So, I started a garden. And no, I’m not starting a new blog or Twitter handle or Facebook site called Deck on Gardens. At least not yet. It’s s nice food subset, something a little different than the recipes and the reviews which is why you see that shiny new category at the top of [...]
So, I started a garden. And no, I’m not starting a new blog or Twitter handle or Facebook site called Deck on Gardens. At least not yet. It’s s nice food subset, something a little different than the recipes and the reviews which is why you see that shiny new category at the top of the screen. And it is probably more accurate to say that we started a garden as Ashley is easily as big of a culprit as I am…and not necessarily from encouragement, but rather lack of discouragement…
See it all started with an innocent little trip to the North Union Farmer’s Market. I noticed a new booth that was nothing but heirloom tomato plants. I’m a big fan of heirloom tomatoes and figured if I could grow a couple I would be a lot cheaper than buying them at $5 a pound. So I sent an innocent little text that said “I think I want to get some tomato plants”.
Fast forward a week to a return trip, this time with Ashley. We stop at the booth with the tomatoes and ask for some advice. The tomato lady told us about growing them and helped pick out 6 plants; 3 large variety and 3 cherry variety. Seemed perfect. But as we were leaving, we decided to check out one of the other places that had seedlings…just to see. 15 minutes later, I was carrying a flat of vegetable plants back to my place…a flat being 18 seedlings. There were peppers and onions and kale and broccoli to go with the tomatoes.
Of course now that we had more than a couple plants, we couldn’t just stick them in the ground. So, we headed to Home Depot (the nearest local nursery closed at 5:30, and we wouldn’t be able to make it until the weekend which was too long not to plant them). There we purchased some 1x6s to make some plant beds as well as 300 pounds (give or take) of organic garden soil and manure. Naturally we picked up some more plants because we just didn’t have enough. Cucumbers and blueberries found their way onto the cart and eventually into my car.
Somehow we got everything to fit and made our way back to my place to build the boxes and plant the seedlings finishing just before it was too dark to see what we were doing. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get everything in the ground which meant that a return trip would be necessary, but we had a few days. During those few days, another mandatory trip to the Farmer’s market was made (my Saturday trip for fresh food is mandatory). And as you would expect more plants found their way into my backyard. This week I discovered cucumbers, beans, melons, strawberries and all kinds of herbs. This necessitated the building of three more garden boxes and the hauling of another 300+ pounds of soil and manure. This time though we had the foresight to take Ashley’s cr which is a little merge conducive to hauling things like this than mine…
So now my backyard consists of roughly 100 sq ft. of vegetables, fruit and herbs that I’m trying to remember to water everyday (the soaker hose and temper is on order). The funny thing about it isn’t necessarily the sheer volume of the plants that we bought (as both of our personalities lend toward just diving in), but the fact that neither of us has really gardened or, as far as we know, been blessed with a green thumb. But, we didn’t let that fact stop us, deciding instead to order a book to help us; Organic Gardening for Dummies. It would probably have been more helpful to read it before planting, but what fun would that have been?
This whole thing should be a pretty fun adventure that I’ll be able to take pictures of and hopefully get some really good, fresh, healthy, and organic produce from. So far we have made it two weeks with no deaths is in the family which is exciting! As the plants grow and bloom (and as the inevitable new entrants make an appearance), I’ll continue to update with pictures and stories. All of this from a simple idea to plant a couple tomato plants…slightly crazy, but ultimately not unexpected at all. Though it would probably be good to finish a big project like a house before taking on a big project like a garden…
Ah, Cinco de Mayo. One of those “holidays” that basically serve as an excuse to eat a lot of food, drink a lot of booze, and celebrate something that the we have no idea why we are celebrating. I mean seriously, does any one know what Cinco de Mayo is all about? Anyone? Well, according [...]
Ah, Cinco de Mayo. One of those “holidays” that basically serve as an excuse to eat a lot of food, drink a lot of booze, and celebrate something that the we have no idea why we are celebrating. I mean seriously, does any one know what Cinco de Mayo is all about? Anyone? Well, according to the most reliable source in the modern world (Wikipedia)…
The date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War.
I’m sure you all knew that, right? And I’m sure that’s exactly why you were celebrating. Uh yeah, me too…
Actual cultural significance aside, I approached Cinco de Mayo just like many other Americans…as an excuse to not do a lot of work, to drink outside, and to make a lot of Mexican food for people. it started the day before when Ashley and I decided we needed an excuse to have some people over and kinda sorta out together a little soirée. We made a quick stop at Whole Foods for a couple of essentials like shrimp, avocado, canned tomatoes, black beans, orqnge juice and a couple other things for the as of yet undefined but evolving menu. The morning of Cinco de Mayo, we made a trek to the North Union Farmer’s for more goodies. We did find a pork shoulder for the roast pork I was planning. But ultimately ended up side tracked by oils, pasta and other shiny objects. In fact we walked out of there with more things to put into the ground rather than put onto a plate (yes, we are starting a vegetable garden…and I will be blogging about it).
After that, we realized we needed to head to a different market for more food. So it was the West Side market for cilantro, snap peas and carrots as well as jerky, spices and rice (I think you see a trend starting to form…). Before we could go back and start cooking though, we had to go do a Cnco de Mayo run. I mean, it’s only logical, right? Run around downtown like a crazy person after drinking a beer in a parking lot on a sunny day and arrive at the finish line with a sombrero, maraca, and another beer. That’s how most people start their cooking extravaganza right? No? Huh…
So finally, after all of that, it was time to get our Mexican cooking on. It should probably be noted here that neither of us is Mexican and neither of us really uses recipes, so it was a totally wing it as to our interpretation approach. But that’s what makes it fun. And I had actually started cooking earlier as I slow roasted the pork in a rub of chipotle chile powder, cinnamon, allspice, garlic, lime and orange juice.
The menu for the evening evolved into Spanish rice, black beans, spicy shrimp tacos with a cool cabbage slaw, roast pork, stuffed peppers, salsa, guacamole, chips, fresh made margaritas, and fresh from the market tortillas. And we made pretty much everything from scratch with the exception of the sausage used in the stuffed peppers and the tortillas themselves. This would be the perfect time to toss out a few of the recipes, and show some pictures, but well, um, yeah, that didn’t happen. See, the run put us a little behind. And then a last minute run to the store for some chipotle peppers really put us behind. Then there was the actually cleaning ourselves up after the race, and before we knew it, things were flying and we were hustling just to get the food to a pot that we could actually talk to the guests when they arrived.
Even with the madness of things flying, we pulled it together, and ended up serving a delicious meal for the four friends that showed up. You were thinking like 14 just looking at the menu, weren’t you? I was too with the pile of food. But everyone had plenty to fill them up, with two days worth of meals leftover. For the things that I was responsible for, I was pretty happy. The pork turned out well, though I had to add some honey to bring out the sweetness, and there wasn’t quite the heat I wanted. More brown sugar next time for sure. And the rice was just a little under seasoned. The salsa needed a little more of a kick, and half the chips were baked just a touch too long. Of course, I am my own toughest critic. Ashley’s food was delicious though she felt the shrimp could have been tweaked, the slaw needed a bit more dressing and the beans needed more salt. Basically, the only things we didn’t critique were the guac and the margaritas. Those were spot on.
It was a great night full of great food and great friends. And, for the first time cooking together for a party in the same kitchen, I think we pulled it off quite well. I can’t wait of the house is finall done party coming up this summer to celebrate the completion of the first DeckOnHomes home. That one is going to have a lot more people and maybe this time I’ll remember to take a few pictures.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!
Deck
Momocho was one of the first places in Cleveland that I had put on my list. I saw it on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (apparently… because I just had to Google it to figure out where I had seen it…). It was a place that I hadn’t been to for a couple [...]
Momocho was one of the first places in Cleveland that I had put on my list. I saw it on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (apparently… because I just had to Google it to figure out where I had seen it…). It was a place that I hadn’t been to for a couple reasons. First, it’s on the west side of town and I live and work on the east. And while it is only 20 minutes away at best, it’s still a bit of a haul. And second, I didn’t have anyone to go with that would justify making that haul (same reason I haven’t been to Lucky’s Cafe). But, thanks to recent developments, I’ve since rectified the second excuse which in turn solved the first. So having no reason not to make the trek all the way to the west side…which is seriously maybe four more minutes than my commute home anyway…it was time to give Momocho a try. It helps that they have a happy hour that Ashley really likes…
To properly enjoy happy hour, I started by leaving work early…figuring that’s part of the reason it’s called happy hour. But I got there arguably too early, so we decided to stop and grab a beer at Market Garden Brewery. Of course we couldn’t really decide what we wanted, so we just ordered the build your own sampler. You get to pick six of their beers, and they bring you a pour of each. It’s a great way to try the variety that they offer for not too much money. The winner for me was the Wallace Tavern Scotch Ale, narrowly defeating the Pearl Street Wheat (which would have probably won on a hot summer day instead of a cool, cloudy spring one). After finishing our samples, and paying our tab we headed off to Momocho for some happy hour grub.
So why did it take me three paragraphs to finally get to Momocho? Because the moral of the story is don’t be late to happy hour, especially if you want to sit in the bar. Turns out if you have good food and good drinks people will show up, and they aren’t going to be in a hurry to leave. Who would have thought? We ordered a couple of margaritas and tried to loiter near the bar hoping that someone would leave before 6:30 so we could swoop in and grab a table or bar stool in enough time to order some of the half-priced taquitos. Didn’t happen. But, undeterred, and faced with the option of multiple available seats at like 6:40, we decided to stick it out for the full price meal. I mean we were there and Eric Williams is in fact a James Beard award nominee. Seemed rude to go somewhere else…
The goal of the evening was taquitos, and that’s where the attention went. I was drawn to the machaca (coffee and ancho beef brisket) and pibil (braised pork) while Ashley’s eye wandered to the atun (tuna) and the pescado (mahi mahi). We ended up with beef and tuna options. But fearing that wouldn’t be quite enough food, and hardly a fair sample of Chef Williams’ cuisine, we decided to go for a chile relleno as well which actually came out first. Between the fact that we were hungry and the fact that it smelled so dang good, we were easily three bites in before it even dawned on me to take a picture…which is why you see a half eating chile (you have to pronounce it cheee – lay to get the full effect). The chile was stuffed with roasted vegetables, fried, topped with a melty, gooey, fantastic gouda and served on top of a slightly sweet, slightly spicy tomato sauce. It had a little bit of crunch and a little sweet heat, and was just fantastic. I barely had time to take the picture before we polished it off (and you may even be able to see a fork coming in for another bite…).
Now came the taquitos which couldn’t have been more than five minutes behind. These weren’t exactly what I was thinking when I heard taquitos. I was more of the mind of three rolled and fried, crunchy snacks. You were thinking that too, weren’t you?? Don’t lie… Instead what showed up was a bowl full of beef, onions and peppers, two sauces, and a whole container of warm corn tortillas. Literally, build your own little tacos. I started with a slather of guac, a heaping of beef and veggies, and topped it with a little salsa verde. As I took my first bite, with juice running down my hand, I realized why this was a favorite happy hour spot. The flavors were nice. The meat wasn’t too over-spiced, the peppers and onions gave a nice bit of texture and a little acidity, and the guac was cool and creamy. The only drawback was that the meat was a bit dry (though this was remedied later as I got to the meat that had been sitting there soaking the braising juices at the bottom) and the salsa verde was a just a little bland.
After a couple taquitos, I finally remembered that I had company and she had something different that she was willing to let me try. So I made another taquito with a little bit of perfectly seared Ahi, some blood orange marmelada, and a little bit of guac. Now that was an awesome bite. The tuna was moist and meaty and cooked perfectly. It was completely balanced by the sweet from the marmelada and the creaminess of the guac. I have to admit, I was a little envious of her choice.
We pretty much made our way through both dishes before finally throwing in the towel. And while offered dessert, we declined in favor of heading out in the search for something different. I thoroughly enjoyed myself that evening. The food was good. The company was great. And I was very happy that I had skipped work and made the trek to check it out. I’m looking forward to the opportunity for a return to try the many different taquitos (the chicharones, pibil and pato are all high on the list) as well as the dish that initially landed it on my radar…the smoked trout guacamole.
Final Verdict – 4 Stars
One of the things I’ve been doing since P90X is trying to make sure that I work more vegetables into my diet. It’s pretty easy at dinner time, but I find it a little more challenging to do it with lunch. So, I’ve started making a lot more soups. I did a broccoli soup one [...]
One of the things I’ve been doing since P90X is trying to make sure that I work more vegetables into my diet. It’s pretty easy at dinner time, but I find it a little more challenging to do it with lunch. So, I’ve started making a lot more soups. I did a broccoli soup one time, and I’m a big fan of squash soups. But this time I wanted to do something different and decided to break out a vegetarian chili.
When it turned out pretty darn well, I decided it was worth passing along. It’s a really easy dish that is easy to modify depending on the season. All you need is vegetables that handle long simmering (like squash) without breaking down too much. I also like a lot of spice in my chili, but you can definitely modify to your tastes.
Deck’s Vegetarian Chili
Makes 4 – 6 Servings
Ingredients:
2 yellow squash peeled, sliced- 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
- 3-4 carrots, chopped
- 3 zucchini, sliced
- 1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 1 25 oz can of diced tomatoes with their juice
- 1 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed
- 1 15 oz. can of pinto beans, rinsed
- chili spices to flavor (I like chipotle and jalepeno, but regular ancho is a little more mild)
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots, and sweat for about 5-10 minutes. Add a healthy pinch or two of kosher salt to help bring out the liquid.
Step 2: Add the rest of the fresh vegetables to the pot. Add a little more salt and black pepper for flavor. Let the vegetables cook down for about 5 more minutes. Then add in the chili spices. At least 2 tablespoons for this amount of chili. I added about 4 for a bit more kick. Stir into the vegetables and cook for about five more minutes.
Step 3: Stir in the tomatoes and beans. There should be enough liquid from the tomatoes and the vegetables that have cooked down, but if you need a little more, simply add some water. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 30-45 minutes.
That’s it! Chili is a really simple dish that allows for a lot of creativity and flexibility. And doing it as a vegetarian dish meant full servings of vegetables for every lunch that week! It also keeps very well if you want to freeze it.
Food blog, meet Ashley. Ashley, meet food blog. Great, got that covered. Oh, almost forgot, readers of said food blog, allow me to introduce you to Ashley. I met Ashley at a quaint little Italian coffeeshop where she had gone after class to relax and do a little studying and I had gone to get [...]
Food blog, meet Ashley. Ashley, meet food blog. Great, got that covered. Oh, almost forgot, readers of said food blog, allow me to introduce you to Ashley. I met Ashley at a quaint little Italian coffeeshop where she had gone after class to relax and do a little studying and I had gone to get a cup of coffee, get a little work done, and collect myself after finding a giant crack in a pipe in the house I’m rehabbing (not to be confused with a crack pipe…though a perfect opportunity for blatant self-promotion…deckonhomes.com). We got to talking, found out we had similar interests, and things went from there.
I started this cooking one-upsmanship game by breaking out one of my tried and true…inspired by Michael Chiarello…baked fish recipes. A little bit of lemon for acidity, some fresh herbs, a nice salad with a homemade vinaigrette, and we have a winner. My personal opinion was that I baked the fish about 3 minutes too long, but she didn’t seem to mind or notice. And I could tell she was trying to find something to change, do different, possibly even “healthify it” (she arguably eats and cooks healthier than I do, but this is a different discussion). But according to her, she couldn’t find anything to change which I took as a success.
The following weekend, she invited me over for dinner, and I of course accepted. It had been quite sometime since I hadn’t been the cook, and I was curious to see what she had up her sleeve. We had been having some pretty good food conversations so I was pretty confident that she knew her way around the kitchen, and she has a similar recipe philosophy as me (they are great for inspiration). When I got to her place, there were peppers and onions and all kinds of vegetables all over the counter and shrimp and tilapia in the sink. I poured us a glass of wine, and sat back to watch her chop and saute as delicious aromas started to fill the room (it was about halfway through when I realized I never asked if I could help…whoops!). Turns out all of these ingredients were going into what she called her shrimp “e-toof”. That’s Cleveland speak for “etoufee” (pronounced eh-too-fay), a spicy Cajun dish…and one of my personal favorites.
It probably took about an hour or so for everything to come together and cook down and I was getting pretty close to famished by the time she cut some fresh bread and dished up a couple bowlfuls of etoufee (I’d been at the project house all day…deckonhomes.com). One bite in, and I knew I was going to have to up my game a bit. The vegetables were nice and soft, yet full of flavor. The fish was wonderfully cooked. There was a bit of spice that didn’t get you up front, but was like a slow heat that built a little as you ate that was just fantastic. Everything melded together and just made for an excellent dinner…one that was so good that I ended up helping myself to seconds. I thought about thirds, but I do need to keep an eye on my figure… When she asked if there was anything I would change or do differently, I thought hard, digging deep, and all I could come up with was “maybe serve it over rice?” That of course led to some discussions on dirty rice recipes and ideas…
She definitely impressed right out of the gate, and now has me thinking about different ways I can up my cooking game, try some out of the box things, and make delicious food. it was a great meal and a great evening with great company. The only thing that would have made it better was a little rice…
