Caesar Dressing – Good Eats Style

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I love Caesar Salad but the store bought dressings are somewhat lacking and there are too many people who are scared off from eating the real stuff due to a raw egg yolk in the dressing. I won’t go into it here as to why that is nothing to worry about, but needless to say, I wouldn’t make Caesar dressing with just any store bought egg. Alton Brown devoted an episode of Good Eats to tofu a number of years ago, which lead me to discover the Tofu Chocolate Cake, which is really an easy and wonderful dessert item. Also in this episode was a recipe for Caesar Dressing, replacing the eggs with tofu, so I decided to give it a shot. You know what, it is pretty tasty and about 100 times better than the store bought dressing.

The Software
2 ounces cubed Parmesan
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
11/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
11/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 cup silken soft tofu
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

The Dressing
Starting on the lowest speed, chop the cheese cubes in the blender jar until it settles into the bottom of the jar, gradually increasing the speed. With the blender running, add the garlic down the chute and chop until minced. This step will take 30-60 seconds, depending on your blender

Next, with the blender off, add the mustard, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and tofu to the blender and blend until smooth. While the blender is running, drizzle olive oil down the middle of the vortex that has formed. Slowly add the olive oil (can’t stress SLOWLY enough) and blend until it reaches salad-dressing consistency anywhere from 1-3 minutes. You may need a bit of extra oil, depending on how much liquid is in your tofu.

Notes
The above is the original recipe ratios, I adjusted the instructions. This dressing probably takes about 5 minutes to make. The first time I made it, I made it a couple of hours in advance and while it was very tasty It thickened considerably, so you need to bring it back to room temperature before serving it. I would actually just make it right before serving, as it is so easy to do. Taste the dressing before you serve it, I have, at times had to add more mustard or garlic or vinegar to it. The dressing could also stand the inclusion of 2 anchovy fillets, if you are so inclined.

And It Makes Me Wonder…

By Blaidd Drwg

Joe Maddon did something in a recent Rays-Tigers game that I doubt you will ever see again. Let me set the stage – It is the bottom of the 5th and the score is tied at 1 each. Matt Moore, the Rays uber-prospect pitcher is on the hill and he has been a bit shaky. He gets Gerald Laird to strike out and then Danny Worth to fly out, bringing up leadoff hitter Austin Jackson. Here is what happens next:

Austin Jackson – Strike (swinging), Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball, A Jackson walked
Brennan Boesch – Strike (looking), B Boesch singled to right center, A Jackson to third

Runners on the corner and 2 outs with Miguel Cabrera, arguably the most dangerous hitter in the league, up with Prince Fielder, who is no slouch with the bat, hitting behind him. Moore quickly falls behind 2-0, so what does Maddon do, he orders an intentional walk of course, loading the bases.

I wasn’t watching the game so I don’t know if Maddon saw something in the scouting report that made him think that Fielder is the better matchup (Fielder is a career .217 hitter with bases loaded and 2 outs) or if he just thought that a lefty-lefty matchup was the better choice. Either way, it is not often that you will see a 40 home run hitter intentionally walked to face a different 40 home run hitter.

Either way, it worked. Fielder popped out to end the inning.

Batali’s Pizza Dough

By A.J. Coltrane

Mario Batali’s pizza dough recipe here. I used sugar instead of honey, and only 2 tsp of instant yeast, which was plenty. It made a *very* extensible dough that cooked up in 16 minutes at 500F, with a puffy cornicione and a crackerlike interior.

The “light wine” used was Facelli’s Red Table Wine, a blend of Pinot Noir, Merlot, Lemberger, Syrah, Sangiovese, and Cab Franc. I think it added a nice dimension to the crust. Topped with red onion, sopressata, and..a little bit of cream cheese.
A tasty pie! I may never go back to “regular” pepperoni.

Katsu Burger

by A.J. Coltrane

Hajime Sato’s restaurant Katsu Burger got a nice writeup on Serious Eats yesterday.

Iron Chef Leftovers and I took a sushi class from Sato a while back — you may recognize Sato from his sustainable sushi restaurant Mashiko.

Hajime is featured on a Cooking Channel re-run episode of Hook, Line, and Dinner on Friday, April 27 at 2:30pm. (Originally aired April 19. I missed it. It’s now in the Tivo que.)

I wonder if it helps more to get a writeup on Serious Eats, or somewhere like the Seattle Times?

You Stole Soccer from Us, You Bastards!

By Blaidd Drwg

Dave Richards is chairman of the English Premier League, one of the major soccer leagues in Europe, as well as a board member of the FA, England’s governing body for professional soccer. At a recent conference, Richards had the following to say:

“England gave the world football. It gave the best legacy anyone could give. We gave them the game,” said Richards, who is also a Football Association board member. “For 50 years, we owned the game … We were the governance of the game. We wrote the rules, designed the pitches and everything else.

“Then, 50 years later, some guy came along and said you’re liars and they actually stole it. It was called FIFA. Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more.”

To me, this sounds like sour grapes that England has been mostly irrelavent in the international soccer world since the 1960’s. It makes sense – you can play soccer in some form almost anywhere in the world, regardless of economic standing which has allowed places like Brazil and Argentina to develop world class programs, since frankly, they have a much larger talent pool to draw from. I also think Richards’ rant may have been fueled by a little alcohol:

After the conference, Richards slipped and tumbled knee-deep into a museum pool from which he was rescued by Phil Gartside, the Bolton chairman and fellow FA board member.
“We were walking across to our table in a dark courtyard area,” Gartside told the BBC. “There were three fountain areas nearby, no pool. They had switched off the lights.
“He thought he was stepping on to flat marble, but his foot went down into the water, he fell over and hurt his leg quite badly.”

Both the EPL and and FA tried to distance themselves from Richards’ comments:

“Sir Dave Richards is not representing the FA at this conference and his personal views are in no way shared or endorsed by the FA,” a statement said. “The FA greatly values its relationships with FIFA and UEFA, which it is working hard to strengthen.”
The Premier League also disassociated itself from its chairman’s comments, saying in a statement to The Association Press that, “Sir Dave is attending the conference in a private and personal capacity and his comments in no way reflect the views of the Premier League.”

Internationally, I have had a hard time taking England seriously on the pitch. Now, I am not sure I can take them seriously at all when it comes to soccer.

Check, Please! Northwest

by A.J. Coltrane

Check, Please! Northwest features three “local diners” visiting three restaurants, then comparing their experiences on the air with host Amy Pennington.

As might be expected from a show with non-professional reviews, the quality and usefulness of the commentary can vary wildly. One episode featured a guy who clearly wasn’t comfortable anywhere besides TGIMcFunsters. Another featured a guy who went to the restaraunt, but then couldn’t remember the names of the dishes — and he knew he was going to have to talk about it on television! Take notes! There are also exchanges such as — Host: “What is your summation of the restaurant?” Guest: “Mmm Mmm Good!”. Really?

In the espisode that included Island Soul they somehow managed to talk about the drinks, but never once mention the rum flights, which to my mind is the high point of the restaurant.

I haven’t written anything “nice” yet, but it’s still on the Tivo “record” list. Pennington does a good job as the host. The local restaurant reviews can be useful. Hopefully the quality of the guests will improve going forward.

Happy 4/20!

By Iron Chef Leftovers

In honor of today being 4/20, I am going to give you a simple recipe to grow some product in you own home with a minimum of effort.

First, get a couple of seeds of the product, 3 or 4 will do. Take a juice glass, pack in a couple of damp paper towels and space the seeds evenly about 3/4 of the way down in the glass around the edge. Place the glass on a windowsill. Add water as necessary when the paper towel begins to dry out. When the seeds have sprouted and the plants have reached the top of the glass, transfer to a flowerpot and let grow until ready to harvest.

Wait; did you think that I was referring to growing pot in honor of 4:20? You are sadly mistaken – today is also National Respect for Lima Beans say and this is a recipe for growing lima beans in your home. Get your mind out of the gutter.

To serve your lima beans, I like to just blanch them and toss them with a bit of salt and olive oil.

Did you know that lima beans are incredibly good for you? They are filled with nutritious fiber, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese. Lima beans are also low in fat and contain protease inhibitors that stall the development of cancerous cells.

Joy Of Cooking’s Fast White Bread

by A.J. Coltrane

I wanted to make a white sandwich bread, so I thought to myself: “Where would I find a totally universal white bread recipe?”

In the Joy Of Cooking of course!

Ingredient	Volume
Bread Flour	3 cups
Water	1 cup, warm (115-125F)
Salt	1.5 tsp
Yeast	2.25 tsp
Sugar	1 TBP
Butter	2 TBP, softened

The recipe calls for mixing most of the flour with the other ingredients, then the remaining flour. I skipped that. Otherwise, this is the basic recipe:

1. Knead all ingredients on low speed for 10 minutes.

2. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and let rise 20-45 minutes until doubled in size.

3. Shape, grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan, place the dough into it and let rise another 20-45 minutes, until doubled again.

4. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350F and bake about 30 minutes more.

5. Remove the loaf to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Notes:

1. I think 10 minutes is a loooong time to knead anything. I’d cut it back to about 6 minutes next time and see how that works out.

2. It came out maybe a little too salty. I think I’ll weigh the salt in the future and shoot for 2% of the flour weight (about 8 grams).

3. Substituting olive oil for the butter would make a pretty generic pizza dough recipe. (It’s a ~60% hydration dough.)

4. All in all, a very easy loaf that’s better than store bought. Cheaper too.

Unfamilar Terms on Restaurant Menus

By Iron Chef Leftovers

There was a post recently on the Seattle Weekly blog about the use of unfamiliar terms on restaurant menus. I really don’t have an issue with this, my feeling is that if you are not familiar with something on a menu, ask your server, or better yet, just order it and be pleasantly surprised when you try it and like it. While it would be nice for a restaurant to include a more detailed description of a menu item, I also don’t want to read War and Peace just to order dinner.

In the article, the author included a list of 10 words on the menu for Restaurant Zoe, inviting readers to match the term to the definition. I only got 7 out of 10. Here is the list (no cheating):

Menu term

1. Amaranth
2. Pappardelle
3. Emmer farro
4. Abalone
5. Cornichon
6. Pimenton
7. Gnudi
8. Pistou
9. Panisse
10. Remoulade

Definition

A. ricotta dumplings
B. the mother grain of modern wheat
C. Once considered a simple weed, this nutritious annual has a slightly sweet flavor
D. fried chickpea flour cake
E. crisp, tart pickle made from a tiny gherkin cucumber
F. flat, long wide noodle with rippled edges
G. classic French sauce made by combining mayonnaise with mustard, capers, chopped gherkins, herbs and anchovies
H. univalve mollusk
I. mixture of crushed basil, garlic and olive oil
J. Spanish smoked paprika

The answers are after the break

Continue reading “Unfamilar Terms on Restaurant Menus” →

The Value of Starting Pitching

By Blaidd Drwg

Brad Mills is apparently going to move starting pitcher Brett Myers into the closer role for 2012. To me, this move does not make a ton of sense. The Astros traded their closer from 2011, Mark Melancon, to the Red Sox in the offseason. Melancon, while not great, is serviceable and cheap. Additionally, the 2011 offseason had a ton of closer/closer candidates available, and you could easily pick up someone for around 3 -5 million on a one year deal. Maybe the Astros didn’t have the budget for it. They probably have someone in their organization who can fill the role at league minimum if need be, but I guess management doesn’t think they are ready.

Enter in Brett Myers. He has racked up 440 innings over the last 2 seasons with an ERA just under 4, and is slated to make about 11 million next season, probably more than you want to pay him, but you are going to pay him that unless you can find someone to take that contract. I guess that Mills doesn’t think Myers will be better than the other 5 guys in their rotation. Here is who they are going to be starting, with their 2011 numbers. Keep in mind that Myers is the only Astros starter who did not miss a turn in the rotation last season and lead the team in innings for the last 2 season.

	W-L	IP	SO	WHIP	ERA	ERA+
Wandy Rodriguez	11-11	191.0	166	1.31	3.49	109
Bud Norris	6-11	186.0	176	1.33	3.77	100
AJ Happ	6-15	156.1	134	1.54	5.35	71
Jordan Lyles	2-8	94.0	67	1.41	5.36	71
Kyle Weiland (at AAA Pawtucket)	8-10	128.1	126	1.27	3.58	Na
Brett Myers	7-14	216.0	160	1.31	4.46	85

I can understand giving Weiland and Lyles a shot, they are both young and the Astros are not going anywhere in 2012, so why not. Norris and Rodriguez are both locked in at the top of the rotation, so it comes down to Happ vs Myers. Other than being 2 years younger than Myers, there isn’t much difference between the two; they have almost identical rate stats over their careers. Wouldn’t it make more sense to let Happ, Myers, Lyles and Weiland compete for the remaining 3 spots in the rotation and figure out your closer situation later? I can almost guarantee that either Lyles or Weiland will be pitching in AAA before the middle of May, if not sooner, which will then mean you will need a replacement starter. I would guess that starter would ultimately be Brett Myers.