take back swine!

So called facts are fraud

They want us to allege and pledge

And bow down to their God

Lost the culture, the culture lost

Spun our minds and through time

Ignorance has taken over

Yo, we gotta take the power back!

“Take the Power Back” by Rage Against Machine

Foodies unite! The flu will not deter us, the silly masks will not intimidate us, we will eat pork and not be afraid. Seriously, there is nothing to fear, go out there and eat more pork! Don’t believe me, read this. I made BLT’s, what are you going to make?

On a more serious note, this has been spreading to Bay Area schools, here are the tips that were given to the teachers in my district to limit spread of the H1N1 virus:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people
• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

(From the Contra Costa County School Insurance Group)

green garlic chimichurri shrimp quesadillas

He said I won’t be much for conversation if we go and do the rest of this

She said I’ve never been much for conservation

I kinda dig these awkward silences

She’s got those Bones Brigade videos

She knew them back and forth

She’s slept with so many skaters

She had the place to herself

She had a couple hundred bucks and he had nothing but the number

“Hornets! Hornets!” by The Hold Steady

Try this, you will not be disappointed.  The chimichurri goes really well with shrimp, I have also used this with tacos…superb!

Makes two large quesadillas

Quesadilla

Ingredients:

½ pound medium shrimp, tails removed
Green garlic chimichurri (See recipe below)
2 tablespoons of butter
4 large tortillas
8 ounces of shredded cheese (I used jack and cheddar)

Directions:

1.    Marinate the shrimp in the chimichurri for 30 minutes
2.    Melt the butter over high heat in a small skillet
3.    Add the shrimp and cook until they begin to turn pink, reserve
4.    Assemble quesadilla by placing half of the cheese and half of the shrimp between two tortillas, repeat
5.    Over medium-high heat, brown the quesadillas on both sides in a large skillet

Green Garlic Chimichurri

Ingredients:

½ bunch fresh Italian parsley, leaves only
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
2 green garlic stalks, root and leaves removed (or 2 cloves of garlic)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.    Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth

at the farmers market: green garlic

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel

you were famous, your heart was a legend.

You told me again you preferred handsome men

but for me you would make an exception.

And clenching your fist for the ones like us

who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,

you fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind,

we are ugly but we have the music.”

“Chelsea Hotel No.2” by Leonard Cohen

Some of my favorite blogs do green garlic:

Arjun/Green Garlic Pizza

Beetses/Squid with Pesto (Wild Garlic)

Simply Recipes/Fava Bean Dip

Bitten/Vichyssoise

dulce de leche pot de crème

Sweet black magic coming down the line.

Sweet black magic coming down the line.

Don’t worry little honey,

‘Bout the money you’ll be feelin’ fine.

Cause I’m gonna see the doctor,

Got some money, gonna get us high.

“Sweet Black Magic” by Ryan Adams

I think it’s about time to start doing a little more dessert! I had an unbelievable dulce de leche pot de crème when Elissa and I were up in Calistoga at JoLe.  This is my interpretation of that dessert.  My rendition has a lighter, more pudding like consistency while the JoLe version was much fudgier. Pot de crème variations are endless, try one.

Oh yeah, and what the heck is this dulce de leche stuff anyways?

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of heavy cream
½ cup dulce de leche

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300° F and heat water enough water fill a 9×13 pan halfway (I use a teapot)
2. Whisk egg yolks sugar and salt until combined
3. Heat cream, vanilla extract and dulce de leche over medium low heat until reaching about 175° F, remove from heat
4. SLOWLY add cream mixture to the eggs, whisk constantly
5. Divide the egg/cream mixture evenly in 6 ramekins
6. Place ramekins in a 9×13 pan
7. Pour hot water one inch from the tops of the ramekin lids
8. Place foil over the pan and wrap tightly
9. Poke small holes in two of the corners
10. Bake for about 35 minutes our until just set
11. Let cool completely before serving cover and refridgerate
12. Let come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving

braised collard greens

She’s a jar

With a heavy lid

My pop quiz kid

A sleepy kisser

A pretty war

With feelings hid

She begs me not to miss her

“She’s a Jar” by Wilco

Collard greens are something most Wisconsinites do not dabble in very often.  I had never tried them before moving out here.  I made these with some fried chicken which I will post some other time.

Ingredients:

3 bunches collard greens, rinsed, trimmed and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
¼ cup cider vinegar
½ onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
50 ounce can chicken stock
2 smoked ham hocks
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1  teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft then add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds
2. Add ham hock and chicken stock, cover and simmer for 30 minutes
3. Add greens and turn the heat up to medium, cook for 45 minutes
4. Add cider vinegar and season with salt and pepper
5. Continue to cook until the greens are tender and dark green, about 45 minutes
6. Drain greens and mix in red pepper flakes

at the farmers market: collard greens

We blew up our T.V. threw away our paper

Went to the country, built us a home

Had a lot of children, fed ‘em on peaches

They all found Jesus on their own

“Spanish Pipedream” by John Prine

Some interesting collard green recipes:

Pasta with sausage and collard greens

Farro with collard greens and bacon salt

Minestrone with collard greens and white beans

lemon basil oil

I love to see the tow-owns a-passin’ by

And to ride these rails ‘neath God’s blue sky

Let me travel this la-and from the mountains to the sea

‘Cause that’s the life I believe He meant for me

And when I’m go-one and at my grave you stand

Just say God called home your Ra-amblin’ Man.

“Ramblin’ Man” by Hank Williams

This stuff is great for a grilled cheese or caprese sandwich or on top of soup.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh basil packed
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in the food processor, process until well combined
2. Put mixture in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat for 4 minutes
3. Strain mixture with a fine mesh strainer

eat oregon

Well Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz

If that ain’t love then tell me what is

Well I lost my heart it didn’t take no time

But that ain’t all. I lost my mind in Oregon

“Portland Oregon” by Loretta Lynn

We just got back from Oregon and we had a blast.  As per most vacations (and my life) it revolved around food.  The trip consisted of one day in Medford, two days in Portland, two days in Bend, and one day in Chico.

Medford

Standing Stone Brewing Company

It was hard to get the fumes of the local meth labs out of our noses, so we made an excellent decision to dine in Ashland.  Ashland is a cool little town south of Medford that is famous for hosting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  We decided that our long trip to southern Oregon deserved a pitcher of beer.  We tried the Standing Stone beer sampler and unanimously decided that their Double IPA was outstanding (standing get it?).  The food was pretty overpriced and forgettable, except for the wood fired pretzel with spicy marionberry hefeweisen mustard.

Portland

Pok Pok

We met up with our friends Joel and Amanda and had an amazing dinner here.  Pok Pok was Oregon’s Restaurant of the Year in 2007, the meal I had easily explained why.  First, my cocktail, a refreshing whiskey sour with tamarind, it was so good I could have had a couple of gallons.  I had a great pork dish and Elissa had calamari salad, which was solid.  The highlight of the meal for me was Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings which are “fresh natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce, garlic and sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic and served with Vietnamese table salad”, these were freakin’ awesome.

Clear Creek Distillery

After an eventful job fair, we went to the Clear Creek distillery because I wanted to try their whiskey.  Sadly, they had long been sold out of their whiskey but I tried some other excellent stuff including pear eau de vie, apple brandy, grappa, and Douglass Fir eau de vie which is “inspired by an obscure Alsatian distillate called Eau de Vie de Bourgeons de Sapin”. I left with a bottle of pear eau de vie and apple brandy.

Olea

We didn’t really want to go fancy but we saw they had a bar menu.  Once we got seated, we found out that Monday’s and Tuesday’s were all day happy hour, score!  There is only one thing that I am going to write about from this restaurant…three words…duck…fat…fries.  They were as good as I hoped they would be, the duck fat give them a flavor that tasted like turkey skin.

Arleta Library Bakery Café

Our last stop in Portland was for breakfast, this place was highly regarded by Joel, Amanda and my old preschool buddy Mark R.  First, they served Stumptown coffee which is always a good way to start off a meal. Second, it was a cute little place, only two people working, one waitress, one cook.  I had the Portlander which was “three eggs scrambled with wild mushrooms,Tillamook cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon”.  The meal was nicely balanced, not too much egg, not too much cheese, not too much bacon, not too much veggies, just nicely balanced.

Bend

La Rosa

They had some solid enchiladas and some great salsa.  I had enchiladas del Mar “prawns, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro sautéed in white wine and Mexican spices, wrapped in two corn
tortillas and topped with green sauce, Monterey cheese, sour cream, and avocado” Overall, great food, a little spendy but I would definitely go back.

Deschutes Brewery

This is my favorite brewery right now.  Elissa and I visited for the first time over last Thanksgiving and fell in love.  The food was solid as usual and the beer was superb.  I got to guzzle a couple of pints of my favorite brew, Bachelor ESB.

spring onion corned beef hash

The Empty Bottle was half empty, tide was low, and I was thirsty.

Saw her sitting at the bar, you know how some girls are,

Always making eyes, well she wasn’t making eyes.

So I sidled up beside her, settled down and shouted, “Hi there.”

“My name’s Stewart Ransom Miller, I’m a serial lady-killer.”

She said, “I’m already dead,” that’s exactly what she said.

“Barrier Reef” by The Old 97’s

I have never made corned beef hash before, but boy I’m glad I did.  My problem is that I rarely ever have leftover corned beef sitting in my fridge.  I guess I’ll have to find a deli in the area that can keep me supplied.  I really liked the spring onion top garnish, it added a sharp green onion flavor to the hash.  As with all hash, this would be great with a couple of fried eggs.

Ingredients:

1 cup of corned beef, chopped
1 cup of red potato, cubed (peel potatoes and boil in salted water until just tender about 10 minutes)
½ cup spring onion roots (white and white-green parts), chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 cup spring onion tops, thinly sliced

Directions:

1.    Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
2.    Add spring onion roots and cook until just soft, about 3 minutes, remove
3.    Add butter to the skillet
4.    Combine cooked spring onion, boiled potato and corned beef, season with salt and pepper
5.    Flip occasionally until well-browned (I used a lid to compress the mixture and keep the corned beef from popping out of the skillet)
6.    Season with spring onion tops, salt and pepper
7.     Serve alone or with toast and eggs

at the farmers market: spring onion

Baby’s on fire

Better throw her in the water

Look at her laughing

Like a heifer to the slaughter

Baby’s on fire

And all the laughing boys are bitching

Waiting for photos

Oh the plot is so bewitching

“Baby’s On Fire” by Brian Eno

Spring onions are, from what I have gathered, kind of like a young sweet onion or an old green onion. Let’s see what magic some of my favorite sites did with the spring onion.

CHOW/Risotto

This seems interesting: Spring Onion Pancake