Dinner (and drinks) by Ken

Asian BBQ Pizza

2009-09-05T21:38:00.003-05:00

This recipe is one I made up one day as a way to get rid of extra dough and extra chicken I had laying around. I didn't have a lot of other ingredients, so the original version was much simpler than the one picture below, and I think it was actually quite a bit better (I only had a little dough that time, so I had a thinner, crisper crust).

One technique I learned from an earlier pizza attempt was to use a slotted spoon to get the sauce onto the pizza. Since the sauce is very thin and watery, if you are not careful, you can end up with a pool of liquid in the middle of the pizza. So, by using a slotted spoon, I was able to get all the meat and enough of the sauce to impart flavor, but not so much as to have a watery mess.

Asian BBQ Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 small roasting chicken (legs and thighs), diced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2-cloves garlic
1-tsp ginger
dash of cayenne pepper
pizza dough
mozzarella cheese
toppings of choice (green onions or thinly sliced red onions, peppers, zucchini, baby corn, etc.)

Directions:

mix all ingredients above dough in a bowl and marinate for 2-hours
Preheat oven to hottest setting with baking stone if available
Using a slotted spoon, ladle the sauce / chicken mixture onto pizza
add toppings and cheese
bake until cheese is melted and starting to brown (5-10 minutes depending on heat of over and thickness of crust)

Lemon Dijon Pasta Salad

2009-08-30T19:53:00.005-05:00

Last month, a friend graduated with his PhD in economics. For the celebration picnic, I brought pasta salad. Now, to be honest, for most of my previous pasta salad attempts I've simply used Italian dressing and store-bought pasta salad seasoning. However, because this was a special occasion, and because I had plenty of lead time, I decided to put in a bit more effort (although not as much as I'd expected!), and made a pasta salad completely from scratch. I found a great resource to do this at allrecipes.com, with their 5 steps to perfect pasta salad.

They offer general guidelines that you can follow to create a nearly infinite range of pasta salads. In order to prevent duplicating their method, I simply refer you to their page above, and list the ingredients I used for my creation below. It was, by far, the best pasta salad I've ever made, and was extremely easy as well.

Lemon Dijon Pasta Salad (for instruction, go here)

Ingredients:

1-lb box, rotini
1-lb cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3-cup pine nuts, roasted
3/4-red, yellow, and/or orange bell pepper, diced
2-green onions, cleaned and sliced
8-12 basil leaves, sliced
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more to garnish

For the dressing, I followed this recipe, using lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Instead of using a wisk, I used our blender to mix it all up.

Panko breaded tilapia with orange salsa

2009-07-10T21:15:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, we tried a recipe for roasted tilapia with and orange parsley salsa (recipe here). The basic idea was good, we thought, but the fish was too bland. So, to make it a little more interesting, I breaded the fish, and tried to incorporate some of the flavors from the salsa into the fish. The end result, as you can see, looks delicious, and tasted much better than the original, without much added fat.

For the fish:

Ingredients
2 tilapia filets
1/2 cup milk
~3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 - 1 tsp orange zest
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp light oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°
Mix dry ingredients in a shallow bowl
Heat oven-safe frying pan over medium high heat
Dip fish filets in milk and then coat in breading
Fry fish on one side until golden brown, approximately two-minutes
Flip fish and transfer pan to oven - bake for 8-10 minutes longer, until fish is flakey
Serve with rice and salsa (link above)

Peach Upside Down Cake

2009-05-31T18:56:00.002-05:00

Since we apparenlty love cornbread-related desserts, Z and I this week made a Cornmeal and Peach Upside Down Cake from Martha Steward (recipe here). We thought it was very delicious, although with a stick and a half of butter, it was certainly not healthy! I followed the recipe exactly (baking is not normally my strength, so I don't like to take too many chances!), but I will make some minor changes next time. Specifically, the recipe calls for too much butter to be melted in the cast iron skillet to form the top-crust/cook the peaches, at least for the size skillet we have. If you make it yourself, I'd suggest starting with about half the butter, and melting it, and, based on how thickly it coats the bottom of the pan, you can add more until it seems like an appropriate amount for your skillet.

Grilled asparagus and onion pizza / chicken marsala pizza

2009-05-21T14:59:00.004-05:00

I have to start by apologizing to my loyal reader for not posting in quite some time. Before Z was here (permanently), I was very busy, and now that she is, I've just been lazy about blogging (or have been using previously-blogged recipes).

My most recent new recipe was taken from the May issue of Cooking Light, and is a grilled pizza. Because I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as published, I'll simply direct you here for the recipe from Cooking Light. Instead of using store bought dough, I made my own (recipe here) using my wonderful stand mixer. When making dough, I have to say that the stand mixer makes a huge difference - it is willing to knead it a lot longer than I am, and as such, I get the gluten to set up much better than when I knead by hand.

With the leftover dough, I made a chicken marsala pizza, inspired by a similar one my friend Mike made. The pizza-making was similar to this one, except that the topping/sauce was different. I thinly sliced one chicken breast and tossed it with flour and spices (oregano, salt, pepper) and then browned it in olive oil. I added in half an onion and several mushrooms (both sliced) and 1 clove of minced garlic and sauted for a while, before adding in 1/2 cup (plus) of marsala wine along with more spices (oregano, basil, pepper). I simmered until it reduced a bit, and added 1 tbsp of butter. I added a little beef broth if it boiled down too much, as I was waiting for Z to get home before I put the pizza together.

Portabella Parmesan

2009-03-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

Here is a recipe for Portabella Parmesan we've enjoyed a few times. I don't exactly remember where we found it (food network, probably, so perhaps Giada?), but it has consistently been an easy and tasty dish.

before the oven (with good lighting) ...

Ready to serve

The top view

Portabella Parmesan Ingredients:
Portabella caps (1 per person)
Olive oil (1 tsp / mushroom)
Salt & Pepper
Pasta sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Butter (1 tsp / mushroom)
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel
Brush mushrooms on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
Grill mushrooms, 3-5 minutes per side
In a shallow baking dish, coat with pasta sauce
Place mushrooms, vent side up (i.e., upside-down) in baking dish
Add sauce to mushroom caps (enough to coat with a thin layer)
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese to cover mushrooms, add butter, and sprinkle Parmesan cheese
Bake at 400° for ~15-minutes (until cheese is browned)
Serve with pasta

Honey-Jalapeno Chicken

2009-02-02T20:44:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes, I've been a bad blogger lately. Only one post in all of January and, I'll be honest, February isn't looking much better. However, I do have some cooking to report at least.

My latest cooking attempts was a recipe that Sam suggested (which can be found here). This is an Asian-inspired chicken and pasta dish that came out wonderfully. It had a good balance of sweet and spicy and was very simple to make.

Honey-Jalapeno Chicken

Ingredients:
12 ounces soba noodles (could not find them, and forgot to go to Asian grocery store, so I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1 jalapeno, seeds removed
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded or sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped scallions, green part only
2 tablespoons pickled ginger, minced

Directions

Cook soba noodles according to package directions and drain
Blend jalapenos, honey, cilantro, salt and pepper and puree. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to the mixture until desired consistency is achieved
Heat olive oil in a skillet
Add the shredded chicken and sauce and cook until heated through
In a medium bowl, toss cooked soba noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions, and pickled ginger, then transfer to serving bowl
Pour heated chicken and sauce over noodles

Pecan Rice Pilaf

2009-01-04T17:04:00.000-06:00

Several posts ago, I made a rice pilaf that was generally good, but was somewhat lacking in flavor. Because of this, I've been hoping for an opportunity to try the recipe again with some modifications. When I was invited to a potluck recently, and heard that most of the dishes were "main course" options, I jumped at the opportunity. Because a friend recently gave me a bag of fresh pecan's from her tree, I decided to incorporate those as well.

I liked the method that I used previously (adapted from Good Eats), so I used the same approach. As you can see below, I added the pecans after the dish was done cooking. However, I wanted the flavor of the pecans to be more prominent than that, so I tried something new. I steeped some ground pecans in the broth for about an hour before I started cooking with the hope that the broth would take on the flavor.

Delicious!

Because the potluck was relatively small, I had plenty of leftovers. One time, I tossed in some dried cranberries after reheating the pilaf in the microwave, and though the flavor worked well with the dish.

Pecan Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 c carrot, minced
1/2 c mushrooms, minced
garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper, to taste, plus a dash of nutmeg
2 cups long grain rice
3 1/3 c chicken broth (I only used 3 c, and that did not seem to be enough)
1 bay leaf
1/2 c pecans, roasted and minced, plus 1/4 c finely ground

Directions:

Mix broth with ground pecans and let sit on counter for 1 hour
Preheat oven to 350°
In a heavy, wide, lidded pan, melt butter over medium-low heat
Add garlic, onion, carrot, mushrooms, and salt, sweat until aromatic, stirring constantly
Add olive oil
Add rice and stir to coat and rice begins to smell nutty
Add chicken broth, pepper, and nutmeg, and bay leaf & bring to boil
Cover pan with moistened dish towel (or tea towel). Place lid on pan and fold towel corners over lid
Bake for 15 minutes
Rest at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes without removing the cover.
Remove lid from rice and turn out onto a platter
Fluff with a large fork and add roasted pecans (I roasted the pecans for ~ 10-minutes while the pilaf was cooking in the oven)

Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts

2008-12-22T11:08:00.000-06:00

Since Z is not currently here, I have been trying fewer main course meals lately, and more side dishes. Also, since there are some foods she doesn't like, I've been making dishes I wouldn't be able to make with her in town. In particular, earlier this month I made a bacon-braised Brussels sprout recipe. This was a Tyler Florence recipe I found here, and it was pretty easy.

First, for those of you who are not familiar with Brussels sprouts, they are like miniature cabbages that grow on a club. I was shocked that the local grocery store sold them by the club, so I succumbed to temptation, and bought this beauty here.

It was a bit more work than buying the pre-cleaned, bagged Brussels sprouts, but I got it anyway for nostalgia's sake (we always had these in our garden when I was growing up).

This is what the pan looked like when done

Served with a citrus herb marinated chicken breast

Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
1 club of Brussels sprouts
1/4 lb bacon
1 garlic clove, additional garlic powder (I only had one clove!)
dried thyme (I didn't have fresh)
1-1/2 cup chicken broth (I added gradually, 2 cups seemed like too much)
Salt & pepper
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2-sprigs rosemary
Olive oil

Directions:

In a large, oven safe pan and over medium-high heat, cook bacon for 2 to 3 minutes
Add the garlic clove, thyme and Brussels sprouts and cook until slightly caramelized, ~4-5 minutes
Add chicken broth and reduce heat to a simmer
Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes
Remove lid and add a splash of vinegar and reduce until syrupy, 2 to 3 minutes
In a bowl, toss bread crumbs with rosemary, thyme leaves and garlic powder, then drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper
Sprinkle bread crumb mixture and Parmesan over Brussels sprouts and bake in a 350°oven until golden and crispy.

Arizona

2008-12-20T21:10:00.000-06:00

For Thanksgiving, we visited Z's parents in Arizona. With the trip, came good times, good pictures, and good food.

Here, for example, would be an example of good times.

I know the white balance is off, but Z's mom is clearly cracking up over something (and the sky looks pretty cool too)

We took some pictures of an Arizona sunset, which came out fairly well. Keep in mind, these are my first sunset pictures. All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with them, but will happily take advice on how to make them better.

I think this one is my favorite.

While we were there, we came across some products of a local jam and sauce maker. I've been looking for a jalapeño jelly for Z for a while (ever since she had jalapeño jelly with brie at a wine bar in Lubbock), so when I saw that this vendor carried some, I pulled her over to try it out. She liked it, so I got some. I also grabbed a bottle of a raspberry chipotle sauce.

I used it as a pork marinade. In all honesty, I was disappointed, but that could be because I didn't have time to actually marinate the meat, and instead just put it on right before baking. The sauce was really good to dip the meat into, so it will definitely get another chance in my kitchen.

Pancakes

2008-11-22T10:02:00.000-06:00

Ok, this was totally from a mix, but doesn't it look good?

The Yard

2008-11-22T09:06:00.000-06:00

This post definitely isn't food related, but ah well. One thing I like about the place we're renting in Lubbock, is the spacious back yard. It turns out that the dogs like it too.

Here's Nizhoni trying to scratch her back (or something)

this went on for quite some time

And here Nizhoni and Kodiak are playing with each other. This picture isn't great because it is through the window and there was a big light differential. However, I was really impressed that they were play fighting without one of us watching them directly.

Yes, Nizhoni looks a lot smaller, but she can definitely hold her own

Honey Curry Squash

2008-11-20T20:09:00.000-06:00

I remember liking squash as a kid, but haven't had much luck myself making squash that actually enjoyed (not winter squash, at least). So, wanted to instill variety in my vegetable repertoire, I compelled myself to buy an acorn squash last week, and decided to try a few things out. The recipe below is the one that is definitely worth sharing with you, my loyal readers (AKA Z and her mom).

This recipe I got from this month's Cooking Light magazine. It turned out very well, and will definitely be one I put into a regular rotation. I tweaked the recipe based on what I had (and the fact that I was cooking for one), but didn't make any huge modifications.

Honey Curry Squash

Ingredients:
1/2 acorn squash, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
golden raisins (not sure how many I used - I added them until it "looked right")
1-2 tbsp honey
curry powder and cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions

Toss squash cubes with olive oil, salt, & pepper
Bake at 500° for 15-20 minutes, or until tender
Toss remaining ingredients and serve

(see, I told you it was simple)

Rice Pilaf

2008-11-19T18:19:00.001-06:00

I'd always wanted to try making a rice pilaf. I mean, it seemed so simple - rice, some sort of seasoning, and perhaps a vegetable or two. However, whenever I tried an "impromptu" (i.e., without looking up a recipe) pilaf, I failed miserably. Then, one day while watching Good Eats, I saw Alton Brown make a rice pilaf that seemed remarkably easy. So, last month, when Z was here and I was therefore cooking and blogging more regularly, I thought that it would be a great time to try making a pilaf. Alton's recipe was remarkably easy, although it was not super flavorful. I'm not sure exactly what I'd change (more garlic, perhaps, or some pepper), but it is something I will certainly play around with.

Rice Pilaf
adapted from Good Eats

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
2 pinches kosher salt
2 cups long grain rice (I used jasmine rice)
2-3/4 c chicken broth
1/2 tsp orange zest
Pinch of saffron strands, steeped in 1/4 cup hot water
1 bay leaf
Golden raisins for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°
In a heavy, wide, lidded pan, melt butter over medium-low heat
Add onion, pepper, and salt, sweat until aromatic, stirring constantly
Add rice and stir to coat and rice begins to smell nutty
Add chicken broth, orange zest, saffron and water, and bay leaf & bring to boil
Cover pan with moistened dish towel (or tea towel). Place lid on pan and fold towel corners over lid
Bake for 15 minutes
Rest at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes without removing the cover.
Remove lid from rice and turn out onto a platter
Fluff with a large fork and add raisins

Lemon Blueberry Frozen Yogurt!

2008-10-27T13:01:00.002-05:00

A few months ago we heard that Food and Wine magazine did a profile of Columbus local ice cream maker, Jeni. The recipes that Jeni submitted sounded great, but we did not have any way of making ice cream. Now that we have an ice cream attachment (thanks Jay and Sonja) for our stand mixer (thanks Joyce and Don), however, we decided to try making lemon blueberry frozen yogurt. This yogurt was absolutely delicious! A great combination of rich (from the dairy) tart (from the lemon) and sweet (from the fresh blueberry syrup). We put it in our deep freeze, and might have gotten in too frozen, but it becomes much more scoopable after a minute of two on the counter.

The "batter" in an ice bath

Churning away...

Finished product!

Lemon Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
Recipe from Jeni

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4-ounce package unflavored powdered gelatin
2/3 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup blueberries
2 teaspoons water

Directions:

Fill a large bowl with ice water. Pour 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice into a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the lemon juice and let stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk the remaining 6 tablespoons of lemon juice with 2/3 cup of the sugar and the corn syrup. Bring to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon gelatin.
In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt with the zest. Stir in the lemon juice mixture, then whisk in the cream. Set the yogurt base in the ice water bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, mix the blueberries with the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar and the water. Simmer over moderate heat, until saucy, 4 minutes. Let cool.
Pour the lemon yogurt into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Scoop alternating spoonfuls of the yogurt and blueberry sauce into a plastic container. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface and close with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Chicken Marsala

2008-10-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

This recipe was largely stolen from a Tyler Florence recipe, and was very easy to make. I was generally happy with the outcome, but might do some things differently in the future. In particular, in this recipe, the chicken is only in the sauce for a brief period of time, not allowing much of the Marsala flavor to penetrate the chicken. In the recipe below, instead of removing the chicken, perhaps I'd simply add the bacon and mushrooms when I flip the chicken (I cooked it for about 5-minutes per side), and then continue from there. It would mean that the chicken was in the pan for as long as the Marsala was, and hopefully this would mean deeper flavor distribution.

On another note, this was our new braiser's first run, and I was generally happy with it. At first, when I was cooking the chicken, I was afraid it would burn the chicken too much or be horrible to clean. This ended up being a non-issue. The wine helped to quickly dissolve any cooked on residue (further flavoring the sauce) far better than it has on any other pan I've used.

Our beautiful new braiser (thanks Priscilla & Paul)

The chicken cooking

Looks pretty good, eh?

After cooking the bacon and mushrooms, add in the wine

At the end, the chicken gets added back in

And served over pasta (in our new pasta bowl, thanks to Kim and Evan)

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1/4-1/2 c flour
salt & pepper
1/4 c olive oil
2 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
1/2 lb mushrooms, halved
1/2 c dry Marsala wine
1/2 c chicken stock
2 tbsp butter
1/4-1/2 c heavy cream

Directions:

Pound chicken breasts flat with mallet ("meat hammer")
On a plate, season flour with salt and peppper
Heat oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat
Dredge chicken in flour and fry until done, about 5-min per side, depending on size (and flatness) of chicken
Remove chicken from pan
Add bacon to pan & saute briefly over medium heat
Add mushrooms & saute until mostly cooked, about 5 minutes
Add Marsala wine & bring to boil, add chicken broth. Salt and pepper to taste
Simmer for a minute or more to reduce sauce
Add butter & cream, return chicken to pan & heat for another minute
Serve over pasta or mashed potatoes

Delicious steak!

2008-10-19T21:47:00.008-05:00

So, as many of you know, I got married last weekend. With weddings, comes gifts. Of course, many of the things we registered for were kitchen-related, and probably because everyone knows of my predilection for cooking and Z's predilection for eating, most of the kitchen-related items were purchased. Today, we (yes, WE - as in Z and I were in the same state!) started enjoying these new kitchen items, with a steak dinner. We had pan-seared strip steaks with a red wine reduction (recipe stolen from here), taking advantage of our beautiful, high quality (at least for us), non-stick cookware (thanks Rich). We also had oven-baked seasoned potato cubes and grilled vegetables. This was all served on our beautiful new dinnerware (thanks Jenny & Dominic, Shirley & Joyce, Rick, Betty, and family) and eaten with our sturdy new silverware (thanks mom & dad D). We also had wine served from our new decanter (thanks Katie). Of course, since the place is a total mess (although rapidly improving), this wonderful meal was eaten from our futon on a coffee table. This is what the meal looked like:

the lighting was horrible for this picture

Pan Seared Steak and Red Wine Reduction

Ingredients:
Strip steak, 3/4 inch thick, warmed to room temperature(ish)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp galic powder
1 tbsp herbes de provence
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch of cayenne
black pepper to taste

1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp flour
3/4 cup red wine

Directions:

Mix top ingredients (minus steak) on a large plate
Place steak onto herb mixture and coat both sides
Preheat large skillet over medium heat, add steaks
Cook steaks ~4-minutes per side
Remove steaks and let rest

Add shallot and garlic to pan and saute briefly
Add flour, to form a roux
Add wine, making sure to loosen any meat/herb remains
Simmer on medium heat to reduce liquid, until desired consistency is obtained (can add more wine or stock to thin out the reduction, add more flour or cornstarch to thicken)

Drizzle reduction over meat and enjoy!

New Camera

2008-10-07T16:39:00.005-05:00

Now that I have a new camera, I've begun playing around with it. Mostly, I've been shooting mundane objects, such as my watch (on a table), or blurry objects like Nizhoni quickly approaching me. However, last night, when I was mowing my yard, I noticed something odd about a pine(ish) tree in the front yard. From a distance, it looked sorta like it had dew on it.

However, upon closer inspection (i.e., when I had to mow under the tree), I noticed that it has these little purple berry sort of things.

Now, I know this isn't food, but I was curious if anyone knew the variety of this tree?

Quick Beef Stew

2008-10-06T04:27:00.001-05:00

Well, well, well... a paycheck comes, and with it (not literally) a new camera. To celebrate my new picture-taking device (that I'm gradually learning how to use) I decided to cook a meal that has not yet been blogged about. Actually, I've made this dish a few times in the past month. It started when I had some frozen sirloin that I wanted to do something with. So, I looked up recipes online, and found several I liked. The one I am presenting (that I'm calling "quick beef stew") was largely inspired by a Rachel Ray recipe, but was modified slightly based on what I had in the kitchen (and felt like doing). Since I've made it a few times now, I've tried several different variations. I'm presenting the one I made this time, but it can certainly be tweaked to suit your needs.

The cast of characters

Since I was only cooking for myself, the amounts below would need to be adjusted to suit most situations. This is probably enough to satisfy two adults (I had leftovers with a little extra after that.

After adding the wine, but before the broth (I think)

The finished product

Quick Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1/2 lb beef sirloin, cubed
1-clove garlic, minced
4-5 mushrooms, sliced (I did relatively thick slices)
1/2 red onion, cut into large cubes
2-slices bacon, cubed
red wine
broth (I used chicken)
1-2 tbsp. flour
salt, pepper, & "other spices" to taste

Directions:

Saute bacon over medium heat until cooked; remove bacon, keep bacon grease
Raise heat to medium high and brown beef (in the bacon fat)
Add garlic, mushroom, and onions. Saute until "sweaty"
Add flour, stirring regularly to create a paste (less than 1-minute)
Add red wine (1/2+ cup ), and stir, until a thick gravy forms
Add back bacon pieces; add salt and pepper and other spices (I used herbes de provence this time, but have also used just rosemary and thyme, and to be honest, it would probably be fine with just the salt and pepper).
Add broth until slightly thinner than your desired consistency
Simmer, covered, for about 20-minutes
Serve over noodles or mashed potatoes

A treatise on marinades

2008-10-01T08:30:00.001-05:00

Well, while I'm in the picture-less world that I currently live in, I figure I can write something cooking-related that does not require pictures. Specifically, I'd like to provide a few guidelines I've observed and employed when marinating meat (you marinate something, the something you marinate with is a marinade). I've been meaning to do something along these lines for a while, so I figure why not now?

What is a marinade? A marinade is basically a flavor-inducing liquid, that can also tenderize or alter the texture (e.g., by caramelizing) of the final product. They can be used for grilling (my preferred application), baking, braising, stewing, steaming (in the case of fish) frying, or virtually any food preparation technique. However, certain marinades lend themselves to some preparations more than others. For example, a sugary marinade that is likely to caramelize when heated might be better suited for the grill or oven than for a pan-fry preparation (at least for thicker cuts of meat that would need to be fried for more than a few minutes).

What's in a marinade? Well, it depends, really. Marinades almost always have some sort of an acid, but the other ingredients can vary widely. Below are some of the more common elements I've noticed in marinades.

Acid: Adds flavor and helps with tenderizing the meat. Examples include citrus juice, vinegars, or alcohol (typically wine). Depending on the style of food, different acids might be appropriate. For example, with for stir-fry or other Asian-inspired marinades, I often use rice wine vinegar or lemon juice (note - a stir-fry sauce can sometimes be a marinade recipe with corn starch added for thickening (added at the end of cooking)). For Mexican dishes, I often use lime juice. For Italian, I often use balsamic vinegar (go lightly - it packs a lot of flavor) or lemon juice. If you're planning to de glace a meat dish using wine (e.g., when making stew), using some of the wine in the marinade is a good choice.

Fat: Perhaps not as essential as an acid, fats can still be very important in a marinade. This is because some flavors (see below) are not water soluble, and instead need to be carried into the meat by a fat (e.g., capsaisin - the spicy ingredient in hot peppers). I typically use either a neutral oil that can withstand high heat (many vegetable/grain oils qualify) or an oil that can itself impart some flavor (e.g., olive oil). The choice depends on the specific type of food (e.g., you probably wouldn't use olive oil for a stir-fry) as well as the cooking method (if you're going with a high-heat cooking method, it may be best to use an oil that can tolerate high heats).

Flavor: When it comes down to it, a marinade is often defined by the flavorings that are added. Sometimes I use combinations of herbs and spices that are tried and true (e.g., herbes de provence) and sometimes I get creative. Herbs and spices are the most obvious flavorings, but others are important to keep in mind. For example, the vinegars and fats can bring a lot of flavor, as can things like garlic and ginger or other liquids you bring into the marinade (e.g., soy or Worcestershire sauce). If you are using a pre-mixed herb/spice combination (e.g., jerk seasoning, herbes de provence), be sure to get one that doesn't contain salt. Salt certainly helps to enhance flavors, but you can add that yourself. There's no sense paying a lot of money for a flavoring that contains salt when salt is available so cheaply on its own.

Sugars: Sugars can help enhance both flavor and texture. Sugars generally caramelize at high temperatures, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your goals. If you're afraid of burning the sugars, you can marinate the meat in a sugar-less marinade, and withold some of the marinade. Then, add the sugar of your choice, and brush it on the meat toward the end of cooking. Think BBQ sauce (which typically contains a sugar, such as molasses or brown sugar) - quite often it is best added towards the end of grilling to get a nice carmalized BBQ flavor, without charring on the grill.

Putting it all together: Make your marinade in a blender or food processor to fully integrate (i.e., emulsify) hydrophillic (water soluble) and hydrophobic (fat-soluble) ingredients and to chop up ingredients like garlic, ginger, green onions, hot peppers, and so forth. Marinate your meat in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (placed into another bowl to catch any leaks) for at least 30-minutes before cooking.

Remember that different combinations of these ingredients can result in wildly different flavors. I've used lemon, lime, and orange juices for Asian and Italian dishes alike, but different "flavors" and fats can distinguish the dishes. Feel free to be creative in combining flavors. For example, I made a stir-fry the other day that used rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and corn starch for the sauce that was very good. Adding cumin, garlic, and ground up jalepeño peppers to lime juice and soy sauce creates a classic tex-mex flavor. Pair flavors from similar regions of the world (e.g., French wine and herbes de provence, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and ginger).

Also, marinating is not just for meat. I will often marinate fruits and vegetables that I'm planning to cook on the grill (mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, pineapple).

Update

2008-09-23T21:47:00.003-05:00

I hope to re-start blogging again sometime soon. As I said before, my camera died, so my ability to take pictures of food is somewhat lacking - once I replace it (next paycheck?), I promise to start anew. I've found some good recipes in the last month that need to be shared with the world! (or something like that).

Worst breakfast ever!

2008-09-07T22:33:00.001-05:00

In my last few hours visiting Z over labor day weekend, we felt a tasty breakfast on our way to the airport would hit the spot nicely. So, we decided to go to Tasi, home of delicious and fluffy sourdough pancakes (and other breakfast goodies).

I highly recommend the place, but unfortunately, they were closed for labor day (and starting next week, will be closed every Monday). Disappointment #1.

On to Jack and Benny's, for surely they would be open on Labor Day. Their delicious chocolate chip (or chocolate & peanut butter chip - AKA "buckeye" - if you prefer) pancakes would certainly hit the spot. Well, they would have, had they been open. Disappointment #2.

look how sad I am

Finally, in a desperation move, we decided to go for Bob Evans. Unfortunately, it turns out, they were open. I say unfortunately, because our morning would have been a lot better had they not been, and we could have simply gone home and had cereal. Instead, we waited ten minutes to get a seat. We were able to order our food right away, and then we waited. And we waited. Keep in mind that after running to so many different places, my need to get to the airport was rapidly becoming urgent. Eventually, the waitress, who we'd watched bring food to several tables seated after us, did bring us something - biscuits (not what we ordered) to satisfy our appetites while we waited. As if on cue, when we finally decided to ask for our food to go, the waitress arrived with our food. We ate quickly. My pancakes were undercooked, but at that point I didn't care. Z didn't finish all of her food, so when I went up to pay, I asked the waitress to bring her a to-go box. After waiting in line to pay for ten-minutes (with Z patiently waiting at the table for the to-go box), Z finally walked over with no leftovers in hand. Disappointments #3 through infinity.

Perhaps I can have a satisfying breakfast next time I'm in Columbus...

Zucchini Pasta

2008-09-04T20:27:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm back to cooking, although not so much back to blogging. The camera that I thought had dead batteries was just plain dead. It was a point and shoot that had major focus issues, so it probably isn't a huge loss, but it does mean that I'm left without my own pictures until I can get a new camera. I would simply go out and buy another point and shoot, since they are pretty reasonable these days, but Z's photography lessons have made me really want a DSLR (plus, if I get a camera body, we can share lenses - once we have enough to actually share).

OK - now onto cooking...

I'm not sure exactly what she was looking for, but Z found a recipe for "zucchini pasta" (here) that looked really good. The recipe was very straightforward, and ended up tasting quite good.

picture stolen from NY Times

I made a few modifications to the recipe (sauteing the garlic in the oil before cooking the zucchini added some great flavor), and served it with a little grilled chicken breast. The zucchini strips from the outside were much better than those from the middle (they congealed like regular pasta that had been overcooked).

Zucchini Pasta
Modified from NY Times

Ingredients:
1 pound zucchini (or a combination of yellow and green zucchini)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
diced mixed vegetables (mushrooms, carrot, peppers)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions:

Using a vegetable peeler, cut the zucchini into lengthwise ribbons, rotating with each ribbon. Stop before you reach the seeds at the core of the zucchini.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high hear and saute garlic and vegetables until al dente
Remove vegetables, retaining oil (add more if needed)
Cook the zucchini with a pinch of salt for two to three minutes, being cafeful to retain the crispness of the "pasta."
Toss with other vegetables and add freshly ground pepper to taste.
Quickly remove pasta from heat and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

NOTE: This was the first time my Parmesan didn't come from a green can. While I didn't grate it myself, I have to say that even pseudo-fresh is a lot better than green can cheese!

Chicken Fajita Marinade

2008-08-24T13:01:00.001-05:00

Over the past two years, I've been trying a variety of marinades for fajitas. Some have been quite good, while others have been disappointing. Below is the recipe that has become my favorite thus far. It is very easy, but the combination of flavors hits me just right. You can modify this as you choose (substituting chipotle peppers for a smoky flavor, using lemon instead of lime and reducing the sugar for fish tacos, etc.). I've used the recipe for chicken and pork, although I suspect it would work for other meats as well.

Chicken Fajita Marinade
Note: I don't have any pictures because I ran out of batteries for the camera.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp (or more) cumin
hot pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Combine ingredients, mixing well
Marinate chicken 1-4 hours

I typically then cook the chicken on a grill, and then saute the veggies (onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc.) in an iron skillet.

Albondigas

2008-08-22T07:49:00.007-05:00

Well, after three weeks in Texas, I finally have a working stove. I've done lots of grilling, toaster oven cooking, and no-cook eating (i.e., salad and fruit). But, finally, on Tuesday, I was able to cook a proper meal. What did I pick? Something fairly easy that I could adjust for a single serving size (OK, I ended up with 3 servings).

I made albondigas, which, according to my recipe, are meatballs in a garlic-tomato sauce. The recipe is actually for appetizer/tapas-type meatballs, but I ended up making them to put over pasta. Z and I did make these once for appetizers when we had a small party a few years ago, but they also worked very well over pasta. If you should make them for a party, you can make them early and then keep them warm/heat them up in a small crock pot to save last-minute rushing on food prep).

The recipe starts with making the meatballs and pan frying them in a heavy skillet (I used the lovely cast iron one you see below)

Notice how shiny and new the stove looks

The cooking of the meatballs is then finished in the sauce. (eeek! passive voice alert).

While normally, you'd serve them tapas style with toothpicks, I served mine over pasta.

This weekend, a group of us went to a local wine and tapas place that had albondigas on the menu. Theirs had jalepeño peppers in them as well, and were served in a marsala sauce, which I found to be a very tasty variation.

Albondigas

Ingredients:
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large bell pepper, finely chopped
Olive oil
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cilantro

For the sauce:
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can (33 oz) diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook onion and pepper in olive oil until soft, let cool
Combine onions/peppers, ground meat, bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, & cilantro
Make small meatball (1 - 1-1/2 inch diameter)
Pan fry in olive oil in a pre-heated skillet. Remove when browned.

For the sauce, briefly saute garlic in olive oil
Add remaining ingredients, including meatballs and bring to a simmer
Simmer for 30-minutes, or until meatballs are done and sauce has thickened.
Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

First (home cooked) meal in Lubbock

2008-08-12T20:55:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, I have recently moved to Lubbock, Texas. Because my stuff came this weekend, I am now able to cook again. I am still very limited in what I can do, because I have not unpacked all my stuff yet (let alone organized it) and because my stove doesn't work (new one comes on Thursday). But, I was still able to cook today using stuff I packed (grill and toaster oven). Today's recipe is oven-baked sweet potato "fries".

First, the cast of characters... We have a sweet potato (1-2 people per sweet potato, depending on appetite and potato size), kosher salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, olive oil, and black pepper (not pictured). I chose this particular combination of spices because I had unpacked them (I've since unpacked the rest of my spices) and because I sometimes like to combine sweet and spicy.

Basically, I cut the sweet potato into wedges and tossed it with olive oil (enough to coat), a decent amount of kosher salt, about a half teaspoon of cumin and black pepper, and a quarter teaspoon (I think) of cayenne pepper. I then placed them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and baked them at 450° for 25-minutes, turning once. They were not as crispy as fried fries, but were quite good nonetheless. We have made these before (using cinnamon, salt, and honey as flavoring) and baked them at a lower temperature and gotten really soggy fries, so I think the higher temperature was key.

I served these fries with a chicken breast marinated in zesty Italian salad dressing and grilled.

Also, there's a pint of a wheat beer that I got from a local microbrewery that helped complete this summertime feast.

PS - now that Z is no longer in the same state as I am, the quality of my pictures has dramatically decreased. This is a combination of having to use a point and shoot camera instead of the DSLR that she's been teaching us all how to use and not having her awesome photography and processing skills.

Last Supper

2008-08-06T19:52:00.003-05:00

So, after the movers took our stuff away from us, we immediately locked the door, hopped in the car, and went to the Taj Mahal.

Now, this is admittedly, a pretty generic name for an Indian restaurant, but we've really grown to like the place. If any place were to be called "our place," this might be it. It is a formal enough restaurant to be suitable for date night (picture candlelight and a bottle of wine - I don't think they have candles, but they definitely have wine :) ), but well under the price of most other formal eating options.

So, last Wednesday (have I been gone a week already!) we started our typical dinner menu with some naan - this time garlic naan. I have no idea how they do it, but I swear this stuff is made of crack! It is flavorful, rich, and delicious!

Now this is where we really get into our routine. Z ordered the coconut chicken...

... and I ordered the chicken tikka.

I say "routine" because this is what we always get. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We've both tried other things on the menu and have always been satisfied. We just like these dishes so much, that nothing else can compare (in our minds at least). I actually like going for their lunch buffet, because then I can try a greater variety of dishes, while still having some of my old standby (or something similar to it) available.

Finally, Z finished the meal with some rice pudding.

please note, this picture was taken with the correct white balance.

So, that's it - the last of my Columbus blogs :(. Hopefully I'll have new dishes prepared here in Lubbock to blog about soon - once I have pots and pans to prepare them in (and a working oven, dishes, silverware, etc.)!

Surly Girl

2008-08-06T09:23:00.002-05:00

Now that I have internet back at home, I can try and finish up my end of Columbus posts. Don't expect any new food posts this week, however, as I still don't have my stuff (no pots and pans to cook with) nor does the oven in my new apartment work (which will hopefully be taken care of very soon).

So, the night before the movers came (for the first day), and Z and I were frantically trying to get ready (last-minute packing, sorting out what stays and what goes, etc.), we decided to walk to the Surly Girl Saloon, one of our favorite places to walk - especially for a late dinner. The Surly Girl, and its sister (mother?) Betty's, are both locally owned and operated restaurant/bars in the Short North. Surly Girl has more of a western empowered woman theme, featuring drinks from female-owned wineries/breweries. They also have a great seasonal selection of mixed drinks (e.g., blueberry "lemonade").

We don't have any food pictures, in part because it was relatively dark inside and in part because by the time our food came, all we wanted to do was devour it. We split a plate of nachos (very good). I think Z had the Surly Girl salad and I had the Cajun meatloaf. Betty's meatloaf is better, but Surly Girl's is still quite good. While we didn't have any this time, Surly Girl also has funky cupcakes, like chocolate cayenne, that make for a great dessert.

Slow Blog Month

2008-07-29T10:59:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to apologize for the slow blog month. As many of you know, I'm in the process of moving to Lubbock, TX. As a result, there have not been a lot of cooking opportunities (too much travel, eating out, and now packing). Hopefully, once I am settled in to my new place, and have unpacked the recipe binder (that Z is currently updating), I can get back to exploring the world of homemade food. In the meantime, expect small posts about eating in Columbus and Lubbock just to keep the blog from being totally empty.

Mmmmm... Chocolate

2008-07-24T17:27:00.003-05:00

Z and I just got back from a trip to NY to do some wedding-related chores and to see my parents one last time before I head off to Lubbock. During our visit, we spent some time ogling bunnies, checking out the cherry harvest, and eating lots of unhealthy food (Z stole a lot of the good posts since most had nothing to do with food).

One example of the unhealthy food is the chocolate we ate at The Original Candy Kitchen in Williamson, NY. This candy shop has been in business for 118 years. Growing up, we always got our Easter candy from here, but I'd never been any other time of the year. Z and I each got 3 truffles (we both got mint, which was good), and my favorite by FAR was the dark chocolate raspberry truffle. Raspberry just goes so well with chocolate, and the amount of flavor was just right - enough to complement the chocolate without overpowering it (I thought the mint was a little overpowering, which is why it wasn't my favorite).

mint truffle

raspberry and espresso truffles

Actually, speaking of mint and raspberry going well with chocolate, Z and I sometimes make "milkshakes" using a little creme de cacao and either framboise or creme de menthe in place of the milk. In other words, using ice cream and "spirits" instead of ice cream and milk. They make great dessert drinks.

Eating instead of cooking

2008-07-19T20:02:00.005-05:00

Since my days in Columbus are limited, Z and I have been hitting up places we're going to miss, have fond memories of, or haven't yet tried. Today was a 2-fer, with one we had not tried and one we have fond memories of.

For the one we had not tried, the German Village Coffee Shop (aka - Der Kaffe Haus). It was a very good find - the food was extremely reasonably, and the portions were more than reasonable. I got a short stack and a side of bacon for around $5, and it was way too much food. The pancakes were large, thick, and fluffy (and loaded with complex grease-bohydrates). Z had a monte cristo sandwhich, and also had more than she could finish.

Then, this evening, Z and I returned to the site of our first official date, Hunan Lion. While I'm sure the food is not "authentic," that sure doesn't mean it isn't delicious. They serve family style, so we split veggie spring rolls and orders of sesame beef and mango chicken. Both were very good, but the sesame beef was absolutely delicious. They must put crack or some other controlled substance in the sauce, because it was hard to stop eating.

Bully!

2008-07-11T06:48:00.001-05:00

Whenever we go to NY, Z, my sister-in-law-to-be, and I go on a wine tour, usually chauffeured by my brother. On this most recent trip, we hit up Keuka Lake (see Z's post as well - Hunt Country was probably our favorite, but Dr Konstantin Frank's was good as well). One of the wineries near the southern end of the lake is Bully Hill. In general, I am not a huge fan of their wines. They quite often taste like their names imply - "Goat love," "Love My Goat," "LeGoat Blush"... Not only that, but the guy who ran the tasting was far from impressive in many dimensions, most notably personal hygiene and personality (note to businesspeople - customers will buy more when they are treated like adults by someone whose hand you're not afraid to shake for fear of getting syphilis). Despite all the signals that told us to run away as fast as we could, we stayed for a tasting, and really liked their American Riesling.

No, that picture isn't grainy. There's just condensation on the bottle.

The wine is straw colored and relatively sweet (although nowhere near as extreme as a late harvest riesling or ice wine). It smelled a lot like pineapple and also had some hints of apple. Needless to say, it went down very smoothly. Interestingly, this wine is often available outside of NY state, which is rare for NY wines (the wineries tend to be very small), and this particular bottle was one we picked up at a little Cafe in Columbus, OH.

(Dutch) Spanish Rice

2008-07-10T07:42:00.000-05:00

Growing up in the country, my culinary breadth was often limited. To give you an idea of what I mean, I never had Chinese food until late in high school (and never liked it until late in college) and I never had Mexican or Indian food until college. As was often the case with the Dutch farm families (at least where I grew up), there were a limited number of seasoning options that were actually used. Now, don't get me wrong, the cupboard had a reasonable amount of flavors to choose from, but almost all of them were ones used in baking. No, when it came to dinner, we had very two real options: salt and pepper. Occasionally, some garlic, onion, or seasoned salt would get thrown in there, but that was about it. I discovered, upon leaving home, that many of the dishes I'd grown up with were not the same as dishes of the same name in other kitchens.

One such recipe is "Spanish Rice," which at home involved 5 ingredients: rice, ground beef, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Of course, I've never seen another person make a dish called Spanish rice, nor have I seen it on any restaurant menus, but I have seen it in boxed form in the supermarket aisle, and there it certainly contains a different set of ingredients (and lots of preservatives and non-pronounceable chemicals). Now, don't get me wrong, I like my mom's Spanish rice, but there isn't a whole lot to play around with in this recipe. So, since I left home eons ago (ok - perhaps not eons) I've been experimenting with different flavor combinations and ingredients. Below is the basic recipe I'm working from, but this is by no means a recipe that is set in stone (perhaps you've noticed this theme in my cooking).

"Spanish" Rice

Ingredients:
1-lb ground beef/turkey, browned
3-cups cooked white rice (AKA - 1 cup before you cook it)
1-quart stewed tomatoes, broken up
Salt and Pepper to taste (I like a lot of pepper)
2-tbsp. chili powder
1-tbsp. oregano
1-tbsp. cilantro (don't tell Z, she's not a fan)
1/2-tsp. cumin
dash cayenne pepper

Directions:

Brown and drain ground beef, cook rice, break up tomatoes
Combine all ingredients in a large oven-safe bowl, cover with foil
Bake at 350° for 1-hour, removing foil during final 15-minutes.

I like to serve this with peas because that's what my family did, but that probably makes it even less "Spanish" (if that's possible!).

Citrus Herb Chicken

2008-07-03T11:48:00.004-05:00

I haven't updated in a while, but new posts are coming. In the meantime here's a recipe I'm bringing to a BBQ tonight. Chances are I won't have any pictures to post, so I'll just post the recipe. Something resembling this recipe came in our grocery store circular several years ago, and it's become one of our favorite grilling marinades.

Citrus Herb Chicken
Marinade Ingredients:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. herbs de provence
1 tbsp. orange zest (lemon also works)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a ziploc bag and marinate chicken for 2-4 hours
Grill chicken and enjoy!

Update: These were better than I remembered!

Wheat bread with millet

2008-06-25T23:50:00.002-05:00

As I said in my last post, a good stew is so much better with a hearty bread. I've been cooking breads from the Bread Bible for about two years, and have started to experiment with variations of my own (I have a hard time keeping to recipes for very long). Overall, this bread was a moderate success. I made a much larger bread than I'd expected, and because I didn't account for this, I didn't put in enough millet to really have it stand out (it is easy to add too much, so I erred on the light side).

and a closeup...

it sure does look good...

Wheat bread with millet
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup warm water
2 tbsp. yeast
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups unbleached, whole purpose flour (very approximate)
2 tbsp. wheat gluten
2 tbsp. millet (not enough)
1 tbsp. butter, melted
3 tbsp. dry milk
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. salt (I forgot to add this!!!)

Directions:

Proof yeast in warm water with honey and a dusting of flour
Add millet, butter, dry milk, salt, wheat fluten, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup regular flour and mix
Add remaining flour while stirring, until sticky dough forms
Knead dough, adding flour as needed to prevent from sticking to your work surface (I used silicon baking mat because it's easy to clean and does not move around while kneading)
Let dough rise (covered with loose plastic wrap) in a greased bowl for 1-1/2 hours (give or take)
Deflate dough and work into desired loaf shape
At this stage, it is good to fold the dough onto itself several times to create an internal structure that will support the loaf
Place loaf onto pizza peel sprinkled with corn meal, cover loosely with plastic wrap
Let dough rise another 30-60 minutes
Slash surface of dough, brush surface with egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp. water)
Transfer onto a baking stone in a preheated 450° oven, reduce heat to 400°
Bake until done, 30-40 minutes (loaf will south hollow when tapped)
Let loaf cool (at least slightly :) ) and serve

Savory Venison Stew

2008-06-25T09:47:00.002-05:00

I definitely love my home style foods - stews, pot pies, roasts, and hearty breads, just to name a few. Unfortunately, fall and winter are the domain of these foods, and here we find ourselves in early summer. However, because Z and I will be moving to Texas next month (well, our stuff and I will be moving then, Z will follow later), we really need to empty out the deep freeze (apparently movers don't like putting freezers full of food into very hot semi trucks). So, we decided to use up our venison on a favorite stew of ours, invited over some friends, and made sure we had a good bottle of wine to go with it.

Now, I know I stated with a recipe for this stew, but I haven't looked at it in years, and it varies greatly from stew to stew, depending on what we have around the house, who is coming over for dinner (our friend "J" doesn't like mushrooms), and whether I'm feeling like a little adventure.

This time, I had some grape tomatoes laying around that were starting to get too wrinkly for salads, so I threw those in. I would recommend slicing them in half if you're going to use cherry/grape tomatoes - in their whole form, even after cooking for 2 hours, they were basically little boiling hot liquid bombs that burned the inside of your mouth every time you bit into one. Also, check out the cast iron dutch oven. Z found this little gem at Ikea, for about a quarter of the price of Le Creuset. Granted, I've never used Le Creuset to know if I'm giving up a lot on quality, but I have to say we've already gotten a lot of use out of the pan, and haven't been disappointed yet.

Doesn't this stew just scream "eat me!"?

As you can see in the background, there was also a fresh loaf of homemade bread involved. That recipe will follow in my next post. Until then, here's the venison stew recipe...

Savory Venison Stew
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 - 3 lbs venison, cubed (can also use beef)
1-1/2 onion, cut into large chunks
3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb carrots, cut into large chunks
4 large potatoes, cut into large chunks
1/2 lb mushrooms, halved
2 tomatoes, diced
4 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine
lots of herbs and spices

Directions:

Toss venison with flour and powdered spices (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc. - use your imagination - you could add cumin for a southwest stew)
Heat olive oil in a heavy stock pot or dutch oven, and brown meat (in batches if necessary). Remove meat from pot when browned.
Add onion, garlic, and celery and saute for several minutes
Add in dried herbs (e.g., basil, rosemary, bay leaf, oregano, marjoram, thyme, etc. - again, there's room for creativity here - use what you have)
Saute for several minutes more, and then deglaze the pan with red wine
Add the venison back in, along with carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
Add beef stock. Salt and pepper to taste (can add more as cooking continues)
Cover pot and simmer on low for 90+ minutes, until meat is tender and you're ready to serve.
note - if you prepare this in a dutch oven, you can "simmer" it in your oven at 300° instead of on the stove top.

Black Raspberry (part II)

2008-06-12T19:44:00.002-05:00

A little bit ago I posted the black raspberry - a drink featuring framboise lambic and Guinness. I just wanted to post a quick note saying we made these again, this time using the Lindeman's lambic. It was much better with the Lindeman's (not that it was bad with the other brand), so if you decide to make them yourself, it is worth going with the sweeter lambic.

Crash Hot Potatoes

2008-06-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman, and thought it looked absolutely delicious. Last night, we tried these for the first time and were VERY happy with how they turned out. They take a bit more time than other potato preparation methods, but they are well worth it. The recipe basically involves cooking the potatoes, crushing them on a baking pan, and then seasoning and baking them.

In all honesty, this isn't a huge departure from how we often cook potatoes - by dicing them, tossing them in olive oil and seasoning (often times salt, pepper, and rosemary), and then baking them. But, the pre-cooking and subsequent mashing seems to add a lot to the texture of the dish.

Crash Hot Potatoes
recipe from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
Potatoes (small/medium size)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
pepper
rosemary

Directions:

Boil potatoes in salted water until fork-tender
Coat a baking sheet with olive oil
Place potatoes on baking sheet and crush with potato masher (we don't have one, so I used a large serving fork)
Brush potatoes with more olive oil
Liberally salt and pepper the potatoes, sprinkle with chopped rosemary
Bake at 450° for 25-minutes

Blueberry Corn Muffins

2008-06-07T14:00:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, Z found a recipe for "individual blueberry cakes" in Family Circle magazine. We tried these once, and thought they were delicious. Then, we tried them again, and again, and again (just to be sure), and still feel this way. They're a remarkably easy "semi-homemade" dessert that starts with a box of cornbread mix. We bake them in muffin tins...

and then flip them over to serve.

We usually dust them with a little powdered sugar and occasionally some whipped cream (when we have some).

Blueberry Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
1 - 1-1/2 cup blueberries
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
1 egg
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Mix cornbread mix, egg, sugar, & milk in a bowl and set aside - I sometimes do this before dinner, and then do the remaining steps after dinner
Preheat oven to 400°
Coat muffin pan with cooking spray
Place 3-4 blueberries in each (of 12) muffin cups
Dollop 1 tbsp of batter in each tin
Repeat with another layer of blueberries, more batter, and more blueberries
Bake for 12-15 minutes
Cool on a wire rack.
Once they are cool enough to handle, take them out of the pan and put them "upside down" (which now becomes "rightside up") on the wire rack to continue cooling
When ready to serve (OK to serve warm), place on a plate and dust with confectioners' sugar and/or whipped cream

Salsa!

2008-06-04T06:55:00.002-05:00

Sam recently posted her salsa recipe, and as she said, the recipe is a very rough guideline and open to a lot of improvisation. This time was the closest I've ever made it to her actual recipe. In the summer, typically go to the farmer's market and get whatever tomatoes and hot peppers look best that week (I don't like tomatoes unless they're ripe). Sometimes this means heirloom tomatoes (very sweet and juicy), sometimes I roast the hot peppers (poblano peppers seem to work well in this regard), sometimes I add in bell peppers, etc. Black beans and/or corn are also nice additions. Here is this week's attempt:

and a close up...

looks pretty good, eh? I heap this stuff on my tortilla chips - a lot more than I can say for store-bought salsa. The recipe below reflects what I did this time...

Sam's Salsa
Ingredients:
4 medium tomatoes, seeded
2 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion
1 serrano pepper, seeded
1 jalepeño pepper, seeded
juice of one lime
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh ground pepper and Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:
Chop ingredients, and combine. Chill for at least an hour to let flavors co-mingle.

Black Raspberry

2008-06-03T09:19:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, Z had a work-related event at the Winking Lizard, and at it, she discovered a drink on their menu - the black raspberry. A black raspberry is basically a black and tan except in place of the Bass is a framboise lambic (a beer fermented with raspberries). At the Winking Lizzard, it is Lindeman's lambic, but Grapes of Mirth was out of their framboise, so I got another brand (which I liked just as much, although Z likes Lindeman's better because it is sweeter). To make the drink, I filled a pint glass half full with lambic and then, pouring the Guinness over the back of a spoon to prevent mixing, I layered the Guinness on top of the lambic. You can't see too well in this picture, because both of the beverages are relatively dark, but I was successful at creating the layered look (at least when held up to the light).

The drink turned out very well, and we've since bought a bottle of Lindeman's Framboise to help finish off the supply of Guinness with more of the same...

Herbed Focaccia Bread

2008-06-02T09:31:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, Sam invited us over for a BBQ, and suggested I bring homemade bread. Now, for something like a BBQ, I figured a "finger food" would be best, and when it comes to bread-themed finger foods, slices of focaccia seemed to fit the bill.

The focaccia recipe is a variation on my pizza recipe (both adapted from the Bread Bible). The pizza recipe is HERE. For making the focaccia, I typically start the dough with about 2+ cups of water and add the other ingredients to match with this. Then, after I've had the dough rise in a bowl for 90-minutes, I shape it into (relatively thick) rounds or into a large rectangle (on a lightly greased jelly roll or similar shallow baking pan sprinkled with corn meal).

I then cover it again to let rise about 40 more minutes. Then, using my fingers, I poke indentations throughout the dough and spread an oil and herb mixture on using a spoon. The bread then bakes for 20-25 minutes at 400 (for small rounds or up to 40 minutes for a larger rectangle). As soon as it is done, I sprinkle it with kosher salt.

For the oil, which is the real flavor of the bread, I mix a third of a cup (or so) of olive oil and add in freshly chopped garlic (2 cloves) and rosemary (2 sprigs), but you can easily adapt this to suit your tastes (I've sometimes used basil, thinly sliced red onions, etc.). I typically prepare the oil when the dough is rising the first time so that the oil will be saturated with flavor. The finished produce looks something like this:

Sliced into smallish pieces, this makes great finger food, and it is full of flavor. It is one of my favorite things to bring to pot luck dinners or when having guests over for appetizers/wine.

Grilled Dessert

2008-05-31T18:04:00.005-05:00

So, the other day, I asked Z to go to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner, and she brought home some peaches for dessert. I'd never heard of grilled peaches, so I'll admit I was skeptical at first. Based on the number of different grilled peach recipes she was able to find, however, I was convinced it was, in fact, a real thing, so I went along with it. These turned out great. We had them with grilled pound cake, but I would imagine that they would go great with vanilla ice cream - especially with the syrup drizzled all over.

It turns out, these make a good breakfast too... (the morning lighting is better than in the one above)

Grilled Peaches (recipe adapted from "the internet")

Ingredients:
4 tbs butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c amaretto (or rum)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4-5 cloves
6 peaches - halved and pitted

Directions:
Heat syrup ingredients (everything but peaches) in a small fry pan until sauce thickens while the grill preheats.
Grill peaches 3-5 minutes per side, basting with syrup
Served with grilled pound cake or vanilla ice cream and drizzle with remaining syrup

Celebration

2008-05-27T16:23:00.003-05:00

Every once and a while I'll buy a bottle of wine with the intent of saving it for a special occasion. This particular one, a 2003 Clos Du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape, I purchased 2 or 3 years ago to break out when I finally got my dissertation. Well, the week of my defense came -- I successfully survived (relatively unscathed no less), and then last Friday night, we broke out this bottle:

We've been into "Rhone style" wines (Chateauneuf-du-Pape is an appellation in the southern Rhone region of France) lately, so I figured this one would be quite tasty. I'll have to admit, I was a little disappointed because my expectations were so high. The wine was quite good, don't get me wrong, but it didn't have the body I was expecting - it was lighter, both in color and taste, than I typically prefer. I'm glad I waited a few years to drink this, because I think if I'd consumed it right away it would have been too "jammy." It went surprisingly well with chicken on the grill (I used an "Asian" marinate of some sort).

Camp Food

2008-05-26T07:57:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we went camping with some friends last weekend. We were each responsible for one meal, and Z decided we should do something involving foil packets. She scoured the internet, and found a recipe for foil packet fish. We mixed all the spiced in a small ziploc bag before hand, and sprinkled them on the fish packets and then squeezed the lemon juice on them. Then, we sealed the packets and cooked them over hot coals for 20-30 minutes (likely to vary depending on how hot your coals are). The foil packets basically allow you to steam the fish, something you can't normally do over an open fire!

Lemony Fish Packets

6 halibut fillets (any white fish would work)
3 teaspoons dried dill weed
3 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Seasoning salt to taste
1 pinch lemonpepper
1 pinch garlic powder (or to taste... we like garlic)
1 lemon

Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl. Place fish on a square of tinfoil. We made three packets of two fillets each. You could do them individually. Sprinkle dry mix generously over fillets. Flip and repeat. Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice over fillets, being careful to avoid seeds. Seal packets and place over coals for about 20 minutes. Mmmm.... tasty.

We didn't have any picture of the final product (we were quite hungry), so instead, here are pictures of us seasoning our foil pouches.

Also, we made "home fries" over the open fire. This turned out to be quite successful, in large part because Amanda's cast iron pan is finally seasoned enough to be non-stick (cooking bacon in it earlier in the day had to help). We boiled some redskin potatoes the night before we went camping and then chilled them and stored them (in our cooler) in a ziploc bag. Then, we diced them, threw in some diced red onion (lots of red here) and generously coated them with olive oil and seasoned salt.

The real success of this dish, however, is how well it cooked on the open fire in our iron skillet. I'd always heard that a well-seasoned cast iron pan is basically non-stick, but had never experienced it. My parents had cast iron skillets, but typically washed them using soapy water, which prevents the buildup of so much "seasoning," and thus, their pans were far from non-stick.

Notice how, much like the fish, I don't have a picture of the finished product. We were very hungry :)

How (not to) cook a sausage

2008-05-22T08:21:00.004-05:00

OK - so a few of us went camping last weekend. I'll post more about the food later, but thought I'd share some observations on how not to cook Italian sausage over a campfire. Everyone knows you can cook hotdogs on a (long) fork over an open fire, as these pictures indicate. However, as you'll also see, we also tried cooking Italian sausages in this fashion as well. One of my friends, who we'll call "J," was the first to try this, and we all quickly learned from his mistake (his is the sausage in the front of this picture).

As you can see, his is starting to split already, which is perfectly fine. However, a sausage splitting (unlike a hotdog) is NOT a sign it is done (or even close). When J took a bite of this bad boy, we quickly discovered that it was not, in fact, done. Instead, it was bright red and oozing blood (great food image, I know).

Learning from his mistake, I decided to cut mine open after the outside had cooked a bit (which is actually how I normally cook them anyway). As you can see, mine look delicious, while his (the one to the left now) has a permanent place reserved in a circus sideshow (right next to the bearded lady).

This was a great camping trip, because we were able to cook almost everything over an open fire (we only started the grill once). It made us all feel rustic, which is entertaining if you actually know us.

Its the sauce

2008-05-12T18:09:00.003-05:00

I made homemade pizza earlier this week. The basic crust recipe I used was very simple - basically flour, water, honey, oil, and salt (see below), and a good crust is an important part of a good pizza. However, I feel that a good sauce is critical to the flavor of a good pizza. I typically make enough sauce for at least two batches of dough, and sometimes more than that.

For the sauce, I begin with a large can of crushed tomatoes. This is heated in a saucepan over medium heat with 3 cloves of minced garlic, about a quarter cup of olive oil, a tablespoon (approximate) of oregano, a teaspoon each of basil and rosemary, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. After about 15-minutes I let it cool a bit before using it (I usually do this while the dough is rising).

This is what the pizza might look like (this one has red onions and peppers, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, an pepperoni - Z's had bacon, asparagus, and broccoli in place of the pepperoni and chicken).

With the leftover dough, I decided to take advantage of other leftovers and combined them into a new treat - Mexican pizza. We'd made Mexican lasagna earlier in the week, and had some left over sauce (tomatoes, ground beef, black beans, onions, chili powder, cumin, etc.). So, I used this as my pizza sauce (mixed with a little of the sauce above to thin it out), replaced the mozzarella cheese with cheddar, and threw on some of the left over toppings from the night before (jalapeño pepper bits, red onions and peppers, and mushrooms), creating Mexican pizza. This probably was not one of my favorite dishes of all time, but it was a good way to get rid of leftovers, while still being friendly to the taste buds.

Finally, a note on a project Z has been working on for the past week or so. She organized our collection of recipes into two handy binders. The binders a both filled to the brim with recipes, and the clear sheet protectors are very nice (keeps me from getting the recipes too messy in the kitchen). This was a lot of work, as our recipes were not really organized in any sensible way - we each had some recipes in our own "storage systems" (boxes or folders that were not organized in any way), plus she recently cut out a lot of recipes from magazines so that she could get rid of the magazines. Here are the binders:

As I said, the organization has been wonderful - we've already taken advantage of having these recipes at our finger tips, and have also reminded ourselves what all we could possibly make (I guess no excuse now for having no ideas for dinner).

Pizza Dough Recipe (adapted from the Bread Bible, one of the best books on the topic):

Ingredients
1 to 1-1/2 cups warm water
1-tablespoon yeast
2-tablespoons honey
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2-3 cups bread flour (can also add wheat gluten to increase the protein content of all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste

Directions
Add water, yeast, honey, and a dusting of flour to a large bowl to let the yeast activate - about 15 minutes. Mix in the salt, olive oil, and 1-cup flour. Gradually add in additional flour until
you've got a sticky dough. Move to a flat, floured work surface and knead for a while, gradually adding flour as needed. You're looking for the dough to get relatively firm, but not as firm as you might for in a baguette dough (generally around 10-minutes, but probably much quicker if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook).
Place dough in a greased bowl to rise for about 90-minutes (cover with saran wrap or a wet towel). After the dough has risen, you could shape it for one large pizza, or multiple smaller ones (my typical option). Throw on the sauce, toppings of your choice, and cheese(s) and bake in a preheated over (as hot as your oven will go). Pizza is great because you can go simple with simple combinations like pepperoni and mushroom or tomato and fresh basil, or get more creative like the ones you find at artisan pizza places, using funky sauces and flavor combinations
A baking stone is something that will definitely make the pizza better - it gives the crust a nice crispiness that I absolutely love. If you're going to do this, once you've shaped your dough, place it on a pizza peel dusted in corn meal to transfer onto the pre-heated baking stone. On a baking stone, the pizzas don't take very long (6-10 minutes, perhaps more if you're going with a very thick crust), but they definitely take longer on a regular baking pan.

Pasta Primavera

2008-05-10T13:09:00.008-05:00

OK, so I know pasta primavera is one of the easiest dishes known to man, but I honestly had never made it nor seen it made until about a month ago. I had a bunch of veggies laying around, and didn't feel like making a stir-fry, so I searched the blogs for an appropriate recipe. I ended up combining the things I liked from 3 or 4 different recipes.

I started by chopping the veggies:

As you can see, I chopped mushrooms, carrots, red onion, asparagus, snow peas, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and garlic. The longer-cooking foods (carrots, asparagus) I blanched before the actual cooking. In the process of cutting these, I discovered that I'm horribly slow with a knife! I know Sam is planning to take knife wielding classes, and they would probably be a good idea for me as well, though I may have to wait until after graduation.

Once I chopped my veggies, I cooked the pasta and kept it in the pot with a little of the cooking liquid and some olive oil to prevent congealing. Meanwhile, I heated up some olive oil and butter in a large sauté pan. I started with the garlic, and then added ingredients in reverse order of anticipated cooking time (onions, carrots, asparagus, and mushrooms, followed by peppers, then broccoli, and finally the snow peas and sundried tomatoes). This only took a few minutes, and when done, I added the pasta, and then mixed it all together with some black pepper and the cherry tomatoes. It looked something like this:

Finally, I finished it off with a little Parmesan cheese and topped it with some chicken I'd grilled. The chicken was marinated with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with a little garlic, oregano, and rosemary.

We made a lot more pasta than we needed, but fortunately, it reheats very well, so we had the leftovers for dinner a few days later, with some more grilled chicken breasts (this time I replaced half the vinegar with lemon juice for a little softer flavor).

We also had what was left of a bottle of Stephen Vincent's "Crimson" with the original dinner (we'd opened it the night before to drink with a little manchego cheese that caught our eye). This is one of our favorite all-purpose wines. It is a Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, and is typically around $10-12. While it doesn't go well with everything (I think the manchego cheese was not the best match), it does do well for most dishes. The Syrah helps it to match with a wide range of dishes, and the cab gives it enough backbone to stand up to steak. I would imagine that this wine would age well, but we've never been able to keep a bottle around long enough! We've picked up a case of it, though it is earmarked for our wedding reception.

Guacamole

2008-05-08T20:21:00.005-05:00

Last week, Z made some guacamole that I thought I'd share with everyone (AKA, Z, Jenny, and Z's parents). She was a little sketchy on the recipe details, but I believe it involved 3 avocados (mashed up), around 2 tablespoons of sour cream, a little red onion, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and either garlic, cayenne, or some sort of spice (this I gathered from her description of the process - admittedly, I asked her quite some time she'd made it). It turned out very nicely, and looks quite good.

Unfortunately, I'm not a huge avocado fan, so the guacamole was lost on me, but she was very happy with it, and her coworkers enjoyed it a lot as well.

During our first trip to the Twisted Vine (when we picked up the Pinot Gris I mentioned last time), I mentioned that we went a little crazy purchasing wines (you can read all about it here). One of the delicious items we got was this port from Ferreira.

The woman at the wine store recommended this as a good, inexpensive port, and it didn't disappoint. We actually opened this bottle sometime late last month, so I'll admit my memory is a little hazy on the details of its taste. I am fairly confident that it tasted like a port :). I remember being pleasantly surprised, because the last time we tried a "good deal" bottle of port, we were terribly disappointed.

Stone Wolf

2008-05-06T13:11:00.005-05:00

So, in addition to cooking and food-related posts, I'll also be posting about various wines we try. Today's wine, a 2006 Stone Wolf Pinot Gris that we got for around $15:

We tried this wine at a tasting at the Twisted Vine in Grandview. They have weekly wine tastings (Thursday - Saturday, 6-9) and feature a flight of reds and a flight of whites. So far, we've enjoyed the whites the most, although admittedly, we've only gone twice. One gem we found on our first trip was this Pinot Gris. It is rare that Z and I both enjoy the same white wines (we're typically on the same page when it comes to reds). This was a clean, crisp tasting white wine that held up over the course of the evening. One of the other whites we had during the tasting started out good, but by the time it had warmed up slightly, was no longer enjoyable - this is particularly bad, considering that later in the evening, our intoxication went up, and with it the strictness of our taste preferences went down!

After the tasting, we ended up getting a bottle (along with bottles of 5 other wines) to take home (hence the picture by Z on our back porch). It went very well with dinner the following week, a panko crusted perch with dill and lemon zest in the breading, asparagus on the grill, and couscous.

We've only started to work through our other purchases from that evening, but I'll be blogging about one of the ports we picked up soon. Z has really been into ports lately, and I've been happy to go along with it. One thing I love is that with the higher alcohol content, they'll last quite a while without losing much in flavor. Of course, with the higher alcohol, less is needed anyway!

First post!

2008-05-05T20:56:00.003-05:00

For my first post, a food that my grandparents (and other Dutch descendents of their generation) used to make. I'm not sure how exactly you spell it, but it is something like "saucissen." They are basically pig-in-a-blankets with a few modifications. First, instead of hot dogs for the "pig," these use breakfast sausage (sage sausage preferably). Second, instead of a biscuit dough for the "blanket," these use white bread dough.

I was running late from campus, so I had Z make the sausages (I usually get about 8 to a pound, she made them smaller - around 12 per pound). For the dough, I used a homemade white bread dough (flour, water, yeast, salt). After the sausages had cooled for a bit, and the dough had risen, I wrapped each piece of sausage in a thin layer of dough, being sure to get complete coverage. Then, I baked them at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. I wish I had done an egg-wash or thrown a few ice cubes in the oven to darken the crust a little and also make it a little crustier, but in general, I was happy with the results.

Here is another picture (note, all pictures are taken by Z).

I think I lost the bread dough recipe. It was an odd "wet dough." Basically, about two weeks ago, I made a dough that was wetter than normal and that didn't require kneading. I have kept in in the fridge since then, and have pulled a chunk off to bake as needed. Obviously, it is a very basic dough, but it is nice to be able to just grab the homemade dough out of the fridge, let it rise for a bit, and then bake it. I often do this with pizza dough (though not for more than a few days), but this was my first time with a regular bread dough.

welcome to the blogosphere

2008-05-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

Well, after much encouragement from my fiancée, I've decided to start a blog. Mostly I'll write about various dinner attempts, but other stuff will surely find its way on here as well. Stay tuned for some delicious recipes...