A step up on a classic sandwich

Les and I met friends at a popular Portland foodie spot, Bunk Bar.  Bunk is the place where plaid donning, pork-pie hat wearing Portland hipsters go to eat rather than be seen.  And why not... their mixology produces tasty summer shandys and classic cocktails with a NW twist, local spirits and brews.  And their signature culinary style, work-a-day sandwiches elevated to gourmet status with regional ingredients and subtle but daring experimentation, keeps the joint packed for lunch and dinner.  This evening, I enjoyed a classic I've devoured many times before in native restaurants, a Cubano, or Cuban sandwich:  roast pork, ham, melted swiss chees, pickles, mustard on a pressed and toasted crunchy hero roll.  Hot, melty, pork... fat boys are ruining their keyboards right now with drool.  Bunk takes this traditional comfort food item and pushes the decadence lever all the way up by swapping the roast pork with melt in your mouth, savory, bacony pork belly. Go ahead... take a moment.  Once you pick up this morsel, it probably won't hit the plate again...

 

 

Dinner Time - Linguica and Potato Stew

I was looking for something easy tonight, and found this great recipe for a stew with a Basque twist.  The flavor combination was incredible, and everyone ate their fill tonight.  The combination of tomato, bacon, linguica and potatoes worked with the zucchini to make magic.  Lots of bacon, lots of pork fat, how could it go wrong?  This was a great fatboy comfort food meal, and I'm actually looking forward to leftovers.

Find the recipe Here.

 

On the town restaurant review - Varsity Grill, Tacoma

We are in Tacoma for a concert and some alone time this weekend, so I'll be posting a few reviews from up here.

Dinner tonight is at the Varsity Grill, a block away from our hotel. We started with potato skins, and while they are standard fare, I have had them come out very bad from other places. Here they were perfect. Just enough meat scooped out of the potato for them to be cooked very soft inside and nicely crisp outside.
For dinner I decided on the 20oz Porterhouse since the 72 oz requires 24 hours notice. Next time we'll go for the challenge!
I will say this is the best steak I have had in a very long time. Piled high with grilled onions and creamy blue cheese, it arrived cooked to a perfect medium rare. We are talking meat so tender I went to cut it and it just pulled off onto my fork folks. Pure fatboyheaven right there! Served with perfectly cooked asparagus and creamy garlic mashed potatoes and you have a meal well worth the $27.
If you are in town for a show and staying at the Madrano, give this place a try.

Review: Margaritaville Chillin’ Pour Liquor Chiller

This afternoon I received the Margaritaville Liquor Chiller, and of course had to unpack it and give it a try. Since it was open already, I used the rest of the Midnight Moon Cherry Moonshine that I reviewed last week.

This thing will be great camping and at parties, but does quite well on the counter at home.
Simply open the top and add 750ml of your favorite liquor or mixed drink, and in 2-4 hours you are ready to drink without needing to add ice. In 2 hours your beverage of choice is a frigid 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and in 4 hours it is a frosty 15 degrees! No need for ice, no waiting to mix, just place your red solo cup under the spout and pull the handle. A handy light allows you to see inside of the cup, and you are on your way to liquid refreshment.

Key Features:

  • Model: NBMGDC1000
  • Super-chills cocktails, shots and liquors to 15° F, Colder than Ice (32ºF)
  • Chillin’ Pour holds 750ml (a whole bottle) of your favorite liquor or drinks.
  • Sleek blue glow light, smooth pouring lever and fun compass light to guide you to the fun.

Dinner Time - Stuffed Peppers

I love stuffed peppers, especially on a cold night. I haven't made them for a while, and thought tonight would be a good time. I took a couple shortcuts to make it easier, and they turned out great!  A nice, simple gluten-free dinner that got rave reviews.  I used Yellow bell peppers this time as they add a nice sweet counter point to the acid of the tomato, without the harsh flavor that green peppers sometimes bring to this dish.  You can also use a mix of spicy italian sausage and ground beef to add a little kick to this one.  

You can find the recipe here.

Dinner Time - Spicy Italian Pork Cutlets

I picked up some pork chops on sale this week and wanted something besides applesauce to do with them.  I found this recipe and decided to give it a shot.  My only changes were using seasoned gluten-free flour on the pounded cutlets rather than just salt and pepper to give it a nice crust, and I used chianti instead of a white wine.  I served it over brown-rice pasta.

It came out great, and got rave reviews.  Give it a try!

Dinner Time - Slow-Cooker Pork and Apple Curry

I was looking for something different for dinner last night, and found this recipe for curry that looked great.  The only change I made was to use apple juice instead of orange, and to make sure that I used Gluten-Free ingredients (boulion is the hardest of these to get gluten free).

Great flavor, awesome texture.  A family hit, and one thats staying in my recipe box.

Find the recipe here.

Dinner Time - Bean and Honey Burrito Casserole

I was looking for a way to use some leftover shredded chicken last night, and found this recipe.  The combination of peppers and chicken with the honey sauce made this awesome!  To make it gluten free all I needed to do was use corn tortillas instead of flour.  The combination of textures provided by adding garbonzo beans to the traditional black beans and corn created a great contrast to the smoothness of the sauce.  Give this one a try, you'll be suprised.

Review - Midnight Moon's Cherry Moonshine

With the rise of Whiskey in America, many people have renewed their family traditions in Moonshine.  In May of 2007, moonshine and racing legend Junior Johnson became part owner of Piedmont Distillers and together they introduced Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon. It is based on the Johnson family’s generations-old moonshine recipe. It is also born in a copper still, made from corn, crafted in small batches and triple distilled.

Midnight Moon's Cherry Moonshine is a nice, smooth whiskey.  The strong cherry flavor comes from cherries not just being used in the distillation, but whole cherries being added to the finished bottling.  This combination brings the most fruit flavor to the drink, in addition to imparting great color.  The taste of cherry layers nicely under the slight carmel flavor of the corn whiskey made to the Johnson Family recipe.

This is a very nice whiskey.  It doesn't have the complexity of an aged bourbon or scotch, but moonshine has a solid place both in American folk lore and drinking history.  It will make a great addition to any liquor cabinet (and any bottle of cola).

Sunday Dinner: Crock-Pot Enchiladas

If you haven't noticed yet, one of my favorite kitchen appliances is my crock-pot.  I was looking for something different tonight, and felt like mexican food.  I made this kind of enchilada casserole that turned out great.  I used gluten-free cream soups, and had to modify cooking as a result since the original recipe called for condensed soup, which all contained wheat flour, and hence gluten.  To make up for the extra water in the soup I cooked the recipe with the lid off so that it wouldn't retain as much of the moisture.

As a side note, one of the best ways to cook with any method is to understand it.  By understanding that a crock-pot reduces cooking time by retaining moisture, I was also able to know that if I wanted to reduce moisture I needed to leave the lid off.

You can find the recipe here.

Coffee: A look at the AeroPress, with a new addition

Those of you that know me know I love my coffee.  Any time I can find a way to get better coffee, I'm going to try it.  I have had what many consider to be the best coffee maker no one has ever heard of for a couple years, and just received a great new product to make it better.

In 2005,  Alan Adler (famous for his Aerobie line of flying disks), invented a new way of brewing coffee.  He dubbed this contraption the AeroPress.  Combining the pressure brewing of espresso with the steeping process of a french press, the AeroPress makes the best coffee many people have ever tasted.  The AeroPress is the resulting of years of applied research by inventor/engineer Alan Adler. Adler’s numerous brewing experiments demonstrated that proper temperature, total immersion and rapid filtering were the keys to obtaining excellent flavour. He then designed and tested dozens of brewing methods before settling on the AEROPRESS design.

Up until now this has meant changing disposable paper filters after every brewing, an expensive prospect for folks who drink a lot of coffee.  The new product I received this week is a stainless steel filter, which promises to smooth this process out, and breathe new life into my AeroPress.

A company here is Portland called Able Brewing has made a permanent filter for the AeroPress, and it has made a great product even better.

The concept of the AeroPress is a combination of pressure forcing the water through the ground coffee combined with the coffee steeping much like a french press gives you the most flavor in the least amount of time.  The other advantage is that you have total control over the temperature that the water is at when you add it, so you can experiment with different temp ranges to get the cup that fits your taste perfectly.

Making coffee with the AeroPress is quick and easy:

1. Place filter into the cap.

2. Lock cap onto the end of the brewing chamber.

3. Place the chamber on top of a coffee mug. (Make sure the mug is large enough to hold all of the coffee you want to brew!)

4. Add a scoop of coffee for every cup of coffee you want to make.  I like my coffee strong, so a full chamber makes me one cup with 4 scoops of grounds.  You can vary the strength of the coffee by adjusting the grind.  A smaller grind will allow more of the oils and flavor to be released.  Don't be afraid to play around with the grind, the worst thing that can happen is you have to add a little more water to back the strength off a bit.

5. Pour heated water slowly over the grounds.  You'll want to make sure the grounds get wet before you have too much water in the chamber.  The cooler the water, the smoother your brew.  I usually use water at around 180 degrees, but again, this is a place to experiment.  The company recommends 165-175, but there are people who swear by temps closer to 200.

6. Stir the grounds into the water to help speed the extraction, as they will naturally float to the surface of the water.  This is one place where people tend to make mistakes.  Unlike a french press, you don't want to steep the grounds for too long in this brewer.  30-50 seconds is about right, any more than that and you have too much bitterness in the coffee for my taste.

7. Carefully place the plunger into the chamber, and rest your hand on top of the plunger to start forcing the coffee through the filter.  The more pressure you exert, the faster the coffee will be done.  One thing to remember though is that the slower you go the less oil you force through the grounds, and the smoother your cup.

8. If you like it espresso strong, you are ready to drink.  If you are looking for a more traditional american cup of coffee, you'll want to add about 4 ounces of hot water for each cup marker you used at the beginning of the process.  A full chamber of water will get you about 9 ounces of espresso (or coffee concentrate if you prefer).

9. Enjoy the best cup of coffee you'll ever drink.  If it doesn't meet your expectations, go back and experiment with the grind, temp, and speed of extraction until it does.

Cooking Monday: BBQ Pie

I was trying to think of something new and easy for you guys, and came up with the idea for BBQ pie.

I took some ground beef (1 1/2 lbs.) and browned it off with onions and Worcestershire sauce.
Then I added a cup of BBQ sauce and 2 cans of Baked Beans.
I poured the mixture into a casserole dish and topped it with a mixture of 1 cup Gluten-free Bisquik, 1/2 cup milk, and an egg. I poured the biscuit mix over the top of the meat and beans and baked it at 350 for 45 minutes.

It was a big hit with the family, and I hope you all like it.

Cooking: Shrimp and Grits

I love cajun food, but have been afraid to mess with perfection to try and stay gluten-free.  Most cajun recipes call for a flour rue, even something as seemingly simple as shrimp and grits.  Tonight I decided to try it, using rice flour in place of wheat flour.  Those of you with dairy issues can also use your favorite milk substitute without worry here (although use plain, not vanilla!).

The spice of Old Bay really spices up the shrimp, and hence the entire dish here.  Add to that the flovor profile of the sausage and you have a nice solid meal.  As with all cajun food, use Tabasco to taste.  I leave it out of my recipes as it is really a personal preference.

The recipe is posted here.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

New product review: Dutch Bros. - Blue Rebel Energy Drink

For a while now, Dutch Bros. Coffee has been selling flavor infused Red Bull Energy Drinks, and selling quite a few of them.  Now, Dutch Bros. is ready to release their new energy drink, Blue Rebel.  With the slogan "Get up early.  Stay up late.  Change the world.", and working with Portland Bottling Company, they have come up with something great here.  

The flavor profile will instantly remind you of that other blue-canned energy drink, but life is made better by the subtle differences.  While it comes onto the pallet strong and with a high sour/acid feel, it leaves much cleaner.  The flavor stays with you a bit, but the acid after taste of Red Bull is gone, leaving you ready for the next drink.  While I would prefer a stronger natural fruit flavor to the sharp bite of citric acid that starts your taste of this drink, it is not as harsh as others I have tried.  I haven't tried an infusion drink yet, having been provided just a few samples of the canned beverage, but I expect that the smoothed out finish will really enhance the pairing with fruit flavored Italian soda flavors that have done so well for them in the past.  

I look forward to trying them on Monday when the drink is officially released.

Diet time

OK, things are going to be very boring for a little bit. For the next two weeks Carrie and I are going to be drinking protein shakes and Nothing else. I'll get back to recipes and restaurants soon.

iPad (3rd Generation) - the Fallout

For many of us, getting a new iPad means a trickle-down effect.  What to do with the old iPad it is replacing!  In my house, my old one goes to Carrie.  So not only do I go through getting it backed up to restore data onto the new one, but I need to back her old one up to restore the data onto MY old one.  Once all of that is done, we go through the process of making sure that everything is in working order for her to get back to work on Monday.

TJ Luoma over at TUAW.com has posted a great article on the basics of getting the old iPad ready for the next person.  What that means is going to be different for everyone, but it is a great start for you to make things easier on yourselves.  You can find the article here.

iPad (3rd Generation) - First impressions

WOW.  I was prepared based on what I had heard from others that the screen would be amazing, but it didn't prepare me for how good this thing is.  Better color, better brightness, and amazingly clear graphics.  The only bad thing I can say about this screen is that web photos really need to improve, because they look like crap a lot of the time on this screen.

The speed is the other thing that suprised me.  Having been in the tech business for a lot of years, I know that increased video processing can make a huge difference in games, but I wasn't prepared for how much it would improve every part of the experience.  Even opening and playing video from the web was amazingly improved.  Whether this is all due to the improved processor, or is also impacted by the increased RAM, it is really a sight to behold.

I haven't tried any really intense games yet, because most of the last two days has been using the things I always use everyday to see how they are improved.  I also have been repourposing my iPad 2 64GB 3G for the wife to replace her iPad 1.  Since she uses her iPad for work, getting it dialed in and making sure everything is working the way she wants it to in preperation for work on Monday has been a priority.

I will spend time this week really putting the NEW iPad through it's paces and reporting back here.

iPad release week - Must have accessories

OK, I know some of you have pre-ordered the NEW iPad.  Since I'm as anxious as everyone else, I thought I'd do some posts this week on things you can buy to get ready for it's arrival.  Most accessories for the iPad 2 will work fine for the NEW iPad, so most of my reviews will still be helpful to you all.  I won't know until it comes on Friday whether the extra .03 inches thickness will affect case fit, but I think my favorite cases should work fine (at least I hope I don't need to add even more to my collection!).  Even if the ones I have don't fit, all of the companies below either have announced or are already shipping cases that WILL.

First, let's talk about cases and covers.  There have been thousands of cases released since the original iPad was announced, and with all things some are definitely better than others.  The biggest thing to decide on is what TYPE of case or cover you are looking for.  If you want an integrated keyboard to turn your new tablet into a net book, ClamCase makes the the best on the market.  It will double the weight and more than double the thickness, but when you have a lot of text to enter (like writing a post for your blog or a long email), you'll appreciate having it along. I have the Storm Trooper limited edition, and it is the only keyboard case I use regularly.

If you prefer a case that looks like a book, DODOcase is my favorite. The folks at DODOcase have taken the best of traditional book making and brought it to the iPad in dramatic fashion.  I really am hoping that my DODO works for the new iPad, because I would hate to have to get another one (I have three already, and I don't know that the wife would understand the need for another).  They have several special editions, and just started offering several foil-stamping options to personalize them to your needs.

For those of you looking for something that looks great on your desk or the coffee table, but adds even less size and weight, a local Portland company makes my favorite case. Grove makes a beautiful bamboo case with your choice of felt or leather cover.  The Grove cases are not made to be ultra-durable, and I wouldn't throw one into a bag full of other loose gear, but they are awesome for what they are.  They can burn any design you want (including family crests, company logos etc.) into the leather, have several designs from local artists, and the build quality is top notch.  You need to check these things out.  They are handmade, so delivery times can take a while.  Get in line now if you want one.

For full coverage protection without adding much for size, my choice is the Marware MicroShell Folio.  Nice and slim case, stays on well and uses the SmartCover feature to wake your iPad like all good cases.  It is well made, and Marware has been in the accessory business long enough to have quality in every item they make every time.

It's going to be a great week for Apple fans. 

Review: iPhoto for iPad

At today's Apple Event, iPhoto was announced for iOS.  Not only is it well done, but it really changes the face of photo editing.

When you launch the application, you are greeted by the program indexing your photos, including your photo stream.

Once you select a photo, you can select edit, which brings up your tools, just like it does on the Mac

Your options are on the tool bar along the bottom.  From left to right they are: Crop, Exposure, Color, Brushes, and Effects.

While many of these don't seem too game changing, the biggest place the iPad version shines is the brushes.

Here is the picture I started with.  The sky was pretty washed out, but I like the way the trees and rocks look, so I just want to brighten the sky by over saturating the color.  I select the saturation brush, and pull up options.  I can turn the brush strokes on, showing me the areas I am adjusting:

 

As you can see, I used my stylus to paint the sky and clouds with the saturation brush, avoiding the rest of the picture.

Here is the before:

 

and the after:

If you have ever tried to do this kind of masking and color correction, you know how huge this is.  Imagine a real estate agent not needing to wait for a sunny day to take a picture of your house.  Just dial up the blue, and make any other corrections needed so that the picture looks just like the house (we all have seen pictures where colors are off just enough to make a difference in your impressions of the subject matter).

And everything, from taking the picture to the editing and uploading to the web, or emailing the photo can be done with one device.

The best part though, is all of these things are possible in your iPhone now too.  This really is the post-pc era, and Apple is leading the revolution!