Spring Travel and Food

Cogito has hit the road.

While Atlanta has been good for food and fun, the time for a change has arrived.

But just because one has no kitchen is no reason to stop enjoying eating, cooking, and good friends.

Over the next several weeks, the food and fun will travel cross country, with the bow pointed west, eating and writing all the way.

The first stop was at the home of relatives in Michigan. The menu consisted of grilled pork tenderloin (imagine) with a blueberry maple syrup sauce, sauteed spinach (a Cogito favorite), roasted potatoes with rosemary and some grilled bread.


Upcoming cooking and eating destinations include Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City.......

This Omnivore's Dilemma

Prime or Choice? Grass or Corn Fed? Organic? Local? Dry Aged?


Yes, yes, and yes.

The more I learn about food, the more I understand that we just don't need beef that often. This simple reality makes me want to appreciate it when I do indulge. When I eat steak I try to do it well. This local dry aged rib eye was just the thing to cure my craving this weekend.

Given all the questions and the interest in the details of our food, these days, it can be difficult to make good, informed decisions. Saveur has a piece that helped me to wade through it all and also made my belly rumble. http://www.saveur.com/food_new_recipes.jsp?issueID=200706.

Enjoy your steaks...

Fast, Healthy, Seasonal and Delicious (or It took longer to do the dishes than to cook)

No real recipes or magic, here. This one is as easy as it gets.
Spaghetti squash has directions on a decal Right On The Squash!
While it cooked, I sauteed some shrimp in some sliced shallots, scallions, garlic and oil.

That's it.
Simple.
Easy.

Many thanks to one Lindsay for reminding me of the taste and timeliness that is the spaghetti squash. More thanks to another Lindsay for the cost/benefit analysis of organic fruits and vegetables. Give up a coffee a week. It's worth it and more!

Christmas Roast, Man Style

It was decided, with reasonable foresight that we would serve a traditional Standing Rib Roast (also known as the Prime Rib Roast) this Christmas. We started with an Alton Brown Recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/dry-aged-standing-rib-roast-with-sage-jus-recipe/index.html

The key to this recipe is the dry aging of the beef. This is something that quality steak houses do to all of their cuts for around four weeks. Some steakhouses will go as long as eight weeks. This process involves evaporating out the water in the roast, and breaking down the connective tissue in meat, resulting in more concentrated flavor and a more tender cut. Alton recommends a 3 day age. We did nine days with good results. You just need the fridge room and fresh towels.

In this recipe Alton uses a ceramic pot in the oven to maintain a stable oven temperature. We could not find a pot that fit both the oven and the roast and were not particularly keen to use one, anyway. The oven did just fine.

The sawsall? Well, the best kitchen tool to carve the roast is the double bladed electric knife. Given a lack of this tool and no lack of beer, Uncle Eric and I decided that the sawsall was the perfect tool. We set up shop in the driveway to spare the kitchen any debris related consequences and went to town. In retrospect, I highly approve of the sawsall. This is simply the best tool for the job. Every kitchen needs one.

Dinner with Friends

I had my friends C & E over for dinner the other night. We had a great time enjoying my favorite things, listening to good music and drinking wine.

We also made some good food. This Beef Burgundy is a Rachel Ray recipe but it is a good, easy one. It's one of her 30 minute meals. It usually seems to take me 40 minutes and it's easy to stretch to an hour, in a social situation.

Rachel's Recipe

If you use the pearl onions, as she suggests, it is better. I always have a couple of regular onions around and find this tastes almost as good, with no additional cost or labor. I also just put this over whatever pasta or rice I have lying around. There may be better meat choices than sirloin. I'd recommend a juicier cut, more like a ribeye. Not enough cooking time is involved for proper "slow and low" cooking to tenderize the cheaper cuts. You could get away with the sirloin or stew beef. Just start with a little more liquid and cook it for longer. Near the end of the cooking I like to stir in a little milk or cream. It helps with the overall consistency of the sauce and adds a smoothness to the flavor.