It’s The Little Things

Life for me is erratic. Sometimes I have a lot on my plate and sometimes things are kind of slow.I constantly push myself.But I go out on a limb because I want to. The key is to find balance. Besides my day job I have some sidelines. I wouldn’t call them profitable yet, but I get pleasure and some other things from them. This past weekend to ‘support” my sideline product I gave a free demo on my dime and time.I really wanted to stay home with Certain Someone, play in the kitchen, blog, and veg.The day seemed fine enough. I noticed a man arrive besides me who seemed at a loss. Seems he was supposed to demo at this fine wine emporium but didn’t speak much English or know what to do. I thought it was odd and tried to help him out. We spoke a little English and French as he knew French. We offered each other samples. About a few hours into our boring Sunday the store manager came by. Seems this kind interesting man was the owner of the vineyard and made these fine wines! From that point on they moved him to his proper place and make a big fuss. Where were they at the beginning I ask? Anyway I went over to say goodbye and took a bottle of his Moscato. He grabbed the bottle and said something in halting English. He returned with the bottle all wrapped up for me . Gratis! A small thank you. Made my day.Check out his vineyards.

The today I had a special package awaiting me. I won some Amano Chocolate from Blake Makes! I don’t know how this blogger does it but he always has great giveaways. I’m waiting for Certain Someone to return so we can sample together.

And a final thought from me for the week. I want and love good food. Time is a question most times. While I don’t shy away from the complex, sometimes I like it simple. I pulled this one out of my hat the other morning.A slow cooked pork loin in my favorite Asian spices and seasonings. I wanted this slow cooked meal to be similar to my favorite Schezwan green beans. Not quite, but a good meal . I don’t have to tell you the Certain Someone had a few servings of the meat!

Slow Cooked Pork Loin

1 pork loin

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup water

4 Star Anise

Dried Chilies to your taste( I used 4)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

I/2 cup of a simple syrup I made infused with rum( leftover from the rum buns). Your could use Golden Syrup

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker. Place on 8 hours. Go about and enjoy your day. Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice and green beans.

BBQ…With a Asian Twist

This past Sunday was glorious in Chicago. I had a early meeting and Certain Someone played some golf. We knew we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine and BBQ. I have a spacious deck in need of repair. Currently a team is using it to work on the roof. Certain Someone has never really enjoyed my deck. In years past it was teaming with flowers.Me and my condo association are stalled on the maintenance of the deck.A neighbour is holding up the process of repainting and varnishing it. So until its settled I don’t feel like enjoying it. But the deck is what motivated me to buy the condo in the first place.So anyway the night before we went with some friends to dine on Argyle Street. Argyle St is up to the north and is teaming with Vietnamese business. On our way to dinner we stopped in a grocery when I loaded up.

Certain Someone got into the act and started adding the condiments and noodles he liked. I searched for more exotic finds like Pandan extracts,

Star Anise( look at this huge bag!), Tamarind Pods,

,

Lychee’s, and this amazing BBQ sauce in can that is a paste of spices and dried fish in a oily base. We sampled this at a friends house and were hooked.At least I was.We both thought of using our loot in the Sunday BBQ.Four bags of groceries for under $30.A BARGAIN!

So I woke up Sunday and marinated 4 chicken breasts in the BBQ sauce I purchased. This sauce comes with a plastic lid and seems to go a long way. It took us a while to light my old rusty charcoal grill. But Certain Someone got up and got it going. I had some Zucchini and green pepper I planned to grill alongside the chicken. Certain Someone was in charge of the noodles. We planned to slice up the grilled veggies and fry them up in the noodles with some garlic. Half my vegetable were lost as my grill basket came loose . But we saved half. He choose the thick white chewy Vietnamese noodles. The chicken had been marinating for hours and I decided in addition to add a final brush of Hoisen Sauce on the final moments of grilling. All in all we created a nice summer late lunch while we discussed buying some nicer deck furniture, Certain Someone enjoyed it outside for a change and suggested we do this more this summer. I’m all for it.Stay tuned for this weekend when Certain Someone flies solo and takes out the WOK for a guest appearance.
I will be closing voting on the Tamale Open Roundup Friday May 10. Please be sure to get your votes in.

Tamale Open…The Cinco de Mayo Roundup


A while back I thought it would be fun to create a event around the tamale.I asked Ben if he’s up to cohosting and he was game.This inspiration came after a fun yet laborious evening I had making tamales. My mind started racing as to all the possibilities out there. They could be sweet or savory. The Tamale has a rich history and its interesting to note how the ingredients change and vary to region. They are not exclusive to Mexico alone. Versions of their corn meal based packet can be found in the Caribbean,Central America, and the Mississippi Delta.Some wrapped in corn husks, and some in Banana leaves. The people of these regions adapted this and made it their own. But we associate the Tamale with Mexico.I had hoped there would be more entries for this.It became apparent Tamales are intimidating to a lot of people. The time, ingredients,and effort tend to put people off. Its easier admittedly to buy them. But there is nothing like enjoying your fresh made tamale that you crafted.I promise the effort is worth it. So we may only have a few entries, but they are stunning entries from all over the globe. I applaud all of you for the effort and depths you went through to participate.Most of the entries of variations of the Tamale. The main requirement is that was Masa based dish. I vow the Tamale Open will be back…
Andele… Let the festivities begin…


Our first entry is from Lisa Rene @ Unique Little Bits.She made a enticing Charred Pepper Pupusa.I don’t think a vegetarian or carnivore can resist these grilled bits.Wouldn’t these be nice starters for our Cinco De Mayo Cookout with a Golden Margarita?

Our second entry came all the way from the UK. Pixie from You Say Tomato I Say Tomato took the train all the way into London Town to secure the ingredients for her authentic Tamales. She mistakenly didn’t feel she did them justice, but I as well as many others are super impressed. Way to go Pixie. You Rock. Lets take a shot of Tequila on this.

The lovely Gabi from The Feast Within thought she was too late but managed to create this delectable entry of Chile Garlic Butter Shrimp on Masa Blinis. They just scream good summer eating outside with a peach Margarita on the side.

Megan from Megans Cookin jumped at the chance to make her man some Chili Verde Sopas. She diplomatically combined their preferences( he ‘s into Chile Verde and she likes her Carnitas) for a fab dish. I just want to sop this up with a nice chilled Cerveza.They must be a great couple because this dish works.

And last but not least…Moi. I decided to offer up a tasty dessert of Banana Chipolte Pineapple Tamales. Since I had already made tamales previously, I decided to explore a sweeter route steamed in Banana leaf. I think I need some coffee with this and maybe a slug of Kahlua .

So here’s our limited but Muy Delicioso Roundup.Now lets go over to Ben’s Place to vote. He will be setting up a poll this week. The winner will get great this great prize below. If by chance the winner is outside the US, I will replace the spice element with another.
Thanks you all for participating and reading!

Something New…The Turnip

It’s My 100th Post!But not a terribly exciting one.

After all that sugary goodness this week,my Certain Someone actually requested fish and some nice veggies for dinner. I still had a bit form the vegetable box. I wanted to use some large turnips but wasn’t sure sure how to incorporate with fish. I also had zucchini and a assortment of different types of tomatoes.My sudden inspiration was to mash my turnips with some butter and throw in some crumbled Feta to go with the Mediterranean style zucchini and tomatoes.I roasted my Tilapia with a brush of olive oil and smoked Paprika. Sauteed my zucchini with tomatoes,Shitakes, sun dried tomatoes and garlic and served both on a bed of Turnip Puree. Verdict: Certain Someone licked his pasta bowl clean and ate every bite. I liked my turnip puree but I felt the flavor was very strong. Maybe the Feta addition would have been more suitable with red meat.He thought it was fine.The turnips made a beautiful puree that needed no additional liquids.Turnips are a pretty underused vegetable. All in all a pretty good experiment and I will not fear the Turnip any longer.I was surprised at how filling this dish was.

Turnip Puree with Feta
1 large turnip peeled and cut into quarters
salt
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of Feta

Boil turnips until soft. Drain water. Add butter. Add salt,pepper, and Feta. Take Immersion Blender and puree. Serve alongside roasted meat of fish.

Growing Up In D.C…Remember the Rum Bun?

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Did you know this is my 99th post and I only begun last summer! How time flies.Speaking of which I had a wave of nostalgia sweep over me.I realized I hadn’t had a Rum Bun in a long time.Growing up in the Washington D. C area during the 70’s AND 80’s Rum Buns were a distinct part of the bread basket before dinner in the great seafood houses such as Hogates, O’Donnells, Bish Thompsons,Flagship,and Anchor Inn( most long since shuttered).As a child I couldn’t wait to did into those warm sweet rolls before my order of Lobster came. Whats a child doing ordering Lobster you ask?Well legend has it that I was the lobster baby. Before I could even read I had to have my lobster!No Kiddie menu for me. My mother encouraged it and my father resentfully paid the bill.Once he tried to trick me and say there was no lobster on the menu. I grabbed his menu and said ‘let me see’. My big eyes went over the menu and found it. He couldn’t get away with it. Eventually I grew out of my lobster addiction. Certain Someone was appalled when he heard this story and thinks I’m spoiled rotten. Maybe I am.
So back to the Rum Buns…Now that we have Internet I did a search. I found the Hogates recipe from the former chef on a few sites. They looked consistent. I mistakenly believed I had a well stocked baking pantry, but I didn’t . So I made some changes as the amounts of some of the ingredients were large. I ran out of All Purpose flour so I added Amaranth flour and wheat in addition to the 1lb of what I had. I didn’t have 4 oz fresh yeast and prayed my 2 oz of SAF instant yeast worked ,as lesser amounts are required with this type. And the recipe called for obscene amounts of Rum Extract. One bottle is 1 oz. The dough alone required 2z. So had to add real dark rum. I purchased more Rum extract later on for the glaze and icing. Yes glaze and icing combined!These babies will be going to work as they are to lethal to leave laying around.

In other news the lovely folks at Cakespy sent me these cute badges for giving a lead. If you haven’t checked out this site do. They are loads of fun and seem to have spies everywhere giving us great reviews, interviews, etc.

Also Ben has awarded me the Blog of Distinction Award. Thanks darling. I guess I have to pass that on.
Hogates Rum Buns
Ingredients:
Dough
2 pounds all-purpose flour
1 ounce all-purpose flour
6 ounces granulated sugar
5 ounces raisins
4 ounces vegetable shortening
4 ounces butter (unsalted, room temperature)
2 tablespoons grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground bakers cinnamon
1 ounce table salt
1 cup water warm
4 ounces fresh yeast
1 cup pasteurized or fresh eggs
2 ounces rum extract
1 cup whole milk
Cinnamon-Sugar Mix
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup sugar
Glaze
1 cup water
1/2 cup rum extract
6 ounces granulated sugar
Icing
2 ounces rum extract
2 ounces light corn syrup
1 ounce unsalted butter (melted)
12 ounces confectioners sugar
Directions:
In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine all dough ingredients. Mix for 20 minutes until dough is smooth, place on floured tray and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Flour work surface and roll dough out 4 inches by 20 inches. Brush with melted butter (not in above ingredients) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix as needed. Roll dough strips tightly together. With knife, cut into sections three fingers wide and place in greased (not in above ingredients) muffin pan. Place a towel over the buns and proof them (let them rise until double in size.takes between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room). Then bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Turn pans occasionally for even baking. Remove from oven and brush with glaze (Heat glaze ingredients until sugar is dissolved)immediately. Cool for at least 10 minutes, then coat with icing( just mix all ingredients together adding the liquids a bit at a time) before serving.