Holy Crap! I Just Made Banana Bread

Tags

banana, banana bread, experiment, food blogs, no recipe

Who ever said that baking was hard or required precision?

LIES!

So, overall it’s been a pretty rough last couple of months.  My father-in-law has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and between several trips to MIchigan, the end of the basketball season and my second job as an unpaid board member for my local Lutheran High School, in which I have helped conduct a search for a new Head of School* who will make far more money than I ever will, I have had little time for blogging.

*By the way, Head of School is the new educational buzzword for Executive Director, which was the 1990s word for Superintendent, which was the old word for Headmaster, which pretty much meant Head of School.  Educational buzzwords are hilarious in how quickly they catch on and then fade away.  GLEs, ELOs, ESL, ELL, MAP, Common Core, STEM, and a wide variety of others have filled our vocabulary in the last 13 years, and yet, we don’t seem to get that good teachers + committed students and their families=success.

So after a very frustrating day, I decided to try to be creative with what we had on hand here at home tonight.  I was only making Costco cheese and spinach ravioli with green beans for dinner tonight, and had only about an hour until we had a work night up at school.  Earlier today, I taught my lower graders that fruits provide a home for seeds, and we examined the fruits and seeds of strawberries, apples, and bananas (the fruits we had in the house).  The bananas were on their downward spiral, and I decided I’d try something I’d never done…banana fritters.

After a breif consultation of the Great Internet Cookbook I decided to go rogue and wing it.  I took three mushy bananas, a generous pour out of an almost empty bag of granulated sugar, a couple of spoonfuls of brown sugar, and a half cup of flour and prepared to mix it all together.

At this point my brain kicked in and I realized that I’d need something else to make this appealing.  It was then that I thought of Elvis.  He enjoyed peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  If it’s good enough for the King, it’s good enough for me.  Two scoops of peanut butter coming up!

I decided to take a picture of this, just in case my plan worked out.

Finally, I figured I should add some liquid to bring it all together, so I added an egg.  Then I beat the heck out of those bananas with a fork (The only utensil I used in this entire process).

Soon after beating, I realized a fritter is pretty much code word for disappointing donut.  Also, I’d have to work like a dog to get it done.  I’d have to heat oil, fry up little balls and put them on paper towels…burning myself with grease splatter as an added bonus.  With my timeframe and an actual dinner to get on the table, with you know, vegetables, that wasn’t going to happen.  I also noticed that my batter was pretty runny.

So, I called an audible and googled banana bread.  Apparently baking soda is important…as is salt.  Done and done.

Finally, I added a bit of cinnamon.  I figured all these dessert breads have cinnamon in them.

The other thing that got me thinking banana bread was the St. Louis Food Bloggers Forum.  I went to this event last summer and that was what got me into blogging in the first place.  Back on that hot August day at Vin de Set, they gave us a prize bag.  Included in the bag were two Wilton mini bread pans.  To be honest, I never thought I’d use these things, but here they were today waiting for my banana fritter turned banana bread.  I greased those two little pans and put them in the oven.  When I left for the work night tonight at 6 they weren’t quite finished.  But upon my arrival home this evening at 9:15 I was informed that I had created a pretty nifty banana bread.

It was very good, and I plan on sharing it with my (non-nut allergy) kiddos at school tomorrow.

Will I make this again?  Probably not.  However, it shows that experimenting and trying something new in the kitchen is never a bad idea.  At worst, I had used some bananas, sugar, and flour.  Instead, I created the finest banana bread ever crafted in this home.  So, if you’ve got squishy bananas, flour, sugars, an egg, and some peanut butter, you’ve got bread waiting for you.

So dear neglected readers, what are some experiments that have worked out well for you?  Let me know.

Parsley Perfected by South American Geniuses

Tags

Argentina, chimichurri, flank steak, parsley, sauce, Steak sauce, steak with chimichurri sauce

Chimichurri.

Roughly translated, I think it means “Addictive sauce that will cause you to eat far more flank steak than you intended to.”

I am now highly intrigued by Argentinian cuisine.  I tried their national sandwich earlier this year, and have now experienced their sauce.

It is a miracle these people are physically capable of leaving their homes, because if I lived in Argentina, I don’t think I’d fit out my door.

Maybe all the tangoing keeps them fit.

I bought two flank steaks a while back at Costco, and I was looking for a different way to prepare the second one.  Anyway, I saw a recipe a while back for flank steak with chimichurri on Weight Watchers.  Unfortunately, I did not follow their serving guidelines or healthy recipe Saturday evening.

Three quick thoughts on this delightful sauce.

1.  I cannot think of a better use for parsley.  Whenever I buy a bunch of parsley in the store, I always think, “Well 90% of this is going to be garbage.”  Which totally stinks.  I used nearly the whole bunch in this recipe, and I’ll use the rest on a roast this week.

2.  No one seems to know exactly where the name for this sauce came from, or what it means.  There are several theories, but no one seems sure which is correct.  I’m always interested in the etymology of different foods, and this one seems to be one of those mysterious dishes that no one can quite explain the name.

3.  I totally love my immersion blender.  They give you this cup with the blender, and I used it tonight for the sauce.  It worked perfectly.  If the good people at Cuisinart would like to sponsor me, I’d be completely up for that.  I’LL BLEND ANYTHING!  That could be a new blog: Will it Blend?

Anyway, I certainly won’t take credit for the chimichurri recipe, so here’s the link to the one I used.

Roughly chop the parsley and put in your blender/immersion blender wonder bowl.

Add the oil, vinegar, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt, and hot sauce

GO TO TOWN WITH IMMERSION BLENDER.  (Or use your regular blender/food processor) I think this took ten seconds.

Serve over the steak of your choice.

Try not to eat all the steak.

One final note.  We had leftover chimichurri sauce that we put in ice cube trays and froze.  I’m going to use these bricks of frozen Latin American flavor to marinate some future steaks.

10 Strong Thoughts on Spinach

Tags

Popeye, saag, spinach, Spinach artichoke dip, Spinach superfood, Veggie Patch

Spinach is the comeback kid of vegetables.  I say this in the midst of the Kale Invasion.  The other day I openly guffawed at someone mentioning making kale chips.  I wondered how one made chips from kale.  I was promptly put in my place, being told how to do it and how good they are.  Now, I’ve had kale raw, and I’ve had it cooked, and I am not convinced this veggie has staying power in our food consciousness.  I know it’s popular now, but it too will be put back in its leafy place, along with chard (which I do like better than kale), and other leafy also rans.

Spinach on the other hand, has really climbed to the top of the vegetable heap.  I thought of this the other day during a visit to Costco.  Spinach is in EVERYTHING.  On that particular day, you could sample spinach-artichoke dip, and these AWESOME veggie patties that contained spinach and garbanzo beans.  Down in the frozen food aisle, there was frozen Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie).  Finally, you could just buy a giant container of fresh baby spinach leaves, which I noticed had mostly sold out.

I like to consider myself a trendsetter.  I have LOVED spinach since I was a kid.  I have mentioned that my Grandma Toedebusch made fantastic spinach, and it was my go-to vegetable as a child.  It was a rather lonely club I was in at the time, while other kiddos went for the carrots as their favorite veggie.

Back in the 1980s, I don’t think spinach held the place it holds in our hearts today.  If you think about it, spinach was a joke.  Popeye* was the most famous spokesman for and he didn’t exactly put spinach into the best light.  He’d be stuck in a corner as Olive Oyl was being assulted in some way by Bluto.  Boom, a can of disgusting spinach would materialize, he’d pop it in his mouth and he’d become a raging hulk of vegetable fueled fury, pummeling those in his way.  I also remember that his (kids? nephews?) hated spinach.  Anyway, this was the best advertising spinach had.

*I always wonder how Popeye got into the fried chicken business.  Was he tired of vegetables?  I’d love to see a cartoon of Popeye in a crisis, and instead of eating spinach and becoming a mega-ultra hero, he eats a bucket of fried chicken and takes a nap.

Anyway, I don’t remember spinach being in much of anything other than spinach.  Today, however, spinach has found its way into pizza, pasta, dips, and numerous other tasty treats.  It took a while, but spinach has certainly has come a long way in the last few years.  Well done, wonderful vegetable, well done.

So, without further ado, I give you ten thoughts on spinach.

1.  Spinach-Artichoke Dip is AMAZING.  I could go through a whole Costco container in a single evening (did I hear a personal challenge?).  It’s even better when it is homemade.  Here’s a link to an AWESOME recipe from a fellow blogger.

2.  If spinach had a citizenship, it would be Iranian.  According to food historians, this leafy green originated in Persia (modern day Iran).  Spinach tends to keep this on the down low when dealing with TSA agents.

3.  So do the Iranians make grow the most spinach of any country today?  Um, no.  China produces 85% of the world’s spinach…interestingly I’ve never had spinach in a Chinese restaurant.  I suppose they are keeping it to themselves.  Hooray for the USA!  We’re number two!

4.  I always like the word Superfood.  Spinach is a superfood.  It has 100% of your vitamins A and K*.  It helps your eyes, heart, and colon…and if I’ve learned anything by listening to the radio, a healthy colon means a healthy you.  Sadly, as with any super vegetable, it has it’s kryptonite.  Healthy spinach hangs out with cheese and cream a little too often.  Healthiness fading…deliciousness rising.

*How did we name the vitamins?  A, B, C, D, E, K.  What happened to F-J?  I should look into that.

5.  There are three types of spinach.  Flat leafed, semi-Savoy, and Savoy.  Savoy has the really curly leaves.  Cleaning savoy spinach is a chore.  I’ve grown it a couple of times, and I never can seem to get all the dirt out of those curls.  Speaking of cleaning spinach…

6.  WASH YOUR SPINACH!  Spinach is a dirty pirate of vegetables.  It is one of the more pesticide laden of vegetables, and you want to get that off your healthy goodness.  Second, bacteria also find spinach delicious, resulting in a giant e-coli outbreak a few years back that sadly resulted in some fatalities.  Today, when you see fresh spinach, it often says TRIPLE WASHED.  That will continue until e-coli attacks again.  Then we will see QUINTUPLE WASHED!

7. I love saag.  Saag is Indian creamed spinach. I’ve never made it, but man, I go to town on that stuff at my two favorite Indian Restaurants. Copper Chimney and India Palace.

8.  Spinach loves the cold.  It is one of the hardiest vegetables, and is one of the first to come up in the spring.  Last winter the spinach I planted in the fall of 2011 survived into 2012.  Now, last year was a mild winter, but still…every other plant in the garden died over the winter.  NOT SPINACH!  Superfood indeed.

9.  I love the spinach bricks in the frozen food section.  Other vegetables do not have convenient sizes or shapes.  Spinach will stack up for you in nice, neat piles.  Not like those unruly bags of green beans and peas.  I appreciate the efficiency of spinach.

10.  Finally, my mom still makes my grandma’s recipe for spinach.  It’s the best.  If you’d like to find out how to make it, you’ll have to ask her.  I’m sure she’d like to talk to you about it.

Christmas Presents

Tags

America's Test Kitchen, Apple Pie, bacon, Christmas, Creamy Maple Syrup, Creamy Maple Syrup with Bacon, Elf, maple syrup, Pancakes, Prime Rib

Sometime after you have children, your expectations of Christmas change.  I’ll admit that even into my early 20s, I really looked forward to seeing what gifts I would receive on Christmas morning.  Once I had my wonderful children, the focus immediately changed from my enjoyment of Christmas to their enjoyment of Christmas.  I find that that feeling has grown each year.  This year that was especially true, as it has been a difficult year for all of us.

The most poignant moment of Christmas this year came in the form of my daughter’s Christmas letter to Santa.  Katie is eight now, and in some earlier conversations this year, you can see the cracks in the foundation of belief.  Brendan, age five, is still in solid Santa territory, but I wondered if she was just keeping up appearances for her brother’s sake.

On Christmas Eve, Katie spent some time that afternoon crafting a rather lengthy letter to Santa.  She’s a super-smart, ultra-polite kid and she had some questions for the big man.

Here is the text of the main letter:

Dear Santa,

My name is Katie, but I know you know that and I know that you know what I want for Christmas.  So that’s not why I’m writing you this letter.  I just want too ask a few questions if you don’t mind.  How many toys can one elf make in a day?  How many elfs do you have?  Where do you find elfs?  How dose (does) your slegh (sleigh) fly if it’s the raindeer (reindeer) then how do they fly?  Do the raindeer like to fly?  I am sorry if I asked to many questions.

From,

Katie

Now, aside from the grammar and spelling errors, this is a very complicated letter for Santa and his 6 foot 2, midwestern elf who crafts response letters to answer. BUT THEN THERE WAS THE PS.

So, about an hour later, Katie inserted a scrap of paper into the handcrafted envelope on the mantel.  I was told I should check it out by my sister-in-law.  And there it was:

I just lost it right there.  Normally, I’ve been able to keep it all together this year concerning the diabetes.  Yes, it totally sucks, and I am so grateful to live in a world where Type 1 Diabetes is manageable, but there is no escaping it.

Even on Christmas.

I am pretty sure I know where the question came from.  Katie and I both LOVE the movie Elf, and if you have seen the movie, you know that Buddy and his elf kindred eat nothing but the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.  I imagine she was curious HOW an elf would be able to manage diabetes.

Anyway, Santa’s 6 foot 2 midwestern elf took dictation from the big man himself and crafted a response letter answering the questions which you can see below.

Overall, I don’t know much longer Santa will be a part of Katie’s life.  But, I will say that her letter will be the most lasting memory I have of this Christmas.

And with that out of the way, it’s on to my second favorite thing about Christmas.

Massive amounts of amazing food.

I get A LOT of food around Christmas.  It’s one of the perks of being a teacher.  I get cookies, candy, and different mixes as Christmas presents each year.  It’s rather overwhelming, and each year I take a large portion of the Christmas bounty to Michigan to share with my wife’s family.

I had two excellent mixes this year.  The first was an awesome beer bread mixture that we had with dinner my first night there.  The second was a gift from our pastor’s wife.

Carol is a marvelous cook.  We’ve always had excellent meals over at their house.  As a matter of fact, I just finished snacking on her incredible antipasti about 10 minutes ago.  Anyway, this Christmas she gave us a variety of goodies:

Chocolate Hazelnut Pancake Mix

Creamy Maple Syrup

and for the win,

Creamy Maple Syrup WITH BACON.

Now, I’ll tell you, creamy maple syrup is incredible.  It’s pure maple syrup that is heated and combined with heavy cream.

Tree goodness+Cow goodness=AWESOME

I had it on waffles and thought, “This is amazing.”

Tree goodness+Cow goodness+Pig goodness=CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

We had the Chocolate Hazelnut pancakes Christmas eve morning.  I heated the Creamy Maple Bacon Syrup carefully in the microwave, stirring occasionally, making sure it wouldn’t get too hot or overflow in the microwave.

Then I put it on the chocolatey pancakes.

BEST.

PANCAKES.

EVER.

I’m pretty sure standard pancakes are ruined for me now.  I even had regular maple syrup on a waffle a couple of mornings later, and I’ll admit, it was a bit of a letdown.  It was so perfect.  The salty bacon mixed in with the creamy sweet syrup, blending with the rich pancakes made for a breakfast experience I’ll long remember.

On Christmas Eve, we had the traditional dinner of oyster stew.  I posted a bit about this earlier in the year (i’m amazed that I’ve created 47 posts this year…and that I can self-reference myself).  It was pretty good, and it paved the way for my new favorite Christmas tradition:

CHRISTMAS DAY PRIME RIB!

Without a doubt, prime rib is my favorite meat.  You may have noticed my banner at the top of the page.  That’s last last year’s Christmas day prime rib.

I remember the first time I ever had it as a freshman in college at a restaurant called Barth’s at the Bridge, in Cedarburg, Wisconsin (Sadly, I just discovered this restaurant is no more).  It was before a dance and a large group of us went out for dinner together.  I still remember the first time I saw this huge chunk of VERY red meat sitting before me.  Now, I came from a family where meat was only EVER served WELL WELL WELLLLLLLL DONE.  That prime rib was my introduction into how flavorful meat could be.

My father in law uses the America’s Test Kitchen recipe for Prime Rib.  A copy of which can be found HERE.  He even dry ages it for a week beforehand as well, which really concentrates the flavors.  This is a big key in making an outstanding prime rib.  I really don’t do much in the preparation of this marvelous meat.  I usually help carve, or hover around the kitchen basking in the prime rib’s reflected glory.  However, I do eat prime rib, and eat a lot of it.

This year, the sides included asparagus with grated parmesan, corn casserole, cheesy potato casserole, and rolls.  I DO NOT PARTAKE IN THESE FILLERS.

I had a plate of prime rib.  The lovely and talented wife asked if I would like to take a minute for her to take a well-crafted photo of the prime rib before I devoured it.

NO.

So, I hastily took this picture and dug in.

And then I dug in on a second piece.

And then I had a slice of apple pie a la mode from the AMAZING Grand Traverse Pie Company.

And upon the completion of this meal, I slept for nearly three hours.

It is truly my favorite thing we do on Christmas day (we open gifts Christmas Eve), and is part of what makes Christmas a special time of year.

With ALL of that said, I hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas, and I pray you all have a happy and safe new year.  As usual, I’ll ask a question to close.  What are your family’s Christmas food traditions?

“Currying” our Favor…

Tags

great service, Gulab jamun, India Palace, kofta, meatballs

After our lovely meal at 11 11 Mississippi on Friday night, I had a very busy Saturday morning.  The details of which I will go into in another blog post.  I had to be home by noon so the lovely wife could go and photograph a wedding.  I have to say, I was pretty tired and didn’t really feel up to making lunch, even if that just meant quesadillas.  Furthermore, I knew the kiddos and I had plenty of Christmas shopping to do that afternoon, and I would be heading out AGAIN.  All this added up to my decision to seek out my comfort food of choice, INDIAN BUFFET!!!  Now the question was which way would I go…out to St. Peters and Copper Chimney, or toward the city and India Palace.  These are the two closest places for me to get my fix.  I was pretty sure the Palace would have gulab jamun available for dessert, so our decision was made.

Into the car, over the bridge, and off to the Best Western Airport we go.  As usual, my son became super excited when he saw the 11 story hotel and knew where we were going.*  

*If you were going to market a restaurant to a five year old boy, putting it on top of a hotel is a pretty good idea.  

“I’M GOING TO PRESS THE BUTTON!!!”

“11TH FLOOR!  ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP!”

And when we leave the restaurant, there is always the game of which of the elevator doors will open…his door won again!  EXTRA EXCITEMENT!

“WHICH BUTTON DO I PUSH?”

“G for ground floor,” I reply.

“YES!  ALL THE WAY DOWN.”

Anyway, the elevator ride adds to his total dining experience.  And this post is mostly about him.

Our wonderful five year old son can be quite a handful at times…but he is also quite the charmer.  Currently, he is the only boy in his small kindergarten class of nine students…and he LOVES it.  He put those skills to good use at India Palace Saturday.

The place was packed.  There was a line for the buffet. Brendan grabbed his usual tandoori chicken drumstick and serving of rice, but when we got to the portion of the line where beef korma (basically meatballs in korma sauce) is usually located, there was none to be found.  

The boy loudly but pleasantly proclaimed, “Oh man, there’s no meatballs today.  But that’s OK, I’ll just get something else.”  And with that picked out some chicken curry.  With full plates of aromatic curries, we returned to our booth.  Now, I don’t know who heard him, or how it happened, but one of the managers appeared minutes later with a special plate of meatballs just for the boy.  

His face lit up!  “YES!! MEATBALLS!!  THANK YOU!”  

And later…

“This is the best meal EVER.”  There were quite a few meatballs.  He already had a full plate of food, but he made room for four meatballs.  He even let his sister have one.  While I was back at the buffet getting dessert for the kids and I, the manager came back to the booth to ask the kiddos if they would like to take the rest of the meatballs home.  This is significant, as you are generally not permitted to bring leftovers home from the buffet. Being polite children, they said the would ask me if they could.  

(As if I would refuse extra meatballs.)  So, when the time for our bill came, he brought out a little container for the two remaining meatballs and sauce that was left.  As I checked the bill to leave a tip, I checked it closely.  

No charge for the meatballs.  So with that said, I’d like to say thank you for making my son’s day. 

Well played, India Palace, well played.

 

The most wonderful time of the year

Tags

candy, chocolate chips, Christmas, cookies, marshmallows, peanut butter

The lovely wife went to a Christmas cookie party at Hannahviolin’s house the other night.  She came home with a bounty of Christmas cookies/candy treats.  Hooray for sugary goodness…however it makes for a constant challenge to my personal resolve to lead a healthy lifestyle.  So far, I’m limiting myself to two small treats a day.  This is doubly challenging since my two favorite treats are lurking in the house beckoning to me throughtout the evening hours.  First, the lovely wife made my personal kryptonite, her chocolate chip cookies*.

*I will never share my wife’s recipe on this blog…I truly think it could be a million dollar idea someday.  Let me just say that Toll House cookies taste like salty garbage in comparison.

Second, my dad made a batch of his mallow mellow.  This dish has quite a history in my family.  As children, my sister and I won some sort of Christmas recipe contest in the Suburban Journals for “our” recipe which was entered by my mom in the kids recipe division.    We got our picture in the St. Charles Journal and split a $50 savings bond!!!  SWEET!  Today, my dad has taken on the role of head confectioner in the Crowder family.  Now, my dad doesn’t do a whole lot of cooking, but at Christmas Mallow Mellow is HIS dish.  Neither my wife or I have been to make it as well as he does.  Even so, it is a wonderful candy that you should make.

What is mallow mellow you ask?  It’s THE best Christmastime treat in my family.  Mallow mellow starts with a layer of mini marshmallows lined on the bottom of an 8×8 pan lined with aluminum foil.

In a saucepan do the following:

Melt 2 cups chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts after melted.

Pour over the marshmallows and chill in the fridge (or freezer if you’re impatient)

When it’s hardened, cut and serve.

I find it nearly impossible to eat just one of these perfect Christmas confections.  I hope you and your family will find them to be a treat as well.

Finally, what is your favorite Christmas candy or cookie?  Let me know!

BEST SAUSAGE SUPPER IN ST. LOUIS!

Today is our Church’s Sausage Supper. It’s from Noon till 6pm.

COME ON DOWN!!

Our sausage was homemade this Friday!

It’s hickory smoked! (I’ve been smelling its smoky goodness since Friday!)

It’s all you can eat!

$10 for adults!

$5 for kids!

For carryouts come to the church at

4795 N Hwy 94

St. Charles, MO 63301

For dine in go to Trinity Lutheran School…

4689 N Hwy 94

St. Charles, MO 63301

Showing you care with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes

Tags

food, grandma, hamburgers, recipe, spinach, sweet potatoes

Last week my wonderful wife started a new job as a full time photographer for a local media outlet…how’s that for vague.  This is the first time we have both had “full time” jobs since 2003.  The lovely wife has certainly been working full time the last couple of years, but it was at home, and not a regular 9-5 gig.  Anyway, this has brought some changes to our life, as you can imagine.

I’m at school with the kiddos each day, and in the past, Sarah would pick up the kiddos at the end of the day.  Now, I’ll be taking them home as well, and it has been an adjustment for everyone.  So, last Tuesday, on my wife’s second day of work, I was charged with making the first dinner for the family in our new life phase…

MUST PREPARE EXCEPTIONAL MEAL FOR FAMILY TO PROVE MY WORTH.

I’m not sure why my mind gravitated in that direction, but I think I was thinking several things at once:

1.  Show the kids that this is an awesome new phase in life with nothing to be worried about.  Now, obviously, it is a great new beginning for our family that will benefit us all.  However, it will be a challenge not to have Mom home after school.  A good meal makes everything ok.

2. Show Mom I can handle after school duty.  I think I was trying to show that the children will be fine under my watchful care.  A properly fed family may hide the fact that I allowed them to watch Phineas and Ferb for an hour…A good meal makes everything ok.

3. Reward the lovely wife for a job well done.  I am super proud of her, and didn’t really want her to come home to hot dogs and macaroni.

So, after a long day, I proceeded to make the following dinner:

Broiled hamburgers on toasted buns

Hand-cut pan-fried sweet potato fries

Sauteed spinach with buttered breadcrumbs.

I’m not even sure if this dinner made any sense whatsoever, but I felt at the time it was the right thing to do.       With all that said, I’ll share some thoughts on how this went.  First, I’ll say that the burgers were just OK.  I’ve done better.  However, the sweet potatoes and spinach were the actual stars of the meal.

I found this recipe for sweet potato fries from the greatest cookbook on Earth, The Internet.  First, I made the spice mixture…it called for steak seasoning, but I had Weber Gourmet Burger Seasoning, which worked just as well.

After that I peeled and cut the potatoes.  Once they were cut we coated them in oil then added the spice mix.  My pleasant daughter was kind enough to mix the sweet potatoes, olive oil, and spices together.

Once that was done, we placed them in the pan and fried them for twenty minutes on medium heat, turning them over every five minutes.  I was honestly surprised how quickly they cooked.

This is what they looked like once they were done.  A few pieces got a bit charred, but overall it looked and smelled incredible.

Meanwhile, I decided to make spinach as well.  Now, about this spinach recipe.  As a kid, this was my absolute favorite vegetable dish.  I would eat mounds of this stuff.  And for the record, no one could make this dish as well as my Grandma Toedebusch.  It’s super simple and very tasty.

My grandma never owned a microwave, so I’m not sure how long this took her back in the day.  For the modern cook, you can be done with this in 15 minutes.  First, I defrosted a package of frozen spinach according to the directions on the package.  Thanks package.

Meanwhile I took a slice of Bunny Bread (That’s what I said) and toasted it.

After I toasted it…I had the lovely daughter break it into pieces in a small frying pan.

I added a tablespoon of butter to the toasted breadcrumbs and let them mingle together.  After the breadcrumbs absorbed the butter, I added the spinach to the pan.  I added a generous amount of salt, stirred it together and shazaam:  Toedebusch Spinach.

All the pieces of a lovely dinner had come together.  Tasty hamburgers, healthy vegetables, a nicely set dinner table, way to go Dad!  Look at this fantastic plate below!

And the lovely wife was stuck in traffic.  So we sat down without her.  The lovely daughter didn’t like the fries.  The amusing son didn’t like the spinach.  I was kind of bummed.

About 20 minutes later, Sarah came home, and she loved the fries and the spinach.  She was very grateful, and the kids were happy to have her home.  All was good.  All in all, I know I didn’t have to try so hard to make a nice meal that night, but I guess it was just my way of saying thanks and I love you to my hard working wife.

A Man, A Pan, and a Plan: Choripan!

Tags

Argentina, choripan, chorizo, Mexico, sausage

This is going to be another post on another pork product…by now, you may be wondering, “What is this guy’s deal?  Is he sponsored by the National Pork Board?  I thought he believed in healthy living?”

Well, I’ll answer those two questions in order.

First, I totally wish I was sponsored by the National Pork Board.  That would be awesome.  Second, I do believe in healthy living, and generally speaking, I try to be healthy.  It just seems as that this blog goes on, the really awesome things I discover or make happen to be slightly unhealthy, and/or pork inspired.  I swear, I’ll try to branch out onto different topics here as we go through the fall.

By the way, as to the health question, I’ve really been trying to eat healthy lunches at school to set a good example for the kiddos.  Last week, my standard lunch consisted of an avocado, a red pepper cut into strips, and cucumbers with hummus.  Also, I discovered a new delicacy last week, avocado on the half shell…it’s a couple of slices of avocado with salt on a half a red pepper.  The kids think it’s a little weird, but I like it.  There you have it, a pork free lunch.

Speaking of pork, let’s talk about sausage.  Sausage is truly a wonder of the culinary world.  Ground meat packed into cleaned intestines doesn’t sound like a real crowd pleaser.  Interestingly, according to historians, people first made sausage by stuffing the leftovers of butchering into the intestines.  I’m really not sure I would have wanted to be the person who tried the first sausage ever made.

“Hey Ugluk, try this.”

“What is it Kozma?”

“Organs, fat, and parts stuffed in this intestine.”

“No thank you.”

But apparently someone eventually tried it, and it certainly caught on since virtually every culture on earth has some variety of sausage.  As a matter of fact, sausage was popular among the Greeks and Romans…so this is an all time winner.

I’ll be devoting a lot of time and blogging to our church’s Sausage Supper next month.  But today, I’m going to be talking about one of the finest members of the sausage family, chorizo.

Chorizo started out in Spain, but traveled with the conquistadores on their many adventures in the New World.  Today, Chorizo is found throughout Latin in various forms from Tijuana, Mexico to Ushuaia, Argentina.  Traditionally, Spanish chorizo was flavored with paprika.  However, the Mexican chorizo that we are more familiar with here in the US is flavored with chili peppers.

On Friday night, I was planning on making sweet potato-chorizo soup, and had already started cooking the chorizo from G&W Sausage here in St. Louis, when the kids told me they didn’t want soup.  On a Friday night after a long week, I was not going to argue.  They wanted leftover spaghetti (more on that in tomorrow’s blog post).  That was fine with me.

Meanwhile, I needed to figure out what to do with the chorizo happily frying on the stove.  I also had a couple of tortas (Mexican bread) sitting around from an event the weekend before.  I immediately had a nugget of an idea.

TO THE INTERWEBS!

I searched chorizo sandwich on google and there was something called a choripan.  A Choripan is an Argentinean chorizo sandwich served on a French roll with their national sauce, chimichurri.  You can also have it with salsa, or any number of condiments.

Immediately inspired, I sliced the torta and began to toast it while the chorizo continued its merry dance in the pan.  Once everything was ready, I sliced open one of the chorizos (I saved the other two for the soup), and placed it on the warm, toasty bun.  Then I placed some Colby Jack cheese, and salsa on top of the chorizo…I did not make chimichurri!

Then I spread some mayo on the other half of the torta.

Here it is before I dug in:

Oh…

My…

Goodness….

This sandwich is AMAZING.  It made me want to go to Buenos Aires and sample the choripan of every street vendor I could find.  I strongly suggest you try it.  So, get yourself some chorizo and become a part of the global sausage community.  Have a great week!

REVOLUTIONARY SANDWICHES FOR THE PROLETARIAT! (Plus thoughts on the importance of geography)

Tags

apple, cuba, cuban sandwich, ham, iOS 6, maps, miami, pork, salami, tampa

I teach geography.  As a matter of fact, I’m pretty obsessed with geography.  Last Saturday, my iphone informed me that I could update to iOS6.  I immediately thought, “Update good.  Phone better.  Apple trustworthy.”  So, I did it.  Later that afternoon, I took the kids on the apple picking adventure I blogged about earlier.  I had never been to this apple orchard, and put it into my trusty Maps application.

What the….?

Why are there these big green signs?

Why does it show me a horse farm in Massachusetts?

Once I got back home that day, I read Apple was making maps.  Bad maps.  You know, accuracy is pretty much the most important thing on a map.  I really harp on this point with my students, and this screenshot gave me the perfect opportunity to discuss the importance of maps, accuracy, and why their knowledge of geography will enable them to be less dependent on machines.

What do you notice is wrong about this map?  Look closely for ten seconds:

Now we live in a rural area, and it’s not like there are tons of roads to label out here.  Was the Apple Genius/Cartographer just lazy?  Did they think I wouldn’t notice?  Which Highway 94 do you take?  What about the people who live on Highway H?  Are people not able to get to their homes?  Second, Notice there are also two towns with the same name on this map: Portage Des Sioux.

Colloquially known as “Portage”, this town has been located along the Mississippi River since the 18th century.  As a matter of fact, an important treaty between the US Government and a plethora of Native American tribes was signed there in 1815 that basically said that these tribes would get the heck out of Missouri permanently.  It’s a nice little town that has risen and fallen with the Mississippi Rver many times throughout its history.  But, to the Geniuses/Cartographers at Apple, it’s not too important, so they put its location in a farmer’s field in addition to the actual location just to cover their bases.

At this point, you may be asking yourself again, “Why is he talking about this?”  Well, I’ll tell you…

GEOGRAPHY MATTERS.  And getting kids to care about geography is my job.  How do you do that?

With delicious pork filled sandwiches.  Recently, we were studying the geography of Latin America.  The kids made Power Point presentations with their laptops about different Latin American countries.  One requirement I had was to include a recipe native to their country.  There were a lot of interesting recipes, including sweet potato popsicles from the Dominican Republic, fried plantains from the Bahamas, and a papaya drink from Panama.  One of my students did a presentation on Cuba.

I’m fascinated by Cuba.  It’s so tantalizingly close to the US, but so far away due to our political differences.*  I’d totally love to go there.  An island full of baseball, beaches, cigars, and beautiful scenery sounds wonderful.  On top of this, they make one fantastic sandwich.

*How are these two men still running a large country?

If you are wearing jumpsuits in public, your global credibility generally deteriorates.  By the way, what is the deal with Communists and their jumpsuits?  Kim Jong Il had his brown North Korean jumpsuit and Mao Zedong had the blue Mao Suit…Something about equality among the people I guess.   Back to sandwiches!

A Cuban Sandwich is made by layering ham, roasted pork, swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard between Cuban bread, then pressing it on a hot grill, letting all the flavors meld together into a mass of meaty goodness.

So, after all the presentations we decided we would have a Latin American Lunch on Friday.  Some students brought in dishes for bonus points, and I promised we would make Cuban sandwiches as a class.

Now, this did mean some prep on my part.  The biggest thing was roasting some pork.  I found a recipe for Cuban roasted pork on the interwebs, and stayed up until well past Midnight on Thursday making it.  The key is adobo seasoning.  If you want a recipe for adobo, click here.  It’s super good, and I’m looking forward to using it again.

The next morning I was getting my ingredients together to bring to school, and what should I behold in the back of the fridge, but an unopened package of salami.  Apparently, there is some disagreement in the Cuban communities of Florida, about what is the TRUE Cuban sandwich.  In Miami, they prefer just ham and pork.  In Tampa, they like ham, pork, AND salami.

I will not argue with the good people of Miami, but three meats beats two any day.

So, after a riveting game of “LABEL THAT CANADIAN LOCATION” (We’ve moved on in Geography) we went down to the kitchen to assemble the sandwiches.  I had four loaves of french bread that I split between four groups of students.  The kids followed directions and assembled their sandwiches, with the boys (of course) using the most meat.

I don’t have a grill press at school (Imagine that!)  Instead, I used two electric skillets as my sandwich press.*

*I STRONGLY EMPHASIZED TO MY STUDENTS AND TO YOU DEAR READERS TO NOT DO THIS AT HOME…

but it totally worked…

Anyway, we sliced into our pressed sandwiches and enjoyed their wonderful flavor.  Interestingly many people commented it was the pickles that really brought the sandwich all together, and I would have to agree.  In addition to the sandwiches we also had fried plantains, papaya drink and sweet potato popsicles.  (There was also lemon meringue pie and three layer dip, offering an American flavor to the festivities).  The sandwiches were a HUGE hit.  Overall, I think the kids got a greater appreciation of the many flavors that make up the cuisine of our many neighbors south of the border.

Any favorite Caribbean or Central American dishes to share?  Let me know!