Roasted Cabbage

I recently made cabbage on the grill.  Quartered it, seasoned it, and wrapped it in foil to keep it together. Threw it on the hot side of the grill across from a few chicken breasts for about a half hour. Opened the foil at the end to let a little smoke in. It was pretty good. A friend of mine tried it at her house in the oven, and said it turned out raw and flavorless. Suspecting the heat in her oven was not as high as the grill, and definitely not as smoky, I set out to make a successful oven version. The oven version is much better, to my delight. I hope you enjoy it - a different way to use this versatile and inexpensive vegetable.


I started by chopping the cabbage into strips maybe a third of an inch wide:

Then, I piled it into a dark-colored baking sheet and sprinkled it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fennel seeds.

 

Popped it into a hot oven (450F) for about 30 minutes. The ends of some of the slices had started to brown, but I wanted a little more char, so turned on the broiler for about 3 minutes before I took the cabbage out.

Nice and sweet, a little crispy. This was a good night.

Enjoy, jerks!

Widmer Brothers Beer

This brewery does nothing but turn out good beers. In the fall and spring I like their "Drifter" Pale Ale. Citrusy and well-balanced.  In the winter, its "Brrrr Seasonal Ale" This summer brought a new one, for me anyway, "Citra Blonde Summer Brew."  Light, crisp, and a little more flavor than most golden ales. 4.5% ABV.  I highly recommend all of these beers (The drifter is available in a 22oz. in addition to the standard 12oz.!). If you are ever in Portland, OR, try to find their brewpub! Tell them this jerk sent ya' !

New dishes, new post!

I can't start every post with "been exceedingly busy," so I won't. But I have been.

An exciting development for me has been the acquisition of new dishes. Our old ones were yellow with flowers on them and did not lead to the most appetizing presentations. The closing of the great indoors store in Gaithersburg provided the opportunity to switch on the cheap. So, new white plates will be making their appearance on the blog.  EXCITING!

Now that school and vacation are over, I actually have time to cook. Last night I made a tequila-lime chicken (meh) and some couscous with tomatoes, jalapenos, and olives (meh), and a great little mozzarella and avocado salad. I'll share this delicious little recipe with you. It was a little sweet, a little sour, and a great way to use a lot of the overgrown mint in the herb garden!

2 firm avocados
1 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Combine the mint and vinegar in a small bowl. Peel and halve the avocados, and remove the seeds. Rub the avocado halves with the vinegar mixture. Slice the avocados and the mozzarella and drizzle them with the remainder of the vinegar mixture. Notice the attempt at an elegant plating on the new dish!

Enjoy, jerks! That is all.

F the man.

So, I have had too much work lately to read the news or watch the tube, so when my students told me about "National Pancake Day," I thought that it was an act of Congress, in the true American tradition of Arbor Day or Flag Day.   I made two types of pancakes, sausage, hash browns, eggs, and real Vermont maple syrup (thanks Mom and Dad-in-Law) for dinner to celebrate.

Can you guess how angry I became when, waiting for a journal article to download, I saw in the newspaper that "National Pancake Day" is an IHOP ***COMMERCIAL***!?!?!?!?!?!?

Sons of bitches. I have seen the sophistication of students PLUMMET in the past ten years. In all seriousness, I have to worry for the future of our civilization when the "best and brightest" (as in accepted to quite prestigious universities on full scholarships) cannot tell the difference between actual legislation and a god**** commercial.

If the Post is wrong and pancake day does exist, I still stand by my above statement.  We are doomed.  DOOMED!

I can't believe I made pancakes today.  What a complete jerk am I.  That is all.

sasquatch burger

My brother made a real good burger the other day.  Grilled cheese sandwiches as buns.  On inside is bacon, fried onions, and a beef patty.  Heart-attack-inducing, this sandwich is literally to die for.  I loved it.  That is all...

Here's the thing with a blog - you've got to devote some time to it. I am infamous in the household for taking pictures of meals and never using them on the blog. So, in an effort to procrastinate finishing my master's thesis (uh oh, two incompletes is the most you can take!) I will try to post some of my photo backlog and talk about some of them... Let's see how it goes.

As a well-known carnivore, it may be surprising that my new favorite chinese dish is tofu! When we first moved to Derwood, we ordered chinese from China Jade, near our kids' daycare. It was awful! I have a secret love affair with General Tso and his chicken, and their version is big fried doughballs in super-duper-sweet sauce. YUCK! So awful was it that for two years, we never ordered there again, instead making the trek to our Germantown favorite, House of Fortune. (Still recommend them for the BEST "americanized" chinese take out).

Recently, however, the WaPo wrote up China Jade as having an outstanding traditional menu. Skeptical, our family visited after the winter concert at the daycare. This restaurant should just discard the "non-traditional" menu.  After ordering from the "traditional" menu, we see the appeal in this place! I had KungPao Chicken (not nearly as sweet off this menu) and Meg had a noodle soup (simple, yet delicious - it had seaweed!) However, the real revelation came when trying to order a vegetarian tofu dish for Meg in our recent take-out. I thought "Ma Po Tofu" sounded great.  Little did I know...

Tofu, ground pork (yeah - not vegetarian...), chili oil, bean paste, green onions, and some kind of seasoning (five spice?) made this a spicy, yet delicious hit.  General Tso, get the hell out of here!  Jerk!

Mardi Gras

So I tried to make a gumbo for Mardi Gras.  It turned out OK.  I read on Wikipedia about gumbo, then decided to just go ahead without a recipe.  How bad can one screw it up with delicious ingredients?

Started with onion and garlic sauteed in butter.  I added flour and made a roux, and cooked it dark, as wiki suggested cajun chefs are wont to do.

Next, a can of diced tomatoes and its juice, plenty of celery, some frozen chopped bell peppers, lots of thyme, parsley, and oregano, a bit of salt, and about 2 cups of frozen sliced okra. 2 bay leaves. Also a can of vegetable stock (wish I had fish stock )o:).

Then a sliced up breast of leftover jerk-seasoned chicken, a bit of leftover ham steak, and simmer for a while.  Bay leaves OUT; Shrimp, sliced tilapia fillet, Chinoteague clams, and plenty of cayanne IN.  Also, the secret ingredient, sherry.  10 minutes more, served over rice. (I promise, it's under there somewhere!)

Now, jerks, onto the desolate season of lent.  That is all.