Plank's Constant Seafood (.87, .9, .662)

There is all this marketing hype around cedar plank salmon. I've done it for years, and one thing is for certain. It ain't the plank that gives the salmon its flavor. Its how you cook it. Don't believe me, next time microwave your haute cuisine CPS, and tell me how it is. The best thing about the plank is that it is a neat way to put the food on the grill and if you are really adventuresome then just put the plank on your similarly shaped plate.

Basically I added some oil to an old cherry board, plopped on the salmon, and then added salt, pepper and orange zest. Oh yeah because my plank was longer than necessary, I added some shrimp tossed in Wegman's basting oil. Next time don't do the orange zest, but perhaps use some lemon slices. The orange zest turns bone like under heat. I might even add a pepper next time to get some veggies on the entire dish.

Put the thick part of the salmon facing outward so that it gets more heat.

The pizza oven does a marvelous job with this, lots of flame means short cooking time, and lots of flavor. Best salmon I have ever had.

Merlot (.78)

Yet another number to describe the state if something. The scale is

value. Anything over a .7 I would consider purchasing again. Basically

taste minus some factor for cost.

Like every profession, wine scoring has several scales. I have to laugh when we as humans treat something so subjective as wine tasting like it was a science. Finally my liberal thoughts were vindicated by the Wall Street Journal. Click here soon, because as rumor has it Mr. Murdoch will hide his syndication behind the great google wall, and make you pay for the right to read the opinions of others. If you can't get to the article, thats ok, because all it really says is that wine scoring is less scientific than global warming analysis, but with a much greater impact.

Chicken Soup (.9, .9, .9)

• 

• In the stock pot add just enough olive oil to brown 4 chicken thighs...about 1/4 inch
• Add thighs, skin side down first...generously season skinless side with Lantana
• After skin side is nice and brown, turn and brown other side
• Then add about 3 chopped carrots and 3 cloves of garlic and brown that all a bit
• Add one can of beans and one of italian stewed tomatoes
• Fill pot with water until 3/4 full
• Simmer for about an hour
• Take out chicken and cool
• If you have time, you can cool the soup too and skim off any fat ...but not a biggie
• When chicken is cool, take of bone and skin
• Add chicken back to soup and bring to a boil
• Add about 1/2 pound of pasta and cook for about 20 min or more
• Eat and enjoy

First Pizza (.9, .9, .9)

My wife gave me a wood fired pizza oven for our anniversary. It is a win/win gift. Long before the oven is actually finished, I had to try it out. I cooked a small pizza for my friend and pizza oven construction engineer. His favorite was black olive, pineapple and sun dried tomato. Liz is the chef and shouting out the times and telling when its done. I am the sous chef burning the product. The fire was a bit hot, but the pizza was .9.

Soon as I have more experience with the oven, I will post the details.

Ciao

Porter Brisket (.8, .8, .9)

I have desperately been trying to find a method of cooking brisket that renders something memorable. I am getting close. Almost all other attempts have been failures. Again, I used Bon Appetite (Oct 2009) as a guide. If you want beautiful pictures go there.
The recipe calls to make the dish a day ahead, chill then reheat to serve. We had it for dinner the night of making it and it was very good (.8, .8, .9) and sliced the leftovers to chill in the juices. I look forward to the left overs tomorrow.

2 tbl salt
2 tbl pepper
1 tbl dry mustard
1 tbl sage

4 lbs Brisket

2 bottles porter beer
2 cups beef broth
2 onions
1/2 cup raisins
2 tbl brown sugar.

Carrots
Mushrooms


Combine the first 4 ingredients and rub onto meat. Brown meat in a bit of oil on stove. To this add beer, stock, onions, raisins and brown sugar. Cover and place in oven for 3 hours at 275, turning over once ever hour. Add carrots and mushrooms, cook for another hour. The last 30 minutes uncover to help evaporate the juices.

slice thinly, plate with carrots and mushrooms. add lots of juice over the meat.

Pizza Sauce Contest

I'm looking for a good home made pizza sauce. If anyone has a family recipe that is simple and good, let me know. Prizes will be awarded to the winner.

Braised Short Ribs (.9, .9, .9)

A perfect meal. Basically browned ribs then braised in a combination of vegetables, wine and herbs. At the end, the braising liquid is blended into a gravy. I like the technique, as it delivers both on taste and texture.

I got the idea from Bon Appetite, but simplified the process and ingredients to what I had.

I also served this with kale that had been boiled in salt water until tender, then sautéed in capers and garlic. The same I guess could be done with any green.

Garlic smashed taters was the starch of choice.

6 lbs of short ribs

1 tbl salt

1 tbl pepper

1 tbl sage

.25 cup flour

.5 cup olive oil

3 cups chopped onions

2 cups shredded carrots

8 smashed garlic cloves

1 cup tomato puree

2 cups red wine

2 cups meat broth

Sprinkle ribs with salt/pepper/sage mixture.

Brown ribs. To this add onion and carrots. Saute. Add garlic, saute. Add rest of ingredients, and cook in oven at 350 for 3 hrs with top on.

Remove ribs, use immersion blender to puree sauce.

What was I Thinking

When posting my favorite restaurants, I forgot all about Mary Macs Tea Room in Atlanta. I grew up there during college. Perhaps the best food in the world. Like all classic southern restaurants, you write down your own order, and the waitress comes and picks it up. After a particularly hard test at Tech, my room mate and I would go down to Mary Macs and enjoy a few beers and a great dinner.

The picture is Cindy's 4 piece chicken dinner, with butter beans and collards. Even the vegetables at Mary Macs are not vegetarian. Pork goes in most everything, even the cornbread to soak up the pot licker (water left over from cooking greens) has fried pork in it.

I stuck with a traditional broiled trout. Years ago they served it with the head on and it was actually much better then.

Mrs Lupo (the previous owner) has passed but I remember her checking us out as we paid, and somehow she knew we were students and sometimes gave us a care package of some cornbread to take back home.

http://marymacs.com/