meeting and greeting

Still not doing what I need to do yet still doing what I have to do, how do I do it? This particular question should be one of those 'meaning of life things' because its a chicken/egg conundrum from the get go.



Met with Hagen this morning- The Wandering Foodie, he's doing a big project of eating 93 meals this month and we discussed the nuances of a Moroccan breakfast, one of his many stops.



We agreed that the pita was the best in all the land.



Harisa always needs extra attention.



I cant review the place since I picked it and its one of my favorites, you'll have to see what he says.


Proof is me jabbering about jabbering.

things I use to think with

Once you fall behind on anything its incredibly hard to catch back up and I hate to fall behind but I have fallen behind. I have a few ingredients sitting around that I need to whip, whiz and shebang into something cool and interesting but my brain is not whipping, whizzing or shebanging. What to do in a situation like this? Eat!



A little thin sliced roast beef, some onion and a little cheddar in a skillet and heat till it looks like you like it - blast it with some hot sauce if you want, why not there arent any rules!



Who cares if you dont have the right kind of bread, a toasted english muffin is just as good as the next bun. This didnt do a thing for my creativity but it sure did smooth out my lunch break, now back to hitting the books and banging my head against the cutting board hoping something worthwhile pops out. Cheesesteak my way!

I won!

The only winner yesterday was me, well not just me but it sounds better to say it like that. I dont watch sports much but I do watch finals of sports and yesterday was one of those days. Now since I dont watch all season long I have no clue who or what anyone can or cannot do and I pick my favorite team in a very subjective and random way. I cant really explain what my method is for choosing a favorite team but let me tell you that the two I picked yesterday both lost.



Even though my teams lost I was the winner with the salmon and cream cheese pinwheels that I made for my guests to nosh on while my teams got thrashed. I spread a little cream cheese on some puff pastry, then I scattered some sliced green onion and some nice coho salmon.



Rolled up and cut into discs and placed in a 400F oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and perfect.



These pinwheels were easy to make and thankfully so since I could barely keep up with the demand. Now while my teams did score and while they did give a good fight - they didnt win - I won with my easy to make and easy to bake salmon pinwheels.



These little handfuls were chock full of salmon and chock full of flavor - touchdowns, extra points and two minute warnings all rolled into one tasty bite.

the magical fruit

"Beans, beans the magical fruit the more you eat the more you....." There are so many childhood memories associated with beans, chile and tortillas that I dont have the time or space or even inclination to mention. I first learned how to make refried beans when I was probably around 12 years old or so and it was something I made often because it took the ordinary bean and turned it into something else, equally as ordinary but different no less.



Refried beans are easy to do, you start with cooked beans then make a roux with roasted chile, onions and garlic and some kind of fat, if you eat meat then use bacon and bacon fat like I did, if not use something else.



When the roux is perfect add the beans and mash like you just dont care, and after you mashed a lot then mash some more until they are creamy and delightful.



Creamy refried beans, mmmm - now its up to you if you want them as a side dish or spread on a fried flat corn tortilla as a tostada - believe me, if you make these you will never go to Taco Bell ever again.

trust me its stinky

Cheese has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember going all the way back to eating my great grandmothers home made goat cheese as a young boy all the way up to peeling back the wrapper on a slice of american cheese for an egg sandwich. I have even made cheese on a few occasions and it turned out perfect but since I do live in a place that has so much variety when it comes to this milky delight it hardly makes sense for me to find a cave and continue to make my own. Yes I like cheese. I have even gone so far as to try Velveeta, twice.



When my local cheese shop had a mini pont l'evique aptly named Petit Pont l'Eveque sitting right there staring at me and teasing me and begging me to take her home what could I do? It is one of the 'ancient' cheeses dating back to the 13th century and it goes great with my favorite wine of all time the Saint-Emilions. The velvety smoothness of this wine marries nicely with the outdoorsy flavor of the Normandy countryside.



Why wouldnt an ancient cheese pair perfectly with a wine from the oldest wine region in the Bordeaux area - that seems like a no brainer - in fact the only way this would be better is if I had a Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classé, but I am getting distracted, this is about the cheese.



There is an art to cutting cheese so that each and every piece has a bit of the soft and most flavorful center and a bit of the concentrated flavor near the rind. How many times have you seen a person walk up to a wedge of brie and cut the tip right off like it was nothing - that is the same thing as scooping out the center of a watermelon and leaving the rest for everyone else. There is style and beauty in everything if you take the time to find it.



You will notice that I did not cut my first piece following the diagram - it is because I was taking artistic license for the photo but it will be easy for me to correct with each subsequent slice and it hardly matters anyway since I will probably be eating the whole thing myself. Oh and back to the title of this post - this cheese does have a somewhat pungent aroma but its flavor is smooth, soft and reminiscent of the grassy rolling hills that these cows frolic on. Pont l'Eveque - I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend my calendar!