....this just in...

Just a reminder to all my loyal fans and friends: keep those recipes coming! (your comments are appreciated, too)

Also, a special Shout-out to Lovemysailor02, from over at Yahoo!

Best of luck, and keep smiling!


P.S. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tomatillo Relish

I had a couple of tomatillos left over, and I thought they'd make a great relish topping for hot dogs. (if you're unfamiliar with tomatillos, have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatillo) I was surprised at how delicious it turned out, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Tomatillo Relish

• 1 large-sized tomatillo (about tennis-ball size), or two smaller ones
• 1 jalapeno chili pepper, OR 1 red cherry pepper
• 1/2 a medium-sized onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp olive oil (approximately)
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1 TBS fresh cilantro (or parsley), chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Start by finely chopping the tomatillo, chili pepper, onion and garlic. A food processor will work, but please don't let the vegetables process into a paste...you want some little chunks in there!

Add the chopped vegetables to a container with a tight-fitting lid. A plastic food-storage container is perfect, as the relish will be stored in it! Add the remaining ingredients, and put the lid onto the container. Shake and swirl the container to thoroughly mix the ingredients. That's it, you're done.

Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour before using, to allow the flavors to blend. Immediately before serving, give the container another shake. Use to top hot dogs and burgers, or add it to a sandwich. Makes about 1 cup.

Happy Two Years!

Hi everyone.

Can you believe it's been two years since I began this Blog? Frankly, so can I.

It's getting to be Barbecue Season again...around here, it actually never stopped. Last weekend, in honor of Memorial Day, I threw some burgers and thick-cut vegetables on the grill. Nothing fancy, we just wanted to kick back with simple food and a few cold beers. Mission accomplished.

Last night, I was in the mood to grill some hot dogs. Good quality hot dogs are difficult to improve upon; without naming names, I use a popular Kosher variety. But of course, you can go completely nuts with the toppings. I decided to make use of some bits-n-pieces I had left over from other recipes. I'll post it separately here, and also over at my Barbecue For Real Blog (http://bbqforreal.blogspot.com).

Some new "linkage"

Hi everyone!

I have joined forces with Technorati, a very popular "hub" in the world of Blogs.

Here's a link to their site:

Technorati Profile

Check them out, check me out...you know the drill!

(Your Favorite Fruit) Muffins

For the muffins:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar (brown is best, but white will do)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (1-8 ounce container) fruit flavored yogurt, any style
• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened
• (optional) 1 cup dried fruit, such as raisins, cranberries, chopped prunes, etc.

For the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice, preferably freshly-squeezed
• up to 1 tablespoon water, as needed

(muffins) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl; whisk until creamy. Add the yogurt and eggs; stir to combine. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix thoroughly. Finally, if you're using dried fruits, add them last, and mix them in.

Use muffin pans, lined with paper muffin cups. Fill each cup about 2/3 full of muffin batter. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown on top.

(glaze) Combine the sugar, melted butter, and lemon juice; whisk very thoroughly to combine. The mixture should be slightly thinner than peanut butter. If the mixture is too thick, add some water, a few drops at a time, up to a tablespoon, whisking constantly.

Allow the muffins to cool, then use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on top of each muffin. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen standard-size muffins.

Happy 2007!

Hello, everybody! Happy New Year!

(ooh, sorry...I'll try to be a little quieter)

I hope everyone is enjoying a healthy and prosperous 2007!

I think this year is definitely going to be The Year of the Brickman. So far, things are going exceptionally well for me, and I'm very thankful. The restaurant has been doing well, and I already have cooking classes scheduled into March!

I'd like to thank all of you, my friends, for your support during 2006. Last year wasn't too bad (or too good), overall, but I'd like to thank those of you that kept in touch throughout it all. My family thanks you, too.

Enough of the "gooey stuff". Let's all get out there and make 2007 ROCK!

--John

muffins

Hi everyone!

Like I said yesterday, I'm sorry I've been so lax with my posting; the holiday season kept me really, really busy.

Speaking of the holidays, today I have a recipe---THE recipe---for some muffins. These are the very muffins I handed out as gifts to friends, family, co-workers, and several other lucky people (like the mailman and my hair stylist).

The original recipe calls for full-size muffins, without using paper muffin-cups; just a well-greased, full-size muffin pan. In my version, I used mini-muffin pans, lined with mini-muffin paper cups (they hold about 2 ounces). The result: about TWICE as many muffins, which were easier to store, and to transport. They also fit better into the little cellophane gift bags.

This original recipe yields about 12 muffins; I doubled the recipe each time I made it.


Applesauce Christmas Muffins

(muffins)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 oz), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bourbon or other whiskey

(topping)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(for the muffins)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Use a whisk to mix everything together. You don't have to be too thorough.

In the mixer bowl, combine the eggs and brown sugar; whisk together (using the mixer's whisk attachment) until the mixture is creamed and "lump-free". Scrape down the whisk attachment, and attach the "beater" attachment.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the mixer bowl, with the mixer on low speed (use setting 1 or 2; anything higher will toss flour all over your kitchen!). When the mixture is incorporated, add the applesauce and the butter. Allow the mixer to combine the ingredients (about 2 minutes); you may turn the mixer speed to Medium, but don't go any higher.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a mini-muffin pan with mini-sized paper muffin cups (they're available right next to the full-size muffin cups). Using a teaspoon, fill each about two-thirds full of the muffin batter. Combine the "topping" ingredients in a small container with a lid; shake the container vigorously to blend the ingredients. Using your fingers, top each unbaked muffin with about 1/2 teaspoon of the topping. Place the muffin pan(s) onto a baking sheet (to catch any drips) then place the baking sheet into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then check for doneness; the muffins should be brown on top, and should have risen to the tops of the muffin cups. If not, return them to the oven and give them another 10 minutes.

Remove the muffin pan(s) from the baking sheet, and allow the muffins to cool, in the pan, for about 15 minutes.

Baked Meatballs

Hi everybody! Long time, no see! I've been busy lately, and in addition to everything else, I have also moved into a new home. Not too far; same town and all that. Now I'm in the process of trying to unpack and organize.

Since I haven't posted any recipes (or ANYTHING) for a while, I thought I'd jump back into things with a new, favorite recipe of mine: Baked Meatballs. Meatballs are traditionally a "fun" dish to prepare...the kids can help, too! The kids that I know really love getting their hands into the mixture, and squishing things around.

These meatballs are a bit non-traditional, since they're not cooked along with the pasta sauce. What often happens is the meatballs tend to get "lost" in the sauce, and sometimes they even disintegrate completely! These meatballs will retain a nice outer crust, and have a more distinct flavor, than their traditional counterparts. Plus, you only have to use as many as you need; once you've baked a batch, you can use half of them right away, and freeze the rest for later.


Baked Meatballs

1.5 pounds (total) ground beef, pork, and/or veal
½ to ¾ cup FRESH chopped parsley
½ cup bread crumbs PLUS about ¼ cup extra, for coating**
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons dried basil, OR 3 Tablespoons fresh chopped basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano, OR 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

Combine all the ingredients (except for the extra ¼ cup of bread crumbs) in a large mixing bowl. Using your hands, thoroughly combine everything together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put it into the refrigerator for one to two hours, to allow flavors to combine.

After the time is up, remove the bowl from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Have two identical-sized mini-muffin pans (the kind with 12 cavities) ready. Spray one of them with non-stick cooking spray; you may or may not need the other pan. Use a 1/4-cup sized measuring cup to “weigh out” the each meatball (so that they'll all be a uniform size). Roll each meatball gently between your palms, and when you have a nice, golfball shape, place one meatball into each of the cavities. There should be just enough to fill one muffin pan; if you have extra, use the second muffin pan (don't forget the cooking spray).

Bake the meatballs at 400 F for about 20 minutes.
When done, remove the muffin pans to a cooling rack (or to a folded towel on the counter top). At this point, the meatballs may be added to pasta sauce, etc. or, you could just eat them right away! If the meatballs are not going to be used immediately, allow them to cool, then store them in a plastic zipper bag (be careful not to break them up when storing). Keep them in the fridge or freezer until ready for use.

(** an equal amount of saltine cracker crumbs may be substituted for breadcrumbs, if you want the meatballs to have a little more "crunch" to them. If you use saltine crackers, reduce the amount of kosher salt to 1/2 teaspoon--the crackers have salt in them too!)

There you have it. Add the meatballs (as many as you need) to your favorite pasta sauce. If you're using the meatballs immediately after baking them, just stir them into the sauce, and serve. If the meatballs are frozen, throw them into the pot of sauce about 25 minutes before serving. Cover the sauce, and keep it on low heat; the meatballs will heat through, and dinner is served!

Sourdough Bread

Hello again, everybody!

Recently, I got a "hankering" for some really tasty, old-fashioned sourdough bread. The problem is, we have a serious lack of independently-owned bakeries around here--they've been replaced by supermarkets with built-in bakeries. So the true "sourdough" breads have been replaced by ordinary yeast breads, which have been flavored (with stuff like vinegar, citrus juice, or buttermilk) to make them more sour in flavor.

They're not bad...not at all. They're just not the REAL THING.

So I decided to make my own sourdough bread (beginning with a genuine sourdough "starter"), completely from scratch. I used to bake bread, including sourdough, three to five times a week; nowadays, I'm rarely able to devote an entire afternoon to bread baking. But I've decided to do it, just because the results are so delicious.

A few words about sourdough: traditionally, a sourdough starter is produced by accident. It is created intentionally, but the yeast that grows in the starter (and eventually leavens the bread) is sort of random. It's all a matter of airborne spores (yummy!).

Sourdough starter--the genuine stuff, anyway--is a simple combination of flour, water, and dumb luck. Not that it's really all "luck". There are naturally-occuring yeast spores in the air, all around us, all the time. The idea is that they'll find their way to your flour/water mixture (with just a little help from you), and begin to grow and thrive. When they have multiplied sufficiently, you have a "sponge". That's what is used to leaven sourdough bread.

Why not just add some store-bought yeast (the commercial kind, in little packets) to the mixture? Commercially-produced baking yeasts are bred to grow under less-than-ideal conditions (too cool, too warm, too dry, too moist), to make them foolproof for the Home Baker. This is a good thing!

But in addition, commercially-produced yeasts are bred for uniformity. They are not supposed to impart a flavor--sour or otherwise--to your baked goods. They are supposed to leaven the bread, and that's all. The mild, sour flavor you experience when you bite into most store-bought Sourdough Breads is due to an added flavoring agent. The yeast isn't responsible.

This recipe will produce a fine Sourdough Starter, which can be preserved and re-created.

Sourdough Starter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups water

In a non-metallic bowl (preferably glass), combine the flour and the water. Mix together with a non-metallic implement (a wooden spoon is fine; a silicone whisk is ideal). Cover the bowl with a piece of cloth, and use a large rubber band to stretch the cloth across the opening of the bowl...kind of like a drum. The cloth, traditionally, should be cheesecloth. But any cloth will do, as long as it's clean, and it completely covers the mouth of the bowl. Place the bowl full of mixture in a warm, draft-free place (I keep mine on top of the freezer. Warm, some air circulation, and out-of-the-way).

Now, you wait. It could be about two days, or it could be up to 5 days (after 5 days, the process just isn't happening...chuck it and start over). Stir the mixture daily, and replace the cloth cover each time. After about 5 or 6 days, the mixture should have begun to thicken into a "sponge"...it should smell tart, and be full of tiny bubbles. It should have a beige or yellowish color. At this point, add an additional cup EACH of flour and water, and stir everything together (don't be too concerned about lumps). After 24-48 hours, the sponge will be bubbly. It's ready!

My sponge is ready, as well; tonight, I'm-a-gonna bake!

I'll let you know how things go, and I'll post some bread (and other goodies) recipes in the next few days.

Enjoy!