Looking Forward To It

Younger Daughter flew down to Hawaii earlier this week, using her own resources.

Meanwhile, she can't restrain herself from teasing us. She's sending things like this:

The view from our favorite little beachfront restaurant

Luau eggs Benedict, poached eggs, Kahlua pork and hollandaise sauce on a taro roll

with a side of pineapple to go along with her morning coffee and a smoothie shooter

If we weren't going to be there in a few days, ourselves, it would be tough to take.

Sour Cream & Cheddar Halibut

(click to enlarge)

Younger Daughter the Chef prepared this delectable dish for us (she doubled all the amounts shown here).

• 1.5 pounds of halibut
• 1/8 lb. butter
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 16-oz. container sour cream
• 2 TB gourmet mustard or white-wine gravy* (thick)
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

Grease baking dish with spray Pam and pre-heat over to 350 degrees. Melt butter and stir in Parmesan cheese and lemon. Cut halibut into 1/2" thick portion and roll in butter mixture, then roll oiled halibut in breadcrumbs until coated. Bake in greased dish for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and generously spread sour cream mixed with mustard or gravy on the top and sides of halibut fillet. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Return to oven and bake for an addition 20 minutes or until fillet is done. Sour cream should be slightly browned.

She served the fish with lightly buttered pastina on the side; steamed bazmati rice, or any other long-grain wild rice is also good. Use your imagination. :)

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the presentation, but we were all crowded around the counter, grabbing food. I was afraid that if I stopped for photos, I'd lose out; turns out I was right.


* White-wine gravy recipe:

Original recipe makes 6 cups

• 5 cups turkey drippings
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, or as needed
• salt to taste

The Rustic Goat

Yesterday was Younger Daughter's 19th birthday, and she wanted dinner at a new-ish restaurant in Anchorage called The Rustic Goat.

It's owned and operated by a local coffee company, and this image will probably have Peter, Miss D, and Jenny S. sighing and wishing they were here:

He watches while you eat :)

Four-cheese gnocchi

Fresh salmon with blueberries, balsamic dressing on a bed of potato coins and various chopped veggies

Apple crostata - baked tart with Granny Smith apples, brandy caramel
sauce and housemade caramel gelato

Best Way to Spend a Saturday

Older Daughter & I made the round of our favorite stores: Cabela's, Bass Pro, and Sportsman's Warehouse.

Then we came home so I could grill some buffalo brauts. Freshly-sauteed onion and a mild cheddar cheese made excellent toppings, too.

A man could get used to this.

Chores Are Done

As per usual, my wife & I woke around 05:00 and shared a pot of coffee.  After an early breakfast, we did the weekly shopping (Costco, Wally World, Safeway and GNC), cleaned the house, I changed the oil in her car.  In the midst of all that, we also stepped out for a bite of lunch at one of our favorite places:

O'Brady's Pub

We also swung past the post office, gas station and the bank.

Now, it's 14:00 (2 pm to you landlubbers), and the chores are complete. She's in the kitchen preparing ingredients for Mexi-Cali chili from a recipe we were given by friends from Chico, CA. That will round out the pile o' healthy snacks for the big game tomorrow.

Who are we rooting for, you ask? Denver ... and therein lies a tale. (And didn't you just know there would?)

It seems the Seahawks have a HUGE following up here, for no better reason than that they're the closest NFL team to Alaska. Apparently, 1,350 miles constitutes "close".

But those of you who have been reading this little corner of the 'net know that I react badly to having something crammed down my throat. So I'm rooting for Denver because they ain't Seattle.

Heh.

A Story in Pictures

These will probably result in a post ... one of these days. And there's a bag of halibut, and caribou, in the deep freeze. Spices, meet meat!

A Fine Day (Updated), and a New Follower

We had turkey ... oh, did we have turkey! Younger Daughter/Chef Sam cooked a finely-seasoned citrus bird, stuffed with orange wedges and a few lemons, both inside & pinned between the legs and sides. It fell apart when it came out of the oven ... as tender and juicy as we've ever had.

Her cornbread dressing had just a pinch of Mexican peppers in it - not too much - for a little "kick", and gravy with pan juices, tangerine, mustard and citrus pepper.

She coated the turkey with a tangerine habanjero mustard which baked dry, but kept all the juices in.

My wife took her pumpkin pies to a whole new level with Vietnamese cinnamon (stronger than the Ceylon stuff we normally use) and just a pinch of star anise. Best. Pie. Ever!

* * * * *

I see Max has clicked the "Follow" button. He's a self-described "prepper, aspiring ultra trail runner, seeker of knowledge, jackass."  Welcome, sir: you're among friends. I try to answer every comment, and if I miss one of yours, my e-mail's on my profile.

Hey Reverend, What's for Dinner?

Pot roast & mashed potatoes, with onions

Chef Samantha arranged this serving for photo purposes; I promptly doubled the size of the servings, and proceeded to chow down.

(urp!) Oh, pardon me. :)

Younger Daughter Finishes High School

Younger daughter Samantha, who's been working as a pastry cook (assistant to the pastry chef - must get the hierarchy correct, y'know) at a big hotel has now completed all her high school studies, and has scheduled her private graduation ceremony for mid-May.

This Thursday she will make a presentation to the school board, briefly describing her journey from wannabe to where she is now paid to create desserts. As part of the presentation, she'll be giving cupcakes which she has created at home to each board member.

Description follows after the picture:

Go on & click - you know you want to.

The cupcakes: banana with a light hint of orange, cinnamon and nutmeg.

The filling: salted caramel.

The frosting: buttercream lightly flavored with salted caramel & sprinkled with edible gold glitter.


Eat your hearts out. Us?  We'll be eating cupcakes. :)

Mid-Day Report

Spent much of the morning retrieving materials to wrap & package the PC for my mother, and getting that big box ready to go.

My wife's baking egg bread, which we'll have for lunch in about an hour. Dinner tonight is tacos with all the fixin's and standard sides, made fresh by the household chefs.

I'm gonna have to walk a little farther than normal at the track, tomorrow, to offset today's good food. But it's worth it.

Dinner at O'Brady's

We nipped out for an easy, convenient dinner at O'Brady's Pub, just a short drive from home.

The girls ordered the proprietor's signature O'Brady burgers, but I opted for the shepherd's pie. Rich, steamy, thick and meaty shepherd's pie.

I fully intended to take a picture, but alas and alack! the pie was gone in a trice, with nothing left to photograph but an empty bowl.

It's a nice place. I'm sure we'll go back again, soon.

Chef's At It Again

Younger Daughter is going to the bake shop's Christmas breakfast today, done pot-luck style. Modifying a recipe from Brigid's site, she made apricot scones with a rum-reduction glaze.

WOW are they good! Soft, plump, chewy and delicious with coffee or tea ... did I mention WOW?

Now it seems she made too many, and is leaving some home for us to munch on. DARN the bad luck!

Go ahead, click - you know you want to.

A Good Day For It

AccuHunch is promising rain today, with steady temps in the mid-50s. My wife made another batch of her very popular chili yesterday, and it's been simmering in the crockpot since yesterday afternoon. In fact, it was good enough to eat last night, so it will be superb today. If the spoonful I just sampled is any indication (and of course it is) lunchtime will be include a chorus of oohs, aahs, and other 'nummy' sounds.

Plans for the day include meeting Jenny and her friend John at the Wet Bunny range this afternoon. He's promised to bring along some of his full-auto toys, including an Uzi (insert evil grin). I plan to speak VERY sweetly so I can take a turn with that.

We did all our running yesterday, so there aren't any other chores or errands to which we must attend. The slate-grey skies rather put a damper on ambitious plans, at any rate.

Daughter's Culinary Creations

from the "culinary boot camp" at UAA, last week.

Monday:

This quiche was delightful. The primary ingredients were eggs, shredded cheese, onions, bacon (BACON!) and broccoli florets as a liner at the bottom of the pie shell.

Tuesday:

Handmade pizza, including the dough. Pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon (BACON!)/Pancetta, black olives, provolone and other cheeses, mushrooms, and all-around drool-inducing goodness.

Wednesday:

(Artistic camera tilt was entirely accidental)

Hand-mixed egg pasta formed into fettuccine, and then topped with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

Thursday:

Dum aloo curry on basmati rice, with onions, fresh ginger root, cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper, and Mughal garam masala.

Friday:

Hand-rubbed, grilled/barbequed baby back ribs & chicken, with macaroni and cheese included panko and freshly-grated cheese topping.


Ladies and gentlemen, I present my daughter, Samantha the chef:

All-star chef, at the end of the week

Easter Lunch, Alaska Style

At least, the way this Alaskan family ate, today.

Younger Daughter (the aspiring chef) began with a halibut filet: 2.7 pounds (after trimming) of fresh-caught halibut, to be exact.

Cut into individual servings:

The halibut was first pan-seared, seasoned with pesto, salt and pepper, and then finished in the oven.

For the sides, she fixed garlic mashed potatoes, carrots, and salad consisting of arugula, dried cranberries, candied walnut chunks, Gorgonzola cheese, and sliced pears. And oh yes, a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Dessert was simple - just strawberries and a bit o' cream.

We didn't go "all out" with fancy place settings or the fine china ... just a nice, comfortable meal for the four of us.

Brunch for a Rainy Day

Here's your thousand words' worth: bacon, scrambled eggs, and scratch-made rum-orange-apricot-cinnamon-streusel coffee cake.

We concentrated on a good lunch, because this is what was happening, outside:

Daughter Cooks Again

Sautéed Breast of Chicken Stuffed with fresh herbs and Mozzarella

So Younger Daughter (“YD”) attended cooking school last weekend, and promised to recreate each of the things she cooked there, for all of us here at the ol’ homestead. Here's the first tasty treat.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cups all purpose flour

• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus add’l as needed

• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper (or as needed)

• ½ tsp paprika

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• Four 5- to 6-oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus sprigs for garnish

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil, plus sprigs for garnish

• 6 oz fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder in a shallow bowl or plate; mix to distribute the spices evenly, and set aside.

Place a chicken breast on your work surface, presentation-side down; remove the tenderloin and reserve for some other use. Turn the chicken over. Place one hand flat on the chicken breast; holding a sharp knife parallel to the work surface (careful! It’s sharp), carefully insert the knife into the thickest part of the breast. Cut to, but not through, the other side of the breast. Open up the sliced breast like a book. Repeat with the other chicken breasts.

Combine the chopped parsley and basil. Season each opened breast liberally with salt and pepper, then sprinkle each with 1½ tsp of the herb mixture.

Sprinkle one fourth of the cheese evenly over one side of each breast, leaving a ¼-inch border around the edge. Fold the side of the breast without the cheese over, covering the cheese, and press gently.

Carefully coat each stuffed breast in the seasoned flour.

Heat a large, over-safe sauté pan over medium-high heat; add the oil and heat through. Place each chicken breast in the pan, presentation-side down. Cook until golden brown, or about 3 minutes. Use tongs to carefully turn the breasts over, being careful to keep them closed. Cook until the second side begins to brown, about 2 minutes, then transfer the pan to the oven. Cook to an internal temp of 165° F, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place each breast on a warmed dinner plate; garnish with fresh herb and serve immediately.

These will go quickly, and leave guests wanting more. (And note that Dad took this photo before the final garnish was applied, to the great angst of YD.)

Recipe modified as shown from a version published by the Viking Range Corp.

Weekend, Part 3 (Food alert!)

Older Daughter is into WoW - that's World of Warcraft, for the uninitiated - and uses headphones with a boom mic to talk to her fellow players.

She discovered to her chagrin that headphone wires & the vacuum cleaner don't mix well. I spent a half-hour this afternoon trying to repair the damage, but couldn't get the phones to come on. Some of the wires are so thin that I had trouble seeing them, until I increased the illumination quite a bit. I'm not sure if that's a commentary on the tiny wires, or on my eyes.

Harumph, again.

But it didn't work, so I ordered another set for her.

* * * * *

Food alert: Younger Daughter is preparing some sort of stuffed chicken & basmati rice dish for dinner. Pics & recipes to follow.

Brigid's Boxty - Irish Heaven on a Plate

Younger Daughter (YD) tried her hand at Brigid's boxty recipe tonight. It was her first try, and we think she nailed it.


This is cubed pork tenderloin, maple infused, with hand-rubbed spices.






Boxty? Brigid described it this way:

"Well it's definitely an Irish dish; a potato pancake-like creation, usually associated with the north midlands, north Connacht (a favorite place of mine) and southern Ulster, but whose popularity has spread far and wide throughout Ireland. There are many different recipes, some that include baking soda and buttermilk, some thinner, some thicker, but they all contain finely grated raw potato and do not have the chunkier texture of an Americanized potato pancake. The ones I saw were a finely grained, crepe-like creation filled with meat, veggies and various sauces."

The picture above is the creme sauce from Brigid's recipe, right after the pork was stirred in.

Boxty (potato crepe) took two tries, but YD got it right.












But is it good?


Trust me - you wish you were here.

Thank you, YD.

More Good Eating: Fruited Scones

and bacon!



(click for "scrumptious")







YD pulled out Brigid's recipe for fruited scones, and decided to experiment.

Instead of currants, she substituted peaches apricots (oops! my bad), freshly-ground ginger and cinnamon. Since we had no whiskey for the glaze, she used rum extract. And of course there was bacon. It's the law.

Okay, it's my law, but we ate well.