Dilly Beans

Fresh Dill Smells Amazing.

Ok. Clean and prep your green beans. This is about two pounds, ends clipped and cut to length.
You're going to want to leave at least a quarter of an inch of headspace in your jars, so none of your beans should be longer than that.

Here's a few seasonings.
I think the dried chiles are pretty bland, so I talked Miranda into letting me put a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper in as well for a touch of heat. The cayenne is variable. Just depends on how hot you like it.

Here's another shot of the prep. Each jar gets a clove of garlic, a pepper/cayenne, a head of dill, and beans.
Speaking of which, you can use either pints or quarts...
We're using quarts.

Pack the beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving the quarter inch of headspace.
Mix and bring to a boil 2.5 cups of vinegar, 2.5 cups water, and 1/4 cup canning/pickling salt. Pour mixture over beans, leaving a quarter inch headspace.
Remove any air bubbles and cap, then process ten minutes in a boiling water bath.

Cooling on the counter.

Pickles

So. I received a treat the other day from my Dad and sister. They know I like pickles, so they picked me up a "Hot Mama".

All I can say is, "Wow".
That's a stiff vinegar. I didn't get the "hot" part... sure it made my eyes water, but it was all vinegar, no spice.

Mike seems to enjoy his bit, but as far as I'm concerned, my face says it all.
It was pretty rough.

Boiled Peanuts

I just returned to Richland after being away for a couple of weeks... and while I'm unloading the truck, the neighbors show up and give me some boiled peanuts.  And while I'd say these are by no means a typical Pacific Northwest snack, they are a treat.  They're pretty darn good.

Salty, Soft, with a hint of Cayenne... This is where the Legume side of the peanut shines.  They remind me of beans.

Except for the bit of peanut flavor.

Limeade: Part Deux

I'm channeling David.

I used:

1 cup fresh lime juice

~1/2 Tbsp lime zest

3/4 cup sugar

3 cups water

Combine the sugar, zest, and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil... stir and remove from heat, your sugar should be dissolved.

Combine lime juice and the other 2 cups of water in a pitcher, and strain syrup into it.

Chill and/or serve over ice.

Keep in mind that this is just kind of a guideline.  I figure I'm sweet enough, so I only put in 3/4 Cup of sugar... others I know put in a full cup.  Course, a lot depends on how tart the limes you have are.  So make sure you taste as you go along.  Just as if you were cooking... season and taste, season and taste.

Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce

I'm totally clammed out... but Dad wanted to use up the clams...

And what do you know? I ended up eating a bit more!

For this recipe you're supposed to use:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
1/4 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, ground

2 cans (6.5 oz) Minced Clams

1 Pound Spagetti

2 Tbsp Romano Cheese, Grated

And that's all good. But I can't say that I exactly followed the recipe.

We controlled ourselves with the pasta and cooked it according to the package's directions.

And we browned the garlic in the oil, except that we doubled the garlic. I mean... c'mon. Two cloves?

Here's Dad with the butter, clams, clam nectar, and seasonings. We added this to the garlic and oil and heated everything through.

I should mention, we did our own thing.

We steamed our own clams, and also used fresh herbs instead of all the dried herbs.  Fresh herbs make a big difference. Fresh clams do too! (not canned)

The quick and dirty rule of thumb for substituting fresh for dried herbs is 1 tsp dried becomes 1 Tbsp fresh.

Just for reference... there's 3 tsp per Tbsp.

And once you've drained your pasta, just toss the spagetti with the clam sauce, and top with Romano cheese. A little bit of good bread to sop up that sauce doesn't hurt either.

Moroccan Chicken

I haven't posted to this blog in a while... so here goes. I pulled this recipe off of The Stir

 Like most every other good recipe, this one starts with olive oil (~2 Tbsp), onion (1 large, sliced), and garlic (3 cloves, diced). I thought of pressing the garlic, but I actually did dice it eventually.

Notice the food is on a glass cutting board. It's good for holding stuff, but it's the absolute worst "cutting" board to have. If you care about your knife's edge, even a little bit, do NOT cut on glass. Get yourself some wood. Wood's #1. And plastic is ok too, especially for raw meat, since it is easy to run it through the dishwasher.

 Anyway, heat the oil (medium heat) and then throw in the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until onions are soft... about ten minutes.

 K, while the onions are cooking, you need to grab up some spices. Here we have:

1 Tbsp Sweet Paprika

1.5 tsp Salt

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Coriander (Ground)

1 tsp Fennel (Ground)

1 tsp Black Pepper (Ground)

.5 tsp Cumin (Ground)

.5 tsp Ginger (Ground)

Now, set these aside, we'll use them in a minute.

 Just a quick note on the ground spices...

Consider grinding your own. Get yourself an old coffee grinder and use it... or use the old standby, the mortar and pestle. Just trust me on this one. There's nothing else like it.  You'll love it.

 We're also going to need the juice from 1 lemon.

 And yes, I know. The emergency room Doctor said I wasn't to be allowed "sharps", but hey... that was in IDAHO, I'm in Washington now! And let me tell ya, that lemon juice wakes you up when you get it in the cut on your fingertip that somehow magically appeared last week after you forgot your gloves and yet you were out there on the beach anyway, shucking oysters! (Genius)  I mean, what's the worst that can happen right? But, I digress...

 Crap. Speaking of digressing, I went to get the chicken for this recipe and realized I still have clams that need eatin' up!

Hey wait. Did you see that?

 Just sitting around with my siphon hanging out.

 Ok, so I really need to get this back on track. Where was I? Oh yes, once the onions are soft drop in your spices and stir for about a minute. Then you want to dump in water (1 cup), the Lemon juice from above, and some diced tomatoes (~14 oz). Bring this to a boil, and then add your chicken (1 lb, boneless thighs are what I used). Spoon some of the sauce over the meat and then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and simmer some more, another 15 or 20 minutes.

 Now this was listed as "optional" in the original recipe, but since I'm an "optional" kind of guy and had three small eggplant in the fridge, I went for it. While the chicken is simmering, cut the eggplant (1 Large) into 1 inch chunks. I then tossed them in a bag with some olive oil and tossed it around to coat the chunks. Out onto a baking sheet with parchment paper, and we're in business. I baked them about 20 minutes at 350, and they were soft and brown.

 Once the eggplant and the chicken is cooked, grab yourself some fresh mint. The recipe says 1 bunch, chopped. But I just grabbed it out of the yard and tore it up. Throw it in with the eggplant, and olives (1 can) if you like olives. Just let this simmer for a few minutes until everything is heated through.

 And while you're doing that last bit of simmerin', you should probably toast your Almonds that you're going to top the Chicken with. Now I know it's easier to just throw them on and not take the time to toast them, but just like with the spices... trust me. It's worth it. Until you've toasted your nuts and ground your own spices, you're missing the second and third best things in life.

 And finally... we eat!

(I served mine over rice, you can do whatever you want.)

Brisket Baby... Brisket.

Well, the smoker hasn't been out in a while, so to welcome spring Matt and I decided to do up a beef brisket.  After spending a little bit of time on this here webber-net thingie we found this rub.  It was by far the most intriguing rub recipe we found, so it was kind of a no brainer.

We procured a brisket near the 10 lb mark

Then we mixed up our rub. If you didn't click on the link above, here's the recipe.

1/2 cup ground coffee or chicory (we used finely ground coffee)

1/2 cup course salt

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup hot paprika

2 tablespoons ground cardamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger (we grated ours fresh)

1/3 cup chopped fresh garlic (we pressed ours)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Rubbing the Brisket.

When this was done, it was wrapped in plastic and thrown in the fridge overnight.

The next morning you've got to start pretty early. At least if you're going to eat at a regular dinner time. We fired up the side firebox about nine... I think.

This shot was taken about 3.30 in the afternoon.  At this point the brisket had been smoking for several hours. Notice the baste (beer, oil, cider vinegar).  Oh, and Raymond in the background trimming bushes.

Working in the yard is genius when you're smoking something...

One, because you can keep your eye on the grill and easily add coals/wood every hour and baste.

And two, because you're going to draw a crowd... you might as well press them into service.

Don't worry, if you're around, we'll feed you too.

When the brisket started to reach the end, Matt whipped up some of Emeril's Mustard Greens.  The basic recipe goes something like this...

3/4 pound sliced bacon

3 cups sliced onions

8 cloves garlic, mashed

3 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 quart water

1 (12-ounce) can beer

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons molasses or cane syrup

5 pounds fresh greens, such as mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, or kale, rinsed well, picked over and tough stems removed.

In a large, heavy pot cook the bacon until it has rendered most of its fat, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper and cook until the onions are wilted, about 4 minutes. Add 1 quart of water, the beer, vinegar, and molasses and bring to a boil. Begin adding the greens in batches, pressing down with a wooden spoon to submerge them in the hot liquid and adding more as they wilt. When all of the greens have been added, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the greens, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender.

Eventually, you'll end up with a pot full of something like this.

But they are soooo good.

Throw in some storebought cheesy jalapeno bread that's been heated so the cheese is melted.

Then you've got dinner.

St Patricks Day Dinner

I know for many this may be considered sacrilige but this year there was no Corned Beef, Cabbage, Irish Cheddar or even Soda Bread at my house... This year I Grilled up some Steaks, Had Garlic Mash Potatoes, sauted Mushrooms & Onions and a fresh Jicama & Herb Salad with Cumin Lime dressing. Yum!

Green Tea

Delicious blooming Green Tea! Becky, thank you for the tea! Chris, thank you for the cup.

Mo's Bacon Bar

Everybody Loves Bacon!

It's Meat Candy!

Holiday Wreaths

First, tie a bunch of pieces of twizzler pull and peel into bows.


Then melt the butter.


Melt the marshmallows.


Add the green food coloring.


Stir in the corn flakes.

Holiday Wreaths:

1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz) regular marshmallows
1 teaspoon green food coloring (or more)
12 cups corn flakes
Red cinnamon candies
Twizzler pull and peel candy for bows

Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in food coloring. Add cereal. Stir until well coated. Quickly shape warm cereal mixture using hands sprayed with cooking spray. Dot with cinnamon candies and add a bow. If they don't stick, using frosting to hold them in place.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I figured that since it's been so cold, and we've got leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge, that we could use it up... and be warmer... by making some chicken noodle soup. Completely a comfort food.

Here's the recipe straight outta the cookbook:

1 4-5lb stewing chicken, cut up
6 cups of water
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cup dried medium noodles
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley

And that's cool, but y'know, sometimes recipe's are kind of like guidelines. They're just a starting point. Nothing ventured, nothing gained... at least when you're making soup. I wouldn't deviate if I was baking something, but with soup like this... pretty much anything goes. As long as you're not messing with the seasonings... like adding ground cloves or something like that.

So here's what I did.

I had a lot of chicken (4 thighs -raw, plus most of the breast meat from the rotisserie). So I upped the liquid. Pretty much I used the six cups of water the recipe called for, and then added some chicken stock that David had in the freezer, probably another three/four cups of stock.

And since the stock was already salted and seasoned, I didn't change any of the seasonings from the original recipe. Sure, a lot of salt is tasty, but the health effects negate anything good you can get from it. Anyway, then I added the raw chicken, bay leaf, and onion, and simmered it for about two hours. And I was generous with the onion. As any man should be.

While the chicken simmered, I was choppin' up other ingredients...
I personally like cooked veggies, especially carrots. So I doubled the amount of chopped carrots and celery. A good dose of vegetables have never hurt anybody.

After the chicken was done simmering, I removed the thighs and pulled the meat from the bones. I also chopped up the rotisserie. Then I skimmed whatever fat off the top of the broth that I could, and returned it to a boil.

Once again at a boil, I dumped in the carrots and celery. I'm only going to let this go for about 8 minutes, so after a minute or two I also dumped in the pasta since it'll only take about 6 to 7 minutes to cook.

Now, I had no idea what kind of noodle I was supposed to use in this soup. I don't really care for pasta much, so I'm not familiar with all of the different types of this or that... so I just walked up and down the noodle isle at the grocery and picked out a good thick, wide, whole wheat noodle that I thought would be noodle-ey enough. Yes, I just said noodle-ey. It worked great.

And since no soup is really complete without some sort of dipping bread, I grabbed some potato rosemary artisan bread. Rosemary? With chicken you say? Yes. Rosemary. It was good.

After the pasta and veggies cooked, I dumped in th chicken, let it heat through... and yes. We have dinner.

And not a bad dinner (soup) at that.