Delicious

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Some of the tomatoes in pots from last year's garden.

As somebody who enjoys good food and cooking, I know that my finished product is only as good as the ingredients that I put into it.  This is especially true when it comes to fresh produce, as so much of the conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are now grown for shipping hardiness, rather than actual flavor.  A sad waste, in my book!  True, we can now get almost any sort of produce, grown anywhere, at any time of the year, but is it actually worth buying?  In the case of tomatoes, I have to say no.

I remember growing up with tomatoes, real tomatoes, that came fresh from the garden.  They were a focal point on our BLTs. They were sliced and lightly pickled with vinegar and onions.  They were tossed with fresh mozzarella and basil.  They were broiled with herbs and Parmesan on top.  Best of all, they horrified my early fall lunch mates in school when I would pull one out and eat it like an apple, juice dripping everywhere.  They were bright red, acidic, and had names like Big Boy, Early Girl and Rutgers.  These tomatoes were picked very ripe and traveled no further than to a neighbors house.  Is it any wonder that I find today’s hard pink supermarket tomatoes to be somewhat lacking?

I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Two summers ago, for the first time, I decided to try planting some cherry tomatoes.  We put a few pots out back, had 3 or 4 plants, plus 2 of jalapenos.  Last year I decided to expand, so had 10 or so cherry tomato plants, as well as a patio tomato and several pepper plants, not to mention branching out to herbs.  There were some success, some failures, and some really wet weather.  A total success it was not, but there were enough successes that I fully planned to do the same again this year.

You know how sometimes, when you get a crazy idea, it just builds.  Then you can’t shake the idea, and it becomes just a big encompassing desire to go nuts with your idea?  Yeah, that was me and my garden this year.  Why start with pre-bought plants?  I can start from seed!  I purchased a mixed packet of tomato seeds from Heirloom Solutions, got my seedling pots ready, and planted them, along with some onion and green onion seeds.  I quickly decided that my tiny patio out back was really not enough space, and had already proven to be not quite enough sun, so I figured that I could sneak a few plants out front.  We had a garden up against the house that was already in place when we moved in, that was stunning.  Years of neglect by us has met that it’s been taken over by bug-ridden hollyhocks, and a Rose of Sharon that has spawned hundreds of mini-bushes from root shoots.   Last weekend, I took a hoe to that garden, and out everything came.  Over the next couple of weeks, multiple bags of peat soil will be added, mixed in to what is already there, in an attempt to get the soil a little more healthy.  A tiller will be rented to help chop up the roots left from that blasted Rose of Sharon, and a bag or two of manure will be mixed in.  I have blood meal on hand for later fertilizing, and am planning on placing a soaker hose in for the summer.  The plan is to keep these tomatoes healthy and organic, and hope like crazy that the birds don’t love them as much as I do.

Is everything going perfectly to plan?  Of course not!  My seeds, since it never occurred to me that they would need a grow light and not just a room with sunlight, got a bad start, and are currently very leggy, and are just now starting to sprout their tomato plant leaves.  For the first three weeks, they looked like tall stalks with 2 oval leaves….in other words, nothing like a tomato, and totally indistinguishable from every other seedling in the world.  I panicked a bit, consulted some friends, did some looking on the web, and decided to hit them with the Ott Light I use for crafting.  A few days of that, and little bitty baby sprout leaves started to appear!  My hopes are high again, and soon I will replant a bunch of them into slightly larger containers, to continue growing until they can go into the ground in another month or so.  The plan is to have a good dozen plants out front, some cherry tomatoes out back, along with another plant or two from this seedling bunch in containers, and to plant some at a couple of places in our neighborhood where we know the people won’t mind us stealing a couple of their tomatoes if they got a type we did not.

This year's seedlings, just starting to show their real tomato leaves.

Is all of this more work than swinging by the store, and grabbing a tomato from the bin?  Of course.  Especially with having to start from total scratch this year, it’s a ton of work, hassle, and a bit of an investment.  Is it worth it?  Considering the fact that I will get tomatoes that will have amazing flavor, that I know have never been sprayed or chemically enhanced, whose seeds did not start out as part of some lab project?  Absolutely.

Pretty clever, if I do say...

We seem to be running short on pairing tips and tricks, so this seems as good a time as any to expand on that subject. Food and beverage pairing can be intensely intricate and daunting, but it needn’t be. Simplicity can, and often does, yield amazing results, so you don’t have to be a Master Sommelier or Brewmeister to find a beverage to go with your meal. With a little knowledge, experience and thought, it can be as easy or as complex as you make it.

First, when contemplating a beverage pairing I always think in terms of comparative or contrasting flavors. I like to go with contrasting most of the time as it tends to add more interest, unless there is a really special ingredient (read as rare or expensive or both), then I try to go with something understated and complementary to let that ingredient be the star.

Complimentary flavors are the easiest to start with. Certain foods will always pair well with certain beverages, but always keep in mind the full ingredient list of the dish and method of cooking when looking for a good pairing. Pork and shellfish, for instance, will go with beer no matter what the method of cooking. It’s the other ingredients involved that will determine what you should pair with it. Mussels steamed in white wine can certainly be paired with a beer, but it’s a trickier pairing than just going with white wine. The same or similar, maybe even a better quality wine than was used in the cooking process, is a no-brainer as far as pairing for such a dish goes. If you used a $5.00 bottle to steam them, serve them with a $15.00 bottle (especially if you are already familiar with that bottle) and life is easy.

Bottom line with the complimentary method is you really only need some basic knowledge of beverages to pull off a successful pairing. The typical flavor profile of the various beer styles and for grape varietals and blends. Intuition often helps immensely here, too. Once you have that vision of the final dish in your head, what you want the end result to taste like, just stand in front of the beer or wine shelf and browse with that in the back of your mind. In any well stocked beverage store I’m sure something will jump out at you. Trust your instincts, and if it doesn’t work out the way you wanted it to, ask yourself why. What was the beverage lacking? Was it too heavy or too flat? Did it overpower the food, or vice versa? Once you determine the answer, congratulations! You’ve just had a learning experience, and that is never a bad thing! This will guide your future selections.

The point is, don’t take this too seriously. The comparative flavor method is fairly forgiving, and works well enough most of the time. Acidity cuts through fat, is probably the best advice to give to someone who wants to venture into this endeavor. If the dish at hand is rich or has a rich and fatty sauce, go with a beverage that has some acidity. Braised pork, for instance, loves a lager or a white wine with higher than normal acidity. Hard cider is also a valid option since there’s a fair amount of acid and apples are a classic pairing with pork. But, as I said, the other ingredients in the dish might scream for something more specific. Curry braised pork? I’d go with a light or medium bodied beer, depending on what sort of curry is used. Jerk braised pork? Would benefit more from a light lager, or maybe even bold white.

Of course, if there is a particular beverage used in the construction of the dish, then that beverage is a no-brainer for

New Holland Breweries Mad Hatter being added to a Cheddar-Ale soup. I wonder what I should pair with this?

pairing. Beef Burgundy (Bourguignon) loves a bold red wine, because that’s one of the liquids in the braise, and beer poached bratwurst on a summer afternoon cannot and should not be paired with anything other than a good beer! I doubt even Ian, our resident wine guy, would argue that.

Another thing to consider are the ingredients used in the brewing of the beverage before you. This counts more for beer and cider than wine, since wines are nearly always made with grapes alone. Many beer styles incorporate herbs, spices, citrus, even seaweed in the brew kettle. If those adjuncts would pair well with the food on the plate if they were part of the dish, then they will work well when present in your libation. Beer with citrus peel works well with deserts and fish, one with heavy spices like a winter ale will go well when game or curry or jerk seasoning are on the plate, and one with fruit additives will go well with anything that particular fruit would. Chocolate and raspberry, for instance. A classic combination. Chocolate cake and/or ganache loves a raspberry lambic. And lambics are high in acidity, which will cut through the fat and richness chocolate brings to the table, thus washing your palate clean and preparing you for the next mouthful.

So let your intuition, instincts, and sense of adventure guide you. Count failures as learning experiences. Above all, dare to explore your options. Some great pairings can come from unlikely places, and the only way to find out is to try! There is a universal “ah ha!” moment in this endeavor, one that every beverage snob has had. Most people just don’t get it until they’ve experienced it. The synergy that can occur with food and beverage mingling on the tongue, making each other greater than the sum of their parts.

I have a few more ideas in mind for future posts right now, but I’ll get back to this subject. Next time I touch on this I’ll tackle the not-so-easy pairing ideas of contrasting the potable with the plate.

-Jack

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With much appreciation to our friends, the producers and vendors at Detroit’s Eastern Market for this great plate:

Beer bread from Avalon Breads, Blackberry Ginger Jam from Slow Jams, Eggs from Holtz Farm, Raw Milk and Maple Bacon from Oliver Farms.

For those in other parts of the world – while you may not have direct access to the amazing foods being created in Michigan, it’s still worth your while to seek out your local farmers markets and artisanal producers and vendors to bring the very best to your table.

Here are some web resources that can help:

Local Harvest market locator

USDA Farm Market Search

And cool apps for Android and iphone such as:

Locavore

Farmers Market Finder

With spring coming early, it’s going to be a fantastic season! Get out there and buy real food from real people and we’ll show you great ways to prepare it here at The Rogue Estate.  Got a favorite Farm / food website or app? Share it with us in the comments.

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This dish was part of The Rogue Estate’s Authentic Irish cuisine dinner, featured in Real Detroit Weekly and The Hungry Dudes on 03/14/12.

When thinking of Irish food, like any other American, I automatically think of boiled meat, corned beef, and potatoes.  The Irish are not known for their desserts, so when looking them up, I had to keep my mind open, and avoid the Bailey’s Cheesecake that you find on “Irish Pubs” all across America.  Turns out the Irish have gotten very creative in using what they could get to make unique desserts.

For our Traditional Irish Meal, I decided to tackle this recipe for Burnt Oranges.  Wait…how did tropical oranges become a staple for not-so-tropical Ireland?  Turns out that while Ireland was at war with England, they made friends with Spain.  The Spanish sailed some of its foodstuffs up to Ireland, and the rest was history.  Of course, by the time the oranges were sailed north, and the common folk got their hands on them and ate all of the really ripe ones, they were left with some oranges that had seen better days.  Cooking them like this was an interesting and tasty way to not waste those older oranges.

What I did leave out of this recipe was that the Seville oranges are a pain in the butt to peel, far more so than any other orange I have ever dealt with.  Between the segments that wouldn’t come apart gracefully, to the fact that Seville oranges have more seed than flesh in each segment, I figure next time I’ll stick to making this with another type of orange.  The results will be sweeter and less traditional, but I’ll swear less.

Have any tips on how to handle Seville oranges or a favorite citrus recipe? Let me know in the comments!

-Megan

For The Rogue Estate’s Chef’s Night, featured in March 14, 2012′s Real Detroit Weekly, I was tasked with braising leeks to be used as a side dish for our Authentic Irish dinner service led by Ian Malbon.

Let’s start with the basics, and usually for me that’s defining what I will be doing and with what. A braise is a cooking method where you sear your item at a high temperature, then drop the heat, add liquid, cover it, and let it cook in the liquid until it becomes fork tender.

A leek is a vegetable from the onion and garlic family. Instead of being round like an onion, it grows upwards in layers of concentric cylinders. This is important to understand, because in between these layers lies a lot of dirt, and as such we must take care to rid our wonderful leeks of any impurities.

This dish fits well with just about any plate and its simplicity really lets the sweetness and texture of the leeks shine – a great side with any protein. Leeks aren’t just for St Paddy’s day any more!

Do you have a favorite preparation for leeks we should try here at the Estate? Let me know about it in the comments.

-Chilly

HOY HOY HOY!

I promised over a month ago to complete the comparison between a worthwhile west-coast Syrah, and the Aussie inspiration that I believe most Californians are chasing, and may someday perfect.

G’Day mate. The Barossa Valley lays claim to the home of classic Australian Shiraz, but I also believe the non-corporate wineries there are functioning as great laboratories for the grape, perfecting the tannin and fruit balance, and considering aging potential. I enjoyed this inexpensive blend only slightly more than the entry level 100% Shiraz from the same maker.

St. Hallett 2008 Shiraz-Cabernet, a refined bomb.

2008 St. Hallett Shiraz-Cabernet (About $13)

Learn more about the winery: http://www.sthallett.com.au/ (Flash-heavy site)
Learn more about the bottle in front of me: The winery seems to have moved on from this blend and currently offers no info. Cellartracker has 6 reviews: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=791020

SEE: Deep, rich medium ruby throughout, with great clarity
SWIRL: Thin even slow coating of the glass, with stubborn slow legs
SMELL: Jammy black raspberry and overripe strawberry upfront, with a background of light tobacco and dry forest.
SIP: Rich, bright sweet fruit resolving to a mild warm spiciness. A full body and a pleasing burst of acidity.
SAVOR: A faint touch of chocolate covered cherry on a relatively short but pleasant finish

Final impression: A brilliant wine for the price (QPR = Quality for Price Ratio). Characteristic of the Aussie “fruit bomb” but showing some real depth and complexity, even at the low end of St. Hallett’s portfolio.

Pair with: Simple, powerful, familiar favorites. Burgers, takeout lasagna, bratwurst.

This week Ian and Jack led us down to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras via Jack’s kitchen. Everyone cooked their asses off using some great ingredients and the meal was absolutely tremendous from spicy start to sweet finish.

Ian and Jack’s Mardi Gras Menu:

Apps:
Fridge pickled okra: pickled raw to keep that awesome okra snap with a bit of heat from red peppers.  – Ian
Blue Points Oysters on the half shell with a smoked chili flake mignonette. – Jack

Main:
Creole Mustard Slaw: Cabbage, Bell Peppers, Onions, Celery and Herbs in a Mustard, Mayo & spices dressing – Bob
Snow Crab Claws: steam-poached and served with mustard, caper, mayo, hot sauce and oknomiyaki Remoulade. – Jack & Ian
Shrimp & Duck Etouffee: Butter Roux, Trinity (Celery, Bell Pepper, Onion), Shrimp & Duck Confit in Shrimp Stock.   – Ian
Red beans & Rice: Red Beans, Tasso Ham & Chaurice over Popcorn Rice – Ian

Dessert:
Creamy Pralines, Roasted Pecans candied in cream, butter, brown sugar and palm sugar. – Bob
Beignets, deep fried then dusted with powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar and the killer: 5 spice powder & sugar. – Jason & Megan

Cocktails & Pairings:

Sazerac,  A New Orleans staple of Rye Whiskey, Bitters, Pernod (in place of Herbsaint) and Lemon Zest. – Bob

Brandy Milk Punch, a sweeter drink of Milk, Brandy, Simple Syrup and Nutmeg. – Bob

A selection of Abita beers, including Pale Ale, Lager & Stout. – Jack

Recipes from this Chef’s Night to be posted soon.

Want more Food Porn photos from this and other Rogue Estate Chef’s Nights? Hit us up on Facebook!

This week for Chef’s Night I hosted one of our recurring themes we call “Pantry Raid” – an excuse to use up various odds and ends that may be kicking around in dark corners, rediscover items of interest from previous recipes and of course meet the challenge of pairing a few good bottles of beer and wine to fit the flavors on the plate.

We also had an added bonus of welcoming some new members this month as we expand the estate – the Tag Team of Megan and Jason joined Jack, Ian and myself in the kitchen and Frank did a Drive-by during the evening.

Our menu was decidedly pork-centric, with a side of lake fish and a few vegetarian adaptations to meet Jason’s obnoxious dietary needs. We started the evening snacking on water crackers and Slow Jams jam, along with a treat of Iberico Ham provided by Megan.

Jack’s App was up first – a Japanese rice & green tea dish with lots of condiments called Ochazuke, in which one of the condiments was a heavily camouflaged sinus clearing, eye searing blob of wasabi. Jack is a bastard. Thankfully, the dish was paired with Sake and beer, so we all managed to pull through OK.

Next up – Ian presented a German inspired soup of pork, white beans, sauerkraut and carrots which was immediately dubbed “Fart Soup”. He also came up with a veggie version for Jason which substituted additional fart in place of the pork. Despite the gravity of the ingredients, the broth remained light and clear and the dish didn’t weigh too heavily on our bellies.

My turn for the main:  a modified Filipino Pork Adobo starting with the basic preparation and adding some flavor punches and green veg at the end to mouthwatering results. And yes, I even came up with a veggie version for Jason involving carrots, jicima and beets. The beets turned it all red, but the textures and flavor were worth the christmas theme. Recipe for the Pork Adobo at the end of this article.

Dessert – a rare treat at the estate since Rok went full time with her Cake and Rock Star business – Megan and Jason produced a pair of chocolate souffle cakes from scratch over the course of our dinner preparations – one topped with strawberry jam and whipped cream, the other with espresso whipped cream. I added my two cents to the sweets with an impromptu congee made from the first batch of rice that was way over cooked mixed to a pudding with a can of coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk and a handful of dried berries.

As usual, nobody left even slightly hungry.

Rogue Estate Pantry Raid Pork Adobo

• 2 tblsp oil or lard
• 2 lbs Pork loin, chops or shoulder, roughly chopped
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup Soy sauce
• 2 tblsp fish sauce
• 6 bay leaves
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1/2 lb frozen peas
• 1 cup zucchini, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup flat parsley, finely minced
• 2 cups of cooked rice for serving
• option: 1 tsp cornstarch + 1/2 c water

Rice cook time will vary, so use the instructions on the package to determine when to start cooking your rice so that it’s ready to serve when the adobo is done after a 90 minute cook time.

Season chopped pork with salt. In a 6 qt sauce pot, heat oil or lard on medium-high heat, add pork in batches until browned. push off to the sides and add the onion in to saute until just taking on color. Turn the heat back up to add vinegar, water, soy, fish sauce, bay leaves, black pepper and turmeric. stir to combine and un-stick anything from the bottom of the pot since this is essentially a de-glaze. As the liquid comes to just a boil, reduce the heat to maintain a good tremor without a full on boil. Cover and let it cook for an hour. Check occasionally to give everything a stir and adjust the heat as needed to keep everything below boil.

After an hour, remove the lid and add the zucchini, stir and adjust the heat as needed to keep a merry tremor in the pot. After 15 minutes the liquids should be reduced and beginning to thicken. If you’d like a thicker gravy, whisk 1 tsp of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of warm water together, then stir that slurry into the adobo. continue stirring, add the frozen peas and remove from heat.

Portion rice into bowls, spoon the pork, zucchini and peas over it and the gravy over that, then garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

Hop on over and LIKE The Rogue Estate on Facebook to check out the full food porn gallery for this week’s Chef’s Night, as well as previous Chef’s Night galleries.

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Hubert, Joe, Dave, BBQ Bob & Ian - The Pork Kings!

]]> http://rogueestate.com/2012/02/05/dinos-lounge-5th-annual-rib-burn-out-results/feed/ 0 http://rogueestate.com/2012/02/03/rogue-estate-bbq-event-today-saturday-020412/ http://rogueestate.com/2012/02/03/rogue-estate-bbq-event-today-saturday-020412/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:20:54 +0000 Bob http://rogueestate.com/?p=1251

If you’re in the Detroit area, Join us for the 5th annual BBQ Rib Burn Out behind Dino’s Lounge in Ferndale!

Rogue Estate and The Hungry Dudes have teamed up to put the delicious smack down on the competition for this charity event. This year’s charities are: The Ferndale Youth Assistance & Michigan Aids Coalition

Full details can be found on Dino’s site  here and Facebook, here.

Rockin’ Blues BBQ Rib Burn Out!
HEATED PARTY TENT in the parking lot behind Dino’s Lounge! WRIF will be there with “Rock Girl” Sarah!

Ferndale Eduation Foundation will be raffling of a new Ford Focus!
Tickets $10. Noon – 7pm, then move the party inside Dino’s! Tickets go on sale next week! Get yours before the party to be sure you get in!

4,000 heated sf with tables & chairs & lots of Bud & Bud Light (16oz $4), Buffalo Trace Bourbon & Cokes ($4) and RIBS! You get to sample ribs from each team & cast your vote for The People’s Choice Awards – 8 teams competing* (that’s 16 ribs!)

5th Annual BBQ Rib Burn Out – Noon-4pm
Celebrity Judges & People’s Choice voting until 5!
Winners announced at 5pm

Entertainment:
Tent Noon-3pm – The Chris Brantley Band (Mitch Ryder’s guitarist)
3:30-7pm ADJ (acoustic covers from Johnny Cash and Cee Lo Green)
Dino’s – The Reefermen with James Whalin takes the Dino’s stage @ 9pm

Raw ingredients for the soup. In the case of the cheeses, raw milk cheeses to be exact...

At the same Chef’s Night that yielded the previous two recipes posted below, my offering was this Cheddar/Ale soup made almost entirely from ingredients that are made within an hours drive from where we cooked. The focus of the evening was warming winter foods with an extra emphasis on locally made ingredients. We tend to look for local whenever possible to begin with, but this night the focus on Michigan bounty was even more intense than usual. There was a professional photographer and fellow food blogger/obsessive present, Joe Hakim of The Hungry Dudes, so we had to bring the A game and swing for the bleachers.

I think we accomplished our goal. Links to the photo galleries and printed article spawned from this evenings culinary melee at the end.

Recipe for Michigan Cheddar/Ale soup:

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1/2 medium size yellow onion diced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 large jalapenos seeded and diced
1 Tablespoons fresh garlic, peeled and crushed
2 bottles Mad Hatter IPA (New Holland Brewing Company)
1 pint chicken stock
1 pint Guernsey Farms heavy whipping cream
1/2 pound bacon diced (home made by a friend of the Estate, so local as well)
1/2 pound Rosewood Products raw milk cheddar shredded
1/4 pound or 2 oz. Rosewood Products raw milk goat cheddar shredded
1/4 pound or 2 oz. Oliver Farms sharp cheddar curds
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 Tablespoon Chicken Soup base (“Better Than Bouillon” brand paste)
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Zingermans pretzel bread made into croutons, or crushed pretzels

Procedure:

Don't stop stirring! Burnt cheese does not taste good! Well... at least not in this case.

Mince the diced onion and peppers in a food processor until almost a paste. Brown the diced bacon in a pot over medium heat and add the minced veggies. Cook slowly for 25 minutes, or until most of the moisture is gone. At the same time melt the butter in a small pan and add the flour, cook for 15-20 minutes on low heat, stirring continuously, and refrigerate. Turn the heat on the soup pot up to high and add the garlic. Stir continuously until the garlic smell is very strong, 30 seconds or so. Add 1.5 bottles of Mad Hatter, and boil until only 1/3 of the volume is left. Add the chicken stock and cream and bring back to a simmer. Once back to a simmer add the cheeses and stir constantly until dissolved over medium heat. Or add bit by bit until it’s all been incorporated, but the central theme here is do NOT stop stirring until all the cheese is melted! If you stop stirring during this part of the process, the cheese will just sink to the bottom and burn. Once dissolved, and back to a simmer, add the last half bottle of Mad Hatter and the chilled butter and flour mixture a little at a time until the soup is thickened to your liking. Stir in the chicken soup base a little at a time, tasting between each addition to make sure you don’t over salt, and add as much fresh ground black pepper as you wish to your own tastes. Taste for seasoning, and bowl, using the pretzel croutons for garnish and a few turns on the pepper mill for added contrast and aroma.

Warming, cheesy, peppery, pretzelly goodness! Perfect for a midwest winter night!

I tried to go as simply as possible with this recipe, as there was a chance it would be published in a local magazine, so I wanted it to be accessible to the home cook. It’s come to my attention that I’m not always very good at that though. I guess 20 years cooking professionally has somewhat disconnected me from what the term “home cook” implies. That aside, this recipe is very adaptable, you can substitute any local or even non-local variant of any ingredient included and still have one hell of a soup at the end of it.

Live well, and eat better!

-Jack

Gallery from Joe Hakim of The Hungry Dudes blog

Rogue Estate Facebook Gallery

Real Detroit Weekly’s article on the meal in question