July 25th, 2010
Posted by johngl
Since I have been on the road most of the week a good, home-cooked meal was in order. It helped that the most glorious spousal unit had reminded me of some pork tenderloins we had stashed in the meat drawer.
This particular recipe stems from an old Steak de Burgo recipe used by Johnnie’s Vet’s Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. The funny part about this is that I still have the hand-written recipe taken from Johnnie himself. Back in those days, the recipe was a “big secret”. Now, it’s out on the interwebs.
At it’s core, the recipe is equal parts cream and butter along with some garlic, oregano, and basil. Throw in some fortified wine and you’ve got it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: meat, pork, rice, wine
Posted in Meat, Recipes: Eats, Techniques, wine | 2 Comments »
July 25th, 2010
Posted by johngl
A few miles north and a little east of Seattle, just off the 405, there is a little burg by the name of Woodinville. It’s the home of a few dozen wineries including Brian Carter Cellars, DiStephano Winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Winery, and Mark Ryan Winery, just to name a handful.
I first discovered Brian Carter Cellars when they were a double-wide trailer kind of outpost awaiting construction of an actual winery. Because of this, they hold a special place in my heart and I even have a couple of unopened autographed bottles. They are the only autographed bottles in my cellar; normally I don’t stalk winemakers.
Then there is the Mark Ryan Winery, makers of a fabulous 2007 Syrah from the Red Mountain AVA (American Viticultural Area) called Wild Eyed. While still a bit on the young side, this wine should be in full bloom in a couple of years. Redolent of dark cherries with a hint of smoke early on, this opens into a plummy mouthful-of-goodness when allowed to take on some air. I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Thus began our evening’s food-fest at the Barking Frog.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: reviews, wine
Posted in Restaurants, Seattle, WA, reviews, wine | 4 Comments »
July 18th, 2010
Posted by johngl
At times, life can get exceedingly dangerous. Until now, going to get sushi and other Asian food was more of an event that we did on special occasions. That has come to an end.
Enter the Nanami Sushi Bar & Grill. A few months ago, Nanami magically appeared in a small strip mall, along Brodie Lane, that I cruise by every weekday whilst on the way home from work.
Curiosity finally got the best of both of us and the most glorious spousal unit and I wandered in this afternoon for lunch.
These are Gyoza. Pork-filled and pan-fried, these little pot sticker kind of things are labeled as “dumblings” in the take-out menu. Dumbling or not, these are some of the tastiest I’ve had anywhere. We opened the meal with them and closed the meal with another order.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: reviews, sushi
Posted in Austin, TX, Restaurants, reviews | No Comments »
July 17th, 2010
Posted by johngl
I can’t believe I have been at this blogging thing for nearly three years now. Way back on March 9, 2008, I did a post on my favorite kitchen hand tools. In that post, I said I would do a follow-up. It only took two years and four months, but here it is.
First though, an update.
Obviously, these are cork screws. They are of the two-stage variety (as was my previous favorite) but these also have a bottle opener and are a bit lighter. When we are traveling, these come along for the ride.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Equipment
Posted in Equipment | No Comments »
July 11th, 2010
Posted by johngl
It’s cherry season in the great State of Washington and the most glorious spousal unit and I picked up about three pounds of them earlier this afternoon while wandering the aisles at Costco. Somehow, eight bottles of wine worked their way into our cart as well. I’m not quite sure how that happens.
Anyway, back to the cherries. When you buy this many at once, you kind of put yourself in the position of figuring out what to do with them. I decided that a cherry flavored margarita wouldn’t be a bad thing.
And I wasn’t wrong.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: drinks, tequila
Posted in Fruit, Recipes: Drinks, Techniques, Tequila | 3 Comments »
July 10th, 2010
Posted by johngl
Just what the heck is offal? And what do they have to do with sweetbreads?
Offal is just about any part of an animal that is off-cut during the butchering process. This can range from pig snouts to oxtails. Tongue, liver, kidneys, thymus glands, and pancreas are all offal. Believe it or not, a lot of that stuff winds up in your hot dogs and beef sausages, so you’ve probably eaten it without knowing it.
I prefer to eat them on purpose.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: meat, offal
Posted in Meat, Techniques | No Comments »
July 10th, 2010
Posted by johngl
What do you do when you’ve spent the better part of a holiday weekend preparing for Paella Fest, have some leftover beans, rabbit, and Spanish chorizo sausage, and don’t feel like spending a lot of time cooking?
Well, when your in this house, you’ve created a perfect excuse for having cassoulet.
In this case, it’s a purely assembled dish taking either leftovers from the Paella Fest (beans, rabbit, Spanish chorizo) and combining it with pantry items (roasted garlic, caramelized onion) and baking it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: rabbit, wine
Posted in Recipes: Eats, Techniques, wine | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
Posted by johngl (select photos courtesy of Brian)
For the past three years, friend and fellow food fanatic, BigDMcC and I have gotten together, enduring some pretty extreme summer temperatures (the two previous years were over 100°), in order to stand around my backyard fire pit and make paella. For the past two years, these splendiferous tests of our fortitude have coincided with a holiday more widely associated with hoards of drunken adults blowing shit up.
As a reasonably healthy and maladjusted male, I, too, have an affinity for explosive displays, however, the wanton takeover of neighborhood intersections and outright disregard and disrespect for fellow inhabitants, just sets me off a bit. How dare I want to use to the use the street in front of my house for the purpose for which it was intended! What nerve!
But I digress.
We’re here to speak of splendid selections of superb comestibles! This is a traditional style (Valencian) paella made up of confit of duck, confit of rabbit, Navarro and Cannellini beans (Spanish and Italian, respectively), Spanish chorizo, saffron infused chicken/duck/rabbit stock, sofregit, snails, and bomba rice.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: paella, wine
Posted in Meat, wine | No Comments »
July 4th, 2010
Posted by johngl
My good friend and fellow wine and food lover, BigDMcC, was coming over to join in on the second annual July 4 Paella Fest (stay tuned for tomorrow’s post) and, since we were going to have a big day of cooking ahead of us, I thought it best we start the day with a hearty breakfast of bone-in, grilled dry-aged ribeye, farm fresh eggs cooked in duck fat, and some duck bacon. Oh, and an English muffin. Sorry, I didn’t have any Texas Toast available.
Not a bad way to start the day.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: beef, dry-aged, meat, ribeye
Posted in Meat | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
June 27th, 2010
Posted by johngl
I spent hours in the kitchen this weekend and didn’t cook a single meal. All that I managed to get done was some sofregit, caramelized onion, and guajillo chili powder. Then, most glorious spousal unit whips up this dish in about 20 minutes.
Taking some leftover rotisserie chicken and coupling it with prepared chicken mozzarella ravioli (both from Costco no less), she created a truly tasty treat for a Sunday supper.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Techniques, wine | 2 Comments »
June 27th, 2010
Posted by johngl
My very first look at the now legendary French cooking encyclopedia, Larousse Gastronomique, was really quite interesting. In it, the recipes are written in paragraphs, not in the more modern ingredients and method manner. It was really weird then to see a single recipe written as: one recipe of this, one recipe of that, and one recipe of some other thing. Combine and serve.
Looking up the other recipes, you might find that the first recipe you needed started out with hunting down a sea turtle. In my book, that is a real deal killer. Still, there are things that, if you are really into cooking, should probably be prepared in advance as to make the execution of the final dish not quite as daunting.
Sofrito, caramelized onions, and guajillo pepper powder are the pantry items I am going to cover today.
In one of these dishes (guess which one!), I began with over 12 pounds of tomatoes, over 4 pounds of onions, a whole head of garlic, and some olive oil.
Oh. My. God. What’s this? Canned tomatoes?
Yep. I am getting damn tired of spending tons of money on fresh tomatoes that hardly have any taste. I’ve found that canned tomatoes not only save me the work of scalding and peeling, but actually taste better.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Techniques | 2 Comments »
June 20th, 2010
Posted by johngl
The most glorious spousal unit and I had some sous vide tenderloin packed away from a previous cooking engagement and, since I hadn’t fired up my good old Lodge cast iron hibachi in a while, it seemed like a good fit.
First though, I had to reheat the center cut tenderloin.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: beef, meat, potato, tenderloin
Posted in Equipment, Meat, Techniques, wine | 1 Comment »
June 20th, 2010
Press Release
Austin, TX—Uchiko, Chef Tyson Cole’s long-awaited follow up to his critically acclaimed first restaurant, Uchi, will open its doors July 6th. The space, located at 4200 North Lamar, is just south of 45th Street in Central Austin. Chef Cole has named Uchi’s former chef de cuisine, Paul Qui, as executive chef of Uchiko with Cole overseeing all the restaurants as chef and owner.
“We are thrilled to open another Uchi in Austin. The main dining room will take reservations throughout the evening and the bar/café area seats walk-in guests so Uchiko is able to expand the experience for the people we serve. Uchiko’s menu creates a new opportunity to be creative and showcase the talents of our staff,” comments Cole.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 20th, 2010
Posted by johngl
As I’ve certainly said before, one of the greatest things about doing this whole blogging thing is that every once in a while I get invited to soft-launch extravaganzas like the one held at Uchiko, Chef Tyson Cole‘s latest offering to Austin’s ever-popular restaurant scene.
The invitation was signed by Chef Cole himself, I swear it!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: reviews
Posted in Austin, TX, Restaurants, reviews | 2 Comments »
