tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83105910699595293252024-03-08T09:45:34.091-08:00Carpe DM Food - MMMM That's YummyCarpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-85989042236143896292017-03-12T15:03:00.002-07:002017-03-12T15:03:52.532-07:00Slow Cooker Coconut Strawberry Oats.These are absolutely delicious. Very filling and satisfying. My daughter asked we make it again, so it must be good.<br />
<br />
This is for a 6qt slow cooker. If you have a smaller one, cut the recipe in half.<br />
<br />
2 cups oats<br />
2 14oz cans of Lite Coconut Milk. Don't use the refrigerated stuff its not the same<br />
1 cup water<br />
3 tablespoons brown sugar, more to taste<br />
1 tsp Nutmeg<br />
1 tsp Cinnamon<br />
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt<br />
1 tsp vanilla<br />
3 tablespoons butter<br />
<br />
After oats are cooked:<br />
<br />
sliced strawberries (2-3 per bowl)<br />
shredded coconut<br />
sweetened condensed milk<br />
<br />
Spray the inside of your slow cooker with non stick spray. Add oats, coconut milk, water, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and butter. Stir until evenly mixed. Cover and set on low for 7 hours.<br />
<br />
Spoon into bowls, top with strawberries, sprinkle on some shredded coconut to taste and drizzle some sweetened condensed milk. That's it.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-84586029049978060492012-12-29T09:02:00.000-08:002012-12-29T09:02:17.354-08:00Never Ruin a Rib Roast Again - Simple MethodOk, so this Christmas my wife and I decided to make a Standing Rib Roast for the family. Normally speaking when I want assurances for cooking an important meal, I turn to Alton Brown for advice. While his turkey recipe is absolutely spectacular, I was completely baffled by the impracticality of his rib roast recipe. The piece of meat that lay before me looked like it came off the side of Brontosauras not cow like he displayed. So I needed a plan B. My wife, an excellent cook in her own right, gave me a recipe for Standing Rib Roast. I was completely skeptical at the method and thought this is going to take all day to cook. I couldn't have been more wrong. So without further adieu, The World's Simplest Rib Roast Recipe Ever. <br />
<br />
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Farenheit. Yes I know seems low but believe me you'll thank me later.<br />
<br />
Take out Rib Roast let it get acclimated to room temperature. I don't like putting ice cold meat into a hot environment. There are differing opinions, but if I can let it get the chill out I will.<br />
<br />
Season liberally with Kosher/Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper. Use a lot of both. This is a big piece of meat. Get all sides.<br />
<br />
If you have a stovetop set up that will allow you to put your roasting pan on the burners, do that and set them to high. If not use a pan big enough to accomodate the roast. Sear all sides of the meat starting with the fat side down. Get a good sear to get the carmelization of the crust going. Once the sides are seared, pop it in the oven and let cook until the thickest part of the meat reaches 125-130 degrees Farenheit for rare/medium rare. I would use an instant read thermometer that has a remote so you can prep the rest of your meal. My 11+lb roast took slightly less than 4 hours to cook. Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-74898975659510351372012-03-11T08:14:00.001-07:002012-03-14T04:52:50.471-07:00Go Veg or Go HomeI grew up in a household where a potato chip was the closest thing to a vegetable we would serve. Yes we had the summer corn on the cob on a regular basis and iceberg lettuce with tomatoes at every meal, but vegetables really were absent. This is probably a normal occurance in many household, but our neighbor was basically a farmer and had his entire backyard a garden of delights. He inspired our own backyard garden, where we ended up growing our own tomatoes and two foot long zucchinis. We never ate zucchini, so I'm not sure why we ever grew them. They were great for backyard mess fest where you'd play baseball with fallen tomatoes and giant zukes. The point is, I really never knew how great vegetables could be growing up. If you have kids, try to get them to eat different foods early. Here is the one place I will tell you that lying is really ok. In our house, mushrooms were magical meat. Green beans became magic worms. Felafel (not a veg, I know) are hufflepuff meatballs. If your kid has a favorite story, tell them that this is what their favorite character ate. It works for us, it might work for you. I can't tell you how many times my wife has to go to Hogwarts to get a new recipe. Since I'm a muggle, I can't visit. The problem for me was, now that I had the taste for vegetables, I didn't know the first thing about cooking them. Here a few good cookbooks that got me over the fear and the hump of cooking those funny multicolored objects at the far end of the supermarkets.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Quick Prep Roasted Vegetables<br />
Ingredients:<br />
1lb cubed butternut squash<br />
3 sweet onions cut into small wedges<br />
3-4 parsnips peeled and sliced into rounds 1/4-1/2" thickness<br />
3-4 carrots prepped same as parsnip<br />
1 medium turnip cubed the same size as the butternut squash<br />
4-5 garlic cloves, paper skin still on<br />
Alternate or additional vegetables (delicata squash, zucchini, yellow squash, rutabaga, fennel, green beans, really whatever you like)<br />
1-2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
rosemary or thyme<br />
salt and fresh ground pepper<br />
<br />
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Take a rimmed baking sheet(also known as a jelly roll plan) spread oil and add vegetables. Sprinkle Rosemary or Thyme or both onto vegetable, sprinkle salt (preferably kosher or sea salt) and fresh ground pepper. Turn the veggies to coat and pop into oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Check for doneness and turn if browning too much on the bottoms. Check 7 minutes more. Once cooked to desired doneness. I like my vegs a little crunchy remove and let sit on sheet for a minute. Then place on plates or in bowls. Makes a great and easy side for red meats.<br />
<br />
If you are so inclined, I also will put chicken thighs on top of the vegetables after they have been in the over about 10 minutes. You can leave the skins on the chicken to add some additional flavor to the vegs. Cook until the chicken is done and mix once or twice if necessary. Should take about 20 more minutes, but make sure the chicken is done.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-35648809518108242542012-03-02T10:47:00.000-08:002012-03-02T10:47:57.116-08:00Oh Me So Hungry, Me So HungryWhen in doubt this recipe is our go to for an easy to put together satisfying meal. It has an asian flair. My wife said let's try Cinnamon Beef with Lo Mein Noodles. I kinda look at her with a bit of disgust. Ugh really? Well turns out, its really awesome and when I can't think of anything new to cook, this has quickly become a fall back meal for the family. Its like beef stew only feels a lot lighter. The cinnamon taste is subtle but marries very well with the stew meat. I try to get grassfed beef for this particular dish. No particular reason why other than that is how we first tried and why mess with a good thing. Its very simple to prepare and if the stew meat is trimmed and not fatty, its a low calorie dish as well.<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
2lbs Beef Stew<br />
2 tsp canola oil<br />
5 cups water<br />
1 1/2 cups Sake <br />
3/4 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce (I use Kikkoman) sometimes referred to as Lite<br />
1/4 cup sugar<br />
10 green onions (8 chopped into approx 1 inch pieces, 2 chopped thin)<br />
2 cinnamon sticks<br />
3 cloves garlic minced<br />
1 tablespoon minced ginger (I use the tubed stuff as a timesaver)<br />
1 10-12 oz package of baby spinach leaves<br />
8 oz. uncooked lo mein noodles (wider is better, but not the end)<br />
<br />
Heat 1 teaspoon of canola oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add beef but don't overcrowd, we want to brown the meat and get a nice crust on it. Remove from pan once browned on all sides. While meat is browning, combine Water, Sake, Soy Sauce and Sugar in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Return beef to pan and add water mixture, green onions, garlic, cinnamon and ginger. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to so liquid just simmers. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2hrs. While the beef is cooking, cook the low mein noodles according to instructions. When beef is tender, stir in spinach. Add noodles to your serving dishes and spoon beef mixture over the cooked noodles. Should yield 8 or so servings. About 1 cup beef and half a cup noodles. Calories are around 400. 10g of fat (3g saturated).Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-75586192829607987782012-02-23T07:36:00.000-08:002012-02-23T07:36:54.384-08:00What the hell happened to me?Well its been quite a while since I posted anything food related. I guess my biggest problem was that I was eating way too much and not saying or doing much else. It started about 9 months ago. A kickboxing accident cause my already bad knee into a worse situation. Thankfully I already knew the solution to this problem. Sit on the couch and keep eating. Oh yeah and do some exercise to strengthen the muscles around the kneecap. Well, the eating part went fine. I continued to eat like I was training for a kickboxing tournament and because it was summertime, didn't realize the subtle change that was happening in my body. I say subtle because I didn't notice it. My wife on the other hand certainly did. I couldn't understand why she kept saying, "Hey Fat Ass are you ever going to get off the couch?" Well things got progressively bigger, but I couldn't see it until that one fateful day. I tried to get into a suit for a meeting and the pants were in no way fitting. Not even close. I thought what the "F", these fit not long ago. I stepped on the scale and nearly had a heartattack. Not only was the number so much higher than I thought it would be, the standing was making me light headed. I knew something had to change immediately. I immediately did about two weeks of heavy (literally 30lbs more than 6 months earlier) rehab on my knee. I got it back to the place where I felt I could get back to kickboxing again. The other issue was food. Thankfully, Tiger Schulmann Mixed Martial Arts runs a 60 day Challenge and I didn't even have to look at Sensei Holland or Sensei Querido to know what they expected me to do. I joined the challenge. The biggest issue would be how do I go about healthy eating. I get tired of eating the same foods over and over again. My family is small so I end up with a lot of leftovers. It dawned on me, if I am in this position, so are pretty much everyone else on the challenge. I started bringing in my leftovers. It forced me to make new food and so far in a 5 weeks, I've lost 21 pounds. I have 33 pounds to go to be truly fit, but its a start. Here is the recipe that started the weightloss program into overdrive.<br />
<br />
Moroccan Meatballs with Couscous.<br />
<br />
This is a slow cooker recipe, but can be done in heavy cast iron pot with a lid.<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
for the Meatballs:<br />
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (I make mine from stale whole wheat bread)<br />
1/4 cup dried currants (subsitute black raisins if you can't find currants)<br />
1/4 cup finely chopped onions (smaller is better here)<br />
1/2 teaspoon sea salt<br />
1/2 teaspoon each of ground cumin and dried oregano<br />
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />
1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey<br />
1 large eggwhite<br />
Cooking Spray<br />
<br />
Sauce:<br />
1/4 cup tomato paste<br />
1 teaspoon fennel seeds<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange rind (microplane zester works well here)<br />
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin<br />
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />
dash of salt<br />
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (start with the smaller amount and add additional to taste)<br />
2 14.5oz cans diced tomatoes<br />
<br />
Other Ingredients:<br />
1 box (approx 4 cups cooked) whole wheat couscous prep according to instructions on box<br />
Parsley for garnish (optional)<br />
Meatball prep:<br />
Combine the first 9 ingredients in a bowl. Mix gently but firmly to incorporate all ingredients. Form into 30-35 meatballs. I prefer slightly smaller to slightly larger. Using a non stick pan, give a quick spray with your cooking spray. Brown the meatballs in batches and set aside when done.<br />
<br />
Sauce prep:<br />
Add tomato paste and next 7 ingredients to slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add meatballs to sauce and stir gently to coat each meatball. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. <br />
<br />
Serve over couscous. Each portion should contain 5 meatballs, 1/2 cup couscous and 1/2-1 cup sauce. <br />
<br />
Calories are approximately 300 per serving.<br />
<br />
Optional additions to the sauce: Canned or fresh cooked Chickpeas, Zucchini cut into half moons.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-67532011061528357362011-07-16T02:05:00.000-07:002011-07-25T18:17:00.045-07:00This one is definitely not a disaster, Great Recipe from a Great CookbookI thought about writing my next installment, titled Holy Moly don't eat that Cannoli, but decided to talk about an actual successful dish. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the recipe for this successful dish, which was seared scallops with poached pears in a red wine sauce. Sounds like a weird combination in my head too. However, I made it and it was absolutely spectacular. You can find the recipe in this cookbook. If you like fish this is an absolutely must buy book. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=carp02-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1579590276&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> I would try and recreate this dish, but quite frankly I can't try and figure it out because my wife is allergic to seafood. Cooking this dish might just send her into anaphylactic shock and personally I'm not ready to see that just yet :) So, I guess I have two options, its gonna be holy moly don't eat that cannoli or This Gnocchi is Yucky. But I am gonna let you decide which one you want to hear first. Both are doozies and I will give you a guaranteed winner of a recipe for both. Let me know which you want by commenting or sending me an email. I will post the results on Sunday with the new entry.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-62210606469652602742011-07-03T07:29:00.000-07:002012-12-29T07:46:39.427-08:00Don't try this at home, Try that!I think most people can blame their parents for something that has gone wrong in their everyday lives. One thing I can't blame my parents for is allowing me to have my intellectual freedom to destroy the kitchen. Somebody in their great wisdom gave an 8 year a chemistry set as a present. Well this nutty professor in training started immediately breaking out the alcohol based bunsen burner and learned how to make a very small string of rock candy. Being of sound mind, I brought it into school. Well lets just say it was a hit and my friends all asked that I make them a string. Hmmmm. Well that will cost you 25 cents. I had an order for at least 50 of them. I was going to be rich. So that night I told my mom and dad I was going to make more rock candy but on a larger scale. Sure no problem. I broke out my mom's big Pyrex Pot. It was made by the same company that made my beaker and I had heard my mom say one time it was unbreakable. Great, success was soon to be at hand. I poured in the Sugar into the pot and added some water. My mom left for a PTA Meeting and my dad was watching TV/sleeping on the couch. The water was heating up nicely but the sugar wasn't dissolving quite as well the first time. I added more water. The water was a rolling boil now, but still the sugar just wasn't doing its thing. More water, but I need to slow down the process...OK...I need cold water. Well I added a huge amount of cold water and I heard a weird tinking sound and then Kaboom. The Pyrex pot exploded. The sugar on the bottom of the pot was now resting comfortably on the electric burner still turned on high. That immediately burst into flames. I screamed fire and my Dad bolts into the kitchen barefoot and guess what, stepped on a piece of broken pyrex. By that time the fire extinguished itself and my dad needed to get stitches in his foot. My mom came home and saw her sparking stove stop charred and caramelized. Needless to say it was about a week before I was allowed back in the kitchen. I learned a very valuable lesson. If you want to learn how to use cursewords in proper context, set your parents kitchen on fire.<br />
<br />
Now if that hasn't dissuaded you from making rock candy, here is a perfectly acceptable method. Please above all, ask to make sure its ok with Mom and Dad, even if you no longer live with them. <br />
<br />
From the Accidental Scientist, Science of Cooking<br />
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/recipe-rockcandy.htmlCarpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-72181825931535942322011-06-30T11:38:00.000-07:002011-06-30T11:38:59.803-07:00French ToastI love French Toast. Its by far my favorite breakfast food and who ever invented it is pure genius. Its also one of the few really good items my mom could cook. However, I learned how to cook this at around 8 years old and made it many times for myself. My mom would always curse at me because of the mess I made, but hey I was kid. It tooled around with the recipe numerous times and here is my version. I have a kids version and an adult version. To make the kid version just omit the alcohol.<br />
<br />
The main ingredients are bread, eggs, sugar and cream. For the bread, if you have a favorite bread by all means use it. I used to make this with slightly stale Wonder Bread all the time. Now I use Challah, or Hallah. You can use Brioche, which is French Challah or Challah, Jewish Brioche. It doesn't really matter, I would just say that you probably should avoid sourdough bread for this recipe.<br />
<br />
Ingredients<br />
sliced day old Challah, Brioche or any other White bread you like<br />
3-4 large to extra large eggs (approximate since eggs have different consistencies batch to batch)<br />
1/3 cup granulated sugar<br />
1/4 cup favorite liquer or liquor, I like Grand Marnier or Cointreau (omit this if serving to children or alcoholics)'<br />
1/4 cup heavy cream<br />
1/4 teaspoon vanilla<br />
butter<br />
<br />
Beat eggs sugar liquer if using, vanilla and heavy cream together. Should have a slightly thickened consistency. If you think its too watery add an additional tablespoon of sugar and taste it should be sweet. It should be noted that consuming raw egg products could be detrimental to your health. If you are afraid of getting sick, do not taste this before cooking. My one and final warning on that topic. Pour mixture into a lipped shallow dish. That's one with a rim so your mixture doesn't get on the counter or floor. Add sliced bread and start poking and mashing with a fork. You want to see some of the egg mixture start penetrating the bread to reach the top side. Once that is done, flip the bread and mash down on it with the back of a fork. Heat you pan to medium and melt two tablespoons of butter to coat the bottom. Add soaked bread slices and cook to golden brown. Then flip and cook until lightly brown and remove from pan and put on plate. Dust the toast lightly with sugar if you like it real sweet. Do not under any circumstance use powered sugar on your beautiful French Toast. I will personally rap you across the knuckles with a wooden spoon. Powdered sugar contains cornstarch and that prevents the maple syrup you are about to put on your toast from adhering and spilling over the sides. Granulated sugar absorbs the syrup for a lightly crunchy yumminess. I promise its delicious.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-37703629954873212412011-06-27T19:52:00.000-07:002011-06-27T19:52:56.457-07:00Influence Part IISo after my month long journey in France and Southern Germany I had found a new appreciation for wine and food. The relationship between food going from raw ingredients to what is on the plate is really inspiring. To take something so simple as a beet or a potato and elevate it into something so sublime as to make you want to lick the plate is a complete power rush. I poured over those Grand Diplome cookbooks. Tasting each recipe in my mind. It was about a year later that I made my next cookbook purchase. It was pure artistry. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=carp02-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0934738491&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> Jean-Louis, Cooking with the Seasons is a feast for the eyes. I didn't really care about the recipes at all. I just wanted to look at the pictures and imagine what they must taste like. If I had thought that my trip to France was filled with ingredients and animal parts that I never thought I would eat, this book way outdid even that. There was a recipe that called for Geoduck. What the frig is that? I found out later its a type of clam, but seriously, where the hell was I going to find one of those. Not long after or how I remember it, Jean Louis was a guest chef on the David Letterman show. Low and behold what was he going to cook, but a Geoduck (pronounce gooey duck). If you have never seen on I can only describe it as looking as if you might have castrated a horse and clamped two shells where the balls should be. Gross looking was putting it mildly. Letterman had a fair bit of fun with that one. I'm trying to track down the clip of that, hopefully I can. However, this was the true start of my collecting cookbooks. I have way too many at this point and I will get to some of my favorites and even let you know which ones to avoid. Let me know what your favorites are and what are some of your favorite recipes. My next installment is my perfect French Toast recipe.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-6614645636873160902011-06-27T12:27:00.000-07:002011-06-28T05:48:16.444-07:00My Influences Part 1My friends have often heard the story of how I became the cook that I am. All the credit goes to my parents. At an early age they gave me free reign in the kitchen to cook. While some kids played with their food, I cooked mine. I didn't have to cook, but if wanted to eat something edible I did. It wasn't until I got to my second year of college that I learned that chicken wasn't supposed to be completely black on the outside and vulcanized on the inside. To my mom's credit, she only cooked the chicken the way my father liked it. It was broiled, broiled again and broiled some more. I wasn't always sure whether or not to eat it or use it to light a fire in our charcoal grill. I rue the day my father bought a gas grill, then we had super carbonized chicken. This may seem pretty horrible but it wasn't always so bad. One day my mother decided to buy some really expensive cookbooks. They were the Grand Diplome Cookbooks. Really french and fancy. It had all sorts of stuff that I was hoping my parents would try and cook. Indeed, they actually did. However, if you are going to choose a first recipe, why choose Duck? I remember waiting hours for my parents to complete the process of making duck with cherry sauce. For all intents and purposes it looked great. The sauce was very tasty. Then came the true test, the duck. Well, lets just say that duck is sitting on shelf somewhere in Spencer Stores saying squeeze me. You couldn't cut it or chew it. Thankfully that was their one and only true disaster out of that cookbook. The only sad thing for me was I was already going to college by the time they learned how to make food that was truly edible. While they may have grown into better cooks now, the did like to eat out and eat well. My true culinary epiphany came on a trip right before Senior Year Highschool. We went to France and Southern Germany and got to stay in places that only the French knew about. It was quite amazing. I bought my first cookbook in France. It was the German version of the recipes of L'Ousteau de Baumaniere. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=carp02-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000OMPBLW&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> I learned so much from the chef. He was extraordinarily personable and free with his time. He told me that he did not become a chef until after he retired at the age of 60. That always gives me hope and about 15 years to go. The food was outstanding and I ate things I never thought I would even see on a plate. Pigeon, Lobster souffle, all sorts of sorbets. I ate my food, my parents and my sister's leftovers and their desserts most nights. It was amazing. It started me on my culinary journey that continues today. I have countless cookbooks that have helped mold my tastes and I will shares those with you shortly. I hope people will post their own experiences on how and why the love to cook or why they don't. I personally hate the dishes, but it is a labor of love. Keep me posted and I will keep you posted.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-72759752629146557162011-06-20T06:10:00.000-07:002011-06-20T06:10:00.531-07:00Passion Fruit Beer, Not a good IdearI have to say that when I saw it on the shelf, the idea of beer with a passionfruit flavor component intrigued me. However, something's are better left a theory rather than being destroyed by fact. Passionfruit beer is one of those things. I had hoped for a better outcome, but the end result of this beer was very weak. <br />
<br />
Now I don't want people to think that I'm the be all end of all of tasters, I'm certainly not. I like fruit beers, but in this case I did not. If you are curious about this beer, I suggest you check it out http://konabrewingco.com/beers/wailua-wheat-ale/. You may like it. For fruit flavored beers that I have actually enjoyed, I would suggest the following and in no particular order. <br />
<br />
Wachusett Blueberry Ale - light and fruity, real blueberry nose to it. Easy drinking beer.<br />
<br />
Sam Adams - Cherry Wheat - Cherries and beer go together great. <br />
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If you like the concept of fruit tinged beer, check out some Belgian style Lambics or Krieks. Expensive, but if you are drinking this solely for its taste, then by all means go ahead and enjoy. Lindemann's makes the most readily available ones. For an English version Samuel Smith's makes an organic line of fruit laced beers.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-66807474378501550742011-06-08T20:54:00.000-07:002011-06-08T20:58:23.519-07:00It's Been Too Long...I need some BBQWell summer is coming and like this past winter, I am long overdue for some blogging and barbeque. A great deal of time has passed since my quest for the great Shandy has started and ended with a whimper. Why did it end and why have I not been posting, well its pretty simple. I got fat. Way too fat to type as a matter fact. I couldn't really stand it, but like any addict I'm on the road to recovery. Like any good recovery program it starts with a healthy attitude. I've turned away from filling my previously expanding gullet with just anything. Our household has made a conscious effort to increase its cooking during the week. This has been a tough task to accomplish because of the overly active 9 year old that lives on the premises. However, we have made it. I won't bore you with the details of my weightloss or how to do it that is not the point of this exercise. The point of this is to find and eat great food, create and find great recipes and simply life by enjoying what's on your plate. So my life has gone from a 2 year blob fest, to a palate tempting mission every night. <br />
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So to start things off on the right foot, my wife decided to volunteer me to help cook pulled pork sandwiches for the Teacher's Appreciation Luncheon at the end of the year. Now normally I would fire up my smoker and do the low and slow route, but it was torrential downpours all week. If this were for me, yeah, I'd be soaking wet. For a tasting preview for the person in charge, I go the simple way. I bought some Bone Suckin' Sauce and Rub and got to work. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Suckin-Sauce-Seasoning-3-6-2/dp/B000RMTOVW?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">Bone Suckin' Sauce Seasoning and Rub 3-6.2 oz Pkgs</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000RMTOVW" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" /><br />
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Basically for pulled pork the easy way. Take a spice rub and liberally sprinkle and rub it into a pork shoulder (also know as boston butt) and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Fill a slow cooker or dutch oven with a cooking liquid. This can be water, water and apple juice combination, water juice and bourbon. Whatever flavors you enjoy can work here. For a more latin flavor instead of apple juice, thrown in orange or lime juice. Again its really limited by your imagination. The liquid should come up to about half way on the meat. I set the slowcooker on low and cook for 6 hours. After about three hours I flip the meat. At the five hour mark I test it. It should pull easily apart when poked with a fork. Once you have determined that its done, drain most but not all of the liquid from the pot. Let the meat rest for 10-15 minutes and begin shredding. Be careful as the meat will be hot and will throw off a lot of steam. Once you have finished shredding its time to add your favorite barbeque sauce. One of my favorites is Bone Sucking Sauce <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000FWCPNI&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> Add liberally to taste. For serving I like potato rolls and coleslaw to make into a delicious sandwich. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310591069959529325.post-74555503529054536472009-10-12T13:34:00.000-07:002009-10-14T11:17:45.405-07:00In Search of Great Food, Wine, Beer and SpiritsAren't we all in search of that ultimate meal or drink. The one that transcends time and place and brings a certain sense of euphoria that can only be reached in that moment. The only problem is that for everyone that seems to encompass a different experience. Sometimes its a shared experience, when you are with your friends, family, spouses or lovers. The notion that what you are enjoying right at that moment is so special that you aren't sure it will ever be duplicated. Of course, not every experience has to be on that ethereal level, they can just be really good, or good or excellent. I've always noticed that my food experiences are always better with company, but sometimes bad company can ruin a good meal too. So the purpose of this blog is to hopefully get people excited about new food places to try, wines, beers and spirits. I'll try and throw in a few recipes, hopefully some of the restaurants I highlight will be kind enough to contribute, otherwise they'll be my interpretation of the meal that we have indulged in.<br /><br />So to start our great quest forward, I've been looking for the perfect Shandy! I'm sure most of you are thinking what the heck is a Shandy? Up until a trip to Caesars Paradise Stream, an adult's only resort, I'd never heard of a Shandy. When it was described to me, a combination of Beer and Lemonade, I thought dear Lord could anything be more disgusting. Turns out yes there are some really gross beer cocktails, but in the case of the Shandy, I saw the light. The first version of the Shandy that I tried was a combination of Yuenling Beer and Lemonade. A slightly greater than 50% lemonade mix seemed best. Its was refreshing like a beer with a lot of the bitterness stripped out and some tart and citrus moved in. So now we were on a quest for Shandy greatness. We tried some local bars and got the once over, "say what" look on several occasions. Then we hit upon a place in the Outer Banks, Kill Devil Hills to be exact. Just by sheer chance we decided to stop at the only wind powered Brewery/Restaurant I have ever heard of, The Outerbanks Brewing Station (http://www.obbrewing.com). We asked the waitress for a Shandy and she proceeded to ask us which beer we wanted. After looking at the various brews created, we settled on their Olsch. The Olsch was the perfect choice for a Shandy. It was light and fragrant and was a perfect complement to lemonade. I drank a glass of the Olsch on its own and was extremely pleased. It wasn't bitter, which you would expect, and had good thrist quenchinability. I ended up trying a bunch of their brews and found each one quite delicious in their own right. There was one, whose name escapes that was made with coriander that I didn't care for. That had more to do with the fact that I'm not huge coriander fan, and this really captured that flavor. Their stouts were big and strong. Definitely ones to sip and savor as opposed to chugging like you can their lighter fare. As far as the food goes, we were pleasantly surprised by excellent quality of their preparations. I had their steak sandwich with portabella mushrooms that was really just fabulous. My wife had the Yard Bird and that was also very delicious. You can tell they take a lot of care and time with everything they do. Service was very good. Atmosphere during the afternoon was typical vacationer busy, but at night I get the feeling the place really rocks when the live music kicks in. Its definitely a place where you go for the beer and you are really happy you decided to eat. If you find yourself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, definitely stop in at the Outerbanks Brewing Station. You won't be disappointed.Carpe DM Consultinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18141177480691866464noreply@blogger.com1