Mother's Day Dinner: Asparagus Anyone??????

                            Asparagus Anyone??????

OK. I already did a posting on asparagus a while back but I figured I would revisit the subject. It’s only in my later years that I actually appreciate this wonderful veggie. Part of that is because I finally learned how to cook it properly. You know the problem. Regardless of who cooked it, the all-often-but-unintended result is they get overcooked. They’re either cooked for too long or sit in liquid for a too long afterwards. I have finally figured out (ok, I did a quite a while back but work with me) how to avoid this mistake and how to cook asparagus properly. Here’s what I didn’t share on the previous post. This features matsutake mushrooms, which were samples I received from Marx Foods.

1. Apart from chopping off the lower part of of the stem (which is too hard to cook or eat), I read somewhere that you should shave the lower 2/3 of each stalk. Now there is some debate if this should be done or not. I did buy some white asparagus a while back (from Chile during the winter) and it did mention shaving the lower 2/3 of each asparagus. I did so and it has turned out very well.  So I've kept on doing this.

2. Now while I don't want to sound arrogant, I can't really put this any other way. For goodness sakes, make sure you do two things. First is to make sure that you find a pan big enough to accommodate the length of the asparagus. If they dont fit properly, they obviously won't cook properly. I've seen folks trying to cook these in a medium sauce pan (no kidding). Next is to make sure the water is boiling (almost like you're cooking pasta). All I added to this boiling water is some salt and extra virgin olive oil. These are my preferences alone. I cooked them for about 10 minute and removed them from the pot once fully cooked. I put them on a plate and covered with foil. That way you won't have this fine (and somewhat expensive) veggie go soggy and stay warm if you don't serve them immediately. Even when I do serve immediately, I drain the water from the pot and cover.

   

3. In a pot, I reconstituted these mushrooms for about 20 minutes (next time I might do it a bit longer). Then I did a nice sautee of the mushrooms. I used some chicken stock (enough to cover the bottom of the pot) and a little more olive oil. I sauteed them until they were soft (about 5 minutes or so over medium heat).

 

4. Then I returned the asparagus to the pot and tossed them with the mushrooms. One thing I will say. Since the asparagus was not overcooked (e.g., too soft), I could have made put this in a pasta salad and served them cold. That's a thought for another day. Below is the result of how we served this. The plate with the lobster (cooked by my Dad) was my Mom's plate and one with the steak was mine. We did have a salad as well but as you can see, the plate was too small to add (in both cases). The meal was a hit. Mom liked the compliment the mushrooms added to the asparagus.

(I placed some cayenne pepper on my mashed potatoes. Steak was medium rare of course!!!! The beauty of the Weber grill).

I hope you enjoyed this!!!

5 Guys Burgers & Fries: One FANTASTIC Burger

OK. It's time for another adventure. As I was watching listening to the radio this weekend, I heard the hosts on some critical rant about Phil Mickelson's diet. This guy ripped him for eating Krispy Kreme during the Masters (which he actually WON) and going to the place I am about to mention now (during Players Championship where he placed tied for 17th).

I never heard of 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. My think was come on- get serious. 5 Guys Burgers and Fries is the actual name? I assumed that it was only a Jacksonville area or Florida chain. How wrong I was. They started in Washington, D.C. My curiosity caught me so I decided to do an engine search for them. Not only did I find out what they were a growing national chain but one was RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE and didn't even know it. In fact, I noticed it was rated highly in several cities by food reviewers, rated in Zagets (yep, that one) every year since 2001 and rated top burger in D.C. since 1999 (Washington Magazine's Readers Choice). So I look at the main Internet site's menu and how simple do they make this? It's so simple it's not even funny. Here it is:

- Four burgers- hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon hamburger, bacon cheeseburger (there are also "little" versions of these as well),

- Four sandwiches- Kosher hot dog, cheese or bacon dog, cheese bacon dog, veggie or grilled cheese.

- Regular or Cajun fries- regular or large (WARNING- fried in PEANUT OIL).

- Coke products and bottled water.


So upon my arrival, I did notice a wonderful smell or meat, grilled to perfection. Now most places give you an option of topping a, b, and c. The burgers (double by default) are a bit more expensive than most (though not radically more than a triple-cheese at some chains) but you do get what you pay for. Now back to the toppings. You want topping? You get them......plenty of them and all free- mayo, relish, onions lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, A-1 Sauce, bar-b-q sauce, and hot sauce. You can order "standard" (those in bold black print), "your way" (a mix of both black and red toppings) or "all the way" (everything you see- all 15 toppings). If you take a peek at the top photo, you'll notice the detail of how my order was taken. My wait was about 5 minutes for my order. I went on a Saturday late afternoon and there were 2 people on the grill. The wait was worth it. I must say this was one of the finest burgers I ever had. The result is below.

This cheeseburger was SOLID!! As good or better than I would get at some full service places. The lettuce was crisp and fresh (and didn't put too much lettuce on the burger), meat was juicy and the toppings were perfect. All too often places put too much ketchup and not enough mustard or vice versa. This was not the case here. The grilled onions were placed just under the lettuce and the mushrooms were on the bottom of the burger. If you see this place in your travels, TRUST ME!!! It's worth a visit. To me, this is a 10 out of 10 rating.

Serious Double Cheeborger

OK burger fans. Does this look good or what??? THIS is what I call a cheeborger (cheeseburger). Wait a second. My title says it's a double cheeborger (cheeseburger). That's right friends. It is a double. I did it like this


First I took 2 8 oz hand made patties (not sure if I used 95% or 85% lean but that doesn't matter and might have been more than 8 oz) and cooked both (season with the flavors you like. I used salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne, hot paprika, oregano, parsley, and a few other things I managed to forget). Then I grilled onions and after I turned the onion, I splashed some habanero sauce on them.

Lastly, I built it. You can see the top layer- burger, onion, and swiss cheese. The bottom layer separates the top level with onions, swiss cheese, Velveeta, and some salsa (you can’t see the bottom level because the separating level covers it). I didn't have a bun so I used wheat. I topped it all off with Butch's BBQ Sauce (thermonuclear) & Miracle Whip. Served with a pickle (ok, 2 pickles) and a nice handful of chips!!!! As I have said before, you may not get style points here but I PROMISE it will taste good!! So good, I'll put the picture below here too. Getting any inspiration??

 

Dried Mushrooms

I had an opportunity to get some dried mushrooms- free!!! Marx Foods had a recent promotion on a food Internet blogsite where they offered free samples of dried mushrooms. I actually got them yesterday and the picture is below.

The dried mushroom sample set all listed from left to right:

Top row: Porcini, Dried Lobster

Middle row: Shitake

Third Row: Southwest Mix, Chanterelle

Bottom row: Matsutake, Black Trumpet

Justin Marx from Marx Foods sent this to me in an email. I will use these and seem to be very good reference to have (thanks). "Here are a few links to get the creative juices flowing:


About the Different Varieties http://www.marxfoods.com/products/mushrooms

All mushroom recipes  http://marxfood.com/mushroom-recipes/

Dried mushroom recipes http://marxfood.com/category/dried-mushroom-recipes/

Wild Mushroom Season Chart http://www.marxfoods.com/-/Wild-Food-Season-Chart

What is and Isn’t a wild mushroom? http://marxfood.com/what-is-and-isnt-a-wild-mushroom/

What is a Wild Food? http://marxfood.com/what-is-a-wild-food/"
 
I would like to thank Justin and all at Marx Foods (http://www.marxfoods.com/) for extending me (and others) this offer. It seems like they have other great product. If they want me to test some other stuff (except seafood), I would be glad to do it!!! I actually made something with the shitake mushrooms last night and will post what I did in the next day or so.

Chili Man Chili

As I wrote last week, I said I had a few things I was going to add. Did I let you down??? OK. This is about products I like. From time to time, I will create a post on the various food products lines I've consumed and offer an opinion. Chili Man - quick easy chili. That works for me!! Of the store-bough chili products on the market, Chili Man is one I like a great deal. Simple flavors and yes, I add my own touch to it. We all like the quick and easy at times and this is a perfect example. I prefer no beans but they do have a solid product line including a vegetarian chili. This is pretty short and sweet.

How easy is this- the set up. I chopped up some onions, added some garlic (fresh or powder), cayenne pepper and some cheese (I used Velveeta here but any cheese will do the trick). If you have some macaroni, rice or some tasty complement, just pour it over once this has been cooked. If I had some roasted peppers (or something similar), I would add that as well.

I cooked this for about 90 seconds and before you know it.......................

....a nice bowl of tastiness!! I could add more raw onions at this point. I could add some sour cream and salsa. Of course, I would have my bottle of habanero hot sauce close by (that's a given). For the record, I do not work for the company, know of anyone who does, and have no financial interests in Chili Man Chili products.