Saturday, March 25, 2006

The Nature of the Operation

Thoughts on the Nature Center’s eatery.

As I mentioned the other day, the Pueblo Chieftain cut off the continued material from page 2C in their on-line version of this interesting article about the Nature Center. The original article, in its foreshortened version is here.

I was disappointed. And a bit put out, as I have to type this stuff in now instead of linking and copying it.

Here’s my impersonation of Paul Harvey, with the rest of the story….

The restaurant space has an advantage with its proximity to the river and viewed of the trail and water.

“We’ve all thought about what we’d like to see and I think it’s a gold mine with its view, but the service has to be quick,” Zarr said. “You can only sell the view so many times.

The restaurant also faces a challenge with winter hours. The center’s request for proposals states that any restaurant operator must stay open year-round, but can have reduced hours from December through March. No specifics regarding the hours were given in the request.

Zarr said the board doesn’t expect a restaurant to keep the same full-time hours during winter that it would in the spring and summer months, but added that he’d like to see the restaurant open on weekends.

Zarr said at least three people have approached the center about the restaurant, which helped trigger the requires for proposals.

The board has no preference for style of food, but is looking for people with experience operating a restaurant.

For those interested in applying, the center will hold a general meeting and tour of the facility at 1 p.m. Monday [Ed Note: 27 Mar 06].

And HERE’s my opinion on what the board might want to consider….

More...

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Spice of Life

Things are getting interesting….

...at Sams Club.

Tone’s and Sams Club seem to be teaming up on special projects in spice. Over the last several of months I’ve noticed that they’ve been adding an interesting series of mixed spices.

There’ve been things like Louisiana Cajun, Chipotle, Lime Pepper and others. Last weekend I got two new ones; Salmon & Seafood Grill and Asian Stir-Fry Grill. I used the Salmon Grill on some salmon fillets. And the Asian Stir-Fry on some leftover penne pasta. Both were superb.

If you like to cook and you’re not a member of Sams Club, I highly recommend considering finding a friend who IS.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Good Gravy

Advancements in toaster-ovens. Or how to rotisseire a small bird in Winter, without firing up the outdoor grill.

Yeah. Pretty mundane stuff that. Small kitchen applicances are so blasé. However, a several months ago, I noticed a new form of toaster-oven at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was a toaster-over that was also a rotisseire. This one was made by Euro-Pro, the people who bring you the charming line of Shark hand-held vacuum cleaners. We have several of them scattered throughout the house.

I didn’t think much of it at first, as we had a toaster-oven. A Black & Decker thingie we’d had for a long time. And I don’t make toast that often anyway. However, the B&D was showing it’s age AND the toast button would not function properly UNLESS you held down an additional button to get its attention so that it would work properly.  Then there was the annoying tendancy to not toast a second batch properly unless it had cooled down to room-temp before doing anything else.

I got to thinking about it. I remembered how good a rotisseire-cooked chicken tasted. And I attributed the excellent flavor and juicy texture of the meat to the rotisserie approach. Oh. Sure. You can back a chicken and get something like that, but the rotisserie technique is continually basting the meat. That’s an important part of good cooking. Keeping the meat propelry moisturized. Rotisseire does that better. With less time and effort on the part of the cook.

So, I got to thinking about this and decided we should get one. Not just for the cooking of chicken, but for other things as well. I’ve got a killer barbeque sauce for pork based on a Virginian recipe from the 18th century. I like pork. Especially done this way. But doing it for two and firing up, i.e., wasting, the gas of the outdoor grill for a small meal just doesn’t sit right with me. Therefore, I had two reasons for getting this dingus.

I talked it over with the distaff a couple of months ago and she acquiesed.

Off to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Guess what. They were ‘sold out’. Heavy sigh. But they were planning to restock.

Yesterday, we tried again. Only THIS time to be told the item was discontinued. And, just to make things more irritating, no other toaster-oven offered had the rotisserie. Talk about flumuxed. Guess I’d have to order it ont he web. [Note: Isn’t it interesting that all too many things you want to buy these days have to be bought on the web? I’d invest in FedEx and/or UPS, if I played the market.]

So, as we trudged through the rest of the store, as the distaff had noticed a lot of things were on sale, we were picking up things here and there; flannel bed-sheets; cotton is TOO cold when slipping between the sheets on a cold Winter night. At the end of the circuit, I was standing beside a large rack of clearance items and what do I see—the toaster-oven-rotisserie. The display item. Sure. It has not box. It has no manual. It seems to be missing the pizza stone. Heck, it might not even WORK. But it’s half-off the original price.

I grabbed it like Larry Byrd does a rebound, before heading for his goal.

Well, we got it home and, along the way, we got a roasting chicken.

Set the dingus up. It fits perfectly in the space the old toaster-oven sat.

I prepped the bird; dousing it with rosemary-garlic seasonings. Trussed it onto the spit. Put it into the oven cavity. Fired it up. The dingus worked!

I cooked the bird at 350°F for two hours. Occasionally, I’d baste it, as I wanted to make sure the seasonings were continually applied to the skin, which was dripping them off like a drip coffee maker.

The bird was GREAT! Better than Safeway and Sam’s. Probably because I’m pleased with my own cooking. But, what the heck. I don’t see either of them offering rosemary-garlic rotisseire chicken anyway.

However, another thing I was impressed with was the amount of gravey I was able to generate from one chicken. There was 3/4 of a cup of oil in the drip pan. All flavored with the rosemary-garlic seasoning. I put that into a saucier and added an equal amount of white flour; making a roe. To this I added the water drained from the mashed potatoes I’d intended to have as a side dish. I added additional water until I got the consistency I was looking for. I wound up with almost two quarters of superb gravy.

What to do with all this gravey? I think I’ll get some extra chicken breasts from Sam’s and some mixed veggies too. And make chicken pot pies.

I’ve missed chicken pot pies, since Sam’s stopped carrying the Pepperidge Farm line. Those were good pot pies. Great for when you were in a hurry and need a tummy-warming meal, which can be frequently in Winter.

So, bottom-line. If you’re current toaster-oven is going south, I highly recommend you get a toaster-over-rotisserie when you get to the point of replacing your current system. In the long run, if you cook yourself, you’ll end up saving money; all the way around.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

The Bird Flu Pandemic I

Thoughts on the pandemic.

Initial thought? The price of chicken is going to go UP.

Caught between a rock and a hard place; brain rotting Mad Cow or a lack of chicken? My advice, like Eddie Murphy’s in Trading Places, is to put your money in sow bellies.

Seriously. With the report of Nine Dead from Mad Cow in Idaho. You get the distinct impression that all is not quite safe with respect to eating beef. Yes, a good friend of mine says ‘stay away from hamburger’. But that’s just to reduce the dosage. It doesn’t prevent being dosed in the first place. Only avoiding the contaminated food source prevents getting dosed with Mad Cow prions.

Then we have the approaching bird flu pandemic. And YES, it IS a ‘pandemic’. It’s just killing off the birds, for the most part….at the moment. And what’s the immediate consequence? There will be fewer chickens available for dinner. Not to mention what will happen with eggs. The price of both will probably sky rocket, where the bird flu is killing large numbers of birds.

So without beef or chicken or even eggs to eat, pork is going to become something other than “the other white meat”. If the fish go bye-bye too, it’s going to be the ONLY meat.

UPDATE: This is going to put some kinda pressure on the Jews and Muslims.

ADDITIONALLY: I think Cox & Forkum did a cute job with the aspect of Bird Flu vs. Humans. More on THAT idea, later.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Competitors, Start Your Ovens!

The entry form deadline for the State Fair is tomorrow. So it’s time to decide: heat up the house and prove who’s got the best chocolate chip cookies this side of the Kansas border, or stand around at the fair, lamely saying “I bet mine are better than that.”

It is now, as they say in some circles, time to put up or shut up. The deadline for submitting your entry forms for the Colorado State Fair Open Competitions is Friday, August 12. If you’re the type of Fair-goer who eats chili dogs and cotton candy and then rides the Zipper ‘til disaster happens, this post won’t interest you.

If, however, you’re the sort of Fair-goer who has wandered into the Creative Arts building and wondered where all that stuff came from, this post is for you. It came from people like you and me, who decided to risk a few bucks on entry fees and ingredients to see if they can claim state-wide bragging rights on their quilts, their biscuits, their jams and jellies, their ceramics, doilies and leatherwork. Just go here and download the desired .pdf file. It will include an entry form, instructions on where to pay entry fees, where to take your entries, and when and so on.

Last year I observed part of the pantry judging, and it was very educational. The judges were very nice in giving out baking tips as they critiqued the various items. (And no, I don’t know how you become a chocolate chip cookie judge, but I suspect a degree in home economics helps.) I have the following advice if you want to enter pantry items:

1) The most entries were in chocolate chip cookies and banana bread, so I wouldn’t bother entering those unless I was going after “Queen/KIng of the Kitchen” where you’ll basically want to enter everything in order to increase the odds of getting enough ribbons.

2) Unless the category calls for nuts or raisins, don’t bother adding them because the judge will just pick them out. It seems they can’t hold a bad nut against an entrant, so they’re removed so that they don’t distract from the flavor of what the cook did.

3) A jelly is supposed to be firm, but not so firm that the judge can’t get a plastic spoon into it.

Have fun!

 

 

Friday, February 04, 2005

New Sidebars

More and better things to see and do and places to go/stay.

I’ve expanded the sidebars (see left-hand side of the blog at the main level). I’d like to tout some of the great places to go, things to do/see and places to stay in town. So I’ve added some sidebar boxes to assist in that.

If you can recommend any others, I’ll be happy to try them out for myself, as best I can. Send an e-mail to ADMINISTRATION.

And Thanks!

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Good-Thai

Sometimes…you just have to do it yourself.

One of the great things about this town is that there is a wealth of culinary delights to be had, if you know where to find them. We’ve got an interesting admixture of ethnicities and tastes in town. Everything from haute cuisine a la Steel City Diner [Note: Which isn’t REALLY a ‘diner’. It’s more like a, ¡horrors!, bistro.] and the Renaissance to places that have great Mexican dishes, but mind you don’t leave expensive things in plain sight in your car while you eat. Then there are the Slovenians and Bohemians and Japanese and Chinese and let’s not forget the Italians.

The town is a virtual buffet.

One of the groups I associated with in another life/town, somewhere north of here, had a special interest group (SIG) that went by the charming appellation of STUFF; SIG for Totally Unabashed Face Feeding. Once a month they’d descend on some hapless restaurant and partake of just about everything on the menu. Once there were thirty of us at a well-known Chinese outfit. All of us around one very large table. Everyone ordered something different from the menu. The food arrived and the plates were whizzing about as if props from a 50’s scifi invasion movie. A fine time was had by all.

Well. Whereas I can find just about anything I want, when I want to avoid cooking, I can’t find anything from southeast asia; Viet Nam or Thailand. So, I’ve had to take up doing it myself. Even as I type the skillet is coming up to temp as the rice noodles soak in hot water. The salmon is thawed. The pud thai sauce…the deliriously, delicious and spicy sauce of limes, peppery powders and sauces, brown sugar and fish sauce is ready to go. [Note: Interesting. It’s been stable for several months in the refrig when I had to juice a bunch of limes and needed something useful to do with the results of all that squeezing. That’s some kinda preservative. They could have transported Nelson’s body all the way from Siam, packed in that, if he’d died there instead of off the Spanish coast. Instead, they used a cask of cognac. It was probably easier to come by.]

At any rate….

...if one can’t find it oneself. Even here. One has to be prepared to do it on your own. Hence learning how to cook. Which brings me back to dinner. It’s TIME…to get back to work. The noodles are drained. The fish is thawed. The skillet is hot. And Life is ‘good’.

Bon appetite!

P.S. If you are interested in the recipe for the pud thai sauce, feel free to drop me an e-mail/line. I’m always willing to share such blessings.