Trying to eat healthy

I hate that crap. I don't like dieting, I don't like counting carbs and calories and I really don't like "healthy" food that has no flavor. I don't really want to eat healthy meals, but I find myself coming to the realization that I need to. I've been out walking/hiking almost every day for the last month; trying to get in shape for deer season and pig hunting. With every step I take up a hill, I'm reminded of all the carne asada, pizza, carnitas, burgers and other wonderful food I've made over the last few years. As I drag my fat ass over that hill, I'm not thinking about how good the food tasted, but how much of it I'm still totin' around with me. So, with that in mind, I've decided to start making healthier food. I am not going completely over the edge; just running up to the edge and throwing the really bad stuff over. We are going to limit the amount of carbohydrates and sugars in each meal and also try to reduce portion sizes. That's going to be the most difficult thing. I need to slowly bring down the portion size so I don't feel hungry after a meal. Before long, I'm sure that my stomach will contract somewhat and smaller meals will feel normal. So, for now, it means lots of greens and not so much of the good stuff.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Our success in losing weight will ultimately hinge on our ability to create tasty filling meals that will satisfy. We won't be eating a diet of bland crap that will work against our success. I am trying to keep as much flavor in the food as possible. Even if its just green beans or broccoli, there will be lots of spice and bold flavors. The grilled top round shown above was dry-rubbed with my special BBQ seasoning. After it had a chance to sear and develop a nice crust, I basted it with a mix of apple cider vinegar and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Likewise, the coleslaw was light on mayo, but heavy on spice and acidity. In addition to the standard green and red cabbage and carrots, I included lots of sliced onion, jalapeno and Anaheim chiles. It was seasoned with a stiff dose of black and Cayenne pepper and generous amounts of cider vinegar and lemon juice.

Here is a little tidbit from the 4th of July. Dry-rubbed pork back ribs, spicy slaw and grilled calabasita bolitas topped with a little queso.

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Here is another tasty bit. Chili-orange chicken, asparagus and the ubiquitous spicy slaw.

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I actually made an alternative type of chicken that day. This chicken was lighter on the guajillo, ancho and de arbol and had more cayenne. Still spicy and dusted with crumbled Parmesan cheese at the end of the grilling. The asparagus is tossed with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper before grilling. Awesome stuff. I make no apologies for the slaw with every meal. I made a ton of it for the Fourth of July and it lasted several days. When we ran out I just made more. We are almost done with it and I'll have to come up with something else. But for now, coleslaw rules.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Huevos and Scones

If there are two things Lupe loves it's huevos and scones. So what do you think we had for breakfast when her sister and nephew came down for the 4th of July? I'll give you a couple of minutes to think it through.
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Time's up. May we see your answer? Yes, that is correct; huevos and scones. Good breakfast. I threw some spicy frijoles de olla in just to make it a damn good breakfast.

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I think everybody enjoyed

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I told you Lupe loved scones

Traditional Mexican meal

Family came down for July 4th weekend.

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Chicken tacos, chile relleno, and some righteous beans. Awesome

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Ribs tomorrow.....

Low-cal vs. comfort food

Lupe and I are trying to eat a little healthier lately. We're cutting out some of the fat, carbs and sugar to try and lose a little wight and maybe increase our lifespan. First the good stuff and then a little backsliding.

I wanted to prove to Lupe that I could make a tasty Mexican dish without having the requisite three starches (rice, beans & tortillas). I figured that grilled chicken breasts and chiles would be a good start. I had a package of giant chicken breasts sitting in the fridge, so that part of the menu was pretty much a no-brainer. I made a marinade from pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, sherry, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and various chile (Cayenne, ancho & morita). I gave the chicken a quick bath in the marinade while I got the rest of the stuff ready for diner. Oh yeah; that took about five minutes. I got the grill blazing and then added a bunch of hickory chips for some flavor. I started the breasts on the hottest part of the grill to get some nice grill marks. Because of the limited marinating time, I wanted to baste the chicken frequently. When I started to get some flare-ups I shifted the chicken to the upper rack and closed the lid. After about 45 minutes the chicken was about done. I threw a mix of chiles (poblano, Anaheim and jalepeno) on the lower grill to get some char on the skins. While the chicken was resting we peeled, seeded and cut the chiles into strips. The chicken was served simply with the chile and some crumbled cotija cheese.

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OK, now for some comfort food. This is not your typically gut busting comfort food. I'd like to think that it was marginally healthy. Well, at least it had some healthy elements. I started with some bacon (this isn't the healthy part...just want to make that clear). I cut the bacon into one inch pieces and slowly rendered them down. When crispy, the bacon was removed along with some of the grease. Into a non-stick skillet went some diced red potato and onion. This was seasoned with salt, pepper, Cayenne, garlic powder and smoked paprika. In a larger pan I sautéed some diced onion and mushrooms. Once the onion and mushroom had cooked down, I added cubed lean ham that I had spiced with Cayenne. The pan was deglazed with sherry and then I added about 2/3 cup of beef stock. As the stock came to a boil I added 3lbs of leaf spinach.

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While the spinach cooked down I steamed some sliced carrots. The potatoes had crisped up nicely on the edges and were cooked through. I added some of the crumbled bacon and then a splash of beef stock to deglaze and create a little glaze on the potatoes. These were removed to a heavy dish, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and covered to facilitate melting. When the spinach was ready I added the rest of the crumbled bacon and some cream. The cream thickened up and was ready to go. This is the ultimate creamed spinach; spicy with chunks of ham. MmmmmmmMmmm! The potatoes were a cheesy, crispy, spicy flavor bomb for your mouth. Yummy. The carrots........well somewhere along the way Lupe tossed the remainder of the cheddar cheese in with the carrots. That was interesting.

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Best damn burger joint in San Diego

I've been wanting to go to Hodad's for quite some time now. Ever since I saw it on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" I've been wanting to try it. For some reason (I hate OB parking) I've just never gotten over there. When Lupe got home this evening she was hungry and wanted something to eat. I wanted to oblige her, but all the proteins in the house were frozen in the icebox. What to do? Go to Hodad's. Good answer.

Hodad's is exactly what you're looking for in a great burger joint; small, loud, crazy eclectic surroundings and crowded with people gettin' their grub on. We had to stand in line outside for about 30 minutes waiting for a seat. It was well worth the wait. We had plenty of time to stare at the awesome burgers making their way out of the kitchen. For a time it looked like Lupe and I would be in the VW bus booth, but they cleared a spot on the big communal surf board table first. Fortunately, we got seats at the end of the table. Being our first visit to Hodad's, Lupe and I went big. She had a single bacon cheeseburger and fries and I got the double bacon cheeseburger with a half order of onion rings. We also shared a vanilla shake. The shake came first. We probably could have had the shake and left satisfied. That was best damn shake I've ever had. There was a giant, face-sized scoop of ice cream perched precariously on the top of the cup. We had to eat that in a hurry to keep it from melting all over the table. Melting disaster averted, we set the shake aside as the onion rings arrived. I thought a half order would be something other than a ridiculously large heaping basket of rings with ranch dressing. Stupid me. They were perfect onion rings. The onions were sweet and large and were perfectly cooked; soft, but still with some texture. The breading was also perfect; not too thick, not too thin and not at all oily. By the time were had finished the onion rings we both realized that we had just had a completely filling and fantastic meal. With more than a little alarm I started to think about the burger to come. I had been watching these towering meat masterpieces fly out of the kitchen for almost an hour. I knew they were going to be big. I tried to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming challenge. Like that skinny, little Japanese guy that always wins the Coney Island hot dog eating competition, I knew I had to psych myself up for the challenge. I kept telling myself that I had been stranded on a dessert island for five weeks with nothing to eat. I tried to mentally picture my stomach blissfully empty. I was still working on my little mind game when our server calls out, "Who had the double bacon cheeseburger?" Snapped back into reality, my eyes tried to focus on what he was holding just inches from my face. IT WAS TOO BIG! I couldn't make out the entire burger. The leading edge was fuzzy and the rest just disappeared off into the distance. I tried to look up high enough to see the top bun, but I got a crick in my neck. Oh shit! This ain't gonna end well. I mean, its a burger. I can't pass up a burger. And there's no way I'm going to walk out without eating the whole thing. I'm a guy and we don't do that sort of thing. All I could do was loosen the drawstring on my elastic-waist shorts (at least I planned ahead), dig in and hope for the best.

Hodad's make a helluva burger (didn't Rick James say something like that?) It is just the perfect example of a good old-fashioned burger. Good bun, just the right amount of shredded lettuce, fantastic pickle slices and onions and just enough dressing to make it juicy, but not detract from the flavor of the meat. Burgery goodness is the only way I can describe it. I've made better burgers (the meat and cheese part), but never the complete package like this. This was just the perfect assemblage of meat, bun, cheese and produce. One very nice touch is that the burger patties were not overcooked as you find at most restaurants. Mine were a lovely pink in the middle; just the way I make mine at home. Oh man, burger nirvana. After the first bite I forgot that I really wasn't that hungry. I knew I was going to finish every last bite of that bad boy. Slow and steady wins the race....and gets the burger down. Still, the first bite was a little intimidating. I knew it was going to be messy. When I brought the burger to my mouth I couldn't see the top bun and the bottom bun seemed to be somewhere down by my neck. I squeezed it together as much as I dared, opened wide and took a chomp. I was rewarded with, not only a mouthful of tasty burger, but a new design on my Hawaiian shirt. Oh well. I got that out of the way quickly. Now I can concentrate on eating this behemoth without worrying about dripping on myself anymore. I had a stack of napkins close at hand. After each bite I had to wipe off my chin (and neck and face and hands......). That how a burger should be eaten. Carl's Jr. ad agency has done some screwy ad campaigns (featuring Miss Wonk Eye, Miss Wonk Ass and Miss Wonk Boobs) over the last few years, but they at least got the slogan right: "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face."

I can't believe that Lupe actually finished her burger too. When Lupe is too full to finish a meal, she has no problem asking for a doggy bag. That she actually finished her burger is a testament to just how good they were. Now that's some dedication.

Lesson learned:
1. Hodad's is the best damn burger joint in San Diego.
2. Hodad's is the best burger joint I've ever eaten at.
3. Next time I'll do without the bacon on the burger. It is like adding an extra meat patty to an already enormous burger. I liked the taste, but the straight cheeseburger would have been just fine.
4. Next time we don't order fries with the burger. A half order of onion rings or fries would definitely be enough.
5. Next time I go there I will fast for at least two days ahead of time.

Another romantic desert idea

It isn't hard to come up with a nice little treat for your sweetie-pie. Last night after dinner I wanted to make something sweet for Lupe. I had a little time, as she had gone to take a dip in the hot tub after dinner. I had an idea brewing in my little brain. I bought some giant apricots at North Gate the other day and it turned out that they weren't quite ripe. They weren't really soft and they were somewhat tart. Not bad; just not the juicy, fresh apricot that you'd want to eat raw. I didn't want them to spoil so I had to come up with something to do with them. I got the idea to pop them in the oven for a few minutes to soften them up and concentrate the flavor. I cut up several and set them in Lupe's handy dandy mini muffin tray. I sprinkled each half with a little cinnamon and some cane sugar and put them in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. While they were roasting I made a port wine reduction on the stove top. I added a little cane sugar and a squeeze of orange juice to the reduction to liven it up. When the apricot halves had started to soften I removed them from the oven and placed them on some cute heart-shaped desert plates that Lupe loves. In the center of each apricot half I dropped a dollop of chocolate ganache. I finished the dish with a splattering of the port wine reduction (no points for presentation-I didn't think to use my squeeze bottles to make it all foo-foo artistic). What it lacked in presentation, it made up in taste. Sorry, no pics. We ate it too fast.

Pupusa and Hot Wings

Lupe had to go to LA last week to get some paperwork for her passport. After dealing with the cubicle drones at the State hive in downtown LA, Lupe and I went for a little lunch. We wandered around the Grand Central Market looking for grub. I quickly spotted a pupuseria that I recognized from Food TV's show; "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Mary Sue Milliken had recommended the pupusas from Sarita's Pupuseria. We ordered a sampler assortment of pupusas; chicharron, carne asada and pollo asada. I must say they were very tasty. I've only had pupusas once before, so I don't have much to compare them to. Lupe used to get them frequently back in Long Beach. There were a lot of Salvadorans at the company we worked for and they always wanted pupusas for lunch. Lupe thought that Sarita's pupusas compared very favorably to others she has tried.

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All during the Stanley Cup finals I felt like I was missing something. I hadn't been doing much cooking during that time so there was no memorable food to go along with the great hockey action. I think I ate a salami sandwich the night of game 6. That was not worthy of the great hockey that was on TV. What I really needed was a good deep dish pizza or a Philly cheese-steak sandwich. A few days later I was mulling over ideas for good hockey-watching food and I decided that I needed to make some Buffalo wings. I have fond memories of sitting at Seau's, eating hot wings and watching Colorado skate the cup. My mind was made up.....Buffalo wings. After separating the wings I dusted them with Cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. I drizzled a little chicken fat over the wings and then tossed the wings. Once the wings were completely coated I covered them and let them sit in the fridge for a couple hours. In the interim I made both bleu cheese and ranch dips. I cut a bunch of carrot, celery and jicama sticks to go with the wings. I also prepped some asparagus to go with the wings. The wings went onto a broiler rack and into a 375 degree oven. I flipped the wings a couple of times during the hour they spent in the oven. As the wings cooked I gave the asparagus a quick sauté. After I got a little color on the asparagus I deglazed the pan with some sherry. I added some beef stock to finish cooking the asparagus. When the wings were done I took them out and tossed them with some Frank's hot wing sauce. After turning off the oven, I put the wings back in to help set the sauce. This gives a nice finish and makes the wings a little less messy. This was definitely a finger food dinner. Lots of napkins on standby as we dug in. The wings were great and slightly healthier than if they had been fried. Aw hell.....who cares. They were just good. I would have fried them if I had enough oil. Either way, hot wings are always good. Like pizza, they aren't something you'd want to eat every day, but they are good occasionally.

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Romantic leftovers

So what do you do if you have some strawberries that you left in the fridge over the weekend? The ones in the back were a little frozen, but the others were still good (or at least acceptable for a proof of concept recipe). Alright, so I've got some strawberries and I wanted to see if I could make a romantic little treat for Lupe when she got home from her class. What else is available? There is still some ganache left over from the puff pastry debacle. I also have a little caramel sauce and some white cake frosting....that's a dead end. Ganache it is.

I washed and cored the strawberries and then tossed them with some vanilla sugar and a healthy dash of Grand Marnier. After a short soak, I removed the strawberries from the Grand Marnier. I stuffed each strawberry with a nice little chunk of ganache. After all the strawberries were stuffed I splashed them with a little sweetened strawberry juice and Grand Marnier.

The verdict......MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'll have to make these for Valentine's Day. When I make these for a special occasion there are a few things that I will do.
1. Make fresh ganache. I will pipe soft ganache into the cored strawberries. That will be a lot easier and not nearly as messy as shoving chunks of ganache into the berries.
2. Dip berries in chocolate or drizzle with white or dark choclate
3. Make some green frosting and pipe onto the top to resemble the stem.

I think I'm onto something here. I'll take some pictures when I do this with fresh strawberries.

Catching up again

OK, so I suck at this blogging crap. I've been preoccupied with hunting and shooting of late and I'm only capable of managing one hobby at a time.

I just made the best damn chicken sandwich EVER! It was simple, it was basic, and it was gooooooood. I pounded out a couple of chicken breasts, seasoned them with a special mix of Cayenne and black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and Kosher salt. I cut the breasts in half and dredged them in a seasoned flour mixture. After an egg wash, the breast pieces went into a mix of seasoned (Italian) bread crumbs and the seasoned flour. These got a quick dunk in the oil jacuzzi to achieve that Zen state of golden-brown and delicious. A quick dry on some paper towels and then the cooling rack. As they were cooling on the rack I topped them with sliced Provolone cheese. I got some crusty buns and slathered them with some ranch dressing and mustard. A few pieces of lettuce and some sliced ripe tomatoes and I had myself one damn good sammich. I know you're thinking that you could get something similar at Wendy's. That may be, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good. Fact. OK....that's my opinion, but it was really good. No pictures ( I ate it too fast). I'll make Lupe a sandwich and get some pictures.

Here are a few other goodies that have come out of the kitchen recently.

Pastastravaganza

I made a stromboli with leftover pizza dough and a meat sauce that I whipped up. I learned a few lessons about stromboli making. Structurally it wasn't perfect, but it was really damn tasty.

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As if one pasta entree wasn't enough, I used up some leftover fettuccini and the rest of the meat sauce. This is the first time I've used my little All-Clad oval bakers since I bought them 8 years ago. I'm glad I got those things on sale.

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Lamb Kebabs

I cut up a leg a lamb and threw it in a spicy yogurt mixture for a few hours. The lamb went on bamboo skewers with onion, bell and poblano peppers and some par cooked carrots and cauliflower. Bamboo skewers suck. I need to get a bunch of stainless skewers someday. Half the carrots and cauliflower fell off while cooking. The lamb was nice, but not as spicy as I was aiming for. The kebabs were served with a spicy couscous. I know that the couscous looks like it has chicken pox; that's just sriracha sauce. I don't like those squeeze bottle sauce zig-zags that real chefs use on their food. I prefer polka dots. I am confidant that sauce polka dots will be the next big thing in food presentation. Remember.....you saw it here first.

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Burgers!

I love burgers, but I just don't make them very often. Von's had 93% lean ground beef on sale so I got about 10 pounds. That's enough to make a couple of burgers....right? I mixed in a little pork Italian sausage and a ton of seasoning (Cayenne & black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley flakes and salt). I think I got an even dozen burgers out of it. Half of the burgers were stuffed with a mix of cheddar and jack cheese. Before heading out to the grill I caramelized some onions and sauteed crimini mushrooms. This mixture went on some of the burgers before I topped them with cheese. As Jules would say: "Hmmm-hhhhhhh! This is a tasty burger."

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Needless to say, we had burgers for the rest of the week.

Comfort food

After the burgers, I had a yearning for some comfort food. And what is more comforting than meatloaf with mac and cheese? So I made some tasty meatloaf and some homemade mac and cheese. The mac n cheese was especially tasty. I used white cheddar and gruyere cheese mixed into a seasoned bechamel sauce. Along with the mac and loaf I also made some asparagus. I did a few wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven and steamed the rest.

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Catching up

Another lost month. Where does the time go? I have figured out that I can only sustain one obsession at a time. Sometimes I can juggle two for brief periods, but not for long. When I get a new interest, the others get crowded out for a while. The past month or two has been all about shooting and hunting. I've been spending a lot of time at the range, cleaning weapons after trips to the range, hiking to get ready for hunting, reading and viewing everything I can about hunting, and researching areas for the upcoming draws. Not a whole lot of time left for kayaking, fishing and cooking. That's just me; I get wrapped up in one thing and everything else falls by the wayside. It's not to say that I haven't cooked anything. I have knocked out a few nice meals over the last month; however, I just haven't documented anything.

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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Stephanie's cake was chocolate with a cream cheese and strawberry filling.

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I'm proud of my little cake lady. She is getting very good at this.

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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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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I did mine with a 75/25% mix of beef to chicken stock.

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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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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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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.

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.