Sunday, November 19, 2006

Buckeyes 42 Wolverines 39






Michigan Wolverines
39



1st2nd3rd4th


#2 MICH (11-1) 7 7 10 15
39
#1 OSU (12-0) 7 21 7 7
42
November 18, 2006 - Ohio Stadium
Ohio State Buckeyes
42

What a glorious albeit gut-wrenching 3½ hours. The Columbus Dispatch so aptly put it in the headline "One to Go". Although the score indicates a close match, a couple of miscues by the inevitable Heisman winner contributed to the closeness. Without those two errors, a tipped and intercepted pass and an errant snap from center, the score could have easily ended at 42 - 28.

Both teams arguably have some of the best defensive players in the country. Or so it seemed until yesterday's 'epic' matchup. The first time in over 3 decades that both teams had unbeaten records. Michigan was rated as the top defensive team in the country pre-season. Ohio State was reportedly weakened by the graduation of many of its departing seniors. Michigan had not allowed any run longer than 25 yards in any game this season. Ohio State had allowed only 1 touchdown in its last 4 games and less than 6 points in something like 16 quarters. It did appear that a defensive battle was going to be witnessed on November 18, 2006 in the horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.....

.....that is until Michigan received the opening kickoff and scored within the first 2½ minutes of the game. What a sinking feeling. Ohio State answered with a masterful Troy Smith-engineered series the first time they got their hands on the ball. After that, seems that the defensive sides decided to have a contest on how porous they could be. Michigan allowed over 500 yards with 350 yards passing by Smith. Chad Henne and Michigan found the vulnerable spots in the Buckeye pass defense..... particularly the secondary. Mike Hart, running back for Michigan, showed some of the Buckeye running defense vulnerabilities.

Now that The Ohio State University Buckeye football team has been proclaimed the best in the land by vanquishing a once mighty wolverine, a huge question looms to the forefront: Should the Wolverines be allowed to have another go at #1? During one of the BCS bowl games? Keep in mind without the miscues by our Heisman man the score could have been as mentioned. Would Michigan then be #2 today? I would like to hear from you.

In a laughable attempt to delay the game after Michigan's futile on side kick attempt, a Wolverine groveling on the ground appeared to be hurt. However, he could not determine which leg was injured as he was seen first grabbing his right calf and then his left. Guess he was prepping himself for the NFL where it seems to be win at all costs.

In a display of unabashed bravura Hart said in a post game interview that the outcome would be different in a rematch. Of course it would. Smith would not give up 11 points. What Hart might see from the bench is more of this type of scenery from the Badger-prone Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:



If you want a copy of this Michigan quarter, holler.



Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Peanut Butter

Jif, Captain Crunch and Skippy...the three mainstays of peanut butter in my growing up years. All creamy. Not crunchy. If I wanted crunchy peanuts, I would eat them out of the shell. Peanut butter and jelly. On Wonder Bread. Couldn't get much better. With the exception of maybe dippin' a piece of celery or carrot directly into the peanut butter jar. And in the absence of dippin' sticks, I could always dip my finger into the jar.

Thought I knew my peanut butter until my sweetie started me on the journey of organic food. Some org. pb's are salted, some not. My experiments with adding salt didn't work. And then there's all of that oil floating on the top. What a mess. The way around this is to scoop out the contents into a large mixing bowl, re-emulsify and then put back into the jar. Takes about 5 minutes.

After what seemed to be an interminable period of tasting and testing for the ultimate pb, my sweetie brought home a jar of Maranatha creamy & roasted peanut butter. Just the right consistency when mixed with the right amount of salt.

Now, whenver one jar is opened the grocery list is automatically addended with a request for another jar of Marantha.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Summer Salads

Maybe potato salad oughta be a year round salad not just for summer. Salad Nicoise is French potato salad, perfect for summer with it's oil/vinegar based dressing instead of mayonnaise. The name itself, Salad Nicoise, sounds like it might take time to prepare, not a plus in summer. In reality, it is nothing more than the dressing - with tuna, green beans, olives and egg wedges....and the potatoes.


Let me start with the tuna. Recently I made a tuna salad sans the canned tuna. Bought fresh tuna and grilled it, broke it into pieces and used it in Sara Moulton's recipe. Some will prefer canned tuna over fresh but I like the fresh.

A typical French type potato salad uses 2 pounds of boiling (red) potatoes boiled until just tender. Remove skins if you want, slice about ¼" thick and place into a large mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup of wine vinegar. Pour over hot, sliced potatoes. Stir gently until all liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

In a small bowl add 2 tablespoons wine vinegar or 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon prepared mustard such as Dijon type, ¼ teaspoon salt. Whisk until salt has dissolved and then add 6 tablespoons olive oil in a dribble. Add chopped spring onions or 2 tablespoons of minced shallots. Pour dressing over potatoes and stir gently.

To make this into a Nicoise, oil both sides of a 6 to 8 ounce piece of tuna. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Cook on a very hot grill for about 3 minutes per side. Break into chunks. Other additions: two or three hard-cooked eggs quartered, 6 to 12 anchovy fillets (drained) and ½ cup of Kalamata olives, pitted. Even more: tomato wedges and al dente green beans. Add all of these to the bowl before you add the dressing. Increase the dressing quantity to make 1 cup which means doubling the above measurements.

Top the salad with a couple of tablespoons of chopped, fresh, green herbs or parsley.

Monday, September 11, 2006

The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University 24

UT at Austin 7

I've been a Buckeye since birth in Ohio... went to school in Columbus, twice. During my earlier years Woody Hayes won a couple of Big Ten titles and some national stuff. Then in the late 70's he seemed to outgrow his clothes...slapped a player during a game...bye-bye, Woody.

After that, football at The University of Ohio was a sometime thing for many years as far as I was concerned. That is until OSU hired a guy from Arizona named John Cooper. Cooper had one of the best records in the Big Ten. But he could not win the only two games that the alumni thought were important - Michigan and the bowl game. His record against Michigan was a disgusting 2-10-1. Why a university would renew a contract before the season is beyond comprehension. But every August, John Cooper's contract was renewed until he was finally fired in 2000.

Along came Jim Tressel and now the program seems to be back on track. The current record vs Michigan is 4-1. And bowl games are a plus also. National champs in just 3 years under Trussel. Smiles all over Columbus.

I belong to a homebrew forum, hdb.org, in which questions are posted one day and many answers come back the next. A well respected contributor who lives in Ann Arbor and attended Michigan answered the question on how to get to Columbus. "Well, from here we go South on I75. When the noise is coming from our left side we turn left and follow the smell." He made that remark just prior to the OSU-Michigan game several years ago. That was the Buckeyes first victory over the never-to-be-loved Wolverines in several years. Seems to me that the aroma in Columbus has improved dramatically.

When I lived in NYC in the '60s, met a guy from Tyler, TX. He's a University of Texas alum
and a college football expert/nut. During the fall college football season, in order to prepare for the upcoming games, he researchs the weather forecast for the games. Rain/sleet/snow is a factor on the spread. Last season he was visiting me for the Texas/OSU event. He took a lot of heat during the game but, unfortuntely, it didn't end soon enough for the Buckeyes.

This year he invited me to accompany him to the game in Austin. I declined the offer. Just as well... I probably would have been insufferable. Besides, why watch from nose bleed heaven in the end zone when I can zoom in at home with a homebrew?

OSU and Texas had never been matched for a game until last year. Remember the desperation pass by Vince Young with 90 seconds remaining? Had Trussel started Troy Smith . . . but " wait 'til next year".

This IS next year. And in their sand box. The only drawback that I could see is that dinky little stadium in Austin could only accomodate about 5000 Buckeyes. And this from a state that claims everything is bigger.

Troy Smith was interviewed after the game and said it was not about revenge. Very mature for a college kid. Call it what you want, how sweet it is. 24-7

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Stuffed Pasta Shells

I keep watching Sandy d'Amato's 'Kitchen Technician' column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sunday edition. He consistently comes up some relatively easy to make winners. His latest that we tried last night, Stuffed Pasta Shells, is another one.

The tomato sauce is nicely flavored by sauteéing a couple of Italian sausages in oil and then baking the sauce with the sausages. Sandy removes the sausages to be used for another time. The other time lasted about 15 minutes in my kitchen. Get homemade sausages instead of the commercial type. Your local butcher shop/food market should have them. The sauce recipe calls for two tablespoons of kosher salt which is a bit much for my tastes. 2 teaspoons works for me.

Until I tasted some really great pasta dishes, I always thought an accompaniment of meat was a requirement. The richness of this meal using four different cheeses made into a very tasty stuffing will help get rid of that idea. The recipe states to use whole milk cheeses such as the mozzarella and ricotta. Guess you could use a less fatty cheese but keep in mind that the fat brings a lot of flavor to the table. And How often do you gorge yourself on such a wonderful tasting meal?

Click the above link to get Sandy's original recipe and his comments or the title to get just the recipe for both the sauce and stuffed shells.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Vinyl Restoration

About 6 months ago I wrote about record restoration and trying to correct alot of youthful indiscretions of abuse on vinyl recordings. Well, the learning curve has been a steep one. Thought I had restored about two dozen or so. But was frustrated with an album a friend wanted me to restore.

Put it aside for a couple of months and returned to the challenge at the beginning of the year. Not a New Year's resolution but a determination to get the job done and git 'er done right. In the ensuing months I did more research and study on record restoration.

Also, visited the online forum site of the software. Enhanced Audio's forum is not a large one but has many knowledgable users who are willing for others to succeed. There have been instances where they will take a small snippet of a troublesome file, restore it and return the snippet explaining each step and why.

One of the tricks I learned during my hiatus from the frustration was a tool in the program that reverses the file. A filter is run to remove the clicks and pops before and after reversing the file. Seems that reversing the file removes some of the nasties that could not be found without the process.( It is also pointed out that if you listen to the track in reverse you might discover any nefarious messages. I believe the Beatle's Abbey Lane was supposed to be imbedded with messages.)
¿Quien sabe?

I not only finished the album for the friend but successully restored some particulary troublesome albums that I would not play on a turn table because the pops and clicks were tooooo distracting. Now the challenge will be to finish the other 350 + albums.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Cacciatore

Some time ago I wrote about Italian chef Marcella Hasan's recipe for cacciatore. It is a wonderful dish that can be made in about 1 - 1½ hours. I use it regularly....that is, until I rediscovered a recipe by Sandy d' Amato, Milwaukees' James Beard award winner.

Sandy published his cacciatore about two years ago and I had clipped the article from the Journal Sentinel where it first appeared. Doin' some cleaning recently, I came across the recipe and decided to give it a try.

Certainly glad I did because this recipe is full of veggies and equally important, flavor. Sandy uses massive amounts of garlic (huzza), red and green peppers, mushrooms and onions. This is truly a one dish meal that is well worth the time (about an hour) and effort.

Sandy uses chicken thighs "as they have a bit more fat and more moisture and so, when they are cooked they hold up well to braising". I use both the thigh and leg. Chicken breasts require less time and still have a tendency to dry out (overcook). However, if you want to use the breasts, cook the thighs for about 20 minutes, add breasts and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. Then add mushrooms and pepper and cook for 5 minutes more. Complete the recipe.

Sandy gives the option of cooking for the prescribed time just to get the chicken thighs tender or cook longer until they are fork tender. I prefer the latter. He also uses red pepper flakes, just the right amount. Experiment with the pepper flakes...start with half the amount.

When finished, pour yourself a good chardonnay or pinot noir and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Admittedly, sometimes I do not wait that long to enjoy a good wine.

Click the title to get the recipe.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

30-Minute Meal?

FoodTV's Rachael Ray seems to have cornered the 30 minute meals TV crowd. But she doesn't have a monopoly on the art of preparing good food in a short time frame.

Gourmet magazine has a section in their magazine called 'Quick Kitchen'. The February issue offers a sautée/grilled chicken breast ala Morocco with a lemon couscous. The recipe is easy to do and the results are very good.

A couple of caveats: the couscous calls for oil-cured black olives. Did not have oil cured so I used the Kalamata olives I had in stock. Also, use imported black olives as they have a much better flavor than any domestic varieties. I use a Micro-Plane to zest the lemon. If you do a Google on the name, you will find a bunch of places to buy. They come in many sizes of zesting capabilities. I use the fine.

The recipe says to pound the chicken breasts to ¼" thickness. ..that's a bit thin. Anywhere from ¼" to ½", closer to ½" will give better results. Sauté/grill the breasts as indicated on both sides. Then cover them off heat for a couple of minutes to complete the cooking process.

The cumin and paprika in oil brushed onto the breasts before cooking, along with good technique in grilling, results in juicy morsels of bird. The lemon in the sauce for the chicken complements the lemon couscous.

Give it a try and let me know.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Minestrone

As noted in earlier jottings, one of my honey's kitchen things is making soup - comfort food - during the frosty months. Of course, it has to be good for you. So, my first pick is minestrone laden with fresh veggies in home made chicken stock.

When we married in the 70's, I brought to the table my collection of cookbooks, including the Time/Life books published in the '60's called Foods of The World. I recently raved about the flan recipe from this series.

I've never been a soup maker, so my sweety fills the gap nicely with a delicious bunch of soups, minestrone and borscht. The minestrone recipe is generous enough for us empty nesters to enjoy for several meals.....and like a good boeuf bourguinon, the flavors get better with time.

Note: she ignores all the stuff about slicing or dicing and lets the food processor do it ... only difference is aethestics.

If you do not have/make your own chicken stock get a box of low sodium stock, place the contents in a pot, along with a handful of chopped onion, chopped celery and carrots. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 min. Voila! Homemade chicken stock.

And toss the green can of parmesan. Pop for Regianno Parmesano and grate your own. The difference is worth it.

Click the heading to get this delicious soup.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Soups

Starting early December my sweetie begins to talk about comfort foods such as soups. She makes some pretty fine soups, too. Unfortunately, her presence in the kitchen making soups is sooooo seasonal. Soups like minestrone and borscht need to be enjoyed more than once a year.

She also has a hankerin' for chili. Her kind of chili. Beans and hamburger in a watery mess has never been something that I wanted to wrap a fork/spoon around. That is until now. In Sunday's edition of our local fish wrapper, Sanford D'Amato - Milwaukee's James Beard award winner - published his version of chili in the Entree section. She spied this article but demurred from putting it together.

Yesterday, while she was busy being an artist, I looked at the ingredients and found no hamburger. The beans were black beans.... not laden with tomatoes. And clearly no elbow macaroni or spaghetti, which seems to be a Wisconsin favorite. Thought this would be something I might like.

Well, that is an understatement. As Sandy says, "Once you try this chili, you'll never grab for a can again." Right on target. This recipe takes just a little longer to make because the boneless chuck is cut into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. But the labor is worth the few extra minutes.

My forager could not locate achiote paste, one of the ingredients. As Sandy notes, go to the Mexican market for this. The paste and the poblano pepper will become a staple in our larder for our comfort-foods-months.

Click the title for the recipe.