The Maple Syrup test

I was reading my Feb Cooks Illustrated and got to the maple syrup reviews. I honestly have never had "Real" maple syrup that I know of. Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin were the staples of my youth. I realize they are all corn syrup, but it worked for me. CI recommended Maple Grove Farms Grade A amber. It wasn't cheap. Almost $8 for a 12oz bottle. To test, I made some pepper bacon and a pot of coffee. Then I screwed around with my pancake recipe to make them lighter. In the end I made them a little raw. I still need to tweak that. I digress; on to the tasting. I think the big pancakes were not the ideal vehicle to taste the syrups. The "earthiness" of the maple was overwhelmed by the pancake. It is much thinner than the corn syrup varieties and when tasted straight up, it is very powerful. Heather had the same thoughts about the flavors being hidden in the big pancakes. I guess after 18 years together we have similar thoughts about a lot of things.

I think I will reserve the Maple Grove Farms syrup for something more worthy. Maybe some cookies that can highlight the flavors better. Suggestions?

Osso Bucco

We are running low on Heather's staple dish. I have to find an alternate source. She used the new Spanish saffron Boppa gave her for Christmas in the risotto. This time she pureed the vegetables before braising. I think I like it that way better. It is an additional step and more dishes to clean, but I don't groove on taking a big bite out of a dead carrot.

Salad with grilled chicken

We had some lettuce and I had some time so I made lunch. I seasoned a boneless chicken breast with garlic salt and some other random things I found and grilled it on the grill pan. I tore and washed the romain, then sliced some cucumbers and roasted red bell peppers. I topped it with some boursin that was leftover from the steaks. I made a red wine vinaigrette and we ate.

Hot tamale night

What do you do when you find out Tony's closed and you fall into a dark place in your life where you don't feel like cooking? That is easy, you break out the Kelly's Chili with Beans. Heather saw the state I was in and immediately knew how to break my funk. She got out the Hormel tamales and Kelly's "Manna from Heaven" Chili. She added some chopped onion and lots of cheese. It baked until I couldn't take the wait any longer. It served its purpose. I am now able to think more clearly about how to work around our recent loss. It will be more of a challenge to use what we can scrounge from the local Kroger, but sometimes adversity teaches us lessons we would not experience otherwise.

"What are we going to do now?"

I had a terrifying phone call last night. Lisa Smith called to break the news that Tony's is closed. Our favorite meat market is gone. I am at a loss for words. I spent hours last night trying to find an alternate source for those wonderful selections Scott always had. The rumor mill has already started that Scott is relocating to the soon to open Piggly Wiggly in Saltillo, but will he have the same selection even if the rumor is true? We are planning a trip to Memphis next weekend and will try a few markets up there, but we can't do that very often. There is always Fresh Market in Jackson while we are down there, but the last time we were there they didn't have tasso or short ribs. I am going to try the Sysco route and maybe some contacts I have with some other food service sources to get some osso bucco direct, but those are just wisps of hope.

Farewell Scott, you will be missed. (I just hope not for long)....

Somewhat Traditioal New Year's Day Dinner

I have to say "somewhat traditional" because we didn't have greens or cabbage per se. The closest thing I had was Brussel sprouts. I called it close enough. Plus, I think I like them better. So we had the really traditional black eyed peas cooked all day long with onion and smoked hog jowl. I had mine with some Sirachi garlic chili sauce. I fried up the rest of the smoked hog jowl until it was indiscernible from bacon. We had some pork chops in the fridge so I pounded them out and made a thinner, almost wiener schnitzel chop. I had leftover drop biscuits so I went with those instead of making cornbread. Please forgive my laziness. Tanner and Chance both ate all of theirs and then had some cheesecake.

Drop biscuits

Heather got me this cast iron drop biscuit pan for Christmas. The first batch on Christmas morning stuck to the "preseasoned" pan. After a thorough cleaning and real round of seasoning, the biscuits popped right out. I used Alton Brown's biscuit recipe with a slight modification. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/southern-biscuits-recipe/index.html You really must use a pastry cutter to get everything just right before the fats have time to cool. I overcooked them just a bit, but I am learning to use the pan. I cut some Boar's Head cheddar and let it melt over the hot biscuit half. Two eggs, over medium and breakfast was served.

Mimi got me a subscription to Cook's Illustrated. The first issue of my own has a new technique for French Omelets. You will see the results soon. Hopefully.....