Norm Matthews

We had ham steaks (cured smoked pork loin) with mushrooms, fried rice, bread sticks and a dip for bread sticks from Jacques Pepin

Here is a link about the ale. http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/chocolate-ale/

Five or six weeks ago I read that Boulevard Brewing here in Kansas City was releasing a run of chocolate ale in Feb. The newpaper said that two years ago was the last time they made some and liquor stores were mobbed with lines around the block. A week or so later I asked a local store if they knew if they were getting some and leaned that there was a sign-up list with a limit of two bottles. I got a call today that mine were ready to pick up. I'll share them with my son and his fiancee on Valentine's Day.

I made this flourless raspberry chocolate torte for Valentines but somehow I don't think it will last that long.

Main course for dinner tonight was braised brisket with gravy and potatoes.

I made some soup. I don't know what you'd call it. Maybe chicken, bean and vegetable soup. I cooked some pre spoaked mixed beans in water,(I took out most of the lima beans) poached chicken breasts in chicken stock. Cooked onion, baby bok choy, garlic, carrots, potato, zucchini in olive oil until softened. Added can of diced tomatoes, bay leaf, Parm. cheese rind, chicken, chicken stock, a little beef stock and simmered about an hour. Tasted for salt. Added cheese tortellini, cooked 7-10 minutes, removed bay leaf, served.

I once was drawn to some very white packages in the meat counter and when I looked it said "Pork: The other white meat" It was leaf lard. I know it is unconventional but I cook spaghetti in a 12" skillet. The water boils faster and the pasta fits laying down.

I used pre-washed bagged spinach. It didn't say it was baby spinach but it looked like it was. It was separate, cleaned leaves. I did leave it whole. I just dumped one bag in an oiled flat bottomed wok and cooked it over medium heat, covered, until it started wilting, then turned it over and added another bag, turning until it was all cooked down, removed it to a strainer then added one half small onion, diced, two garlic cloves and two tablespoons of butter to the wok and cooked the onion and garlic, then added two tablespoons of flour, cooked it briefly, added about a cup of milk and stirred it until it was thickened. I added the spinach back in; added a pinch of cayenne and a grated a chunk of Romano cheese over it and folded it all together. At some point I salted it too.

Not a very good picture but supper was strip steak, bearnaise sauce, hash browns and creamed spinach. Dessert was fruit with custard and a raspberry sauce. I was going to sprinkle cookie crumbs over it but I forgot.

My son made dinner last night. We had Kalbi, kimche and fish cakes with rice. The day before I went to the market and asked for short ribs. The guy went in the back and brought out a slab. I asked him to slice them across the bones. He looked at me funny and said "Really? How thick?" Time before the other guy knew exactly what I wanted and said "You mean like for kalbi?" They were nice and meaty. Perfect for the dish and my son did a great job with dinner.

I'm not sure what to call dinner tonight. Cassie suggested enchilada salad or Mexican lasagna. It was layers of taco sauce, tortillas, seasoned ground round with onions, cheese topped with green onions, tomatoes,lettuce and sour cream. We also had some okra chips. They are dehydrated, and/or roasted until crispy like potato chips.

Lodge cast iron has a lifetime guarantee. They should replace it for free.

Thanks for the advice Toliver. The sauce was a little dry. I should have added more chicken stock I think. BTW, since my son's fiancee does not like celery, so I did substituted some water chestnuts and romaine lettuce ribs. Bok choy is a good idea that I have not tried yet. I'll keep it in mind next time I want to try a substitute something for celery.

I had some chicken in the freezer that was left over from making gumbo recently. I decided to make chicken pot pie by using up other left-overs as well. I ran into a few problems. I was half way through it when I discovered there was no milk or cream so I made a gravy with chicken broth and part of a jar of Alfredo sauce. I had a little left over broth and pie dough so I made noodle soup for lunch with those. I couldn't find the rolling pin to roll out the dough so I used an Olive oil bottle shaped like a wine bottle. I rolled out the dough and was surprised that it turned out round instead of looking like Texas. I buttered it and folded it over, buttered the half and folded it again and rolled it out again. Repeated the process in hopes of making the crust flaky. It was... sort of. Noodle soup with pie dough noodles for lunch Chicken pot pie and a little salad.

Here are the non electric-manual versions of the vacuum coffee pots. Both have cloth covered porcelain filters as well as the glass filters that were extra. They will break if used on an electric coil stove unless those wire M's or W's are placed between the element and the bottom of the pot. One is Silex, the other is Pyrex. The small opening of the Pyrex makes it a bother to clean. Looks like the electric ones that andiesenji has are easier to use.

Just for a different approach, chef Pino Luongo makes Chicken Martini Style which initial prep. is very similar except the final coat is freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese instead of bread crumbs.You can finish it as per the original recipe or use it as the breast in a Chicken Parm. dish.

I've been using induction and a stainless (but induction-ready) pour pot. Hard to control the flow with Pyrex but I may give 'wave' a try (and stir). Can you recommend a good stainless pour pot? Pyrex sucks since Corning dumped it. I believe Anchor Hocking still makes good quality tempered glass measuring cups.

I skipped breakfast and had it at lunch time instead: An egg, bacon and potato pancakes.

While I don't have experience with the unit you've acquired, Norm, I generally find that machines that do more than one thing don't usually do either of the things they do better than a single purpose unit. That said, it will be interesting to hear from you how this thing works out over the next couple of months. As to the Brazen, while I haven't seen a full-blown review on the product yet, Sweet Maria's has a video review - they like it but with a few caveats. Even with the temperature on the unit set to 205°F, the temperature at the brew head was actually 196°F. They also don't love the flat-basket design. As to the ability to control temperature of water, many people like to play around with brew temperatures. A quick search here through some of the coffee threads will point that out easily. Your comment brings to mind the Oster Kitchen Center that had one motor to drive a mixer, blender and processor. My ex sister in law got one after she asked me to teach her how to make potato bread. She left it here when she moved and it did not do anything better than individual dedicated appliances. I can only hope this coffeemaker does make coffee from two sides. I have only used the small side and am satisfied with it so far. There are more complicated and finicky ways to make coffee and I have tried most of them, but I am not sure the extra trouble is worth the end results. Good coffee, decent water and hot enough temperatures are all I really need at this stage of my life.

Silex and Pyrex made vacuum coffee makers 60 to 70 years ago. Sometimes you can find them with good rubber and still in working order in antiique/junque stores for reasonable prices.

One thing about this coffeemaker that does not excite me is the large basket is flat bottomed. When most coffeemakers work, the water goes into the center of the basket in a single stream. The problem with that is that coffee floats. The water goes into the bottom of the filter then perhaps a third of the carafe has water in it before most of the grounds even get a chance to get wet. The advantage of the pour over method is that the pourer can move the stream of water to get all the the grounds wetted down earlier. A coffee basket with a cone shape is more efficient as well.

Senseo, This machine takes Senseo pods but it also takes loose coffee which is what I plan to use in it. I made a cup this morning with my regular brand and it was quite satisfactory. I have a 'collection' of coffee pots that include a 40's-50's Vaculator, a French press and a Chemex type arrangement. What I like about this is that I can control smaller brews and still have capacity for full pots. It's less fuss than the other kinds I have as well.

Here is a picture of the coffeemaker. It is different than any in the previous discussion. I believe it is a new one offering pod brewing on one side and carafe brewing on the other side. Both sides can be used with loose coffee. It comes with a travel mug or a regular mug can be used.

Keurig became popular after I got my ‘free’ Gevalia coffeemaker so I was not inclined to get a new one and not a Keurig because 1. I wanted to be sure it wasn’t a passing fad with coffee pods disappearing from the market after a few years. 2. I drank more than a cup at a time and 3. I prefer coffee black, no flavors please. Now time has passed, my Gevalia is dying and I am retired and only drink a couple cups a day. Keurig and pods seem here to stay but pods still seem a compromise over Peet’s whole bean coffee, but I see there are little filters you can buy extra so I can use my own coffee... I went to Bed Bath & etc. with my 20% off coupon to get one. What I came home with was a Hamilton Beach coffeemaker that has a full pot on one side and a single cup brewing feature on the other side. The single cup is actually 2 1/2 of my normal mugs worth. I think I can use pods if I want or the supplied filter to use with my favorite brands without getting extra stuff. I hope I made a good decision. Anyone have opinions/ experience advice with either of these?

Dinner tonight was chicken breasts breaded with Parm cheese and panko, green beans and corn cut off the cob then creamed with roasted red peppers, cayenne, bacon, milk and cream cheese. Store bought Italian bread made with olive oil and rosemary.