Wheezy

Yep, it's that time of year again!  My lovely wife turns another year older but still looks almost ten years younger than me!  My life would not be what it is today without your love and companionship.  The light of our lives, Charlotte, would not be here either and I can't imagine my world without either of you!

So while we are in Seattle..............you get to pick the days activities, where we eat, and I might sneak a gift in there at some point!;).

Love you!

Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolutionary Havana Cigars

I recently wrote about this elusive limited release book on Post-Revolution Havana Cigars by Min Ron Nee fir the Vox Hunt: Coffee Table Book with a closing line of "Anyone have an extra one just laying around they want to give away?"  Kind of a corny to say the least!

Yesterday the UPS guy shows up with this package.  I could not get to the door because of being on the phone so my wife gets the package.  My phone call goes a bit longer than expected so I'd completely forgotten about the newly arrived package.  I go to refill the ol' coffee cup when I see my wife calmly reading a magazine while seated next to the package.  I was going to quietly walk by but then something caught my eye, "Cigar Wisdom" written accross the top of the lable.  Cigar Wisdom?  It suddenly dawned on me what this might be!  My heart racing, my hands tearing at the packaging to find enclosed a copy of the book I blogged about in the Vox Hunt: Coffee Table Book! 

The return lable was addressed SANTA.  Well the only SANTA I know is my parental figures.  So a HUGE shout out to my Mom and Dad for this wonderful, though very early, Christmas gift!

Show us your favorite writer(s).

 

I am sorry VOX but I could not keep it to just one favorite as I have several for different genres.  I could go on and on but don't have that much time!

Fantasy:

 

George R.R. Martin

 

Stephen Donaldson

Adventure/Spy:

Wilbur Smith

 

Clive Cussler

 

 

Len Deighton

 

 

Robert Ludlum

 

Tom Clancy

Historically Relevent Fiction:

 

Leon Uris

 

James A. Michener

 

James Clavell

Classics:

 

Ernest Hemingway

 

Jack London

 

Mark Twain

Chicken Remoulade with Buerre Blanc served with Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic and Fennel

This is really a super easy recipe and sounds a lot harder than it is.  It is much more labor intensive than difficult.  I made this for dinner the night I proposed to my wife and she said yes so it must be good, right?

Chicken Remoulade with Buerre Blanc and Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic and Fennel

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic and Fennel:

1 lb baby red potatoes (chopped into quarters)

5 cloves garlic diced (you choose how much as there is no such thing as too much garlic)

1 fennel bulb (jullienned)

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

1.       Heat oven to 400 degrees

2.       Combine baby red potatoes, garlic, fennel bulb, sea salt.

3.       Drizzle virgin olive oil and mix until potatoes are well coated.

4.       Place in oven and bake until tender and golden, approximately 30 minutes.

5.       Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Remoulade:

2 large chicken breasts

2 slices of Prosciutto

Remoulade filling

Buerre Blanc

Remoulade Filling:

4 oz goat cheese (Chevre Log) at room temperature

2 oz sun dried tomato (finely chopped)

4 large basil leaves (minced)

Combine all three ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Set aside for filling in chicken.

Beurre Blanc:

1 large shallot (minced)

1 cup dry white wine

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 cube of salted butter (cut into 16ths and placed in the freezer)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp lemon zest

1. Combine the shallots, wine, and lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until reduced nearly dry

.

2. Add the butter a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly to blend the butter into the reduction.  The heat should be very low.  Continue to add the butter until all has been incorporated.  Do not add all of the butter at one time as the sauce will just separate!

3. Taste the beurre blanc and adjust with salt and pepper.  Finish the sauce by adding the lemon zest.

Putting it all together:

1. Boil water in a large pot.

2. Trim the chicken breasts and remove skin.  Butterfly each chicken breast portion and pound between sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap to even thickness.   

3. Place Prosciutto on flattened chicken breast and spread some of the remoulade filling.  Roll the chicken into a tube shape.   Take the tube and wrap the chicken tube in the plastic wrap by rolling it into a candy wrapper.  Repeat for second breast.

4. Take a sheet of aluminum foil and do the same as with the plastic wrap.

5. Place the chicken tubes in the boiling water. (20-25 minutes cooking time)

6. Remove the tubes and let stand for 10-15 minutes to allow the remoulade to set.

7. Remove the aluminum foil and then the plastic wrap (use scissors to cut one end of the plastic) and slide out the now formed chicken tube.  Place on a cutting board and slice on the diagonal to form medallions 1” in thickness.

What gift from a parent do you remember the most? 
Submitted by jorge456.  

Alex and Charles 1978

The Evil Knievel shirt was only the greatest most favorite shirt in the whole wide world!

Book:  Show us a great coffee table book.  

Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolutionary Havana Cigars

This lovely book has actually on my wish list for a long time now.  Authored by Min Ron Nee, an avid cigar collector and doctor in Hong Kong, there was limited release so it is considered rare and at $125 to $150 is also not an inexpensive book.  It is considered the formost reference guide for post-revolutionary cigars from Havana and is used by aficionados, merchants and everyday lovers of the leaf.  Full of photographs, and documentation for all brands and their history.  Anyone have an extra one just laying around they want to give away?

Show us your favorite coffee shop. 
Submitted by Jane. 

Sant Eustachio il caffe

After the Misses and I tied the knot we took a trip to Italy.  Of course everywhere we went there were cafés serving espresso drinks and I watched my consumption increase to 8-10 per day.

While in Rome it rained and rained.  This along with the time change and long travel days resulted in the Misses getting sick.  She was still strong enough to get out and experience Sant Eustachio il caffé as we had heard so many wonderful things about it.  So, running through the rain and getting lost in the maze they call Rome we located the café.

The atmosphere was warm and inviting which was magnified by the down-pour taking place just outside.  I ordered the usual for this trip for comparison, doppio espresso, and the Misses ordered what sounded good from the menu on the wall.  A few moments later we hear the blender being turned on and a nice frosty iced espresso drink is placed before her.  She looked very concerned as this was the last thing she intended to order, a cold drink on a wet day.  I offered mine but she was stalwart in her choice and consumed it regardless of the wind and weather.

Not only was my espresso the best I ever had on the trip but the best I have ever had since.  It was smoothly viscous and syrupy with hints of chocolate and cedar.  Simply delish!

We are definitely going back again some day!

Grilled_eggplant

2 comments

This was for Friday's dinner because the kitchen was too damn hot to cook in with the current weather conditions and NO A/C.  Dinner was 100% prepared on my Weber charcoal grill.

Step One: Baby Heirloom Tomato and Cilantro Vinaigrette

1/2 pint baby heirloom tomatoes, each tomato quartered (approximately 1 cup)

6 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro leaves

2 Tbs juice from two limes

1/4 tsp salt

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1. Mix the tomatoes, oil, shallot, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and cayenne together in a medium bowl.  Let stand at room temperature until juicy and seasoned, about 20 minutes.

Usually with eggplant there is salt involved prior to cooking to remove the excess moisture that takes place while cooking but when grilling eggplant this step can be eliminated.

Step Two: Grilled Eggplant

3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press

2 tsp minced fresh thyme or oregano leaves

salt and ground black pepper

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 punds), ends trimmed, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick rounds

1. Combine the oil , garlic, thyme or oregano, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.  Place eggplant on a platter and brush both sides with the oil mixture.

2. Grill the eggplant over a medium-hot fire, turning once, until both sides are streaked with dark grill marks, 8-10 minutes. 

Step Three: Combine the Grilled Eggplant and Baby Heirloom Tomato and Cilantro Vinaigrette

See photo above!

Here is a picture of the accompaniment - Grilled Tri-Tip marinated in red wine, white onion, dash of salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne  Tri-Tip is a cut of beef that orginated in Santa Maria, CA, and is usually served with baked beans, salsa, and tortillas.

Tri-tip

Video: Share a video that makes you laugh every time you watch it.

In Northeastern India a small pepper has taken center stage as Guinness World Records recognized its potency as the HOTTEST PEPPER in the world.  The name of this inferno is Naga Jolokia or Bhut Jolokia, the Ghost Pepper because “it can make you into an apparition”.  

Guinness came to this determination using the Scoville Organoleptic Test which indicates the amount of capsaicin present.  Capsaicin makes your body to strange things like fire off the nerve endings in your skin causing one to perspire or causes hiccups, watery eyes, increased pulse, cardiac arrest, and other fun things.  Some guy in 1912, Wilbur Scoville, devised a way to measure the “heat” (capsaicin) of peppers whereby “a solution of the pepper extract is diluted in sugar water until the “heat” is no longer detectable to a panel of (usually five) tasters; the degree of dilution gives its measure on the Scoville scale” thus we get a Scoville Heat Unit or SHU.

When Janette and I were living in Dayton, OH we would frequent an establishment called Quaker Stake and Lube®.  They have on their menu an order of Atomic chicken wings which patrons are required to sign a “release from liability” form!  The SHU is listed at 100,000 SHU.  Now that is some decent heat but I have been there and done that.  I have had and enjoyed the Habanero which by the graph above shows up to 350,000 SHU and I have survived the Red Savina, the previous World Record holder so what is left?  Does the Ghost Pepper become my new “Everest” in pain.  I wonder if they carry them at the local super market.  From what I understand they must dry the peppers before shipping into the US.  I guess I better start speaking with Janette about a trip to Northeastern India. 

I found this on Firey-Foods.com:

Caution: The fruits of this chile variety are extremely hot. It is advised to wear gloves when handling the peppers, keep them away from children, and thoroughly clean all kitchen utensils like cutting boards, knives etc. When grinding dreid Jolokias, wear a breathing mask, protect your eyes. Don't touch any sensitive parts before cleaning your hands thouroghly first. And use these peppers sparingly - it is always easier to kick up the heat of a dish than toning it down.

Bring on the HEAT!