Garden Time #3

The tangled mess that are our tomato plants have finally decided that they want to give up their bounty. If you're a backyard vegetable gardener like myself you no doubt know that the tomato season is upon us. There are plenty of green tomatoes still waiting for the extra plant sugars and sunlight to brighten them into their various shades of red, purple, or orange, but at the rate that they ripen it won't take long!

Here's a prodigious bowl of produce from our garden. The red tomatoes are a variety popular in Europe called Carmello, the brownish looking ones are Black Pear, and the small, orange grape sized tomatoes are called Sun Gold. The Sun Gold are my favorite. They have the highest brix level of all the tomatoes that our particular nursery carried. The red chilies are Chile de Arbol: a nice fiery chile related to the cayenne. A little salt, pepper, and perhaps some fresh mozzarella if you're in the mood, and you've got a great salad.

Cooking with Dexter

Over the past several months I have really enjoyed reading a New York Times column named Cooking With Dexter, by Pete Wells. Because it fits in with the food/cook/amateur hunter theme of my blog, (squirrel kill count: 128) I'll mention it.

The column follows the culinary adventures of a sometimes clumsy cook (Mr. Wells) and his son, Dexter. Dexter is a 5 year old foodie obsessed with hoarding food and developing his own recipes among other things. The articles are full of satire and tidbits about Dexter's often ingenious cooking ideas and his quirky, 5 year old perspective of the food world. While it is mostly entertainment for me, the column always comes complete with recipes and good cooking ideas. So, if you're looking for a few laughs and maybe even some ideas for dinner, check it out.

If you would like to read the newest edition, Mummy Dearest, click here.

Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza is so easy and so superior in flavor compared to most homemade oven baked pizza, it's surprising that people don't do it more often. If you have a grill you CAN make grilled pizza! I suggest that you don't even bother with those pizza stones for the grill. They are quite expensive so why spend $50 or more on something that isn't even necessary? I'll outline the basics of how I make grill pizza.

First build a 2 zone charcoal fire (hot on one side, cool on the other). If you're using a gas grill, preheat your grill by turning half of your burners on medium-high to high and leave the other half off. The objective is to cook the dough quickly on the hot side, take it off, put on your toppings, and then place the topped pizza on the cool side to melt the cheese and warm the ingredients on the other of the grill using indirect heat.

Now I know what you're thinking... Doesn't the dough fall through the grates? Doesn't the dough stick to the grates? Nope, not even close - so set your fears aside and grill some pizza.

Get your dough ready spreading it to about a 1/4 inch thick. If you can go thinner by all means go for it, but be aware that the thinner the dough, the faster it will cook. I also like brushing it or spraying it with olive oil. Below is the raw dough just after being placed on the grill.

Raw dough on the hot side of the grill.

The cooking of the dough/crust goes fast - like, real fast - so DO NOT leave the grill, do not answer the phone, do not get a beer. OK if you're quick you can go get a beer, but walk fast! I would say that this dough (below) was turned after about 45 seconds. I told you it was fast.

I flip the crust probably 3 or 4 times. I want to cook the crust through but I don't want it to burn. By flipping it a few times I'm able to achieve that.

Pizza crust after flipping.

After the crust is cooked, remove it and add your toppings. Obviously the sky is the limit here, so add anything and everything you want! Now place the pizza back on the grill but this time put it on the cool side. Again, you want to warm the ingredients and melt the cheese. This process takes about 4-8 minutes depending on the heat of your fire. When your cheese is melted, you're done. Slice it up and enjoy!

Finished pizza being taken off the grill by yours truly.

Don't Beat Your Meat...

...Grind it!

If you're used to supermarket ground beef, you're in for a revelation when you start grinding your own meat at home. It's not scary, just keep your fingers out of the way! There are lots of advantages of home grinding:

The first advantage of grinding your own meat (aside from being kinda fun) is above all, freshness. The quality of your finished dish is automatically multiplied simply because you have freshly ground meat. You'll be surprised how light and fluffy the meat can be. I know it sounds funny to say that meat can be fluffy but, just believe me.

The second advantage of home grinding is that YOU get to pick and choose the cut of meat you want to grind. As you'll see below, I'm using brisket which has plenty of flavor (fat). Try to use something that has at least an 80/20 ratio of meat to fat. If you're looking for even more flavor and juiciness, look for cuts that will yield 75/25 or even 70/30 ratio. You could use anything from the standard chuck or sirloin to something a little more specialized like flat iron or brisket.

The third advantage that I'll mention is that you can more safely cook your burgers to medium, medium rare, or even rare. I was a little too hungry and I ate my burger before I took a picture, (sorry) but if it's been a while since you've had a fresh, medium rare burger you're in for a real treat! Keep everything cold, keep everything clean, and a medium rare home ground burger isn't as risky as it sounds.

It may not be everyday that you grind your own beef but I think it is most certainly worth the time. If you have a Kitchen Aid or a Cuisinart stand mixer, you're halfway there. Now all you need is a meat grinding attachment that matches your machine. So if you're looking for a 4th of July treat to yourself and your guests, try out a home ground burger!

Raw beef brisket ready to be cut into cubes and ground.

Ground brisket from our grinding attachment on the Cuisinart mixer.

Bird Feeder

Cooper's Hawk after catching a robin.

That's what I'm calling myself: a bird feeder. I feed small birds like bluebirds and cardinals at the suet and sunflower seed feeder but I also feed bigger birds like hawks. Above is a Cooper's hawk. I don't really do it on purpose, but living in a wooded area with lots of prey around, invariably you're going to see some hunting. This is the second time I've seen this bird swoop through the trees and land a tasty meal. The first time was early last Saturday morning when this hawk nailed a bluebird in mid-flight. What was amazing was that it happened about 10 feet in front of me. Now again, this afternoon when I was walking outside to get some thyme from the garden this guy (or girl) swooped down from above and caught a robin. If you look carefully you can see the robin under the hawk's talons. Both attacks happened in about the same spot and both of them happened about 10 or 15 feet from me. This hawk likes to show off.

Chanterelles

If you're out mowing the lawn, sometimes you come across a stray pine cone or stick that grinds and pops under the blade. You may smile and think manly thoughts about the horsepower lurking just inches below your fingertips... Then sometimes you stop dead in your tracks, blink a few times and realize that you have something quite unusual right in your own backyard - literally. Bright orange chanterelles right under your feet!

Here are a couple pictures of some wild chanterelles that decided to grow under our office window at home. I noticed them while pushing the lawnmower between our front and backyard lawn. Pretty damn awesome.

Whole Grilled Fish

When people think of grilled fish, I'd bet that 80 to 90% of people reach for salmon or tuna cuts and don't look any further. Most other fish is looked over because people don't know what to do with it. They are used to farmed salmon and sometimes over-fished tuna because that's what the stores and restaurants have pushed for sale over the past 10-20 years. These cuts can be mighty tasty and often good in all kinds of cooking applications, but I find whole grilled fish to be exponentially better in flavor and moisture. Besides, there's nothing better than tossing a whole, seasoned fish on the grill for a few minutes and impressing your friends with a perfectly cooked dinner - head, tail and all.

I always prefer to buy fish that is approved by the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch because they keep a close watch on what is being over-fished and what is potenitally harmful to your health (see: mercury in fish). If you're not in to tree hugging or preventing brain damage in your unborn child feel free to ignore the list, but I personally find the information useful. Over the years I have found that often, the more environmentally friendly fish like Spanish mackerel or mullet are not only cheaper, but are far tastier as well.

After that rant, tonight we (somewhat shamefully) grilled whole Gulf red snapper. Not exactly on the top of the list of environmentally friendly species, but it sure was good. There were some large Spanish mackerel in the case (one of my all-time favorite grilled fish) at our local Harry's Farmer's Market but the snapper was unbelievably fresh and the size was just right - about a pound each. According to our fish monger they had arrived just a couple hours before we purchased them. I snagged a couple and grilled them whole over a charcoal fire. Topped with a peach salsa and a side of grilled corn and bread, it was a great Saturday night dinner.

So the next time you're in the mood for fish, check out the Monterey Bay guide for sustainable seafood choices and instead of the usual salmon or tuna, try something different - a fresh whole fish. I think you'll be surprised at how great it turns out.

Garden Time #2

See if you can find the three tiny zucchini!

Japanese Eggplant flower

It's amazing what a month of growing can do. Looking back at pictures from the first garden post I'm quite amazed (and pleased) with the amount of growth taking place in our little garden. Much of that can be attributed to our substantial rainfall over the past month combined with the warm Spring temperatures.

The Italian zucchini, for one, is growing very fast... It already has 3 tiny zucchini eagerly awaiting their pollination time. The Japanese eggplant has put out one large gorgeous purple flower and has well over a dozen more getting ready to pop. The tomato plants are really on the move about now with the most ambitious Sun Gold plant reaching nearly 4 feet in height with several clusters of yellow flowers. Even the pepper plants which prefer the hot heat of summer are getting in on the action sending out a few tall, tender branches. Enjoy the pictures!

Garden after one month

24 Hours in New Orleans

The bar at MiLa

Sitting here in the New Orleans airport (yes, again) I figured I would write about my dinner and lunch over the past 24 hours. Last night I had dinner at MiLa. I was originally planning on driving out to Clancy's but MiLa was literally across the street from my hotel. I took that as a sign from the food gods and to MiLa I went.

The chefs of the restaurant are Allison Vines-Rushing, a 2004 James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year winner and her husband Chef Slade Rushing.

The restaurant was pretty empty aside from 2 or 3 couples and a stray flying termite that managed to creep under the front doors. (It is evidently swarm season in the Big Easy) They weren't expecting much business the day after the Memorial Day weekend and I was happy to have plenty of space to spread out on the bar. Entering the space, your eyes are drawn to the huge alabaster bar lighted from underneath. Perhaps the termites found it pretty as well (?). They have a few published signature cocktails on the menu but I decided to let the bartender whip me up an orange something or other. Great drink as an aperitif, he did well. It was a nice balance of sweet and bitter orange. If only I could remember all the ingredients. I started dinner with a complimentary amuse bouche: a goat cheese crostini with tomatoes and a balsamic reduction drizzled on top and a deep green parsley oil underneath. It was OK. The balsamic taste wasn't as strong as I had hoped. Considering you only have one bite, you've gotta pack some punch. All was fixed when the appetizer came along though. I ordered a deconstructed oysters rockefeller. The six or so very lightly poached oysters arrived on a bed of spinach drizzled all over with a white creamy foam and each oyster was topped with a piece of thin, cripsy bacon. The fact that you don't have to wrestle with the oyster shell was a nice change, especially when you've got on a freshly ironed light blue shirt. Everything was well seasoned and the oysters were my favorite part of the meal. Next came the entree; a sweet tea brined duck cooked on a rotisserie, served with roasted beets on a bed of wilted greens and drizzled with a date jus. This was a good idea in theory but there wasn't much tea flavor. Maybe I was expecting something like tea smoked duck, but I felt the flavor could have been more pronouced. The bitter wilted greens were great though, and the date jus was a perfect flavor match with the duck. Overall it was a pretty good plate of duck. For dessert (something I rarely go for) I got a Muscadine wine gelee. The gelee flavor was rather subtle and frankly I would have preferred more muscadine flavor. There is probably a fine line between gelle and grape jelly though, and if I had to choose, I'll take the gelee. It was cool and refreshing nonetheless. Overall the meal was quite good.

Today I drove back to Cochon Butcher for lunch before I left town. I had the muffaletta last time so this time I tried the bahn mi. I thought about it for a minute... why order a Vietmamese sandwich in a Southern Cajun style restaurant? To their defense they do list the "bahn mi" with quotations on the menu and refer to it as a Vietnamese po'-boy as not to offend any hard core food bloggers. Anyway, the sandwich was just OK. It was not as impressive to me as the muffaletta was. The bread was great, it had that thin crust that shatters all over your lap but is yet still super soft on the inside, it had the pickled daikon and carrots, the cilantro, and the jalapeno peppers too, but yet again, the flavor was lacking. The meat of the sandwich was pork liver pate and head cheese - fantastic in theory but they just lacked the pronounced pork flavor that I was hoping for. Still, I really admire and respect what they do there at the Cochon complex so I'll certainly be back when given the chance to try more!

Riverside Farmers Market

Today was opening day for the second season of the Riverside Farmers Market in Roswell, GA. I was really looking forward to grabbing some tender Spring vegetables for dinner tonight... but unfortunately the market had just about everything BUT produce. This was similar to last year's opening day where the main attractions were craft items and flowers. Maybe it is just too early for local farmers to have a good harvest to sell at the market? No, because I'm quite confident the in-town markets like the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and the Morningside Market have an abundance of fresh produce.

At the Riverside Market I noticed candles, jams/jellies, coffee, fresh flowers, pieces of pie, a master gardener stand to answer all your home gardening questions, even some live plants and bags of composted manure. I'm not going to discredit the quality or craftsmanship of these items, I'm sure they're wonderful, (OK maybe the composted manure didn't take much skill) but when I go to a farmers market I want produce and I want lots of it! As it was, the only real produce I saw were some flats of strawberries, and a girl selling some greens. I already have a small bag of strawberries and a opened bag of pre-washed, pre-cut greens in the crisper drawer left over from last week. I was pleased to see some fresh eggs and a Artisan Foods Bakery stand selling fresh breads but I had already made up my mind that I wasn't buying anything. I'll try back in a month or so and hopefully the market will have ramped up its selection of fresh, local produce.

Garden Time

Here's our little backyard garden for Spring/Summer/Fall(?) 2009. It's nothing extraordinary (we just don't have the space), but hopefully it will provide more than a few summer treats for us. We tried a garden last year but after our tomato plants had a run-in with our lawn service's broad leaf weed spray, they decided to stop growing. 2, 4-D isn't friendly. So, garden #2 is up and running!

I ordered our vegetable plants from Tasteful Garden again this year. They are based out of Heflin, Alabama. They are a small family, but they are doing big business lately - good for them. They also have lots of great heirloom plants to choose from. This year I'm growing...

Tomatoes:
Sun Gold
Carmello
Black Pear

Peppers:
Chile de Arbol
Carmen Pepper

Vegetables:
Japanese Eggplant
Italian Zucchini

Herbs:
Stevia
Lemon Varigated Thyme
German Thyme
Basil
Tarragon

Jacques Pepin's Flatbread

Jacques Pepin is certainly no stranger to the culinary community. Through cookbooks and TV series, he continues to churn out highly useful information and innovative ways of cooking in the kitchen. The recipe below is from his most recent TV series, More Fast Food My Way. The recipe was developed after Pepin visited a Tibetan restaurant and wanted to re-create a pan-cooked flatbread. The advantage of this bread is that it cooks up FAST. Start to finish you're looking at no more than 20 minutes so it's a great weeknight meal addition. Of course, we're not talking about the depth of flavor associated with something like sourdough, but the bread takes to flavor additions like herbs or mushrooms, as I have added in mine.

Jacques' Flatbread

1 1/2 cups of AP flour
1 cup of water
salt to taste
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Dump everything into bowl and "stir it into a gooey stuff" as Jacques says. The dough will indeed be very wet, gooey, sticky... whatever you want to call it! Heat up a pan that has non-stick properties* over medium to medium-high heat. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and then pour in your dough. Spread it into one flat layer in the pan with a spoon or spatula. A little oil on the spoon or spatula helps keep the dough from sticking to it. Add a tablespoon or two of water around the outside of the dough where it meets the pan; the object is to create steam to help cook the bread. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 8-10 minutes. After 8-10 minutes have passed, flip the bread and re-cover the pan so that it cooks from the other side. Think of this as a big savory pancake. Cook for another 5 minutes and you're done!

I suggest peeking at the bottom of the bread about half way through the first 8-10 minutes just to make sure the bottom isn't burning. You want good color, but you don't want charcoal! Adjust your stove top temperature accordingly.


Feel free to add your own touches. I have added dried thyme, black pepper, and sauteed mushrooms to this bread just to change things up a bit.


*I use the term "non-stick properties" because while a non-stick pan is perfectly acceptable to use in this recipe, I prefer to use cast iron or carbon steel whenever it is available.