Down Home Cookin'

California has many things. High unemployment, crushing taxes, a large non-English speaking population, sunshine, beaches, traffic, smog, and plenty of good places to eat. What California doesn't have is Cracker Barrel.

If you've travelled around the country at all you've probably seen the brown and yellow sign of Cracker Barrel. If you were smart, you stopped for a meal. For those who have never been, Cracker Barrel serves traditional American food in a country style setting.

Cracker Barrel restaurants have a wide front porch with rocking chairs waiting for a weary traveller to sit upon and perhaps purchase for a modest sum. The waiting area is a mock general store with traditional candies, clothing and country kitsch. The interior of the restaurant is festooned with Americana.

What the Hard Rock Cafe is to rock and roll, Cracker Barrel is to rural America.

The whole thing is hopelessly cheesy and contrived.

I love it.

The menu at Cracker Barrel includes such favorites as pot roast, meatloaf, pork chops, and chicken pot pie. It's good ole fashioned stick to your ribs food. There are no wood fired pizzas or calamari appetizers on the Cracker Barrel menu.

I've only been to a Cracker Barrel twice. The first time was in St. George, Utah. I wanted a change from the ubiquitous Wendy's or McDonald's. I ordered pot roast with veggies.

It was good.

The most recent visit was on our drive to Montana this week. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Layton, Utah for lunch. I ordered buttermilk pancakes and sausage. For lunch.

It was so good. The pancakes were crisp around the edges and steaming hot. I could feel my arteries clogging with each bite. That's how you make pancakes.

Too bad I won't be able to go back for a while.

Try It

Last Wednesday, Tabitha and I arranged for a baby sitter to watch the kids so we could have a date. Charlotte, a maid at the hotel, arrived at our room at 4:00 PM and took custody of the children. Tabitha and I drove to Rum Point on the north side of Grand Cayman.

We walked out on the pier and watched the snorkelers splashing in the water.

We sat in the shade of palm trees on the beach and sipped drinks. Tabitha had a bright blue margarita and I drank a virgin pina colada. After a while, we climbed back in the car and drove to the south side of the island to have dinner at a restaurant called The Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse is one of those fine dining establishments with impeccable service, an extensive wine list, and food prepared with the finest local ingredients by a renowned chef. Not my usual eatery.

We arrived a little early for our reservation but were seated immediately in the screened patio overlooking the breaking surf. The waiter suggested we try the drink special of the night, a blood orange mojito. We did.

A little background:

I am a picky eater. My past memories of eating at restaurants always include a special order. Not the "I'm going to order food that isn't on the menu because I'm a rich ass and I want to show these people how powerful I am" but the "I don't like very much and I'm afraid to try new things" special order. Things like french fries with the steak and plain hamburgers.

Boring.

Lately, I have tried to be more adventurous. I like to try local specialities when we travel and I'm more willing to trust the skills of the chef.

This caught my eye on the specials menu:

Jerk blue nose grouper with avocado salsa, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, and fried plantain.

This was about the best thing I have ever tasted. I tried the grouper by itself and it was good. I tried it with the avocado salsa and it was heavenly. It was so good, I memorialized it with a photo:

Mmmm! -- The Joy of Porridge

Oatmeal is the perfect breakfast food. It's got complex carbs, protein and it's loaded with fiber. There's no better way to start a chilly day than a steaming hot bowl of oatmeal.

I've found three types of oatmeal:

1. Rolled oats.
2. Steel cut "Irish" oats.
3. Stone-ground "Scottish" oats.

You're probably familiar with rolled oats. Quaker rolled oats in some form or other are found in pantries around the country. Most Americans have started their day at least once under the beneficent gaze of the smiling Quaker. Rolled oats are made by steaming the whole oat kernel, rolling them flat, and then toasting them lightly.

Rolled oats are perfectly good. They are easy to prepare and have a delightfully creamy texture. They also make really good cookies.

Irish Oatmeal is not as common here. I've seen them sold under the name of "McCann's," "Coaches Oats," and Quaker. Steel cut oats are made by cutting the oat kernel. They take quite a bit longer to prepare because there is less starch exposed. The last pot of steel cut oats I made simmered on the stove for about 40 minutes before we could eat them. Steel cut oats have a nuttier texture and aren't nearly as creamy as rolled oats.

If you don't mind standing over the stove for a good part of the morning, I recommend you try steel cut oatmeal.

My favorite is Scottish oatmeal. It is made by doing a very rough grind of the oat kernels. I've bought Scottish oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill and in bulk at my neighborhood Winco. Scottish oatmeal combines the best qualities of rolled oats and steel cut oats. They cook much faster than steel cut oats while retaining some of the nutty texture and they are creamy like rolled oats.

Here is how I make my Scottish oatmeal.

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup oats

a little salt

I combine the ingredients in a small saucepan and then simmer over low heat until it thickens. I like to flavor my oatmeal with Billington's Dark Brown Molasses Sugar and a little half and half.

Fry up some bacon and you have the perfect meal.

Damning with Faint Praise

You might be familiar with Red Bull. It's that ubiquitous energy drink that tastes a little like carbonated cough syrup. I've never been a fan of the beverage. However, Tabitha has taken a real liking to the sugar free version, much to the detriment of our family budget.

Anyway, Red Bull has started selling a cola in our area. I'm a big fan of soda pop and I like to try new versions of old stand-bys. Make a craft brewed root beer, bottle it in brown glass, slap on an old-timey label and I'll probably buy it. Make a new cola that promises something a little different and I'll probably buy it.

So I bought a four pack of Red Bull cola this weekend.

Red Bull cola is "a stimulating refreshment with ingredients from 100% natural sources." That's got to be good. The ingredients include some things I've heard of - vanilla, mustard seed, pine, and cardamom. And a few things that I haven't - galangal and corn mint. On the plus side it has real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup.

The taste?

It's... um... interesting.

It's different.

It's not as sweet as the other big name colas.

It's definitely drinkable.

Mmmm! -- Whole Grain Goodness

My sister, Judy, started milling her own flour when she moved to Montana. She bought this gigantic grain mill and grinds various types of wheat into flour. She then turns the flour into the best baked goods you have ever eaten. Her sourdough biscuits are a particular favorite of mine.

When we visited Montana last November, we went to Mission General Store in St. Ignatious. I bought a small package of hard red wheat and a package of soft white wheat.

Now you're probably wondering what the difference is between hard and soft wheat. Hard wheat is higher in gluten (protein) and is used primarily for breads made with yeast. It tends to have a firmer texture and is chewier. Soft wheat has less protein and is used for breads made with baking powder or soda. It has a softer more crumbly texture. Hard wheat makes bread flour, soft wheat makes pastry flour, and a mix of both makes all-purpose flour.

I had my wheat but I had no way to turn it into flour. I looked at various grain mills before deciding to buy a KitchenAid Grain Mill for the stand mixer.

The mill arrived earlier this week. I immediately fed it two cups of hard wheat which yielded about four cups of whole grain flour.

The process was a little slow. If the mill builds up too much heat it can damage the flour.

I used the flour to bake a couple of loaves of whole wheat bread. Unfortunately I didn't knead the bread long enough so it wasn't very attractive, but it sure was tasty. I'm almost out of wheat but Judy is going to send me a bag next month.

I'm going to try using the soft wheat to make honey whole wheat pancakes. I have high hopes.

Crazy Coyote Tacos

Wind not visible

I took advantage of a break in Chuck's chemo to take him to lunch at Crazy Coyote Tacos in Cabazon. Crazy Coyote Tacos is a little taco stand just outside the gate at the Morongo Indian Reservation. They serve tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tamales and some other stuff. The only thing I care about is the tacos.

I ordered a two taco plate which comes with two tacos, rice, beans and a can of soda for eight dollars. You're thinking to yourself, "Wow, eight dollars is a lot of money for two tacos." It's not.

The tacos come in steak, chicken, chili verde and something else (I wasn't paying attention). I ordered two steak and Chuck decided to try a steak and a chicken. Several minutes later our tacos were brought to the window in Styrofoam clam shell containers.

We sat down at a table and tried to hold onto everything because the wind was blowing pretty hard. The tacos are made with homemade corn tortillas and are garnished with onion, cilantro, and hot or medium salsa. We had the hot salsa.

Wind not visible

The tacos are about six-inches across and are stuffed with the most savory steak you have ever eaten. The tortillas are tender and chewy just like Grandma used to make (well, not my grandma). The salsa is hot but won't peel the paint off walls. The beans are delicious. I guess the rice is good too but I've never tried it.

I love this place. It's a little bit of a drive but well worth it. I think they are open seven days a week from 11:00AM to 7:00PM. They are on the north side of the 10 freeway at the Fields Road exit.

Soup Time

Now that Autumn is here and temperatures have dropped into the upper 90s, I decided it was time to make Navy Bean Soup. It turned out pretty well. I used 2 pounds of Navy Beans but I think one would have been better. Now I have enough soup to feed an entire ship full of hungry sailors.

Navy Bean Soup

1 pound navy beans (soaked)

1 pound ham (chopped)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped carrots

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

6 to 8 cups water

After the beans have soaked, combine all the ingredients in a large pot and simmer until the beans are tender. Enjoy.

That was easy.

Mmmm!.. Donuts

Donuts are an American institution. What is more American than little round blobs of dough dropped into hot grease and fried until they're fluffy on the inside and golden brown on the outside.

You might think that I eat donuts all the time. I don't. They're a rare treat.

I took Tabitha and the kids for donuts this morning. Abigail got a glazed raised, Aidan picked out a rainbow sprinkle, Tabitha got an apple fritter, and I got a glazed old fashioned and a crumb (yes, that's two for those of you keeping track).

Donuts are pure sugary bliss. Sure, I can feel my heart struggling as if it's pumping blood uphill. I'll make up for it by eating something healthy sometime.

You Eat That?

When I was a youngster you could have not gotten me to eat an artichoke for any amount of money. They looked disgusting and smelled worse.



But then, when I was in Europe, I had a pasta dish made with artichoke hearts. It had artichoke hearts, garlic, rotini, olive oil and bacon.



Bacon makes everything better.



It was pretty good.



I didn't become an artichoke eater overnight but I did stop my personal campaign to remove them from the list of edibles.



Several months ago, Tab and I were at the Ojai Valley Inn. We ate at one of the restaurants at the resort. There was an artichoke appetizer listed on the menu.



I don't remember exactly how it was prepared but it had something to do with an artichoke, garlic, olive oil, and fire.



It was good - darn good.



And it doesn't give you stinky pee like my other favorite veggie.

Popeye's

I went to Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits today for lunch. Have you ever had an experience like this?

You go into a restaurant and no one looks like you.

It's a weird feeling.

Did I make a wrong turn? Am I supposed to eat here? Is everyone looking at me?

I was very self conscious.

I was the skinniest person in the restaurant.

That Tastes a Little...Odd.

It was a little rainy today when we got home from school. I decided to make a Bisquick Cinnamon Struesel Coffee Cake because I like sweets. A lot.

I grabbed the cinnamon from the cupboard and measured out a heaping half teaspoon. I like cinnamon. The cinnamon looked a bit grainier than usual but I thought it might have been a special type. I dumped it into the bowl with the brown sugar, butter, and Bisquick. And then I took a good look at the spice bottle. "Cumin."

That's not cinnamon.

I scooped out most of the cumin, found the cinnamon, and dumped in a heaping half teaspoon.

It's pretty good but you can definitely taste the cumin. Not really how Betty Crocker intended coffee cake to taste.

Time for a Road Trip?

According to the Fast Food Maven Blog at the Orange County Register the Washington City, Utah In-N-Out Burger is now open.

It's about 362 miles up there. That's a long day of driving (there and back) but it's doable.

Anyone?

Tim's Locally Semi-Famous Chili

Back when I was a wee lad, my Dad challenged me to make a pot of chili using my own recipe. I did and it was good. It also scorched your mouth, nose, throat, esophagus, and stomach. Since those early days, my chili has grown more mild. You no longer break into a sweat when you taste the first bite. It still has a little kick (it's chili after all) but it is mild enough for children and Englishmen to enjoy.

Most of the measurements are approximate. Stick to the recipe and you won't go wrong. However, feel free to change it up. Make it your own. If you want it hotter, use more chiles. Too spicy? Use fewer. Chicken? Rattlesnake? Sure, why not. Vegetarian? What are you, a communist?

By the way, devote at least 4 hours to the construction of the chili. You don't have to stand over it the whole time but you do want to simmer it for a while. You can even make it the day before and re-heat it when you need to. It's even better that way. Time lets the flavors chilify.

This recipe makes a very large pot. It should feed about 20 schoolgirls or 5 lumberjacks.

Tim's Semi-Famous Chili

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground beef or stew meat

2 lbs sausage

4-15oz cans tomato sauce

1-15 oz can petite diced tomato

1 cup boiling water with 1 beef bouillon cube

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 tablespoons chopped garlic (can you really have too much garlic?)

Approximately 2 tablespoons ground cumin

Approximately 2 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa

Salt and pepper to taste

4 to 10 serrano chiles

5-15oz cans of pinto beans

1-15oz can of white beans

2-15oz cans black beans

1-15oz can kidney beans

Additional water as needed

Directions:

1. Put tomato sauce and diced tomatoes in a large pot over medium/low heat.

2. Brown the meat in your cast iron skillet about 1 pound at a time. Drain most of the fat. Put the meat in the pot.

3. Dissolve the bouillon cube in 1 cup boiling water and add to pot.

4. Stir.

5. Add the spices, including the cocoa, to the pot.

6. Stir.

7. Chop the onion, cilantro and garlic and add to the pot.

8. Blacken the skins of the serrano chiles in a skillet.

9. Remove and discard the stems from the chiles.

10. Chop the chiles very fine. For heavens sake, do not touch your eyes. Add the chiles to the pot.

11. Allow the chili to simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. If you are using stew meat, allow more time to cook.

12. Watch a soccer game on TV.

13. About 1 hour before dinner time, drain and rinse the beans in a colander. Add the beans to the pot (I hope it's big enough).

14. Serve when the chili is nice and hot. Garnish the chili however you like - shredded cheese, onions, or sour cream. I eat it straight up. Corn bread goes very nicely with your chili.

So There I Was...

... eating lunch at my desk. I love Panda Express's Kung Pao Chicken. I had picked out all the bell peppers but I was happily munching on the red chiles. Those things are hot but they sure are tasty.

As I was chewing up a mouthful of chicken, chile and rice, disaster struck.

I sneezed.

Little bits of chile pepper invaded my nasal cavity. My nose started burning from the inside and my eyes started watering. I was coughing and laughing at the same time. My coworker was laughing at me.

My tender nasal membranes were burning.

It felt so good. It's still burning a little.

So You Have Some Leftover Easter Ham

I love Split Pea Soup. I remember my Grandpa making it back when I was a little whipper-snapper. Here is my recipe for Split Pea Soup:

Ingredients:

8 cups water

1 lb rinsed split peas

2-3 cups diced ham

1/2-1 cup diced carrots

1/4 cup diced onion

3 tbsp finely chopped garlic

1/2 tsp sage

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place the ingredients in a pot. Cover and simmer over low/medium heat until the peas are tender and the soup has thickened. Stir occasionally. Enjoy.

It doesn't look very tasty yet. Give it time.

Yummy!

Cast Iron Skillet Cooking

It's kind of funny to read the Google searches that lead to my blog. Apparently a lot of people are interested in cast iron skillets. They want to know what to cook in one, how to clean one, how to remove rust, etc. I feel like I have let those people down. I don't want anybody to be disappointed when they come across my blog. So here is a recipe using the cast iron skillet.

Ingredients:
6 frozen boneless chicken tenderloins
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves chopped garlic
dried basil
salt
pepper
oregano
1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 box rotini pasta

Instructions:
1. Heat skillet over a medium flame.
2. Pour the olive oil in the cast iron skillet.
3. Run the frozen chicken tenderloins in cold water to remove the ice crystals. Dry with a paper towel.
4. When the oil is hot, put the garlic in the skillet.
5. When the garlic starts to brown, put the chicken in the skillet.
6. Fill a pot with approximately 6 quarts of water. Add approximately 1/4 cup of salt to the water.
7. Place water pot on stove on high heat.
8. As the chicken starts to defrost, use your spatula to cut it into small cubes.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Add basil and oregano to taste.
11. Brown the chicken.
12. When the water boils dump in the box of pasta. Stir.
13. Don't let the chicken burn. Reduce heat if you have to.
14. Stir the pasta.
15. When the pasta is al dente, turn off the heat and drain the pasta.
16. Open and drain the can of tomatoes. Put in the skillet with the chicken. Stir.
17. Dump the pasta into the skillet (your skillet is big enough isn't it?)
18. Stir.
19. Enjoy.

Abigail and Aidan really like this except for the chicken and tomatoes.

Meat is...?

I will start off by saying that I like a good steak. And a good cheeseburger. And hot links, bacon, grilled chicken, and grilled salmon. But more and more I wonder if eating meat is the ethical choice.

Greg Boyd in his blog has compiled his reasons for choosing a vegetarian lifestyle. I haven't read all of it because, quite frankly, I don't want to fully engage with the issue. But one has to wonder if our way of providing meat for our table is the best, most ethical, way.

The recent attention focused on the Hallmark/Westland slaughterhouse for their practice of mistreating sick and injured cows is sobering. If your job is to kill hundreds of cows every day, is it surprising that you might develop a cavalier attitude toward their lives?

In the past (the golden, perfect past) a farmer might raise an animal for his own table. He raised it knowing that the animal was destined to become food. When the time came, the farmer (or a neighbor) slaughtered the animal with respect for the sacrifice the animal made. The farmer would not dream of mistreating the animal.

We have an insatiable appetite for meat in this country. Many people eat meat with every meal. I generally eat meat with at least two meals every day. Where does my meat come from? The supermarket where it comes on a Styrofoam tray wrapped in clear plastic. Something died so I could buy a pound of hamburger or a tri-tip.

I tend to lose sight of the fact that hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of animals are killed every year so I can fill my belly. These animals are part of God's creation. These animals are not just raw materials for the food factory, but are living and breathing creatures.

I am not personally ready to make the leap to removing meat from my diet. I do think I could cut back my consumption of meat. I could also try to buy meat from producers who raise and slaughter the animals ethically (free-range, grass fed). It might be difficult and more expensive but it could be done.

If you are an old fan of The Smiths, like me, you 'll know the answer to the question in the title is "murder."

Civilization will Finally Reach Utah

The OC Register's Fast Food Blog reports that In-N-Out will be opening a store in Washington City, Utah in the late spring. Utah residents won't have to drive to Las Vegas for their Double Doubles.

It also gives those who frequently drive I-15 (to, say, Montana) another excellent dining option. Now if only we could get In-N-Out to put stores in Cedar City, Beaver, Scipio, and Nephi (got to stay within 500 miles of Baldwin Park).

Utah will never have as many In-N-Out stores as Mormon churches but it's a start.

Success

It came out very nicely. You can taste just a hint of molasses.

TimB's Bakery Round Two

I'm baking another loaf today. This time I am trying oatmeal bread. I used the white bread recipe from the Kitchen Aid book as an outline again. I used bread flour, Scottish oatmeal, and molasses instead of white sugar. It's in the oven for the first raise right now. I hope it turns out well.