More smoking

Last night I did another batch of smoked salt to continue getting the process down and being able to replicate the good results I had a few weeks ago. this time I used the water pan in my charcoal smoker and cooked it for 3 hours, using Cherry and Walnut for smoking wood. The salt didn't taste as good as the first good batch where I didn't use the water pan so I put the salt into the smoker without the pan today for another hour and it seems to come out better without the added water in the smoke chamber. For some reason the water/steam tends to decrease the salt's ability to absorb smoke flavor. I guess I'll eliminate the water pan from now on because it doesn't matter if there is too much heat; the smoke volume is the key for those three hours. I also made a smoked Red/Yellow Pepper and Red Onion Ragu after the salt was done. I had some leftover peppers and a red onion and cut them into fairly good sized pieces, separating the onion into separate layers and laid them on an anti-splatter screen I found at IKEA. I smoked it at very low heat using the same Cherry and Walnut wood for about 45 minutes. I put the whole works in a food processor for a few seconds to cut it into small bits and then refrigerated it until the next morning. By the way, it smelled fabulous! Sunday morning I made scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and put about a Tablespoon of the ragu onto the cooked eggs as a garnish. Excellent!
Tim

New restaurant find

I just had surgery yesterday for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Teresa and I decided to go out for lunch after the event (outpatient surgery) I was out of the hospital in less than an hour!
We decided to try a new restaurant (to us, anyway) called Takk For Maten on the corner of Lake Ave. and Superior St. in Duluth. My friend Barb Oase told me about it a while ago before it had moved to it's present location. it used to be in the Sons of Norway hall up the street but hey had some building troubles and are now on Superior St. I am here to report that this is a very nice find! It's a small restaurant with a Scandinavian theme and the food is reasonably priced and very authentic. I had a Swedish Meatball sandwich on wild rice-cranberry bread with Havarti cheese and pressed in a panini grill. It was served with a really good dilled potato salad. Teresa had a Honeyed Ham sandwich with Jarlsberg cheese on rye and pressed as well, also served with the excellent potato salad.
They have a nice breakfast menu which is served all day and will soon be expanding their hours to dinner and into the evening. There is a full bar there serving wines and Scandinavian cocktails as well as beer. The decor is of course, Scandinavian with high ceilings and good lighting. Lots of windows to the street and access to the Tech Village from the restaurant.
The coffee is excellent and there are herbal teas as well as iced tea and other beverage choices.
I think this will become one of my favorites and I would encourage you to check it out!
Tim

Steaks

I'm getting ready for surgery tomorrow for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on my left hand (right hand soon after) and I was craving a steak dinner before the event. My wife is visiting th grandkids tonight so I'm alone to cook so I started cruising the freezer for a single packed steak. Lo and behold I found one and decided to do a little grilling tonight. I'm a steak purist, if you will. I just enjoy good beef flavor with nothing but Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper for adornments. there are some exceptions to that but more on that later. I also like the steak done medium rare to almost rare so that's how we rolled tonight. I really don't care about grill marks for presentation unless I'm cooking for some special guest so I just go for the right doneness. If you like the grill marks, go for it! The steak Ifound is one Teresa and I enjoy for the flavor and tenderness and that is a chuck-eye. It is also a very nicely priced steak at about $4.95/ lb. there is a good amount of marbling and I find them usually cut at about 1-1 1/4" thick which I like for grilling to get the right ratio of crust to tenderness. I realize that steak afficianados will scoff at me for using chuck-eyes but I really like them! Ribeyes are marvelous too, but at about $10.00/lb I like the price of the chuck-eye. Give them a try and see if you agree.
Back to those accoutrements for the steak; I shared a while ago about making smoked salt and this is a great place to use it. I season the steak before cooking with regular Kosher salt and pepper before grilling and then after they are done I sprinkle on a generous amount of smoked salt and some more pepper. Awesome!
As a side note to great steaks, I found a good tip in Cook's Illustrated this month for home aging steaks. It's pretty simple. They suggested wrapping the steaks individually in cheesecloth and placing them on a wire rack in the bottom rear or coldest spot in the refrigerator for up to 4 days ( the longest they felt safe leaving them there). The cheesecloth prevents the steaks from drying out too fast but still allows them to "breathe" enough for good results. Their testing resulted in a steak that tasted exactly like aged steaks they had purchased from a butcher for double the money. I haven't tried it yet but our gourmet dinner group is going to try this at our next event in March where our theme is "steakhouse night" including onion rings with horseradish dipping sauce and spiked shakes, blackout cake and a few other items I'll report on later. speaking of which, the onion rings are a replica of my favorite ring from Norman Quack's in Forest Lake, MN. In my opinion, the best I have ever eaten; the coating is light, crisp and perfectly seasoned and they are made fresh for every order. Unbelievable! I'll include the recipe and how I figured it out in a future post.
Eat well, my friends,
Tim

Don't mess with success!

I usually test everything I am going to cook for a group or friends but I did a Chocolate Malted Creme Brulee from a recipe I found in Bon Appetit magazine and adapted for the welcome dessert at the Vineyard Church last Sunday. I did taste the unbaked custard to see if it was on the right track and it tasted good, like a chocolate malt but I didn't taste the finished product. Tonight I tried one and while the texture was right on, the flavor was just OK. I think it was too subtle in the finished product and I don't think I will do it again. Don't get me wrong, it was good but not like the original traditional Creme Brulee. That is without question the gold standard. Don't mess with success!
Tim

Dreams

I was talking to my friend Lisa the other day who told me she had a dream about me and another friend Anita. All of us are part of a Gourmet Dinner Group we started a couple of years ago with our spouses and a few friends ( 10 of us). Anyway, Lisa said she dreamed that she, Anita and I had started an "underground restaurant" of sorts and we would cook for about 10 people at a time twice a month and they would pay us to do this. We would set the menu and cook at someone's house or something like that. I bring this up because the idea intrigues me so much. the only problem and it's a big one, is that it's very illegal. This type of thing is actually being done all over the country evedry day by chefs who want to branch out and try some exotic foods that are banned here or just want to try some exciting things that the traditional restaraunt setting doesn't allow. I first read about this in Gourmet magazine and thought it was amazing. then I read on and found out it was illegal. Too bad! I think it would be awesome and a way to not have the pressure of running a restaurant every day of the week. I guess the next best thing is to start a dinner group and have folks donate toward the food, bring some great wine and enjoy each others' company and see where it goes. Ours has been going for a while now and we have invited some other folks occasionally to join us but mostly it remains the same group and we have settled into a system that works for us; someone cooks the main course and we each bring either a side dish, salad, breads, cheese course, wines, cocktails, whatever we need for the meal. I works pretty well and I would encourage you to gather a group that loves to cook, or even some enthusiastic eaters and YOU love to cook and start meeting. Just do it
Tim

Recipes and Restaurants

I want to take some time to report on a restaurant that Teresa and I have come to enjoy up the North Shore of Lake Superior. We travel there fairly often to see my dad in Silver Bay. Just south of there in Beaver Bay is a nice little restaurant called the Lemon Wolf Cafe. The owner is the chef and it seats about 30 people max. the decor is nice, the menu is really nice comfort food and this may seem strange but they have the nicest, cleanest restroom I have ever seen in a restaurant. Back to the menu; they offer fresh Lake superiorfish from local fishermen like salmon and herring ( very nice). They also offer a good Swedish meatball special sometimes and their Hot roast beef sandwich is excellent. It's a good pot roast-like beef with a tasty gravy and their home-made bread. they also offer wines and good beers. The owner/chef always comes out to talk with us and he's very interesting to talk to. He's from Milwaukee and came here about 10 years ago and never left. He cooked for a couple chefs in the Milwakee area and this is his first time owning a restaurant. His food is very good quality with good ingredients and great flavor but not too expensive or too gourmet to put him out of reach for his market. I think it's a successful venture and I'd encourage you to try them. They are located in a little strip-mall like building on the North side of the highway right in town.
Enjoy!

Next I think we'll talk Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from a recipe I found in BonAppetit magazine. It was one of the choices at the Welcome Dessert at Vineyard from yesterday's post along with a Goat Cheese Cheesecake with fresh Red Grape Compote with Toasted Walnuts, Red Wine, Rosemary and Black Pepper. I also made a Chocolate Malted Creme Brulee and a Crepe Cake ( 24 layers of crepes with Almond Pastry Cream between each layer).
Here's the Choc Cheesecake:

12 to 16 servings
Crust:
24 Chocolate wafer cookies (about 4-5 oz.)
1 T sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
Filling:
1 9.7 oz. bar good bittersweet 60% Cacao chocolate, chopped (Ghirardelli
4 8oz. pkgs Cream Cheese, room temp
1 1/4 cups plus 2 T sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ( i like Penzey's)
4 large eggs
Topping:
3/4 cup heavy cream
6oz. 60% Bittersweet choc, chopped ( same as above)
1 T sugar

For Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9" springform pan with 3" sides. Blend cookies in food processor until finely ground; blend in sugar. Add melted butter and process until well blended. Press crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until just set, about 5 to 8 mins. Cool while preparing the filling.
For Filling: Stir chopped chocolate in bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering wateruntil melted and smooth. Remove bowl from pan and cool chocolat until still warm and pourable. Blend cream cheese , sugar, and cocoa powder in stand mixer until smooth. add eggs, one at a time, then mix in lukewarm chocolate. Pour the filling over the crust and smooth the top. Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes and run a knife around the edge to separate it from the pan. Chill overnight.
For Topping:
Stir cream, 6oz. chocolate,and sugar in heavy saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly, then pour over the top of the cake and spread to within 1/2 " of the edge of the cake. Chill until topping is set. Release the pan sides and transfer to a platter to serve.
Tim

Creme Brulee

Just got home from doing a welcome dessert event at my church, the Vineyard in Duluth, MN. I served a variety of desserts and will eventually post the recipes for them as we go along but tonight I'll start with Creme Brulee. Jake had some and really liked it so I told him I'd post the recipe tonight; here we go.
1 Qt Heavy cream (this recipe makes 10 6oz. ramekins)
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ( the real stuff)
1 pinch of salt
12 Large egg yolks
10 teaspoons of sugar-in-the-raw or regular granulated sugar


Preheat the oven to 300 degrees with a rack in the center of the oven.
Pour 1/2 the cream into a medium saucepan along with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Over medium heat, bring up to almost simmering, whisking the mixture to dissolve the sugar. remove from the heat and pour the remaining cream into the mixture to cool it down a bit. Set aside and separate the egg yolks from the whites and discard the whites or save for another use. place them in a large bowl and whisk them until they are blended and smooth. Slowly pour a little of the cream mixture into the yolks, whisking continuously to temper the yolks so they don't scramble from the hot liquid. whisk in the remaining cream mixture until well combined. Place 10 6oz. In the bottom of a roasting pan or 9x12 cakepan, place a folded kitchen dishtowel and set the 10 6oz. ramekins in the pan on top of the towel. Pour the cream mixture into the ramekins, dividing it evenly among them. Bring 2 qts of water to a boil in a teapot; place the roasting pan in the oven and then carefully pour the water around the ramekins to bring the level of water about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully slide the pan all the way into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the custards are set around the edges but still a bit jiggly in the centers. I you have an instant-read thermometer they should reach 175 degrees in the center (Don't be concerned that they are still jiggly; they will set as they cool). To remove them from the water bath, wrap rubber bands around the ends of a pair of tongs and that will act as a non-slip help for holding the hot ramekins while moving them to a cooling rack. Cool for two hours or so then cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to finish setting the custard. To serve, sprinkle about 1 tespoon of sugar-in-the-raw over the top of each one and flame it using a propane torch until the sugar bubbles and turns a deep amber color. Place them back in the refrigerator to harden the crust and serve within about 45 mins to an hour.
The un-flamed custards will keep, if covered with plastic wrap,. for a few days in the refrigerator.
Give it a go!, it's awesome.
Tim

Update

I just completed the link to my facebook page thanks to Kathy.
I'm preparing desserts tonight for a welcome dessert at my church, the Vineyard in Duluth, MN.
Tuesday I made a Deep,Dark Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache topping and Dark Chocolate Curls. Tonight is a Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Red Grape/Walnut Compote and Chocolate Malted Creme Brulee. Later will come a Vanilla Creme Brulee and a Crepe Cake consisting of 24 layers of crepes with Almond pastry cream between each layer and toasted sliced almonds over the top with simple syrup over the top and then torched with my Propane Torch. More on these later

Smoked stuff

I smoked some salt a few days ago and spoke about it on my Facebook page which kind of started this whole deal. Anyway, It was interesting to see how after one hour the salt smelled great but didn't taste much like smoke. After three hours, however it didn't smell much but the taste was Kick-Butt good! I had smoked a pork shoulder (pork butt) a while ago and had it frozen. brought it out for a party at some friends and brought the salt along as a gift to them. We tried the combination of the salt on the smoked pork butt and it was excellent! By the way the pork butt was smoked three hours in my charcoal smoker using apple wood for flavor and then finished in the oven in a cast iron dutch oven braised in one can Coke and one beer along with one chopped onion for three more hours at 250 degrees. I first thought to add a little of the braising liquid for moisture but I tasted it first (fortunately); it was terrible! It didn't need the extra moisture anyway because the fat from the pork was very nice just as it was.
Note on the smoking process: I like using natural charcoal by Royal Oak along with some briquettes for lasting power because the natural stuff burns hot and fairly fast. I also soak the apple branches and pieces in water for about an hour before adding them to the charcoal.
Tim

The culinary adventure begins!

Hello, Friends and welcome to the Food Stuga! The Wilsons suggested this and now here we are. I will ask for help along the way to make this a good place to talk about our culinary adventures and I hope we'll discover some awesome food along the way. There will be much more to come!
Tim