We had a big party up at Casa Lopez for Emily and Jenny's first communion. I made 50lbs of taco meat (carnitas, pork with chile verde, and chicken) and did all the prep work on the veggies. After dicing uncounted pounds of tomatoes, jalapenos and onions I started to notice some apparent carpal tunnel symptoms in my right hand. I've had numbness and various other problems ever since I began paddling, but this is the first time it has ever happened while working with a knife. I'm not happy about that. One more thing that sucks about getting old. So we made a ton of food in expectation of having 75 guests. The party was advertised to start at about 2pm. By five in the afternoon only 10-15 people had arrived. I had six 9" X 13" pans full of taco meat holding in the oven. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out. Eventually, more friends and relatives showed up. I think we ended up with 25-30. Since we started early and the party went late, most of us had tacos for lunch and dinner. We also had tacos for brunch and dinner the next day. Lupe and I took a pound or two of taco meat home with us. Amazingly, there was still upwards of twenty pounds left in the fridge at the in-laws house.
Lupe really was the star of the party weekend. She made cakes for the first communion and for Stephanie's birthday. As always, the cakes were beautiful and well received. Jenny and Emily's cake was a two-tier multi-layer cake. Lupe made each tier with alternating white and strawberry cake layers. There was cream cheese filling and sliced strawberries between each layer
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| From Family photos for web |
Stephanie's cake was chocolate with a cream cheese and strawberry filling.
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| From Family photos for web |
I'm proud of my little cake lady. She is getting very good at this.
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| From Family photos for web |
THE OTHER STUFF
I am normally not a big breakfast eater. I would have to say that breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day. I am not a big fan of most breakfast favorites. Given half a chance, I'd rater just eat a sandwich for breakfast. That being said, there are some traditional breakfast items that I enjoy. Steak and eggs is my favorite breakfast meal. I don't have it often (its been 2 or 3 years since the last time I made it), but when I do, it is something special. This time was no exception. I had just picked up a bunch of nice ribeye steaks that were on sale at the local market. I got 7 and vacuum-packed 6 of them. We'll break these out every once in a while for special grilling occasions. So, what to do with the odd leftover steak? It was only 7:30am and I really didn't want to run out to the BBQ grills. An idea started to form. Like waves of cholesterol crashing on a French fry shore, the plan started sweeping through my brain. A quick check revealed eggs in the fridge, along with some mushrooms. There was a nice, little sweet yellow onion in the pantry. All the ingredients were present. The stars were aligned and all was well in the world. My jaw and left arm got all tingly in anticipation of a true carnivore's breakfast. Quickly, I got to work. The ribeye was seasoned with the Santa Maria mix that I had made for the tri-tips. I quickly sliced the onion and mushrooms. I got a couple of cast iron pans going on the stove and I was just about ready to go. The onions started to saute in some duck fat and butter. Yeah, I said it. Duck fat and butter. My cardiologist can kiss my ass. I don't actually have a cardiologist (yet), but, if I did, he could kiss my pasty white ass. When the onions softened a bit and got some color I tossed in the mushrooms. Then the steak went into a nice, hot cast iron pan. Sizzle, sizzle, smoke, smoke. I flipped the steak and then dropped two eggs in the center of the pan with the onions and mushrooms. There is only one way to have eggs when you make steak and eggs; sunny side up. The best part of steak and eggs is when the yolk runs down the meat and mixes with the juice. You are then required by law to soak up the yolk-meat juice sauce with toast. I'm serious; it's the law. You have to do it. OK, so the steak is done and goes on the plate to rest. I just happened to have a bleu cheese sauce left over from the tri-tip extravaganza. A little of the sauce went on the steak, followed by the sauteed onions and mushrooms. On top of it all, like a runny yellow crown, the fried eggs. A couple of pieces of toasted Hawaiian bread and I had a breakfast.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
Not only was this the best damn steak n' eggs I've ever had, it was also very filling. Lunchtime rolled around and I think I was still sleeping off breakfast. Diner.....nah, I'm still kinda full. Skipped breakfast the next day too. The way I look at it, it was a very economical meal. I felt like the great white that eats a 1300lb elephant seal and then swims to Hawaii and back to work it off.
Next up was French onion soup. I'm not a big fan of soups; however I have always liked French onion soup. Let me qualify that statement. I like well-prepared French onion soup; not that powdered crap in the foil package that my mom used to get all the time. I think she would actually eat that junk as soup. The only thing I would use it for was seasoning in meatloaf and dips. I only made French onion soup from scratch one time previously. It was not a great success. It was early in my cooking career and I didn't know much. This time was much more satisfactory. I saw Chef John make this on his Food Wishes blog and I thought I should give it a shot. A quick trip to Henry's Market for onions, Gruyere and a baguette and I'm set. This is probably the easiest soup I've ever made. The key is the long, slow caramelization on the onions.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
I did mine with a 75/25% mix of beef to chicken stock.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
Lupe loved it. This is one of those great 'cold day in winter' recipes.
Next up was asparagus wrapped in black pork belly. I was at Zion Market and they had great deals on asparagus and sliced pork belly. We used most of the pork belly and asparagus at the in-laws, but had a little left over. Not wanting to waste any, I came up with a quick idea. I removed all the little bits of cartilage from the belly and then wrapped the asparagus. The wrapped spears were seasoned with sea salt and some Korean red chili powder.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
I cooked them on the BBQ grill for a few minutes until the pork was cooked and the asparagus tender. This makes a nice, little appetizer and the presentation will knock out your diners....especially the guys. A lot of guys aren't down with the grilled veg, but if it looks like veg wrapped in bacon you got no problems.
BTW: Chef John just posted a video for prosciutto-wrapped asparagus on his blog today. Totally ripped off from me. Even though I haven't posted any pics until today, I know that he was inspired by me. Maybe he was driving through San Diego and smelled my cooking. That has to be it. No other way he could have come up with it.
And finally, Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I have never made pizza from scratch before. I've always wanted to, but I'm not friends with dough. I have a bad track record with making dough. I'm so crappy at making dough I've developed a dough phobia. The thought of touching a sticky ball of flour gives me the heebee jeebees. I've suffered from this terrible affliction for some time now. Something had to be done. I couldn't let my fears control me. So, I'm watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Channel and they have this episode about pizza. Duff Goldman's pick was the deep dish pizza from Gino's East in Chicago. I ate there when I was at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and I would have to agree that it is the best pizza ever. This is what I needed to overcome my fears. I spun into action and grabbed the KitchenAid. I was not going to let dough rule my life; I was going to RULE pizza dough. For a first effort, this pizza dough turned out OK. I think I need a little more salt in it the next time. I also underestimated the amount of dough I'd need. The bottom crust turned out pretty good, but the top crust was too thin. That and too much sauce on the top pretty much dissolved the top crust in places. Still, it looked good and tasted great.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
The filling and the sauce were awesome. I pre-cooked some hot Italian sausage until it was nicely browned. Then I quickly sauteed some sliced onions and crimini mushrooms in the pan drippings. I didn't cook them all the way through; just enough to soften them a little. After the bottom crust went into the spring-form pan I laid down some shredded mozzarella. The sausage, onions, mushrooms and sliced olives went in and were topped with a little more grated mozzarella, Swiss and Parmesan. I put the top crust on and crimped the edges. On top of this went some fresh tomato sauce that I just made. I finished the pizza with shredded mozzarella, Colby-jack and grated Parmesan cheese. Forty minutes at 375 and we had one helluva pizza.
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| From The Hollow Leg Diner - images |
Pizza sauce:
1/2 medium yellow onion diced
1 shallot diced
5 garlic cloves mashed to paste
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
6oz tomato paste
28oz San Marzano tomatoes
3/4 cup red wine (Chianti)
2 cup beef stock
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
salt and pepper to taste
The onion and shallot is sauteed in a pork fat. Add garlic after onion and shallot are translucent and saute for 30 seconds. Add Italian seasoning, parsley, chili flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Deglaze with the chianti. Reduce chianti until the pan is almost dry and then add tomato paste. Once the tomato paste is completely incorporated, add the beef stock in small increments (1/4-1/3 cup at a time). Reduce until the sauce thickens and add more stock. Continue until all stock has been added and the sauce is rich and thick. Add tomatoes, sugar and baking soda and thoroughly mix. Simmer sauce until reduced to desired consistency. Salt as necessary.
