The votes are in and Chefs Under Fire™ is excited to announce the 2010 Regional Finalists! These chefs are prepared to show their skills in the kitchen at each regional competition to take place in Dallas, Austin, and Houston beginning next weekend.

Dallas/Fort Worth Area Regional Competition

September 12, 2010 – Milestone Culinary Arts Center, Dallas, TX

* Chef Omar Flores, Abacus Restaurant
* Chef Joey Guzman, Northwood Club
* Chef Scot Loranc, Central Market Cooking School
* Chef Juan Rodriguez, Reata Restaurant
* Chef Tim Woehr, Abacus Restaurant

Austin/San Antonio Area Regional Competition

September 27, 2010 – Texas Beef Council, Austin, TX

* Chef Erica Beneke, MAX’s Wine Dive Austin
* Chef Jose Camero, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
* Chef Jason Hardacker, Silver Whisk Cooking School
* Chef Tanner Harris, Thai Fresh
* Chef Keith Hildebrant, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts

Houston Area Regional Competition

October 4, 2010 – Sysco Houston, Inc., Houston, TX

* Chef Emmanuel Chavez, San Jacinto College North Campus
* Chef Chuck Harris, Spindletop Steakhouse
* Chef Christina Lee, Central Market Cooking School
* Chef Michael Pellegrino, MAX’s Wine Dive Houston
* Chef Harold Wong, Azuma Sushi & Robata Bar

The local judges panels will include Chef Sharon Van Meter of  Milestone Culinary Arts Center, Chef Scott Gottlich of Bijoux Restaurant, Chef Josh Watkins of The Carillon, Chef Paul Qui of Uchiko, and Chef Monica Pope of t’afia.

Each Regional Competition will select one Finalist to compete for the title against the best of the best from across the state where he or she could be named Chef Under Fire 2010 by Celebrity Chefs and Iron Chef America contenders Chef David Bull, Chef Tyson Cole, and Chef Kent Rathbun.

Chefs Under Fire 2010 is sure to be an experience of intense competition, fine dining, and passionate foodie company. For more
details and to stay up to date with the latest Chefs Under Fire 2010 developments follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and visit the Chefs Under Fire website, http://chefsunderfire2010.com/

Back in the day, there was a SNL clip that featured Dan Aykroyd doing that Bass-O-Matic demonstration and I can’t help but think about it whenever I juice copious amounts of anything. Somehow, it just makes the process more fun.

Far from being bass juice, this is a blend of carrots, apples, and a stalk of celery. It’s damn good and not-at-all fishy. It’s tasty enough that even the most glorious spousal unit drinks it. That’s one helluva endorsement.

Juicers have come a long way since I juiced my first carrot back in ’79 on a heavyweight and expensive upright juicer that was difficult to clean and didn’t have a separate bin for the dregs. The thing cost about $200, even then.  Way out of my price range for a small kitchen appliance.

Sure, you can still get all spendy on a Champion Juice Extractor and if you are really serious about juice and want to get every last bit of juice out of a hunk of granite, that is probably where you should go.  But, for most of the juice drinking public, it is a once-a -day thing at best and a passing fad at worst. Check out all the Champions on ebay if you don’t believe me. Go nuts.

This finally brings me to the point of this post, the brand new Breville Juice Fountain (model JE900) that I picked up for less than $90. At 600watts and 12,000 rpm, it’s got plenty of power for I want to do.

[Right here, when I tried to upload the photo below, is where our cable company failed to provide TV/Internet service for over three hours.  It was most disconcerting]

About the worst thing about any juicer is the amount of counter space they take up. Another thing about juicers is you have to leave them out in a handy spot otherwise most folks just won’t use them, including me. Besides, this wouldn’t fit in a cabinet anyway. Okay, maybe it would if I didn’t have 100 other gadgets.

About the juicer itself: It is advertised that it will juice a whole apple.

It will, in fact, take two whole apples.

It will take at least five carrots at a time. It was actually a little scary because I loaded it up, flipped the switch, and the carrots nearly juiced themselves: no plunging required.

So, when you juice all of this stuff, you get a lot of fibrous waste, too.

This is great stuff for your compost pile. Do not dump this down your garbage disposal. Those things are a plumbers best friend.

The Breville comes apart very easily and it is easy to clean.

A quick rinse is about all it takes.  The clear plastic seemed to take on a carrot colored hue fairly quickly but a quick wipe with a soft scrubbie and the coloring came right off.

All in all, this is just what I need. It does the job quickly and easily and cleans up pretty well.

All I need to do now is stock up on bass carrots.

I’ve come up with a new formula for determining ideal weight.  Forget all that crap about BMIs, spare tires, apples and pear shapes, and every other thing you heard or read about weight vs height calculations.  It simply leads to phrases like “I have big bones”.

My arse!

There are two things that should tell a man he has gone over the edge:

1. If you have to have to tip yourself forward to see your gentlemanly bits (or heaven forbid, look in a mirror to see them), you’re too damn fat. Don’t even try and rationalize it away.

2. Your body weight in pounds probably shouldn’t exceed your height in centimeters.

The latter works out for me at 78 inches in height x 2.54 (cm per inch) = 198.12.

Currently, I weight 230.  Oops.  And as for point one, let’s just say the boys are starting to play a bit of hide and seek.

When I was doing some competitive bicycling, riding between 275 and 300 miles per week — which isn’t a lot by today’s standards — my Panasonic DX-2000 (the bicycle I’m on in the photo above) and I together, including tools and a tire patch kit, weighed in at 205. In those days, I weighed about 170, give or take a few.

With all of that in mind, along with a string of health issues that have cropped up (uric acid buildup, kidney stones, B12 deficiency, etc) it has come time to do something.

Time for liposuction and a tummy tuck!  Oh, and put in some artificial ab muscles while you’re rooting about in there!

No really. It’s amazing how many people think like that.

What I am really doing is this: I am exercising and eating in a more healthful manner.  Call it the Alcoholian Diet. Start the day with three shots of vodka and everything will be okay. My elbow gets a hell of a workout.  And everyone knows ripped elbows are all the rage.

Here’s the real deal. In the morning, I go for a fast walk.  Just over a mile which is a good place to start. I walk as fast as I can, which at this point is between 4.0 and 4.5 mph, depending upon the day. My route takes me over a few small hills, so the speed varies. Once I can hit 5 mph and I can stay there consistently — which isn’t unreasonable for someone my size — I will bump up the mileage 2x. Note: my old record (about 20 years ago) was 3 miles in 27 minutes, so I know this 5 mph thing is attainable for me.  You may have stumpy legs and therefore your mileage may vary.

Keep the goal attainable. If you set a goal of walking 20 miles a day and doing it an hour, you’re just not gonna make it.

After my brisk morning walk, and whilst I am still dripping sweat from my brow, I prepare a smoothie.  I bet you were wondering when I would finally get to the subject of this post, weren’t you?

I use my Magic Bullet for this particular operation. It is ideal for it. Feel free to use that blender you keep around for frozen Margaritas.

So, that there (above)  is one large banana sliced up.

To that there fresh banana, I add these here frozen strawberries — enough to fill up the container.  That yellow stuff on top is lecithin derived from soy.  It is a phospholipid essential for the metabolism of fats. It is very rich in the B complex vitamins and is highly nutritive for the skin and hair. It’s an emulsifier, an antioxidant, and an emollient that is often used in eye creams, lipsticks, liquid powders, hand creams and lotions, soaps and many other cosmetics.

Yummers.

I must also note that a study done at Vanderbilt states:  There is no scientific research that shows that lecithin aids in weight loss. In fact, lecithin supplements may actually cause weight gain due to the fact that it contains fatty acids and is thus highly caloric.

There is also an unfounded claim that it helps old people with memory problems.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, there we are. (See, it works!  Take that Vanderbilt!)

So, along with soy lecithin, I also add about 10 grams of whey protein. Why? I have no idea. It just sounds like a good idea.

If you stick this on the Bullet base, the blade spins around magnificently but it does absolutely nothing else to the rest of the goodies in the jar. Consequently, I fill the jar nearly to the top with concord grape juice.

Now it is ready to blend and serve.

It has the consistency of melted ice cream and is nice and cold thanks to the frozen strawberries.

Looks yummy, no?

It’s a great cool-down drink and fills you right up.  Add a little vodka, and it’s a perfect way to start the day.

And so it now may seem that I have become yet another diet blogger, but that is not the case. I am making some relatively simple behavioral modifications, that is all. I’m certainly not going vegan or anything.

For example, in addition to my morning walk and smoothie, I am also eating lunch while at work. For a long time (several years) I didn’t eat all day, then when I got home around 8pm or later, I’d be starving and eat everything in sight. Soda cans, cardboard, plastic bottles all looked tasty.

Now, by eating at least a sandwich at midday, I’m not a wolf on the hunt when I get home. I have a blend of carrot, celery, and apple juice before dinner that has the affect of filling me up so I don’t have three helpings of dinner (there will be a post on the juicer/juices later).

Anyway, doing a few simple things, I have lost about six pounds over the past couple of weeks.  It took about six years of bad behavior to go from 208 in early 2004 to 236 in August 2010, so I don’t expect the miracles of 30 lbs in 3 weeks kind of weight loss.

I still have that DX-2000, so just maybe, I can get down to looking sorta like this again…just…um…older and hairier.

I first “discovered” scallops about half a lifetime ago whilst working on a project near Bangor, Maine. Those first scallops were huge, about the size of a petite cut of filet mignon, and I’ve never seen any quite that large since.

Over the course of time, I tried cooking them a multitude of ways with varying degrees of success. More recently, I learned how to cook them perfectly every time.  For this bit of instruction, I thank Tre Wilcox. About two years ago, he was generous enough to share his scallop wizardry with a few mere mortals during a cooking class.

Pan Seared Scallops Atop Fresh Cherry Reduction with Mixed Fruit Salsa

So, what’s the key to searing off perfect scallops?

The secret is two-fold:  First, the scallop must be dry. Secondly, the pan must be smoking hot.

There is also a thing about starting with the right scallops, too.  Treatment of raw scallops with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP — doesn’t that just sound yummy?) is pervasive. It is a preservative that has a side effect of plumping up a scallop with moisture.  Joy. There’s more on STP here.

Find some scallops that aren’t treated with STP and you’re off to a great start. I buy mine frozen, from Costco, and I haven’t been disappointed yet. And they sell for about $10/lb.

I arranged these scallops on a cooling rack with some paper towels underneath to catch moisture. They take longer to thaw than one would think, but you still want them cold (not room temp) when you cook them. To test them, just give them a gentle squeeze.  If it feels like there may be a hard (frozen, not cancerous) lump in the center, give them a while longer.

Now, let us turn our attention to some fresh cherries.

Rinse the cherries, de-stem the cherries, then pit the cherries using…well…a cherry pitter. When you pit them, arrange them so that the stem-side is down.  The plunger then pushes the pit right out of the cherry without doing a whole lot of damage. Be careful.  Cherry juice does that whole staining thing pretty well.  This is not the time to be wearing white.

I put the cleaned, pitted fruit into my Magic Bullet.

A few ten-second pulses later and I had a nice, relatively smooth cherry puree. Given my penchant for not liking skins in my sauces, I pushed this puree through a fine mesh strainer using the back of a tablespoon.

I then dumped the strained juice into a saucepan and added no more than a teaspoon of agave nectar.

To balance the flavor a little, I added the juice of one fresh key lime, then I reduced the volume by about half. Turning off the heat, I let it sit there until it was time to begin plating.

I had some other work left to do before I got to the scallops.

I juiced a couple more key limes and mixed that juice with about a teaspoon of agave nectar.  This is the foundation for the “salsa.”  I put the quotes there because salsas generally have some tomatoes in them and this doesn’t. I did make sure to add some pequin powder though, just for that certain zing it provides.

I diced up the apple…

then immediately tossed the cubes into a bowl and coated them with the key lime juice mixture.  The citric acid in the limes keeps the apples from oxidizing (or “turning brown” depending upon your level of familiarity with cooking vocabulary).

I cut about a third off of that banana and cubed it up as well.

Bananas also oxidize quickly, so I popped them into the apple, lime juice mix and tossed gently with a large spoon. If you are wondering why I put in so little banana, I’ll tell you my reasoning. Banana can overpower other flavors pretty easily. I wanted the tartness of the apple to pop so I eased off on the banana a bit so it just provided some back-notes.

I also used half of an avocado in this particular salsa.

I love the reach, creamy, fattiness that avocado brings to the party. It too, oxidizes rapidly, so ever so gently, I cubed it and added it to the banana and apple cubes, tossing it again to get everything well coated with lime juice.

Notice those little red specks?  That is the pequin powder. It doesn’t take much.

I hit this with a tiny pinch of salt, mixed it up again, pressed some plastic wrap onto the surface of the fruit (again, to prevent oxidation), then popped it into the fridge.

Now, we can finally turn our attention back to the scallops.

I carefully dried these with a paper towel then sprinkled a little salt on the top side only.

I got the pan RFH (really f-ing hot) and added enough safflower oil to just cover the bottom of the pan.

Then, I carefully added the scallops, salted side up (the heat causes moisture inside the scallop to perk upwards which dissolves the salt and allows it to sink into the scallop — that’s my story and I’m sticking with it).

With a pan in the 500 degree range, it takes about a minute to caramelize a scallop.

Once you flip ‘em, turn off the heat. The residual heat of the pan will finish these out quite nicely.

To plate, I put a swoosh of cherry down, then set the scallops in place.  I spooned up some salsa and dropped a few quartered cherries on top for added color.  I also fanned three thin slices of avocado.

The most glorious spousal unit volunteered herself to wander into the wine cellar. This is one thing I never really have to ask her to do.  She’s like a kid in a candy store in there.

Lo and behold, she came forth with a 2005 Tattinger Domaine Carneros bubbly.

OM(F)G. This was a spectacular pairing with the scallops and assorted fruit. Scallop dipped in cherry followed by a little of the fruit salsa and a sip of this sparkler and my tastebuds were doing a happy dance. Time and time again I repeated this, until, alas, the scallops were gone. I finished with one last sip and savored this elegant blend of  Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, allowing the creamy flavors to drift over my tongue.

At a price point of less than $25, this stuff is, in a word, great.  Wine Spectator thinks so too, giving it 92 points:

“Beautifully focused and refined, with Gala apple and raspberry aromas and flavors that are crisp yet layered, with creamy lemon and lime notes and a finish that lingers with mineral and a hint of yeast.”

So, thanks again to the most glorious spousal unit for her wine picking prowess. And special thanks to Chef Tre Wilcox for showing me the way.

Going out and having a burger is a national pastime. According to Eric Schlosser, in his book Fast Food Nation, Americans eat 13 billion burgers a year. Based on a US population of about 307 million (US Census Bureau, July 2009), that is about 42 burgers per year for each and every one of us. Luckily, I probably eat about half of that unless I am burgering my way to Labor Day (as I was doing about this time last year). At least those were home made.

BFD. Get on with it man!

And so it came to pass that within a two week period, I had the same type of burger at two highly rated burger joints.  In the left corner, weighing in at 650 stores across the country and originating in Virginia, Five Guys.  In the right corner, weighing in at a mighty three stores and originating in Texas, Mighty Fine.

The burger I chose to compare was a cheeseburger.  Not just your run-of-the-mill cheeseburger though.  These were loaded up with lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and jalapenos. Of course, each burger came with the requisite fries.

Can you guess which is which?

Both of these are right out of the wrapper as they came to me. I didn’t do any adjusting or fiddling.  Note the left one where the cheese isn’t all melted and the meat isn’t on the center of the bun. You can barely see it, but note also the raw jalapeno under the burger in the left one. Give the photos a click so you can see a larger, more detailed shot of these babies. The left one also appears to have more bacon, but I think that is because it is all curled up and crinkly. Luckily, that doesn’t affect the taste.

After readjusting the left burger and removing the onion (which I didn’t request), I was ready to take a bite. The left burger was completely cooked through, had a decent crust to the meat, and the bacon was nice and crispy.  Those raw jalapenos were just a little off-putting though and a touch bitter. All in all though, the burger wasn’t bad.

Now, for the burger on the right. (Yeah, the pretty one that looked like it was put together by someone who cared about how it is supposed to look.) The cheddar “real American cheese” was perfectly melty, the jalapenos were soft, tangy, and not at all bitter, the bacon, apparently cooked using a bacon press, was wonderfully crispy, and the burger itself had a great crust on the outside and was wonderfully juicy on the inside. It was very tasty!

Notice that it is cooked to medium-well and not well done. That may put a lot of folks off, but not me.  It might if were a different burger joint, but not this one.

Give up?

So, the burger on the right is from Mighty Fine and it was mighty fine.  Yes, the Five Guys can go form a team and play basketball (or whatever else five guys do together)  because their burger just doesn’t stack up against Mighty Fine.

If you think the Mighty Fine burger is more expensive, you’d be wrong. Price-wise, these meals were a wash.

Here are some other facts:

Mighty Fine grinds their meat (chuck)  at their stores fresh every day and you can stand there and actually watch them hand-forming the burgers.

The Five Guys website says:

By cooking all of our burgers juicy and well done we are able to achieve two goals: 1) Ensure a consistent product and 2) Meet or exceed health code standards for ground beef.

They also say: “…our beef is neither organic nor are the cattle free range, our distributor purchases raw materials from the major meat suppliers in the US and they treat the cattle humanely and follow all the procedures set forth by the USDA.”

Mighty Fine says:

Click to enlarge.

That ain’t all.  Look at these fries:

Cut from fresh Idaho potatoes daily, these babies are fried in peanut oil and come out with a nice crunchy exterior and a fluffy interior.

Compare them to the these from Five Guys.  Granted, Five Guys gives you a lot of fries (and I grabbed a handful and put them in a peanut container — more on peanuts in a minute) and they too use peanut oil for frying, but comparatively, these were just limp and fat laden.

What good does it do to give you a lot of something if its crap?

Beyond the burgers and fries, Mighty Fine offers:

Home Made Lemonade from, ummm, lemons (made fresh every two hours)

Boxes of potatoes that you can actually see:

Their own line of pepper:

A jacuzzi for your hands:

An interesting view from inside the rest rooms (well, okay, the men’s anyway)

Yes, that is really from inside the potty. It’s a two way mirror.

And perhaps the most important thing of all:

Mr. Dyson should be awarded a throne in Heaven just for coming up with this thing. The Airblade literally scares the water off your hands.

And what does Five Guys have that Mighty Fine does not?

This is apparently the Five Guys answer to the boxes of potatoes stacked up at Mighty Fine.  The Guys have 50lb bags of peanuts stacked up right behind the doorway (apparently to make double damn sure that those folks with peanut allergies see them!)

Perhaps you might think that I am (loudly) proclaiming: Five Guys Suffers Major Suckage.

Well, I’m not.  As I said, their burger was alright. However, since I have a choice, and both stores are about equidistant from my house, and I get better quality food for the cost, my money is going to the local folks who don’t cut any corners.  They tell you that too.

If I am going to be eating one (or twenty) of 13 billion burgers this year, it (or they) may as well be Mighty Fine.

It’s not often when you can find choice grade T-Bone steaks at $4.99 a pound, so when I saw them this morning at Costco, I went for it.

In fact, normally I don’t go for these kinds of steaks since there’s a lot of bone with a tiny tenderloin on one side and a large NY Strip on the other side. These both had a nice tenderloin and a well-marbled strip.

In the usual fashion, I fired up the Weber Kettle a half hour in advance. I also got the mix of brown and wild rice going on the stove top. It takes about 40 minutes to get the rice perfect so getting it started at the same time as the charcoal makes the timing come out just right.

And it came to pass that Wendy, wife of Rob, spent about a month in her home state of Hawaii over the summer. She was kind enough to think of me while she was away and brought me back a care package.

Who knew that mesquite was introduced in Hawaii and spread like wildfire. The native islanders called it kiawe (pronounced kee-ah-ve). It’s a brilliant gift for a non-native Texan.

Anyway, I liberally spread it over the steaks about three hours prior to suppertime. This allows lots of time for the salty goodness to bring forth the magnificent flavors of the meat.

So, once again, I will present you with the one tip that will exude more compliments over the course of your life than any sort of food preparation.  And it is easy.

Start with a 60 degree steak (not fresh out of the fridge!) and a really, really hot grill. Thick steak (at least an inch and a quarter). Two minutes, rotate 90 degrees, two minutes, flip, two minutes, then rotate 90 degrees, two minutes. Eight minutes total.

Note the steel grate. Note also those killer grill marks. I’ve used this method, and those grates, for over 20 years and it just never fails to create a wonderfully done steak.

I mean really, would I lie to you? This is a lifetime of steak prep I’m talking about here.

The rice, too, came out perfect. Hydrated with chicken stock and finished with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt, you just can’t go wrong with the brown and wild rice combo.

If you look closely, you can probably see my teeth marks in the bone. Yum.

Add to that a 12 year old Barolo that I bought for $26 over five years ago, and the meal just got all the better.

So, after a meal like this, what do you have for dessert?

Oddly enough, something so simple it’s almost scary. Dark chocolate chips.  Something around 60% cacao is about right.

Since the wine had some chocolaty notes, a few of these bits followed by a sip of wine, which had an amazingly long finish, filled my mouth with a wonderful richness. It didn’t take much (which was good because I ran out of wine).

I may have to have choice grade t-bones more often.

The sandwich. That tasty little item we frequently take for granted. The staple of summer lunches for kids of all ages. That combination of bread, fat, meat, cheese, and whatever else one cars to pile on them. They’re good. They’re necessary. The good (4th) Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu,  did a great service to the world by allowing his moniker to be attached to this innocuous, convenient, and (generally) delicious.

Capicola, Roasted Chicken, Avocado, and Cheese on Jewish Rye

It might seem a bit weird putting cured pork shoulder on Jewish rye, but I just can’t help myself.

Start with your toasted bread and fat of choice. This time around, I chose mayo as my fat along with a couple of ultra-thin slices of capicola.  Think of this sandwich as a weird twist on chicken cordon bleu. For the uninitiated, that is a French stand-by that involves the use of chicken, ham, and swiss cheese.

I added some slices of rotisserie chicken.

The most glorious spousal unit and I found some really tasty avocados at our favorite grocers this morning, so I decided this sandwich needed more fat. I am decidedly not fat averse. Avocados are over 14% fat. It isn’t diet food.

Then the coup de grace is still more fat. Cheese.  Cheddar in this case.  Cheddar is due east of Sandwich in southern England so they are natural combination. There is only 10 grams of fat in an ounce of cheddar. Go nuts!

And when you put that last layer of bread on top and give it that little push (we all do it, it’s like a pat for luck), you’ve got yourself the most tasty of simple treats. Thanks Earl!

The past several weeks have involved a lot of travel for me so I haven’t had a lot of time to cook anything new and interesting. However, during one of my brief stints back in Austin, a friend phoned and we decided to get together at what is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to eat. The big win here is that it is close to home. It’s the Nanami Sushi Bar on Brodie Lane.

If you recall, this is the place where my most glorious spousal unit finally ate a piece of sashimi using chop sticks.  There has been no stopping her since. We ordered the same dish again, just for fun.

This is a dish that the folks at Nanami call the Spice Girls.  It’s hamachi (I think), topped with a round of jalapeño pepper and caviar.

The Spice Girls were fine for an opening act, but we were looking for something with a bit more substance to carry us forward.

This Sushi Boat for Three was almost enough to satisfy our sushi cravings. Most glorious was quite adventurous, but we couldn’t talk her into the eel (on the bow of the boat). She was more into the Avocado Super Ball.

This baby is loaded with shrimp and coupled with the warmed avocado, the creaminess of the avocado perfectly countered the tartness of the sauce and sweetness of the shrimp.

We also enjoyed a Majesty Roll. It is indeed a mouthful fit for royalty. It’s a real palate pleaser!

Getting a little more into it, we ordered some Wasabi Tobiko. This too was a little overpowering for the most glorious spousal unit. I didn’t have any trouble with it although the ratio of seaweed to caviar was a little high. If the seaweed sheets were trimmed about an eighth inch shorter, it would have been perfect.

Of course, we had to have a couple of orders of Gyoza just to take a break from all of the seafood.

This pork-laden pot-stickers are simply marvelous.  I’d come into Nanami just to eat these things. The fact that they have boatloads of other stuff is just icing on the cake. From the crunchy exterior to the juicy porcine interior, these dumplings are great.

Just for fun, we opened the night with three bottles of the Ginger Mango Sake2Me. I still say this is a beverage for those that don’t like real sake. It’s slightly fizzy which somehow adds to the fun factor. I wouldn’t want to drink too much of this stuff as it seems like it would be the makin’s of one serious headache.

We also enjoyed some real sake.

It was very smooth and went down all too easily. We greatly enjoyed a bottle of Momokawa Diamond as well.

Nanami has a pretty good selection of sakes along with a full bar.  According to the most glorious one they make a great Lemon Drop.

Nanami is not only convenient for us in terms of getting there, but these folks also deliver (for free) on any order over $25 and within five miles of the restaurant. We’ve taken advantage of that service a couple of times already and their Bento Box dinners are perfect for home delivery. It’s almost like having our own sushi chef — available on a whim.

My working title for this post was: Machu Picchu: Pleased to Eat You and was inspired by a visit to a place called Inka Mama’s in Aliso Viejo, CA. Let’s be clear though, Inka Mama’s is not some fancy eatery, it’s just a place to eat some really good food. It also just happens to be located in a strip mall within walking distance of one of our game development studios.

I was really quite pleasantly surprised when they seated us for lunch and provided some bread along with a nondescript bottle full of some green stuff. It was excellent. It was so excellent that I asked the waitress what was in it.  “Lettuce, serrano peppers, and Pervian spices,” she said. Hmmm. She wasn’t very forthcoming.

Apparently, the recipe for this excellent green stuff is elusive even on the interwebs.  I was going to have to wing it.

For a first stab at duplicating Mama’s chicken and rice recipe, as well as the green stuff, things worked out really well. In fact, though different than the Inkan original, it bordered on awesome.

First, I worked on the green stuff.

Mayo, cilantro, garlic, and lettuce are the basics. I chopped some lettuce, added a few stems worth of cilantro leaves, and a clove of garlic.

I stuffed all that into one of the jars that came with my Magic Bullet and topped it with a couple of tablespoons of mayo.

I also threw in a pinch of roasted pepper chili powder I made up a couple of years ago (it keeps nearly forever sealed in a glass jar). I also added a tiny little bit of piquin powder.

I put on the lid and spun it up. I got nothin’. Just a blade uselessly spinning around in the mayo. I decided to add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and gave it another whirl.

It worked.

I gave it a taste. Hmmm.  Not bad, but it needed something: a little salt, a dash of black pepper. Another whirl.

In my reading about this mysterious green stuff, I picked on something that is called black mint. An article said it was somewhere between mint and basil. Maybe that would do it.

I walked out on the back porch and grabbed a leaf of mint and a leaf of basil, walked back into the kitchen, dropped them in the bullet and gave it another whirl.

For a test batch, I couldn’t ask for better.  It was just a tad garlic heavy, but I could live with it. I stretched some plastic wrap over the top and popped it in the fridge.

The rice was easy.  A cup of a brown/wild rice blend and two cups of chicken stock go in a sauce pan. Bring that up to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover, and let it ride for 45 minutes.

Time for the chicken. I used some breasts marinated in lime juice and a dash of cumin. Fish one out and lay it on a sheet of clear plastic wrap.

I covered it with another sheet of plastic wrap.

Now comes the fun part.

Pound the meat flat. We’re looking for about a 1/8″ thickness. Take it easy on it. Chicken is a lot softer than beef. We’re not trying to make chicken burgers here. Pace yourself.

Since I was doing two of these, I prepped two pans.

The idea is to preheat the pans to about 500 degrees. This will put a sear on the meat in about 30 seconds.

Remember, the chicken is now super thin and will cook in just about a minute.  Don’t over cook!

I sifted some corn starch over one side of the chicken.  This serves two purposes.  The first is that the chicken is thin and fragile and the corn starch helps it slide off a cutting board a bit easier.

The second reason is that it should add a little crunch to the chicken.

So, I placed a cutting board over the corn starch, slid my left hand under the plastic wrap, and with a quick flip, the meat was on the board, starch side down.  I carefully peeled the plastic off the top side. I poured a couple of tablespoonsful of safflower oil into the pans and slid the chicken into the skillet.

About thirty seconds later…

I gave it a flip and turned off the heat.

By this time, the rice finished out and I added a pat of butter, a pinch of salt, and gave it a quick stir.

I put a dollop of the mystery green stuff on the chicken, garnished with some basil leaves, and we were ready to eat.

Whilst I was finishing up, the most glorious spousal unit whipped up a couple of margaritas.

Due to the ultra-quick cook times, the chicken was tender enough to cut with a fork and exceptionally juicy.

A tender bit of chicken, a schmear of the green stuff, and a little rice…m-m-m-m, tasty.

You never really know where your next inspiration will come from, so keep your eyes and ears open and ask questions. Even if you don’t get a lot of answers, you’ll at least get a good start on where to start.

A note to regular readers:  Yes, I’m still here and still writing.  I was out of town on family business over the weekend and was unable to get my usual posts out the door.

Stay tuned. We’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming this weekend!

Thank you for your loyalty!

There we were, wanting lunch.  No bread for sammies. No enthusiasm to go out. But we were hungry.

“There’s pork tenderloin in the meat drawer” says she.

“There’s a couple of cups of duck-rabbit-chicken stock left,” says he. “We have some quinoa.”

Less than 30 minutes later, we were having a delightful lunch.

Naturally, one must begin by cleaning and seasoning the tenderloin.

Yep, that is Piment d’Espelette, the Basque pepper blend I normally use in paella. Along with salt and pepper, the loins are ready for a pan sear.

After rolling them around in the pan at high heat until all the sides are browned, I turned down the heat to low, covered the skillet and just let them finish out that way.

For the quinoa, I took that remaining stock (it was exactly two cups!) and mixed it with a cup of the dry quinoa. Bringing it all to a boil, I turned it down to a simmer and covered that pan as well to allow it to finish out.

Then I called on the most glorious spousal unit to whip up here famous Asian-style dipping sauce.

Soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Mongolian Fire Oil are the ingredients. It’s mostly soy, with a dash of the vinegar, and a few drops of the fire oil. Sure is tasty!

I sliced up the tenderloin, then plated the quinoa.

I drizzled the meat with some of most glorious dipping sauce and…

it was time for lunch!

Since we went with an Asian flair on the pork, most glorious grabbed some saké from the cellar.

Kuromatsu-Hakushika (White Deer) Fresh and Light Junmai Namachozo Sake was a great pairing.  It is fresh and light, just as the label says.  It’s also about 13.5% alcohol, so it is very much like wine strength-wise. At about four bucks for six ounce bottle, it’s very affordable compared to other sakés of the same quality.

“Excellent” says she.

Just a short post for all you sous-vide fans out there:  If you are really enthusiastic, know a little something of electrical engineering and programming, and like to cook, this is a rig for you.

He built this rig for less than $50 and used a crock pot for the water bath.

Brilliant!

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.

But obviously, this is pork not steak. And I used Madeira, not Sauterne (don’t confuse this with the stuff from France).  I also use fresh herbs and garlic. And heavy cream instead of half-n-half. Otherwise the recipe is identical <cough>.

The rice was easy.  I had a pack of a brown and wild rice mix and hydrated it with some chicken/rabbit/duck stock leftover from the paella fest we had a few weeks ago. I brought the rice and stock to a boil, covered the pan, then let it simmer for 45 minutes.

The meat was easy, too.

The most glorious spousal unit, on an apparent high from learning to use chop sticks, decided she would prep the loins by removing the silver skin and seasoning them. It was easy because I didn’t have to do it. Did you see what I did there?

To prep the sauce, I took some heavy cream, heated it to the boiling point, and dropped in some tops of fresh basil and oregano along with a couple of smashed garlic cloves. The heated fat breaks down the volatile oils in the herbs and garlic and thereby infuses the cream with an herby-garlic goodness.

I just covered it and then set it aside to steep for a while.

When I put on the rice, I also went outdoors and fired up the grill.

Here’s a little trick I’ve been using for a while now…

Notice the plastic wrap over the cutting board. Using this technique, you can march the meat out to the grill, put the meat on the grill, then toss the plastic leaving the cutting board nice and clean.

A mere ten minutes after putting the meat on the grill…

I let the meat rest under a foil tent whilst I finished up the sauce.  This, too, was easy.  I pulled the herbs and garlic chunks out, heated the infused cream to boiling again, then mounted the sauce with some cold butter.

I scooped some rice onto the plate, cut the tenderloins on a bias, and plated it up.

Notice the nice medium doneness on the tenderloin.  Since these are so lean, it is easy to dry them out by overcooking.

Then, laying on some of the thickened sauce (mounting does the thickening as if by magic), dinner was served.

We enjoyed this easy dinner with an easy wine: a 2008 Castle Rock Pinot Noir.

It’s good to be home again.

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.

Apparently, the Wild Eyed prepped our appetites nicely. The opener of rosemary infused bread with a sun-dried tomato tapanade was an instant hit.

A note about the decor and ambiance: this is not a place for a quiet, romantic get away (even though there is a swank hotel just across the driveway). Even with the white tableclothed tables, this restaurant should be considered a place where a group of people can have a great time. And there were a lot of good times being had. The combination of high ceilings, concrete floors, and few sound-deadening materials made for a raucous ambiance.

It suited our group perfectly.

If you want to have relative privacy in order to play kissy-face with your mate(s) — far be it from me to limit you to one — you should go somewhere else.

Anyway, back to the food…

From the top left — in my self-assembled appetizer sampler — is the Popcorn Lobster (served with a ginger-mirin dipping sauce), Hudson Valley Foie Gras, and Grand Marnier Prawns served with greens and orange segments.

I have to say that the Popcorn Lobster was simply outstanding. Served in a cute little mini-fryer basket, these little devils had a wonderfully crunchy exterior whilst the lobster inside remained very tender and moist. Pigging out on a passel of these would be a snap!

The Foie Gras, prepared in a traditional manner –  sitting atop a piece of brioche — was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Can one ever eat too much foie gras?

The Asian-influenced Grand Marnier Prawns were nicely cooked and carried with them a nice, fresh snap!. Paired with the salad of greens and orange segments, these prawns were loaded with fruity goodness.

And then there was the Figs & Prosciutto di Parma:

Served with Oregon Smoky Blue Cheese, Grilled House Made Focaccia, Candied Pine Nuts, and Grape Must Syrup, this plate had a lot going on. Perhaps a little too much; it was like two appetizers in one where one, the focaccia, bleu cheese, pine nuts, and syrup, was a twist on the old bread, bleu cheese, honey, and walnut classic and the other, prosciutto di Parma and figs, could have been another stand alone.   One at our table even remarked “how do you eat that?”

Don’t get me wrong, munching on this was pure joy — if not a little sticky. It was up to us diners to wrap the prosciutto around the figs and then saver the sweet, gooey goodness of the perfectly ripe figs paired with the salty-sweet creaminess of the ham. Yum!

Having decimated the appetizers — and leaving no more than an errant crumb on the plates — we were all primed an ready for our main courses.

Oh wait, there was more wine:

Here are a couple of medium-priced offerings from Brian Carter Cellars that I hadn’t tried prior to this outing:  the 2006 white blend (right), Oriana, from Yakima Valley and the 2006 red-blend (left), Abracadabra, from Columbia Valley. We wanted both a white and a red to pair with our widely-varied dining selections.

The Abracadabra is a rich garnet colored offering that hits the nose with cassis, raspberry, and bit of black pepper.  It opens to a medium-bodied richness with some sour cherry accents leaving you with a just a bit of tanginess on the finish. While not nearly on the same level as the Mark Ryan Syrah we had earlier, this was a delicious food wine.

The Oriana, a blend of 52% Viognier, 35% Roussanne, and 13% Reisling, was well-balanced yet tangy on the finish. There was tropical fruit mixed with minerality. It was quite interesting to allow it remain on the palate in order to pick up the flavors of the contributing varietals. I enjoyed it immensely.

And, before I get on to those main dishes, I also enjoyed a wonderfully colorful and tasty salad offering.

I’ve really got to stop relying on my phone’s camera for food shots!

Anyway, this blend of both red and gold roasted beets, orange segments, toasted hazelnuts, Laura Chenel goat cheese (is Laura Chenel a person or a type of goat?), topped with a drizzle of vanilla honey was completely and utterly awesome — if you like beets. A lot of Americans don’t go for beets and I’ve never quite gotten how a nation with such a profound sweet tooth can pass up these wonderfully delicious root veggies. It leaves more for me I guess.

Okay, so finally, the main dishes:

I ordered a Muscovy duck breast. The skin was wonderfully crispy and flavorful yet the duck itself was a little to the chewy side. Luckily, my very last bite, from the thickest end of the breast, was excellent. I’d ordered it “medium to medium-rare, more to the medium rare side” and it came out exactly that way, so hats off to the chef.  I think the duck just got a little too much exercise.

A fellow diner seated to my immediate right — who also selected that delicious Syrah — ordered the bone-in Berkshire pork chop. I thanked him when he ordered it medium because so many people ruin a great piece of pork by insisting on it being well done.

Not only did the man choose a brilliant wine and a brilliant dish, he shared a couple of bites with me as well (I love you man!). The outside band of fat coupled with a nice sliver of pork flesh was like my own little slice of heaven. Definitely the winner dish as far as I’m concerned.

The fellow diner to my immediate left ordered a combination of scallops, with pork belly and morel mushrooms.  Also being a fellow Iowan, this woman knew her morels and also knows that no other mushroom is quite as tasty (okay, I’m jaded). In fact, later in the evening, she told us the whole reason she ordered the dish was for the morels.

So, imagine her disappointment when the dish came with shiitake mushrooms instead. Also, looking over at her plate, the crust on the scallops looked a little, well, scorched. I sampled a scallop and confirmed that there was a distinct acridity in the crust though the scallop itself was still moist and tender. The pork belly was really very good.

Had this been me on the receiving end of the dish, I would have sent it back for the mushroom faux pas alone. When called on the subject, the server dutifully went back to the chef and discovered that morels were now out of season. He did not offer to take the dish back which I thought, again, was a bit of a blunder on his part.

We decided to finish out the evening with a couple of scoops of sorbet: lychee and passion fruit. These were in-your-face flavorful and not too sweet.

So, what did I think of the Barking Frog? Well, they have a great wine list with a lot of excellent local selections. The appetizers, too, were top notch. The downfall seemed to be with the entrees and more specifically, with one of the entrees — the scallop dish (On my dish, I blame the duck for not being sufficiently lazy).

As for the service, other than the misstep in relation to the unannounced fungus substitution, it was really quite good.  Our waiter took care of us from the moment we walked in to the moment we left. He was knowledgeable, attentive without being in the way, and had a good sense of humor.

On a one to five scale, I’d give the Frog about a 3.65. Up until they croaked on the scallops, they were looking like a 4.5.  Would I go there again? Sure, I’d make a leap of faith that this just wasn’t the night for scallops.

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.

We also went out on a limb and tried something strange and new: fizzy saké:

I would classify this as a novelty item. From the corny name — saké2me — to the manufacturing technique — apparently, saké from Japan is sent to Minnesota for the additional flavoring elements — it’s just a little too odd. Lightly fizzy, this stuff has all the makings of a drink for non-drinkers. Call it a saké cooler. This did not stop us from having two of the ginger-mango 6.3 oz bottles rated at 7% alcohol. It goes down as easy as soda pop.

For all I know, this stuff could turn out to be a huge commercial success and we could soon see two old Japanese dudes (1960s hold-overs) in denim overalls (ala Bartles & Jaymes back in the 80s) standing out int he middle of a Minnesota field raising their bottles thanking us for our support — and raking in millions. I’m just glad my sushi-eating friends didn’t see me taking part in this experiment.

Anyway, funky-weird drinks aside, we enjoyed our corner booth in this upscale looking Japanese place and the service was very good. The folks there seemed to have an honest welcoming air about them.

I had a luncheon-sized sushi plate (Lunch B to be specific) — please excuse the camera-phone photo quality –

and the fish was very fresh and clean tasting. Described as “8 piece Sushi and Spicy tuna hand roll” and selling for just under $11, it seemed like a pretty fair deal. It also came with a really tasty miso soup and salad.

Most glorious spousal unit had the “Creative Lunch Combo” that sells for just under $10 and consists of two rolls, miso soup, and a green salad. She chose the Tuna Avocado Roll and the Salmon Avocado Roll.

We dropped a total of $46.45 (not including tip) for lunch, $12 of which was for the fizzy stuff, and I didn’t feel as though I had been ripped off.

To be clear, this is not a sushi house on the caliber of Uchi or Uchiko, nor does it represent itself as such. There are no simply outstanding surprises here nor did I expect any. This is a place to get good quality Asian food for a decent price. They have quite an array of appetizers and a variety of entrees that include udon and soba noodle dishes, hibachi fried rice, a dizzying array of sushi rolls, Teriyaki plates, and items they segregate into “Kitchen” & “Bento Box” dinners.

So, where does the danger lie?

In the fact that they deliver within a five mile radius for free on orders over $25. That won’t be posing a problem.