Chessy Onion Quiche

This recipe was a game changer.  I first had this when a great neighbor and fellow foodie brought some over.  The next week, I went out and bought the book he got the recipe from; Weber's Big Book of Grilling by Jamie Purviance and Sandra S. McRae.  Not only could I make my own quiche now (it is the kind of recipe you get very specific and urgent cravings for), but many of the other recipes in it lead to a great kitchen evolution, especially as far as my spice cupboard was concerned.  A game changer!

Ingredients
For the Sauce
1 large red bell pepper
1/4 c. mayonnaise
3 Tbsp. crushed walnuts
2 tsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

For the Filling
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into four pieces
1 c. finely chopped red onion
3 large eggs
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. grated Jarlsberg, Swiss or Gruyere cheese
3 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 uncooked piecrust (9 inches)

The Method
Grill the bell pepper over direct medium heat until the skin is evenly charred on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes, turning every 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove the pepper from the grill and place in a paper bag; close tightly.  Let stand 10 to 15 minutes to steam off the skin.  Cut off the top and remove the seeds.  Coarsely chop the pepper and put in a food processor.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and process until smooth.  Pour into a small serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a medium saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.  Transfer to a medium bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes.  In a small bowl whisk the eggs and cream together and add to the butter-onion mixture.  Add the remaining filling ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Line a 9-inch metal pie tin with crust.  Pour the filling into the curst.  Grill over Direct Medium heat until the edges of the curst and the filling begin to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes, then continue cooking over Direct Low heat until the filling is no longer wet in the center, about 15 minutes more.  Remove from the grill and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve with the sauce.

Food for Thought
As expected, a grilling cook book actually directs you to prepare this on the grill.  Once you shut the lid, isn't a grill basically an oven.  Ideally, you have a built-in thermostat on your grill, then you can really do anything on it you could do in your oven.  I won't discuss direct and indirect heat here but give me a call or post an inquiry if you must know more.  I often do this just in the oven.  350 for 35 minutes +/- 5 does the trick, although I will usually jump start my piecrusts baking for 7-8 minutes sans filling first so that I don't end up with an undercooked pie crust, which can sometimes happen when dealing with a lot of wet ingredients in the filling, as in this recipe, or with other fillings like custards, fruit mixtures, etc.  Unless I'm doing a homemade apple pie, store bought piecrust works great for me (we like Marie Callendar's and Pilsbury).  This sauce if ridiculously good and could actually be eaten on a wide variety of savory concoctions.  Have fun with the leftovers (if you have any). 

Cupcake Nazis

If you recall a previous post about a local cupcake joint, you might be surprised by this rant.  As it turns out, they don't really sell cupcakes during all business hours.  It seems that their business model is based on paying for staff, physical plant, utilities, etc. to remain open longer than they actually sell cupcakes. 

It's been disappointing to find that during their business hours, on several recent occasions, that they have had hardly any product.  Our last attempt found a mostly empty display case with lemon-blueberry only (quite a few actually).  But guess what? Lemon-blueberry is a muffin; not a cupcake. 

Now I hate to besmirch or sully the reputation of honest, hard-working people; especially those who are rolling the dice on such a venture as this.  I will try one more time.  It just seems to me that a sustainable and successful business model whose sole purpose was to supply product X would be more successful if that business actually had product X to sell. 

So word to the peeps at the CBCcC - Worry less about throwing out a few cupcakes at the end of an occasional slow day and worry more about all of the sales you are missing by not having anything in the display case. 

Now lest you think this is simply born of mean-spirited meany meanness, just think of me as the jilted boyfriend who got dumped and goes about with unrestrained bitterness over the girl who dumped him all the while saying he doesn't care or that she was no good.  The fact that I am ranting so should be an indication of just how much I do care no matter what else I might say.  Let me eat cake!  And bring back your cupcakes for sale.  Are you misunderstood-genius, narcissistic artist cupcake Nazis, madly and capriciously denying your cupcake neophytes the opportunity to satisfy the expectations you have created?  Or is it because you can't supply the goods, more like a Moscow-retreat, barren winter, beginning-of-the-end, can't get supplies to the front line type of cupcake Nazi?  Bring back my cupcakes to me.  Either that or close earlier, when you are out of product.  Staying open so people can come in to see your undesirable muffins in an otherwise, empty case is just mean.     

She Bakes

I like checking out other food blogs.  This new one is full of promise and soon to be full of great recipes.  It is H's food blog, which she just started today.  Check it out.  But in case you forget, I will, from time to time, include links to special recipes or  other posts to her blog while at other times, you may see the same recipe on each blog because I'm not above poaching and just want to  have it in the mix here.  So here you go.  It is:

Pefectly Imperfect Bakes a Cake and Other Things

The address is:

http://www.perfectlyimperfectbakesacake.blogspot.com/

Now while she does do more baking than me and also a good deal of excellent cooking, I am, usually against my will, the baker of most cakes around here (just so you know). 

Super Bowl of Chili

We made this for Super Bowl Sunday last year. It was awesome. I didn’t have a dog in that fight, so we didn’t miss not tuning in and the game turned out to be just an excuse to fix some great game-day food. Though we still will be spending our day doing other things to the neglect of SB XLV, this year is a different story. I’ll simply suggest that you should go with some good Wisconsin Cheddar when making your ingredient selection for this Lombardelicious game-day dish. Don’t call me to tell me how much you enjoyed the dish or the game until Monday morning!


Ingredients
½ lb. dry pinto beans
½ lb. dry small red beans
3-4 dried California chiles
8-10 dried small red peppers such as Chile Japones or Chile de Arbol peppers
2 Tbsp. beef base
8 c. water

¾ lb. ground beef or turkey
1 tsp. canola oil (if using turkey)
1 medium yellow onion – finely diced
¼ c. masa de harina (corn flour)
½ c. water

1 8 oz. jar of medium salsa
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
¼ c. barbecue sauce
3 Tbsp. prepared chili powder
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
½ Tbsp. smoked paprika
½ Tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
8 oz. cheddar or pepper-jack cheese
Sour cream

The Method
Place water, beef base, dried beans and chilies in pressure cooker and cook according to your devices instructions for dry beans.

Add onions and ground beef or turkey to frying pan over medium heat and cook until meat is lightly browned. If using ground beef, remove excess fat. Remove from heat and set aside.

Mix masa powder with ½ c. water prior to adding to cooker.

After beans and chiles have finished cooking, add in meat, onions, masa mixture, salsa, tomato paste, barbecue sauce, chili powder, garlic, salt, paprika pepper and cinnamon to cooker. Allow all ingredients to simmer together for an additional ½ hour, stirring occasionally. Serve and top with cheese and sour cream. Try not to eat too much.

Food for Thought
While this chili would not likely win any awards at the state fair or any chili cook-offs in the South due to the presence of the beans, which some chili purists feel don't belong in a serious chili, I was raised in a home where good beans were appreciated as a unique ingredient and not simply looked upon as a filler. And while it took me a while to acquire the taste for them, I definitely appreciate them now. As for the cinnamon, this is one ingredient you must not mistreat, either by omission or by using too liberally. But in the right amount, it adds something truly special to the gustatory landscape.

Recommended Sides: Cornbread or Tortilla Chips.

Pork Loin Chops with Pan Sauce

Pork makes a great blank canvas.  This recipe is a great way to color it tasty.


Ingredients
For the chops
8-10 boneless thin cut top pork loin chops
2-4 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce 

For the rub
3 Tbsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried rosemary or (2 tsp. fresh rosemary finely chopped)
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. fresh ground mixed peppercorns
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

For the pan sauce
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. milk
Juice of 1 large orange
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp. coarse ground mustard
1 tsp. chicken base
Additional black pepper to taste


The Method
Mix salt, pepper, rosemary, granulated garlic, mixed peppercorns, lemon pepper, cayenne and paprika in a small bowl.  Apply mixture liberally to top of each chop.  In a large stainless steel frying pan, heat 2 Tbsp. canola oil over medium heat.  Place up to 4 chops at a time into pan with rub side down and season other side of each chop.  Add Worcestershire and soy sauce to pan.  Fry for 3 minutes or until nicely browned then flip each chop and fry additional 3 minutes or until browned.  Remove chops from pan and place each chop in a small pan lined with foil.  Add additional canola oil if needed and repeat until remainder of chops are finished.  Close foil over chops and place into 350-degree oven for 5-6 minutes. 


While pan is still hot, remove from heat and add water to deglaze the pan.  After allowing pan to cool briefly, add milk, orange juice, lemon juice, minced garlic, mustard and chicken base.  Whisk over medium heat.  then reduce to low heat.    


After 5-6 minutes, remove chops from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.  Remove chops from foil and plate.  Add additional juices from foil to pan sauce and stir briefly.  Additional black pepper may be added if desired.    


Serve chops with your choice of rice and drizzle pan sauce over chops and rice.  


Recommended sides:
Sauteed asparagus or steamed broccoli 


Food For Thought
A pan sauce like this is less viscous, less opaque and more concentrated than your garden variety gravy, which you could make from here by combining your sauce elements with additonal fats and starches.  Gravy certainly has a place on the table but sometimes you just want something that feels like it's not so bad for you.  This type of pan sauce may not pair as well with potatoes but is excellent over any type of rice or vegetable.


When frying or grilling meat, the real magic occurs when the meat begins to brown.  When amino acids undergo certain reactions, in the presence of reducing sugars, we get a range of golden brown chemical products which give cooked meats their delicious flavor.  These non-enzymatic reactions are called the Maillard reactions for the early 20th century French scientist Louis Camille Maillard, who first described these reactions while studying protein synthesis.  After your meat is finished, all of the bits of this and bits of that, along with the residual fat you started with, as well as those generated by the cooking process, and anything else you've added, are culinary magic waiting to happen.  Add some liquid to deglaze the pan, whisk it to loosen everything on the bottom of your pan, season to taste and you've got your self a very savory, sophisticated and delicious pan sauce.     


   

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

One of my favorite Far Side comic strips shows Marie Antoinette being led to the guillotine while trying to explain her treatment of her subjects; "I said let them eat cake and ice cream." Truly hilarious! I’ve always thought that cake and ice cream were a bit much. A good ice cream is a thing of joy - at certain times of the year. Likewise, cake can be a wonderful treat (though my wife will roll her eyes and bemoan my preference of pie over cake - blame it on my German ancestry lady – no secret – check the surname). But a good cupcake is something we both agree on, so if someone suggested that I be allowed to eat cake, I would be perfectly happy, if that cake were in the form of a Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe cupcake (say that five times really fast).

Cupcakes are great right? I've written about another great purveyor of fine cupcakeage in our area before so you know I dig them. Although I wonder that we do not say 'cup of cake' or 'cup-o-cake' or 'cake in a cup'. I guess it is simply because it sounds weird, though it seems like this argument is just another variation on the chicken or egg conundrum. I have tried to find a corollary in other cuisines where an otherwise pedestrian dish is named partly by the vessel it was prepared in or served on but whoever heard of a 'glassbevaerage' or a 'platepotato'? The only thing that comes to mind is chicken pot pie or green been (or whatever type) of casserole. When it's done with more sophisticated dishes it sounds OK; pheasant under glass, Moroccan beef tagine. These sound normal enough (maybe it's in the order - OK thinking about it way too much about it). Anyway, naming aside, cupcakes are great. And we were super excited to discover a new designer cupcake bakery in our city, which, after the discovery of this bakery, seems a little more hip than it was before.

There are two locations in Idaho and one in Utah. If you get a chance, check them out. We've only tried two varieties (so far) but will definitely return to check out the rest. Their menu varies by the day of the week, which I think is an awesome approach. To see their blog, go to http://thecocoabeancupcakecafe.blogspot.com/.

Yulelicious - My New Favorite!

My new favorite Oreo.  My new favorite anything.  Could anything be better than this heavenly treat?  You must try the new, limited edition, here for the holidays, Candy Cane Oreos;  chocolatey, pepperminty, crunchy, creamy, double stuffy, candy-canetastic bliss.  And as my wife said, "The only thing better than a Candy Cane Oreo is a Candy Cane Oreo dipped in hot chocolate."  They are similar to the Mint Oreos we all love only better.  It's what the Mint Oreo wants to be when it grows up.  Merry Christmas.