ROASTED PEANUTS

Have you ever had freshly roasted peanuts? They are a treat. Roasting nuts creates a more intense, warm nutty flavor. Browsing the Richmond Farmers Market we found some raw peanuts. These peanuts were fresh and a little damp. The farmer suggested letting the peanuts air dry for several days before roasting. We purchased a pound for two dollars and set them out on a newspaper to dry. Several days later the dampness was gone and it was time to roast. The nuts still in their shell were place on a baking sheet. They were placed in a 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes you need to check your nuts to avoid over roasting. Sprinkle with salt while still hot. These peanuts were addicting. Give me a cold one and 'Take me out to the Ballgame"

ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC BBQ THROWDOWN

Viva Las Vegas! The weather has been forecast for temperatures to reach the low 80's. It should be a beautiful weekend to hold a barbeque competition. A huge festival is planned to be held at the 'Mandalay Bay Casino' in Las Vegas, Nevada. One of the highlights of this Country Music gathering will be a large barbeque contest. One hundred teams from all over the country will have their barbeque game on. Ms. Goofy and I will polish our judges badges and participate in determining the winning entries. Hope to see you there!

ACM BBQ Throwdown

March 30-31

Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

NO PINK SLIME

Today’s post is ‘Pink Slime’ free. Pink slime has been in the news lately. Is this a Nickelodeon children’s prop or a threat to our food safety? What is pink slime? Unappetizing beef scraps, cartilage and chemically altered meat. (Ammonium hydroxide) that is mixed into so called hamburger meat has fueled this recent phenom event. We have a meat source that is pink slime free from Angelo’s Meat’s in Petaluma California. Now Angelo is a good friend who is a character that is larger and crazier than this recent scandal. We love to visit Angelo because he usually feeds us and lifts our spirits to a higher level.

Angelo was in the back smoking turkeys and bacon. We greeted him and started our smiles and laughing fest. Fresh home made, best ever foccacia bread and smoked pork sandwiches was our reward today. As we were eating our sandwiches Angelo told us about his hamburger. Happy cows and slime free at 3/99/pound was all we needed to know. Hanging out with Angelo is an adventure. While we were there he received a crank call from a sexually frustrated woman that Angelo broadcasted on the speaker phone. Angelo handled this call with grace and we had some giggles. We filled up a small ice chest with hamburger and other treats and said our good byes.

Pink Slime be damned! Some professor created a scandal that will change the meat industry for hopefully the better. Angelo is a local butcher that has real hamburger meat that is slime free. Support butchers like Angelo and the World will be a better place. We have already ordered our Easter ham from Angelo. See you soon.

Angelos's Smokehouse

RED FLANNEL HASH

Leftover corned beef is on the skillet today. A combination of corned beef, potatoes and roasted beets will make our ''Red Flannel Hash' yummylicious. Do you follow recipes to the letter? A friend of ours from Marin who sometime is “I’m Mad and I Eat” likes to list ingredients and offer vague instructions: ( for example: A Liberal sprinkling of this and a Conservative splash of that with a touch of Green will not harm the Peace & Freedom of your dish.) I like to think of recipes as an outline that you can add or subtract with your own personnel twist. Today’s recipe will be vague but fun.

Red Flannel Hash

Think of your 10 inch cast iron skillet as a measuring cup. We are going to fill it up with ingredients. You then can add your own variety of spices and flavors.

Cubed bacon
Carrots cubed
Onions sliced
Cubed corned beef
Roasted beets cubed
Potato cubed (skin on optional)
Salt & pepper
Optional: salsa, Worcestershire hot sauce, oregano, cumin, garlic parsley asparagus, eggs and anything else you can imagine.

Render your bacon for fat and flavor; fill up pan with rest of ingredients and simmer on low heat. Turn several times until potatoes and carrots become tender. Turn up heat slightly to form crust on bottom. Turn one more time and add optional eggs. Cover until eggs are cooked.


I know these instructions are vague. Give it a try. Cooking is fun. Go out and create some Red Flannel Hash. You won/t be sorry!

CORNED BEEF SMOKED

Technically speaking what we are cooking today is pastrami. We prefer to call it smoked corned beef. No matter how you slice it, it will be smoky delicious. A brisket has been soaking in a tub of brine for the last five days. The sixth day we replaced the brine with clear cold water. The water was changed several times during the day to purge the excess salt from our slab of meat. This step was optional but we like a less salty finish. The cured brisket was put in the refrigerator over night to form a pellicle. This is a necessary step for the meat to accept the smoke in the cooker. The meat was smoked for 8 hours at 250 degrees. We pulled it out of the smoker when the internal temperature was 180 degrees. It was wrapped in foil and left to rest for two hours in an insulated cooler. Is it dinner time yet?

All that was left to do is slice and serve. Cole slaw, asparagus, and artichokes would accompany this beautiful pastrami/smoked corned beef. Tender with a kiss of smoke was the verdict for this St. Patrick’s Day. This seven day process was worth the effort. One of the best parts will be the sandwiches for the following week. Have a great pastrami day!

NATIONAL ARTICHOKE HEART DAY

Today is National Artichoke Heart Day. Steamed, boiled, fried, barbequed, and even raw they are delicious. Let's allt have an artichoke heart to celebrate the day!!

LEMON POUND CAKE

We have a Meyer lemon tree that my father gifted me close to 25 years ago. It has survived several moves and is producing lots of beautiful lemons. The Meyer lemon is a sweet/tart fruit that tastes wonderful in desserts. Ms. Goofy had a premonition to make a cake with our lemons. “When life gives you lemons, make a pound cake”.

Lemon Pound Cake
5 Meyer lemons
½ cup honey
¼ cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs plus 2 yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
Lemon juice
Confectioner’s sugar

* Grease and flour 9 by 5 loaf pan.
* Thinly slice 2 lemons and place in pan with honey, water, and cinnamon stick. Bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside and reserve.
* Beat butter and sugar together. Add eggs slowly to incorporate. Add the zest and juice of 3 lemons. Add flour, salt, baking powder to make a smooth batter.
* Pour ½ of batter into a pan. Place candied lemon slices in center and top with rest of batter. Bake for 55-70 minutes at 325 degrees. A toothpick inserted and removed clean will indicate done
* Mix lemon juice and confectioners sugar to form glaze. Drizzle with glaze.

This cake was delicious. The center with its candied lemons was over the top puckery sweet and yummy. They may call this a pound cake because I could eat the whole thing and probably would gain some sweet pounds. I am glad we have a lot more lemons because I believe Ms. Goofy should make this next weekend. (Hint)