grill no evil – the weber grill

I was in Indianapolis over the weekend for my nieces christening and managed to sneak away to check out the Weber Grill.

As I walked into the place I knew right away this is not going to be my fathers burnt burgers. Oh no. This is going to be something else entirely...

grow no evil – go green, thumb first

Think of what we could do if everyone did what he or she can, for just one day every year. Amazing, isn’t it. Today is Earth Day. Well, it is too bad that most people will not do a single thing different today. So it is going to be up to us to do more the rest of the year to make up for them.

I try to do what I can by growing my own veggies. I am not going to go into all the benefits that our planet gets from me doing this. I am not going to go into all the fossil fuels that won’t be used or how each plant (albeit a small amount) helps clean the air of nasty Co2.

Do you know why? Because I will admit that me doing this is partially selfish. Not only am I saving a butt ton (that’s a real measurement, kinda) of money by doing this, but I am also getting some better quality goods in the process. That’s always a good thing.

You want another reason? Have you ever tasted a tomato that was allowed to fully ripen on the vine? The store bought ones may be red. That doesn’t mean they are ripe, though. You should try it. It may just change your life forever.

Happy Earth Day! Lets make up for some green slackers today….and tomorrow, and the next. Man, I wish these people would get on board and help out.

finish with no evil - vanilla bean cheesecake

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Nilla Wafer Crust and Fresh Raspberry Sauce.

True store…well, not really.

But what was that smudge on his jacket, she wondered. It looks like cheesecake. But no, Harold loves my cheesecake. He would never eat just any hussy’s dessert. He would always come home for hers, she told herself as she picked up his shirt. But as she stared at that red stain on the collar of his dress shirt she knew. She knew it was worse then her worst nightmare ever dreamed of… Raspberry sauce.

Later that night when Harriet confronted Harold, he admitted right to it.

“You said you were bored with vanilla, Harold. Do you remember telling me that? Hmmm?”

“That wasn’t the vanilla I was talking about, Harriet.” He sighed. “This is natural vanilla. With those wonderful little specs of …er, um….of wonderment.”

“I’m sorry, Harold. But just because my cheesecake isn’t as good as Lucinda Applebottoms, doesn’t give you the right to run around behind my back!”

“You should see the crust she makes, Harriet! You should see it…She makes it out of Nilla wafers.”

“Nilla wafers, Harold? Really, how old are we?” Harriet spat.

“See, Harriet. I knew you would never understand. That’s why I am leaving you.”

“Don’t Harold! Don’t say that!” Harriet pleaded as Harold picked up his fork and left. Harriet knew where he would be going. Lucinda Applebottom. Damn you, she screamed inside herself. Damn you!

If only Harriet would have had this recipe. Don’t be like Harriet. Don’t let your relationship fail because of sub-par cheesecake. Go make your loved one one right now! Go, run like the wind!

Vanilla Sugar – It all starts with vanilla sugar

2 cups sugar – This is more then you need, but it never hurts to have some extra on hand. Vanilla sugar is good in tea.
1 vanilla bean

Place the sugar into a zip top bag. Slice the vanilla bean and scrap down the bean with the back of a knife to remove the inside seeds. Place seeds and bean into the bag, seal, shake and store.

This can be done several days ahead of time, but two weeks would be even better.

Nilla Wafer Crust

50 Nilla wafers
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Vanilla Sugar

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Brush some of the melted butter around a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. If you opt for a spring form pan, make sure to wrap the bottom and sides with tin foil before it enters the pool. The one down side to spring forms are that they leak.

Adhere parchment to the bottom and a long strip around the side.

Take the Nilla wafers and place into a large zip top bag. Crush. If there are still plenty of big pieces left, good. That adds a nice texture to the crust.

In a small bowl, combine crushed Nilla wafers, the remaining melted butter, and the 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

Cheesecake Batter

20 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
2 eggs
3 yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream

In the bowl of your mixer, beat sour cream for 10 seconds. You are going to want to get it on the beaters and around the bowl. This will help the batter come together. Add the cream cheese and sugar and mix on low for 30 seconds. Once the sugar is wet you can turn it up to medium. Thoroughly scrape down the side of the bowl.

In a separate container, combine vanilla, the insides of a scraped out vanilla bean (seeds), eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the mixture into the mix. When half of it is in, stop and thoroughly scrape.

Continue adding the mixture until the rest of the ingredients are in. Once completely combined and smooth, pour into the cooled crust.

Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Place the cheesecake into a preheated water bath and bake for 1 hour.

** If you are using a spring form pan, I can’t stress enough the importance of sealing the bottom of your pan with tin foil. Your cheesecake will be in the pool for a minimum of two hours. That is a lot of time for it to leak. **

Turn the oven off and open the door for about one minute to let some of the heat escape. Now close the door and let it be for one more hour. It may not look completely done when you turn the oven off, don’t worry. It will firm up in the next hour.

Remove the cheesecake from the pool. Dry off the bottom and place in the refrigerator for a minimum if 6 hours before serving.

Raspberry Sauce

12oz fresh raspberries
¼ cup vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon lemon

Place the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar into the bowl of your food processor and puree. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl. Enjoy now or cover and set in the refrigerator.

oops no evil - salt and sugar

There are two types of people who ride motor- cycles, those who have put their bike down and those who are going to. Regrettable, I think there is a similar saying for people who do some serious cooking. There are those who have mixed up sugar and salt and those who are going to.

Now, if you have never done this, do not worry. Mark my words, you will.

My story starts like so many others. Making scones. Somehow I got myself roped into making the scones for a tea party themed bridal shower. Very macho, I know. The worst part is that I missed out on some beer and bowling with the guys to do it. We all know that bowling alleys have some of the best pizza out there too. That was something you know I wanted to be a part of. But, alas, I am such a good boyfriend.

It was well after midnight when the mix up occurred. I was on the fifth … sixth round, maybe. Who knows? Hey, it happens. Especially when you consider that coarse kosher salt, my salt of choice, is very similar in texture to sugar. You get going to fast. You start not paying attention. Live and learn.

In my tired state, I decided to bake them. Who knows, maybe it won’t be that bad. Well, it was that bad. Maybe worse. 1/3 cup of salt is too much for most things.

What a shame. I was trying out Girl Scout Tagalong scones. I was thinking they could have been good. The only saving grace was that I was making that batch to take to work. Oh well, Maybe next time I will try PBandJ scones.

grilled asparagus with cumin

Two asparagus are walking down the road when one is hit by a car. The other goes in the ambulance with his friend, sits in the emergency room, waits for some news. A doctor comes to him. "I have good news and bad news. The good news - he'll make a full recovery.

The bad news - he'll be a vegetable for life."

grilled asparagus with cumin

1 large bunch of Asparagus
1/4 Tsp Crush Red Pepper Flakes and/or Cayenne pepper
1/4 Tsp (smoked is nice) Paprika
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
3 Tbsp Olive oil

Get your grill going. I like grilling over lump wood charcoal for this. It burns hot and fast. The down side, it burns hot and fast. You are going to want to plan your session out ahead of time.

Thoroughly rinse the asparagus in cold water. Take the asparagus, three or four spears at a time, and snap off the bottoms. Fresh asparagus knows where it should be trimmed. Let it tell you. It wants you to be happy. If it bends and does not snap, toss it and think about making something else.

Once the asparagus is trimmed, place into a large zip top bag. Add the olive oil and cumin and friends to the mix. Close the top and give it a good shake to coat. You could throw it on the grill now, or you could give it a little bit. Letting it relax in your icebox for 15 min will give it a chance for everything to mingle and get to know each other. That’s a good thing.

Once everything else that is going to go on the plate is finishing up, align your new comers up perpendicular to the grate. Grill for about 5 or 6 min moving regularly. These little guys will go from a nice al dente snap to mushy mush without telling you. So pay attention to them. I like spring-loaded tongs for this. Now, you are bound to lose one. That is just how it is. Don’t worry. Look how many more you have. It will be all right.

How do you know when they are done? Well, pull one right off the grill and taste it. Go ahead, its okay. When you are standing around the grill, maybe a beer in hand, just about anything can be a finger food. Just be careful you don’t burn yourself. Taste good? Well then, you better pull them off and enjoy!

The taste of the sear on the asparagus and the heat from the pepper and cumin compliment anything else that might be accompanying these guys on their grilling journey perfectly.

black pepper crusted bacon in oberon

THE BEER PRAYER

Our lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink,
Thy will be drunk,
(I will be drunk),
At home as I am in the tavern.
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against us,
and lead us not to incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers,
For thine is the beer,
The bitter and the lager,
Forever and ever,
Barmen.

A lot of people will say a lot of things symbolize the arrival of spring. The sighting of the American red breasted robin, some March jackass with the top down on his convertible and the heat on, an old man in shorts with legs that look like birch tree trucks. For me, the arrival of spring has always been when I start seeing that sun smirking at me down the beer aisle. I am talking about the first Bell’s Oberon, of course.

For those of you not fortunate enough to have sampled this one, I feel for you. I do.

Oberon is a beautiful light copper colored wheat beer. Although it looks slightly unfiltered, there is little to no sediment. It has a fluffy, even white head, much the same as my grandmother had. It smells of sweet oranges with a very light hop presence. This is a very tasty wheat beer!

I was lucky enough to be introduced to this beer long before it became as popular in the Midwest as it is. Actually, before it was even legal for me to enjoy it. My brother went to Kalamazoo College and brought it back as an educational souvenir for us.

It was not till years after he had graduated, and I could legally buy and enjoy this wonderful stuff, that my love affair matured into a life long relationship. It only seemed natural that this drink would make anything it touched better. What started as boys playing around the campfire, dumping beer on food, turned into an art, a science and a tradition.

These days, the true arrival of spring is that first smell of heavily black peppered bacon cooking in Oberon over an open fire. This is best done over a charcoal grill, wood fire or some other type of open flame.

Black Pepper Crusted Bacon in Oberon

1lb thick cut bacon (go for the good stuff. You are worth it!)

1/4 cup whole black peppercorns. Very coarse ground. Really, just rough them up a bit.

12oz bottle Bell’s Oberon – if you do not have or can not find Oberon, go with as strong of a wheat beer as you can find.

Lay out the bacon and rub with about 2/3 of the black pepper. You will want to save some of the pepper to add directly into the Oberon while it is cooking. Vary the amount and grind of the pepper to your own taste. This is good stuff. If you have to make it several times to get it just right, well, so be it! Let the bacon rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to and hour.

Take a large piece of heavy-duty tin foil and fold it in thirds. You want this to be three layers thick. Fold up the corners to make a tray. You will be pouring Oberon into this, so make sure you are giving yourself enough of a lip to hold your liquid goodness. Lay the bacon in your new cooking vessel. It is okay to crowd it in. Bacon shrinks.

You will probably want to move the bacon to your desired flame before adding the Oberon. Again, you probably do not want to do this inside. I strongly recommend a charcoal grill or open fire with a grate on top.

Once it is on the heat, go ahead and fill her up. Some beer is bound to spill out as you adjust the bacon while it cooks. It will be a good thing to keep some in reserve. Depending upon the heat of your fire this will take anywhere from 15 to 45 min to fully boil and cook. Be warned, the smells that will happen as this process takes place are magical! I only wish Yankee Candle would return my calls about making Oberon Bacon scented candles.

Once you are comfortable with the doneness of the bacon, puncture the bottom of the vessel to drain. Grill to desired crispness. Eat it right there on the spot or have some burgers ready and waiting.

There is just something special about the flavors that are unleashed when you cook with Oberon. While many of the weaker wheat beers flavors cook out, Oberon blends with the other flavors and enhances them. There will be more to come.

test no evil

Test.