Bits and Pieces

I was out in Connecticut visiting Dad last weekend and didn't get back until Tuesday night late (more on that later). Then I had a very busy work schedule the rest of the week. A lot of ideas for posting were in my head but I never got around to them. But will try to catch up now.

Example of Genetic Influence

One of the things that Dad seems to enjoy when I visit is when I do some kind of cooking. As it is Passover season, he had a hankering for Matzo Brie, which is kind of like a French Toast thing made with Matzo, the unleavened bread you're supposed to eat during Passover. Of course, we can't just make it. We needed to do our research (call Jewish friends of his, check cookbooks, research on line). Based upon our research and his memory, we consolidated a variety of techniques. He got out of the wheel chair in order to do the critical water soaking step (Matzo is hard and has to be soaked - lightly! - in order absorb the egg/milk mixture). Not even impending death will keep us from our cooking. The result was deemed very good.

Slow de-I Sandia Outfitter Start

I fear that trash talk that has filtered on-line from disgruntled clients (i.e. those that survive), is having an effect on new business. I was supposed to take out two clients today. One called and said they had given themselves a stomach virus in order to cancel the reservation the Wife had made. The other evidently hit himself in the knee with a hammer to get out of the reservation that his business partner had made for him. And it was going to be perfect today. The day started out nice but then this big ole storm came in with gust up to 50 mph - ideal for 'losing' people on the trail. Oh well. We'll certainly find someone who doesn't check the Internet. In the meantime, I got out, up, and down just for my own enjoyment well before the storm hit.

First Harvesting from the Garden!

The early stuff from the garden is already to be used! We've got parsley and oregano (herbs Julia) that are perennials in abundance. We picked young tender kale and chard for our salad at lunch. Other greens are also ready. You just have to be careful on how many you pick as the plants are still young and don't have that many leaves.

Amateur Hour In First Class

I flew out on Saturday to visit Dad. As you know, I'm not the most tolerant of air travelers. Air travel is hard enough without having to deal with people who go through the whole process with either out a clue or with total disregard as to the effects of their actions.

So it was that with catching an ungodly early 6 AM flight, I had an upgrade to first class. I when I booked my first class seat (I got notice of the upgrade two days before the flight) that there was no one in first class (12 seats). I as usual was on near first to minimize my issues with others.

And then watched as three couples came who I swear had never sat in First Class in their life. These are probably very low on the Frequent Flier totem pole where the idea of getting an upgrade is just theory. These people are futzing around. Trying figure out where to put their bags. Trying to get their bags in at all! Trying to change seats. And all this while the rest of the plane is waiting to board.

It's a good thing they don't allow us to carry firearms on planes anymore.

New Mexico Numbers

So when I posted about us getting rain, we subsequently had rain for all that night including some snow in the morning. We got a total of .85 inches which evidently took us from being behind for the year to date to actually ahead!

It was 42 degrees when I took my walk this morning.

It was 80 when I came home from meetings at 3:30 this afternoon

There is A Kitchen Implement Fairy

As a serious home cook, you always think the fairy tale of the Kitchen Implement Fairy is just that a fairy tale...

...Until the day that totally unannounced at your door there is a package for the coolest every digital kitchen scale.

For almost a year and a half I've been cooking uber low calorie meals for Wife and I that has required the measuring of the majority of ingredients that I use. And over most of that period, I've been using this cheap ass, plastic, analog scale

Please note that this scale on the far right a little white tab. You used that to get the scale measure to 0 so you could calibrate it. Unfortunately with each measurement, it seemed that the calibration would change. Plus it just had simple hash marks for each ounce that were not that far apart, so getting accurate measurements was very difficult and required sometimes doing the weighing a few times - not what you want to do when you are tired at the end of the day and making dinner. And when I was breaking down meats for freezing into 3 oz portions, it was so hard to add and subtract to and see where it came out right.

Now look at the beauty below.


Fully digital. One nice clean surface for putting the food on. You can choose what measuring system you want. I have it set for pounds and ounces and it goes to the tenth of an ounce. My measurements now are precise I tell you, precise! Breaking down meat was a breeze with the accuracy and calibration issues solved.

Legend has it that the Kitchen Implement Fairy is partial to stinky cheese and red wine. You can be sure I'll be making my offerings.

= Good

The other side of this equation is RAIN!

When you live in the desert and are in the middle of a multi-year drought ALL moisture = GOOD!

(A totally different attitude I suspect from our readers in Amsterdam)

Still More Pewter Chef - Battle Ground Lamb

My friend Doug had purchased a large pack of grass fed lamb from a provider in South New Mexico from a Groupon deal. Of course, as his Wife Cindy pointed out, they had never even tried lamb before. And when he tried his first attempt with one of the five pounds of ground lamb, it was a disaster with no one being able to eat it.

Having mentioned this to me in despairing state, I told him to fear not, The Pewter Chef would find a way to convert his pounds of ground lamb into edible wonders.

My instructions were to bring a pound of the offending ground lamb along with equal amounts of ground pork and ground turkey.

The first step was to determine if the lamb was really off or if it was a question that Doug and Cindy just didn't know what lamb tasted like. We determined it was the later.

Then I made a blend of 1/3rd of each of the meats - lamb, pork, and turkey - and we tested those

Success. Yes, both Cindy (who was the most sensitive to the taste of lamb) and Doug found the meat acceptable. So it was on to various preparations.

The first was Kofte Kebabs, a Turkish round meat dish. It consisted of a ground pistachios, cumin, mint, pepper, oregano, harissa (hot pepper paste - see my August 2011 post) mixed with the ground meat, formed into oval shapes and cooked for 7 minutes at 450 degrees - very simple.


The next was a Chinese ground meat dish. Just take chopped garlic and ginger, a little sherry, some good soy sauce, some toasted sesame oil, and home purchased Chinese chile garlic sauce. Mix the flavorings and let them marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then saute in oil. Add a little stock and thicken with a corn starch slurry.

I also whipped up a saute of fresh corn (frozen from last summer) green and red bell pepper, onion, some rosemary from our garden, and some red chile powder.

Our finale from the Ground Lamb Challenge

Oh, I also marinated some strawberries in rum, honey, with fresh lavender (from our garden) and fresh mint which we put on ice cream.

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It's Beautiful - But Won't Last

The weather has been glorious - New Mexico at its finest. Dry, clear, cool in the morning, warm during the day. And this means great hiking. After missing most of the winter hiking, I've been really getting out there and building my conditioning. This Saturday it was 8 miles on trail with some serious climbs. So I'm looking forward to getting in some of those longer hikes that I love.

Because I'm going to have to get them in soon. The beautiful weather is because once again we are short of precipitation, i.e. drought which means as the forest fire season starts (any week now) it will be only a matter of time until they shut down the forest for safety reasons until the monsoon starts.

Unedited Pure Blue New Mexico Sky

And I wouldn't be de-I without a bit of irreverence

When Gaius Derf pointed this view out my first thought was,
"Ah the Sandias, no Cialis needed"