When I set out to write a food blog, my intention was to
blog about once a week, give or take.
Since I began this little venture as a food blogger several things have
happened. For example, I am amazed at
how many people have mentioned that they saw my blog. Clients have mentioned it, and I have been
called by the manager of Twig’s thanking me for my nice comments, and others. Jacque has also become accustomed to not
eating or drinking anything prior to seeing if I want to take a picture for
later use in FoodByDoug.
This will be the first of what will probably become a Heinz
57 blog post. Just a catch-up of several
photos and comments from the past month or so.
Pan Seared Duck Breast
Pan seared duck breast.
We had this with some port reduction sauce leftover from the Rotary Wine
and Cheese a few weeks ago. My friend
Chuck Ladoceur made the sauce, and I hope to share his recipe in a future post.
Three points when searing duck breast:
·
Always cut slashes into the skin and fat.
·
Drain the duck grease out of the pan as you are
cooking it.
·
Place duck breast fat side down in a cold pan
and bring up to heat while searing for a tenderer outcome.
San Francisco Trip
November 20th I had to teach a class in San
Francisco. With Jacque’s birthday being the next day, she accompanied me on my
trip and we spent the night celebrating her 52nd birthday. The following pictures are from our trip.
Jacque enjoyed a Raspberry martini at the Top of the Mark
before we headed to dinner. When in San
Francisco, if you want a great view of the city in a classic bar you have to go
to the Top of the Mark. (http://www.intercontinentalmarkhopkins.com/top-of-the-mark.aspx).
Olive and Lamb Kabob appetizers we enjoyed at Top of the
Mark before going to dinner.
Due to a mess up in reservations, we ended up at what is
probably the best fish restaurant in all of San Francisco – Scomas (http://www.scomas.com). Next time in San Francisco we are not going to
be here because somebody inadvertently messed up alternate reservations;
instead, this is going to be our deliberate, pre-planned destination! Jacque had Oysters Rockefeller as her
appetizer followed by steamed Dungeness crab.
I had the fresh caught swordfish in a caper cream sauce – it was
awesome! Try as hard as you can to
resist the fresh San Francisco sourdough bread they bring out. The aroma is enticing, you feel the warmth
coming from the basket, just go ahead…resist, if you can!
(My after dinner drink - waiting for Jacque to finish her crab)
After dinner we returned to the Fairmont Hotel where we were
staying and had another couple of drinks in the bar and, of course, Crème
Brule. As mentioned in previous blogs,
Crème Brule is Jacque’s favorite.
The Fairmont gets an ‘A’ for originality in Crème Brule
presentation, including the placing of it on a piece of short bread. They may want to reconsider the engineering
of the presentation, however, because when you put your spoon into the actual
Brule, the Crème squishes out from underneath.
Don’t be deterred, though; the squishiness did not detract from the taste.
Family Dinner with the Boys
On Saturday night before Thanksgiving, we had a family
dinner with both boys home from college, and Jean my Mother-in-law. We started off with Hungarian partridge from
the Flying B Ranch wrapped in bacon, with just a little bit of honey drizzled
over the partridge before baking.
Dinner then consisted of a Prime Rib with Dave’s special
seasoning from Gene’s market in Omak. It
is really nice to have a friend who is responsible for the meat market at your
local grocery store. Dave Womack takes
real pride in the meat he sells. When
you get a prime rib from him, have him cut it away from the bone, season it,
then tie it back to the bone for cooking.
I have enjoyed several of Dave’s prime ribs, and have never once been
disappointed.
What I enjoy most about having a well-stocked wine cellar is
picking out a wine to enjoy for a special meal for just Jacque and myself, or
to share with friends or family. Tonight
was such a case. After checking Cellar
Tracker (a program I use to maintain my collection -- www.cellartracker.com) I
opted for a bottle of Gorman Wineries’ (http://www.gormanwinery.com)
the Evil Twin.
I opted to decant it for about an hour before we enjoyed
it. This allowed it to get to room temperature
and to breathe after being locked up in the bottle for several years. Letting a wine breathe is like releasing a Genie
from the bottle. The surprise of having
a genie appear can be overwhelming and shocking. Drinking a really good wine allows you to contemplate
the wishes the genie may grant for you.
Iceberg lettuce wedge with tomatoes and onions in blue
cheese with bacon bits crumbled over the top.
It was pointed out by everyone that they missed the actual crumbled blue
cheese on top – who needs a food critic
living in their home!
Thanksgiving This and That
To brine or not to brine?
I prefer brining my turkey for at least 18 hours before roasting. This year I tried something a little
different – I actually boiled water, added salt, two cut up oranges, a Walla Walla
onion, and mulled wine mix.
Regarding Treager smoked turkey legs: These have become a
year-round favorite in our house. They
are great for the holidays, as well as summer bbq’s around the pool. We -
meaning Greg and me, because he is always part of the turkey legs - use a sweet
rub, nothing special ever, but then I turn Greg loose on coming up with a
combination of maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, and Kentucky bourbon. No, let me correct that: Greg uses Kentucky
bourbon and adds modest amounts of the above.
This year we (he) took the basting one step further and used the meat
injector and injected the legs twice in the last hour and half of cooking. (The
final time being only about ten minutes before pulling them off.)
Sautéing celery, onions, and mushrooms for the stuffing and
dressing
I am not sure how long it took me to realize the importance
of putting the herbs and seasonings under the skin then on the skin. I place dome on the skin for aesthetics, but
for taste, rub the herbs into the meat under the skin right onto the meat. I also rub olive oil under the skin and on
the skin itself.
(Before)
Remember to poke and repoke your turkey several times in
several different places to make certain it is at 165 degrees. Let it rest a good 20 minutes before carving,
especially if you brined it before cooking.
Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet:
My hint here is to use the aluminum casserole dishes you get from the
grocery store. It makes clean up
easier. We use the casserole dishes as “to
go” containers for guests. That way
Jacque does not have all those extra dishes to wash.
(Sorry about the delay, please let me know what you think. Feel free to add your tips or suggestions in the comments section.)
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