Because Beef is Boring

Madras Curry Lamb Burgers with Chipotle Grilled Corn

For the lamb burgers (makes 3):

-1lb ground lamb
-madras curry powder (most any other type of curry would likely work fine too)
-chopped fresh mint
-crushed fresh garlic
-salt and pepper

Mix together in a bowl and divide into 3 even burgers. Grill for ~7 minutes on a side (actually took a little longer than I expected). Toast buns. Serve with whatever you like on your burger.

For the corn:

-Several ears of corn
-1/2 stick of butter at room temp
-lime juice
-chopped canned chipotle peppers w/o seeds
-chopped cilantro
-salt and pepper

Combine everything but the corn in a medium bowl and mush together with the back of a spoon. Set aside.

"Clean" the corn. Pull back the husks leaving a few leaves attached to the stalk at the base. Remove the silk. With a knife or spoon "butter" the corn and then pull the husk back over the ears. Grill ~20 minutes turning 3 or 4 times. The kernels should pop easily with a fork and there should be a few char marks.

If you have leftover ears, strip the corn from the cob and use it to make a salad or something. Works great.

Smoked Turkey

Maple-Cider Smoked Turkey

Maple wood chunks for smoke with fresh apple cider in the water pan. Brilliant.

It took about 3 hours.

3 Men, 5 Racks of Ribs

Apricot Glazed Pork Ribs

I did this to ribs rather than pork loin. It was really good. I only "brined" for a couple hours. It was fine.

City Grill Eats Out

Dyer's Bar-B-Que
Amarillo, Texas

Man at the bar: "You're not from around here."
Me: "I'm not."
Man: "Are you a long way from home?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm from Boston."
Man: "Really? Austin's not so far."
Bar Tender: "No Worm, he said Boston."
Me: "Yes, Boston. In Massachusetts."
Worm: "They have a lot of democrats there."

Just for the the record:
-These were some of the nicest people I have ever met
-Yes, I ate everything in that photo
-No, I don't feel well now and
-Yes, I bought a t-shirt.

Prime Rib: A Photo Essay

Dry aged, bone in rib roast. Rubbed with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. In the charcoal smoker. No wood, no liquid. Just dry heat.

3 hours later. Started at ~450F for the first 40 minutes. Then turned the heat down to about 325. Taken off the grill when then center reached 120F. Perfectly done.

2 ribs sliced thick served 5.

Steak porn

City Grill Goes Asian

Thai Beef and Noodle Soup

I rarely cook Asian food. I'd just as soon pick up some sort of take out, but this was good. Recipe here. Use a grill instead of a grill pan, just don't cut the peppers and scallions up too fine or they will fall through.

The Miracle of Italian Dressing

Italian Dressing Chicken with Swiss and Guac

Growing up, my mother used to marinate chicken breasts in Ken's Steakhouse Italian dressing before putting them on the grill. It's really easy and makes a killer sandwich. Make sure you have an hour or so, because part of the charm here is the degree to which the chicken sorta "ceviche's" in the acidity of the dressing. Ken's doesn't seem to be available everywhere, but I find that most Italian vinaigrettes seem to work fine. Creamy Italian likely wouldn't, but I don't really think creamy Italian is good for much of anything.

Here I added some swiss cheese and homemade guacamole which adds a ton of flavor. Apres photo I added a little hot sauce too.

Chili with Game

Three Bean, Corn and Red Deer Chili

I really like chili and I have discovered that I particularly like it with game meats. I love the contrast of the heat from the cayenne, the smell of cumin and the richness of the game. I made a batch a couple of weeks ago with what was labeled at the supermarket as "stewing lamb". The lamb flavor is vaguely game-like and I really liked the texture of the cubes of lamb versus the ground beef or turkey normally used in chili.

Eating the lamb creation left me wondering what it would be like if I did the same thing but used some sort of venison chuck-oid cut instead. I even figured that if I grilled the venison first (vs. browning in the pan) I could get it a solid smokey flavor. When I went to the butcher all they had was minced (French for ground) Red Deer (French for venison), so I used that. It came out well but clearly I couldn't grill chop meat. Also, because the venison is so lean I had to use a little extra oil during browning to keep it from just burning to the pot.

As for the recipe, I use the very complicated formula on the back of the Old El Paso Chili Seasoning package with, as always, a couple exceptions that up the flavor and the veggie content.
1. Skip the tomato sauce, I think it makes the whole thing too sweet
2. When adding the chopped tomatoes, add a second can of whole tomatoes and some beer
3. Use a packet and a half of seasoning
4. Let the tomato, meat, seasoning and beer mixture simmer for 30 to 45 minutes to help develop slightly deeper flavor and thicken it up a bit
5. Use two to three cans of beans (vs. the one the pack calls for) and expand beyond kidney. I like black eyed and chickpeas. Sometimes you can find all three kinds in one melange can
6. Add a can of corn with the beans. Its good and adds a little extra texture.

How to Use Pumpkin Part II

Pumpkin, Sage and Ricotta Ravioli with Cumin Rubbed Lamb Chops

So, I needed something to do with one of the other pumpkin from the pumpkin pie project a few weeks earlier. I decided to make ravioli. I followed the recipe here with a couple of exceptions. Above, plated with lamb chops and drizzled with balsamic vinegar in place of sage butter.

I made my own ricotta with lactose free milk. It sounds over the top, but its quite easy: boil milk, add lemon juice and then pour thru cheesecloth. Do this the day ahead and let cool in the fridge.
I also don't own a pasta maker so I bought a couple sheets of fresh "lasagna" from the fresh pasta store in Atwater and used that as the sheets of fresh pasta for the ravioli. It worked well.

I Needed Something to Do

Peppermint Meringue Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

So the photo above was on the cover of the December Bon Appetit. I thought it looked good and I was looking for something to do, so I decided to make one. Several comments:

1. It cost a fortune to buy all the ingredients and it would appear that the government run liquor stores in Quebec don't carry peppermint schnapps. I used a little extra peppermint extract in its place.
2. It took a long time (I did it over two days)
3. I skipped the decoration/garnish on the top as it seemed unnecessary
4. It was pretty good anyway

Photos of my effort below:

The Cake

A Slice

Winter is For Soup

Minestrone with Kale and Strozzapreti

I used this recipe from Gourmet (R.I.P.) but I think I used kale and a couple other things rather than suggested escarole and cabbage. I also added some pasta to make it a little heartier. It was great and freezes well.