Fun Playing with Birthday Food

Another birthday is in the books. Since I am reaching the age where I don't want to think about how many - I use this festive time to simply celebrate life and the good things in mine.

We woke up on my birthday morning to overcast skies. We nevertheless hustled to the Farmers' Market, where we scored, among other things, some gorgeous broccoli, first-of-the-season local tomatoes, and fresh dill. I unfortunately left my camera home.

As we headed off for Mister Brisket, the skies opened up and it began to pour. And storm. But weather would not keep us from our mission: fresh Alaskan Sockeye! And since we had to go to Mister Brisket anyway - we decided a deli sandwich would start our birthday eating in style! (Ok, ok - Bob did not have to twist my arm.) I had pastrami on rye and Bob had BBQ Beef. Both were absolutely yummy. We ate upstairs at the Heinen's on Cedar, then did some shopping. We acquired some beautiful Southern Ohio Corn and a case of wine to enhance our dinner!

Next stop - Western Reserve Wines. We hadn't visited this retailer since their move from SOM Center Road into The Shoppes of Solon North, but I knew they were having a wine tasting today of their "12 under 12" wines - and since we in a stock-up mode, it seemed a perfect birthday treat! You can see the wines we tasted here. We bought all but 2 (and doubled up on two others to make the case).

Once home, Bob went to work to create a fabulous birthday dinner for us! We started with these beautiful, if blurry, tomatoes:




Tossed Salad of Garden Lettuces, Organic Carrot and Local Tomatoes

We enjoyed our home-made sesame-spicy vinaigrette with this.


Seasoned Salmon Atop the Cedar Plank


Broccoli and Corn Prepare to Meet the Grill

After a visit with Mister Weber, the rest of our dinner was served:



The salmon was seasoned with salt and pepper, and lightly sprayed with lemon-grapeseed oil before grilling. The fat oozing from the tender meat is what came naturally!






My Birthday Dinner Plate


OOPS - Almost forgot the Caramelized Onions and Dill Topping!

Instead of the usual red onion - I bought a local sprouted onion from Heinen's - and the taste was picked-from-the-garden good!

We had picked up two "individually sized" cakes from Heinen's bakery for the birthday candle ritual - but we were so stuffed by the time we'd finished our meal that we had no room for any dessert! Such is the wonderful bounty available to us this time of year that we didn't get to either mini-cake until a few days later - and I'm ashamed to admit that there is still one in the fridge that we haven't touched yet!





This had chocolate and peanut butter - and it was sinfully delicious!

But my birthday party did not end here! For later in the week, we had the perennial office celebration. As the guest of honor, I chose lunch delivered from Mister Brisket (and this time - I had my camera to record the delicious corned beef sandwich I enjoyed):





And of course, a real live birthday cake made by our amazing receptionist/pastry chef Lise:



Almond cake and chocolate pudding, I believe (I could check the chunk left in the fridge, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?).

And so, another festive, happy birthday time came to an end, accompanied by great food and great folks! And lots of playing with amazingly wonderful food!

Fun Playing with Kurobuta Sausage

When I decided to pick up some Kurobuta sausage from Mister Brisket last Friday, I never expected it to be so amazing. Maybe because the Thai Veal Sausage is so good - I don't know why this variety wasn't on my radar. Well, it is now!

We grilled some of it up tonight, with potatoes that had a 15 minute dunk in simmering water and then some seasoning. Oh my goodness - just delicious!


Raw


Cooked

This sausage has a pleasantly spicy bite, and big, big pork flavor.

Another Angle

We started dinner with salad (and the last Howards Farm tomato) and enjoyed Howards Farm asparagus with dinner - it was every bit as tender and delicious as it had looked. We steamed it lightly and added a pinch of salt.

This was the essence of having fun playing with our food!

Fun Playing With Howards Apples (and other good stuff from their market)

Saturday marked my first 2009 venture to the Geauga Farmers' Market. I had heard talk of fabulous asparagus, and hoped to procure some. However, it was not to be. Spring produce is still fleeting, and I was too late to score what I was looking for. One very positive development I noted at the market on Saturday, however, was that there were no fewer than 3 or 4 vendors offering farm eggs. That was a huge void in last year's market that seems to now be filled.

As I trundled back towards home on Route 306, it suddenly occurred to me to take a left at Bainbridge Road and see if Howards Apples Farm Market [sic] had yet opened for 2009. I was greeted with a delightful affirmative. The farm doesn't list a street address or website in their brochure, but the phone # is 440-543-7587. This is a small, family owned farm, located 2.5 miles east of State Route 306 on Bainbridge Road or .5 miles west of East Washington Street on Bainbridge Road.

I made a beeline for the asparagus! Young, tender and grown on the premises. We'll be eating it tomorrow! The market had other goodies, too- Matsu apples (from the 2008 harvest, cold-stored) and first-of-the-season tomatoes, sourced from a southern Ohio farm. Heaven!











(This is a Matsu apple - they also have Fuji, but this is what I bought.)



Simply fabulous (well, I don't know about the asparagus yet, but every sense except taste is telling me fabulous!).

In addition to enjoying the tomatoes on salad, the tomatoes added a fabulous punctuation to my breakfast today. The primary ingredients were a simple Salmon Salad (leftover Alaskan salmon , including some caramelized red onions and parsley, mashed with mayo), Bob's Whole Wheat Bread, and sliced tomato:










And we had one more meal of salmon for dinner tonight - and I couldn't quite finish mine, so I guess I get to keep playing with salmon for breakfast again tomorrow!

More Fun Playing with Alaskan Salmon from Mister Brisket

I had not intended to again blog about Mister Brisket's Alaskan salmon this year, since I just did. But the dinner I just enjoyed was so amazing, I must tell you about it one more time.

I am an intensely fussy fish eater. I only eat salmon when it is in season, which the last couple of years in Cleveland has meant Alaskan Salmon season. Since I only prepare it at this time of year, my technique had slipped. Tonight, I reviewed last year's blog entry to ensure that I did it perfectly. And perfect it was.

According to the email, this was again Taku River salmon. But Mister Brisket, who was leaving as I was buying, said everyone was getting Copper River Salmon. Now, things are a little feblunged (mixed up) at Mister Brisket, since the sudden and unfortunate loss of Sanford's mom last week, so I wasn't worried about it. We were charged the lower Taku River price, and the product was simply fabulous - which is why I'm writing about it again so soon.

This time, I caramelized the onions correctly, and used the cast iron and the oven to obtain perfect results:









The meal was competed by Brown Texmati Rice and Green Beans/Carrots with Indonesian Spices. All of the flavors and textures worked perfectly, and the crispy salmon skin was simply sublime. Bravo, Mister Brisket. We had a lot of fun playing with this dinner tonight!

More Fun Playing With Food From Mister Brisket

I was most sad to learn late yesterday that Margret Vine (the mother of Sanford Herskovitz a/k/a Mister Brisket), passed away on Friday at the age of 95. Per Jewish tradition, the funeral must be held as soon as possible, but NOT on Shabbat (Friday or Saturday). I had spoken briefly with Hank Kornblutt on Friday about getting some of the Wild Alaskan Salmon, from Alaska 's Taku River, that he had gotten in via Fedex, and he said nothing about it.

I can only conjecture that she had been ill and her passing expected, because no one said a word about it when Bob and I visited the store on Saturday to pick up our fish. Although, Sanford was on the phone the entire time, which is unusual. So, my apologies for not offering condolences while we were there. I learned last night that the funeral is today.

Bob had never tasted a freshly made Mister Brisket Pastrami Sandwich - and we had decided to remedy that this day. We packed our pound of fish, casing hotdogs, and sliced turkey breast into a cooler, and took the sandwiches in another bag. We needed to shop at the Heinen's down the street anyway, so we made that our next stop. Before starting our shopping, however, we picked up a pop in the food court, then went upstairs to the dining room to enjoy our sandwiches. They were heavenly!


Pastrami, Rye, Ba-Tampte Deli Mustard





Every time I eat one of these (which isn't very often - I think my last one was on my birthday last July) I marvel at the punch of the fresh spices - that is what sets this pastrami apart from all others. Bravo, Hank and Sanford! And Bob was most impressed with the pickles - he pronounced them delightfully garlicky (I do not consume cucumbers in any form - so Bob got to enjoy both pickle slices).

Later in the evening, I made dinner. I did NOT split the fish filet - I asked Bob to do that because he can usually cut things much more precisely than I can. Not this time.



This was an exquisite piece of fish. No smell - not even normal salmon smell - it was absolutely pristine. You can see where the butcher got all of the pinbones out, so I didn't have to.

I caramelized red onions and prepared a side dish of Sichuan Green Beans, which I neglected to photograph. Then, I thought I was prepping mai fun, or thin rice noodles, which I was going to make into a simple fried-rice style accompaniment. It wasn't until the soaked noodles hit the wok and it became apparent that I had goofed - and grabbed bean thread noodles and not rice noodles. Oh well - no photo of that mistake, either.

The salmon got the same simple treatment we always give to King fillet - salt and fresh cracked pepper, saute in Extra Virgin Olive Oil to medium-rare, plate with caramelized onion and today, parsley. Simple and delicious.



Neither Bob nor I could finish our fish. Or our sides, for that matter. I had the solution for that!

After dinner, Bob decided to make a loaf of potato bread. This bread would be an amazing accompaniment to our leftovers omelet. The bread had amazing texture - soft on the inside, with a perfect crust. And specks of potato skin throughout!

We began our day this morning with the following breakfast:


Potato Bread


Breakfast Omelet





I started with a red Hungarian hot pepper from the freezer and a little ghee. Once that got hot, I added the leftover vegetables and noodles, and got them nice and hot. I then added the leftover salmon, and let it get hot. Over the top went two Hensbury Farm eggs. Stir gently.



Hartzler Farms butter on Bob's potato bread completed the plate. Yum!



Once again, Mister Brisket has satisfied our hunger, and given us primo food to play with - first for an amazing lunch, then dinner, then breakfast the next day. And Bob has a pot of beans in mind to accompany those hotdogs we bought . . . and I've got potato bread to make my turkey sandwiches on!

Fun Playing With Berkshire Pork From Mister Brisket

My mother made the occasional pork chop when I was growing up - but none of us kids liked them and we basically refused to eat them. They were dry, tough and with a taste we just couldn't learn to like. Though these came from a butcher shop and not the supermarket, I suspect they were 1970s-on factory farmed pork. To this day, the only pork chop dish I've ever liked enough to eat was Dominic Cerino's Berkshire Pork. Still, in recent years, under the tutelage of Dominic, and Chefs Michael Symon and Matt Harlan, I've learned to appreciate the pig enough to try any good quality meat. Which leads me to the instant question:

How did a nice Jewish boy like Sanford Herskovitz learn to pick his pork so well?

Bob called Mister Brisket to order some meats for our weekend. After speaking with Sanford's adjutant, Hank, on Wednesday, a delivery of casing hotdogs and Berkshire pork chops was arranged. Specifically, Bob ordered eight 6-ounce chops. By the time the delivery arrived on Thursday, however, Bob learned that he'd been overruled - the package contained four 12-ounce chops. And how sweet they were, seasoned only with kosher salt and telicherry pepper:











Bob is really learning how to use the Weber (after a lifetime of gas) - it was grilled to caramelized crustiness on the outside and medium-rare inside. The BEST pork chop I've ever tasted!





Bob and I sighed with delight through every bite (we shared the one chop). This delectable meat was accompanied by locally grown salad greens, and goodies from our garden, which will be the subject of another post. Playing with pork chops was never so good!

Fun Playing With Seafood From Mister Brisket

Friday, I got a call from Mister Brisket, AKA Sanford Herskovitz. "I have something special coming in tomorrow morning and you want some" he told me. So what could be so special?

Diver Scallops. Dry packed diver scallops - meaning no sodium polytriphosphate, injected chemistry, water, or other yuckies. And these suckers would be big. Huge. "Grill them with a little salt, pepper and olive oil," he said. Ok, I'm with the program - bring 'em on.

Mister Brisket delivered two pounds of the scallops yesterday (he says he eats a full pound of these at a sitting - you have to realize that this is a big man). I wound up cooking up one pound for dinner for the two of us (and we had two left over) - and I gotta say - these are the best scallops I've ever tasted.

We started dinner with salad:




Organic Greens with Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese, Cherry Stop Dried Sweet Cherries, 12 Year Old Balsamic and EVOO

We'd accompany the scallops with fried Mei Fun (thin rice noodles) with vegetables. Though I wanted to grill the scallops as Sanford had suggested, the Cleveland weather gods again did not co-operate with my outdoor plans. So, I decided to sear them. After all, I'd watched the fish station saute scallops for about 4 hours at Lola the night before, so I had the technique all down.



I've had dry pack and scallops in the shell - and a lot of so-so scallops packaged other ways - these were some of the best scallops I've ever smelled, touched or tasted.



These things are f*cking huge! Note the ruler - they average over 2 inches in every direction.



Searing in cast iron. I didn't want to use EVOO at this high temp, so I used my Five Flavor Oil.



Served - Kosher Salt, Black Pepper and Five Flavor Oil. It didn't want or need another thing!

I don't want to exaggerate - but these scallops were simply amazing. Like little steaks.

I served them up with sauteed rice noodles and vegetables:



I'm so glad I have another pound of these babies on ice in the fridge for tonight! Thank you Mister Brisket for introducing me to the joys of playing with Diver Scallops!