We read to our kids every night, even though they both read by themselves at night afterwards. Inteestingly, while they both will read chapter books at night (although lately Connor has been into my “Far Side”:http://www.johnsjottings.com/archives/2003/10/06/return_of_the_far_side.html anthology) they seem to prefer picture books for story time. When we get a new book it tends to get read over and over. Such is the case right now for 061849295X.

So this morning, thinking the book might have inspired them to try something new, I cooked up some latkes based on the recipe in the book. I’ve never made latkes before and I’m not even sure I’ve ever eaten them, but the recipe seemed easy enough (potatoes, onions, parsley, egg, flour, salt and pepper) so I gave them a try. Wow did they turn out great. I’ll be making them again.

My kids? They were decidingly against trying anything new this morning. I thought I almost had Erin talked into trying them but her brother managed to talk her out of it.

They don’t know what they are missing.

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From the BBC – 50 things to eat before you die.

Here is what I have left to try:

11. Moreton Bay Bugs
19. Cream tea
32. Guinea Pig
36. Barramundi
42. Durian Fruit
48. Haggis

I’ve had everything on the list many times, except for Kangaroo and Australian Meat Pie which I had when I was in Australia in 1977 and Reindeer, which I had this year in Sweden.

Looking at the list of what I have yet to try, however, I’ll admit I’m not jumping up and down to rush out and buy any of it any time soon.

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So I’m now an official Maker’s Mark Ambassador. What’s that you ask? Well you know Maker’s Mark bourbon. Here’s what my job as their Ambassador entails:

bq(quote). I, as a Maker’s Mark Ambassador, do pledge to introduce to those who have not yet had the pleasure (poor souls) to the smooth taste of Maker’s Mark bourbon. To help friends understand, appreciate and savor what handmade bourbon is all about. To encourage establishments I encounter within my travels to stock Maker’s Mark for their thirsty patrons. And to lead by my own example, that every occasion for enjoying bourbon is the perfect occasion for enjoying Maker’s Mark.

As an Ambassador I was given my own barrel of Maker’s Mark to follow, stamped with my name. And I’ll be getting a sleeve of golf balls too.

Sound like your kind of job? May be tough to get in; I got an email a few months ago saying that due to the popularity of the program they were allowing Ambassadors in on random draws, but if you want to take a shot sign up at “http://www.makersmark.com/golf/”:http://www.makersmark.com/golf/

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This turkey really has legs is an article from Fast Company on a small family owned business selling smoked turkeys, mostly over the holidays. This article has inspired me to buy one.

But therein lies the problem for Greenberg Turkey.

One of the key points in the article is how old-fashioned the company is. They don’t run marketing campaigns and they don’t take credit cards. They send out the turkeys with a bill and depend on the customer to pay promptly. And that has worked for them.

“Why would I want to take credit cards? Why would I want to do a marketing campaign? In fact, why would I add more products to the line?” Greenberg asks. “The people I would get from doing all that, well, frankly, I don’t want those people.”

Well Mr. Greenberg I hate to tell you this but that Fast Company article you agreed to do was Marketing 101 and the result is going to be a lot of those people you say you don’t want.

Hopefully this was a shrewd move on Greenberg’s part and not the downfall of a small business. I’ll let you know how the turkey was.

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Not that I ever need an excuse to drink Guinness Stout, but Beer drinkers’ Guide to a healthier heart points out that not only is a little beer good for you but the brand makes a difference – and Guinness is the tops!

Mmmmm, Beer. When I’m not drinking home brew beer I’m drinking Guinness or if I want a lighter tasting beer I go for Pilsner Urquel.

I’ve seen the Chipotle Calorie Counter, is there one for beer? If I buy this Super Bowl Beer Basket I’m going to need one!

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It’s well known by frequent travelers that for the last couple of years the airlines have cut back significantly on the quantity and quality of food served aboard their flights. Most routes that used to provide a sandwich now offer up a bag of pretzels or nuts if you are lucky. You may get a metal fork in first class, but you’ll be cutting your Chicken Piccata with a plastic knife.

But things are starting to come back a little bit – on my return flight from Boston tonight we were offered a “boxed lunch” type meal from D’Amico & Sons, a respected caterer in the Twin Cities. For $10 I got a very nice chicken breast sandwich, Caesar salad, plum and cookie – all of which was really good but for the soggy croutons. I like this model, I would much rather choose to pay for a good meal than have hoisted upon me the traditional airline fare.

Speaking of food and Boston – we ate at Ristorante Marino in Cambridge on Monday night and liked it so much we went back again on Tuesday. Wonderful Italian, highly recommended.

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It’s amazing to me how two kids from the same family can be so different. My 6 year old is about as finicky as it comes when it pertains to food. My 5 year old eats anything. Last night was a great example. I made poached Talapia, garden-fresh green beens and squid soup. Even my wife wouldn’t touch the soup. My daughter, the 5 year old who eats anything, ate a plate full of green beans and fish and then set her sights on the soup.

“What is it Daddy?”
“It’s squid soup.”
“Hmmm. You mean like Squidward? From Sponge Bob?”
“Yes Erin, it’s Squidward soup.” (I’m so bad)

That didn’t seem to stop her. We brought the soup out on the deck to eat and she carefully studied each piece as she plucked it from the broth.

“Is this his head?”
“Yep – in fact that is his head.”
“Is this his brains?”
“Nope, that’s a piece of tomato.”

She chowed the whole bowl. My son had a dish of Cheetos and a PB&J.

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Not being a big Olive Garden fan myself I can really relate to Dooce’s rant.

A little snippet, but do read the whole thing, her writing is worth the price of admission.

Andrew: I don’t like the Olive Garden.
Amber: You don’t like pasta?
Andrew: No, I like pasta.
Amber: You don’t like Italian food?!
Andrew: I LIKE Italian Food. I just don’t like the Olive Garden.
Amber (unable to comprehend how someone couldn’t love free refills on breadsticks): I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the Olive Garden.

Classic.

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I don’t get the chance to make desserts too often but when I do my favorite thing to make is Baklava. If you’ve never had Baklava rush right out and get some – you’ll probably find it on the menu of your favorite local Greek restaurant. For the adventurous give this recipe a try. It’s a bit of work and isn’t cheap to make but the results. Oh the results. Baklava is one of the sweetest most satisfying treats I’ve ever eaten.

Baklava has quite a history too, believed to be introduced by the Assyrians in the 8th century B.C. Some interesting reading on the topic of the history of Baklava can be found at The Kitchen Project and TurkishBaklava.com. You may also find it referred to as baclava or baklawa.

As someone who enjoys dabbling in the kitchen I get pleasure out of seeing the reactions of others to my creations. This is especially true in the case of Baklava since I try to refrain from eating more than a couple of pieces, and this recipe makes enough for maybe 40 people. If I didn’t get a lot of help eating it I’d be in trouble! Every time I’ve brought it to work I always get a reaction similar to:

Hey John this Baklava is really good – where did you get it?
I made it.
WOW.

That makes it all worth it.

NEW – Visit my Baklava Store where you can buy Baklava without having to make it, or other Baklava related items. Through trusted vendor Amazon.com.

If you are looking for how to make baklava, read on for the best baklava recipe you will find on the internet:

Ingredients

2 pounds phyllo dough (approx. 40 sheets)
6 ½ cups finely chopped walnuts
1 ½ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
¾ pound unsalted butter (melted)
2 ½ cups honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Grease a 13×9 pan (bottom & sides) and set aside.

Mix well the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack.

Note: When working with phyllo be sure to work fast and keep the unused portion covered with plastic wrap at all times, as it tends to dry out pretty fast. Also, be sure to carefully follow the defrosting instructions on the phyllo – the sheets will stick together if you try to do a “speed defrost”.

Set aside one full-size sheet of phyllo dough. Cover with plastic wrap.

Cut remaining phyllo sheets into 13×9 sheets. Actually, measure your pan and cut the sheets to match the actual inside dimensions. On my pan it is actually 12″ x 8″, for example. With a big sharp knife you should be able to cut all of the phyllo at the same time. You will most likely have a lot of left over phyllo – consider finding another dish where you could use the smaller pieces of leftover phyllo dough.

Carefully lay the full-size phyllo sheet into the greased pan, folding over the pan edges. With a pastry brush, liberally apply melted butter.

Lay a cut sheet of phyllo into the bottom of the pan, and with a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter. Repeat 9 more times, so that you have the one full sheet and 10 smaller sheets as your bottom layer.

Sprinkle 2 cups of the walnut mixture into the pan. Lay 6 more sheets of phyllo on top, making sure to liberally apply the melted butter between each sheet. Repeat this 3 more times, so that you have 4 separate layers of the walnut mixture. For the top layer place as many phyllo sheets on top as you have remaining, again making sure to liberally butter between each sheet. Using a sharp plastic spatula, carefully fold over the large sheet of phyllo that should still be extended over the edge back onto the top, so that you can see down the inside edges of the pan. In effect you now have one big baklava package wrapped with your initial phyllo sheet. Using a very, very sharp serrated knife, carefully score the baklava into whatever shape you want. A diamond pattern is the traditional shape. Try to cut about half-way down into the baklava when you do this.

Bake for 2 ½ to 3 hours at 300 degrees until nice and brown.

About 5 minutes before removing the baklava from the oven, combine the honey and lemon juice and heat over a medium heat until runny. Do not boil it, just heat it well so it has a consistency more like water.

Remove the baklava from the oven and very carefully drain the butter that it will no doubt be floating in.

Set the baklava on a cooling rack, and pour the honey mixture completely over it.

Cover the baklava and let sit for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best (if you can wait that long!)

When you are ready to cut the pieces, cut through the score marks with a sharp knife, and use a spatula to remove the pieces. Have patience with this step, if you are not careful here you can make a real mess of it!

You are done, enjoy the fruits of your labor. This is a labor intensive dish but well worth it! (Just don’t try to run it through a calorie counter – you won’t like what you see!)

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I’ve made this recipe about six times now and it has finally stabilized into something I am very happy with. John’s Texas Red is a hot chili, hot enough to put sweat on your forehead and clear out your sinuses, but not so hot as to be inedible. The first incarnation of this chili was made with 15 habañeros, no tomatoes and a pint of Guinness. As fond of Guinness and habañeros as I am I’ll admit it – that batch was inedible.

This chili has been entered in two chili contests, both times taking the title as the hottest chili. I’m sure I would have won crowd favorite in one contest but it was so popular that it was all gone before half the crowd had a chance to taste it. I was robbed!

In both chili contests the winning entry contained cinnamon and sugar. Seriously. You won’t find any toast toppings in my chili, nor will you find beans or chili powder. This isn’t a slow cooker chili but I think it could be adapted to use a slow cooker if you wanted.

Ingredients

2 pounds chuck roast (½” – ¾” cubes)
1 ½ pounds course ground chuck
6 slices thick-cut smoked bacon (coarsely chopped)
2 tablespoons cooking oil (optional)
2 large white onions (coarsely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (pressed or finely chopped)
4 large stalks celery (coarsely chopped)
5 dried habañero peppers
4 dried ancho peppers
2 cups water
6 fresh hot peppers (mixed variety, include 2 habañeros � de-seeded and coarsely chopped)
1 14oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14oz. can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Boil water. Place dried peppers in a bowl, add boiling water, and cover. Let sit about 10 minutes. Remove and de-seed peppers. Strain water to remove seeds.

Place water and seeded dried peppers in a pot over medium high heat, cook until half of the water is reduced, about 30 minutes.

Place fresh peppers in food processor along with reduced dried pepper mixture and pulse to make a sauce with a consistency a bit like ketchup. Add additional water if needed. This will result in about 2 cups of ‘chili sauce.’

Brown bacon, onions and garlic in large stew pot over high heat. Add cooking oil if needed. Once bacon is browned and onions ‘wet’ add chuck roast and ground chuck and cook until browned, stirring occasionally. Drain.

Add chili sauce and celery to meat mixture. Stir well. Cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour.

Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for an additional 1 hour. Be careful not to cook off all the liquid.

Serve with your favorite toppings. Don’t forget the beer.

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A couple of years ago the standard price for a bag of groceries was about $25. It seemed like every trip to the store I’d be lucky to escape spending less then $100, which would usually net me four well packed bags. It wasn’t too long ago that you could count on six or seven bags for that $100.

Lately, however, I’ve been spending more like $150. Tonight I set a family record – $210 on one trip. The yield? A lousy five bags. And it could have been so much worse. I went to Rainbow Foods instead of Kowalski’s. I saved $21 on coupons. Instead of buying three $5.49 bottles of spice I bought three of the cheapie $.99 deals. I even bought some generics.

Other than spending about $30 on fixings for Baklava to bring to work on Monday this was a normal weekly shopping trip. I didn’t get enough meat to load up the freezer – I bought a couple of pounds of ground chuck, a two pound chuck roast, a pound of bacon, some brats and some hot dogs. That’s it for meat. I bought a dental pick – other than that nothing from the healthcare department. I didn’t buy laundry detergent.

I just don’t get it. Our kids are four and five. What on earth are we going to be spending when they are teenagers? The mind boggles.

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Here’s a recipe you’ll find nowhere else – and certainly not in any low-fat cookbook! But first, the story of how it came about.

Years ago in my formative years I did a lot of camping and fishing with my dad and a family friend named John Derrenberger. John made a dish called Eggs Derrenberger, which my dad euphemistically pronounced “Eggs Doo-ron-bur-jhay” much the same way some people refer to J.C. Penny as “Jacque Pin-ay” or Target as “Tar-jhay”. John’s recipe was fairly simple: start with a large cast iron skillet and fry up a batch of skin-on hotdogs for lunch or dinner. Reserve pan without cleaning; keep until morning. Use uncleaned pan to make scrambled eggs. A veritable flavor explosion!

Eggs Derrenberger was delicious but the recipe is impractical for use in the kitchen so I’ve adapted the recipe for home consumption, if your arteries can take it.

Ingredients

6 large eggs, scrambled
6 sausage links
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook sausage in large heavy skillet without a non-stick surface; remove cooked sausage and dice as many as desired for inclusion in eggs; keep pan on flame.
2. Add butter to hot grease and wait until melted; add eggs, basil, mustard, salt and pepper.
3. Cook eggs until just starting to set, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pan as you scramble the eggs; add cheese and diced sausage; cook until done.

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Coq au Vin (“Chicken with Wine”) is a classic dish worthy of the time required to make it right. The meat literally melts off the bone, the infusion of the chicken and the wine combining with a rich gravy that will keep your guests coming back for more. Serve it at special events or a family dinner – but be prepared for a little work as things this good take time. Recipe adapted from “Cooks Illustrated, January & February, 1999″.

Ingredients

3 pounds chicken thighs and drumsticks, well trimmed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle (750ml) fruity red wine – Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir works well
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
6 ounces thick-cut smoked bacon, cubed
6-7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium shallots, peeled and quartered
2 medium garlic cloves, skin on and mashed
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, 10 parsley stems and 1 bay leaf bundled into a bouquet garni
1 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
1 pound frozen pearl onions, thawed
1/2 pound small white button mushrooms
2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Generously sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, set aside. Bring red wine and chicken stock to boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until reduced to about 4 cups, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry bacon in a deep, heavy-bottomed sauté pan or better yet a Round French Oven from Le Creuset. Heat until fat has rendered and the bacon is a golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towel-lined plate to drain; set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon butter with rendered bacon fat; add carrot, onion, shallots and garlic and saute until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer vegetables to reduced wine mixture (off heat), squeezing out as much fat as possible. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from French oven.

Return French oven to burner over medium-high heat and add another tablespoon of butter. When butter is melted, add chicken and cook until well browned all over, turning once or twice as necessary, for 12-16 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate; set aside. Pour off all fat from French oven; return to heat and add wine-vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add browned chicken, bouquet garni and tomato paste to boiling mixture; return to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer gently, partially covered. Turn chicken once or twice as necessary during cooking, until tender and infused with wine flavor, 60 minutes.

While chicken and sauce are cooking, heat another 2 tablespoons butter in medium sauce skillet over medium-low heat. Add pearl onions and cook for 5-8 minutes until lightly browned. Add mushrooms, season with salt, cover and cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms release their liquid. Remove cover, increase heat to high and boil until liquid has evaporated and onion and mushrooms are olden brown, about another 5 minutes. Transfer onions and mushrooms to plate with bacon; set aside.

When the chicken is cooked, transfer to platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Strain sauce through fine wire mesh sieve set over large bowl, pressing on solids with a spoon to release all the liquid. Sauce should measure 2-3 cups. Return sauce to pan. Counting 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour for each cup of sauce, mash 2 to 3 tablespoons each butter and flour in small bowl to make a beurre manié. Bring sauce to boil and whisk in beurre manié until thickened and smooth. Add reserved chicken, bacon, onions and mushrooms; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer very gently to warm through and blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Check seasoning again and adjust if necessary; add parsley. Transfer chicken to serving plate; pour sauce over chicken. Serve immediately.

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I lived in South Africa for a few years when I was a kid. One of my best memories is chewing on piece after piece of biltong. You might call it beef jerky, but I wouldn’t do that in front of anyone who is particular about their biltong.

A couple of weeks ago as I was driving home from work chewing on a bit of processed crap called beef jerky I remembered biltong and that my dad used to make it himself. Surely he had a recipe! I called him from my cell then and there hoping to get him to email me the recipe.

Nope. My dad is a bit of a traditionalist and he said he was going to give me the recipe the same way it was handed down to him years ago – orally.

“You only need four things,” he said. “Good meat, malt vinegar, salt and pepper.”

For the meat I chose top sirloin. I seem to recall that biltong is traditionally made with game such as Kudu, but we don’t have many Kudu herds roaming around Woodbury, Minnesota so top sirloin from a Holstein it was.

“Once you get a good cut of meat, cut it up into strips with the grain,” my dad instructed.

“The first step is to very carefully layer your meat in a shallow dish like a 13×9 cake pan. Then, sprinkle on a good bit of salt, much more than you would if you were cooking it, but not a solid layer. Give it a ton of pepper and then just a few dashes of the vinegar.”

“Should I mix it up a little?” I asked.

“No,” he replied, “it must be in a very neat layer. That is the South African way.”

“Hmm,” thought I.

My dad continued. “Now put another layer of meat on top and then repeat the part about adding the salt, pepper and vinegar.”

“Do I mix it up?” I asked again.

“No – it is very important that you do this in layers,” my dad responded. “Now continue the layering process until you are done with all of your meat.”

“OK,” I said, “then what?” 

“Then you mix it up!”

“Why couldn’t I mix it up before?” I asked.

“Because that isn’t the way it was told to me!” he responded.

Smirk.

Let sit for a few hours, mix up again, let sit again, etc. – for about 12 hours.

Then:

“Get yourself some biltong hooks.” (I borrowed his – here they are soaking in vinegar, trying to remove years of crud).

“Hook each piece of meat.”

“And string them up for a week. If you have a whole-house humidifier turn it off.” (Hmm, writing that reminds me to turn it back on.)
 

So how did it turn out? Great! Chewing on a piece right now. Next time I’ll cut the meat into bigger strips, more like an inch thick rather than a half inch. And I might try a tougher cut of meat too – this biltong made from sirloin is almost too easy to eat. Now that might appeal to someone else, but for me, with my memories of chewing on a piece of biltong for an hour, biltong that is too easy to eat borders on beef jerky.

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Apparently French chefs have nothing to do all day but make reductions. We hosted a dinner party last night and for the main course I made Beef Wellington. To serve with this elegant dish I choose a sauce called “Marchand de Vin” which is a mushroom and wine sauce. I followed the recipe found in The Joy of Cooking.

One of the ingredients is a cup of Sauce Madeira, the recipe of which is on another page. So I start with that recipe. Actually I decided on the “Quick Brown Sauce” recipe instead because 30 minutes sounded better than two hours.

Now one of the ingredients for that sauce was beef stock, the recipe of which is on another page. So I start with that recipe. Well, actually I didn’t use that recipe either because 4 hours to make beef stock didn’t appeal to me either – that’s what Boullion Cubes are made for.

So after cooking, reducing, straining and stirring, even this accelerated recipe took about three hours time. But the sauce was really good and very well worth the time I thought.

Of course it was only after everyone had almost finished with their meals that someone inquired about the sauce that was on the table. The sauce I had forgot to mention. The frigging sauce I spent three hours on and didn’t use.

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