Day 2 the adventure continues.

Tonight I am writing from the Courtyard by Marriott in Gettysburg, PA. Drove 304 miles today. Left Zanesville, OH after a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Gassed up with 13.438 gallons at $3.899 per gallon. The price in Indiana at $4.099 was rediculous. Thanks to traffic and onstruction, did get into Gettysburg until 1:00.
I am sore and tired. On my last last visit, I walked the entire battlefield in a light rain. Today, not so much. Walked halfway down Cemetary Ridge and a bit at Little Round Top. The visitor center is new from what we visited in 97. Kind of thru us off our game plan. I hope the boys learned something.
Went in search of supper and dismounted at Appalachian Brewing Company. I wasn't hungry but everyone else ordered and I ordered something to go. We tried a few different beers. The mountain lager was very good. It was cold, crisp and light, very good after a day of trudging. Rob tried the Happy Trails, IPA then the Purist Pale Ale. The Hoppy Trails was a very good pale ale. The purist pale ale was a little too light and lacked a good hop flavor.

SO at 2 Am I have a cheeseburger and leftover chips and fries. One annoying thing I have noticed is that if you ask for hot sauce, you get tabasco. These places have different food, different beer but they all have tabasco sauce. What gives? Denny's, Cracker Barrel and the Appalachian Brewing Co all have tabasco. I love hot sauce, but I prefer a good cayenne to tabasco. I did manage to buy a bottle of Cracker Barrel's Bone Sucking Sauce, which is habanero based. Another bottle for my hot sauce collection. Go figure, I can buy it in the store but have it at my table. That blows. The brewing company had malt vinegar at every table but tabasco, time to get off the soap box.

Our goal for tomorrow is to visit another place here then road trip to Sharpsburg, MD to visit the battlefield at Antietam. Not sure where we will land tomorrow. Maybe another hotel or my brother's place in Alexandria, VA.

My ultimate goal is to stuff my face with fresh seafood. A man has to have a goal.

Hammer

Road Trip Day One

I am on the road headed East. Left Kahoka, MO this morning at 6 AM. Fueled up at $3.679 per gallon. Bought some drinks and hit the road. At Quincy, IL we got breakfast at McD's. All of the way thru Illinois we were in heavy rain. The temp dropped to 45 degrees. We headed on into Indiana. The rain stopped finally. We stopped at Crawfordsville for gas and lunch. Lunch was at Burger King. We fueled up again but this time at $4.099 per gallon, ouch! That was $67 gone fast.
After passing thru Columbus, OH, we had stop for a pit stop and grabbed a few drinks and beer.
Finally we landed in Zanesville, OH. It was 5:30 PM EST, so we moved up an hour. The time change was actually in Indiana. SO after 10.5 hours on the road and 609 miles later we have stopped for the day. Everyone else is in the pool and I am relaxing in the room with a cold one.

We are staying in the Baymont Inn and it seems pretty nice. Booked it on Hotels.com. If you plan your trip well in the early stages, you can decide where to stop before you leave and save some money on lodging. We came thru here in 97, so we knew Zanesville was where we would stop for the day.

Been a long day but glad to be stationary. We all have asstritis. Will probably order in a pizza for later. No new gastro adventures today. I did see a blimp headed north but couldn't read the name on it. I think I ate a whole head of celery today just snacking. Luckily I still have carrots, cauliflower and radishes.
I guess one note of importance is that as soon as we passed into Ohio, I started seeing signs for Skyline Chili. Cincinatti claims to be the chili capitol and Skyline is a brand I have seen on a few travel and cooking shows. I think I am going to save my chili for Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington DC.

And as bad as number 2 son was today, I don't think he needs any chili.

Tomorrow we head out aimed for Gettyburg, PA. We are going to tour the battlefield and look for interesting food to eat.

Talk to you later.

Glad to be noticed now and then.

I was in the grocery store prior to Memorial Day. A woman that worked there came up to me and asked me a question. She said some friends and family wanted her to make tequila lime chicken and she had no clue what it tastes like or how to make it. She said "you're into all that food stuff so I thought I would ask you." Granted I know who she is but had never really talked to her about food and cooking. I took it as a compliment.
I gave her a quick run down on the marinade and the use of cilantro and she seemed happy. I was in there today and asked about her chicken and she said it came out great and everyone loved it. I told her, "now you will be known for your tequila lime chicken." She said she would definitely be making it again.
Glad to help.

Best Food Sources for Antioxidants

Antioxidants are compounds found in food that are said to be very healthy for us. It is said that antioxidants protect our cell walls from damage caused by free radicals that are generated during digestion. You may hear all kinds of claims on TV and the internet that whatever product being sold is high in antioxidants. The last few years it has been claimed that blueberries were the best source for antioxidants.
According to Journal of Agricultural
and Food Chemistry the following are the top 20 best sources of antioxidants.
small red beans
wild blueberries
red kidney beans
pinto beans
cultivated blue berries
carnberries
cooked artichokes
blackberries
dried prunes
raspberries
strawberries
red delicious apples
granny smith apples
pecans
sweet cherries
black plums
cooked russet potatoes
black beans
plums
gala apples
We have always known that fruits and veggies were good for us. I guess here is another reason to include those foods in your diet. I drink green tea as well for antioxidant benefits.

Take on new food challenges! Whole Foods Market

This past weekend, we took the boys to the Ren Faire in Wentzville, MO. Before leaving the area we went to the Whole Foods Market in Town and Country off Clayton Road. The claim to fame for this food chain is natural and organic groceries. I was wowed upon first entering the store. The produce section was laid out right in front of me. I saw things you would never see around here. Fresh produce was stacked everywhere. There were artichokes, endives, daikon radishes, okra, baby bok choy, fresh herbs, fresh coconuts. Too many to mention them all here. I was in vegetable porn heaven. Next we went to the fresh seafood counter. They had a very good selection of fresh, not frozen, seafood.
The prices were a bit high, but I would expect that for fresh seafood. The meat and poultry counters were stuffed, all claiming to be organic and purchased locally. A shout out to Brian M. for explaining to us about air chilled chicken and why that processed is used. I will talk about that another time.
Needless to say I loved the place. After spending $185.00, we left with a good assortment of things we have never tried before. This seemed like a good time to experiment. Luckily we had a cooler in the van so everything stayed nice and cold. The following is a things we purchased because we wanted to try some new things.
Wild Chilean Sea Bass
Baby squid antipasti salad
salmon caviar
camenbert cheese
frozen swordfish steaks
greek stuffed grape leaves
miso and dashi for making miso soup
Schlafly's new American India Pale Ale
aged goat cheese
Italian espresso coffee.
Plus some other ingredients that we had tried before.
Last night for dinner we tried the sea bass, salmon caviar and camenbert cheese. I also made up some miso soup. The whole family had a great time trying these new foods and flavors. We still have more things in the fridge and freezer to try at a later date. All four of us tried everything. We try to get the boys to try everything atleast once.
So take on a challenge, be a grocery/food explorer. You might fine some new favorite things. Then again you may find things you can't stand and will never try again. Who knows, take a chance.

Cookie's Cafe Kahoka, MO

I wanted to take the family out for a nice Sunday lunch. Three out of four voted to go to Cookie's Cafe. We have had good food there before and was expecting the same thing today. That didn't happen. We arrived around 11:30 and the restaurant wasn't very busy. Skipping the buffet we ordered ala carte. The first problem was that they were out of chicken strips.
I went with the mushroom appetizer and the cheeseburger basket which includes fries and cole slaw. Things started with a bang because the mushrooms were ice cold in the middle and the batter was quite hard. Round 1 was undercooked mushrooms. Next came the main course of cheeseburger, fries and slaw. The waitressed served me a naked cheeseburger. I remembered that I ordered the basket but she didn't ask me what I wanted on it, and I missed it entirely. She asked my wife and son what they wanted on theirs. To compensate I applied tabasco and ketchup. The next "not surprising" was undercooked fries. The only thing overcooked was my cheeseburger. It was dry dry dry.
Next the waitress went to the salad bar and retrieved some cole slaw for me. It was served at room temperature and bland as hell. I guess it's ok to serve at that temperature if there is no mayo in the slaw. I had to jazz it up with salt and pepper.
So in conclusion, I paid $37 plus tip for our meal for 4. That meal included undercooked mushrooms and fries, an overcooked cheeseburger and bland, warm cole slaw. I was very disappointed, I always loved their burgers. I don't understand the rush to get the food out as the place was almost empty. Make it right then serve it, don't rush it out to an empty house. I will definitely think twice before I go back.

You can feed a family of 4 dinner for less than $8

It seems I have gotten into hoarding. These days, when I see a good sale, I stock up. This is especially true of canned goods and frozen meats. I have 2 freezers and try to keep them full. Part of that is buying meat on the hoof and having it processed, this includes beef, pork and lamb. SO far I have always saved money by buy by the half or whole. When shopping, I keep my out for good bargains on frozen food.
Recently I was at HyVee in Keokuk, IA. They had a sale on whole, skin on, frozen, wild caught, salmon filet for $3.99. I bought 4 of them.
So here is my menu for this evening's dinner.
Salmon filet $3.99
Mashed potatoes less than a $1 but we will say $1 for example
Canned mixed vegetables $0.75
So for $5.75 I have dinner for 4, granted this doesn't include spices or drinks or condiments. That aside, this is a fairly healthy meal that is inexpensive.

Fiesta Jalisco Kahoka, MO

I recently had a urge to eat out for lunch. Mexican cuisine sounded good so I headed to Fiesta Jalisco in Kahoka, MO. It was early in the lunch shift so I was seated right away. Within minutes I had my drink, some chips and salsa, and my order was headed to the kitchen.
I enjoy the tortilla chips and salsa. The salsa is very finlely minced and has almost no heat at all. My order for the day was steak fajitas. The menu describes them as marinated flank steak. It is my understanding that fajita means belt of the cow. Ergo the real fajita is made from beef, so chicken fajitas don't fit the fajita definition.
From Wikipedia
A fajita ( /fəˈhiːtə/; Spanish pronunciation: [faˈxita]) is a term found in Tex-Mex cuisine,[1] commonly referring to any grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla. The term originally referred to the cut of beef used in the dish which is known as skirt steak.[2] Popular meats today also include chicken, pork, shrimp, and all cuts of beef. In restaurants, the meat is often cooked with onions and bell peppers. Popular condiments are shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and tomato. You won't find much spice or seasonings. I think the menu is intended to be authenic Mexican home style cooking which means simple fresh ingredients prepared in a simple way. I always enjoy eating there and am not disappointed because I know that the food is simple and almost bland but there is a bottle of hot sauce on the table.

The meals comes with beans, rice, guacamole, lettuce, sour cream and pico de gallo. My only issue was that there were only 3 hot tortillas, I could have used 2 more. I was definitely satisfied and full. The total bill was $9.50 not including the tip. I love the food and will definitely be going back.

Blue Cheese and Apple Salad

Ingredients
1 or 2 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup blue cheese
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp grated almonds

In a seperate bowl combine the apple cider vinegar, the olive oil and add a pinch of salt and fresh black pepper and whisk together.
Grate a few almonds on a microplane or fine grater.
Arrange the apple slices on your serving dish, sprinkle the blue cheese over the apples. Dress the salad with your apple cider vinaigrette. Garnish with the grated almonds and a few sprigs of fresh chives.

Here is a simple storage tip.

I keep a lot of pint size canning jars on hand with lids and rings. Assuming it is taco night I will have left over diced jalapenos and maybe rotel. Instead of throwing them away, I put them pint jars and put them in the fridge. I just mix them all up in the same jar.
From then on, I have them available for any dish I want to pep up. It just doesn't seem right to throw them away.
I use them a lot on scrambled eggs.
Now Rotel has a habanero version out. I found it at Mac's.

Sauteed Artichoke Hearts

I was messing around in the kitchen the other day and decided to experiment. I had some canned artichoke hearts, so I decided to start there and came out with a pretty good dish.
Ingredients
1 can artichoke hearts drained rinsed and diced
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/2 cup onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbs butter
2 tbs oil
1/4 cup white wine
parsley
parmesan cheese fresh grated
salt and pepper

Sautee the hearts, onions and garlic in the oil and butter until soft. Add the white wine and reduce. Once the wine is reduced, add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook 5-10 minutes to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot garnished with parsley and parmesan.
If you have any left over chicken, it would go well here. You can always spice it up with jalapenos.

Horseradish is our friend. Delicious too.

A Little Dab of Horseradish Could Help Resist Cancer
Published: Mar. 9, 2005

Source: Mosbah Kushad, 217-244-5691, kushad@uiuc.edu

URBANA - A new study from the University of Illinois shows that horseradish has substantial quantities of glucosinolates, compounds that has been shown to increase human resistance to cancer.

"Glucosinolates increase the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogens and they may actually suppress the growth of existing cancerous tumors," said Mosbah Kushad, U of I associate professor of food-crop systems. "And our analysis of various horseradish varieties shows they are a rich source of these compounds."

Kushad has also been involved in studies of broccoli, Brussels sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables known to contain glucosinolates. His work shows that horseradish has relatively higher levels.

"Horseradish contains more than 10-fold higher glucosinolates than broccoli, so you don?t need much horseradish to benefit. In fact, a little dab on your steak will go a long way to providing the same health benefits as broccoli."

An effective dose of broccoli may be as little as 10 grams a day, so an effective dose of horseradish could be as little as 1 gram or less than a teaspoon.

Kushad has tested more than 27 accessions of horseradish and detected eight different glucosinolates in both the root and leaf tissue. He noted that the health benefit of horseradish is improved by processing.

"Horseradish also contains an enzyme that breaks down glucosinolates into the compounds that produce the anti-cancer benefits. So processing horseradish actually helps. It releases this enzyme and, when it comes into contact with the glucosinolates, they break down into the compounds that are nutritionally beneficial," he said.

There are four popular, commercial varieties grown in Illinois. Two have about 50 percent more glucosinolates than the other two.

The most widely accepted hypothesis for the physiological function of glucosinolates in horseradish plants is that they somehow help the plant defend itself against several pests. So breeding studies that accentuate glucosinolate levels could enhance pest resistance as well as create human health benefits.

Horseradish is an important crop in Illinois. Sixty percent of all horseradish produced in the United States is grown in Illinois. Most of the crop is crushed and mixed into relishes and sauces.

The University of Illinois maintains a germplasm collection totaling 130 horseradish accessions with geographic origins from Eastern Europe and North America.

This research was published in the October, 2004 Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry and was funded, in part, by the Illinois Horseradish Grower's Association.

-30-


News writer: Gary Beaumont
phone: 217-333-9440; email: beaumont@uiuc.edu

Do you have a favorite wine?

I don't drink a lot of wine but like a good snort now and then. I am by no means a wine snob. I don't have the first clue about fancy wines or the like. We all remember thw wines of our youth, TJ Swann, Boone's Farms and of course Mad Dog 20/20. My dad made wine in his basement. Up until recently I had a bottle of his cherry wine from 1988. My favorite of his was blackberry. I think the one thing that set his homemade wines apart was the fact the he was rumored to put a shot of everclear in every bottle. I can't confirm that story.
I my go to wine has always been a dryer red wine like a Cabernet Sauvingnon in red and Pinot Grigio in white. During a recent trip to Sam's I was looking thru the wine section and came across a Spanish wine. It was a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from The Spanish Quarter. Having never had a Spanish wine I bought a bottle. This wine was a blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon and 45% Tampranillo. This was new to me but I loved it. It had the bold flavor of cabernet but less of a dryer bite. I really liked it so if you head that way I recommend you try it. It wasn't expensive either.

Sometimes you just aren't sure what to do or what to cook.

I had been thinking ahead for quite a few days about cooking the brisket for the Moose Lodge. I had already lined out the marinade, rub and sauce. I decided the condiments to be pickled red onions, fresh horseradish and jalapenos. Seemed easy enough. Saturday morning I whipped up the red onions and horseradish. That morning I bought fresh jalapenos at Mac's. I sliced them into rings and put them in a plastic container. Everytime I looked at them I got the feeling that they needed to be prepared a different way than fresh. O'Griff's in Quincy adds sauteed jalapenos to some of their sandwiches. That got me thinking. I didn't want to use pickled or canned jalapenos. I know that camelization brings out the sugars in things. It adds a sweetness and a crispy bite. I decided to carmelize the peppers in canola oil and butter. I cooked them until they were brown and crispy. I was really happy with the result. You could get the crunch, the sweet and the real pepper flavor that is often masked by the heat. I took home probably half of the peppers that I made. For the next couple of days, I ate them with everything. They were best with sausage and eggs. Give it a try.

3 Days of the Brisket

To me, brisket is a 3 day operation. What was once scraps left over for the servants is now haute cuisine among the barbeque scene. Brisket has become a noble treat via barbeque. Don't get me wrong, brisket is a fatty tough hunk of cow. To tame this beast, pitmaster go with the low and slow technique, low temp and long cook.
I start off day one by prepping the brisket. First I trim off the most of the fat. I cn't get rid of all of it because fat is flavor. I inject the brisket with my marinade, one injection per square inch, trying to not poke through the bottom of the brisket. I wrap the brisket in plastice wrap and store in the fridge.
Day 2. As soon as I drop the boys off at school, the brisket goes into the smoker. I try to keep the temp between 225 and 250 degrees. I use hickory chips for the smoke. I check on it quite often and use a probe thermometer to observe the internal temp in the thickest part of the meat. During the last hour, I baste with my barbeque sauce every 15 minutes. When it is done it goes straight into aluminum foil then into a zip top bag and into the fridge.
Day 3. I use a meat slicer to get the brisket as thin as possible and when the slicing is done, all the meat goes into the roasting oven at about 300 degrees. I add the meat juice from the zip top bags and usually some beff broth. The brisket then slow cooks all day until it is time to serve. Several times a day I use a ladle and baste the meat. I always mix well so that the meat on top gets down into the juices.
Service. I like to serve my brisket hot with the sauce on the side. For condiments I like pickled red onions, fresh horseradish and carmelized jalapenos.

New Cutlery

I have rotated out all of my old cutlery and brought in new stuff. I have too many knives. I had a nice Farberware set and a real good Wolfgang Puck sontoku set. That was before I learned how to use knives properly and how to take care of them. They got used for everything, they were thrown in drawers, they were put in the dishwasher, and that all shows on them. They can take a good cutting edge but can't keep it anymore. They all have nicks and scratches.
My wife bought me a new Shun Classic Chef Knife. I love it. I have never worked with a knife that sharp. I ordered a new cleaver for myself, something with more heft and durability. Then I bought a decent Farberware set. So gone are 30 or so knives, and in their place are 17 new knives. Six of those are steak knives so they really don't count. Now I can guarantee that none of my new knives have been tossed around in a drawer or been thru the dishwasher. I wash them by hand and dry them immediately and put them back in the knife block. I take the honing steel to them every so often to keep their edge. I am teaching my boys how to use them properly.
So I guess the answer isn't more newer stuff, but just the simple rule of taking good care of what you have. I'm never to old to learn something new.

Spinach and artichoke dip

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup romano cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pkg of frozen spinach thawed and drained
1 can of artichoke hearts drained, rinsed and diced
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your casserole dish. In a medium size bowl mix to gether the cream cheese, mayo, parmesan, romano, basil, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Gently fold in the spinach and artichokes. Put your mixture into your casserole dish and top with the mozzarella. Bkae for 25 minute. Enjoy!:)

Hot and sour soup. Good for what ails you! :)

1 beaten egg
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
1 slice of fresh ginger
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs cooking oil
1 pich of salt
1 pinch of pepper
2tbs corn starch mixed with 2 tbs water
4 cups chicken broth
bamboo shoots
dehydrated wood ear mushrooms reconstituted in hot water for 30 min
1/2 package of tofu sliced to 1/4 inch strips
2 fresh chile peppers
2 tbs hot sauce


Set your pot to medium high heat. When the pan is hot add the oil and the ginger slice. Saute the ginger to gloden brown then remove from the oil and reduce heat. Add the chile pepper and hot sauce and immediately add the chicken broth. The hot sauce will splatter so be careful. Bring the broth to a boil then add bamboo, mushrooms, tofu, sugar, soy sauce and vinegar. Stir in the corn starch mixture. Add the salt and pepper. Turn off the heat.

Slowly drizzle the beaten egg in a small stream around the pan. Not most important, let the egg set up for a minute or two. Then gently stir. Serve and enjoy.

Last Trip 2010 Part II

Now that the oysters have been inhaled and the main courses ordered, here come my gumbo for me and the wife to share. What first catches my eye is that the gumbo juice is black. A surprize from what I am used too. I live in Louisiana for a time as a chile and was stationed at Fort Polk, LA for 13 months. Thought I knew about Louisiana cookin. Learn something new everyday, but I digress, back to the show.
I am always willing to try new foods, so in I dive spoon first. The wonderful aroma hits me in the nostrils first, even before my eyes can adjust to the movement of the spoon. I smelled something woody and earthy. A wafting of beef tickled my olfactory. The first bite was heaven with rice and oysters. It was wonderful.
Now being the Scrooge McGrinch that I am, I immediately when into hoarding mode. I didn't want to share but was a good husband. Rob loved it as well. Immediately we both started analyzing and reverse engineering this dish. First thoughts were immediately beef broth. We continued to devour and I shared to the end.
Ever since lunch ended my mind was turning the gears of dicovery. Once home I still focused on that wonderful gumbo.
Finally a break thru, a roux. That had to be it. A roux cooked long and dark. That provides and earthy woody flavor. After the roux is made then add beef stock. A Ha!. I jolted to the office and fired up the old google search and destroy engine. I was rewarded with the following knowledge.

There are two general types of gumbo in Louisiana, Creole and Cajun. Creole tends to be more tomato based whereas Cajun is roux based with no tomatoes. Now it all made perfect sense. I will now roux the day in a good way. I have been craving red beans and rice but that might have to wait as gumbo butts in line ahead. I love food.