Tasty Meal...

I promise that I will post about NYC soon, but I haven't had enough devoted time. With that said, I wanted to post briefly about my dinner last night. A few weekends ago, Mike Brown and I made a ridiculous amount of veal stock (more on that in a later post). All I can say is man this comes in handy. To further set the stage, I ordered some duck products for Jennifer's Christmas with a few bonuses for myself. When I arrived home yesterday, I was greeted with a package from Hudson Valley Farms containing a 1.6 lb Grade A fois gras, 6 confit duck legs, 1 double duck breast, and a 2 lb container of duck fat. I didn't have the time to make anything elaborate, but I had to do something with the duck fat!

In my fridge, I had some flat-iron steak, some white button mushrooms, some of the aforementioned veal stock & duck fat. In my pantry were same potato, shallot & garlic.

JW's Steak & Potato
serves 2

Meat
1 flat-iron steak about 1 lb
salt & pepper
Canola oil
1 shallot, minced
8 oz thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 c red wine
1 c veal stock
1/2 tsp thyme
1 T butter

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut steak into desired portions, pat-dry, salt and pepper liberally. Heat skillet over medium high heat, add enough oil to coat bottom of pan and sear/cook steak about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and put in the oven to keep warm. Saute mushrooms until they brown and give up most of their moisture then set aside. Next saute the shallot for about 30 seconds, then deglaze the pan with the wine until almost dry. Add the veal stock with the mushrooms and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add the thyme and swirl in the butter to make the sauce shiny and delicious.

Potato
Potato cut into 1 inch chunks about 2 cups
salt & pepper
1 T duck fat
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
Dijon mustard

Place potato & about a tablespoon of oil in a microwave safe bowl cover with plastic wrap and vent. Cook 50% power for 6 minutes tossing about mid-way through. Drain. Heat another skillet over medium heat with the duck fat. Add potato and saute until GBD. Add shallot and garlic, cook about 1 minute, then swirl in the cream & a spoonful of mustard, mixing well.

To plate, spoon a little sauce on the plate, top with the meat, then top with more sauce and mushrooms. Serve potato on the side.

Even Jen agrees, Emeril is wrong...DUCK FAT RULES!
JW

The tech game, and the State of the Bulldog union otherwise known as 'six notes on a trumpet'

We are all just observers, and we should always keep that in mind. With that said, I think there are some significant things that are worth mentioning about this years football team's performance. There has been an inexplicable thing that nobody can put a finger on that seems to be missing from this team. It's something that the coaches haven't ever mentioned in any of the press conferences, and frankly I have rarely if ever heard them say this out loud about any of our teams unless it's going well.
I'm sure my wife will appreciate this, but once again, maybe it all boils down to chemistry. Since I don't get to personally attend the press conferences, hang out in the locker room, nor do I get to interview coach Richt, I know I miss out on a lot. That's why I'm not a professional reporter, and I do have a day (and often night) job. The coaches do a good job of protecting the student athletes, and they are pretty unified on not throwing any players under the bus. Is it not possible that even with a talented group of players, team chemistry falters, there is no distinct leader in certain key situations, and the players just flat out don't do what they're told to do or what they learn and practice? If you think that's not possible, then I would refer you back to the men's USA basketball team of the previous couple of Olympic games. Is there any question that they are not superior basketball players? No, but again the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.
So what does all this mean? It means that we're close, we are recruiting the right talent level, and when we can click with the right kind of team chemistry to bring us through on-field adversity, we will be dominant. This year clearly was not the year.
Do you think Martinez told any of our players to arm tackle and not wrap up? Do you think Bobo coached anyone into running the wrong route or not blocking somebody that was coming on a blitz? Is someone teaching Blair Walsh how to kick low hooks on purpose? Could it be that out of all the possibilities, the directional kick has led to fewer problems than we might have experienced otherwise?
I will say also, that I noticed something from fans this year that has been missing for several years and that is continued enthusiasm despite some optimal performance and outcome. Remember the Alabama game? The fans stayed in the second half despite being blown out of the first half, because we really thought that we had a chance. Personally, I watched the whole game taking the same exact thing. that said, remember the fans can be very fickle, and that support may not be there. If you don't believe it, why don't you ask Phil Fulmer. On Saturday, despite the weather, the stadium was packed and the fans were loud. How many times can the defense ask the crowd to get into the game, only for the crowd to watch them pull a bonehead and let some idiot nerd management major in a piss-yellow uniform go tearing down the field for a touchdown on third and long? That's the last time I go to that game without some alcohol my pocket. What else is there to say? The trumpet player played all seven notes, the fans were all there screaming their heads off, being loyal till the end--it might have been nice to see a complete game be played on the field.
At the end of the day or season, I have no where else to turn other than to still love them 'Dawgs. I mean, we get mad at our family from time to time for stupid things, but they're still our family.

hbtdgata

Back home to the corner

We made the 750 mile trek back to South Georgia, where I grew up to visit mother and other family. I know that JW has a NYC trip to talk about, and I have a couple of restaurant reviews that we did in Saint Louis prior to the holiday. Also, we're going to have a tamalada in preparation for Thanksgiving. Now's the time for soup recipes, braised meats, and one pot wonders. Let's hear it. Will post again very soon, and we'll have a lot to talk about. Oh, and let's not forget, "Clean, Old-fashioned Hate." That's right, the yearly battle of the good versus the irrelevant: Georgia vs Georgia Tech. Plus, expect an Athens restaurant review coming as well.

Sometimes Less is More

As I reminisce about some of my favorite meals, rarely does it get fancy-steak frite comes to mind. Last night I realized what Sundays must have been like before everyone ate standing up.

The meal: roasted chicken and 'roasters' with steamed brocoli.

A simple roasting pan with a good bird, legs tied-stuffed with rosemary, thyme, sage and a cut lemon. Salt/pepper over the top-into the 400 degree gas oven for 20min/pound, add the roasters for about 40min at the same temp in the other oven and that's it. Pull the bird, deglaze the pan with a little stock for gravy and all set.

I guess the important lesson was the ease of the meal, little need to tend it and, most importantly, the freeing up of time to spend enjoying with friends sitting around a fire, good conversation and better wine.

May the upcoming holiday season be fierce with friends, family and good libations-not necessarily in that order.

Philadelphia

My 4th trip to Philadelphia for the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting. City actually has some great food and I have eaten a few of my favorite meals, all-time there (Morimoto's & The Fountain at the Four Seasons Hotel). This go around, I had one memorable meal at "Cuba Libre". The menu is designed to reflect what Cuban food would be like if Castro hadn't fucked everything up...

http://www.cubalibrerestaurant.com/

Restaurant has all kinds of Carribean/South American beverages and an extensive rum list...mojitos are made with fresh guarapo (hand-pressed sugar cane juice). Very tasty!

We got their tasting menu for only $39/each. Don't know how they stay in business. This is what we had

Appetizers-
Ceviche!: Baja bay scallops, blackened tomatillo-truffle sauce, goat cheese confetti, flat bread
Chicken empanada with corn & jack cheese on a tomatillo relish
Guava BBQ Ribs on a jicama-Sambal salad
Black-bean hummus with plantain & yucca chips

Main-
Ensalad del Pais: mixed greens, arugula, jicama, pepitas, orange supremes w/ Sherry vinaigrette
Suntanned Salmon: Chilean salmon with honey-mango glaze with star anise tomato sauce
Camarones con Cana: pan seared sugarcane skewered jumbo shrimp, mango BBQ glaze
Churrasco a la Cubana: grilled skirt steak on roasted garlic mashed potatoes, parsley, lemon and onion sauce, watercress and rosemary mushroom escabeche salad
Cuban black beans and rice
Maduros: fried ripe plantains
Sauteed young mustard greens in a spicy chorizo broth

Desert-
Flan
Coconut rice pudding with chopped coconut macaroons
Chocolate-cinnomin fallen down cake

Best $40 ever spent. My favorite was the ceviche by far. So much so that I went back there by myself at at some at the bar. I wanted Jennifer to try, so I came up with my own recipe that was surprisingly close...I took several short-cuts, but here goes-

Mise:
12 oz bag frozen sea scallops (look for ones vacuum packed without any ice crystals), thawed in refrigerator overnight
1 large naval orange, juiced & strained
4 persian limes, juiced & strained
1 serrano chili, finely minced (flesh only)
1 chipotle chile, finely minced
3 Tablespoons minced red onion
1/2 tsp truffle oil
4 tablespoons store bought tomatillo sauce
About 3 drops of liquid smoke
Crumbled goat cheese

Best to make over 2 daysAfter thawing scallops, combine in non-reactive bowl with juice, chiles, and onion and "cook" for about 4 hours. Strain out most of the juice (or scallops become overcooked and mushy), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat.Before serving, strain again and toss with tomatillo sauce, truffle oil, and liquid smoke (careful with this stuff, I added b/c I didn't want to make my own smoked tomatillo sauce, it worked well). To finish combine with as much goat cheese as you like (I used about 1/4 cup). Enjoy! I also bought some "veggie chips" in the hippie section of the grocery store that were made with yucca, plaintains etc that worked very well.

JW

2008 Season, some perspective perhaps?

Man, what a game. I mean, really, there are parts of this game that just made you sick with rage, and other parts that really made you confident that everything was okay.
I agree with JW, there are a lot of naysayers out there that want to fire everybody on the entire team, I don't think that's the answer. But, what is it going to take to push us over the top? Is it good luck, cushy schedule, various stars coming into alignment?

The reality is that we have had a really good season, albeit a disappointment based on what our expectations were at the beginning of the year. The frustrations that I think any of us express as fans comes from our fear that even with a great team, we were unable to reach a championship level. It's not so much that we're out of the running for the SEC and the national championship, it's that we didn't even look like contenders this year. Right now, the whole does not appear to be greater than the sum of its parts.

I sure won't claim to have any of the answers, I think that we really have to put all of this in context. We're 9-2, assured of a bowl game. There are a lot of teams out there (Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan) that aren't even anywhere close to that. If this is a down year for us, I'll take it. If fans feel like this, don't you think the team feels it that much more? Without question. But, don't you get the sense that the team and the coaches and even the fans are just worn out? I think the injuries have taken a much greater toll on this team than we can ever know. There has been a lack of cohesiveness that's hard to put a finger on, but there are a lot of players with great skill who sometimes look a little bit lost out there.

We have struggled all year with gaining the upper hand in momentum and keeping it. We're fortunate that we have skilled enough players to overcome that to an extent, but it's not easy to do. The Florida and Alabama games were lost in avalanche fashion, one in the first half, the other in the second. It's a big reason that South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia Southern, Vanderbilt, and even LSU have played us as close as they have.

Frankly, we need to quit whining like we have all year (rankings, coaches, players) and enjoy what we have. Hopefully, we'll see something in the next couple of games to get our hopes up again and increase our expectations for next season.

BTW, do Caleb King and Southerland still play on our team?

Crispy red snapper with roasted beet chimichurri

This is a take from Suzanne Goin's book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. If you don't have this book I highly recommend it. I really like the way she splits up her food into seasons, which is how we should all think when we're cooking or ordering. Good tomatoes in January. They don't exist unless you have to blow a lot of cost to get them from South Africa or something.

Ingredients:

Take some red snapper fillets. I bought a whole fish and filleted them myself (not very well, I must admit). Marinate in harissa.

Harissa
North african "condiment" similar to adobo in mexican cooking with a twist.

6 chiles guajillo or ancho
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika (add liquid smoke just a touch if you can't find it)
1/2 tsp cumin
Small can of tomatoes or two romas diced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp sherry vinegar
1/2 cup EVOO
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Pan saute the chiles until they're smoking, not burned. Put them in a bowl of hot water and put a paper towel on top to keep them wet all over.
Discard the oil (if you used too much) and cook the tomatoes in the same pan.
Put everything in a blender except the olive oil and puree, adding the olive oil slowly as you go. Balance seasoning, voila. There's your marinade and it's very versatile. Put it on park, serve with bruschetta/crostini.

Marinate the fish for a few hours, then scrape of the excess. Personally, I like to have the skin on the fish.
Heat a large (13" stainless or equiv) saute pan and put plenty of oil so it stands about 1/4 inch thick. Heat to medium high (if you do high, it will burn the outside and won't cook inside that well, fine if you 'just seared' a raw center, and it depends on the quality of your fish if you can do it that way). Cook skin side down until brown (a few minutes) and flip for about a 1/3 as long as you cooked them on the skin side.

Accompaniment: pureed carrots, beet chimichurri

I personally didn't make the pureed carrots, but I did make the beet chimichurri.

Roasted Beets
3-4 beets (bunch)
EVOO
Salt/pepper
Roasting pan
Water

Take your beets, clean them, and trim the stalks. Do not peel.
Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Place in a small roasting pan, and cover the bottom of the pan with water (key!).
Place in a 450 degree oven, tightly sealed with aluminum foil.
Give them around twenty minutes or so (until fork tender) then remove them and let them cool. Peel, cut into 1/4" slices and serve with your fish and chimichurri, or in salads "warm."

Chimichurri

Handful of flat parsley
Handful of cilantro
Tsp of minced shallot
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper
1 lime juiced
High quality EVOO

Mix all but the oil into a bowl and stir together.
Add the olive oil much like you would a vinaigrette to balance the lime juice, but you don't have to add so much to make a true emulsion.
Add the beets to it and dress your fish with it, and serve.

I served it over beet greens (raw or sauteed, taste a lot like collards or turnip greens) and fish.
The beets give a really earthy flavor to whatever you add them too. Beware the freakin' juice is like indigo dye, it discolors your skin and your cutting board, but it washes out.