Ingredients
Butter
8 ounces mushrooms sliced
2 medium onions diced
1 (20-ounce) sirloin steak cut into 1-inch strips
Flour for dredging
1/2 cup red wine plus more for deglazing pan
16 ounces beef stock
1 pint sour cream
1 tablespoon Worchestershire
Salt and pepper
Egg noodles
Parsley

Instructions
In a hot saute pan melt butter and saute the mushrooms first then add the onions. Remove the vegetables and brown strips of sirloin that have been dredged in flour. Remove the beef and deglaze the pan with a little red wine. Return the vegetables and beef. Add 2 cups beef stock, red wine and 1/2 of the pint of sour cream. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Just before serving add the balance of the sour cream, stir to combine. Serve over noodles and garnish liberally with parsley.

I needed to take Alex to the orthodontist after work tonight so I didn't have much time for dinner. I grilled these burgers with a dry white Australian cheddar. I toasted thick slices of Italian bread. On one slice of bread I layered two slices of tomato and put the cheeseburger on top with some yellow mustard. On the other slice, I layered baby romaine, pineapple, and a couple thin slices of honey ham. I served the burger with baked garlic potato wedges and some of my pickles.

I wanted something simple tonight. I used this kielbasa for the chorizo in Monday's dish. I had a can of sauerkraut in the pantry. I was all set. I found a recipe for "Polish Sauce" and thought it would be perfect for this. However, when I was preparing the ingredients for the sauce I realized it was nothing like what I had in mind. So, I sort of winged it and what I made is EXACTLY what I had in mind. This was good. I don't know if it's authentic to any actual nation's cuisine but it was delicous. I will make this again.

The green things on the plate are the pickles I made Monday. They're good. Not as spicy as I was hoping but they have a nice flavor. I bet they'll be even better in a few weeks.

Ingredients
2# Kielbasa
Sauerkraut
1/2 t caraway seed
3 T butter
1/4 finely chopped onions
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
beer (or water)
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions
Boil kielbasa in water 5-10 minutes and drain. Heat sauerkraut in saucepan with caraway seeds.

Melt butter in small saucepan. Add onion and sweat until soft. Stir in flour to form a roux and cook until just beginning to brown. Add vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce, and salt and pepper and celery seed. Add beer or water to thin sauce to proper consistency and lower heat.

Grill kielbasa on a hot grill until browned. Slice kielbasa and serve over bed of sauerkraut. Spoon sauce on top and garnish with parsley.

Ingredients
3 pounds pickling cucumbers sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 cups sliced onions
1/2 cup pickling salt
6 cups water
3 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 T curry powder
10 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
24 dried cayenne peppers

Instructions
Place cucumbers, onions, pickling salt, and water in a large, non-reactive bowl. Cover and allow cucumbers to soak for 2 hours. Drain the water from the onions and cucumbers through a colander and rinse well for 5 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Combine the vinegars, sugar, mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves, garlic, and peppers in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium.

Pack the jars with the rinsed cucumbers and onions. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the mixture until almost filled. Seal with lids and rings. Let cool overnight and store in refrigerator.

These pickles are not sterilized and must be stored in the refrigerator. You can process them a standard hot-water bath if you want them to be shelf stable. They'll stand up in the fridge like this for months but they won't last that long.


Cucumbers and onions in brine.

Ingredients
1 pound linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ounces chorizo diced
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions
3 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 can clams with juice
1 pound Shrimp
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Instructions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the cooking liquid. Cover and set aside.

In a large, heavy saute pan or medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and clam juice and cook for 1 minute. Add the clams and shrimp, cover, and cook about 5 minutes. Add the cream and lemon juice, stir well, and simmer for 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil and parsley, and toss to coat. Divide among serving bowls and top each portion with cheese. Serve immediately.

This is a Southeast Asian dish WITHOUT fish sauce!

I just shared a delicious Guiseppe's green pepper and pepperoni pizza with Alex and Denise and drank a homebrew beer. Terrific. I'm getting ready to write a letter to my friend Melissa and I wanted a beverage to enjoy while apologizing for forgetting her birthday - again. I haven't seen Melissa in about twenty years but I shouldn't forget her birthday. She drilled it into me when I forgot it when we were 17. "Seven-Twenty-One! Just like the exploding Firestone tire. Just think of exploding tires and you'll remember my birthday." I still forgot. Sorry, Melissa.

Oh, about the coffee. I'm not actually using coffee from Vietnam. (Although, of course, I have before.) This is actually El Salvadorian coffee I just roasted and ground. (grinded?) I may have roasted it a bit too long. It'll be okay for the espresso but it might be a little too dark tomorrow when I make it for morning coffee. When I make these iced coffees it seems like I always have two of them. I won't be to sleep for hours.

Ingredients
Double (or triple) espresso
1 generous tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 green cardamom pod
1 large glass of ice

Instructions
Brew espresso with caradmom pod. Pour sweetened condensed milk in low ball glass. Pour espresso into milk and stir until dissolved. Pour over ice.

Espresso and milk before stirring

Wow, this was tasty. I served the bun (rice noodles) on a bed of baby romaine with the grilled pork on top. I arranged grated carrots, slice cucumbers, chopped green onions, chopped peppermint around that with a generous amount of cilantro over the top. I spooned the nuoc cham over everything and it soaked down into the bun. I actually finished off a bottle of the stinky fish sauce I've been ranting about lately. It's delicous stuff.

Ingredients
8 ounces dried rice vermicelli
8 romaine lettuce leaves ribs removed, julienned
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 cucumber, peeled seeded, and thinly sliced into crescents
12 large mint leaves julienned
Nuoc Cham

Instructions
Cook vermicelli. Drain, and place in a large bowl.

Divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Scatter some lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and mint over each bowl. Drizzle with nuoc cham and toss well.

Nuoc Cham
5 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup lime or lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 shallot, peeled, thinly sliced

Whisk together the sugar, water, fish sauce, and lime juice in a bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the garlic, chile, and shallot, and let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

Ingredients
2 large shallots sliced, or 5 scallions (white part only), chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds pork loin or sirloin sliced into large pieces about 1/4" thick

Instructions
Mince shallots, transfer to mixing bowl and combine with fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, and vegetable oil. Stir well to blend. Add pork slices and let marinate for 20 minutes. When the broiler or fire is very hot, cook pork until just done, about 2 minutes on each side. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes, cut into thin strips, serve on bun.

I was invited to sail in the Mentor Harbor Yacht Club Indigo Race by John Blair. The Indigo Race begins right before sunset in Mentor and heads to just west of downtown Cleveland and then back to Mentor - about 45 miles. It takes all night and I was thrilled to be invited. Since it would be a wildly generous overstatement of my sailing abilities to call me a "novice," I wanted to contribute by bringing a little food (and beer) in case we got hungry. I brought my Chipotle Brownies that I've shown several times here. And, I made these turkey sandwiches. They were fine and John was very kind in his praise of them. They tasted good but the cold stuffing gave me heartburn.

Kenny and Andre at the gas dock.


Ricky. I assured him that he had a
nonchalant suaveness in this picture.
His response: "Oh, good."


Ricky got a little rest as we wait
for our start.


John Blair, Kenny, and Ricky right
after the start.


Sunset by the spinnaker.


The race was fantastically fun. It was a beautiful night and we had relatively steady wind for the first 38 miles of the race. We finished at 6:22 a.m. for a time of ten hours, forty seven minutes. I'm looking forward to sailing again. Thanks John.

Ingredients
Rolls
Turkey
Leftover stuffing
Romaine Lettuce
Mayonaise
Cranberry Sauce

This is almost exactly the recipe I made on July 13th. This time I used flounder instead of chicken, red onions instead of green, yellow bell pepper instead of red, and about twice the amount of fish sauce. Other than that - it was EXACTLY the same. The flounder turned soft and flaky - it was almost like a chowder. It turned out great.


I made this because, last night, I read a blog posting about fish sauce. You should read it - it's fun. Here's an excerpt:

Because here is the deal: fish sauce grows on you. It may not smell to conventional Western tastes, what one would call good, but after a while, it doesn't smell bad, either. And then, as you cook with it more and more, and your palate and nose begin to associate the smell of fish sauce with the delicious results of pad thai, green curry or tom kha gai, you begin to actually like the smell of it. It becomes comforting, homey and appetizing.

It's true. I love the disgusting smell of it.

My mom gave me free passes for lawn admissions at Blossom. The three weeks remaining in the summer season had a wonderful Cleveland Orchestra performance but I couldn't go. Today was the last chance. Unfortunately, it was a performance by the Cinncinati Pops. There's nothing wrong with the Cinncinati Pops I guess. But seeing them instead of the Cleveland Orchestra is a bit of a let down. But, like I said, last chance. The title of the concert was "Cincinnati Pops Star Wars Spectacular." Ugh. Okay, Okay, I'm a snob. I admit it. But, I still went. Here's the thing. It was packed. I've never seen so many people at a Cleveland Orchestra performance. I've never seen gangs of roving 8-14 year olds in massive light sabre battles. I've also not seen stormtroopers.

It was not exactly what you'd call a typical highbrow orchestra crowd. But everyone seemed to be having a good time and the music was really well performed - it sounded just like the movies.

I took Michele and we had a really nice time. I brought the food and she brought the wine - a really nice Shiraz. The meal turned out really nice. The "sushi" was okay but it would not have been good without the vinegar reduction which had a syrupy vinegar sweetness. The papaya shrimp salad was really nice with a tart citrus dressing with huge freshwater shrimp. The caponata sandwiches were absolutely delicious and my favorite part of the meal. I'll definitely be making them again soon. The truffles turned out really nice too. I've become a big fan of chili powder in chocolate. These also had a slight mint flavor. I brought a little Madeira to go with the chocolate and it was a nice finish for a pleasant meal. If I would have worn my Hans Solo costume and Michele have worn her Princess Leia slave outfit we would have fit right in.

Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Mint very finely chopped
8 ounces chocolate cut into small pieces
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
2 pounds chopped chocolate for coating
Cocoa powder and cinnamon mixture

Instructions
Boil the cream, add the mint and set aside to cool slightly. Melt the cut chocolate over a double boiler. Add the cayenne and mix well.

Whisk the chocolate and cream together and cover. Refrigerate until mixture can be formed into small balls, about 45 minutes. Form small balls and place on a pan. Freeze the truffle balls until frozen, about 1 hour.

After the truffle balls are frozen, melt the chopped chocolate over a double boiler, and put into a shallow baking pan.

In small batches, so that they stay firm, roll the truffle balls in melted chocolate for about 5 seconds each. Shake off excess chocolate and place on a lined baking sheet, sprinkle with cocoa. Put the finished truffles in the refrigerator.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium eggplant cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion chopped
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons raisins
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 loaf ciabatta bread cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces
2 garlic cloves peeled
6 slices (1/3-inch-thick) drained fresh water-packed mozzarella
Anchovies

Instructions
Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and saute until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the eggplant and saute until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Season with salt. Add the red pepper and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices, raisins, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat until the flavors blend and the mixture thickens, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar, sugar, and capers. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut the bread pieces horizontally in half. Grill the bread cut side down on a grill pan over
medium high heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Rub the whole garlic cloves over the
toasted side of the bread. Add a slice of mozzarella to bread bottom, spoon the caponata on top, arrange anchovies over caponata and cover with the other bread half.

Wrap the sandwiches separately in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Chill until ready to serve, or keep at room temperature up to 1 hour.

Ingredients
16 whole large shrimp deveined and shelled
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat grill. Brush the shrimp with olive oil and season

Papaya-Green Onion Salad:
Mescalun
2 ripe papayas peeled, pitted and thinly sliced
4 green onions finely sliced
Grilled shrimp
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small jalapeno pepper finely diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup peanuts coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Instructions
Arrange the greens. Top with the papaya and green onion. Whisk together the lemon and lime juice, soy sauce, jalapeno and olive oil until combined. Mound all of the shrimp in the center of the platter. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.

Ingredients
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup Chinese vinegar
2 Asian Pears peeled and julienned
1 Lime, Juiced
cracked black pepper
8 slices slices of Prosciutto di Parma
1/4 cup chive batons for garnish

Instructions
In a saucepan, combine vinegars and simmer and reduce until it is a syrupy consistency. In a bowl, mix pears with lime juice and season with pepper. Using a sushi mat lay out one or two slices of prosciutto. Lay the pear pieces across the bottom of the prosciutto. Roll very tightly.

Drizzle some vinegar syrup on a plate in a zigzag pattern. Slice rolls like sushi and garnish with cracked peppercorns.