Drunken Noodles by Jody

 I love Thai food, and this is one of the dishes that is a standard go-to dish when I try a new restaurant. I've found a recipe that I like and have made some adaptations to it, so this is a rough idea of my Drunken Noodles.

6 ounces of rice noodles
8 ounces of pork (you can use ground pork or pork strips, both are good)
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 large hot green chili, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, diced
2 tbls kaffir lime leaves ( I use bottled, since fresh is almost impossible to find in Maine)
2 tbls soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tomato, cut into wedges
2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded (I had to leave this out last time because I couldn't find any)

Cook the rice noodles according to the instructions on the noodles. If using pork strips, salt & pepper them, then stir fry for a couple minutes until they are just cooked. If using ground pork, stir fry the onions, garlic and chilis for about a minute before adding the pork and stir fry for an additional minute before adding the bell pepper. Stir fry about 2 minutes, then add the lime leaves, soy sauce and sugar. Lastly, add the drained noodles and tomatoes and stir to cover the noodles. Sprinkle with basil. Serve.

I've made this before and love it every time. This time, I added way too many noodles and it ended up not quite as good. So learn from my mistake and don't add too many noodles. Of course, that just means I'll have to make it again soon, and make it right the next time.

Pasta Carbonara - by Jody

This is one of my favorite dishes. Pasta, bacon, cheese, what's not to like. When I first started making this I used a totally different technique but I've since discovered that this works well as a skillet dish. I'm sure it has about a million calories, but I really don't care.

1/3 pound bacon
1/2 diced onion
Butter
1/2 cup chicken stock
Pasta
6 egg yokes
Cream
Parmesan Cheese
Basil
Pepper
Salt

Put some butter in a large skillet, add bacon, onion & some pepper. Cook until bacon is crisp but not overdone.  Do not drain the bacon fat.
Boil pasta while cooking bacon. When pasta is done, drain and then add directly to the skillet.
Add chicken stock & toss.
Combine egg yoke & cream, lightly beat to break up the yokes.
Take skillet off heat, add the yoke & cream and toss to coat.
Salt & Pepper to taste (this should be a peppery dish)
Sprinkle fresh basil and cheese on top.

You might have noticed that I add spinach to a lot of dishes. I'm a big fan of chopping up a cup or 2 and adding it for some extra nutrition with negligible calories. I chopped up about 2 cups of spinach and added it to the bacon & onions about 3 minutes before I put in the pasta. It wilts quickly so don't add it too early.

This dish doesn't take long to make, and once the pasta is added to the skillet, it comes together very quickly. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes to make so it's a favorite to both cook and eat. 

Thai Spring Rolls - by Jody

I love Thai food. Drunken Noodles, coconut milk based curry, seafood soups, and spring rolls. I love them all. This is my take on vegetarian spring rolls.

Since this was just for us, and not for company, I made about 8 rolls, but I like them stuffed full, so your mileage many vary.

1 package egg roll skins
2 oz fine rice noodles. I use Thai Kitchen.
Oil for frying
2 cloves glarlic
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2-3 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup spinach. Alternately you can use alfalfa or bean sprouts.
1 carrot, shreaded
1 tbls soy sauce
1 tbls rice wine
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbls cilantro, chopped
1 tbls mint, chopped

Cook noodles according to the package. Drain.
Fry garlic, ginger, scallion, spinach & carrot for about a minute. Stir in soy sauce, rice wine, pepper cilantro & mint. Stir in noodles and toss with the mixture. Take off heat and let cool a little.

Roll in the egg roll skins. Demos of the different techniques can be found on line, but here are pictures of my method. Use cornstarch & water to help the skins stick together and keep the rolls from falling apart.
Fry for about a minute on each side, or until golden brown. I eat them with sweet chili sauce, but you can use your favorite.

Meatloaf - by Steve

     I have always loved meatloaf.  My Dad has always been my inspiration for the stuff, he has always made a great one.  Ever since I started cooking seriously, I wanted to recreate the meatloaf he would make.  I've never been able to replicate it, so I made the conscious decision to never try again.  Instead, I would use meatloaf as a test bed, as it were.  I have since done numerous things with it, from stuffing it with prosciutto and cheese to wrapping it in bacon.  This time, since Jody had picked up a pound of hot Italian sausage for me (organic no less) at the Belfast CoOp, I thought how cool it would be to embed a couple links of sausage IN the meatloaf itself.  So, here is the process and the result.  Jody couldn't stop raving about it, so I must have done something right.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground pork

1lb. ground meatloaf blend (something our local market sells, pork, beef, I think veal, etc)

2 links hot Italian sausage

2 eggs

2/3 cup bread crumbs, your preference in type

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced small

4-5 oz. spinach, chopped fine

5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

salt

pepper

onion powder

garlic powder

dry mustard

sage

barbecue sauce for glazing, again your preference in brand

     Preheat your oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients, thoroughly mixing with your hands.  Make sure everything is completely integrated together before moving on.  Take a standard bread loaf pan, preferably non stick, and fill it halfway with the mixture, pressing in firmly.  Lay the two sausage links in lengthwise, press them into the meatloaf mix a little bit to get them secure.  Fill with the rest of the meatloaf mix and firmly press into place to completely cover and secure the sausages.  Once your pan is filled and pressed, toss it in the oven for at least 45 minutes.  Check your temp after that, and let it go for another half hour if need be.  I cooked mine to about 145-150 and it was spot on.    Pull, let it sit for five minutes to finish, glaze and cut to serve.  I cut mine right in the pan, but there's no reason you couldn't dump it out and cut it on a board.  I added a little extra barbecue sauce after I served mine and it really sang.

Chili - by Jody

I've made chili for decades, and each one is different depending on my mood and audience. This time I made it bean-less, but my basic recipe includes beans & beer. I can't tell you how many this feeds, but I'd say 10 easily.

3-4 large cans Contadina spaghetti sauce
3-4 small cans of Goya beans. I use black beans, but you can use your favorite.
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
2 pounds of meat. I usually use one pound ground beef or pork and one pound Italian sausage
1 package Morningstar Farms veggie crumbles. You can replace all the meat with this for a veggie chili
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chili powder & cumin. I usually just start adding these until it tastes right. You can also use some of Auntie Arwen's spice mixes. Tonight I used Fiesta Dog because she has discontinued my favorite, which was Turkish Delight.
3 bottles Guinnesse. You can also use red wine instead of beer.

Top with cheese, diced onion and/or tortilla chips. 

Weekend in Quebec City - By Jody

I went to Quebec City for the weekend on a kind of whim. It's only 4.5 hours away, I had never been, and I was meeting up with several friends. It wasn't a huge foodie weekend, but food and drink kind of defined it.

I think of myself as fairly adventurous, but I've never driven to a place where I didn't speak the language. Fortunately, I was among friends who did speak French, so they translated a lot for me. Saturday was spent at a gathering that included a dinner, but since the meal was made by amateurs, I'm not going to review it.

After dinner, my friend Alys and I went back to her hotel, Loew's Le Concorde Hotel. And when I say we "went back" I mean we drove around Quebec City, without directions or a GPS, only vaguely knowing where we were going. The tag line of the movie they'll make of our adventure will be: Two middle aged women, driving though a foreign city, trying to get to their hotel, what could possibly go wrong?

Once we finally got to the hotel we found out that room service was closed (on a Saturday night) so we dropped our bags in her room and went to the bar. I wish I had pictures of the bar. It was a quiet, classy place and the hostess/waitress/bartender was one of those quintessential Frenchwomen of indeterminate middle age, wearing a little black dress and sweater set, her blond hair in a perfect up-do. We ordered drinks, a cheeseplate, and a turkey sandwich and split them. The sandwich was nice, piled with lots of turkey. The cheeseplate was mostly brie and blue cheese, with some lovely fruit. What really blew me away, though, was my Martini. It was perfect. I like my Martini a bit on the dirty side and this one was sublime. If I could only drink one thing for the rest of my life, it would be this Martini.

Sunday morning Alys and I were off to breakfast at her favorite creperie in the old part of Quebec City. If you haven't been there, it is the only walled city in North America and it looks just like any old part of a European city. We went to Au Petit Coin Breton, both of us having the apple & cheese crepe and a breakfast crepe. It is a really cute place, tons of old world charm and tiny chairs. The food was wonderful, flavorful and much different than the only other craperie I've ever been to, in San Diego.

 

When we left we realized there was a tea shop a couple doors down, David's Tea. Both of us being tea drinkers, we could have dropped a few bills there, but settled for a bunch of small sampler packs so we could get a good cross section of their wares. Although mostly a Canadian chain, they also have stores in Boston, NY, Chicago and San Fransisco, so if I love them, I'll be headed to Boston for more.

Alys had a plane to catch and I had to drive back to Maine, but before we parted, Alys gave me the word I wanted to look for before leaving Quebec: Fromagerie. The weather was turning slushy so I headed south. About 25 miles before the border, I saw the word and stopped. I picked up a nice sized wheel of Brie, a 10 year old cheddar and a Trappist cheese. I've only tried the cheddar so far, but if that is any indication of the quality, they should all be an amazing treat.

If you think about going to QC, but your lack of language skills makes you nervous, I was pleasantly surprised that a quick "en anglais s'il vous plait" was all that was needed.

Restaurant Review - Green Tea, Bangor Maine

Jody: We went out Saturday to have a nice anniversary dinner after seeing Lincoln (great movie, btw). We stopped by Kobe, also in Bangor, but between the thick, trendy crowd, and the New Jersey prices, we decided to try Green Tea, just down the road. Apparently it was a night for disappointments.

Green Tea tries to be a fusion of old and new. The first thing you notice is the new Tokyo style neon lights illuminating the exterior. This continued into the waiting area with hundreds of tiny neon lights shining on the walls. Once you get to the interior, though, it is all wood beam and shoji screens. The bar, located int he middle of the restaurant had 2 TVs, both with football games playing. What seemed to be an attempt at fusion ended up just confusing. 

 









Steve:    My experience at Green Tea was slanted by my experience in the food-service field.  A good chunk of my life has been spent in food-service in one capacity or another.  I am usually VERY forgiving of a lot of things in a restaurant, but Green Tea unfortunately pushed that forgiveness to the breaking point, and beyond.  As Jody pointed out, the decor was nice, and the place was clean.  The food was even good, when I was actually able to eat it, since the implements we'd requested didn't arrive with the appetizers, even though they had been requested when we ordered initially.  

Jody: There were a lot of empty tables, too many for a Saturday night. That should have been our first warning. We waited 10 minutes for our waitress to arrive and in the mean time, the host that seated us offered us a different table. We should have taken him up on the offer, because our waitress turned out to be a grave disappointment. We ordered a couple drinks, hot sake for me, soda for Steve. We also ordered appetizers dinner and requested chopsticks and water. The sake and soda arrived fairly quickly, as did the appetizers. The chopsticks didn't arrive until the dinner and we had to ask again for the water. I noticed immediately that while I had ordered handrolls, which were showed as a single conical roll on the menu, I was given six-piece sushi rolls. I pointed out to the waitress that I had ordered handrolls and she said to me, "those *are* handrolls". I knew better, but I really didn't want to sit and wait for new rolls to be made, so I resigned myself to eating something I didn't order. I ordered Mochi ice cream for dessert. I have to admit that I had never had mochi before, and was unprepared for it's uncooked doughy consistency.  It was unusual and sat a little heavy. Oddly, it was topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, which, I guess, was a little throw back to the old & new fusion thing. It didn't work for me, though, and I scrapped it off.

My non-handrolls

 Steve:     I really am so very disappointed in this place.  I liked all the food I ordered.  I enjoyed the decor.  Our meals came out in a very timely fashion, and tasted good.  And the prices were very reasonable.  I am so sad that the terrifyingly abysmal service wrecked that.  Not only was our server unable to fill water glasses ON REQUEST, she walked past our table after filling the glasses of the table next to us with the pitcher of water in hand AFTER we had asked for water.  My appetizer sat until my entree arrived, since I had no chopsticks to eat it with.  By the time I got to it, it was lukewarm.  Still tasted good, but that's not the point.  Now, there were forks on the table, but in my mind, my stubborn mind, I had asked for a specific utensil and did not receive it in a timely fashion.  I shouldn't be forced to do something I don't want to, especially if we're paying for the privilege of being there in the first place. 

Mongolian Beef

      Lastly, I am going to point out that our server was both ignorant of the type of food she was serving and also almost non-existent as far as being attentive goes.  As Jody pointed out before, she didn't know the difference between a hand roll and a sushi roll, and was just rude enough to tell Jody that what she has was what she had ordered.  Also, at one point after the appetizers had arrived, I caught our servers' eye from across the room, a sure sign I wanted her to come over, especially since I had a what I suspect was a look on my face like "Um, something's wrong over here".  She walked back into the kitchen and we didn't see her again until the entrees arrived.


Jody: The prices were reasonable for a restaurant with decent service, but paying $1 for a soda refill was another blow to their score.In the end, I'm going to give them a score of 2 stars, mostly because the food was edible. 

Steve:      Like I said, I am very forgiving of a lot of things. But this was just too much.  I'm giving Green Tea 1.5 Stars, and again, that's because I liked the decor and the food was good.  The terrifying service destroyed this place otherwise.

Silliness: Bendy straw

Whipped cream, sprinkles & cherry

Clams Casino by Jody

Since 2005 (with a 2 year break) Thanksgiving dinner for me has been a lobster dinner. One of the sides that I've been making is Clams Casino. This is not the huge bread-crumb laden monstrosities that you see at the grocery store. My Clams Casino are chunky, cheesy, include bacon.

My lobster, Harold, soaking in beer

Harold, ready to eat

Start by cleaning about 25 live little-neck clams. I start by soaking them in brine for about 15 minutes, then scrubbing them under running water to get rid of any grit. If any clams are open, give them a tap to see if they will close. If it doesn't close, it's probably already dead. Toss these out because you don't know how long they've been dead. Steam the live ones over a couple cups of water until they all open. Let them cool for a bit, then remove the meat from the shells, cleaning off the 'skin' from the neck. Rinse & save the shells.

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
3 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Oregano (fresh, if possible)
1/3 cup white wine
5 slices bacon, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Parmesan, or other hard cheese

Cook bacon until crisp, chop and set aside
Saute bell pepper, shallots, garlic & oregano until shallots are translucent. Add wine & reduce.
Remove from heat. Stir in bacon and half the cheese. I used fontina in the mix and parmesan on the top.
Salt & pepper to taste.
Spoon mixture into saved shells, top with cheese.
Broil until cheese is melted and golden brown. 

Faux Pho` by Steve

Faux Pho`

     Having watched more than my share of food television, and being a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain, it goes without saying I've seen a lot of his overseas travels.  One of the dishes he keeps going back to time and time again is Pho`, a Vietnamese soup-like thing.  On the surface, it seems pretty straightforward, but not ever having had real Pho` myself, I can't be sure of the flavor profiles.  So I make what Jody called "Faux Pho`".  I especially like to make this when I'm sick, as it is that sort of comfort food that many like to lean on when they feel like crap.  The soup itself is pretty simple, but it's the add-ons you do to it after you serve it up that makes it special.  I like mine with a ton of hot chili sauce to give it a real spicy kick.

Faux Pho`

2 quarts chicken stock

1lb. ground pork

1 bunch scallions

1 medium/small piece ginger root

1 head garlic

2-3 big handfuls spinach, chopped roughly

salt

pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

Chinese 5 spice powder

Auntie Arwyn's Shy Panda Stir Fry spice mix

1 package Soba buckwheat noodles

     Start the chicken stock on medium low to bring it to temperature.  Brown the ground pork, seasoning to taste with all seasonings listed.  Once browned, add the pork to the stock and leave that to simmer slowly.  Finely chop the scallions and garlic and add those to the stock.  Peel and grate the ginger root into the soup. Add the spinach, stirring occasionally.  Check for seasoning, adjusting as needed.  I needed to put more salt in than I expected, so plan for that.  In a separate pot, prepare the Soba noodles according to instructions on their package.  To serve put noodles into your bowl then ladle the soup over them.  At this point, the gloves come off to an extent.  Jody likes lime and sweet chili sauce in her Pho`, I prefer hot chili sauce, and a lot of it.  Enjoy!

Moxie - by Jody

Monday, 11/20/12 5:30pm
Sunday I was 'gifted' with a can of the quintessentially Maine beverage, Moxie. I've heard a lot about it during the 2 years I've lived here, but so far I've never tried it. Luck? Maybe, but I won't know until I try it. Later, after dinner

Wednesday 11/22/12 12:30pm
I wrote the above on Monday, sure that I was going to break open the can and try it. I decided to have a couple glasses of wine instead. In the end, my courage failed me, and I didn't try it. Tuesday was the same. It's now Wednesday afternoon and I am planning on tasting it tonight. Really, I am. 

Wednesday 11/22/12 8:11pm
I've poured out 3 glasses of Moxie mixed with various alcohols. Gin, Tequila and Saki. And of course, I'll taste it plain.

Initial thoughts: Smells a bit like Barq's rootbeer. Tastes like rootbeer with leather and bark notes. Does not have the medicinal taste that people talked about. It's like rootbeer but without the specific tastes that I like.

Now just for fun: Saki - good, gives it an interesting flavor that I can't quite express, but as with other mixes, the Saki doesn't overpower the Moxie. Tequila - Also good, but the tequila overpowers any taste of Moxie. Not that that's a bad thing for some people. Gin - Tastes terrible, but gin is a difficult alcohol to pair. Overall, if I had to mix it with something I think I would like the Moxie & Tequila in the summer and the Moxie & Saki in the fall. However, I have to admit that I didn't finish any of the drinks.

Final thoughts: This isn't something that I would seek out, but I can see how it would become an acquired taste. It's a dark taste that isn't exactly refreshing. The best I can say is: Moxie - it doesn't taste like ass.

Bacon Review, Luce's Meats - by Steve

     One of the products we picked up at the Maine Harvest Festival last weekend was a pound of bacon from Luce's Meats.  They market their bacon under the name Maine Farms Brand.  The bacon was (and it is a was, as we decimated the pound this morning for breakfast) a medium cut, and was quite meaty, with not a ton of fat content.  I like bacon like this, as you get more chew and meat flavor from it.  That's not to say that I don't like a nice fatty bacon, I love that too.  The bacon was hickory smoked, but not overpowered by it.  You could definitely detect the smoke flavor, though.

     Overall, this was an amazing bacon.  I would highly recommend finding this stuff.  And we'll help you do just that.  As I said, the bacon is done by Luce's Meats, 366 Embden Pond Rd., North Anson, ME 04958.
You can also find their products at www.mainefarmsbrand.com.  Check these guys out, their products are great.  Well worth the $$.  While it was a bit pricy at $8.00 a pound, I really feel it was worth it.  Not for an every day bacon, but for a special occasion, drop the extra money and find this stuff.

Rotisserie Pork Roast with Oven Roasted Vegetables - Steve

      One of the happy side effects of this blog is that it is encouraging us to cook more frequently, and that is never a bad thing. That being said, here is the latest entry.

 

Rotisserie Pork Roast with Oven Roasted Vegetables

1 pork roast, 3-4 lb.

2 large potatoes, russets work fine, you can use sweet if you like

2 medium yellow onions

1 small bag baby carrots

2 medium bell peppers

3 heads garlic, broken into individual cloves

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Dry mustard

White pepper

Granulated garlic

Granulated onion

Dried thyme

Dried rosemary

 

Preheat your rotisserie to 350 degrees. Mount the pork roast on the spit then season liberally with salt, pepper, white pepper, dry mustard, granulated garlic and onion. I did not use the thyme and rosemary on the roast since the vegetables are heavily herbed, and didn’t want to overpower the whole meal with the herbs. Start your roast in the rotisserie, set for about 45 minutes initially.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the vegetables. Quarter the onions, cut the peppers and potatoes into eighths, peel the cloves of garlic, and dump the whole bag of carrots. Liberally dose with olive oil, then season with the rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, white pepper and dry mustard. Toss the vegetables to combine and thoroughly coat with the seasonings. Dump everything onto a sheet pan and put into the oven, again, set for 45 minutes initially.

Check the roast at the 45 minute mark. An internal temp of 140 is fine, it’s going to finish at least 5 more degrees after you take it out. If it is not here, set for another 20 minutes and check again. Once you’ve reached the desired temp, pull your roast, cover with foil and let it rest. Make sure to save the excess juices that do run off the roast, as that is liquid gold. As with your roast, check your vegetables at the 45 minute mark. You’re really checking the carrots to see if they’ve softened enough. If they are good to go, bump your temp up to broil and set for 4 more minutes to brown the potatoes. This will also brown the onions a bit, and that makes them that much more tasty. Once they are done under the broiler, pull them out. By now your roast should have rested long enough, and you can carve and serve.

Maine Harvest Festival

We went to the Maine Harvest Festival last Saturday. There were over a hundred vendors, many with samples and except for the alcohol producers almost all of them were selling their wares.

The view from above

Along the way we stopped at a lot of places to sample and buy. Since I had gone to this festival last year there were some people I looked for. Sadly, one of my favorites, Fuzzy Udder Creamery did not display.

Mmmm, meaty goodness

We bought bacon and chourizo from Luce's Meats. They had skillets full of Italian sausage, maple breakfast sausage and chourizo so we could sample before we bought. We haven't broken into the bacon yet, but I think we'll have that for Sunday breakfast soon.

 

Stone Fox Creamery is a popular ice cream maker in Maine. The kid got Salted Caramel. I think she's an aspiring foodie too.       

Spaghetti Squash

St. Joseph's Hospital had a cooking demo. The chef taught me a couple things about roasting Spaghetti Squash that will improve my next attempt.

Caramels made with fatback. Criminally good.

Made by Bagaduce Farm, this is an idea I'm dying to try with bacon fat. I'll let you know in a future post how that comes out.

 Balfour Farm makes some really good cheese. I bought the Cotswald.

Following are some of the other vendors we bought from: