroom Pie.
Thursday, December 4. 2008
 Ceviche/Seviche/Cebiche. I used to make it with sliced sea scallops; lime juice, olive oil and salt, marinate it for an hour or so, and serve with thin-sliced onion and red pepper, and a little fresh Cilantro.
Now Ceviche has gone global, and now it only "cooks" in the juice for a minute or two. You have to go to Peru to find the best, says this author.
Wednesday, November 26. 2008
Try this: Splash a little real Maple Syrup on top of your slice of Pumpkin Pie tomorrow. You'll be hooked.
Monday, November 24. 2008
 We posted the website, HuntFishCook.com, a couple of years ago.
They have a good Game Cooking Basics.
Saturday, November 22. 2008
 This via Am Digest: How to carve a turkey like a man from The Art of Manliness: just the blog title tells you it is essential in today's sissified world.
If my memory serves me, I think that photo is from Dr. Bob a few years ago.
Saturday, November 8. 2008
 Bacon recipes are going around. It must be the time of year. For example, Apple Bacon Pie.
And how about this Texas Tommy? Thank God the hot dog is Kosher. Here's all you need to know about how bacon is made. Real chefs make their own. Some folks save their bacon grease in the freezer, to cooks greens in. I should start doing that. Greens without grease are rabbit food.
Wednesday, October 15. 2008
 We concluded our most recent planning meeting for our local Ducks Unlimited event by consuming a bottle of delicious, smooth, and healthful Liquore di Mirto (aka "Mirto") which the Dylanologist was kind enough to bring us back from Sardinia this summer.
It is apparently the national drink of Sardinia. They like it in Corsica too. This bottle was from Oristana. The rosso is like a port, with the extremely pleasant and unique fragrance of Myrtle. It's too precious and tasty to waste on debate-watching. We recommend shots and beer for that.
Thursday, September 25. 2008
Pork and apple sure do go well together. I cannot eat a pork chop without a pile of applesauce on the side (and a pile of collards). The best marriage of pork and apple is the festive Stuffed Crown Roast of Pork. As Sippican would say, it's the shiznit. Image is of a Cuban-style pig roast (for which just a single apple is required).
Sunday, September 7. 2008
 Had some of this last weekend.
Tastiest wine I've had in quite a while, and excellent for the price - but I am not good with wine jargon. Oregon's Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot, 2007. Too young to drink? That's a matter of taste. I am old enough to drink and that's what counts.
Saturday, September 6. 2008
A reader sent this in as a suggestion in response to my search for a new grill-smoker: 
Thursday, September 4. 2008
It's on sale here.  If readers have any better ideas (where the shipping wouldn't be $1000), let me know. Did I tell the story here about how the squirrels chewed through the propane hose on my old grill during the winter, and the unfortunate result when I opened the valve and tried to light the grill? Needless to say, that is an ex-grill.
Friday, August 22. 2008
 Learn all about them, here.
Thursday, August 21. 2008
 Fall is coming. Today's B&G recipe.
Remember: Lots of gravy greases and smooths the insides of your arteries, and helps your brain think better too.
Sunday, August 3. 2008
 Bird Dog gave me some seedlings to try in the garden, warning me that they don't grow like squash, but like gourds. (They are an edible gourd, same as pumpkin.)
Vigorous doesn't describe it. These things are like Jack's beanstalk, and bugs leave them alone. You're supposed to pick them before they get much over a foot long. Americans may consider them to be an Italian heirloom vegetable, but they are grown all over Asia. You peel them and cook like summer squash. Sometimes people fry them, too. Photo: A cucuzzi, with an overgrown cucumber for comparison.
Thursday, July 24. 2008
 We stuck with the Piedmont's local Barbera wines during our Italy trip. Barbera d'Asti and Barbera d'Alba. That same grape has been grown up there at least since the 13th century.
I did not realize that the Barbera grape is the most abundantly-grown grape in Italy. These are basically good table wines, nothing too complicated or fancy, and far down on the wine totem pole from the great Northern Italian wines like Amarone and the Nebbiolo grape-based Barbaresco and Barolo. About Barbera d'Alba, this site says: In the hilly area around Alba, only vineyards in the hills with suitable slopes and orientations are considered adequate for production. The terrains must be primarily clayey-calcareous or sandy-calcareous in character. DOC recognition is excluded for terrains with northern exposures and the bottoms of valleys that are flat or semi-flat. The colour of the wine is intense ruby red when young with a tendency to garnet after ageing.
This site says: The high-in-acid Barbera Grape of north-western Italy is a chameleon-like grape which changes considerably according to yield. As an everyday variety, it is a juicy glugger but it can metamorphose into a concentrated, rich, plumy and cherryish wine with undertones of sweet vanilla and spice when aged in small new casks. In Argentina, it tends to the former style with a little less acidity thanks to plentiful Andean sunshine.
Photo: Barbera grapes
Sunday, July 13. 2008
 Our regular readers know that I enjoy cooking meat in my smoker. For me, that is real barbecue. Not a grill - a smoker.
Mostly pork, sometimes beef. Unlike some of my pals, I do not believe in smoking game birds because their fine flavor is too subtle to hold up to smoke. I like to put on the hot rub du jour overnight, then start smoking it in the morning - or whenever I get to it. Pork loin, butt for pulled pork, ribs, beef tips, whatever. Sometimes I like to finish it off with a store-bought or home-made barbecue sauce on it while it finishes, sometimes during the entire cooking, sometimes on the side. For ribs, you have to cook with the sauce so they don't dry out. In Texas, it's on the side with the brisket - but I don't like brisket. What's your preference? Photo is my smoked pork loin. You need to have the sauce on the side for that.
Monday, June 16. 2008
 I've never understood the passion for the boiled or steamed Blue Crab on the Atlantic coast. Too much work for too little reward - though they are by far the tastiest crab in the world, and a true Maryland Crab Cake is the best. A lobster rewards effort better, but lobsters do not live in Maryland.
(Sauteed soft-shelled - moulting - Blue Crabs are another matter entirely. Great stuff.) Spelling note: "moult" or "molt" are both acceptable spellings, but apparently "molt" is more American. Some Blue Crab links: The Peoples' Lobster A little natural history of the Blue Crab How to correctly "pick" a crab How Blue Crabs moult
Sunday, May 18. 2008
 Well, the world's largest turkey in Frazee, MN (photo on right) got his goose cooked a few years ago. Overcooked turkey - too dry, not good.
However, the largest turkey ever raised was 86 lbs (39 kilos). That big guy must have been a fine source of left-overs for some lucky family. The problem would be running out of cranberry sauce and stuffing.
Wednesday, May 14. 2008
Are wine's pleasures all in your head? What motivates the wine shopper?, by Eric Asimov in the NYT, who notes: In press accounts of two studies on wine psychology, consumers have been portrayed as dupes and twits, subject to the manipulations of marketers, critics and charlatan producers who have cloaked wine in mystique and sham sophistication in hopes of better separating the public from its money.
Is that true? I have tasted some undrinkable wines in my time, very many entirely OK table wines, and some sublime ones. Tasting a wine is like meeting a new person: put your preconceptions away and see who they are. Turning wine into an effete exercise is pure silliness. h/t, a post on the subject at Neuroanthropology. 
Saturday, May 10. 2008
A re-post: A few nifty finds: New York City in Pictures, with "every street and every building in NY"; NewYorkology is a site with depth and detail, with tips for visitors and residents, including the location of the Whispering Gallery in Grand Central Station, which is quite near my favorite spot in the world for oyster stew and a beer, the famous and venerable Oyster Bar & Restaurant, which, along with oysters from all ends of the earth, almost always offers the rarest and very best oyster on earth, Wellfleets , with their subtle nutty flavor derived from the Herring River which flows into the harbor of Bird Dog's favorite town on his native Cape Cod. Then there's NY Architectural images - cool building photos listed by neighborhood. Oldbars lists - with photos - some of NYC's oldest, including McSorleys, where I have both booted and rallied in youth, back before 1970 when women weren't allowed in; and, since we're on bars, there's the unique The Campbell Apartment, if you can find it; Forgotten New York is a good ramble; and the new Tenement Museum has been getting a lot of attention, but I haven't been there.
Sunday, April 13. 2008
Ketchup-lovers like me hate the idea of enriching the wannabe-patricians Theresa Heinz and John Kerry. Plus we like the idea of something with a bit more kick. I am making this one, from the Food Network: 3 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
Can of Roma tomatoes, skinned, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch allspice
Pinch celery salt
Pinch mustard seed In medium saute pan over medium heat, add oil and onions. Cook until brown and caramelized. Add the tomatoes, and garlic and cook for a few minutes, just to soften the vegetables. Then add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. You can either serve the ketchup chunky or puree it in a blender first and serve it smooth.
At least double the vinegar, in my opinion. If grilling burgers for guests, offer the bottle and the home-made. See which one they prefer.
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