Bite. Sip. Repeat…

I’ll be contributing to Bite Sip Repeat, usually on the topic of wine. My feeling about wine is similar to Scott and Dr. Steve’s on food: with just a little extra knowledge, ordinary can become something special. One area of wine appreciation that I find underrated is wine tasting. In the San Diego area, there are many opportunities to try before you buy. So many in fact that I can’t think of a good reason to buy several bottles of a wine one hasn’t tasted yet. Continue Reading »

Since Fat Tuesday was coming up, the “Bite. Sip. Repeat…” team decided to get together last weekend and cook a New Orleans classic. Dr. Steve and I shopped and met up at Dr. Curtis’ house for the cooking and sipping. I’d been thinking of what to cook and came across one of Emeril Lagasse’s first books, “Louisiana Real & Rustic“. It’s copyrighted 1996, after he started doing “The Essence of Emeril”, but before he got really big. I like this book a lot. Emeril provides a variety of recipes, including Louisiana standards as well as basics, like mayonnaise and other sauces.

The recipe that caught my eye was Shrimp and Okra Gumbo (full recipe at end of post). So Dr. Steve and I headed to Harvest Ranch Market for supplies.

Actually, they didn’t have okra or andouille sausage, so we just got the produce and shrimp there. Continue Reading »

It’s the chili-time of the year and I made a batch last week. Here’s the basic recipe…

• 1 Tbs. canola or vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 lbs. ground beef
• 1 lb. Jimmy Dean spicy sausage
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 1 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 Tbs. ground cumin
• 2 Tbs. chili powder, more or less depending on your taste and the heat of the chili powder
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 15 oz. can of red kidney beans or black beans
• 2 oz. dark chocolate.

Heat the oil over medum heat in a large pot. I use a 12-quart stock pot. Sweat the onions for 3-5 minutes then add the garlic and sweat for 2 more minutes. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the beef and sausage, break up into small chunks and brown thoroughly. Move the mixture to one side of the pot, tip the pot up a little and, using a turkey baster, remove the accumulated fat.

Add the tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, cloves, and Worcestershire sauce and stir. Turn down to low and simmer for 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add to chili, cooking an additional 10 minutes on low. Just before serving, stir in the chocolate until melted. The chocolate adds a layer of flavor; you can’t taste it, but it enhances the taste.

Serve with any or all of the following: grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion, cilantro or crushed tortilla chips.

My in-laws visited on Saturday to install a closet organizer they’d bought for us (thanks, Wally and Hilda!) and I wanted to cook a nice lunch for them. We cleaned out some cabinets a week ago and I saw my two Le Creuset Dutch Ovens that had migrated to the back of the cabinet. The large one was a gift from my wife and it’s a bit spendy, but whenever I cook in it, I love the results. I resolved to find some more uses for it.

A few weeks ago, the America’s Test Kitchen tv show (ATK) had an episode where they made a whole chicken and French Onion Soup, both in a Le Creuset Dutch Oven. The chicken looked so moist and juicy, I had to try it. Don’t be put off by cooking a whole chicken. I find them to be cheaper and fresher than the cut up chicken parts. They’re easy to cook and easy to carve. I like the organic whole chickens from Trader Joes.

Following the ATK technique, I started with a whole chicken, Continue Reading »

We had dinner at “The King and I” at Restaurant Row in San Marcos last week. Not bad for a quick fix of Thai food before or after a movie. We started with a chicken Satay appetizer. Well done. The peanut and cucumber sauces complemented the chicken well. Our main courses were Panang and Red Curry, both prepared with chicken. The Panang was sweet and a little spicy. Good balance between curry flavor and heat. The red curry packed a little more heat and a little more complexity.  The average entree price was $9-$12.   We had no dessert, but I’m sure they would have been very good.  This restaurant is part of “Restaurant Row” in San Marcos.  Menus and reviews for ”The King and I” and others can be found at http://www.oldcalrestaurantrow.com/kingandi.htm.

This is a great way to burn some time before or after a movie.  We saw “The Wrestler” and I actually thought it was the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.

Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of dinner last night.  I really didn’t think it would go over as well as it did.  Both boys said several times that it was great.  They love spaghetti and meatballs and I was looking for a quicker alternative to mixing, rolling, and baking the meatballs.  I thought I’d give sausage a try.

I started with a pound of sweet italian sausage from Trader Joe’s.  The links were kind of big, so I cut them in half.  I tossed them in a sauce pan and browned them in a little olive oil over medium heat.  After 5 minutes or so, I added a jar of spaghetti sauce (Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara sauce) and a sprinkling of dried oregano and basil and brought that to a simmer.  I let that bubble until the sausage was cooked through, maybe 12 minutes.  That gave me time to boil the pasta and get a vegetable medley together.  Easy, inexpensive, does it get any better?

My wife was looking for some in-season fruit for my Number 2 Son. My Number One Son asked how we knew what was in season. A quick Google search uncovered this fabulous web site, Eat The Seasons. Great idea, brilliantly simple interface, terribly useful. Who knew that sunchokes were “in season”? I didn’t even know what a sunchoke was. Some of the items in season are links to an article about them, which includes history and facts about the item, as well as recipes. Check it out. Screenshot below…

The boys were watching The Backyardigans. At the end of every episode, one of the characters invites the others over for some specific snack. This time, Tasha invites the gang over to Uniqua’s house for Sloppy Joes. And that’s what I was making for dinner that night! I don’t really have a recipe, but I prefer to make up a sauce instead of using ketchup or a can of Manwich.

This time I started with sweating one small onion… Continue Reading »