The Turkey in the Straw Has Come to Call

Those of you who have just recovered from your heart attacks that were induced by two blog entries in one week, might need to take some preventative measures. Here's the third entry. Two entries ago, I promised a smoked turkey on my new Sawtooth wood pellet grill. It has taken a bit, but here we go. This little write up should remain relatively short in comparison to most of my other ramblings. That's because of the nice little video surprise at the end of the entry. You heard me right! A video! Now, who can say I don't treat my readers right. I must warn you, though. There is some nudity in the video. That's probably going to make you skip the rest of this blathering and head straight there.

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, or you have read previous blog entries, you know that one of my favorite activities is smoking turkeys. In fact, it has been several years since a turkey has actually graced my oven. In the past, I always smoked my turkeys on a large charcoal grill that had a side fire box. This allows for proper smoking with the indirect heat method. As you may remember from my previous post about smoking a turkey, the skin becomes a dark, almost mahogany, color. This is due to the massive amounts of smoke produced by throwing chunks of hickory in the side fire box. While this produces a turkey with an absolutely mouth watering smoked taste, it also produces a skin that is beautiful to look at, but only palatable to the few with cast iron stomachs, like my son. It is common knowledge that the skin is sacrificed for the flavor in the meat when using this method of smoking.

Wood pellet grills use what I would call a semi-indirect method of smoking. The fire pot is inside the grill, instead of outside. This puts the heat source closer to the meat. However, the drip/flavorizer pan prevents any flames from being able to reach whatever food items are on the grill. Also, instead of wood chunks that burn very slowly, wood pellet grills use...well, wood pellets. These burn at a somewhat faster rate, even on the low "smoke" setting. Therefore, the amount of smoke produced is sufficient for creating that smoked flavor, but nowhere near the amount that is produced in the traditional method. This could be good, or bad, depending on who you ask. Some people absolutely crave that super strong smoked flavor that comes off a traditional smoker. However, some people want a milder smoked flavor, and dearly wish to eat a super crunchy turkey skin. That is what you get with a wood pellet grill; a milder (but definitely present) smoked flavor, and crunchy, yummy, skin.

I usually brine my turkeys. The master BBQers will tell you to never brine a turkey from the supermarket, because it has already been injected with a broth or salt water solution. That may be the case, but they are still as bland a shoe leather. I have never had a brined turkey that turned out too salty. However, I chose a completely different method of keeping my turkey moist this time. I had a bottle of Tony Cachere's Roasted Garlic and Herb marinade. I injected that marinade ALL over the turkey. Wow! I mean, Wow! Between that marinade and the crispy skin on the turkey...I don't know if you could get any closer to heaven without actually being there. The turkey was so juicy. Since it was roasted garlic, the garlic flavor was mild. It was definitely there, but not in an overpowering way. See how I did the wings in the picture above? I learned to tuck them under the bird. This keeps them from flopping, and makes the bird more stable. The cool thing is that all the sugars in the marinade and rub collected at the bottom of the turkey. Those sugars, along with the natural sugars in the skin were in direct contact with the grill, creating a wonderful caramelization. Eating parts of the chicken wing meat and skin was literally like eating candy. I do think it just about got Neva speaking in tongues.

I promised a short blog, and here we are. It's only four paragraphs. Ok! They were long paragraphs. A little about the video below. It is a short "How-to" video on smoking a turkey on a wood pellet grill. It is my first instructional video, so I do realize some of the tips could have been slowed down a bit for those who aren't speed readers. Sorry. This was Christina's first time as a camera man(woman). Some of the footage is slightly out of focus, but I think she did a whizbang job for her first time. Thanks, Christina. I hope you enjoy this.

Enjoy!

Move over, Ruth's Chris. There's a new joint in town!

Anybody who reads my blog regularly, and knows who Ruth's Chris is, is probably wondering what this entry has to do with smoked turkey. It is true that my famous last words were, "Next up, smoked turkey." Okay, they really were "Y'all come back soon!', but I'm hoping you won't mind me taking a little artistic license with what were really the next to last words. I'm also hoping you won't mind this little detour into the land of beef, while we are on the way to turkey.

Anywho! I digress. For those who don't know, Ruth's Chris is a chain of very highfalutin steak houses. It's one of those restaurants where you have to take out a mortgage for a meal that will have you swearing you are sitting at the great banquet table on high. The worst part is that you will feel it was worth every penny...as you tuck yourself into your brand new cardboard box for the night.

We don't eat steak often at our house. It's not that we don't like it. I think my above description of Ruth's Chris pretty much puts that fallacy to rest. There are a few reasons. After years of trying (not too successfully, I might add) to eat healthy, and focus more on poultry, fish, and pork, my stomach has become pretty sensitive to beef. Please don't force me to go into detail. Now, I'm one of the lucky one's who takes one of those daily stomach pills, which also takes care of the sensitivity to beef. The main reason, we don't eat steaks much is price. Once you've been spoiled by the best, you just don't want to go home with one of those scrawny little supermarket steaks. Especially, since even the cheap paper thin steaks cost an arm and a leg...AND I have to buy two family packs because I have a family of four, and the supermarket (whom shall remain nameless...KROGER) thinks every family unit contains three members. Now, if the cheap steaks that are cut so thin that they almost classify as carpaccio, are expensive, just imagine how much the good ones cost!

Like I said. We don't eat steak often at our house. Imagine my surprise when I was walking by the meat clearance section of that nameless supermarket, and I happened upon a pack of four (Not three!!) 11oz ribeye steaks. These things were absolutely gorgeous, and were begging me to take them home. $26 is a lot to spend for one pack of meat, but that really only comes to $6.50 per 11oz steak. You can't get that type of price on a ribeye at your cheap gristle and chicken restaurants. Besides, I had this wonderful new wood pellet grill being delivered that needed to be properly tested. Into the basket the steaks went...after a few minutes of begging with the wife.

This was going to be a good test. One of the chief complaints about wood pellet grills is, while they do an excellent job at low and slow cooking, they just don't get hot enough to provide a proper sear to a steak. What is so important about a sear? On a piece of meat that is going to be cooked at a high temperature, and can quickly lose it's precious juices, searing is needed to basically "cauterize" the wounded flesh. Sounds kinda gross, but that really is what searing does. It cauterizes the meat, and locks in the juices. Anyone who has had the misfortune of eating a dry steak can attest to just how important that is.

One of the reasons I purchased a Sawtooth pellet grill, is because Doug (remember him from my previous post?) promised me it would get hot enough to sear. That means it had to reach a minimum temperature of 450 degrees, preferably 500 degrees or higher. When I was ready to cook, the temp gauge was reading just above 450. I remembered that on a previous test the surface temperature proved to be about 20 degrees hotter that the top of the dome, where the temp gauge is. It is quite possible the grill could have gotten hotter, but I was satisfied with 500. I wanted to sear...not burn.

My first test was to be a grilled summer salad. What!?! You heard me correctly. It is amazing how much the flavor profile of a standard green salad changes when you grill it. I took thick 1/2 inch slices of red onion, brushed them with olive oil, and sprinkled both sides with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I then placed those onion slices on the grill. After 8-10 minutes, I flipped them over for another 8-10 minutes. I also cut some romaine hearts in half, lengthwise, and brushed the flat surface with olive oil, followed by a sprinkling of kosher salt. During the last two minutes of cooking for the onions, I placed the romaine on the grill, flat side facing down. Two minutes at high heat was just enough to provide a little char on the surface of the lettuce, without completely wilting it.

Take the lettuce and onions, give them a rough chop, mix in some grape tomatoes, then drizzle with a small amount of your favorite salad dressing. Joseph and I like to make dill pickles in the summer. Our favorite dressing is a simple mixture of the leftover pickle juice from a jar of pickles, mixed with enough mayonnaise to just about fill the pint jar. The final grilled summer salad is below. Please excuse the bluriness, I was in lala land, and didn't notice that I still had the camera on manual focus.

Next up...the whole reason for cranking up the grill this night. I had just slathered the steaks in a mixture of oil and butter. The butter adds flavor, and the oil both helps the kosher salt to stick, as well as allowing the surface of the steak to get even hotter. Just before slapping the steaks on the grill, I sprinkled one side liberally with kosher salt. Since kosher salt granules are larger, they don't dissolve in liquid as easily as regular table salt. This ensures little bursts of flavor as you are eating your steak. I honestly feel that a properly salted and peppered steak NEVER needs steak sauce. While you don't want to pour the entire salt mine on the steak, you do want to be liberal with the salt, as much of it will fall off in the grill. I placed the steaks on the grill grates salted side down, then proceeded to salt the other side. I closed the lid, then after two minutes, I turned the steaks a quarter turn, and cooked for another four minutes. I then gently flipped the steaks, and cooked them for another four minutes on the other side. After pulling the steaks off the grill, I placed them in a dish and covered with foil, so they could rest while we ate our salads. When it came time to eat our steaks, all four of us had juicy medium-rare steaks...just the way we like them!.

While eating our steaks, I did make the comment that while seared properly, the grill grates that came with the Sawtooth grill did not produce proper grill marks. I believe the response I got from Joseph was, "Who cares!?! These are good!" I think that's what he said as he continued to stuff meat into his mouth.

Next year I might invest in a set of GrillGrates. These are a set of grill grates that can either rest on top of your current ones, or replace them. They provide the same type of "infrared" grilling that Charbroil is providing on their newer grills. It is supposed to be an excellent way of searing, and providing those beloved grill marks. Then again, maybe not. After all, who can argue with...

"Who cares!?! These are good!"

Finally! It's Time For Some Grillin' And Some Chillin'!

I know! I hear you loud and clear! Grillin' and Chillin' time started waaaaay before the middle of August. The problem is that I'm lazy. There. I said it. I'm lazy. My gas grill burners and flavorizors rusted out a while back. On top of that, my propane ran out. What can I say? It was going to cost almost as much to replace the parts as it would to buy a new basic gas grill. I haven't been totally without a grill. I have my Chargriller Super Smoker Pro. However, that sucker is big, and kind of a pain to get going just to do a quick dinner for four. Now the other day, I had eight leg and thigh quarters to cook. The Chargriller was perfect for that. I had enough space to cook the quarters, and enough space for a cool zone, in case of flare-ups. In addition, it is perfect for smoking turkeys, ribs, and pork shoulders. After all, that is why I got it.

However, I was really beginning to miss going out on the back deck and cranking up the grill for a nice easy dinner. I have to be honest. Laziness wasn't the only reason for not replacing the gas grill. The other was that a gas grill wasn't what I was really wanting. My brother had been trying to talk me into getting a wood pellet grill. They aren't cheap, though. Finally, the right set of circumstances fell in place, and I was ready to get one. Of course, this long wait had given me the opportunity to do a lot of research on wood pellet grills. For looks, there are two basic types of wood pellet grills. You have your barrel grills, like Traegers,
Brinkmanns, and some Louisiana grills, and you have the style that looks more like your typical gas grill. Looks (as well as space) were important to me, since this grill would be on display on my deck. I heard one main complaint about the barrel grills. They all seemed to have a hard time getting to the high 450 degree and above temperatures needed for searing foods. Another problem was build quality. Apparently, Traeger recently moved production of their grills to China, and quality seems to have suffered. I don't know where the Brinkmann wood pellet grill is made, but I was seeing reviews for it that were so-so at best. The Louisiana grills do seem to have a devoted following, but I decided I wanted a look more modern.

If you go with the modern look you have choices between such brands as Mak, Yoder, and Memphis Grills. All are excellent quality brands, with prices to match (I'm talking thousands of dollars. Yikes!!!!!) Then, one day, I ran across a brand I had never heard before. Sawtooth Pellet Grills. I emailed the company, and got a reply from Doug. Poor Doug. I doubt he ever got bombarded by so may question filled emails about the products he sells. To make a long story short (in case some of you readers are still awake at this point) I found out the following. Sawtooth pellet grills are made in Star, Idaho. This is a definite plus for those looking to buy American. Another plus is that is is made of 16 gauge steel. This is important, because the thicker the gauge of steel, the easier it will be to retain and regulate the heat in the grill. 16 gauge was the highest I found of any grills. The Sawtooth grills use the same controls as the Louisiana grills. This control is a nice compromise between the simple controls with Low/Medium/High settings, and those that are digitally controlled. While the Sawtooth controls don't give quite the precision of a digital control, it does have nineteen different steps between Low/Smoke and High. It also has a Prime button, which is great for adding a little more fuel to the fire to make recovery from opening the lid faster.

Sold!

Sawtooth grills come in two models, SPG-400 and SPG-600. The number in the model denotes the approximate amount of grill surface. The SPG-400 has 440 square inches of grilling surface. Each size is sold in two packages. The basic package is the grill only. The Extra package includes front and side shelves, and a grill cover. I chose the basic package. I can add shelves later, if I really need them, and I can get a good grill cover at the local hardware store. After waiting on pins and needles, my baby (Excuse me, Dear. Our baby) arrived. Two hours after I got home, with the help of my son and Christina's boyfriend, I had the handsome beast below.

In case you are wondering, that giant black box with the glowing blue light is the wood pellet hopper. Instead of propane or charcoal, this grill uses pellets made of compressed hardwoods. Don't let the extension cord fool you into thinking this is just an electric grill. It actually uses very little power. The grill has an auger that turns and feeds the wood pellets into a small burn pot. It then electrically ignites the wood pellets, starting a small, but intense fire. From that point on, the only power used is what is needed to turn the auger, and a small fan that keeps the fire fed with oxygen, and also helps keep the electronics from overheating. The grill regulates the temperature by adjusting how fast the wood pellets are fed into the burn pot.

Choosing wood pellets can be almost as confusing as choosing a grill. Some wood pellets are simply oak or alder that is treated with "flavoring" oils. This does help keep the cost of the pellets down, but it also imparts very little wood flavor into the food, and leaves more ash residue to clean up. After all, the oil adds moisture to the pellets. Some pellets are made from 100% of the wood it claims to be, such as hickory, mesquite, cherry, or maple. This is great for imparting that authentic taste, but it also adds somewhat to the cost of the pellets, and gives the griller more to remember when grilling. Different woods burn at different rates and temperatures. I chose pellets from CookingPellets.com. These folks only sell two types of wood pellets. You can choose from 100% hickory pellets, or their Perfect Mix. The Perfect Mix is a blend of hickory, cherry, hard maple, and apple. They claim it provides the perfectly balanced smoke flavor. I am certainly going to have fun testing that claim.

It was almost 8pm before we finished building the grill. If I was going to christen it that evening, I was going to have to choose something fairly quick cooking. Smoked sausages! I'll tell you a little secret. Kroger sells there Kroger Value smoked sausages in packs of sixteen for the same price the other brands are selling packs of five. Before you wrinkle your nose, consider this. They are massive compared to most other brands, and they are made for Kroger by John Morrell. Trust me, when I tell you that you won't be disappointed. We certainly weren't.

Take note of the cooking grates. They are flat stainless steel grates with slits cut out. The jury is still out on these. I have a feeling they are not going to be good for leaving grill marks on things like steaks. However, the next night's meal proved that they are ideal for grilling thin vegetables without the usual sacrificial pieces.

Friday night was special for Neva and I. Joseph left for a troop campout, and Christina and Justin (her boyfriend) were at the drag races. I was determined that we were going to have a special super. Trust me. I will be finding many reasons to grill and justify this purchase. I went to Kroger and picked up a bundle of fresh asparagus, two baking potatoes, and some southwestern stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. The chicken breasts were stuffed with roasted red sweet peppers, a very small amount of chipotles , and Monterey Jack & Cheddar cheeses.

I cooked the potatoes and stuffed chicken breasts on the grill at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. While they were cooking, I took the asparagus and snapped off the tough ends. I then mixed 1/4 cup olive oil, the zest and juice of one lemon, and three cloves of minced garlic. I then poured the mixture over the asparagus, sprinkled with kosher salt, and tossed until all of the spears were well coated.

During the last fifteen minutes of grilling, I put the asparagus on the grill, turning it halfway through the cooking. The resulting dinner is displayed below.

I love this grill!

Next up, smoked turkey. Y'all come back soon!

What do you call a heart attack smothered in clogged arteries? A good southern breakfast!

Don't you just love southern cooking? If you really think about it, good southern cooking is really just a method for killing people...all while leaving a gigantic smile on their mouths. I do my best to make things healthy. I try to ensure each meal has at least one vegetable that has not been deep fried. I also try to stick with the leaner cuts of meat whenever possible. Unfortunately, no matter how healthy one tries to be, the subtle call of a southern breakfast can't be resisted. Every now and then, one must succumb to the cries of the biscuits and gravy.

One of those days happened to be this past Saturday. I had a hankering for a good southern breakfast. In fact, that hankering started the night before, so I was actually able to plan for it. In my mind I saw a plate full of biscuits smothered in sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, buttered grits, and hash brown potatoes. Didn't have any grits in the pantry. Scratch those, I soon discovered I was in the same world of hurt regarding my breakfast sausage. Wait a minute, though. I remembered a pound of ground pork in the freezer. I decided that I needed homemade sausage. Homemade pork sausage can be wonderful. The thing is you have to be very careful about how much sage you use. The tendency is to use a lot. However, it is very easy to overwhelm the rest of the flavors with the taste of sage. If you use too much sage, you will end up with sausage that has somewhat of a musty earthy aftertaste. Anyway, I mixed the seasonings into the pork on Friday night, and put the mixture in the fridge to meld the flavors overnight.

The first task on Saturday morning is biscuits. I will admit, I am just as finicky about my biscuits as I am about cornbread. It doesn't take much for me to deem a biscuit a total failure. When looking for a biscuit recipe, I am always looking for something crusty, but not too crunchy,  I want a pillowy soft interior to this biscuit. A good sign of a pillowy interior is a biscuit that has risen high. In my search for the perfect biscuit, I came across a recipe for cracked black pepper biscuits from Bobby Flay. You can find the recipe at the Food Network site. Of course, I had to make a few modification. I took off the black pepper. Not once have I ever had black pepper on the tops of my biscuits. No black pepper. Bobby calls for twelve tablespoons of unsalted butter. Personally, I am a shortening fan. Finally, Bobby wanted me to brush the biscuits with cream before placing in the oven. Cream aint cheep. Milk worked just fine. In fact, those were some downright tasty biscuits. They were definitely fluffy.

That funny shaped biscuit in the middle is Neva's special biscuit. I always have a scrap of dough left. Usually, it is just big enough for one more biscuit. Rather than rolling and cutting out, I just shape it by hand. Nobody (and I do mean nobody) is allowed to eat that biscuit but my lovely wife.

All that was left was to make the sausage gravy and other breakfast items. In the end, I ended up only fixing the gravy and some hash brown potatoes. I decided we really didn't need eggs too. I would like to think I was being health conscious.  After all, while eating my scrumptious breakfast, I only felt one artery harden. That has to be an improvement. I sure hope going back for seconds and thirds don't count against me.

Hello Muddah! Hello Faddah! Here I am at...

I know. The title has you wondering how that can lead into a blog entry about food. It's a stretch, but bear with me. You see, I just returned from a week at summer camp. Still wondering where I'm taking this?

This year I went to summer camp with Joseph's Boy Scout troop. It was a looong trip from Memphis to Camp Rainey Mountain, just outside of Clayton, GA. As I was preparing for this trip to Georgia, I decided to reminisce a little. You see, I've been involved in scouting for quite some time. With the exception of a 12 year period before my son was old enough to join, I have been active in the Boy Scouts since I first joined as a cub in 1977. The amazing thing though, is this was going to be my first summer camp trip since 1986, the last year I served on summer camp staff.

Often, some of the greatest camp stories involve food. As I stated above, I decided to reminisce about my summer camp experiences growing up. Surely I could remember some great stories involving eating at summer camp. After all, I had attended summer camps in Alabama, New York, Italy, Greece, and Germany. So I thought...and thought...and thought. Nada! Zip! Zilch! That's what I had stored in the summer camp food memory drawer. Can you believe that? All those places, and I couldn't remember one thing about what I ate. That was strange. Oh well. I was sure there was a logical explanation.

The troop usually went to a summer camp called Skymont. From what I understand, it is a nice little summer camp nestled in the mountains between Nashville and Chattanooga. Joseph has gone there twice with the troop. I have yet to be able to go. Last year, I couldn't because of work conflicts. The first year was because the troop asks first year parents NOT to go to camp with their boys. This is an effort to help the boys (really the parents) learn some independence. Of course, I later learned from Mr. Sam that the next time I think the new parent rules apply to me, I should just come see him so he can set me straight. As punishment for such ignorance I am now troop committee chairperson.

Anyway, before my rambling strays too far from the subject at hand, I brought up Skymont because of the food. It is amazing the perception difference between boys and adults. I don't think I heard a single negative comment from any boys about the food at Skymont. The adults, well...they were a different story. The opinions ranged from the food being alright to, "You call that food?" Now, let's fast forward back to the present.

Our first food experience this year was in Bremen, GA. We stopped there to spend the night before finishing the trip to Rainey Mountain. What do you feed twenty four hungry boys late in the evening? Pizza! So, I make the call to Papa John's.

"I need ten pizza's"
"Excuse me. How many, sir?"
"Just ten...and six 2-liters."
Remember the old Sprint commercial with the pin drop? That's what it sounded like on the other end of the line.
"...and you want these delivered?"
"Naw! We'll pick them up. You just tell us when." With that, I am sure I heard a chorus of angels singing, and trumpets blowing on the other end.
"Oh, thank you, sir! I was afraid you wanted them right now. Let me see what kind of discounts I can give you."

Note to self: After you scare the snot out of the pizza person, relieve their fears. Suddenly you might receive many discounts.

2nd note to self: What happens when you feed boys pizza at 9pm? You have 24 wild and screaming boys at 3am, and you are left wondering how in the heck you got roped into this.

The next day it was McDonald's for breakfast and lunch. It is fun to discover which McDonald's have experience serving large groups. We walked into McDonald's in Bremen for breakfast. They were all smiles and ready to go. By the time our last boy ordered, those smiles had somehow disappeared. Poor things. Just as we were finishing up they had to deal with a tour bus of hungry teens. Something tells me there were a few employees of that restaurant rethinking their career paths.

Lunchtime was in Clayton, GA. It quickly became apparent that this McDonald's was used to huge groups of Boy Scouts dropping by for lunch every Sunday during the summer. Three troops hit at the exact same moment. I don't think it took more than thirty minutes for all three troops to order and eat, and the staff just had smirks on their faces that said, "Come on! Is that all you got!?!"

Now for the real reason for this blog. Summer camp food. Camp Rainey Mountain is big. In fact, the dining hall easily seats 800. That's big. Not big enough though. It just so happened we picked the busiest week of summer camp. There were over 930 boys in camp. Not total people. Just boys. Add another couple of hundred people to account for adult leaders. That's a lot of hungry mouths to feed every day. Was Rainey Mountain up for the challenge? We would soon find out. For Sunday dinner, we all sat down to trays of baked chicken (an entire leg and thigh quarter per person), green beans, mashed potatoes, roll, cookies, and fresh fruit.

"Mr. Jim! Mr. Jim! This food is waaay better than Skymont!" Wow! Things are looking good for this camp.

Monday morning: We are all looking forward to what breakfast brings. Especially after having such a wonderful supper the night before. After all, we need as much nourishment as we can get. We have to climb Mount Kilimanjaro...twice...just to get to our campsite. As I am headed to my table, I look down at my tray. Two slices of toast, and two slices of bacon, milk and juice. Hmm. I better pick up some fruit.

Monday lunch: Cheeseburgers and french fries! Woohoo! Okay, make that a hamburger and five french fries. The cheese disappeared many people ago. I'm sure those having triple cheese cheeseburgers are quite satisfied. Mr. Sam ain't lookin' too happy over there. Not only does he not have cheese, he doesn't have tea.

Monday supper: Bean burrito night! Bean burritos, nachos and ... no cheese. Mr. Sam is really looking ticked at this point. They ran out of nacho cheese before we got through the line. I think he made some comment about them knowing how many people they had to feed. I'm not sure though. The only thing I am sure of is we are all getting the feeling we were bamboozled on Sunday night. We aren't even close to being halfway through the week.

Note to self: When the entire camp just got done eating bean burritos try to be the last in bed...and enjoy the fresh air as long as possible. Nobody should have to bunk with five other people after a night of bean burritos. It's just not humane.

Needless to say, the week did not improve foodwise. On Tuesday, we had chili dogs. Hallelujah! We made it through the line and there was still cheese left. Mr. Sam reached for the cheese, hesitated, then pulled back. "I'm not eating any cheese. I'm rebelling!" I'm not quite sure Mr. Sam's rebellion was really noticed by the camp, but it brought a smile to his face. In my book, that gets put down as a success.

By the end of the week, it was no longer "this food is way better than Skymont!" Now it was, "Mr. Jim! Mr. Jim! Can we pleeeeeeeeeeeeeze go to Skymont next year. At least we get seconds there!"

I know why I can't remember anything about my summer camp food experiences. Often, when a person is traumatized, their mind will block all memories of the event, as a survival mechanism. That must be the reason. Hopefully, that survival mechanism will kick in for these boys soon.

(Please don't take this blog entry too seriously. While there were definitely some issues with portion sizes and running out of food, the camp did an admirable job of trying to cope with over 1,000 mouths to feed. Despite the food issues, I think every boy will tell you that the Camp Rainey Mountain staff was the best staff...EVER! I have never met a group of people more dedicated to making sure the boys and their leaders have a positive camp experience, and that is including summer camp staffs I served on. Kudos to the CRM staff.)

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.

So, What goes well with pork loin...that I actually have?

Apples!

Let me start off by apologizing for the lame title for this post. I was so proud of the meal I cooked Saturday, that I knew I wanted to blog about it. Unfortunately, in the ensuing days, I was not able to come up with a title for this blogpost that I really fancied. So! Since you got this far, you obviously got past the title. Thanks for not holding it against me, and refusing to read my ramblings.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I got up Saturday morning. (I know. that in itself is pretty amazing.) I was facing another four hour shift of grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, and smoked sausages for the Boy Scouts. (I think I now qualify as an expert on those items.) I also knew that there was only a minutely slim possibility that someone else in my family was going to start supper that evening. Therefore, I had to do one of those scary things, and plan ahead. I looked in the freezer, to see what could be put in the slow cooker. Behold! I still had a 2.5lb pork loin just waiting to be cooked. I nuked it in the microwave (on defrost). After all, any good chef would take all possible opportunities to add gamma rays, nuclear radiation, and all that other stuff to their food. That's what gives our dishes that special "glow". Remember that smoked salt I wrote about in another blog. Well, I sprinkled that and some black pepper on the loin and seared it in a skillet until all sides were nicely crisped.

Woohoo! Now I had a partially cooked lump of meat. That's really going to bowl the family over. What to do? What to do? Then my little eye spied a bag with some apples in it. It just so happened that this bag had one of those proverbial rotten apples getting ready to spoil the whole bushel (well...the other five). I took out Mr. Rotten and gave him the heave ho. Then I used the apple corer/slicer on the others. I did not peel the apple. People in my family quickly learn to enjoy fruit and vegetable skins. I hate peeling, unless the skin is just inedible. I then found some baby carrots, and craisins. Craisins are the neatest things. They're just like raisins, but made out of cranberries. The neat thing is they don't go bad...ever....never! That's right, folks, we actually have a food product that could potentially outlast the cockroach population of the world...without the use of preservatives. I mixed all that together with some granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and just a little ground sage. I then put all that stuff on top of the pork loin. Heck! Even raw, this dish was starting to look good.

Fast forward about eight hours. Now we have a slow cooker full of pure heaven.

Oooo, Doggie! supper was gonna be good tonight. There was a problem though. With all that sugar, I still didn't have enough starch! (Calm down! I'm just kidding!) I had some potatoes that were starting to sprout some little vinelets (baby vines, for those of you who don't like me making words up). I decided we needed to have some Potatoes Anna to go with our pork roast.

Potatoes Anna is a fancy sounding name for a classic French peasant dish. It is quite literally just sliced potatoes, salt, pepper, and butter. Don't let that whole peasant dish thing disappoint you. That just means it is the food of the people. Go back to the Middle Ages and you basically had only two classes, aristocracy and peasants. Trust me, you and I would have been in the peasant class, and quite proud of it. They had better food. The peasants were the workers, and those cooking, knew they had to make the food hearty and tasty to provide the nutrition to keep the workers healthy. The other good thing about peasant food was that it was much less likely to contain hemlock or arsenic. Those aristocrats had a nasty habit of trying to kill each other off.

Anyway, Potatoes Anna is just good plain peasant food...and one of the tastiest ways to cook potatoes. It really is quite simple to fix. You basically slice six to eight potatoes as thinly as you can. Once again, they are supposed to be peeled. Once again, I didn't peel them. I find the best cooking dish for these is a good cast iron skillet. Melt a stick of butter. Brush the inside of the skillet with some of the butter, then cover the bottom with a layer of potato slices. Brush that layer with butter, then sprinkle with salt (Use kosher, if you have it. It provides little bursts of flavor you can't get with table salt.) and pepper. Lay down another layer of potatoes and repeat with the butter, salt and pepper. Continue to do this with the rest of the potatoes. If you have any butter left over, drizzle it over the top of everything. You will end up with something like the dish pictured below.

Place some foil over the pan, and put it on a med/hi burner. Cook until you hear sizzling. Continue cooking for about five minutes. You will then transfer the dish to a 425 degree oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Pull the foil off and press the potatoes down with a spatula. Bake uncovered for an additional 25 minutes. You should end up with something like this.

Crispy on the outside. Soft and buttery on the inside. You are supposed to then place a plate over the top and flip, so you can see the nice golden brown bottom. I had just spent four hours flipping burgers, and another two hours cooking supper. (I know! So much for saving time by planning ahead. I also baked a loaf of bread) I was not about to expend my last bit of energy, trying to flip a frickin' twelve inch cast iron skillet. The family would just have to imagine how golden brown it was on the bottom.

Needless to say. We ate very well that night. There wasn't a shred of pork left, and every belly was full. It was worth the effort, but the next day, I let the funny lady at China Royal cook for me.

That's Christina. I am NOT wearing a frilly pink sweater!