A baking and gardening journal. Mostly.
by A.J. Coltrane
The Batali Pizza Dough recipe has sort of become my go-to-almost-fast-food-pizza-dough. There’s only 45 minutes of rising time, so dinner can be on the table in an hour.
Here’s one that’s steaming hot out of the oven covered with onions, italian sausage, and red peppers. The sausage got slightly precooked to avoid rawness. The thinly sliced onions and peppers went on raw. There’s also some cheese hiding under the sauce.
By Blaidd Drwg
Scott Downs is the closer for the Angels. This is not really news. The Angles have about 5 guys they can mix and match in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings of a game they have the lead in, but Downs is the only left handed reliever of the bunch.
In the sweep of the Mariner recently, Downs picked up 2 saves in 3 appearances, which is also not news. What is news is how Mike Scioscia used Scott Downs, particularly in the appearance where he did not have a save.
In the Friday game, the Mariners blew a 4-3 lead in the top of the 9th, so naturally the closer comes in for the bottom of the 9th and shuts the door. Game over and a pretty common use for the closer. Sunday was pretty similar with Downs pitching in the 9th with a 4-2 lead and closing it out.
Saturday is where it gets interesting. The Angels have a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 7th. The Mariners used a very lefty-heavy lineup that game. Jordan Walden starts the inning and walks lefty Mike Carp, strikes out righty Brendan Ryan (Carp stole 2nd during the AB) and lefty Dustin Ackley. At this point, Scioscia makes a move which was shocking – he brings in Scott Downs to face Ichiro. I don’t know if Scioscia is playing the percentages here (Ichiro was 2-3 career against Waldon and 5-17 career against Downs, but I know, sample size), or just didn’t have Downs ready to face Ackley (Ackley has a career OPS that is about 150 points lower against lefties that righties), but it worked, Ichiro bounced out to the pitcher and ended the inning.
Downs then came back out to pitch the 8th, giving up a single to Kyle Seager before retiring Smoak and Jaso. That brought up everybody’s favorite Miguel Olivo. Once again playing the percentages, Scioscia replaced the lefty Downs with righty Ernesto Frieri (who has been extraordinarily lights out since a trade to LA – 12 IP, 0 hits allowed, 25 strikeouts- no that is not a misprint). Frieri made Olivo look bad in striking him out to end the inning. Frieri blew through the M’s lineup in the 9th to end the game.
When was the last time that a manager had the sense to bring in the guy he considered his best reliever for the situation (Downs), who happened to be the closer, in a clutch situation in the 7th inning? It is something the Yankees did with Goose Gossage in the 1970’s and I seem to remember a few instances with the Royals doing it with Dan Quisenberry in the 1980’s, but that is about it.
The thing is, Scioscia did it again against the Yankees – he brought Downs in with a runner on 1st in the 8th inning with a 4-1 lead. The Yankees had Cano (Lefty), Texeiria (Switch Hitter) and Ibanez (Lefty) due up. Downs got out of the inning and was going to start the 9th when the Yankees pinch hit right handed hitter Jason Nix for lefty Eric Chavez. Downs was replaced with Ernesto Frieri in the 9th, when the Yankees had 2 right handed hitters following Nix and no other left handed bat on the bench. Frieri managed to load up the bases but got out of the jam to save the game.
Say what you want about Scioscia, I give him credit for using the pitcher he perceived to be best for the situation instead of leaving his closer on the bench for the 9th inning and potentially losing the game.
by A.J. Coltrane
I was convinced that these Easy Dinner Rolls (Food.com) were going to fail, all the way until they came out of the oven. So convinced, that I asked Iron Chef Leftovers to pickup backup rolls on the way over. (For another beer tasting, go figure.)
By Blaidd Drwg
Boston mayor, Tom Menino has been in office since I was in college (let’s just say that it was in the early years starting with 199), and he is a lifelong Boston resident, so he has at least a passing familiarity with the Boston sports scene. Mayor Mumbles as he is not so affectionately known around Boston is also well known for “misspeaking”, especially when it comes to people’s names.
He recently had this wonderful screw-up talking about the Celtics:
“There’s a lot of heart in this team, let me just tell you,” Menino told reporters, before adding, “KJ is great but Hondo is really the inspiration. Hondo drives that team.”
He was referring to Kevin Garnett (KG not KJ) and Rajan Rondo. Then again, he could have been referring to Kevin Johnson, former NBA great and now Sacramento California’s mayor and Frank Howard, the burly slugger who played with the Dodgers and Senators in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Hondo was also John Havlicek’s nickname, but it would give him too much credit for referring to a former Celtic great).
Some of his other great “mis-speaks”:
He’s right that this is far from the first sports head-slapper Menino has been guilty of. When discussing the New England Patriots’ chances in the playoffs against the Denver Broncos earlier this season, Menino talked about Tom Brady’s weapons “Grabowski” (Rob Gronkowski) and “Wes Weckler” (Welker).
Menino’s most infamous reference came in 2010 during the dedication of a statue to Bruins legend Bobby Orr’s “ionic” goal to win the 1970 Stanley Cup. In discussing some of the best moments in Boston sports, Menino said it was Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek who “split the uprights” to win the Patriots’ first Super Bowl in 2002. He was, of course, referring to kicker Adam Vinatieri.
Yet he is still mayor. Go figure.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Photos by PW
One of the benefits of living in Seattle is that you have access to some interesting stuff – great foraged mushrooms in the fall, nettles and fiddleheads in the spring, geoduck and spot prawns throughout the summer, great cheese makers and some of the best ice cream in the U.S. There are also a ton of places that do some really creative things with the local bounty.
Case in point is Molly Moon’s Ice Cream Shop. They have made some interesting seasonal flavors in the past from things that you would not necessarily expect to find in ice cream, most of which are worth trying. They recently produced an ice cream using another local ingredient – Beecher’s Flagship Cheese. I tried it on a recent trip into the Molly Moon shop in Wallingford and found it interesting, but not something that I necessarily would order. I commented to Mrs. Iron Chef that I was surprised there were no special sundaes on their menu board around the Beecher’s ice cream.
After thinking about it, the gastronomic wheels started spinning and I had a brilliant idea of what to do with the ice cream. If my forays into molecular gastronomy have taught me anything it is that the goal of cooking should be to take familiar flavors and present them in new ways without really changing the taste of the original. This lead me to the brilliant conclusion, if someone makes an ice cream using one of the cheeses that I love on a grilled cheese sandwich, then why don’t I just turn that sandwich into a sundae?
At a recent dinner party, I unleashed my creation on the unsuspecting guests. I have found that the easiest way for someone to not like something new is to tell them what it is before they eat it. In this case, I did not reveal what everyone was eating until after they finished and the creation was generally pretty well received.
So I present to you, Molly Moon’s Beecher’s Flagship Grilled Cheese Sundae.
The Software
1 lb. heirloom tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon dry vermouth
1 pinch kosher salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 slices bacon, cooked crispy and sliced into 1/8 inch lardons
1 cup brioche crumbs
1 pint of Molly Moon’s Beecher’s Flagship Ice Cream
The Recipe
Brioche crumbs
Tomato Compote
The Sundae
The recipe should serve 4 to 6 people.
Notes
I used some really nice heirloom tomatoes that were sweet enough that I did not need to add any sugar. If the tomatoes you are using are not very sweet, add some sugar to the cooking process, a small amount at a time and let dissolve before adding any more. You are looking for slightly tart to balance the sweetness of the ice cream. I suppose that any bread would work for the crumble, but I really like the buttery flavor of brioche. I used Skagit River Ranch’s uncured bacon for this recipe because I like the balance of smoky and sweet it has. Use whatever bacon you would normally use on a grilled cheese sandwich for the recipe.
By Blaidd Drwg
It appears there was a report somewhere the Steinbrenners might be considering selling the Yankees, which, of course, they are denying. Brian Cashman, like a good company man, chimed in on this:
“It’s highly unlikely the family would consider selling,” he said to ESPNNewYork.com. “Every impression I have gotten from Hal leads me to beleive they plan to be involved in this for generations to come and pass it on to their children.”
The Steinbrenners are worth a lot of money without owing the Yankees, thanks to the family shipbuilding business. I don’t think you will see the family own the team forever, and I can see them selling the team for a number with a lot of 0’s in it in the next few years. It is strange though – a team that had a reputation for having a revolving door at manager for so long actually has had the longest running ownership group in baseball, since 1973. Only 3 other teams currently have the same owners for longer than 20 years – White Sox and Phillies (both owners bought the team in 1981) and the Twins (purchased in 1984).
My favorite line in the article (the bold part specifically, added by me):
The Daily News, citing anonymous sources, said that the market for premier teams, the departure of key Yankees veterans and the fact that Hal Steinbrenner is frustrated by baseball’s bloated salaries have conspired to make the family explore the possibility of selling the team.
Steinbrenner is frustrated by the system that his father created which has allowed them to make billions and has made the Yankees one of the most recognizable brand names on the planet? Really?
by A.J. Coltrane
Mark Bittman, on his show The Minimalist. While using a serrated knife to slice as steak, he had this to say:
I wonder if my mom is watching?
Mom, you watching? How am I doing?
(mom voice) Why are you using that stupid knife?
(Bittman) My father would come out with an electric knife. It’s this little power tool with these two reciprocating blades. Rrrrhmmm.. and it would go (high pitch) rrrrrrrr!!!
It never quite worked very well, but it was cool, you know, it was the 60’s… Electric can openers, electric knives… Blenders… very exiting time… Rocketships.
Rocketships! What an anachronism! It reminded of this Simpsons line, as usual.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
This is fake menu that was handed out at GOOGAMOOGA recently. GOOGAMOOGA was a big food/wine/beer/musical held for the first time this year in Brooklyn and, by all accounts, was a poorly managed and a complete disaster (they are actually offering refunds to ticket holders it was so bad). I think that the menu would be funnier for anyone who attended the clusterfuck that was GOOGAMOOGA, but I got a few chuckles out of it.
by A.J. Coltrane
The San Antonio Spurs now lead the Thunder two games to none in the Western Conference Finals.
Naturally, I’m rooting for the Spurs to win, but it’s more than just vindictive in this case.
The Spurs have now won 20 in a row, and they’re doing it the “right way”, at least from a “basketball purist” perspective: They share the rock. They play almost without ego when it comes to “who’s getting how many shots”. It’s a very international way of doing things, which makes sense, since Parker and Ginobili are both European, and Duncan grew up in the Virgin Islands.
To quote Thunder coach Scott Brooks:
“They spread you out,” Brooks said. “They put some tough decisions on the floor that you have to guard their bigs rolling, and you’ve got to protect their 40 percent 3-point shooters and you’ve got to handle the ball and looks and attack …
“They pass the ball well. Very rarely do they take one extra dribble. If a man is open, they pass.”
Emphasis mine. By contrast, the Thunder play like the AAU kids that they were growing up. Everybody pounds the ball and tries to create offense by going 1-on-1.
Tony Parker carved up the Thunder in game two using pick and rolls. Westbrook decided he had to look like a man and keep up, so he wound up jacking up a bunch of low percentage shots on isolation plays. The Spurs won simply because they shots they took were more makeable as a group.
Game 3 is Thursday. I’m going to guess that the Thunder will “get some help” and will shoot at least 7 more free throws than the Spurs. We’ll see.
I’d highly recommend watching the Spurs. The way they’re playing they may beat the Heat too. That would give Tim Duncan five championships, the same number as Kobe, and only one fewer than MJ. He’s that good.
By Iron Chef Leftovers
Laughing Dog Brewing out of Ponderay, Idaho, is one of the more underrated breweries in the Northwest. The produce several good beers, but where they excel is in their IPA’s producing several outstanding ones. One of my favorites is the Alpha Dog, a very highly hopped double IPA, coming in a sizzling 127 IBU.
This beer pours amber and slightly fizzy with a smooth, white head. The nose is pleasantly floral from the inclusion of Columbus and Mt Hood hops and teases with hints of malted barley. The initial taste yields a great crispness without being tannic with a short hit of bitterness followed by a lingering hoppiness with a hint of sweetness on the finish.
As the beer warms, the bitterness fades and is replaced by a subtle sweetness with a more pronounced floral notes on the nose. My only complaint about this beer is that it lacks the strong citrus notes I love in an IPA – they are there, but barely noticeable, even as the beer warms. Even then, there is tremendous balance in this beer, producing a high IBU beer with enough bitterness to remind you that you are drinking an Imperial IPA, but not so much bitterness that the only people who would drink this are the most hardened IPA lovers. At 8%, you probably won’t find yourself having more and one or 2 of these.
Overall, I love this beer and would gladly drink it any time someone handed me one or I see it in a bottle shop.
Alpha Dog gets 4 canines out of 5.
FlatbreadGarden 