His cryptic text said to meet him in the southwest corner of the Safeway parking lot in Gig Harbor at 6. And to try not to look or act suspicious.

Though I was right on time, he was late; the two motorcycle cops parked on the other side of the parking lot must have delayed his arrival. They left 10 minutes later and sure enough, he pulled up in his vintage chevy pickup which was just as much rust as it was some tint of long faded blue.

The cooler was in the back.

Scoping out the parking lot in a manner eerily reminiscent of a drug dealer in a bad B-movie, he finally oozed out of the cab, ambled over and said the terms of the deal had changed. The price, true to form, had gone up since I placed the order.

I knew it would be useless to argue; he said he had to move the goods and he other buyers waiting if I didn’t cough up the cash then and there.

He knew he had me. I handed over the cash, we walked around to the cooler (a 160 qt Yeti by the way – business must be good) and he hand cut it right there, bagged it, iced it and dropped it in my hands.

Just then we heard a tense female voice utter ‘got it you assholes’ and turned to wave at a mom in a minivan filming us on an iPhone.

We waved, smiled and both said the word ‘Halibut’ at the same time.

Yep, halibut.

With market price for fresh halibut fillets and steaks at the $21-22 dollar altitude my new ‘friend’ has been running to the market in Seattle, buying a whole halibut in the 40-45 lb range (at a market price of $13-14 as of this morning) and selling it at a tidy profit. Subtract a tank of gas and he still clears $300 a day in cold, hard cash.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has become an ardent fan of really good halibut fish and chips and I’ve been itching to grill today’s recipe again – Lime Basil Halibut, though (almost) shamefully I’d have to admit the Chipotle Aioli is so outrageously good in a fish taco made with this recipe I dreamed about ‘em the last time we made it.

Halibut
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 tsp. good salt
2 large limes, freshly squeezed (a must)
4 6-ounce halibut steaks or fillets

Chipotle Aioli
2 egg yolks
3 cups good olive oil
5 dried chipotle peppers, seeded, rehydrated and pureed
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Marinate the halibut. Combine well the garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and lime juice. Cover the halibut steaks with the marinade; let sit for an hour at room temperature. (Don’t go longer or the lime juice will begin to ‘cook’ the halibut.)

Make the Aioli. Set up your trusty food processor, add the egg yolks and beat them well. With the processor running, dribble in the olive oil (slowly) to form a mayonnaise consistency mixture in the bowl.

Fold in the pepper puree, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Chill.

Grill time. Fire the grill; when ready, grill the halibut for 4 minutes or so a side until done to your liking.

Serve. Plate and serve immediately with a big dollop of the Chipotle Aioli on the side or flake and create your new favorite fish taco with all the fixin’s.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Back in the day She Who Must Be Obeyed and I spent a bit of time in Billings. We had two children under two and I was asked to participate in a fraud scheme that could have earned me 10-20 in federal prison (had I chosen to participate).

Save for the proximity of the under-appreciated northeast corner of Yellowstone and the Bighorn, we consider those days to have been a tad stressful.

One thing we both remember fondly was a blackened prime rib that one of our favorite eateries downtown served. It was incredibly well spiced, tender grass-fed Montana beef.

Blackening a true prime rib is an ambitious project for home, though we’ve had tasty success with blackened ribeyes.

Commercially prepared blackening spices tend to taste a bit stale and are most often too tame; you’ll want to make your own.  This particular blackening spice recipe has a subtle but noticeable southwestern twist with the use of chipotle powder in lieu of the traditional cayenne.  It’s damned good and works for all manner of seafood and even chicken as well.

The spices shine on nice thick ribeye though, and they’re done best on the grill given the fumes produced if you’re doing this correctly – a very hot skillet – (though you can manage inside with the vent fan humming).

This will in fact probably serve as our Mother’s day meal for the weekend as spring (if not early summer) has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

6 12-ounce ribeye steaks, better if bone-in, nice and thick (1 to 1.5 inches)

Blackening Spices
1 cup paprika
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

Spice it up. Round up the blackening spice ingredients and combine well in a small bowel. (Keep tightly covered in a cool, dark cabinet or pantry corner.)

Dredge it. Dredge the steaks in the blackening spices so they’re well coated; gently shake off any excess. Let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Fire it up. Fire the grill (hot fire). When you’re ready to cook, preheat your biggest, well-seasoned cast iron over the fire until very hot; should take 10 minutes or so.

Blacken it. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side (assuming you’re cooking a 1 to 1and 1/2 inch thick ribeye) until it’s perfect. Pull it a bit pinker than you’d like as these will keep cooking a bit due to the high heat in the pan.

Serve it up. Plate immediately and serve. We’ve served this with a ‘blackened’ (broiled) tomato – tomatillo salsa in the past that is amazing (email or comment if you’d like the recipe…).

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Way back last summer I wrote about what we called at the time the great rib wars from a few years back….

A couple we hung out with years ago were most recently from Memphis, home to some of the most finger-licking, rib-tickling que in the world. He was from just south of Atlanta, a southern boy to the core (in a good way), and she was a gorgeous woman who hailed from Santa Fe.

They both loved great ribs; they had a home version of a competition smoker, cooked over real wood (peach, oak and mesquite) and served up some of the best eats we’d seen in a long, long time. She is probably more responsible that any one else in teaching us about the goodness that is southwestern cooking.

As it turns out he learned the ins and out of the world of que from helping run a family owned que joint back home. He had fallen from grace and become a neurosurgeon, but we at least knew that despite his poor life choices he came from a good family of hard working, honest folks.

They were fly fishers, almost always smiling, ready to travel at the drop of a hat (no kids) and generous to a fault.

There was a minor culinary hitch in their paradise though.

He couldn’t stand red chile and she couldn’t abide the sweet, tomato based que sauces that grace many a Memphis table. Hence the term the great rib wars.

I can’t recall all the details of how the truce was eventually established, but they came up with this outstanding Red Chile Rib recipe and smoked it up right along side their award winning peach glazed baby backs (there’s that Georgia thing again) every time ribs hit the plate.

Her name was Florida, and she’s mostly to blame for our love of the amazing flavor palate that comprises the food of the American Southwest.

This is another one of her recipes that we’ve recently dug out again as we’ve found ourselves enjoying more soups, gumbos and chiles given our overall rainy and chilly northwestern spring so far.

One thing she taught us was what an array of flavors the ancho chile offers – fruity cherry, smoke, chocolate and some every argue there’s a hint of tobacco there too. Anchos don’t pack much heat though in this recipe the chipotles make up for that and the black beans add an earthly background that truly unique.

We took to calling this FABB Bread back in the day – Florida’s Ancho Black Bean Bread – and it’s every bit as home on the river as ME’s Beer Rye River Bread.

1 1/2 cups dried black beans, cooked and drained (save 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid)
1 1/2 ounces dried ancho peppers, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes (reserve the liquid)
2 dried chipotle chiles, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes (reserve the liquid)
1 scant tbsp. kosher salt
2 1/2 tbsp. peanut oil
2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted
2 tbsp. molasses
1 tbsp. dry yeast
2 1/4 cups white bread flour
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. yellow cornmeal
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp. water, lightly beaten

Puree the peppers. Puree the soaked and softened chile peppers, set aside.

Puree the beans. Add the cooked and drained beans, 1/2 cup of the reserved bean liquid, salt, peanut oil and cumin seeds to your trusty food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Make some mud. In a large mixing bowl combine the molasses and 1/2 cup of the chile soaking liquid; whisk in the yeast. While mixing continuously mix half of both flours. You’re looking for a consistency that resembles a thick mud here. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make a dough. Now add the chile puree and the bean puree, mix well. While stirring continuously slowly add the remaining flour so that a thick dough is formed.

Knead and proof the dough #1. Knead the dough for 15 minutes OR until it’s supple and nice and soft. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm (and draft free) place until doubled in size (about an hour for us).

Knead and proof the dough #2. Knead the dough for 3 or 4 minutes; now back into the proofing bowl until doubled again (30 minutes or so for us).

Final proof and bake. Preheat the oven to 350. Punch the dough down, divide in half and form into two nice round loaves. Place on a cornmeal covered baking sheet and let rise once more time for 30 minutes or so. Brush with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes until nicely crisp and the loaves sound hollow the rapped with a knuckle or bread knife. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Friend of Chi Wulff and the family, mentor, occasional sage and full-time geezer Ed has a penchant for throwing get togethers where somehow we end up helping him feed 40 or better hungry friends what Ed calls ‘plain folk food’.

We’ve described Ed’s plain folk food concept a time or two previously.

Several years ago Ed had us help him with a summer barbecue feed up in the Flathead; he wanted a more southern than Texas themed menu which meant smoked pork shoulder and ribs and a nice, sweet and savory ‘barbecued bean‘ in Ed’s world (among other things, like genuine sweet tea, which is one of the South’s greatest contributions to mankind ever…).

We spent most of a sunny Flathead afternoon a few weeks before Ed’s shindig with him in the kitchen testing a few recipes until we came up with this one.

Ed wanted a bean dish that was reminiscent of the roadside ‘cue joints he loves to frequent in the South – heavy on the traditional ‘pork and bean‘, sweet with tangy barbecue sauce and packed with savory tones from sweet onions and a palette of peppers.

We convinced him that one of the secrets of great beans is the addition of finely chopped smoked brisket though he insisted on bacon as well. So we experimented and tweaked around and came up with this recipe.

The beans were a huge hit and have become a mainstay in our larder ever since; when we serve these at a party they’re typically the most requested item that folks want to ‘take just a little bit home’.

1/2 pound thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 pound smoked brisket (add another 1/2 lb. bacon if there’s no brisket around)
2 15-ounce cans black beans
1 15-ounce can dark red kidney beans
3 15-ounce cans pork and beans
2 large sweet onions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 large poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 to 6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced small
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups of your favorite sweet barbecue sauce
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
1/2 cup molasses
2 tsp. Kosher salt (or more to taste)
2 tsp. liquid smoke if these are destined for the oven

Fire the smoker. Fire the smoker or light your real wood charcoal if cooking on the grill.

Prep time. Trim and cut the brisket; cook the bacon until crisp and golden brown, cool and then chop into 1/2 inch pieces. We’ve taken to chopping all the vegetables in a food processor to attain a fine chop – don’t create a puree.

Combine the beans. Drain the black and red kidney beans in a colander; rinse under cold water and drain again. Combine all the beans in a large mixing bowl.

Add the flavor. Mix in the finely chopped onions, the bell, poblano and jalapeno peppers and the garlic. Mix well. Now add the brown sugar, barbecue sauce, Dijon mustard, molasses and salt. Stir again. Finally add the brisket and the bacon.

Smoke ‘em. Pour the beans into a large (turkey-sized) pan – we use stainless commercial trays though aluminum foil pans work great as well. Place the beans in a medium-low smoker for an hour or so until hot and bubbly. If using a grill, add some wood chips in a smoker box. (If cooking in the oven, which works like a charm, add the liquid smoke.)

Serve ‘em up. These aren’t just gracing the tables or tailgates at fine barbecues everywhere; they make a great riverside lunch hot out of a thermos or cold from the cooler too.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Word association time.  I say ‘spring’, fly fishers say…

…Midges.

…Skwalas.

…Mother’s Day Caddis.

…Ice out on the lakes.

…Sea-run cutthroat.

The foodies among us also celebrate the return of the grilling season; She Who Must Be Obeyed and I sure have been.

A burst of sunny days this week has really driven us to drag out some favorite recipes for the grill; a renewed commitment to shake a few pounds this spring has prompted the majority of our early season grilling to feature chicken.

While we have a readily evident bias toward spicy, southwestern and Asian inspired fare, we also love the flavor palate from the Mediterranean. This Lemon Basil Grilled Chicken is among our very favorites (just as good as the killer Lime Curry Grilled Chicken) and the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto is so good the last time we served this to company one of the gals snuck into the kitchen and ate it right out of the bowl.

This chicken makes a masterful sandwich if you can ever manage to have leftovers; slather the pesto on some ciabatta and pile on some of this chicken – you’ll wonder where it’s been all your life.

Lemon Basil Chicken
1 cup lemon juice, far better if fresh squeezed
1/3 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, minced
1 tsp. salt
6 skinless whole chicken breasts

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
6 ounces sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), simmered until tender and drained
Heaping 1/3 cup pine nuts
Heaping 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
4 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Marinate the chicken. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, basil and salt; mix well. Add the chicken breasts, coating both sides and marinate at room temperature for an hour or three in the fridge (bring to room temperature before grilling).

Pesto time. Meanwhile, reconstitute the sun-dried tomatoes and drain. Roughly puree the tomatoes in your trusty food processor, then add the remainder of the ingredients and puree again to the desired consistency.

Grill time. Fire the grill; shake excess marinade from the chicken pieces (don’t wipe it off) and grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side until just cooked through.

Serve ‘em up. Pull from the grill, plate and spoon a big dollop of the sun-dried tomato pesto right on top. Makes a killer sandwich on ciabatta too.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

He said to call him Budro; at this point I can’t even remember his real name.

Budro showed up unannounced at our campsite near the Green below Flaming Gorge one spring Friday afternoon tagging along with a friend who at last call wasn’t even coming.

Turns out he was an engaging native Hawaiian, a talented fisher who was fascinated by our seemingly extreme efforts to catch and release what he called ‘the little fish’ – referencing of course the healthy trout populating the Green.

He told stories of spearfishing off beautiful reefs and baiting hooks with fish the size of our average catch that weekend in a way that didn’t piss off our hard-fishing group. He learned to capably manage a fly line in the time it took to make one run from the dam to Little Hole.

And he could cook.

Upon return to civilization our friend, still hosting Budro, had us over for dinner and Budro whipped up what we’ve come to fondly remember as Budro’s Bodacious Fish Cakes.

He whipped up a massive batch of these (sans any recipe or formal measuring) using halibut from the freezer that has been swimming in Alaskan waters in the not too distant past. In fact, that evening he shaped the fish cakes into something resembling fish sticks and we ate them in fish tacos with an eye-watering habanero-fruit salsa and a tart slaw.

It was awesome.

We pull this recipe out now and again (last weekend in fact) and still think of Budro every time; these aren’t your typical fishcake as they’re spiced up with jalapeno and offer a great herbal tone with the chives and cilantro. She Who Must Be Obeyed likes them with our Southwestern Tartar Sauce.

Here’s a few tips that have evolved over time. One, drain the fish and vegetables while finishing the prep on the rest of the cakes. And don’t crowd the cakes when cooking them up – they’ll brown fast and you can finish two batches in less than ten minutes. *Finally, we’ve made these with a host of different fish, including salmon, though our favorite is firm, flaky white fish like halibut or even catfish. Experiment and find your favorite(s).

2 lbs. boneless, skinless fish (*see note above), 1-inch dice
Scant 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
Scant 1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped
1 tbsp. fresh garlic, minced
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2/3 cup miracle whip
1/3 cup chives, finely chopped
2/3 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tbsp. grainy Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. jalapeno Tabasco
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. lime zest
Kosher salt to taste
Peanut or olive oil

Prep work. Rinse the fish, pat dry and cut into 1-inch dice. Prep the vegetables.

Sauté the fish. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat; sauté the fish, onions, peppers and garlic for five minutes or so until the vegetables are soft and the fish just cooked through. Drain in a colander and cool.

Mix the goods. Combine the bread crumbs, miracle whip, chives, cilantro, mustard, Tabasco eggs, salt and lime zest in a large bowl. Fold in the fish / vegetable mixture and mix well. Chill for 30 minutes.

Patty time. Form the mixture into seven or eight 4 to 5 ounce patties. (I like to use a square plastic mold to add some interest.) Dust both sides of each patty with flour.

Cook ‘em up. Heat the peanut or olive oil in a large pan until hot (just smoking). Slip four or five cakes into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side (2 or 3 minutes per side). Drain on a paper towel and don’t crowd ‘em; you’ll cook at least two batches.

Serve and smile. Serve hot with a big dollop of tarter sauce (we use our favorite jalapeno tarter sauce for these) or your favorite cocktail sauce. A cold beer is mandatory.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Without a doubt one of the finest foods known to the entirety of mankind is a pork rib, especially those cooked low and slow over a real wood fire.

There are those who will argue that the baby back is the perfect rib; we’d agree they’re flavorful if not a bit dainty. They’ve grace many a table and you’ll find them in many an eatery.

That said, we’ll side with those who clamor for pork spareribs, cut from the belly of the hog and therefore a kissin’ cousin to bacon. They’re a touch fattier than baby backs (which keeps them moist during a long stint in the smoker) and packed to the brim with flavor. These ribs rule the competition que circuit for good reason; they’re meaty and only blossom when they’re cooked long and slow. (3/down refers to the weight of the ribs – referring to three pounds or less for these…)

Spending years in Montana we found that we could manage the smoker in just about any weather but the coldest of the cold winter days. Now and again the clan would clamor for real ribs despite the subzero temps, and given the fact that we’d pledged to our bbq mentors we’d never ever, ever ever parboil ribs (a mortal sin that’s in essence unforgivable), we crafted a suitable alternative.

You can cheat having to fire the smoker with these ribs by using two things – a flavor-packed rub that crisps up nicely and a quick sear on the grill at the end of the cook time. You’re still using a ‘low and slow’ method to wrestle the great flavors from the spareribs, you’re just doing it in the oven for four hours, during which these ribs smell heavenly by the way.

You can throw these in the smoker too and they’re outrageously good; we like to use oak though any other mildly flavored smoking wood would work wonders.

She Who Must Be Obeyed thinks these are the best ribs she’s ever tasted; I’d put them in the top three for sure. Never more will your rib cravings be stopped by the cold of winter.

3 full racks 3/down pork spareribs
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup ground coriander
1/2 cup sweet paprika
1/3 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup freshly cracked black pepper
3 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. chipotle powder (optional, though we think a must for the oven version)

Prep your ribs. Remove the membranes, wash off the bone dust then pat the ribs dry.

Rub it in. Combine all the rub ingredients (everything but the ribs) and mix well. Paint the ribs with cider vinegar and coat both sides liberally (very liberally) with the rub.

The my cheatin’ heart version. Place on a baking sheet (they can be stacked) and place in a 200 degree oven for 4 hours. No need to turn these beauties; your slow-cooking in dry heat and letting those spices work their magic.

At about 3 and a half hours into the process, fire your grill to a low heat setting (real wood is so much better here). When the ribs are done (at 4 hours) throw them over the low heat fire for about 10 minutes, turning once. All you want to do here is color them up a bit and add a bit of a crunchy sear.

The low and slow smoker version. Fire the smoker with a gently flavored wood; we favor oak for this one though alder or some of the milder fruit woods would be a nice touch as well. Smoke for 4 hours at a target temp of 200. These babies won’t need to be tuned up on the grill like their oven-roasted kin above.

Serve ‘em up. We like to cut these into single ribs at the table and let everyone ‘grab it and growl’. Our favorite sauce is a latin-inspired green chile-tomatillo version with these, though they’re so damned good you really don’t need any.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Like Kryptonite to Superman I find myself powerless to resist a good satay.

My chef friends seem to enjoy poking a little fun at my satay fetish. They argue that the history of satay is really just man cutting his meat into small enough pieces to chew and threading them on some form of skewer – be it bamboo, stainless or palm frond – to grill.  In other words it ain’t anything special.

Call it primal if you must, I really don’t give a damn, I relish the concept of placing hunks of meat or fish on a skewer alternating with chunks of vegetables and throwing it all on a hot grill. Throw in a marinade to add another layer of flavor (or two or three) and you’ve got something.

Throw in a well-spiced and thoughtfully constructed dipping sauce that will run down your chin and drip onto your shirt and you’ve really got something.

Add in a sprinkle of Libby’s Sesame Shake after these delights come off the grill and you’ve got a satay masterpiece. Libby showed us this little trick last summer with the shake – it’s highly flavored and adds not only bursts of spice flavor but a bit of crunchy texture as well. Leave it on the table and folks will be fighting for that last spoonful.

We throw a lot of different foods on the grill around our camp but this ends up being one of our clan’s favorites. Try it next time the sun’s out and you’ll see why.

Chicken Satay
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 18 or 20 large chunks
2 red bell peppers, seeded, halved, then halves quartered
2 red onions, peeled, halved, then halves quartered
3 tbsp. sesame oil
3 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
6 scallions (white and green parts), minced or finely diced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 limes, quartered

Simple But Good Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice (or more to taste)
1.5 tbsp. brown sugar
1.5 tbsp. Tabasco or your favorite
1 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped (optional)
Dash of sesame oil

Libby’s Sesame Shake
1/3 cup coriander seeds
1 tbsp. cumin seeds
2 tbsp. peppercorns
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. sesame seeds

Fire the grill if using charcoal or wood.

Marinate the chick. Mix all the chicken satay ingredients (except the limes) together and let sit at room temperature while you prepare the sauce and shake.

Make a shake. Measure all four ingredients into a small skillet and toast over medium high heat, shaking, until aromatic. Pour onto a plate to cool. When cool enough to handle, pour into a plastic bag and crush coarsely using a small skillet or sauté pan. Place in a small bowl with a spoon.

Stir up a sauce. Combine all sauce ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Satay time. Thread the chicken onto skewers alternating with the onion and bell pepper. Paint any marinade remaining in the bowl onto the skewers and then grill over medium-high heat until the chicken is done.

Shake and serve. Place on your serving platter, sprinkle liberally with the shake and serve with lime wedges and the dipping sauce.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t readily admit that She Who Must Be Obeyed and I are thrilled to be back in a part of the country with weather that feels more like late winter than early summer.

The few weeks we’ve spent starting to carve out our niche here in the Northwest have been, at least from what folks have been telling us, have been about ten degrees cooler than normal and it’s been raining or snowing every day. Amen.

We’ve stumbled across a little fruit and vegetable stand in town with astoundingly nice produce typically at half or less of area supermarket prices. A couple of days ago they had a couple of bushels of nice Anaheim chiles roll through; I grabbed a big bag with visions of this soup in mind.

There are two green chile soups on the favorites list at our place; one is a smooth, creamy green chile puree. The other is this monster of a soup and the absolute top on our list – Roasted Green Chile Chicken Soup.

It’s rich and stuffed full of roasted green chiles (add more if you fancy, we almost always do) and tasty chicken; if I’m feeling particularly creative, restless or need to impress company, we’ll partially grill the chicken before throwing in the pot.  A rotisserie chicken from your trusty grocer works very well too.

1/2 lb. butter
1 large white onion, medium dice
1 celery stalk, medium dice
1 carrot, medium dice
2 (at least) tbsp. garlic, chopped fine
2 cups white flour
8 cups milk
3 cups cooked chicken, boned and skinned, medium dice
3 cups green chile peppers (roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped medium)
1 cup heavy cream
2 heaping tbsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups water

Sauté time. Meat your favorite large stock pot over medium heat; melt the butter. Add the onions, celery, garlic and carrot; sauté for 10 minutes or so until the onions are translucent.

Make a roux. Add the flour, stirring constantly and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until a smooth, lightly colored roux forms.

Add the milk. Keep stirring, and add the milk, mixing well and stirring for 5 minutes or so until the mixture thickens.

Add the rest of the goods. Now add the chicken, green chiles, cream, cumin, salt, pepper and water. Mix well, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, if you can manage to wait that long. (Don’t boil this one or the soup will break…)

Absolute heaven with a salad and a handful of spicy cornbread (next week’s recipe).

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Yep, it’s Saturday and we’re playing a little catch up with yesterday’s Friday Feast post. Real men cook on Saturday’s too.

She Who Must Be Obeyed, the famdamily and I first moved to the Flathead back in 2001; we set up housekeeping up on hill overlooking the sweet little valley just east of Smith Lake. The view of Glacier NP through the valley slot to the northeast was simple stunning. I sprayed over 200 gallons of paint the first few weeks painting the house, the barn (red of course) and a fair amount of fence to put a new face on the property.

The neighbors were duly impressed and came to check out the crazies painting everything that wasn’t moving. We soon took to spending time with the family at the bottom of the hill and the husband and wife on the next property down the road.

Now they (the down the roaders) were an interesting pair; she was an intelligent, kind, truly gifted chef who was about as unpretentious as they come. She handled fresh ingredients with a reverence we’ve rarely seen and loved our big garden on the hill.  He ended up being a son-of-a-bitch, but that’s yet another story. Her name was Lisa and she died due to throat cancer just three short years after we met her.

Lisa loved to teach others to cook; she organized a group that would go on trial rides on the neighboring forest service land and then meet in a nearby home for a cooking lesson.

After a ride on a cool and drizzly October Montana afternoon she taught the group the recipe for this delicious version of chicken and dumplings. This is one of those recipes that you need to trial just exactly as written the first time; the leeks, mushrooms and fresh thyme are essential and (obviously) favorites of ours.

And don’t forget to tip your hat to Lisa when you ladle this one up this spring.

4 chicken leg-thigh portions, separated into 8 pieces
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. sweet paprika
1/3 cup sherry or dry white wine
2 Tbsp. fresh thyme
2 quarts home-made chicken broth
4 celery stalks, chopped in 1 inch pieces
6 carrots, chopped in 1 inch pieces
12 ounces button mushrooms, quartered
2 leeks, chopped in 1 inch pieces (use three if you’re a leek fan)
1 large sweet onion, chopped in 1 inch pieces
1 small Russet potato per intended serving, cut in to 1 inch pieces

Lisa’s Dumplings
1 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. solid vegetable shortening
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup parsley, chopped fine

Brown the chick. Rinse the cut up chicken pieces and pat dry. Dust liberally with the paprika, add a bit of salt and pepper, then sear / brown the chicken in your trusty soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When browned on both sides, remove chicken, drain oil and return chicken to the pot.

Make a stew. Add the sherry, broth, thyme, and all the prepared vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer for 90 minutes.

Dumpling time. In the meantime, combine the dry ingredients then cut in the shortening with your fingers or a pastry knife. Sprinkle the parsley in, then slowly add the milk while mixing slowly. Don’t over-mix.

Pat the dough together, turn out, knead twice then pat out to roughly 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Cut into twelve pieces and “dump” right on top of your chicken stew. Cover and steam for 15 minutes.

Serve it up.  You’ll want a big bowl.  Lisa always liked this Meridian’s Pinot Noir or a Mt. Eden Coastal Chardonnay.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

As a guy who’s had a life long love affair with food, I’m a bit ashamed to admit that it wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that I first tasted a genuine meatloaf sandwich.

My lovely wife grew up in a household for which the traditional meatloaf recipe was considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment; that said, meatloaf simply never showed up on our early family menu schedule. Never ever.

One late June weekend years back a good friend and I took our kids to Strawberry Reservoir to do a bit of stillwater fishing for the big cutties for which Strawberry used to be known. We rented an ancient wooden skiff that easily contained he and I, his young teenage daughter and my then six year old, Jake.

The outboard was a certifiable antique and the boat leaked at a prodigious rate – incoming water would cover our feet every 15 minutes or so. An ample bailing bucket was provided.

My friend brought a cooler with lunch and when the kids couldn’t stand it, he proceeded to make us outrageously good meatloaf sandwiches right there in the boat.

He had two fresh-baked loaves of Great Harvest sourdough bread wrapped in brown paper; he sliced ‘em into thick slabs, covered one half in mayonnaise and one half with A-1, then laid thick slices of a very nice meatloaf on.

It was heaven. Even Jake, who at age 6 had probably never even seen a meatloaf given his momma’s bias noted above, devoured one himself and half of another.

Granted any food taste better when 2 pound or better native cutthroat are whacking scuds and wooly buggers at a twenty count with a fast sinking line, but these sandwiches were really, really good.

That was seventeen years ago, and we’ve been on the hunt for the ‘best-on-the-planet’ meatloaf recipe ever since.

Lizbeth, wife of a fishing friend, knew of our quest and sent something very close to this recipe over a few months ago. Well spiced, combining beef and pork as all great meatloaf recipes seem to do and with a nice load of chopped vegetables, we figured this one would be good.

We were wrong, it’s really not good. It’s great. And it’s the bacon and pan sauce / glaze that kicks it over the top. (Always remember the simple rule – bacon makes everything better.)

Your meatloaf sandwiches on the river (or lake) will never be the same again.

Meatloaf
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large sweet onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
1 tsp. cayenne
1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 cup panko

Glaze / pan sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp. melted butter
4 or 5 slices applewood smoked bacon

Meatloaf. Preheat your trusty oven to 350. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion, garlic and bell pepper until soft. Add the ketchup and Worcestershire, simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, the two eggs, cayenne, thyme and onion mixture; stir well. Add the panko and mix thoroughly.

Glaze. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire, hot sauce and brown sugar. Melt in one Tbsp. of the butter. Remove from heat.

Form and bake. Lightly great a rimmed baking sheet with the remaining butter. Form a loaf /log with the meat mixture on the sheet; spoon glaze over the top. Lay the bacon out lengthwise along the loaf, the sides of the slices touching one another. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes until firm; remove and cool slightly before slicing.

Serve. Serve it up with the rest of the glaze.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

The last week of our clan’s time in Texas is finally coming to an end today. If all goes according to plan the moving company will load our worldly possessions today and head north with we following shortly thereafter.

Jake and I have done our fair share of nit-picking with aspects of the Lone Star state (that’s for you, Sport) over the past couple of years, though there’s unquestionably one thing our compadres in Texas have gotten right.

The lowly brisket, slathered in spices and cooked long and slow, may just be one of the most sublime meats in the carnivore’s larder.

Brisket doesn’t necessarily get a lot of love outside the bounds of Texas. Our friends all over the deep south, boasting of the greatness of pork shoulder, baby backs and spare ribs, scarcely even consider brisket when it comes time for loading up the smoker. Fair enough.

But there are times when a fall-off-your-fork tender brisket, smoked 18 hours over a slow oak and mesquite fire, is simply the best of the best, or at least I assumed so until about a month ago.

We were sipping a margarita on the porch of a local eatery with Libby, our chef friend from Montana, on one of the bizarre 70+ degree days we had back in January. Shamefully we were chuckling about our friends back home shoveling snow and battle single digit temps.

She claimed that she’d found the ultimate braised brisket recipe to take back home some day to enjoy on those blustery winter days when firing up the smoker in the middle of a Montana winter simply can’t happen.

You can guess the rest of the story. Several days later we’re in the kitchen putting Libby’s Brisket Braised in Chipotle and Green Chile Sauce together and braising it in the oven all afternoon.

Damn if it wasn’t just about the best brisket we’ve ever tasted, bar none, and by far the best prep we’ve ever stumbled across for braising this prize cut of meat.

There’s new hope for our friends up in snow country. And the people said amen.

Brisket & rub
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
3-4 pound brisket, well-trimmed, as big as will fit in your cast iron dutch oven

Sauce
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
8 large garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups drained canned diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3-5 Tbsp. chopped canned chipotle chilies
4 large fresh Anaheim chilies, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch rings
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime wedges

Rub your brisket. Trim excess fat from the brisket (leaving at least 1/4 inch), wash and pat dry. Combine the rub ingredients and sprinkle generously over all sides of the brisket; cover and chill for at least an hour.

Brown and braise. Heat the oven to 325 and heat the oil in your favorite ovenproof pot or dutch oven over medium high heat on the stove. Brown the brisket on both sides (5 to 6 minutes per side), remove from the dutch oven. Reduce the heat to medium.

Add the onion and garlic to the same pot, stirring occasionally; cook until soft (5 minutes or so). Add the broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown goodness still clinging to the pan. Add the tomatoes, lime juice and chipotle chiles; stir well. Return the brisket to the pot and push down in the liquid, add more liquid if need to mostly cover.

Now cover and place in the oven for 2.5 hours to braise. Then add the sliced Anaheim chilies to the pot, pushing them down into the liquid, and cook for another hour or until the brisket is done to your satisfaction (we like it to still hold it’s shape when sliced).

Thicken the sauce. Pull the dutch from the oven, remove the brisket, and place the sauce (still in the dutch oven) over a burner and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to suit you (it should at least coat the back of the spoon when hot).

Serve it up. Slice and serve with a big dollop of sauce on top, making sure everybody has their fair share of pepper rings. Sprinkle with cilantro and place a big lime slice along side. Perfect with cheese grits or Ed’s Hot Damn Hominy.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Most years, by the last week of February winter has grown a bit long in the tooth.

For those of who live in the northern climes, winter is a season to be appreciated for what it offers, though the snow, ice and cold of the season lose their luster about now.

Particularly when you’re dreaming about blue-winged olives, grilling big hunks of meat on the grill, long river floats and bikinis.

Those of us who live and die by the grill can get really cranky about now; my crew gets to whining about missing our secret-family-recipe grilled chicken, juicy grilled rib-eyes and brined pork chops grilled to perfection.

We stumbled across this recipe a few years ago in Bozeman; I was meeting John Juracek at the library in town to chat about a project and found this recipe in the Wall Street Journal of all places.

I’m a sucker for a home-made red chili sauce – especially if you’re willing to go to the extra effort to roast the tomatoes – and this happens to be a very, very good one. Bone-in chops add a bit of a cave-man flair to the meal as well as that sweet meat right on the bone.

Within a few months I’d lost my notes copied that day; the next winter we tried to recreate it from memory and came up with this version. If it’s still winter in your neighborhood try these It’s Too Damned Cold to Grill Red Chili Pork Chops on for size.

Red Chili Sauce
1 ounce guajillo chilies, stems and seeds removed
2 ounces New Mexico red chilies, stems and seeds removed
4 roma tomatoes, halved and most of the seeds removed
Medium white onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1 tsp. salt
2 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Pork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops, roughly an inch thick
Kosher salt
8 ounces white cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 small sweet onion, chopped medium
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Red Chili Sauce. Place the chilies, onion and garlic in a large sauce pan, add water to just cover and then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the chilies are soft.

Broil the tomatoes until the skins are beginning to blacken and the flesh is nice and soft.

Drain off the water and transfer the vegetables to your trusty blender or food processor. Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt and broth; puree until smooth.

Using the a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and then ‘fry’ the sauce for a couple of minutes; it will thicken slightly and smell like red chili sauce should. Set aside and wipe out the skillet.

Brown the chops. Preheat the oven to 350. After lightly salting both sides of the chops, brown both sides in the skillet over medium-high heat in the olive oil. You’re after a nice golden brown sear here, but you’re not cooking the chops fully. No more than three minutes per side; remove to a baking dish when browned.

Oven Time. Pour the sauce over the chops in the baking dish (we often don’t use all the prepared sauce) and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped onion evenly over the chops followed by the grated cheese. Return to the oven for another 5 or 6 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Serve ‘em up. Plate immediately spooning sauce onto the plate and placing the chop right on top; amazing with a hot, spicy cabbage side.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Back in the day (a wonderfully ambiguous measure of time) some of us would make a late winter / early spring dash to the (relatively) much more temperate environs of northern New Mexico to fish the San Juan.

This was long enough ago that the river, shops and eateries weren’t lined with Texans and refugees from Albuquerque as often happens today. We always camped as a matter of tradition and to uphold our reputations as cheap, stiff-assed guys from Utah.

One late March or early April day thickening snow squalls and high winds pushed us off the river about the time we’d normally be stopping for lunch. The boys were cranky, cold and famished; tempers were on the short side and the weather forecast looked like one of those big spring storms was cranking up just west of us.

Convictions began to waver; the expedition was teetering on the edge of a knife.

A relative newcomer to the group (Al) saved the day with what has become our clan’s go to version of migas – ever since that day known as San Juan River Migas.

After we kindled a campfire that might have been seen from the space shuttle, Al fired up a big pot of coffee and set a couple of us to working slicing and dicing the peppers. He cracked the eggs, pulled out the grated cheese and produced this masterpiece of a meal.

Spirits were brightened, hands and faces thawed, laughter broke out once again and friendships were saved.

By the time we finished (double the recipe below for 5 guys) eating every morsel of food out of the pan, we peeked out of our dining tent and noted that 4 inches of wet, heavy snow had fallen in the last 90 minutes.

Long story short – camp was packed up wet and we headed home to beat the brunt of the storm. It was worth every mile of that drive to get this recipe.

8 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup (or more) oil
6 tbsp butter
1 large sweet onion, diced medium
1 green bell pepper, diced medium
1 red bell pepper, diced medium
3-4 pickled jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced medium
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Handy to offer: Warmed flour tortillas, salsa, beans

Fry the corn tortillas. Preheat the oil while slicing your corn tortillas into thin strips; fry until brown and crisp. Drain and set aside. Wipe the pan clean.

Sauté time. Melt the butter in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and both bell peppers, sauté until the onions are translucent.

Add the goods. Stir in the tomatoes and jalapenos, pour the eggs over and scramble until the eggs begin to set. Stir in the tortilla strips and cook until the eggs are done to your liking.

Serve it up. Serve immediately on a warmed plate, top with the grated cheese and salsa. We serve with a breakfast bean (maybe even bean cakes if we’re entertaining somebody really important) and warmed flour tortillas.

Pass the salsa bowl. Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

February.

Many neighborhood fly fishers spend February scanning the weather forecast fervently for fishable days and trying to will the first Blue Winged Olives and Skwalas of the year into existence (dream on buster, though this year could be one of those early years…).

Those of us easily distracted by such piscatorial pursuits can easily fall prey to missing another important February date coming up next week. That important date being Valentine’s day.

After a two year string of forgetting to get She Who Must Be Obeyed gifts for Valentine’s day, and scrounging around Kalispell for fresh flowers and really good dark chocolate (neither of which ever seemed to make it to northwestern Montana in relevant quantities for late shoppers), I vowed to never wade into such troubled waters again.

Valentine’s day salvation shall forever be delivered in the form of this irresistible monument to all things chocolate – our Ancho Chile Chocolate Cheesecake.

Powerfully chocolate flavor without a hint of bitterness, neither too dense nor cloyingly sweet with just a hint of ancho chile powder to keep your taste buds on their toes. This one is strong medicine.

There are three key things you need to know about this recipe. One, it must stay untouched in the cooling oven for several hours; overnight (if you’re in cool weather country) is probably even better. If it still looks a little soft in the middle it will firm up when you put it in the fridge.

Second, don’t tell the loved one you’re trying to impress how easy this recipe really is to put together. Never, never ever, give away that juju when you’re trying to impress someone.

And third, once you make this for Valentine’s day you’ll be doing it again and again – tuck this recipe away.

Crust
1 and 1/4 cups freshly ground graham cracker crumbs
6 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup cocoa (SWMBO prefers Ghirardelli)
2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 tbs butter for the pan

Ancho Chocolate Filling
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbs ancho chile powder (more if your chile’s wimpy)
2 tbs cocoa (see above)
1 and 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, melted
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla, two fold
2 cups sour cream

Make the crust. Preheat your trusty oven to 325. Combine the crust ingredients, mix well and pat into the bottom of a well-buttered 9 or 10 inch springform pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; set aside to cool.

Create a little chocolate-chile magic. Using your trusty stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and smooth. Add the sugar, then thoroughly beat in the eggs one at a time.

One at a time, stir in the ancho chile, cocoa, melted chocolate and vanilla; mix very well after each ingredient is added.

Add the sour cream and beat until smooth and of uniform color; stop the mixer.

Put it together for the oven. Pour into the springform pan, smooth it artfully and bake for an hour and 10 minutes (still at 325). Turn off the oven right on time and don’t touch the cheesecake for at least several hours (yep, it stays in the cooling oven).

Chill out. Chill for at least 8 hours in the fridge; if it doesn’t appear solid it’ll firm up when chilled.

Serve your masterpiece. Serve cold; slice with a hot, clean knife, dipped in hot water between slices. This is powerful chocolate medicine and a little goes a long way.

I guarantee there’ll be a fight over the last piece.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast