mgaretz

Besides breakfast, today was a day of eating out. I had actually packed and brought my lunch to work, but my co-workers felt like lunch out and they chose my favorite local Chinese restaurant: Uncle Yu's in San Ramon. I only shot my lunch special: Beef with black mushrooms and vegetables, more vegetables and chow mein. Not shown was the hot and sour soup, which wasn't very spicy today. I'll eat my packed lunch tomorrow! We had a scheduled dinner with some friends and my daughter at one of our favorite restaurants: Esin in Danville. It's named after one of the owner/chefs - Esin deCarion. The other owner/chef is her husband Curtis. Here are shots of the exterior and part of the interior: (Rebecca would want me to tell you she's sticking her tongue out at me even though you can't see it - she's the one on the left. Ellen's the one next to her.) I had a New York steak with mushroom sauce and carmelized onions, served with Yukon Gold roasted potatoes and green beans. And a glass of Ancient Peaks Zinfandel from Paso Robles. Rebecca had pork chops with bacon and cabbage and a gingered applesauce. Ellen had the spinach lasagna: Our friends had a beet salad with greens, feta cheese and grilled chicken breast and the pot roast: For dessert, I had a lemon meringue tart on raspberry purée: Rebecca had a pecan tart with caramel sauce and creme anglaise: And Ellen had a vanilla/banana/butterscotch bread pudding: We all came away happy and over-stuffed!

How about a tour of my kitchen and cooking gadgets? Here's a couple of shots of the kitchen so you get a general idea of the layout and size: Facing left. Facing right. Here is closeup of the appliance counter: Left to right there's my FoodSaver vacuum sealer (up against the side wall), a Cuisinart 4 slice toaster, K-cup spinner, the Cuisinart K-Cup coffee brewer, KitchenAid stand mixer, Cuisinart 16 cup food processor and a BlendTec blender. I'm not very happy with the food processor, but I like everything else. Here's my latest toy - a Breville Smart Oven. I really like it. In front is my OXO kitchen scale. The display pulls out so you can see the weight when using a bigger container. My stove and microwave, flanked on the right by the electic kettle and the ever present collection of bottles (three kinds of oils - peanut, EVOO and canola, balsamic and cider vinegars, hoisin sauce, etc.). My SousVide Supreme. It currently lives on the dining room table and gets moved into the kitchen when in use. I like to use it next to the sink becuase it's easier to fill and dump the water that way, but it can't live there! Most of my All-Clad pots and pans. My favorite is the D5 4 qt sauté-simmer pan. It, and the 4 qt suace pan, get the most use. Here's my pantry "extension" that lives in the breakfast room. To the right are some more pots and pans, below you can't see my rice cooker, 6 qt french braiser, and my All-Clad slow cooker. On the middle shelf to the left you can see a box of the new Starbucks K-Cups - pretty nice. Here are my knives: They are all Wusthof Classics. The Santoku is my favorite - it gets 99% of the usage. The 6" chef's below it I bought on a great sale, but I hardly ever use it. Below them are the boning knife, parer, slicer, and the offset bread knife. Not shown is a new salmon filet knife - it's a Cutco "mercy purchase".

I don't think the salmon was dyed. I know their farm-raised salmon is dyed, but I don't think the wild-caught is. Well it got down to 34f the other night and the farmer said that was the end of the tomatoes, but the peppers survived.

Dinner tonight was wild caught sockeye salmon and broccoli and carrots from our new CSA. Ellen wanted her salmon plain and Rebecca wanted her salmon with my normal honey mustard/orange/port glaze. (There wasn't enough salmon left for three, so I finished the last of the Belgian Beef Stew.) So I precut the filet into two pieces. The glaze is next to it. (The pattern on the salmon is from the Food Saver vacuum bags. I buy the salmon at Costco, so it comes in large packages. I remove the skin and cut it into smaller pieces then vacuum seal and freeze.) The glaze is honey mustard, more honey, a little orange extract and ruby port. I didn't measure but the approximate proportions would be 2 tbs honey mustard, 1 tbs honey, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp orange extract and 1 tsp port. You can also substitute any red wine for the port. I used to use Zinfandel, but I now use port because it's always handy. I cook the salmon on my gas grill, a Weber three burner. I put all burners on high for about 10 minutes then turn off the middle burner and the outside two are turned down to medium. The salmon goes in the middle so it gets cooked by indirect heat. Normally the salmon is seasoned on both sides with 21 Seasoning Salute, a nice spice blend from Trader Joes, but I left it off tonight. The salmon goes on the grill and the top side is brushed with the glaze. Close the lid and cook for 6 minutes. Open, brush again, flip, brush the new top and close the lid. Cook for another 6 minutes and they are done. You can adjust the time lower if you like your salmon less done. Here is the plated salmon with the the veggies, which were just steamed: I have played with salmon cooked sous vide. Despite brining per Douglas Baldwin, I still get a lot of albumin coating, so I am still experimenting. (In a private conversation, Douglas said he was also seeing a lot more albumin forming lately.)

Today we picked up veggies from a new CSA we're trying out. (A bit of background: Three faith communities got together with a local farmer to provide produce for a 22 week season that ended 10/31. For a variety of reasons, we aren't continuing with that farmer and we're auditioning this new farmer. The bummer is we're on the tail end of their 28 week season (3 more weeks left after this one) and they won't start up again until May.) My wife, Ellen, is the primary organizer for our congregation. The primary organizer for one of the other congregations had started with this farmer 2 weeks ago and we saw her "box" and were very impressed. Anyway this evening we got our first box, and wow! From left to right there were two kinds of lettuce, broccoli, collard greens, carrots, sweet peppers, shallots, beets and butternut squash. The quality and freshness is extremely high. All for $22!! We are impressed! While we are on the shopping subject, here are some shots of our local (Danville) farmer's market. It's one of the oldest in the area and has the most vendors. San Ramon has tried to get a decent market going, but Danville is still better with about twice as many vendors and that keeps prices more competitive. A long shot where you can see about 2/3 of the market. A typical vendor. And another. There's always some kind of music. The apple vendor always has some interesting varieties. I came home with some Arkansas Blacks. I also love to shop at the local Asian markets. We used to have a very large indpendent, but unfortunately they are gone. They had the best selection and prices. Now we just have two Ranch 99s - one is really huge, but it's a little further (Andie - it's in Livermore) and I didn't make it out there, but here are a few shots of the smaller one (Dublin): The produce section. Greens and herbs. (This shows about 1/3 of the greens.) The noodle aisle. One of the sauce aisles. And the other side of it. We also have a new Sprouts. A little pricey if things aren't on sale, but not as bad as Whole Foods. A longish shot. Some of the many bulk bins. And I couldn't resist these asparagus!

I do the same thing with my food mill, but I just use butter and omit the milk. They come out great, but I wouldn't call them puréed - just very well mashed.

Thanks Katie. I'm lactose intolerant, and the original Kashi has milk in it (but the "crunch" version doesn't). It has 8 grams of fiber, however it has 29 grams of other carbs - to get 12 grams of fiber like in the tortilla I'd be at 43 carbs vs. the 6 carbs in the tortilla.

I should mention that if anyone wants the complete Carbonnade recipe, it's on my other blog (first link in my sig).

Maybe I am your old boss!

I bought mine the same way a few weeks ago and I love it so far!

Uh oh, Scotty's watching! Can you come over and plate my dishes for me? For those that didn't follow Scotty's excellent blog a few weeks back, he does "in your home" meals and we're planning to have him cook for us at some point!

One of my dinners out (tomorrow actually) just got cancelled! Let me know when you'll be in town!

Partly for weight management, but I also need the fiber (since I don't normally eat a lot of carbs) and they give me enough protein to keep me from snacking (usually!).

Thanks Cherie. I was sorry to see the store/school close. (I still had a free class credit too!) I also took the knife skills class. My folks still live in Orange County (where I grew up) and we get down there about 8 times a year. And my son is about to move to Century City. He also loves to cook, and is pretty good, but I'll see if he wants to take any of your classes and maybe I can come too!

So you know what I had for breakfast and lunch today! (Assume it's the same every day unless I tell you.) Dinner tonight was left-overs! But it was from a great dinner from the night before. (Warning - most of my meals are not this involved - but my son was over for dinner and the matinee we wanted to see was sold out, so I had some extra time to make dessert.) One of my most requested dishes (from family and friends) is my take on Carbonnade a la Flammande or Belgian Beef Stew. We spent a few weeks in Belgium (with side trips to London/Paris/Koln/Amsterdam/Antwerp and Bruge) in the summer of '09 and I fell in live with this dish. I had to sample it everywhere they had it on the menu. The best versions were made with a fruit flavored lambic - Kriek was my favorite, Framboise second (Cherry and Raspberry). I looked at a lot of recipes here but finally decided on a version from the CI folks - but of course I changed it up a lot and I make it in the slow cooker. My mother-in-law is a Belgian and she approves of my recipe. Her comment was "I wish I could make it this good!" It starts with 3 to 3.5 pounds of boneless short ribs: (We get most of our meat from Costco.) Cut into chunks about 3/4" wide: I brown it on the stove in the pot from the slow cooker - one of the things I love about the All-Clad slow cooker with the aluminum insert. Here's all the meat browned: While it's browning I cut up the onions (2 lbs) and carrots (1 lb): The onions get sautéd next: Then they get floured and cooked some more. Then the rest of the ingredients get added: For the beer, I try to use Kriek, but I got a good deal on Pommé (apple) at Costco, so I used that and some chery preserves instead. I served it with "retrograde" mashed potatoes from Modernist Cuisine and steamed broccoli: The potatoes were just OK. I wouldn't bother again unless I was making a real pureé which is probably never going to happen! As advertised, they did reheat well tonight. My son loves bluberries and blueberry pie is his favorite. I was too lazy at this point in the afternoon to make pie crust, so instead I made a crisp (of sorts). Blueberries with sugar, a kiss of allspice and nutmeg, a little lemon juice, and tapioca starch for thickner. Baked in ramekins. After cooling I sprinkled crushed, cinnamon-honey glazed almonds on top. Very tasty. Whew!

I'm back! Ok, let's get a few questions answered first. The brewery is no more, sad to say. I don't homebrew anymore, pretty much gave that up when I had 1000s of gallons of beer on hand and when packing/shipping/talking beer all day, the prospect of making it lost its appeal! (Lesson - don't turn a hobby into a business unless you're done enjoying the hobby!) In fact, I rarely drink beer any more - I now prefer a good red wine (a fruit-forward, jammy Zin please!). Let's get breakfast and lunch out of the way. I'm pretty boring when it comes to these two - I pretty much eat the same breakfast and lunch every day. People don't understand how I can do that, but I think of it as medicine (which the fiber really is). Breakfast is usually a cup of strong coffee and a peanut butter burrito, made with a low carb high fiber tortilla and extra chunky Skippy: About 2 tbs of peanut butter: Rolled up: Everyone I know thinks these tortillas taste like cardboard, and I tend to agree, but I am used to them and they each have 12 grams of fiber! So I get some protein, fiber and caffeine to get my day started and it keeps me from snacking until lunch! Weekdays, lunch is another of these burritos, celery and carrot sticks, an apple (Fuji's are my favorites) and a Coke Zero. Sometimes I get really daring and have a Cherry Coke Zero. Weekends vary for lunch, but if I am home it will often be the burrito, coke and apple because I am usually too lazy to cut the celery and carrot sticks!

Hi Everyone! This blog is going to be a very mixed bag! I’ll be eating out more than in a usual week (not because I’m blogging, it just worked out that way) and I also want to detail a fabulous meal/experience we had at the Napa Rose in Disneyland. First, a little about me: I’m 58 and live in San Ramon, CA (East Bay of San Francisco) with my wife, Ellen, my 21-year-old daughter Rebecca and our dog Max. In my previous marriage, my ex did all the cooking and I did all the cleaning. I always had a good palate and was good at telling you what was in a dish and/or how to fix a dish that was lacking, but never really learned anything beyond very basic kitchen skills. My kids always dreaded the days when Dad had to cook! From 1992 to 2003 I owned a beer and wine brewing shop and also a commercial microbrewery. I designed all of the recipes for the beer kits and most of the recipes for the microbrewery and they were very successful. Our IPA won Best of Show at the California State Fair, besting beers from all over the state including the big guys, and the smaller like Sierra Nevada. The next year we won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for the IPA and a Silver for our Red. In 1994 I wrote and published what is still the definitive (but now very dated) guide to using hops in craft brewing. (Bottom line: I always was good at creating recipes.) I got divorced in early 2007 and during the break-up I was working at Best Buy as the appliance manager. Along with washers and dryers I was selling ranges, microwaves, ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators and counter-top appliances - helping people to outfit entire kitchens. When I bought and moved into my own (and current) place, finding one with a decent kitchen was paramount because I intended to learn how to cook! There were several motivations for that: I wanted my daughter (who was staying with me half time) to look forward to meals, not dread them. It would also allow me to better sell kitchen appliances. And it would save me a lot of money compared to eating out! I now do 99% of the cooking for the family, and my daughter lives with us full time - learning to cook had something to do with that! So I enrolled in a 12 week cooking class at the now defunct Viking Cooking School in Walnut Creek and learned my way around the kitchen. I like the cooking part, but for me the joy is in creating recipes and tweaking someone else’s to my liking and/or methods. I started to upgrade my cookware and counter-top appliances - but that will be the subject of another post! The food I cook tends to be somewhat simple, comfort food. Normal stuff a family of picky eaters will eat! My plating skills are minimal, especially compared to some of you here. Now I work as a graphic designer/marketing person/data analyst at a large financial firm. I also read palms as a sideline. My current hobbies besides cooking are playing bluegrass guitar and sewing/embroidery. Off to work - will post more this evening.

Napa Rose in the Grand Californian hotel in Disneyland. Superb. Also Catal in Downtown Disney. Haven't been in 35 years or more but Mr Stox used to be good.

I actually discussed this with Douglas via email and he said that while the dark meat would technically be cooked in shorter space of time (similar to white meat) that many simply prefered the taste/texture when it was cooked for a longer period. My wife likes dark meat, and I prefer white. I solved the problem by cooking a bunch of thighs, two per package, per Douglas' recommendations and then quick cooling and then freezing them. When we want chicken I put the raw white meat in the bath along with the thawed thighs and the bath just reheats the thighs. (separate bags if that's not obvious)

I failed to take a usable picture but tonight we had sous vide sirloin with baked potato and Tuscan kale from our CSA. I sautéed the kale in a little olive oil then simmered in a broth of chicken stock, brown sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Select is one grade lower than choice, with prime being the grade above choice. As you move up in grade there should be more marbling of the fat resulting in a more tender and flavorful cut, all else being equal. Select is what you find in the typical supermarket, usually under a marketing name like rancher's reserve or master cut. If a market has choice beef then it will more than likely be labeled as such. Retail Costcos carry choice or higher grades. Not sure which is best for sous vide, I've done both (for steak, not short ribs) and my experience has been varied. Sometimes you get a great steak from select, sometimes from choice. Sometimes both can be less than ideal.

Tonight I made grilled salmon with a honey-mustard-orange-port glaze along with roasted brussel sprouts.

I made some fresh pesto about a week ago. It was olive oil (about 2/3 cup), one bunch of basil, a small garlic clove and about 1/2 tsp salt. I put the salt in due to this thread, but no vinegar and no cheese. All into the BlendTec and then into the fridge. Tonight I used it on pasta: It's still a nice bright green. When you taste the pesto straight, it's a bit salty, but the saltiness disappears when on the pasta. Edited to add that I didn't blanch the basil either.

Great dishes everyone! I've been lurking because I haven't made much new and/or interesting lately. My wife and daughter have been having similar but unrelated stomach issues lately, so they haven't wanted anything too flavorful. Tonight I made pasta with pesto. The pasta was storebought, but I had made the pesto about a week earlier. It was just olive oil, a touch of fresh garlic, touch of salt and a bunch of fresh basil. No cheese because I can't eat it and my daughter is being dairy-free as a test to see what's wrong. The pesto kept its green color just fine.

Thanks Peter. Would there be a problem extending the time of the second step? I'm just thinking about the practical side of dinner on a work day. For example, one could do the first step overnight, then go to the next step in the morning and have ribs ready to sear when you get home. That would make the second step 9 hours or so.