Category: Shelf Chef - Our Tiny Homestead

What is Cooking? by Bear

11/30/2016

Bear here...

There is a song by Metalica that goes through my head when I am thinking about cooking and why I do it. My version of Fuel goes like this:

It is FUEL...
It is FIRE...
IT GIVES ME THAT WHICH I DESIRE...

This is how I roll.

Let me explain with words and pictures...

Cat! For the last time, I am done with the catnip recipes, deal with it!

Cooking in a kilt. Yep... The wife digs it. What can I say?

THE FUEL... I know what is going into my meals. I get to choose the ingredients...

From in the house...

Fresh from the neighbor's chickens.

Gotta fuel the mind with new ideas. This one, beet burgers!

A rub for more flavor on the meat? I can do that!

Use variety. How many different types of cheese sandwiches do you think I can make with these ingredients?

Fixings for peanut sauce, Mm Mm GOOD!

... to in the yard

On the hunt in the wild.

Saving money, because I know how to break down a chicken.

Awesome dressing for yard salad? The wife is better at that than I am, just sayen...

Beer bread, ready to mix and heat!

Fixings for... crap, I forgot. It does look cool, right?

THE FIRE.... Here is what I use to test and improve my skills. Like the vest says, "Backyard 2 Kitchen" and a few other places.

ANY TIME OF YEAR!

Getting the charcoal ready to work.

Backyard up high: Grilling veggies to add more flavor before turning them into salsa.

With know how and a little creativity...

From the kitchen: On the stove.

Use a solar oven outside any time on a clear day.

Did I mention cooking in the living room? On the wood burning stove!

With a rack & a lid you can use inside and the top

My beginner grill.

Benefits of working the coals.

Backyard down low: Using our fire pit and largest skillet "aka Bubba" to make breakfast.

... a grill can become a smoker!

From the kitchen: In the stove.

Above: Got scraps? In the kitchen you can use scraps and bones to make stock to freeze and use later in soups and stews.

Some foods can be frozen for months. You can eat now or plan for later.

Left: Who's the happy boy getting meat ready for dinner ASAP?

Lots of meals and a small stove? Use a hay box.

Do I need to mention the classic hot dogs over coals in the wood burning stove?

... of your wood burning stove to make pit beef.

GIVING ME THAT WHICH I DESIRE... a great meal... when all goes well.

I admit to some failures. Like the popcorn with burnt spices in it. A guy has to learn the hard way sometimes.

It don't have to look pretty to taste good...

I desire good steaks!

I desire good sandwiches!

Yep, I desire salads from the yard, I also like...

I desire the classics like grilled steak with garlic potatoes and grilled corn!

And I have learned... Breakfast with lamb steak and eggs with grilled toast and farmers market salad!

... Just using what I have!

I desire good chicken!

I desire good side dishes! (roasted sweet potatoes)

them made with homemade spiced paneer cheese!

I desire new ideas like stringed zuccinni in home made pesto with sungold tomatoes on top!

All this desire makes a guy hungry, You know?

It's all about quality control... really... it is!

So, why do I like to cook when I don't have to? Look at what I can do when I try... Enough said.

type at ya later...

Grilled Cheese Classic Championship

4/23/2016

Bear here... long time no type...
I hope people are still out there and interested....

I entered my first "Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Sandwich Championship" (Left: Got the T-shirt to prove it.)

(Also grabbing life by the horns, hope you all like the new hair do... it's a 10 point rack.)

With Theresa's help and the unleashing of my inner Cook of Anarchy... Here is what happened...

We decided to do two of the four categories of sandwiches (the classic plus one ingredient and the classic plus extras/any ingredients). We went through a lot of different cheeses, breads, and toppings testing different combinations. Many of the cheeses are still unopened in the refrigerator- I didn't even get around to tasting all of them.

Simple is my friend, so is bacon. I used White Jasmine Tandoori Gouda cheese and Roth Butterkase cheese, with pit smoked bacon and home made dill pickle relish for my extras sandwich. For the plus one I used Tandoori Gouda with our home grown and homemade red currant jelly (gotta love sweet with heat). Unfortunately, the judges were not showing me any love- my scores were low. The VIPs, though, who paid extra to actually taste the sandwiches the competitors were making, were showing me a lot of love. I counted at least five different people who were waiting to sample my sandwiches and some of them came up to ask me about them. (People asking about, wanting, and liking my food... THAT is what makes me happy.)

Spatulas up! The big guy is ready to cook.

Tandoori gouda is really crumbly, the spoon really helps.

Hmmm... Wonder W.T.F. this was for?

Back at it. The burners were sensitive, at times I thought mine was on low but it was out.

As the assistant, Theresa gets to raise the flag to tell the judges when we are done.

Lookin good...Hope they like them.

Second round, time to pull more fixings out of my bag of tricks.

Yep, I am having fun... can't you tell?

We had a good time and got to meet a lot of cool people with a lot of ideas about cheese sandwiches. If you need some ideas for making your own championship sandwiches, see my Cook of Anarchy Grilled Cheese page.

Type at you later,
Bear

Our Division of (Cooking) Labor

2/28/2016

Here's a humorous look at Bear and Theresa's different cooking styles and the
Division of Labor at Our House
as we spend our Sunday afternoon cooking. Enjoy!

Theresa's Cooking:

Bear's Cooking:

Smokin' in the Rain

7/24/2015

Bear here.... Last weekend I had a good idea, and bad timing. I am a grill guy, I usually don't have the time or patience for BBQ. I have done some briskets and I was in the mood to try barbecuing venison. I thawed a venison shoulder for smoking/ BBQ. The shoulder was about 10 lbs. so would take around 8 to 10 hours, and I started around noon. (First mistake.) I decided to use bonfire wood to cook in my grill for better smoke and heat control. Did you know it takes around 1 1/2 hrs. to get coals? I relearned that fact. I also started with lump charcoal so I wouldn't be cooking in the dark.

The forecast on Thursday was for warm, muggy weather on Saturday, no problem. (Second mistake, I should have looked Saturday morning and realized STORMS were coming to an area near me!) Everything was set up and rolling, I put the venison on the grill and before I could close the lid I heard thunder.

... I can do this. Here are some pictures and commentary for that day.

Remember when I said I was a grill guy? This is my old grill rigged to smoke.

Here is our fire pit. I carried the coals I needed with a shovel to the grill.

Wasn't sure what I needed so I soaked most of my wood chunks and left them in the water until needed.

This is Ivy sayen "Dude, Get the meat on the fire already, I'm hungry."

This is when I heard the thunder.

We be smoken'. Light rain isn't going to stop me! (I think I hear laughter from the catio.)

This is when the tornado warning siren went off for our town. Only severe thunder storms, I'll be fine!

No problem. no heavy rain yet.

Oh crap, heavy rain. Time to cover the pit and hope it doesn't last long.

Can you tell which side is 350 degrees and which is at 225?

Back at it. Smoked for 3 hours.

Time to add some liquids, wrap the meat and cook it low and slow until done. (Good thing I checked three hours later, the temp was 185.)

Hoping it is done right. Always best to have a pan to catch liquids, the foil almost always leaks.

Since some of the meat seemed dry I kept the braising liquids and put the meat in them after chopping it.

Overall... it was an interesting day and the meat turned out OK. It made great sandwiches. Soon I will be doing this again.

Type at ya later..

Black Cap Update: Creamy Drinks

7/5/2015

Bear here... It's time to harvest the wild raspberries, aka black caps, in our yard, and time to find something different to do with them.

We added instructions for making creamy drinks to our wild raspberry page. Basically, I mixed chocolate milk, raspberries, and ice cream.

Time to drink them while they're still cold.

Type at ya later...

Eat Your Yard: Spring Garlic Pasta

5/17/2015

Bear here... Ever wanted to improve some pasta, butter, and lettuce, but didn't want to buy extras at the store? Here is another EAT YOUR YARD blog from the Shelf Chef. Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS FROM THE YARD

On the left is garlic we missed harvesting last season (aka spring garlic). Each clove in the missed bulb put up a stem. You can eat the whole plant at this stage.
On the right are bunching onions (a perennial- just pull what you need and let the rest keep growing. Theresa is pointing out that I forgot that last part when I harvested).
In the bowl is chickweed and nasturtium flowers for the salad.
In the jar... Forget the jar, I forgot to move the damn thing before I took the pictures.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

1. Chop the spring garlic and onions, using the whole plant of each. Saute in butter and crushed black pepper while waiting for pasta water to boil.

2. A cool trick I learned from cooking class is to crush the pepper between two iron pans. It's great when you want larger chunks of pepper.

3. Cook the pasta, then drain and pour over the "Yard Sauce"

4. Stir it up and saute a little. The Italians cook the pasta this way to help thinner sauces stick to it.

Good dinner... stupid jar.

There you go... the way to create two bowls full of yummy.

We also made cheesy flat bread using a 100% whole wheat bread recipe from:

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

Type at ya later.

Biodiversity Salad -- Extreme Eat Your Yard

5/10/2015

Bear here... Ever wanted a big salad and been out of salad fixings? That kinda sucks. It sucks less if you have weeds in the yard instead of grass. Yep... everything on the cutting board (above) is "weeds" from our yard.

WE HAVE
(above, from left to right)

Violets for the base. Use the leaves and flowers. The stems are soft so I used them too.
Dandelion greens for a little bitter taste.
Creeping Charley for some mint flavoring (Yes, you can eat it, although Theresa says it has a strong flavor, so don't use too much).
Garlic chives and onion chives, yum.
Thyme, because I like it.
I forgot Theresa cut Lambs Quarters earlier in the day or they would have been in the salad too.

Notes:

Make sure you pull out all the plant matter you don't want before cutting. (We found a couple pine needles.... oops.)
Use scissors to cut the plants rough or fine as you like.
If you harvest a lot of plants put the leftovers in a big bowl in the refrigerator. Easy pickings for your next salad.
Crunchy toppings that could be added from our yard include sliced sunchokes, walnuts, or ground nuts. I used pita chips (Not from the yard, but they were too good to resist)
Here's the link for our homemade salad dressings.
Here's the link for our other pages on how to Eat Your Yard.

There you have it. Anybody think grass is the only thing that should be grown in a yard? Heh... look up.

Type at you later.

Lamb & Eggs for Spring Breakfast

5/3/2015

Grill bread and eggs.

Grill marked lamb steaks and eggs.

Bear here... Time to celebrate. Spring is here. It's fertility time. Time to get the seeds in the ground and harvest the early crops. (For more thoughts on the season, see our Celebrate Late Spring page.)

My inner shelf chef celebrates by cookin' decadent breakfasts.

GOTTA LOVE THE DECADENT WEEKEND BREAKFASTS!

Saturday we had leftover grill bread and ambrosia with eggs. Sunday we had "kinda grilled" lamb steaks, eggs, and salad. A quick "how to" section will follow the "shout out" section.

SHOUT OUT TO (aka, Big Thank You!):

Holly, our friend and supplier of lamb and hamburger. Can't cook it if I can't get it.
Our neighbor's chickens for doing the work and the neighbors who are willing to part with the good stuff (fresh eggs with brilliantly orange yolks from happy chickens).
Finally, Theresa who makes great salad dressing and most of the time loves me more than my cooking. :)

The Quick How to:

Grill Bread:

Saturday morning's breakfast was grill bread from Friday night's leftovers reheated in the oven. For instructions on grilling bread, see my Grilled Pizza page. This is Friday's grill bread:

I pushed thyme, garlic chives and onion chives into the bread and started with that side down.

It's a good idea to get the ambrosia or other topping hot before you need it. I used grated parmesan for the cheese.

If doing more than one round have a pan ready with a few coals under it to keep early bread warm.

The herbs were fresh from our garden and the ambrosia was from our freezer. We made it last summer by baking chopped tomatoes and garlic, tossed in olive oil at 375 degrees. Bake until all the liquid from the tomatoes is gone, then use or freeze.

This is the first time we tried reheating grill bread (there aren't usually leftovers). For a crispier crust, reheat at 400 degrees. For a softer crust, try 350. Theresa recommends the crispy crust.

Sunday's "kinda grilled" Lamb steaks:

Marinate the lamb steaks overnight in soy sauce, brown mustard, and lime juice.
Turn your electric burner to med-high. Get the pan really hot, so it will make grill marks, and put a light coat of oil on it. (I use peanut oil because it has a higher smoke point.)
Set oven to 350 degrees and have a pan with a rack in it (or a broiling pan) ready to go into the oven. (You will use it to finish the steaks).
Wipe the steaks dry before you put them in the pan for a better "grill mark".
Remind spouse that smoking pans are a part of cooking... trust me...
Put steaks in pan long enough to get the grill marks, roughly 2 minutes per set of grill marks. It will 4 minutes on one side if you turn it to make a diamond pattern.
When all steaks are marked, put them on the pan with the rack or on the broiling pan in the oven.
Finish heating the steaks in the oven while you cook the eggs and toast and make the salad. How long to cook depends on the thickness and how you like your steaks. For rare I put these in for 10 minutes.
When grill marking the toast, you can reduce the heat in the pan some, but keep an eye on it, bread turns to charcoal pretty fast.
For the eggs, I melt butter in the pan and add freshly ground pepper. Then I fry the eggs over easy and add more pepper.

The cast iron grill pan is your best friend for grillmarks indoors.

Notice... "grill marks" on meat AND toast.

The salad was crisp baby romaine and green onions with Theresa's homemade ranch salad dressing.

Type at ya later...

Celebrate Spring Equinox- Grill Eggs!

3/20/2015

Ever heard of putting all your eggs in one basket? Well, my basket is the grill. Onions optional...

From Bear:

At our house, we celebrate Spring Equinox with eggs, because this is the time when chickens start laying more eggs. It's also the time we get Spring fever, so I go outside to grill. This year I combined the two, and grilled eggs.

I learned how to do this from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue Bible. If you want to boil eggs but don't have any water, here's how:

1. Eggs on the barbee... First step, light your grill and get your coals to medium heat.

2. Poke a hole in each end of your raw eggs so they don't explode when heating (I used a thumbtack).

3. The eggs take about 15 minutes. I turn them every 3 minutes to cook them evenly.

4. First flip is end over end, then roll, so you know you're getting all four sides for roughly the same amount of time.

5. If your fire is hotter, turn the eggs more often, and cook for only 10 minutes.
Don't worry if the shells start browning.

Theresa noticed I even got grill marks!
(Next I have to work on the diamond pattern.)

What can you do with these eggs? Use them like any other boiled egg.
Theresa posted a great deviled egg recipe on our site.

If you're interested in learning more about eggs and the equinox,
also see our Celebrate Early Spring page.

Look at what the Spring rabbit laid- purty blue eggs.
(See how to use cabbage to make dye on our Celebrate Spring page- link above).

EQUINOX
12 and 12,
Tomorrow day is longer than night,
Winter is about planning for Spring
Equinox starts the time to act on those plans,
Thank the people who share their chicken's bounty,
More eggs coming soon.
Thank a chicken.

- Bear

Making Homemade Ice Cream & Chocolate Coffee Syrup

3/10/2015

From Theresa: In celebration of Bear's birthday week and the first warm days of Spring, we made ice cream!

From Bear: It's above zero, it's getting hot out there, we will be sweating soon. Time to cool off. Best thing for cooling off is ice cream and wake up chocolate!

Click to see how we created the World's Best Honey Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Coffee Syrup topping.

Yum.