Beef Satay Scrambled Egg Over Rice, originally uploaded by Michael Butler.

This is my lunch today from HRD 3rd @ Bryant in San Francisco.
Cost – $5.75

Last week I was visiting Washington D.C. on business. I was staying in a neighborhood called Dupont Circle .The people I was with seemed to be connoisseurs of fine food and they wanted to try this French Bistro down the street from the hotel called Bistro Du Coin. Sampling local restaurants is one of my favorite things to do so I was happy to tag along. We got to this place around 7pm and there was a line out the door. We put our names on the list and stood around with the rest of the crowd of hipsters, groovers and food snobs for about 45 minutes. While we waited in line, I passed the time by reading the Yelp reviews. The general concensus from most of the reviews was that the Mussels and the Cassoulet were the best things on the menu so by the time we finally got seated, I was ready to order.

I ordered the

Cassoulet du Bistrotier

White bean stew with sausage, pork, lamb and duck Confit  – $19.50

and

Moules provençales a la facon Hiba
Steamed Mussels in white wine with tomatoes, thyme and garlic – $8.95

Both dishes were quite good. The mussels could have been a little more salty. This was the first time I’ve ever had a Cassoulet. It was super rich and even though I tried my best, I couldn’t finish it. Unlike the mussels, this was a little too salty but it was still delicious. The over saltiness actually made the 2 Stellas on draft go down better. I think I’m gonna try to cook this dish at home.

I would definitely come back to this place (I almost did for lunch on my last day) but if there was a line like last time, I wouldn’t wait.

Today I went to the Farmers Market on Alemany in San Fransicco. I picked up:

Collard Greens – 2 for $1.00

Beets- $1.00 a bunch

Eggplant – $1.oo each ( these were huge)

Artichoke – $1.00 each

Brussels Sprouts – $1.00 a pound

Raw Peanuts – $2.00 a pound.

Total price – about $15.00

The other day I thawed out some chicken thighs for a meal the next day. But with my new job responsibilities I didn’t have time to cook the chicken the next day. I didn’t want to put them back into the freezer so I needed to figure out some way to make them keep another day or so.

I had just made some corn bread pancakes with some buttermilk so I put the chicken in a bowl and covered them with the buttermilk I had left over and added about a 1/4 cup of Louisiana hot sauce.

So the next day I get home from work and the wife had already ordered pizza but I was craving something home cooked so I decided to throw this quick meal together. I pulled the chicken out of the buttermilk marinade, shook off the extra liquid and placed it in a baking dish with some sliced sweet onions.

I put that into a 400° oven along with another baking dish that had some Brussels sprouts, olive oil and garlic. I cooked both of those for about an hour, maybe a little less. I also boiled up some corn really quick.

This turned out to be a really delicious dish that required almost no work. The chicken was super moist and tender with a great flavor.

The pizza went pretty much untouched that night.

This recipe was submitted by a friend of The Rock and Roll Geek Show and host of The Homemade Hit Show, Tony Butterworth. Thanks, friend!

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:

2 pound tomatillos, husked

1 cup chopped onion

3 teaspoon minced garlic

3 Serrano chili peppers

2 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 lime (juice)

5 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Cut the tomatillos and onion into chunks and add into a blender with the garlic.

Place blended tomatillo mixture into a pot and add the remaining ingredients except cilantro.  Cook for 10 to 15 minutes under medium heat. When finished, allow to cool then add the cilantro and an extra chopped raw Serrano chili (if you like it spicy).

Optional:

Red chili flakes to taste (Can add before cooking)

Olive Oil (Can add after cooking – add a little richness)

Mirin (Japanese cooking wine, can add a little before cooking – sweet)

Roasted Anaheim chilies

Yesterday I finally got to cook some food so I spent all day in the kitchen. My favorite kind of Sunday.

I made a dish from the Cooking Up A Storm cookbook. The dish was Chicken and Sausage gumbo.

I’m going to try to take you step by step through my process with photos below.

Ingredients:

1   4-5 lb chicken cut into serving pieces
Salt
Cayenne pepper
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped celery
About 2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 lb andouille sausage sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
Hot cooked rice for serving

First I combined the oil and flower to make the roux. I stirred it very often for about 45 minutes till brown.

Here it is after about 20 mins. It’s a little darker

This is after about 45 minutes. It’s pretty dark. I probably should have made it a little darker but I was getting impatient so I moved on to the next step.

Next I added the chopped onion, bell pepper and celery.

I cooked this for about 10 minutes till the vegetables were really soft.

I added the chicken broth, stirred to blend well, then I added the bay leaf, thyme and chicken and brought it to a boil. Once it was boiling, I lowered it to a simmer and cooked it for 3 hours.

After 3 hours I added the sausage, green onions and the parsley. I tasted it to check the seasonings. I then added some cayenne pepper and some salt. Boy was it good!

I also made a seafood gumbo that I’ll give the recipe for at another time.

So my Sunday dinner consisted of 2 kinds of gumbo and some delicious corn bread pancakes.
The corn bread pancakes were good but I still need to perfect this a little bit.

Since I’ve gotten the new responsibilities at work, I’ve had almost no time to cook dinner so I’ve been bringing home takeout. A few days ago, I went to a place called Queen’s Louisiana Po Boy Cafe. It has 4 stars on Yelp so I was really looking forward to trying it, since Cajun food is on of my favorites. I picked up 2 twelve inch Catfish Po Boys, 2 large gumbos, an order of hush puppies and an order of sweet potato fries.  Total cost including tip- $60. Not cheap.

Hush puppies were ok. I’ve made better at home. The catfish po boys were delicious but they were pretty stingy on the fish. Hardly any there!

The sweet potato fries were lame. They were covered in cinnamon and none of us liked the flavor. I make sweet potato fries at home and they are much better.

The Gumbo was delicious. It is made with a dark roux, which according to all of the cookbooks I’ve read, is the secret to a good gumbo. You make the roux dark by cooking it carefully for a long time. My only complaint was that the liquid was not thick enough. There was one order that we didnt’ finish so I ate it the next morning. It was much much better the next day. The liquid thickened up in the fridge and it tasted fantastic.

I would go back again but I don’t recommend getting it to go. I think it would be much better there when it comes right off the stove. One other plus about the place was that they served Abita Beer from Louisiana.

This was sent to me by my friend Danni Valdez of Shutter2Think Photography.

He is a great rock photographer and now is taking some great food photos. I’ve never had this hot sauce but am gonna have to give it a try since collecting hot sauce is a favorite pastime of mine.