Wagon's West: Beef Jerky

Welcome to Married & Hungry: The Honeymoon Series (Adventure Pants Away!)

Our journey begins in a cold April Morning in suburban Chicago.  Chicago greeted us with the most peculiar weather,  flash floods followed by light snow. 


We embarked on what will be a three and a half week trip across the American West.  Armed with a subcompact car, one and a half voracious appetites, we set off to see America's unending beautiful and bountiful tasty snacks.

Refusing to be at the mercy of the road,  we set out with some serious snacks in hand.  Adapting a beef jerky recipe found online, we made our own.

First we froze a bit of top round for thin slicing.

 Next we decided to marinate in a dry rub.  Using some Brisket of Love spice mixture we got as a wedding present, as well as some homemade concoctions once that ran out, we encased the meat in spice, then left it to marinate for 24 hours.

Six hours later: tasty time!

Fish night

We are in the last two weeks of our semester in DC...which for dinner purposes, we have run out of some things and not replaced them, making meal planning a bit of a challenge. I decided to make frozen tilapia filets tonight because it's yummy and defrosts in about 10 minutes.  My first plan was to make the tilapia with garlicky lime sauce, but I guess we ran out of garlic. Then I thought about soy ginger but actually we are out of soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil. So in the end I grilled the tilapia with cayenne and malt vinegar on top. Pretty unforgettable. 

What was delicious about the meal was this kale dish that I made from our Mark Bittman cookbook. The recipe caught my eye because at the wedding some friends left funny notes on the opposite page. The meal was really easy and delicious - you saute the kale and a tomato for about 5 minutes (with garlic, if you have it) and then just throw in some lemon juice and feta cheese. Done! This one is a keeper. 

And for a dessert treat we had doble varieties of frozen Greek yogurt from the Giant. Poll results: Eli liked them both in their own unique ways. I liked the apple cinnamon one better, the blood orange one was too much like sherbet. 

Also, Kid President meets real President!!!

 

Starch Night: Braised Potatoes

Inspired by Bittman,  braising potatoes is all the rage in the Bowen/Wykell household. After frying up some chunks of potatoes (3 peeled) in olive oil and butter, I threw in minced onion, minced garlic, minced parsley mushrooms, salt, and pepper. I then remembered the kilebasa in the fridge and threw that in too.  Wait a minute and dump in a cup of beer (Modelo this time), a cup of water, and a cup of stock. Boil then simmer. Wait 20 minutes.  Business time.  

Oh, I also threw in some sauted kale at the end.  This was a bit of happenstance, as I was testing my theory that salting kale would make it suitable for raw consumption in a salad.  That did not pan out.  But this did. . .

The Return: Cavalcade O' Dinner

Alas many of our culinary trials and tribulations have been lost to history and the computer virus on my phone.  But all is not lost. Behold some of the past weeks' accomplishments:

• Florida Avenue Gril

A super legitimate soul food diner that we discovered through Road Food.  On the menu on a recent Saturday half smokes (ostensibly D.C. speak for hot link), fried pork chops (amazing), apples cooked in something that makes them pure candy and maybe pork fat, biscuits (dense but mighty flavorful/lardful).

 

• This looks like a sad one.

As best as I recall this is overly broiled chicken sausage, chop
salad, and some kind of omelet. Whoppedeedoo.

• Bread!

• Simple Chicken dinner

Using Bittman, we made this great chicken dinner where you make a chicken soup but don't overcook the meat. Once the chicken is poached you can serve as a soup or separate into courses. The first time we made this we separately had a broth (spiced up with vinegar and egg), cabbage, and the chicken.

• I'm not sure what this is, but it looks good. Seems to have queso fresco and avocado.

• This is a baked egg dish where you bake eggs atop of potatoes, home made crutons, and spinach. 

Wildcard night: Pizza! Also, Ai Weiwei

I have always been a fan of making pizza dough at home.  When I was growing up, my dad would make pizza almost every Saturday. He would make the dough in the morning, then take us to horseback riding lessons or track meets or ballet rehearsals and by the time we got home, the dough was risen and it was easy to put together the toppings and make a quick dinner. He would put the dough in the oven to rise and put notes with funny little poems on the dial so no one would turn on the oven and prematurely cook the dough.

Eli made some pizza dough a few weeks ago that we ended up not using, so we froze it per Mark Bittman's instructions. I was a little skeptical that this might ruin the dough, but actually it was no problem. We made two pizza pies: One was argula, sundried tomatoes, and pesto (delicious), the other was chicken sausage, carmelized onions, mushrooms (DELICIOUS), and both had fresh mozzarella and a bit of ricotta cheese.

And because man cannot live on pizza alone, we went to see the Ai Weiwei exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum (which is free, thank you federal government and Smithsonian Institution). These pictures are nowhere near as amazing as the exhibit, plus I didn't even take pictures of some of the most incredible pieces -- photos of his time in New York during the AIDS epidemic, a wall with the names of the many hundreds of children who died when their schoolhouses collapsed during the earthquake in China, and a sculpture of ancient stools that I can't really explain. So you should just come to DC before March 17 and I will go see the exhibit again with you.

Images of China after the earthquake

Series of images smashing a really old vase

Rebar collected after the earthquake

The houses and the floor are made of tea! When this was first installed, it had a really strong smell, you could still get a little whiff of the tea when you were very close to the piece.

Valentines night: Seafoodstravaganza

After our trip to Chicago last week, we arrived home late on Wednesday for a meal of (of course) yuca con chicarron from our local Pollo Sabroso.

Then on Thursday we headed off to work. My office got super into Valentines Day and so I enjoyed a bounty of sweets--cheap chocolate hearts left on my desk by the building management company (or really, the cleaners), those chalky message hearts, and a really delicious cupcake from a colleague.

I was thinking about cooking some simple soup but lo and behold I came home and Eli had made a surprise feast for me! He roasted some little potatoes, cooked up some collard greens, and steamed mussels, shrimp and LOBSTER in white wine, garlic, and parsley with some lemon on top. What a guy.

Recap Night: Some Recent Happenings

The past weeks have provided various culinary adventures in and out of the kitchen that warrant summary.

• Brunch at Marx Cafe





• A Sunday or 2 ago, we ended up at this local cafe for Brunch.  While the burger and crab cake that we each had were well above average, the really noteworthy experience at this cafe was the Karl Marx theme.  And nothing says dictatorship of the proletariat like Discover.

• Around the House

• Pasta Night: As previously mentioned, for da super bowl we went super Jewish excessive and got stuff to make pizza in addition to the smorgasbord that we actually served.  Our stomachs remained unprepared for pizza, so we used all the toppings for a simple pasta night. Rather than sauteing the veggies, I roasted mushrooms, red pepper, garlic, and tomatoes, then baked everything for just a bit with pasta, feta cheese, sauteed spinach.

• Lamb Night: We put on our fancy pants and did it up with lamb chops. Broiled medium rare a la Mark Bittman (just salt and pepper) in the trusty cast iron grill pan. Roasted the asparagus. Then this polenta came along and nearly stole the entire show. Polenta is a highly undervalued side dish that can can be made quicker than rice. 2 parts liquid (I use chicken broth made from better than bouillon) to 1 part corn meal. Bring the liquid to a boil and then slowly whisk in the corn meal. Add salt and pepper, reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally until it reaches the desired consistency. Add liquid as needed. I added a bit of milk while simmering. When it was abut done I added in a little surprise,  blue cheese.  Molly says this this meal was decadent,simple, satisfying, and quick. A lovely meal on a regular old night. 

• Amish Diner

For reasons that I shan't get into, we recently found ourselves heading towards Chicago from D.C.  Anytime we drive, Molly and I turn to the books of Jane and Michael Stern, whose Roadfood books and website provide a slightly more dignified and thoughtful guide to America's down home eatery than other more popular figures. On many trips along the Indiana toll road, I have wanted to stop at the Village Inn in Middlebury, IN.  But we never passed by at meal time. . . until now. Middlebury is surrounded by Amish communities and we dodged many a horse-drawn buggy as we made our way to lunch.  

Molly ordered the fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes,gravy, and coleslaw.  The sides were good but not exceptional.  I ordered a BLT, and corn mush. I did not know what corn mush was when ordering. The menu said it came with syrup. Our served told me that old men order it and that the really weird old men order it with headcheese (the Amish version being a thick and hot bowl of ground meat presumable from a pig's head and I'm guessing liver too sitting in a bit of warm liquid). Obviously I got my mush with headcheese. The mush itself was basically deep fired sticks of polenta. The headcheese actually had a pleasant meaty and mild flavor. My server was clearly horrified that I ordered it, but according to Molly I got approving glances from an Amish woman seated at a nearby table (I think my facial hair may have confused the situation. The BLT was awesome too.  

Then things got real.  According to the Sterns, this place is all about its pies,particularly its Old Fashioned Custard Pie, another Amish tradition.  But as our meal was ending, all the pie was starting to sell out and we couldn't locate our server.  When we finally did, they only had pecan pie.  I don't love pecan pie, and Northern Indiana doesn't seem like a hotspot for the stuff.  But then, a miracle occurred. The servers conferenced by the pie cooler and realized there was another custard pie. I triumphantly claimed a piece. In the end both pies were excellent with buttery crusts and that sense of freshness that separates the champions from the herd.  [But I still think pecan pie is an inferior overly sweet concoction, but Molly really liked it.]

We left with out bellies full and look forward to returning on one of our all too frequent jaunts down the Indiana toll road.