doldrums

I needed some color. Here is a shot I took this summer. It makes a great wallpaper.

Boy, this is a pretty quiet time of year. Tween-time. Don't get me wrong, I like fall. But late fall gets tough. Daylight is diminished, rides are good, but bundled up rides aren't the same as the hot weather ones. Actually, FWK has been getting in 4-5 rides per week. Only 25-30 miles at a time, but it always feels good to be in the saddle. I have no wind and my legs are fair, but it beats sitting on a spin bike in the club. That will come soon enough. Right now, that's my motivation. Do I want to sit in the spinning room, listening to some gal that doesn't have a fucking clue how to ride a bike outdoors playing Abba, or do I want to ride outside in the cooler weather with snot dribbling out of my nose? I'll take the snot! The last 2 days I've actually felt really good on the bike, but I only averaged 17 mph for the rides.

Where did the time go? It just seems like yesterday I was looking at this guys crack.

The amigos riding the 144 route this spring.

Fall and winter scenes from Elm Creek

Beef stew, part two.

Went to the Mpls Farmers Market on Sunday and bought fresh potatoes, carrots, green peppers, and onions. Followed the same recipe as below, just added the different vegetables. Turned out great!

Texas Beef Brisket Chile

This was the featured cover recipe in this month's Bon Appetit magazine. I made it yesterday and it turned out very well. I'm not sure that it is as much a chile recipe as a beef stew recipe, however. The flavor was great. I love baked squash, but never had it in a recipe like this. Diane, who doesn't care for squash liked it in this dish. My experience with brisket is to bake "low and slow," so I baked it at 250 degrees for 3 hours, then added the squash and baked another hour. I also thought it needed more veggies, so I added celery and frozen corn along with the squash. The end result was very tasty and the leftovers tonight should be even better! I didn't have any Mexican beer on hand, so I used one of Bill's Sierra Nevada Pale Ales. (Thanks, Bill- I still have 5 left for you!) One other note-I made a half batch. The brisket I had was a little over 2 lbs, so I just cut everything in half, except I did use the entire bottle of beer and the entire can of fire roasted tomatoes. I also used a serrano chile I had, I chopped it up and threw it in. The batch I made easily would serve 6-8 people. I also trimmed as much fat as I could off the brisket before cooking.

Texas Beef Brisket Chili

A cold-weather favorite, this all-beef, no-bean chili gets added appeal from a seasonal ingredient: butternut squash. For best results, make the chili at least one day ahead so that the flavors have time to meld.
8 to 10 servings
Recipe by Bruce Aidells
Photograph by Hans Gissinger
October 2008

Ingredients
CHILI
6 large dried ancho chiles* (about 3 ounces), stemmed, seeded, coarsely torn
6 oz bacon, diced
1 1/4 pounds onions, chopped (about 4 cups)
1 5-pound flat-cut (also called first-cut) beef brisket, cut into 2 1/2- to 3-inch cubes
Coarse kosher salt
6 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 10-ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles (1 3/4 cups)
1 12-ounce bottle Mexican beer
1 7-ounce can diced roasted green chiles
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro stems
4 cups 1 1/2- to 2-inch chunks seeded peeled butternut squash (from 3 1/2-pound squash)

GARNISHES
Fresh cilantro leaves
Chopped red onion
Diced avocado
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Warm corn and/or flour tortillas

Preparation
CHILI
Place chiles in medium bowl. Pour enough boiling water over to cover. Soak until chiles soften, at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Sauté bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Add onions. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle beef all over with coarse salt and pepper. Add to pot; stir to coat. Set aside.
Drain chiles, reserving soaking liquid. Place chiles in blender. Add 1 cup soaking liquid, garlic, chili powder, cumin seeds, oregano, coriander, and 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt; blend to puree, adding more soaking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if very thick. Pour puree over brisket in pot. Add tomatoes with juices, beer, green chiles, and cilantro stems. Stir to coat evenly.
Bring chili to simmer. Cover and place in oven. Cook 2 hours. Uncover and cook until beef is almost tender, about 1 hour. Add squash; stir to coat. Roast uncovered until beef and squash are tender, adding more soaking liquid if needed to keep meat covered, about 45 minutes longer. Season chili to taste with salt and pepper. Tilt pot and spoon off any fat from surface of sauce. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool 1 hour. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
GARNISHES
Set out garnishes in separate dishes. Rewarm chili over low heat. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.
*Available at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets

In honor of Paul Newman: Chickenny Newman

FWK's alter ego is kenthecook. I've been playing around with this for about a year now. I've been using Paul Newman's Honey Mustard salad dressing as a marinade for chicken. I first tried it on chicken that I grilled. The results were excellent. But old FWK's brain wasn't done thinking yet, no sirreee.

I've always liked breaded and baked chicken. I thought if this dressing is a good grill marinade, maybe it would make a good base for crumbs. I had recently got into using Panko crumbs and decided to try them out. Another thing I did was season the chicken after it was trimmed of excess fat with "Slap Ya Mama" seasoning. I got this from Jerome, a former co-worker and cook who hails from New Orleans. I season the cut up chicken with Slap Ya Mama, put the chicken into a gallon zip lock, and add about 3/4 to 1 cup of Paul Newman's Honey Mustard dressing. Let it marinade in the fridge for a few hours. Take the chicken out and roll it in the Panko crumbs.

Place the chicken on a Pam sprayed sheet pan. I put foil down on the pan and spray that for easier cleaning.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Enjoy with your favorite beer.

You're welcome.

PS-the dressing is also very good on salads!

Happy 80th birthday to Anita!

How can you not love a woman (two women, actually) enjoying a beer at noon! Of course the woman on the left is my child bride. Her mother, Anita is on the right. Happy 80th Anita!

People have wondered over the years how I managed such a good catch in a woman. Well, the 3 men above are, in order: my brother in law Paul, father in law Pete, and brother in law Mark. Notice any hair on their heads???

One final note. When I ride to Mark and Katie's house, I take a shower. I came in today and Katie says to me, "Kenny, are you going to take a shower?" I replied yes, and she said she would get me a towel. A minute later, she hands me a towel and says "I have shampoo for you, too."

The "shampoo" was one of the blue bottles mentioned in my blog last week! Then, I happened to open a drawer in their bathroom, and there was another one of the blue bottles. I mentioned this to Katie. She just looked at me with a smile and said, "we're a very happy family!"

You're the best Katie!

WTF???

So I'm on my way to the in-laws in Excelsior for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party. I get 4 miles from home and all of a sudden it feels as though my right foot is de-cleating. I look down just in time to see that I'm actually de-pedaling! The whole freaking pedal came off on my shoe! Thankfully I wasn't standing on a climb. Years ago in spin classes, the instructors would have us spin with one leg only. I never did it. I agree with Bill, if you can't do it on the road, don't do it in spin class. Well, here I was pedaling with one foot/leg the 4 miles back home.

Got out the Talladega, gave her a little lube, and off I went to the party.