Big Surprise! Pictures of Food!

Lindz and I usually try to pretend to feign frowning on processed food in a box, but this stuff apparently contains crack cocaine. It's Monkey Bread. It comes frozen, you warm it up in the oven, and it's soft and oozing with cinnamon goo. It's so good, you might sell a family member just to have some.
A gooeyness of a different sort is this. Bryan and I nibbled on various things and drank some beers he brought back from Germany. The jar on the right contains home made liverwurst (hausgemacht leberwurst) from Ellen's brother-in-law in Germany. I thought we should have some cheese. I got this Chaource at Costco. It's almost liquid at room temperature. It was unctuous, buttery delight. The liverwurst was rich and luxurious, and it brought back memories of things my parents and grandparents enjoyed. It was marginalized in this shot only because the cheese was more photogenic.

For Thanksgiving, one of the dishes I prepared was a gratin of braised collards. I bought too many collards. What you see here is half of the collards I bought at the farmers' market (4,480 cubic inches of collards, or 73.4 liters, is what fits in this sink). I still haven't decided what to do with the rest. What I did with these was chop them up, braise them with smoked pork hocks and red pepper flakes, and then bake them into a gratin with bechamel sauce. It was well received; I also made it for Thanksgiving two years ago.

Here's an action shot of me chopping mirepoix for the gravy:

Lindz took all of these pictures except the cheese. The majority of the food photography on Thanksgiving was done by Bryan, who will be posting pictures very soon on his blog, I'm quite sure.

A bit of narcissism

Ellen wanted a picture of me cooking while wearing the T-shirt she sent me. I'm not cooking here, and I thought this picture looked better as black and white (the energy-saving bulbs kind of spoiled the color). You can't see the bright orange color of the shirt, but you can see my official title. When I tried to edit out the green pallor of the fluorescent lighting, the shirt and my head started to glow and flare like the sun.
I'm wearing the T-shirt as I'm topping the baked steelhead trout with roasted red pepper coulis. That's a roasted red beet next to it. This is the entree I cooked for Mom (Lindz made a salad of baby greens, pears, pomegranate seeds, local goat cheese, pecans and vinaigrette, and she took these pictures). We've done a good bit of eating out this weekend, and it felt good to work in the kitchen. Bryan cooked Chicken in Riesling the previous evening out of a cookbook he got in Germany.

Caught in the Act of Mooching

This was shot on the evening of Bryan's return from Germany. Oliver stayed with us while Bryan was away, and he was a brazen mooch of the very highest order. We demonstrated for Bryan here. As you can see, he coasts through life on his good looks and charm.

I believe the drought is over

Yes, that's about 5 1/2" of rain your'e looking at. It is by no means unprecedented.
Tropical Storm Hanna passed by last night and this morning. The thick of it was closer to the coast, but we got the rain you see here in a fairly brief period of time (pretty much within 8 or 10 hours). Crabtree Valley Mall is nearby, and it is built on low ground. They have to erect steel-and-sandbag barriers in front of most of the entrances during times like these. Our house, thankfully, appears to be in a good spot.

Triptych: Farmers' Bounty, a Lovely White Burgundy, and Shamelessness

We got some great produce at the Farmers' Market this weekend. I made stuffed eggplant last night, and here are some yellow squash that I seared in a skillet:
JJ Vincent Bourgogne Blanc is an elegant chardonnay with a bouquet of vanilla and almond. The palate is a refined balance of melon and fig, with appropriate alcohol. There is a pleasing lemony acidity in the finish.
This shit was in the Sunday paper. I should know better than to be surprised by anything, but we really liked this:

Wine Tasting

On my new blog, I posted a couple of pictures from a winery Lindz and I visited yesterday.

Some of these wines might be a bit scarce in Michigan and Germany. Sorry.

Cynical Observation from the Office

"Can-do attitude" is a phrase only used by people who don't have to "do," i.e., management. It seems to only be used in situations when the "do" is about to get bigger, such as a task becoming more complicated purely for reasons of reporting and documentation (a purely hypothetical example, wink wink).

Cosmic Dragon Devours Sun

Get your affairs in order, the world is ending. Or at least get some wine and get buzzed before you go to work.

Hedonism

This past week, Lindz was out of town on a business trip. When she's gone, my life loses its backbone and slumps into self-gratifying disorder. I went to work, went to the gym and took out the trash, but everything else was centered around food and wine (with some Netflix DVD's thrown in). I stayed up too late every night.
The experiences:
Mantra Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2004 (I think it was 04, but possibly 05): I bought this at a wine shop near my office. I just had to escape the gloom of the office, and it was too hot to enjoy a walk. I opened it that evening, letting it breathe while I was at the gym. It's a nice, deep crimson color with a heady aroma. I smelled black currants and a wee bit of coffee or chocolate. Maybe tobacco. It was a brown smell. It was a big, balanced wine with nice tannins and alcohol. It kept up nicely with the roasted goat steak I ate with it. I watched some Space:1999. I had some left the next night. I had salmon with the last bit of it.

George DuBoeuf Moulin a Vent 2005 Domaine des Michelons: Traffic was pretty bad Thursday night, so I got off the freeway to go to Total Wine and wait it out. I picked out this Beaujolais because it apparently got a 92 from Robert M. Parker. I dropped it off at the house and dutifully went to the gym. This wine was a clear garnet, with a clean bouquet (think of a bowl of raspberries with some cedar chips and a sprinkling of tobacco in it). It was a really elegant wine. It had the typical bright berry Gamay flavor, but with nice woodsy, earthy notes. It had good acidity; it was very nice with the sauteed beef liver I had for dinner. I watched Sunshine as I ate.

Saintsbury Pinot Noir Carneros 2005: I forced myself to go to the gym Friday evening. Afterward, I changed my clothes and went to a local Mexican place where I hadn't gone before. I had an ice cold Dos Equis and a satisfying, if unsurprising Steak a la Tampiquena (it's still North Carolina Mexican food). I went home, full and sleepy. I talked to Mom for a while, and by the time the conversation was over, I regained some energy. I was reading The Emperor of Wine, a book which has had the effect of filling me with ungovernable urges to run out and get a bottle. It happened at about 10 pm. It had to be Pinot Noir, but the good shops were closed. Lowes Foods had a sure thing: the Saintsbury. While I was wavering between that and another wine that I hadn't tried, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on some fellow shoppers. Four college boys were debating the merits of various cheap, fruit-flavored wines (cheapness and sweetness being the desirable traits, apparently). It took me back to my college days, when price and alcohol content were the only criteria we considered. I brought my Saintsbury home, and I happily sipped and read until after 1 am. This one has the things that I love in California Pinot: soft, fleshy cherries, hints of cola, chocolate and smoke, an indulgent experience. It's mouthfilling and ripe; it gives itself to you without a battle of tannins.

I finally got out of bed Saturday and drank a French press of coffee with my breakfast/lunch. What the hell, there was a glass of the Saintsbury left; I drank that as well (it was just fine with coffee and blueberry chicken sausages). To pretend to myself that I was an industrious individual, I did a load of laundry. I put on some clothes and drove downtown to Seaboard Wine Warehouse.

Their usual Saturday tasting was going on. This day, it was French whites. They were all nice (the Vouvray was a little sweet, though), but the only tasting wine I bought was a white Burgundy. It had a really nice lemon-zest note to it; I'll have to write about it when Lindz and I drink it. I wandered around the store for a while with the goal of getting a couple of bottles for the wine rack and one to enjoy that day. I looked at a few $60 bottles that I want some day, but I held to moderation. I got, in addition to that white Burgundy and a couple of tasty everyday wines, a bottle of Plungerhead Zinfandel Lodi 2006. I stopped at our local pizza place on the way home and got a 14" pie with mushrooms, sausage and anchovies. I watched Solaris (the Clooney version). The wine was huge and gooey. Lots of ripe fruit with a sort of medicinal, black licorice, eucalyptus underpinning. Hard to describe. The movie was slow, psychological and visually well done. Everyone else seems to hate it. I'm going to watch the 1972 version next. Anyway, I watched, drank, ate, loafed, read and briefly dozed. I got up and went for a walk. I was totally useless, and I loved it.

Sunday, I got up, had breakfast and coffee, did some more reading, ran the dishwasher to keep up the ruse of productiveness, and went out for sushi with Bryan. A while after that, I went to gym, and then Lindz was home. Like magic, as soon as she was in the house, I started bustling about dinner. When she's gone, I do not bustle under any circumstances.

The fact that I had showed up for work is the main blemish on this otherwise respectable streak of hedonism.

Bookshelves

We like books. For several years, our books have lived on some cheap shelves from Target.

I took some time off from my pointless coma of a job so I could build some real shelves. It was a good old sweaty, sawdusty experience.

Here are the first two of the three units in place.

Here they are, coated in extra-fumy enamel paint. Lindz and I got a good buzz off of that.

It's hard to truly realize the change in appearance from this picture. The shelves are seven feet tall, about nine feet wide, and eight inches deep. They occupy almost the entirety of one wall. They're made of real wood, not glued sawdust, and they didn't travel here from the other side of the world! What a concept!

Jealous?

1.32 gallons of goodness.

Go Germany

Euro 2008 info

Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive. I have been unusually unmotivated, uncreative and uninteresting lately. I think my cubicle job is sucking the life out of me. It's kind of like The Matrix. Life is easier when you're sedated and distracted, but occasionally you see glitches in the programming...

Epicurean Saturday

Today has been good. Lindz and I went to the Farmers' Market (and forgot the camera) as well as our favorite wine store and a store with an astonishing beer selection (let's just say I drank Dragon's Milk Oak Barrel Ale on the deck this afternoon). We got lots of produce and good stuff, so we were quite pleased with ourselves when we headed home. Lindz's back is doing quite well now, so our activities were not obstructed. A selection of my activities (as photographed by Lindsey) are:
I roasted some coffee (Kenya Peaberry Deep River Estate, to be exact). Here I am, cooling it and removing the chaff:
Here is our North Carolina grass-fed ribeye steak, posing in front of one of the most fabulous bottles of wine we've had in a while. It's a concentrated, jewel-smooth syrah from South Australia. The aftertaste goes on and on. If you find yourself in a wine store with anything made by Mollydooker in front of you, BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. It won't be there for long. It's the shiz-nit.
I made mayonnaise from scratch. I used local, free-range egg for it. Marvelous, luxurious stuff.
It was indispensable for this. It's Life Changing Potato Salad:

Roasted red potatoes and elephant garlic from the Farmers' Market, sage, thyme and rosemary from the yard, some onions and capers and the aforementioned mayonnaise. I corrected the color as best I could; cameras don't like energy-saving light bulbs. I coined the name when I had it for lunch at Childress Winery some time ago. We had this with the steak and wine along with corn on the cob. A very lovely meal. Lindz will hopefully post about dessert, her excellent blackberry/sage ice cream.

P.S. I did something else this weekend. I'm drinking it right now. I infused a bottle of Bacardi light rum with as much fresh mint as I could cram in there. Very nice on the rocks.

Goose Family Life

Taken with my camera phone on a wonderfully lovely Saturday. The parental geese hissed at me.

Wildlife

I took a lovely walk around Lake Lynn this morning, and I saw many things. These Muscovy Ducks caught my eye:
They were quite unconcerned with me.

Where did the time go?

Lindz and I went up to Michigan, and I can't believe how fast the time went. I also can't believe we came away with a near-total lack of good photos. Everyone else took pictures, but I was too lazy. Anyway, we stayed at the famed Moosewood Suite and enjoyed the hospitality of my sister and brother in law. We ate and drank very well. One item that sticks out in my memory is the huge pan of orange rolls that my sister made. Think cinnamon rolls, except, instead of cinnamon, you have tart, bright orange zest. The icing was supercharged with citric acid, and the dough was soft and yielding as we tore them apart. It was like being stunned with a Taser of Orange Goodness. Kathy took pictures of them. They were beautiful. *sniff*
We hung out with the family and beheld the two-month time warp which is the difference in foliage between NC and MI. A First Communion and numerous birthdays were observed. I got a huge block of Mild Pinconning to bring back in my luggage. We went to Mecca (Bell's Eccentric Cafe ). However, it was all over too fast.

The night we got home, Lindz made spring rolls (we didn't fry them; are they still called spring rolls?)
And, during the trip to Michigan, I found a couple of Wusthof knives, tip-down in a utensil crock, in a resale shop. They were $2 each; I couldn't believe my luck. I rescued these strays and resharpened them. Here, sitting on top of lamb shoulder chops, is my current favorite knife:

And here is a roasted beet:
How many people can say they live near a pork outlet? This is a rack of country hams at the Nahunta Pork Outlet at the Raleigh Farmers' Market:
I wanted one, but Lindz wasn't entirely sure she wanted a cured pig's leg hanging in the pantry for the six months it would probably take us to eat it. There must be a way! They're a tremendous status symbol.

Phone Camera Shot from Cubicle Farm

Almost two years ago, I inherited this plant and this desk from a former, and much missed, coworker. About 7.5 hours remain until quitting time.

Good Locovorous Weekend

I did a big shopping run at the farmers' market on Saturday. I decided to turn some of the local eggs into pasta:
The rolling of the sheets:
The cutting of the tagliatelle (they're actually more easily handled when I cut them by hand):

And the kitty cat keeps everything under surveillance:

The tagliatelle was adorned with a sausage ragu (the sausage also came from the farmers' market) and roasted asparagus and walnuts. Walnuts are good on pasta! Why didn't I stumble on that before? We didn't starve.

Triptych: Beer, Lamb, Corks

Bell's Doppelbock (Lindz and I went for a walk, and we went into the Taproom at my urging):
Local NC lamb shoulder chops braised with lemons, olives, tomatoes and rosemary, perched on top of some grits:
A bowl of corks:
It has been a good weekend. Lindz took the first two of these photos. She also whipped up a tasty dessert to follow the lamb: Vanilla ice cream with toasted pecans, dates and honey. Ausgezeichnet.

IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND DECENT, GIVE ME SOME SODDING CHICKEN

Yes, we did eventually give him some chicken (we're not made of stone, you know). He wolfed it down and then resumed his plaintive staring at us. Too bad the purring didn't come through; he was rumbling prodigiously. Sehr nette, as we say in German.

A Little Dose of Ollie

In case anyone in Germany wants some.

That's NPR in the background talking about WWII Bulgarian tanks being found and put up for sale.

Oliver is quite mushy, and he was a shameless mooch last night when I made chicken for dinner.

We Went to the Farmers' Market

Lettuce:
The hands of a beet murderer:

Roasted beets with olive oil, salt and pepper:
Local NC beef (chuck steak) with a bit of kosher salt:
Lindz took all these pictures except for the meat. We also got good tomatoes, radishes, squash, sweet potatoes and many fell meats. I look forward to the beef ribeyes and the smoked pork chops in particular. They have goat available for special order, too.

The Visit

My sister and her hubby came down from Meechigan for a long weekend of above-freezing temperatures, fellowship, food and drink. Here are a few selected images, in no particular order.

I made this pizza (half is marinated mushrooms and artichokes, half is caramelized onions and bacon, with a blend of Italian cheeses over all:
Tim brought me weisswurst from Willi's in Frankenmuth. It was part of breakfast one day:
Here is evidence of the newly remodeled kitchen being used for a food porn photo shoot:
Big Boss Coffee Stout, as enjoyed at the Raleigh Times Bar:

Caramelizing onions for the pizza:
Blurry people:

The Reveal

We completed tiling and grouting today. Aside from the toe kick, a bit more grout sealing and a bit of moulding, this kitchen remodel is full-wrought.
In an effort to diminish the green pallor cast by the fluorescent lights, I used an incandescent work lamp (you can see its reflection on the fridge).
Big Red looks rather handsome with a backdrop of subway tiles, wouldn't you say?
And my favorite part: the capacious single bowl sink and the Great Faucet.
We moved into this house in the summer of 2004. Of the items in the kitchen at that time, only the floor and the window remain unchanged. Old carpeting in the hallway will next undergo our wrath.