Dipping Sauces...

It seems I'm always looking for stuff that I 'need' for our kitchen. Spices, oils, bbq sauces, mustards. I probably shouldn't because we have so many things in our pantry but I can't help it.

One thing I always seem to see for sale are dipping sauces for bread.

Note: I wrote this on a long flight, thus the lack of original pictures...

A search of Amazon resulted in over 100 choices. Some are pricey, or just a bag of herbs to mix yourself. Why not just make your own with stuff from your pantry. 

Some good olive oil, herbs, salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar is really all you need.

I usually grab a clove or two of garlic and chop it up into a bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Italian dried herb mixture and some red pepper flakes. Add like a 1/4 cup of evoo and a teaspoon or so of balsamic vinegar and stir it up. Add some salt and pepper to taste, then let it sit for a bit to let the flavors come out. That's all there is to it. Grab some crusty bread slices and dig in. Yum!

Of course this isn't just for bread. Drizzle it over ripe tomatoes as a dressing, or on some veggies and meats before grilling. 

This is only a starting point. Try adding fresh herbs if you have some in your garden. Basil and oregano are obvious choices. Rosemary, mint or parsley? Sure. Maybe pan roast the garlic in its skin to soften the flavor some before chopping it up. Parmesan cheese? Why not! 

Try other spice blends, different vinegars, flavored oils. Tailor it to whatever else you are making to eat. The choices might just be endless. Give it a try and you might actually make a dent in your pantry. 

Photo credits: Amazon.com (top collage), Couponclippingcook.com (garlic), Zestycook.com (pepper), Bonappetite.com (Italian herbs), Followpic.co (bread & dip)

Grill Improvising

I can't believe that I did it again! I ran out of propane. 

And as usual, it happens when the food isn't done yet. 

                                                             

As a guy that grills often, you might think that I would check the gas once in a while.

But I don't, and it usually gets me when I least expect it. I start the grill, it gets hot then

I throw on some pork tenderloins in this case, and go inside for a bit. It is around 100° 

and I can't just stand out there watching the grill. Then I go back to check the meat only to find that the fire is out. 

  WTH!!

This has forced me to figure out how to finish cooking food that isn't done yet. In this case

I brought in the tenderloins and put them into the oven that was already roasting some 

peppers, onions and baked potatoes.

Dinner turned out fine if maybe delayed a little bit.

                                   

Update: A couple of days later, I had just turned on the grill just as a monsoon storm started moving in. I even found a rain jacket to battle the elements, but it became impossible as the wind and rain became dangerous. Time to use the grill pan indoors.

 

After the storm passed, we found a large limb down, a small lake and a wet owl that I spotted in a tree. 

                       

Does anyone else have these problems or I am the only one dumb enough not to check on the gas tank?
By the way, my cool cement blocks are from Touvlo.

A restaurant review...

I don't normally do reviews, but I want to review my dinner the other night. 

This is about The Greene House, a Sam Fox restaurant concept located in Kierland Commons in Scottsdale. I met the mrs here during the past week for a quick dinner before a lacrosse game. 

If you live anywhere in the Valley, you know of Sam Fox. His restaurants are everywhere and usually are above average in the service and food that is served. I have said many times "Can't we just go to a non-Sam Fox restaurant for once." 

I don't actually remember all that we ordered, except for my entree. I had a nice IPA and then ordered the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin. I wanted to get this as I have made this several times before. It was tasty and was served with cheesy scalloped potatoes, Brussels sprouts and mushrooms. 

 

The pork and potatoes were great, but as I was eating I noticed that it had probably 1 Brussel sprout that was cooked, cut up, and sprinkled around. Also the mushrooms were rather hard to find as well. 

I really found it hard to believe that there was so little veggies on the plate. To list Brussels and mushrooms on the menu implies to me that they should be more than a garnish. 

Maybe we should have gone to a healthier Sam Fox restaurant, but I'm guessing that you all can understand my bitch with this plate. I think that I will have to order a salad next time if I want to get some veggies in... Later until next time. 

 

The Secret Behind the Pic

This is a little behind the scenes information about a recent dinner pic that I posted on Instagram. 

2 weeks back I made dinner on a Sunday. Grilled salmon and Fava Beans salad with Fennel and Radish. It got the most likes that I have ever received for a food pic, but there is a little secret behind this photo. 

The right side of the salmon is cut from a larger fillet and not very attractive. I had grilled several skin-on fillets and after they were done, I cut them into serving sizes. This left a ragged edge as a cooked piece doesn't cut very well. Well, I used this salad to just kind of cozy up next to the salmon and cover it up. Secret revealed!

Now I had read about this salad on La Fuji Mama's blog. She had mentioned it in her recipe for chocolate pots de creme as yet another snowstorm swept through her neighborhood. I'm thinking that she is quite ready for spring to arrive and is dreaming of some Springtime recipes. This is from the April issue of Cooking Light...

This salad uses fava beans which are in season right now and I had just bought some at the farmers market the day before. I really enjoy them, but they are a bit of a pain to prepare. 

                                             

First, they must be taken from there shells. I used my vegetable peeler to take a thin strip from each pod. This makes it easier to get them out of there. Then the beans are blanched in boiling water for 20 seconds and dropped into an ice bath. Now they are ready to lose their shells. 

                                               

A little pinch to open the shell and they squeeze right out. Probably 20 minutes of work to get about a cup of favas ready to use. Next I assembled the rest of the ingredients. 

                                               

I went out to my garden and picked a bit of wild arugula (with an adult beverage as I tend to cook this way).

                                               

Fennel, i'itoi onions, radishes, walnut pieces and Romano cheese were readied along with a lemon for the dressing. I pan toasted the walnuts and used my mandolin to shave the fennel and radishes into thin slices. Once all this is ready, just a simple lemon vinaigrette is whisked together and tossed with the salad. Top with the walnuts and serve. Relatively simple and fresh, it went very well with the grilled salmon (and covers up my not so photogenic piece of fish). 

I'm thinking that I will make it again soon as Spring seems to be fading fast here in Phoenix. We are going to have our first 90° + day today. Ugh, summer is just around the corner I fear!

Saturday at the Market

This is a little glimpse of my farmers market trip this morning. This is as close to a live blogging that I have ever attempted. Enjoy!

 Fresh sugar snap peas

 Fresh multi colored carrots

 Peacock kale 

 I also noticed this suggestive sign

 Flowers are showing up in this warm weather 

 

 

 and lots of doggies. 

I ended up at home with a lot of stuff. Carrots, radishes, daikon, spigarello, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, romanesco, rainbow chard, red kale, sugar snap peas, spring onions, green garlic, cara cara oranges, medjool dates and some candy. 

I ended up having a fresh chocolate chip scone with coffee as I prepped and stored all or this.

 Until next time, Hefe out.

The Clean Up

Ok so I have obviously forgotten about my blog. What happened? I don't know except life I guess.

So I am going straight to the worst part of the kitchen, the clean up.

I hate it, you hate it, we all hate it. I even made a big deal about closing my kitchen on Instagram once because I was getting sick about it.

Maybe I thought that if you cook, you don't have to clean up. Maybe I thought that my family would want to help out. Well that is just not true. If you are going to cook, you will have to cleanup. 

Of course this got me several snarky comments from people that I likely deserved. 

I even thought that Charleen of FnB commented that I had better just deal with it, but I couldn't find that in my pictures. 

And then I received the following comment from a Middle Eastern chef that lives in London:

                         

Now I was probably being stupid & pissy about cleaning up but I took this comment to heart. I was not going to let the cleanup determine how I was going to cook. 

Anyone that follows me on Instagram knows that I love going to the farmers markets and buying lots of organic produce. I am becoming a Clean eater. I want to know what is going into my pan and where it is from. I have read so many crummy things about the food production industry that it is downright scary to think about. 

So while I have failed in updating my blog, it's not like I haven't been cooking. I've been cooking like crazy. I've even wanted to call myself the #530chef because I get home from work, and then I jump right into the kitchen working on some part of dinner. So of course I have been cleaning like crazy as well. So here are a few cleanup tips I like. 

1. Try and cleanup as you go. Rinse boards, bowls and knives. It can make the final cleanup a bit easier. 

2. Use the dishwasher. Rinse off plates and utensils and put em in. Throw the cutting boards and mixing bowls in. Well just throw the pots and pans in if there is room. Most things these days are dishwasher safe, so just use it to your advantage. 

                                         

3. Soak baked on stuff in hot soapy water, but don't just forget about it overnight. Above is a pan that was just left to soak. The grease will be getting all over that knfe and spatula and even all over the sides of the pan. Just use a little muscle and scrub away the baked on stuff.

Well I have scraped the bottom with this post, so I am hoping that I can climb out of this rut and write some interesting posts in the future. Until next time, Hefe out. 

Farmers Market Heaven

I went on a road trip last weekend to Santa Barbara. I had to get my son to a lacrosse camp in the area. I really wasn't sure what I was going to do besides eat and sight see.

Now I can't remember when or if I have ever been to the Santa Barbara area before, so I was pretty excited to check it out. It is a beautiful California beach town even if it is a large city and probably overrun by tourists in the summer.

Thanks to my friend Erin's idea, I checked out if they might have any farmers markets in the area. This turned out to be a really good idea, as they have them 6 days during the week.

I went to the downtown market on Saturday morning. Once I started walking around it was apparent that this one was a lot different. Compared to the ones that I go to in Phoenix and Flagstaff, the SB market is much more focused on farmers. There are not as many vendors selling sauces, honey, and prepared foods, etc. I guess there were probably 40 farmer stalls selling almost any type of produce imaginable. 

Walking around it was apparent that I had discovered farmers market heaven. 

Walk with me and check it out...

To the right is a table of heirloom tomatoes and to the left is a pile of corn that could have concealed a body, it was that large!

                                      This was a stunning display of peppers and eggplants.

         Squash blossoms and massive artichokes!                                          

Tomatillos and peppers including spicy green apple peppers in the front.


Many types of basil ready for someones home garden.



                       Kale, leeks, carrots and celery roots.

 

There were many types of grapes even though these are the only ones I got pics of. Tons of avocados were everywhere. I felt lost. I wanted to buy so many things. I guess I became flustered and didn't buy a lot of sweet corn and avocados as I was too worried about getting this stuff home. 

I did buy some stuff to put in the styrofoam cooler that I bought (because I forgot to bring one). I bought Chinese long beans, shishito peppers, lemon cucumbers, Japanese eggplant, Cherokee and Indigo Cherry heirloom tomatoes, sweet white peaches, snap peas and 2 little Bitter melons.

These goodies are keeping me extra busy trying to figure out what to make with them. I wish I could go back to the Santa Barbara farmers market this weekend, but these memories will have to do...