When life gives you lemons, preserve those lemons

Back in Missoula, I visited The Silk Road as often as I could before moving. One night we ordered an appetizer of warmed olives, pretty standard. But these olives came with tiny slices of preserved lemons. They were awesome. I had to have more, but I haven't seen them on any menu since. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I gathered:

• 3 Lemons (any type will do, but I'm told Meyer Lemons are the way to go)
• Canning and Pickling Salt
• A large sized canning jar
  
• Water

Then I cut off the nubs on the sides of the lemons and scored the skin about 8 times on each lemon from one severed nub to the other. I added 1/3 cup salt to 6 cups of water and brought that to a boil. Then I boiled the lemons for 8 minutes and turned the heat off. I left them in the warm water for another 30 minutes. I dropped the lemons in the jar and then poured the water I boiled them in over the top, completely covering them. Then I put the top on and screwed down the ring and waited. And waited. Each day I flipped the jar so the salt wouldn't settle. I'm told you can also shake the jar everyday. After 7 days, I pried off the lid and tasted.

Delicious. Not too salty and still tart.

Now I just need to figure out what to use them for. They aren't really just snack food by themselves. They factor heavily in Moroccan cuisine, so I'll have to do some research and figure out what I can make with these awesome preserved lemons.

A Long Grilling Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is synonymous with the start of summer, and the best way to really celebrate is to spend as much time in front of a grill cooking as possible, and of course, to remember those who have served our country. So, that's what we did this weekend.

Saturday we got things started by realizing one of my biggest goals in the field of BBQ: grilling a pizza. We got up that morning and picked up some fresh Basil at the Farmer's Market and then went on to Le Petit to pick up some delicious pizza dough. Darcy and I were having some trouble with the dough, but luckily Pat showed up and put some of his restaurant experience to good use and got our dough ready to go down on the grill.

If you try this at home, be sure you oil your grill well. You don't want the pizza dough to stick to the grill, because then you're not going to get any pizza. I'd also recommend getting the grill really hot on only one side and leaving the other side to cook with indirect heat. That way you can quickly get the dough cooked and then add your toppings, which I would recommend cooking on the grill before you even start thinking about the crust. When the dough is done, move it to the side without charcoal, add your toppings and cheese, close the grill and let that cheese get nice and gooey.

We ended up making 4 kinds of pizza. BBQ Chicken which used BBQ Sauce, Chicken, Corn and Black Beans, A Tomato, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar pizza, A "Salsa pizza" with cilantro, onions, corn, black beans and tomato, and a veggie Italian sausage pizza with Basil. They were all delicious. 

We grilled again on Memorial Day proper, sticking mainly to the usual BBQ fare of Catfish, Buffalo Sirloin Steak, Chicken and Hot Dogs, but experimenting a little bit by making stuffed mushrooms. The idea originated one night when Pat and I decided we should make Jalapeno poppers on the grill someday. One problem, the store was suspiciously out of Jalapenos on Memorial Day, so we picked up mushrooms, bacon, Serrano peppers and a hot red pepper and got to work. 

We sauteed everything together in bacon grease on the stove and then added some bread crumbs and water to make stuffing.

Then we put the mushrooms on the grill and topped each one off with some Romano cheese. They turned out fantastically. Nice and spicy but also really flavorful.

This weekend was really about trying some new things on the grill. I think both pizza and stuffed mushrooms will be included in my BBQ repertoire. It was a good weekend!

Grilling in a Big Way

Nice weather has finally arrived in Missoula. That means more Barbeque in a big way. Don't get me wrong, I don't put away the grill in the winter, but when the weather gets nice I tend to grill way more, pretty much everyday.

This weekend was a great kickoff. On Saturday night we grilled up some kebobs to repay our friends for an awesome campfire the night before. We had red peppers, red onion, mushroom, potatoes and both sirloin AND buffalo kebobs. It was delicious. I also prepared one of my new grill favorites, spicy green beans. I take green beans and add lemon juice, red pepper flakes and garlic, wrap them in aluminum foil and let them steam up on the grill. You can't see them in the picture, because they're kinda boring to look at on the grill, so just enjoy the vibrant colors of all the veggies.

Then on Sunday night, Pat came over and we made sliders. We decided to each season half. I went with an Asian flair and used garlic, ginger, soy sauce, cayanne pepper and my secret ingredient seasame seeds. Pat went with chopped onion, salt, pepper, and a generous amount of Sriracha. We seasoned the buns, toasted them up and topped the burgers with Provalone and lettuce. They were sensational.

All said we had nine burgers to eat, but we finished them all. It took a while, but we got there.

Next weekend is Memorial Day, so the grilling isn't going to stop anytime soon.

My Goose Is Cooked!

My Christmas project this year was to cook a goose. Daunting, I know, but I did my research and it turned out better than I thought it would. I'll break it down for you in the easy steps I used to get the job done.

1. Go out and buy a goose. I found mine at the Pattee Creek Market, because I know they carry some of the stranger meats in town. But on Christmas Eve I saw a couple in Albertson's as well, so they aren't too hard to find. And come to find out, one of my co-workers raises geese, so I could have gotten one from him. I should have bought a bigger one though, because there isn't that much meat on a goose. Mine was 8.13 lbs. and it served about 5 of us. But we weren't expert carvers either, so that could have made a difference.


2. Clean the goose. I let mine sit in the fridge for a day and a half before I attempted it, and it was still very frozen on the inside. Be ready to pull out a spine and other innards with the massive amounts of fat. I foolishly tossed these, which I now regret, because anything cooked in goose fat is delicious.


3. Put the goose in boiling water for a minute or two. This supposedly separates the skin from the actual meat. I'm not so sure it works, or else I boiled it for too short of a time. But maybe things would have ended tragically if I had skipped this step. I also poked lots and lots of holes in the skin with a skewer. This step was essential, as it allowed the delicious goose fat to escape and flavor the vegetables in the roasting pan.


4. Let it dry in the fridge for at least a day and a half. This also gives you plenty of time to do the rest of your cooking prep work, and buy enough alcohol for you and your guests, since no one wants to go shopping on Christmas day.


5. Arrange lots of aromatic vegetables in a roasting pan. I used carrots, parsnips, celery, onions and lemon. I also used a cookie cooling rack at the bottom to keep the goose out of its own fat. I know, I've told you how delicious it is a few times already, but don't worry, there is more than enough fat in the goose itself.


6. Have someone very special mix up some stuffing for you. If you don't have a ultra cute wife like me, then one of your drinking buddies will do just fine.

7. Stuff the stuffing inside the empty cavity. This will be messy. Vegetarians and need not apply.


8. Apply your glaze of choice. There are tons of recipes out there, just Google it, or head down to your local library and check out a book or two. I used extra virgin olive oil, cracked peppercorn, fresh thyme, salt and chopped garlic. You'll want to make enough to apply a little each time you check on the bird. I pre-heated the oven to 45o and let it cook for half an hour, then dropped the temperature to 350 and checked every half an hour. In retrospect, I would cook it at 375 the next time, because it took longer than I thought to cook.

9. And since I had so much extra time, I was able to sing karaoke while I waiting for it to get done. Be sure to invite friends over, as you'll be waiting around for a while for the goose to cook.

10. Carve the bird. I am by no means proficient and carving any sort of fowl, and so it was a laissez-faire approach to getting meat. It was every man for himself.
11. Be prepared for the aftermath. Everyone will have their fill and this is what you're left with. Be sure to budget time the next day to clean up the remains, and get that goose smell out of your apartment.


The goose was a big hit, although not as much as Darcy's insanely tasty mashed potatoes and stuffed mushrooms. I thought the veggies cooked in goose fat and stuffing held its own, but Darcy also can take credit for the stuffing. All in all, a great success!

...and no, Jeffrey's did not partake in the goose. He's on a diet.

You Don't Know Jack-O-Lantern!

With the coming of October, we decided it was also time to do a little pumpkin carving. To at least get warmed up for Halloween. Darcy had a little trouble with the guts of her pumpkin, but then discovered the handy trick of using an ice cream scoop to get them out. We later found out Martha Stewart recommends making your initial cut on the bottom of the pumpkin, to help get all the gunk out, and so you can light the candle and put the pumpkin over the top. Clever. We will be trying that out on our next go round.

Look at my precision and skill with the knife!

Darcy finished way before I did. The only think I can say is that I pulled out all of the gunk from Jeffreys' pumpkin before I started mine. But I will say Darcy did a fine job of carving the kitty pumpkin. The ears were my idea, though.

Once we got them lit, we were proud of our accomplishments. They have been standing guard outside our front door for a week and a half and are getting close to the stage known as "totally rotted." No matter. These were warm ups for the real deal. Another helpful tip we learned after we finished these was to rinse out the inside with a mixture of water and anti-bacterial soap to keep the pumpkin from rotting so soon. We will be trying that next time as well. Look at how scary my pumpkin turned out.

And Darcy's.


I did bake the pumpkin seeds, but I think I have a new technique after talking to a co-worker. Mine were great right out of the oven, but didn't stand up to an overnight stay. They got a little bit chewy. They still tasted ok, but weren't quite crispy enough. Again, this will be resolved on the next go round.

Rainy Spring Break BBQ

I've totally come down with BBQ fever this year already. And not even a rainy day will ruin it, I mean, c'mon, its spring break. So we got together some awesome ingredients and started marinating. We had Garlic Pork, Lemon Pepper Shrimp and Mushrooms, Red Wine Mushrooms and Garlic, Salt and Pepper Asparagus.We got everything on skewers and I fired up the grill. I use Matchlight, because it is by far the best charcoal in existence. Then we got to grilling.

Our grill is tiny and I had to monitor it constantly to keep the food from burning. I do like the multi level grill, so things like asparagus don't burn while I cook meat. And yes, I wore socks and sandals because I kept coming in and out of the house to check on the food. I think it turned out pretty darn good. While we were cooking, our friend Candice showed up, so she joined us in downing the grub.

Then it was off to watch a mediocre House, although there were a few awesome scenes.