Lamb Sausage Ragout

Wow... that sure sounds fancy. It's surprisingly-simple, though. Start with the Fabulous Foursome (garlic, onion, celery, and carrot) and... you're more than half done.


I based it off this Emeril recipe, but (since I'm pathologically incapable of following a recipe, even my own) I made a few changes. First of all, I don't get all futzy and measure things. I used two smallish carrots, two celery stalks, and a bunch of lovely, local green onions. I had regular onions, but... wanted to use the green onions before they went bad. They were so big, too, that I figured they had plenty of oniony goodness. I only used one pound of lamb sausage, because I'm not cooking for a crowd... cooked that up in a dab of lard (hee hee... I love using lard because it's SOOO "wrong"), took it out of the pan (because I was short on space) and tossed in the veggies. When they were ready, I added 2 cups of tomato puree, about 1/4 cup of wine, 3 shakes of red pepper flakes (which was too much!) and 1/2 teaspoon thyme.

I didn't have the mushrooms, so I just put it on pasta and had the Grill Geek grill up some asparagus.

Beans and Greens, Ole!

I never make meat-less meals, and yet... tonight... I did. Weird. It wasn't vegetarian, because I used lard and chicken broth. But, there was no meat. My headache is telling me not to do this again. But... it was pretty tasty.

I had some pinto beans that needed to get cooked (I'd soaked them and put them in the freezer, then thawed them thinking I was going to do something else... they languished..) I also had a ton of greens that needed to get cooked. I love cannelini and kale, which is Italian in flavor. Would pintos and kale be good? Yes! Once the beans were soft (cooked in chicken broth), I tossed in some cumin, coriander, black pepper, and ancho chile powder. I put those brothy beans on the bottom of my bowl and topped with braised kale (cooked with onions and garlic, with a chopped tomato thrown in near the end) and sprinkled a bit of fresh cilantro over it.

Pretty darn good. I don't have a second opinion, as the kids don't that sort of mixed-together food and the Grill Geek was asleep early.

Get Yer Goat!

I am now converted... I love goat.

The Grill Geek had some sort of goat years ago, at a Jamaican restaurant. He loved it. I was a bit more leery, but... as we've been eating all sorts of weird things lately, decided we'd get some as soon as we could. On a recent trip to the farmer's market in Austin, the opportunity arose. They were out of ground meat, so we opted for steaks. They were called something else, but looked like itty bitty t-bones. I handed them over to the Grill Geek as a totally-not-surprising Iron Chef Grill ingredient.
He worked wonders.



Pandering to the judge is always welcome, so he wrapped things in bacon. The bottom left of the photo shows unidentifiable blobs that I will tell you are bacon-wrapped tomatoes . He thickly-sliced some fresh, local (greenhouse) tomatoes, wrapped them in bacon, and grilled away. They looked like a bit of a pain in the arse, but they tasted FABULOUS. Anyway, back to the rest... hot dogs at top left, "for the kids", smallish pieces of goat in the middle, fat green onions, then bigger pieces of goat.
He also grilled some asparagus (simply toss with oil and salt and it becomes pure joy.)


The joke was on us. Both children devoured every scrap of goat we were willing to toss their way. No one got enough. The hot dogs were utterly ignored. The tomatoes were melty-juicy-tart inside crisp-salty... wow. Goat tastes like buttery bambi-beef. So juicy. So meaty. So good.

Iron Chef Mom goes Hawaiian

This has to be my favorite failure ever.
I went way over on my time, thanks to not remembering to thaw my shrimp ahead of time, not delegating effectively to my sous chef, and getting too much "help" from the Little Guy. Excuses, excuses... I failed.

And that's ok. Because dinner was absolutely fabulously delicious beyond all reason. The secret ingredient was pineapple! Too fun!

The Menu:

Bacon-wrapped, rum-soaked pineapple slices

Spicy grilled shrimp

Thai stir-fried rice

Roasted pineapple and avocado salad

Tortuga Twister

Bacon Wrapped Rum-Soaked Pineapple

(does it get any better than this?)

¼ cup dark rum
1/2 pound (or so) thin cut bacon
Slices/chunks of fresh pineapple

Soak pineapple in rum, 15 minutes or so. Wrap pineapple slices with bacon and secure with a toothpick (or not... I didn't bother, probably should have). Broil in oven until bacon is browned and cooked (8 minutes each side worked for me.) It's like bacon candy. Seriously. Wow.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled

about 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
several hard shakes garlic Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Marinate shrimp about 15 minutes... grill. Out of this world incredible!

Thai Stir Fried Rice and Pineapple

3/4 cup pineapple, in small chunks
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
½ teaspoon sugar
1 cup of cold, steamed Thai jasmine rice
coriander leaves as garnish

Put the pineapple in a bowl and add the jalapeño, ginger, and cilantro, mix and set aside. Add a pinch of salt to bring out the juice. In a wok, heat about a tablespoon of oil stir and fry the bell

pepper and onion about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir quickly, until it barely begins to brown. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Add the fish sauce and sugar and continue stirring. When the rice is heated through, add the pineapple mixture and stir until thoroughly heated through.

I didn't expect to like the sweetness of pineapple in fried rice, but it was fabulous. The two peppers were just the right amount of heat for me... which means not all that much. I'm a weenie these days.

Roasted Pineapple and Avocado Salad

The creamy avocado really works magic in this salad. Once again, I was surprised by how much I liked the sweet pineapple in a dish I traditionally enjoy savory. I think the next time I make this (and, oh yes, there will be a next time) I will add crumbled bacon. I think that roasty, salty flavor
would make it perfect.

• About 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into 3/4-inch chunks

• 1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar

• salt

• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 1 Hass avocado, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
  

• 1 head red leaf lettuce

• Freshly ground pepper

• Lime wedges, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, toss the pineapple with the brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Spread the pineapple on a baking sheet and roast in the upper third of the oven for about 10 minutes, or until softened and just beginning to brown.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar. Add the lettuce, season with salt and pepper, and toss. Sprinkle the avocado chunks with lime juice, to prevent browning. Transfer the salad to plates, top with the pineapple and avocado, and serve.

Tortuga Twister

1 oz white rum
1 oz Sailor Jerry (spiced rum)
1/2 oz Amaretto
1/2 oz Orange Curacao/Triple Sec
4 oz grapefruit juice, fresh-squeezed
splash of grenadine

Shake rums and amaretto with ice. Pour into a hurricane glass half filled with ice. Top with and grenadine. Garnish with a pineapple stick* and an umbrella or pirate sword. Arrrrr! (Tortuga!)

* a pineapple "stick" is merely a piece of the hard core, cut into a stick-ish shape, for garnishing goodness.

Bonus Rant

Microwave-ready steamable rice? Really? Seriously? Did I just see this in my grocery store ad?

AAAAAAACCKK!!!

Was Uncle Ben's Minute Rice kicking people's asses? Was boiling a pot of water too much like "actual cooking?" Did it take too long? Dirty too many actual dishes? Was it not disposable enough? Was it not something the kids could do for themselves while rocking out on iPods and texting their friends?

W. T. F.

Microwavable steam-packs of white rice.

I admit to loving my rice cooker... it simplifies the task for me, but actually takes a lot longer to cook it. I don't care. I plan ahead. If I didn't have a rice cooker I'd probably just not eat rice as often. If I was really in a pinch, I'd use minute rice. It's fast. Not really healthy, but... it comes in a biodegradable cardboard box and is really easy to make.

But that wasn't good enough for all the lazy-ass "I don't cook", call-for-pizza Americans out there, was it? Nooo....

And then, the clincher... my store (and yes, there's only one where we live, because our city hosts the company headquarters and no other chain can even get a toe in) has these "meal deals" every week. Buy one or two things, get certain other things free. This week you can "save more than $6.88" if you buy Oscar Mayer lunchmeat and Velveeta singles. (Mmm, yummy, plastic!) What wonderful things do you get for free? Crystal Light On the Go (brain tumors never tasted so good), Kraft Easy Mac Cups (I JUST CAN'T even start that rant, OMG), Jell-O Singles Instant Pudding Mix, and Miracle Whip.
Yeah.

Save $7, lose 7 years of your life.

I think I'll pass.

Soup, Salad, and Bread

The fridge was full of leftovers, my energy meter was low (thanks to accidental ingestion of coconut oil during lunch... in case any one is wondering, yes I am still pouting about that allergy.)
So, dinner needed to be easy. What was on the menu? "Iron Chef Mom." Nope, wasn't going to happen. Nuh-uh, save it for a better night.

Instead, leftover Leftover Leg of Lamb Stew, salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and some fresh soda bread. Not a typo, it was double-leftover stew. I saved the bone and chopped all the meat that was leftover (from Irish Heritage Day) into bite-size pieces, and stuck it in the freezer. Earlier this week, it became dinner with some onions, red potatoes, carrots, peas, and tomatoes. It seems to be a neverending soup, as we've still got some left. That leg of lamb was expensive, but... wow... it just keeps going.

I still love the soda bread. It's marvelous. This time I used traditional currants instead of raisins. Delish.

And... folks... if any of you are still buying bottled salad dressing, made with toxic canola and soy oils... I have to ask WHY?? Seriously, please leave a comment and tell me why on earth you do that to yourselves. Homemade dressing is so easy! You don't need to whisk things, you don't have to get all snooty French about it... buy some of those itty bitty Gladware containers. The ones with the blue lid that hold less than half a cup. (For what it's worth, the screw-top Ziploc containers that are a bit bigger suck. They are NOT liquid-tight!) Then you can just shake up your dressing, pour what you need on your salad, and stick the leftovers in the fridge for another day.
Here's how to make super-easy balsamic dressing:

Squirt a generous dab of Dijon mustard into your container. 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, start with less and see how you like it.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Add a splash of apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar, to tone it down a bit, if you think that'd be good.
Add about twice as much olive oil... eyeball it... it's not rocket science.
Slap the lid on and shake it up.
Taste it. Too tart? More oil. Not tart enough? More vinegar.
Add salt and pepper, some fresh thyme or parsley if you've got it. A pinch of dried herb- any herb pretty much- is nice too.

Oh, and if you're feeling adventurous, use an egg yolk instead of mustard... but don't plan on keeping it in the fridge more than a few days.

Sort-of Ceviche

Today I decided to make ceviche for dinner. Unfortunately, it was an impulse decision, so I didn't have a chance to go shopping for all the proper ingredients. And then I lost my nerve and half-cooked it anyway. Next time I will know to make sure the fish pieces are all the same thickness. I had some bigger chunks that didn't really get... ceviched... all the way through. Since I lacked the chiles and olives and... well, pretty much all the ingredients for a traditional ceviche, I used red pepper flakes for heat and... called it good. I cooked my onions, thinly-sliced, because I can't handle raw onion, even if it's had a long citrus bath.

Ingredients

1 pound halibut, carefully cut into equal inch-ish pieces

1/4 cup grapefruit juice

1/4 cup lime juice (1 really juicy lime)

generous splash of vermouth

1 inch-long knob of ginger, peeled and grated

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 small onion, thinly-sliced, almost-caramelized in bacon fat

2 tablespoons or so fresh parsley, minced

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

Combine the juices, vermouth, ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes in a non-metal bowl. (Yes, it is important that it not be metal.) Toss in the fish, stir, and stick in the fridge for 3 hours. Check on it every now and then, to stir again. Bits of fish that stick snugly to other bits of fish won't get enough citrus magic to "cook" them.
Since I had many raw-looking bits still, I cooked mine real quick in some olive oil and butter, and served it with the onions over rice. Oh... and drain the fish before serving... plenty of flavor sticks to the fish without the need for all that tart juice.
It was scrumptious.