The Great Food Junkie Starts 2013 With More Grillin and Chillin!

I know many of you have gone into a deep depression because I haven't written as much lately. It is not because I have become a lazy, no good, sloth, who just lays around all day trying to do as little as possible. However, I'm sure some people think that is one of my life goals. Nope! Trust me when I say there has been a whole lotta cooking going on at the GFJ's house. After all, when you get cooking gadgets for Christmas, you have to try them out. I'll get to those in a bit.

It didn't take long before the GFJ grew tired of all the Christmas food. There is only so much turkey, ham, and assorted sweets a person can handle. So, I went out to the freezer in the garage and started to peruse the shelves. It was only a moment when my eyes landed upon the last of our chuck roasts. Hmmm! Chuck roast sounds good, but I don't really want to break out the slow cooker and have to cut and peel a bunch of potatoes, carrots, and onions. There had to be more to the life of a chuck roast than being stuck in a slow cooker. The poor thing just sat there. Staring at me. A tear fell from its eye.

"Please, Sir," it begged with hands clasped. "Don't let me become another pot roast. I have so much more potential."

How could I, the Great Food Junkie, ignore such pleading. I gently picked up the poor sap, and stroked his packaging with my hand. "Come with me, Chuck!" I exclaimed. "You were meant for much greater things. Together, we can make your dreams come true."

I new what I had to do. I had to figure out some way to grill the chuck roast. After all, what says I love you to a piece of meat like a grill? I found a good marinade recipe that included barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, minced garlic, and sliced ginger. I didn't have any teriyaki, so I did the next best thing. I added a little Irish whiskey. I mixed it all up, and poured it over my chuck roast. Then it sat in the fridge for the better part of a day.

However, I knew Chuck couldn't make this journey to greatness alone. He was going to need a faithful sidekick. It had to be something complimentary, but not overpowering. I put my thinking cap on and came up with new potatoes, skewered and grilled, right alongside Chuck. I went to the store and picked up the potatoes, bamboo skewers, and then it hit me. Bacon! These potatoes need to be intertwined with bacon. The wife looked at me and said, "You need to get thick sliced. The other will just fall apart on the grill." This was indeed going to be a glorious day. I had just been given permission to spend money on thick cut bacon.

When we got home, we rubbed the potatoes in olive oil and pink Himalayan salt. Then we skewered them, intertwining them with the thick cut bacon. Then, for added measure, Neve took each skewer and wrapped an additional slice of bacon around the potatoes. However, this presented us with a dilemma. We had a few slices of bacon left...but, not enough to save for another meal. Well! Surely Chuck would need the proper outfit for his adventure to greatness. So Chuck came out of the marinade, got a quick dry off, a rubdown with Santa Maria seasoning, and a nice new set of bacon clothes. Then it was out to the grill!

Chuck and his new friends on an adventure

 Those cool things Chuck and friends are sitting on are called GrillGrates. They are anodized aluminum, and have high ridges. They sit directly on your existing grates, or can be used as replacement grates. The nice thing about them is that the ridges get extra hot, providing excellent searing and grill marks, while the juices drip into the deep spaces between the ridges. The juices sizzle and evaporate, creating more flavor and moisture for the meat, and preventing flare ups. You absolutely must check them out at www.grillgrate.com. They are one of the best improvements you could make to any grill.

After about an hour, Chuck and friends reached the pinnacle of success. I truly believe they achieved a personal nirvana. And I was frickin' hungry!

 It wasn't long before The Great Food Junkie had also reached Nirvana. Chuck was a perfect medium pink in the middle, and his sidekicks, the potatoes and bacon, were spectacular.

Chuck and friends in all of their glory

The adventures with Chuck the roast were just the beginning for the GFJ. If you'll remember, I mentioned a couple Christmas gifts that had to be tried out. The GFJ's wife received a set of tortilla shell pans. You know you've seen the commercials on TV. "Make your own taco salads!" It really is a simple concept. You place burrito size tortillas in these pans, bake for 10-12 minutes, and Presto! You have perfect tortilla shell bowls for a taco salad.

 They don't taste quite as good as the fried shells you get at the restaurant. Can anything really taste better than fried? However, they really are tasty and crispy. In fact, they hold their crisp well enough to fill with chili mac...twice.

The other device was something the wife and I bought each other for Christmas. I saw one of those "does it work" segments on the news, and it featured the Yonana. What is a Yonana? It is a device that takes frozen bananas and other fruits or additives, and makes them into a dessert very similar in texture and taste to soft serve ice cream. If you are wanting a healthy alternative to ice cream, or even if you could care less about the health aspect, and want to try something new, you have to check this thing out. The treats that come from it are spectacular. One of the best things is that it isn't frozen cream. It is frozen banana. That means your ice cream doesn't melt! The pictures below, do not do this thing justice at all. The first was a raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry yonana. It tasted great! However, nothing puts a damper on eating dessert like fighting tons of raspberry seeds. Oh well. The second was a yonana made with a tropical fruit blend of strawberries, mangos, and pineapple. That was an absolute hit. The key is to get your bananas as ripe as you can before freezing. The blacker the peel, the better the banana. This ensures your bananas are providing the maximum sweetness, while not overpowering the dish with their own flavor.

 I think the Great Food Junkie has made up for his lack of communications in this entry. He is going to sign off before your snoring gets too loud for the neighbors. I hope you all have a wonderful new year, and I look forward to all of our 2013 food adventures. Until next time, when the GFJ takes a bite out of Bambi, Goodbye!

Soup up your weight loss plan

So...the other day, I was at the doctor. It was my six month checkup. While I did get a license from the doctor to live another six months, one thing became abundantly clear when I stepped on the scales. My efforts to prepare for my role as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa Claus were peaking way too early. I definitely needed to slow down on "getting into shape". For those of you who might still be wondering what I am talking about, my "bowl full of jelly" was quickly turning into a 55 gallon drum.

Weight Watchers and I have a relationship that goes back quite a while. Whenever they get a little tight on money, they call me up and say, "Hey, Jim! Why don't you come join us...again!" Well, as much as I admire WW (It really is one of the best ways to lose weight in a healthy manner) I am just having a very hard time getting excited about it. I know that my biggest problem is portion control. Don't get me wrong. I often put the correct portion on my plate. The problem is that the same portion gets put on my second and third plates as well. I am a fast eater. I always have been. The problem with being a fast eater is that one eats way too much before the stomach is able to send the "satisfied" signal to the brain. I like to blame it on the public school system. It seems that the further I went in school, the shorter my lunch period got. After nineteen years of wolfing lunch down, it becomes a habit that is very hard to break. I don't know if that is really the cause of my speed eating, but it does sound like a good excuse. Doesn't it?

This past week two things happened that restarted my weight loss efforts (hopefully, successfully). First, Debbie (my lifetime weight loss partner) brought in a Cooking Light magazine that was chock full of some darn good looking recipes. The second thing was a blog posting I read where the blogger asked his friend how he was successful with his weight loss. The answer was "soup". This person started each meal with a bowl of some type of soup...piping hot. By getting the soup piping hot, he was forced to eat it slowly, allowing his stomach time to fill with water, and send the satisfied signal to the stomach. Thus, he would feel full before he had a chance to eat too much of the entree. Made sense to me. I decided to try some of the Cooking Light recipes, and eat soup first.

I carefully picked out recipes that would be appealing to the whole family. The problem was finding a hot soup that would be appealing, and not be loaded with fat. The other problem with soup, is finding a good hot soup recipe that goes well with summer. I put my thinking cap on. What is one of my favorite soups? I love to get a bowl of wonton soup at the Chinese buffet. It is quite simply a very mild broth with boiled wonton dumplings. I was afraid that might not be too filling, so I tried to think of something that had a little more substance. The end result was Chinese cabbage soup. After some searching, I found a good recipe that I modified considerably, until I had the following.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:
1 Head Chinese Cabbage Chopped (see below for further info.)
1/2 diced onion
1lb ground meat (pork or chicken or turkey)
5 cups chicken broth
5 cups water
2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp lite soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp white pepper

Brown ground meet in stock pot. Drain any excess fat.  Saute onions until translucent. Add rice wine vinegar. Add water and chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Add chopped cabbage to the pot, and simmer just until soft (about 3-4 minutes). Add soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper, stir well and serve.

Here's a little lesson on Chinese cabbage. There are two different plants often referred to as Chinese cabbage. One is bok choy. The other is napa cabbage. For this recipe, use the napa cabbage. Pay attention to the picture below, as the grocery store will often mix the two up.

Napa Cabbage

I added a couple more items to my cabbage soup, just to bulk it up more, and add some color. I just happened to come across some dried red bell peppers and carrots (That's a whole different story). I added about half a cup of each to the soup when I initially allowed it to start coming to a boil. The result ended up being a soup that was very light, but definitely filling.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

I decided to mix continents for the meal. The entree came from Italy, by way of Cooking Light.  We had Shrimp Pasta Florentine. I don't know the exact legalities of posting recipes from publications, so I won't post it here. However, just click on the name of the dish above, and you will go to the website.

That looks good. Doesn't it? I didn't take the picture. That is taken from the Cooking Light website. My dish didn't come out quite that pretty, but it was close. About the only change I made was using Angel Hair pasta instead of fettuccine. I only went that route because I like to get the pasta that tastes like regular, but has added fiber. The particular brand I was looking at did not have fettuccine.

So. I suppose you're wondering how things went. I can say that both recipes were resounding successes on the taste size. As for the hot soup helping to control my appetite, well........

It worked. I wasn't sure I could even down my one portion of shrimp and pasta. Of course, I did. I was NOT going to let that shrimp go to waste, unless it was my own!

I'll keep you informed if this souped up weight loss plan works.

Eat Pizza and Promote Peace!

It is my firm belief that if God had given the Israelites pizza every day while they were wandering around for forty years (There's a good argument for GPS, if there ever was one), they would not have rebelled quite so often. After all, what one food item can easily present members of all food groups in a delicious, easy to hold form factor? Perhaps, if Moses had come down from the mountain top with some pizzas to feast on whilst reading the stone tablets, God's chosen people would have taken the time to actually comprehend the message he was delivering. I bet the whole Israeli/Palestinian conflict could be ended tomorrow, if the leaders would just sit down and hold a "Pizza Summit".

This pepperoni is divine! You can have Gaza.

Now! One might get the impression that I am ever so slightly partial to the culinary delight that is Pizza. I'm not really sure what would ever give one that impression, but he/she would be...

...correct.

What is there not to love about hot gooey cheese, tomato sauce and a crunchy crust. Even the act of cooking pizza is bliss itself. Would you consider visions of a hot bubbly meatloaf sitting in the oven romantic? How about a pot of brussels sprouts boiling on the stove top? That certainly gets the emotions going. However, they are NOT the emotions of romance and desire. But, then you imagine a pizza baking in a wood fired oven...

If that doesn't get you going, you are one cold hearted person!

Let's get something straight right now. Everyone thinks of pizza as Italian. What we eat over here, in the great US of A, is NOT Italian. The pizza we all grew up with is American through and through. I've been to Italy. I've had Italian pizza. I'm sure it tastes wonderful...to Italians. Yes, you can get a pepperoni pizza in Italy. But, that is really just an Italian selling you American pizza. That's the beauty of pizza, though. No matter where you go, you will probably find pizza. In each place, it will be different. Pizza is such a universal dish, yet completely customizable to the culture. The closest most of us will come to a true Italian pizza is a Pizza Margherita. This is pizza in one of it's simplest, yet most delicious forms. Tomato sauce, crust, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.

Everybody has their favorite local pizza joint. Pizza is one of those dishes that stirs up the passions. Everyone thinks they know where the best pizza is made, and all of you non-believers can just shut up, and go to...I think you get the picture. I'm like everyone else. I have my favorites too. None of those favorites include the three national pizza chains. Don't get me wrong. They aren't bad, just not great.

When I am looking for a place to go and relax with friends, while enjoying some of the best pizza, the family and I head over to Pietro Pizza and Subs. This place is run by a mother/daughter duo, two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Pictured below, is one of our favorite pizzas from Pietro...the Meatza pizza!

Pietro uses a fairly thin crust that puffs up nice and plump around the edges. It is not exactly like, but very similar to, a New York style pizza. If we are feeling especially sinful, we will order a stuffed Meatza. That sucker is a Meatza pizza with an additional crust put on top. that Top crust is covered in butter(I think), Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasonings. Very good, and very messy. If you are in the mood for something good, but not necessarily pizza, I can certainly recommend the strombili (definitely large enough for two people), or the Italian salad. If there is one complaint I have, it is that Pietro uses canned mushrooms on the pizzas and salads. Fresh would be much nicer, especially on the salads. However, if mushrooms are the only problem, I'll just shut up and keep chompin'.

A coworker of mine recently introduced me to my second favorite source for pizza. That would be Papa Murphy's. Papa Murphy's is the fifth largest pizza chain in the country, with over 1200 stores in 37 states. The interesting thing about Papa Murphy's is that you don't eat there. In fact, our local store has just one little bench. They don't even cook the pizzas for you. They simply build them, and hand them over...with instructions. While they may not cook their pizza's, they certainly do build some of the best pizzas you will ever bake. Do you want a pizza that tastes better than delivery? Go to Papa Murphy's. Don't let those DiGiorno people fool you. They make frozen pizza. It may be glorified frozen pizza, but it is still frozen pizza. I have yet to buy one that "tastes like delivery". Papa Murphy's is more expensive than frozen pizza, but definitely comparable to, if not better than, the national chains in price.

Last night, I went to Papa Murphy's. I got a Parmesan Chicken deLite, and a Stuffed Meat pizza. After tax, it was $26.50. Considering how big the pizzas were (The Parmesan Chicken was 14" and the Stuffed Meats was 16"), it was a very reasonable price. Straight out of the store, these pizzas had me salivating.

The Parmesan Chicken deLite had a thin crust, fresh tomatoes, chicken, and spinach, covered with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. The Stuffed meats had pepperoni, ham, bacon, and sausage on the inside with mozzarella cheese. Then they topped the top crust with beef and a cheese blend. After they wrapped the pizzas in plastic wrap ( with their own convenient paper baking trays) I headed down to the local Home Depot and rented a giant winch to lift those bad boys up, and get them in the car. (Ok, I made the last part up.) I called home, and told my indentured servant (also referred to as a daughter) to put the oven on 425. When I arrived home, both pizzas went in the oven, and 40 minute later, we were eating the type of food that has the power to resolve any conflict.

Admit it! That looks good!

The crust on the deLite was crunchy on the outside, but soft enough underneath to fold the pizza. The crust on the Stuffed Meat...let's just say that I had to get a ladder to see over the edge of that thing.


So! Where's your favorite place to eat pizza? I bet it's not as good as mine. What are your favorite toppings? Have I made you hungry yet? Go ahead. You know you want some. Go pick up a pizza or two, and help promote world peace.