Meet the meat surprises

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Nothing will surprise your cardio-vascular system quite like a waffle-bacon torte and a queen-of-hearts-ham. Whipped cream piped on a ham. GTFOH! You gotta love the 60's. I'm just surprised that it wasn't topped with a bacon-wrapped pack of Salem menthols.

Pre-Christmas Ham

Von's had Farmer John bone-in hams on sale the other day. I'm assuming that these were the hams that didn't sell for Thanksgiving and they were trying to dump their inventory. A $35 ham for $11.....I'm not passing that up. Lupe asked why we needed a 13lb ham for just the two of us. I had no good answer for that, but $11 for a 13lb ham; holy cow (or pig)! I figured we could just have ham sandwiches for the rest of the week. That's some fat guy logic for ya.

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Look at that. You see where I'm coming from, right? That's the why, this is the how. I scored the surface and studded it with cloves. I made a basting liquid from orange juice (1cup) and chicken broth(3/4cup), and then added about a 1/2 teaspoon each of ground clove and Cayenne pepper, and a teaspoon of Korean red chili pepper powder and smoked paprika. I heated it, tented in foil, at 325 for three hours. I basted the ham every half hour for the first three hours. I removed the foil for the last 40 minutes. Brown sugar and mustard were added to make the basting liquid a glaze. I turned up the oven a little and basted more frequently for the last part. The ham came out with a beautiful reddish-gold sheen. I sliced it up and served it with spicy, braised Swiss chard and a piece of nan bread.

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Holy moly! That ham is a big as my head. What was i thinking. All I know is that I've got to go get a loaf of Jewish rye bread and some Swiss cheese tomorrow. Ham sandwiches for the rest of the week....no month. Maybe I'll try something new. If I can find a Cuban bakery around here, I'm going to get some of that Cuban bread. All I will need are some dill pickles and roast pork and I can make a Cuban sandwich. It just so happens that I've got about 20lbs of pork shoulder in the fridge. I'll be roasting that on Friday in preparation for a tamale party this weekend. Oh man - things are coming together now. Now where do I get a plancha? Hell, who needs a plancha? I've got a Lodge cast iron griddle and skillet. Instant sandwich press.

Gueros Can't Make Tortillas (Tortillas 101)

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That's not how Mama makes it. Boy, do I hear a lot of that. I love Mexican food and I love my Mexican wife. Ever since we got married I have been trying to master Mexican cuisine, so I can cook her native food. Over the last six years I've learned quite a bit. I think I'm now a decent Mexican cook. I have learned a lot about the flavors and methods of preparation of Mexican food. I've also found that there is a tremendous variety in Mexican cuisine; with there probably being more regionally distinctive styles of cooking than we have here in the US. Herein lies the rub. Lupe had previously been exposed to primarily the style of cooking of her home state of Michoacan. When I started experimenting with Mexican cooking I looked at anything south of the border as Mexican cooking. I tried recipes that sounded good; regardless of their state of origin. Lupe's response to these experiments was often, "That's not how my Mom makes it." Often dishes with the same name are prepared in significantly different ways, depending on the region. It all tastes good to me, so I don't worry too much about the state or region of origin. Still; it was a little challenging for Lupe. I would tell her that I was making a dish that she had loved since her childhood. Her hopes were raised by childhood memories of specific flavors and textures; only to be disappointed by something that was not familiar at all. THAT'S NOT HOW MAMA MADE IT. I really heard a lot of that. The more new recipes I found the more often I got: TNHMMI! It was difficult for me to gauge the effectiveness of my cooking. Sometimes I didn't know if she was disappointed by the taste or by the unfamiliarity. The first couple of years were challenging as we both had to expand our palates. I addition to the new regional flavors, I created my own problems. I have tried to bring what I know of classical cooking technique to my attempts at Mexican cooking. This often put me at odds with Lupe's attempt to teach me her style of cooking. I went for quite some time stubbornly thinking that using classic cooking technique would allow me to 'improve' on her recipes. After many failures, I have realized that some of the flavors and textures of her home cooking cannot be replicated using classic technique. Classic, 'proper' cooking techniques often results in a dish that is good, but just doesn't have that authentic, rustic goodness that makes Mexican food so special. I am trying to strike a balance in my cooking; using more classical methods at times and defaulting to the escuela vieja way of doing things when appropriate.

Here is an example of TNHMMI. Not long after we got married, I had homemade carnitas for the first time. Being a pork lover and an OCD cook, I quickly became obsessed with learning how to make the perfect carnitas. After observing Lupe's mom and sister making carnitas, I thought I could improve on the process. After all; they just put salted pork in simmering lard and let it cook until a little crispy on the outside and falling apart tender. I seasoned my pork shoulder much more heavily; using various types of chili powder along with salt and pepper. The results were fantastic. I was ecstatic, as this was the first Mexican dish that I made where I could honestly say that I made it better than Mama. Even Lupe begrudgingly agreed.

With my ego fueled by the carnitas success, I moved on to chile verde. I roasted many a tomatillo in my quest for perfect chile verde, but I just couldn't make it as well as Lupe. I tried everything I could think of; no luck. The more I tried, the more I strayed from Lupe's old school methods. After one particularly Hurculean effort, Lupe dropped the bomb on me. I had fire-roasted over ten pounds of tomatillo, chile and tomatoes for 4 separate batches of chile verde. I tried different ingredients and techniques with each batch. After tasting each one, Lupe said, "Honey, why don't you just let me make the chile verde from now on." Ouch. I was devastated. Abject failure and a surrender ultimatum from SWMBO. I couldn't accept that, but there was nothing I could do. I had failed in a big way. So, I let her make the chile verde the next time. Of course, I annoyed her with my incessant kibitzing as she cooked. Even while being a pain in the ass, I watched what she was doing and I learned. I paid close attention and I analyzed what she was doing differently and why it worked. After a couple of times I began to get the idea. I was able to step back from what I thought was the 'correct' way of cooking and see where I had gone wrong. Evidently the ingredient that my chile verde was lacking was humility. Whooda thunk it? Rack one up for old school.

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We have tried homemade tortillas on several occasions and neither of us has had much success. Lupe knew the basics, but just didn't have much experience making tortillas by hand. Dough and breadmaking have got to be my weakest areas in cooking. Together, we managed to make a bunch of tasty little flour gorditas, but never a really good, light, fluffy tortilla. After too many failed efforts, Lupe and I pretty much gave up. We haven't even tried making tortillas in over a year. With my discovery of the local North Gate Market, we have not been wanting for good tortillas. BTW: Northgate market makes some kickass corn and flour tortillas.

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So, we were up in Long Beach on Sunday to visit the family. My wife and her sister Theresa made chile verde while I was out meeting with some friends. For the first time that I can remember, my mother-in-law, Emilia, made tortillas from scratch. With the size of familia Lopez, they usually just get the industrial-size bags of tortillas from Northgate. This time, we were in for a treat. Not just a treat; a FRIGGEN TORTILLA EPIPHANY.

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Emilia knocked out about thirty beautiful, perfectly round, light, fluffy flour tortillas. If you've never had homemade tortillas, you're missing out on one of life's great simple pleasures. As we were sitting there eating our chile verde with the tortillas, Lupe and I peppered her mom with questions about ingredients and technique. I think she was still holding something back, but we got the basics. We then went into the kitchen to practice on the remaining dough. There were a few failures, but we started turning out some pretty good ones. This weekend I'm going to whip up a batch of dough and we will see if we learned anything.

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Taking a break from Mexican food

I picked up a couple of Rick Bayless' cookbooks back in October and I don't think I've made a non-Mexican meal since. Time has come for a break. It's not that I dislike the food; quite the contrary. I love the flavors of Mexican cuisine; but after this two month orgy of pork, chile, tortillas and salty cheese, I need to change gears. I've probably put on 10 pounds and my digestive track is ulcerated like a piece of Swiss cheese. I should probably go vegetarian for a couple of weeks to repair the damage, but that ain't gonna happen. I ate a couple of pairs for breakfast, a chicken sandwhich for lunch and some dill pickles for dinner yesterday. That's as close to vegetarian as I'll ever get. When I got up today I had some kimchee for breakfast. That gave me some ideas ( and a little indigestion). I still had some of those turkey thighs in the freezer and I was keen on finding a new, interesting way to cook them. My brain started churning; trying to come up with an idea. Suddenly, it hit me; Korean chili marinade. Maybe it was just the kimchee burps, but inspiration comes in many forms. I love the marinated pork belly that I get from Zion Market. I thought that the same flavors might work with turkey thighs. I don't recall having ever seen turkey at any restaurants in Korea, but that's of little concern. I'm creating fusion cuisine today. I have a bottle of Ottogi vinegared red pepper paste that I've been waiting to use. I would actually call it a sauce, as it is much thinner than the chili pastes that I have seen. The sauce is made of red chili paste, vinegar, tomato paste, sugar, garlic and roasted sesame. This sauce is exactly what I love about Korean food. The red chili pepper is used a lot in Korean cooking. If there is one flavor that I associate with Korea, it is the chili. I love this stuff because it has a great, full-bodied flavor, without having a lot of heat. Most of the dried chile used in Mexican cooking has a harsh aspect to the flavor. The Korean chili is smooth and flavorful. When used in high-heat applications, such as grilling, it loses much of its heat and takes on a fullness that blends perfectly with the fats and juices of the meat. The first time I had the marinated pork belly, it was a revelatory experience. Ever since then I've been obsessed with trying to create my own marinade that would match the one that Zion Market uses. Today, as I was working up the marinade for the turkey legs, I think I finally got it right. I started with about two cups of the Ottogi chili sauce. To that I added a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, two teaspoons of shrimp sauce, a few drops of sesame oil, 4 cloves of minced garlic and a tablespoon or so of fresh grated ginger. I marinated the thighs in this mix for a couple hours before heading to the grill. While the thighs sat in the marinade, I prepped a ton of veg for three stir fry sides. I also par cooked some diced sweet potato for a dish that I've had a few times in Korea. After I got the sweet potato to where I wanted it, I shocked it in an ice bath and then spun dry in my lettuce tilt-a-whirl. With everything prepped, I gathered up all my crap and headed for the grill. Pardon the deviation from the topic, but I hate our apartment. In the old place, we were allowed to keep a gas grill in the patio. This place just has a little balcony/patio, so the management doesn't allow any grills or BBQ's. They have two communal gas grills out by the jacuzzi. The grills are decent, but it just isn't the same as having your own. We need to move. OK-back on topic. So I head out to the grill and it starts raining as soon as I set up. No prob......I came here to cook meat with flame. Ain't no sissy rain stoppin' me. My caveman ancestors wouldn't have been deterred by the rain. As the grill was coming up to temperature I tossed in several handfuls of hickory chips for a little flavor. I dropped the thighs on the lower grill for some grill marks. After a quick turn on each side I turned off one burner and moved the thighs up to the top rack for some indirect heat. I gave them a good basting with the marinade and let them get up to temp. Just before they were done I grilled some green onions on the lower grill. The green onions had been tossed with olive oil, Korean red pepper powder, sea salt and a little sesame oil. Everything came off once the onions were wilted and charred. Back inside for some quick stir fry. I did one with onions, garlic, carrots, calabasa squash, mushrooms, bell pepper and a soy/chili sauce. The other dish was a little spicier. It was a mix of onions, carrots, bell, jalapeno and manzano chilis and Napa cabbage. Stir frying that was a little hard one the eyes and sinuses. The gas chamber in boot camp didn't hurt that much. Ay chihuahua. I did a quick saute on the diced sweet potato to give them a little color and then added a little of the chili paste. I flipped a few time to give everything a good coating and then added a bit of raw honey. This produces a very nice sweet-hot-sour glaze for the potato. I served everything with some white rice. The turkey thighs were extremely flavorful and tender. The marinade/basting liquid keeps the meat moist and tender and it creates a rich, mildly spicy sauce. I've got to do this with pork next time.

Mexican Thanksgiving Dinner

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With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I started thinking about what we were going to make. Lupe and I planned on going to her parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. This has been the standard practice for the last several years. Lupe cooks the turkey, her sister Carmen makes the ham, mashed potatoes and biscuits, I make the stuffing, a sweet potato dish and usually a sweet potato pie. The other cooking and set-up tasks are divided amongst the rest of her sisters. In the past, Carmen made her dishes at her house, I made mine at my mom's and then we brought everything to the dinner. That isn't really an option now, so the logistics are a little more complicated. Fortunately, there are three fridges at Lupe's parents house now. We are still short on cooking space, but we aren't lacking for cold storage. Adding to the logistics burden this year, I was cooking my dishes at home in San Diego and then driving up just before dinner. This sounds like a guaranteed cold meal, but I managed to work things out. I had three casserole dishes of stuffing that came out of the oven and went almost directly into the back of the Escape. along with the sweet potato, they were covered with multiple layers of PolarTech blankets for heat retention. When I arrived in Long Beach, the casserole dishes were still very hot to the touch. We really didn't even need to reheat the stuffing. I'm going to have to remember that trick for the future.

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Dinner went off with nary a hitch. Lupe did a great job on the turkey, as usual. She did a 22.5lb. bird this time. There was turkey and ham aplenty. In addition to the usual suspects, Luis' wife brought a bunch of tamales.

I'm glad that we had the tamales, as I was trying to steer us towards a more Mexican-themed dinner menu. Too many traditionalists to make any significant changes in this year's menu. I'll just work on some dishes for next year and try to sway them towards a new direction. I previewed a couple of Mexican twists on traditional Thanksgiving dishes this year. I'm just trying to get my foot in the door and open up some new possibilities.

Most successful of the new dishes was the chorizo cornbread stuffing. I used freshly baked and partially dried cornbread in this stuffing. This gave the stuffing a wonderfully moist texture without the heaviness that you sometimes get when you have to rehydrate totally dried bread with water and melted butter or margarine. It was a little loose, but it wasn't dry and crumbly like some stuffing gets. I browned a mix of beef and Salvadoran pork chorizo in a large cast iron skillet. After the chorizo was browned, I removed it from the pan and added the veg for a quick sweat. I didn't want to lose all the texture, so I didn't keep it in the pan for long. The veg was a mix of white onion, green onion, red and yellow bell pepper, celery and chile (pasilla, jalapeno & manzano). I wanted a lot of chile flavor and texture without making the stuffing unbearably hot. To get this result, I carefully removed all the seed and veins from the chiles. The end result was a very flavorful stuffing that had some heat, but not enough to overpower the dish. I used a mix of chicken stock and melted butter to get just the right amount of moisture.

In addition to the stuffing, I called on an old favorite of mine for a little more spice; camotes chipotle. I cooked a ton of sweet potato and then mashed it as you would for mashed potatoes. I used some butter, cream, salt and pepper for the standard mashed potatoes. To this I added about four chipotle en adobo. I also put a couple of spoons of the adobo sauce in with the potatoes for good measure. The heat of the chipotle balances the sweetness of the camotes very nicely. I'll go easy on the chipotle if I'm going to serve this to a large gathering with a lot of kids. When I make it at home I usually crank up the spicy; putting half a can of the chipotle en adobo into the mix. Believe it or not, I got this idea from Alton Brown.

I've been working on a few twists to Thanksgiving food that I'd like to try out next year. I did a simple Thanksgiving dinner menu a couple of weeks ago as sort of a dry run. I roasted a whole chicken instead of doing a turkey. The chicken was marinated in a mixture of orange juice, cider vinegar, chile (ancho and morita-toasted and ground), Mexican oregano, cinnamon, cumin, salt and pepper. After a couple hours in the marinade I removed the chicken and patted it dry. I rubbed the skin with some chipotle adobo sauce, dusted it with smoked paprika, a little more chile powder and some sea salt. The body cavity got loosely stuffed with onion and lime wedges for a little moisture and flavor. I didn't sear the chicken on the stove top before roasting. I've done this in the past with good results, but I didn't want the chile to burn on the surface this time. I just put the chicken in a 425 oven for the first few minutes and then dropped the tem to 325 for the remainder of the cooking time. I think I'm going to modify this a little the next time I do it. I'm going to make a compound butter with the chile and a little oregano. The butter will go under the skin. I've done this several times before and the results have always been tasty.

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As the chicken was resting, I made a spicy gravy in the roasting pan. Other tahn a little salt, I didn't have to season the gravy at all. It had all the spicy chile flavor from the chicken. I made a roux from the pan fat and then used chicken stock for the body. A little cream was added for some richness to offset the heat. Plated the chicken with chipotle sweet potato and chorizo stuffing. End result: yummy Mexigiving Dinner.

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Another idea that I've been playing around with is braised turkey thigh. Just before Thanksgiving, Northgate had all sorts of fresh turkey; whole, breasts, drumsticks, thighs, thighs with drumsticks and even packages of necks. I couldn't resist. There was no way I was walking out of there without some turkey thighs. I bought two trays for a total of about a dozen thighs. As much as I wanted to try these out for Thanksgiving, Lupe (affectionately know as the Wet Blanket) had to rain on my parade with her logic and reason. So we were already planning on having a 22lb bird, two hams and tamales. Big deal. This is Thanksgiving. You're supposed to have lots of food and eat yourself into a coma. The Wet Blanket put her foot down and I had to bow to reason. Damn that reason and logic. Its hard to have fun cooking when you have to deal with that. After much grumbling, I broke out the vacuum sealer and packed up the thighs for the freezer. We really weren't interested in turkey for a week or so after Thanksgiving. When I got back from my road trip to Lori's house I found that there wasn't much in the fridge. Time for turkey. I seasoned up the thighs and gve them a quick sear in the pan. I added some diced white onion and garlic for a quick sweat.

From Food

I deglazed with some chicken stock and then added a can of chipotle salsa and some roasted tomatoes. I sprinkled sliced red onion and yellow pepper over the top of the thighs, covered and placed in a 350 oven. When the thighs were moist and tender I removed them from the braising liquid. The pan went back on the stove top with some additional chicken stock and chipotle salsa. We added a couple of diced chayote squash, brought to a high simmer and covered. When the squash was nearly done, I uncovered the pan and reduced the sauce until it was nice and thick. The chayote and sauce were served over white rice. Nyum num num.

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Rare meat

I don't know about you, but I like a nice, juicy, rare to medium-rare steak. There is nothing quite so delightful as a tender bit of meat that is moist and flavorful, with just the right char and grill marks on the surface and a luscious pink center. I live for a perfectly grilled steak. Hell, I even like rare burgers. I can't stand meat that has been over-cooked. No amount of sauce, gravy or fancy foo-foo reduction will disguise the crime of overdone meat. So now we have established my thoughts on this subject. With that as background, I'll tell you a little about marriage. Marriage is all about compromise; give and take. Two individuals forsake their selfish desires and come together as a couple. The whole being greater than the sum of the two parts. It is a beautiful thing. There is only one problem......my wife was raised in a family where well done is the rule. I'm down with the whole marriage concept; loving, sharing, compromise, yada, yada, yada; but I cannot stand to see a good piece of meat cooked into shoe leather. As much as I'm willing to compromise on other issues, I cannot, in good conscience, allow a good steak to be cooked well done. Not on my watch and definitely not at my hands on my grill. Even if it is Wifey-poo who wants said meat immolated until void of all flavor; I can't do it. This issue never really came up while we were dating. We ate out most of the time and I didn't have to do any of the cooking. Once we got married, I realized that something was amiss. Lupe would only eat around the edges of a steak; saving the center for leftovers. She knew that I would either eat it as is, or she would nuke it to an overall gray in the microwave. I didn't catch on at first, but the pattern soon became apparent. She was too polite to tell me that she didn't think it was cooked enough. Eventually I caught on and we had numerous discussions over dinner concerning doneness (yeah, it's a word). This is where I question my being a good husband. Rather than just accepting that Lupe likes meat well done, I launched a crusade to 'educate her palate' and get her to accept that meat is better rare-medium than well done. Yeah, I know; a little arrogant. I just thought that, since she never had properly cooked meat before, she would would learn to like rare/medium meat once she tried it a few times. So began my campaign to teach Lupe to like rare. I'll be the first to admit that starting with a roasted leg of lamb might have been the wrong move. Lupe had never eaten roasted lamb before, and the medium-rare juicy goodness was a little too much for her. I like a little juice running down my chin. Lupe wasn't convinced. It wasn't even back to square one. Now she was afraid to try anything rare. I tried a few other dishes, but didn't make much progress. She just wasn't buying the whole concept. We just agreed to disagree. Eventually, her birthday rolled around and I suggested that we do something different to celebrate. I took her down to Kellog Park at La Jolla for a BBQ'd dinner. I had found some monster ribeye steaks at the store that I just couldn't resist. Along with the steaks, I made sourdough garlic bread and sliced sweet potato, Vidalia onions and squash for the grill. By the time we got everything unloaded from the car and managed to get the fire going it was already getting dark. The only available grill in the park was tucked away in a corner, under some trees. It was nearly pitch black at the grill by the time the coals were ready. I had to do all the cooking by the glow of the charcoals. I flipped the veggies constantly to keep them from getting too charred. I had to go strictly by feel to check the doneness of the steaks. Once I was satisfied that all was perfectly (or at least adequately) cooked, I brought everything back to the picnic table. We ate her birthday meal in the dark, listening to the sound of the surf. Maybe I should have brought a lantern. Live and learn. We still had a great time. We took pictures of each other, sitting in the dark with our dinner. Throughout the evening, Lupe kept remarking that it was the best steak she ever had. I just put it down to the setting, the BBQ and the awesome ribeyes. I didn't even think about the doneness issue. It wasn't until we got home and I downloaded the pictures that I realized. Before showing the pictures to Lupe, I asked her again what she thought of the steaks. "Best steak I've ever had," she said. (OK-I was also fishing for compliments). Once it was on the record, I showed her the pictures. PROOF.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Without the visual reminder that she was eating a rare steak, Lupe was able to appreciate the flavor and the texture. I think we had a breakthrough.
Back to the marriage angle. Just so you don't think I'm an absolute wanker, I try to reach a compromise on the doneness issue. I leave Lupe's food on the grill a little longer so she won't have to deal with really rare meat. She now understands that meat doesn't have to be charred to a crisp to be safe. We have struck a mutually agreeable balance. Compromise, if you will. Ahhh, marriage. It is a beautiful thing.

From Family photos for web

Food at the county fair

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Every time we go to the fair, I like to annoy Lupe by constantly talking about food. We can't pass a BBQ shack, Hot Dog On a Stick, funnel cake fryer or churro cart without a detour for a quick peek and sniff. I don't know if she realizes that I'm kidding or if she actually thinks that I want to eat my way down the midway. I always get the TALK before we get into the fair. She lays down the ground rules about how much we can eat and how much money we can spend on food. Having Lupe pull my ear for a half hour has become part of the fair-going ritual. And the more she scolds me, the more I whine about getting fair food. I'm such a punk. I don't know why she puts up with me.

For all the talk of fair food, I really don't like to buy too much. I'm not fundamentally opposed to the concept of a 5000 calorie meal that consists of entirely deep fried foods. I just don't like paying $8.50 for a friggen hot dog. I can have 8 BBQ's dogs on 10 buns (WTF is up with that scam) at home for less than that. I am enthralled with the concept of fair food, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on a meal that can never live up to the hype. Lupe and I spent $32 on a meal at the San Diego County Fair last year. I had been dreaming of a good old fashioned giant BBQ sausage and chili fries. Lupe got a double cheese burger and an onion blossom. We had been looking forward to that particular bit of wretched excess for two years. We didn't eat all day, in preparation for our magical fair meal. Two custom-made heart attacks on paper plates and a plastic tray. Maybe nothing can live up to your fantasy-fueled expectations. I don't know. All I got out of the meal was heart burn and disappointment. I KNOW I could have made a better burger or a better giant BBQ sausage dog. Hell; I have made better. I don't have a deep fryer, so I might not be able to make a bloomin' onion. If I had a fryer, I'm sure I could do better. So what is the moral here? What do you take away from my tale of woe? A couple of things...... Always take some Rolaids when you go to the fair. Don't buy over-priced food at the fair, or baseball games, or the movie theater, or McDonald's. And finally: reality rarely ever matches your imagination. I have been dying to try deep fried Twinkies ever since I first learned of them. I've seen them at the fair for years, but I've never bought one. Somewhere in the back of my head I know that the reality can't live up to the hype. Deep fried Twinkies are better as a mythic ideal than actual food. The deep fried twinky is a metaphor for the very concept of fair food. It is the unimaginable, the symbol of wretched excess. the food of carnies and circus folk. It isn't real food-I mean, you can't find them in the frozen food case at Von's. Deep fried Twinkies are the soul of the fair. They are the Earthly manifestation of the spirit of the fair; bad food, bright lights, rigged games, tattooed bimbos and mullets.

This year I decided to do it right. Rather than waste my money and suffer the bitter disappointment of crappy fair food, I would make my own gut-busting, artery clogging, fair-inspired meal the weekend the Los Angeles County Fair opened. We skipped the food at the fair (except for a few churros and shave ice) and had a pre-fair BBQ instead. So you're going to make a meal that will capture the essence of the fair; what do you serve? Damn right; the Bacon Explosion. Not even deep fried butter says fair the way the bacon explosion does. The bacon explosion is cardiac Russian roulette with five cylinders of saturated fat. Oh, but the flavor! Italian sausage wrapped in a bacon snuggie, slathered in BBQ sauce. Ooh la la-piggy, piggy, come to Papa. I used a hot Italian sausage seasoned with Cayenne pepper and smoked paprika and wrapped it in a weave of thick-cut, lightly smoked bacon. My little bundle of flavor spent a couple of hours of quality time on the BBQ with some hickory providing the smoke. It came out moist and flavorful with a beautiful smoke ring. Do you know you can cut off a 3/4" slice, top it with some melted sharp cheddar and serve it on a hamburger bun? I'm having a little cardiac arrhythmia just remembering that hearty bit of goodness. CLEAR!.....ZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPPP. Oh that's good. In addition to the bacon explosion, I also BBQ'd some pork ribs and grilled burgers and Korean marinated pork belly. The burgers were a mix of the Italian sausage, ground beef and ground lamb. The Korean marinated pork belly is an awesome substitute for bacon on a cheeseburger. The pork belly has a beautiful, deep, rich flavor with just a hint of spicy chili. In spite of my obsession with the bacon explosion, I am not a huge fan of most bacon. Most bacon has way to much smoke flavor for my liking. I like a very gentle smoke on my bacon. Most packaged bacon overwhelms everything it comes in contact with. The marinated pork belly has pure pork flavor and the only smoke comes from grilling over hot coals. The chili-vinegar marinade marries beautifully with the pork as it grills and the fat renders out. It kicks the crap out of bacon on burgers. Some grilled pork belly, slices of avocado and melted muenster cheese make for a killer burger. I won't say much about the grilled green onions and asparagus as they really didn't fit the fair food theme very well....too healthy. Other than the greens, it was the perfect meal to prep us for a day at the fair.

Getting started

I've put this off for quite a while, but the time has come to either fish or cut bait. My sister Lori was the one who suggested that I start some sort of blog to document the culinary crimes that I've committed. I think her suggestion was motivated by all the annoying emails I sent her that started with, "You're never going to guess what I made for dinner tonight." Well, this blog should cut down on the junk that winds up in her in box. It isn't just for the sake of Lori's ISP that I'm doing this. I enjoy cooking. I love making food for family and friends (and neighbors, casual acquaintances, complete strangers and anybody else willing to have a taste). Cooking for others makes me happy. As we live 100+ miles from most of our relatives and friends, we can't often share the joys of a family dinner. This blog will allow me to share a little bit of the fun and flavor with our loved ones. It also gives me a forum to brag a bit. There is one other very important reason that I am doing this; documentation. I am terrible about making up recipes on the fly. That and my poor short-term memory means that I often have trouble recreating a dish that was particularly good. Lupe, my wife, is always getting on me for not writing down my recipes. Hopefully, if I'm diligent about posting to the blog, I'll have a good record of how I made some of my tastier dishes.

I don't know exactly how I'm going to approach the format for this blog. I don't want it to be just a collections of recipes. I might not even include recipes for each meal. This is more about capturing the flavor of the meal. I want to write about what inspired the dish, what I did wrong and right, how it was received, what we talked about over dinner......whatever. This is going to be combination journal/cook book/photo album to share with family and friends. Until I get a new kayak and start fishing again, cooking is going to be my primary hobby. As such, this blog will be the window into my crazy little world.

I am going to start with a series of posts that will cover the last several months. I have been on quite the culinary crime spree of late and I'd like to confess some of my sins.