Although there were a ton of great dishes to be sampled at the foodbuzz Food Festival in San Francisco this November, only a few dishes really stood out as exceptional.  The other dishes that stand out most in my memory aren’t the ones that were done perfectly the first time.  The dishes that always stick with me are the ones that were almost perfect. Those dishes that I find myself wondering just what tiny little detail made them less than everything they could have been.

One of those dishes was Mezzetta’s Beer Braised Flank Steak.  Sure it was good, but it wasn’t great. It had all the right flavors just not enough of them somehow to compete with the other dishes at the same event. (Don’t blame the chef… competition in that room was fierce!)

The memory of that dish has stuck with me since the festival and when I came across the recipe card in my swag-bag I decided to see if I could take the dish up by that one much needed notch.

Now I have nothing against polenta, which is what the chef originally paired this dish with, but as a good southern boy, I don’t necessarily have polenta on hand, but I always have grits, so my first change was obvious.  The second thing I didn’t want to do was to use a bunch of pre-made store bought products to make the dish, regardless of the quality, both because they’re too hard to change to my liking and because I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the first attempt.

Don’t let the seemingly large list of ingredients frighten or deter you.  Basically I just built a pasta sauce in a braising liquid and let it thicken as it went.  You’ll be amazed how quickly it all goes together and how absolutely powerful the flavors are.  It’s simply an awe-inspiring dish and one I recommend that you give a bit of time to while the weather is chill.

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A little tomato, a little wine, a little seafood.  That’s really all it takes to make me happy, at least in this instance.  The fact that my oldest son helped me devour the dish shown above is nothing short or a five-star bonus.  I would have eaten it myself had he not enjoyed it.

(I may have secretly hoped that he didn’t…)

All I can really say about this is that it was sublime.  I’ve spent days staring at the screen trying to find a way to describe it, but words have failed me this time, so I’m just going to get straight to the recipe before I waste any more time.  You guys deserve to have this in your card index, database or PDA.  It’s good.

Really good.

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It sometimes amazes me that in today’s world of high-end restaurants and lofty food shows the simpler cuts of meat are either forgotten or worse, are thought of as something only useful for the most basic of culinary tasks. My issue with this trend is that some of the cuts now shunned by most shoppers have the capability of producing the most wonderful and intense flavors when treated correctly. These ingredients should be commonly used, not relegated to a back shelf in the meat aisle with labeling spelling out their least delectable use.

Take this poor misunderstood specimen:

When I went into the market the other day, I had no intention of braising anything.  It’s still full-blown summertime hot here in Far Northern California with temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees on most days, so having something simmering on the cook top wasn’t the first thing on my mind.  Fortunately for me, my first reaction to the above label was something like;

“For Stock!  Are you kidding me? That’s a perfect braise!”

And with just a little love, it was.

I think too many people get caught up in the idea that braising takes a very long time. In fact, the secret to a great braise is less about the actual cooking time than it is about the love put into the first few steps of the process.  A good sear, the proper accouterments and the ability to simply sit back and let the thing happen are all that is really required to achieve stunning results for very little effort and even less money.

In the case of this dish, a bit of good port, some onions, garlic, vegetable broth, a few herbs and some aggressive seasoning was all that it took to elevate this humble shank cut to new levels of perfection.

Granted, I did use a bottle of port valued at over $30.00, but only because I had it lying about.  An equal amount of a $7.00 port or a $5.00 Marsala would have served just as well in this case. (Even a cheap Burgundy or Zinfandel would have been fine.) A great braise is about methods.  It’s about deep, rich flavors. It’s about taking all the love you can give a dish and letting the meal return the favor.

This recipe won’t let you down.

It may be the dog days of summer, but winter will be here before you know it.  This is most definitely a recipe you should explore and make your own.  Add some tomato paste, a few mushrooms, a bit of whatever else you like.  Toss some potatoes in about 30 minutes before serving.  Top a salad with the beef and make a vinaigrette from the jous.  It really doesn’t matter.  This is worth exploring.  It will satisfy your heart, your mind and hopefully, a good portion of your soul.

It’s that good.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

I decided to cook lamb this Easter season. I’ve never cooked lamb before, and as such was a bit nervous. I suppose I shouldn’t have been, but anytime something new hits the menu I approach it with a bit of trepidation.

The recipe I finally settled on was from cooks.com. More precisely, I found that this recipe looked simple enough for a first attempt. I knew I’d be modifying a bit, since I’d already planned on using UGLI fruit in place of the mandarin oranges, and was relatively sure that ½ of an UGLI would pretty much equal 1 can of oranges, and the juice from th other half would not only make up for the syrup from a can of oranges, but render the whole thing a bit less sweet.

The other change was the addition of rosemary instead of mint, since I do not stock dried mint, but always have fresh rosemary on hand if possible.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

I made this particular dish to participate in the “day that really Schmecks, part 2” event from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. I found the idea of checking out some Mennonite cooking very interesting to say the least, and I even managed to find a recipe that fit my “Cook don’t bake” strategy to kitchen life. (Not easy since I don’t own any of Edna’s books, and with a deadline of the 29th of January I decided to use the Sausage and Vegetable Bake recipe I found at Loving Spoonfuls.In very un-seat of my pants manner, I followed the recipe to the letter, not allowing myself to deviate or get creative in the slightest. This was, after all, a tribute to Edna Staebler, author of Food that Really Schmecks, and a tribute to Mennonite cooking in general. For once, I was going to do what I was told on the page. No changes, using just the highest quality ingredients I could lay hands on. Read more…

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Now there’s a mouthful. A healthy, tangy and slightly off-beat mouthful.

I came up with this because we’ve had the dilled Havarti siting around for a while and I wanted to use it up. You’ve probably seen it paired with pears, and I’m sure that would be wonderful… If I didn’t hate pears.

In all actuality this is two recipes in one. The Chicken & Havarti can be made with anything at all, and the spinach is great as a side, so I’ll have to make it next week and add it to the veggies category as well. In the sense of fairness I’ll lay this out as one recipe, since that’s the way I prepared it. Read more…

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Last night was a busy one here. Mrs. Seat of her Pants is under deadline for several projects as well as planning a baby shower for a friend. Thankfully the shower has been postponed until Monday due to icy road conditions all over North Texas and Oklahoma. (Perhaps in your part of the world as well?) Thus leaving me with duty for Mr. Seat of his Diaper while she types like a madwoman at her keyboard.

Myself… Well I’ve got around 6 projects calling for my time as well, plus the little one, so I was fairly distracted too.

With both of us truly busy on things, I decided that something quick to prepare was in order. For me this usually means anything baked, roasted or braised, as I can just toss it on and walk away from it until it smells right.

So off to the cupboard for a look. There are some potatoes that are in definite need of use before they go bad, so we’ll grab those. In the fridge I’ve got some mushrooms in roughly the same state. I was either going to use them tonight or they were history, so onto the counter they go. Read more…

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The ability to cook by the seat of your pants can be a benefit at times. For example: I pulled some steak out of the freezer yesterday morning for last night’s dinner only to find that it had gone into the freezer after it had already gone a little “funky”.

Now funky steak isn’t on my list of things to try for dinner anytime soon, so it was off to my local supermarket to find something acceptable. Did I have a plan? Of course not. I just knew I needed something ready to go on the stove when Mrs. seat of her pants got home from work.

A quick rush around the meat department at the local United Grocers gave me the answer. Pork blade roast was on special! Now I love me some pork roast so I grabbed up an 8.5 pounder and a few other sundries that we were in need of before heading back home, still brimming with excitement and satisfaction at my victory over the foul hordes of malodorous beef. Read more…

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Perhaps a little on the low brow, college-dorm side of life, but quite tasty nonetheless! This is a take on a dish that I usually make with smoked sausage or polska kielbasa. Not what I’d call light fare in either case, but it does have a good amount of veggies thrown in.

In truly Seat of my Pants fashion, this dish was cobbled together with whatever I could find at the ready when I discovered that I had not only forgotten to pull anything out for dinner, but that it was very late in the evening and I needed something for Mrs. Seat of Her Pants to eat in a hurry. Read more…

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