Archives for June 2011
Pork Chop and Cous Cous
So my friend Nathan over at McCalls Meat and Fish got a whole pig last week, a whole delicious Heritage pig. A whole pig that he broke down and I was able to procure Two Pork Chops. Two amazingly fantastic Pork Chops.
I thought, as you should, if I am starting with an Uber Fantastic piece of meat, LET THE MEAT SPEAK! Don't get all fancy pants and make all kinds of sauces and reductions etc.....
The meat is the star! Let the meat sing. Let is talk to your taste-buds, with only a little
P5 Pork Burger!
So my P5 Pork Burger that I had entered in the LA Times Food Battle of the Burgers came in 15th place from the Facebook voting section. Of course it had nothing to do with the actual taste, so luckily had many good friends who kept me in the running. Now the Food lovers down at the Time Food Test Kitchen will try all the recipes of the top 20 and then move some of us on to be featured in their 4th of July Food Section Burger Special!
Here is the link to today's results.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2011/06/well-there-goes-the-budget-for-the-la-times-test-kitchen-one-of-the-top-20-vote-getters-in-our-first-ever-battle-of-the-b.html
Basically
The Purple Pig – Chicago
Well spent the last weekend in Chicago. It was my first time, and definitely not the last. The food/wine/cocktail scene there is off the hook. Luckily my local friends took me to some fantastic places. Here was my favorite, The Purple Pig. http://www.thepurplepigchicago.com/index.html
There motto is one of the best I've scene in a while.
Cheese,Wine & Swine
They had me with that statement. And they did not disappoint. We did not even delve into their Cheese section.
Pork Loin and Bass
So tonight in the OTC kitchen I got the grill fired up again, since the sun was out and well, the grill was just there.
Went to McCalls Meat and Fish and got a fantastic piece of Wild Striped Bass, along with a Kurobuta Pork Loin. They both looked impeccable.
I seasoned the pork loin with a personal pork dry rub. The secret is in the rub. And let it set on all together for an hour in the fridge. The Bass, I just put some Hickory smoked sea salt and mix of green, black and white peppercorns.
Int
BURGERS!!!!
It is summer, although it doesn't seem that way in certain areas, what with rain and snow in June in California this year. But IT IS still June.
So that means firing up the grill and putting fantastic cuts of meat on the open flame. Just like man has done for centuries. And one of my favorite, and my friends favorites is BURGERS!
It is the perfect/party food. You can hold a burger in one hand and not have to put down your cocktail (it is a hot summer day after all).
Well
ColLAborationLA
Yesterday attended the Craft Beer Bash outside the Blue Palms Brew House (bluepalmsbrewhouse.com) and it was Epic.
Great Divide Colette Farmhouse Ale.
This is a fantastic Beer, and loved it. It is very smooth Ale with a nice crisp citrus finish. Very very drinkable on a nice sunny day.
That is the one and only Brian Lenzo, owner of the aforementioned Blue Palms Brew house. A pure genius in the Beer World. He started Blue Palms years ago and in my opinion he helped start the
Bison Grass Vodka
Yes my lovelies, time to tell you all about my new favorite cocktail and one that is picture perfect for summer. And now BevMo in Southern California carries it, Bison Grass Vodka from Poland. It sounds kitschy, but trust me, it has a very mellow flavor and is quite good, for Vodka.
Now first and foremost, I am not a Vodka drinker. And think that all those frilly flavored Vodkas are well, for the frilly. And Vodka for the most part is a rather dull uninspired drink. I will only have
Fish Thursday! Poaching
So basically, you might think a poached fish is technically hard to do. It is actually super duper easy peezy, and comes out frigging fantastic!
Here's what I did tonight in the OTC kitchen:
Started with a small glass of Balvenie 12 year old aged double cask. But this is totally optional. I prefer a little bit of 'inspiration' to get the juices flowing. Because on nights like this, I didn't have a real plan of how to make a complete dinner. A lot of times it just comes one step at
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