Category: Food

Yesterday afternoon, things started getting warm at my house.

I thought it might have been an afternoon of baking.  I made a couple of loaves of French bread and a pan of lasagna.  I even used the broiler in my oven to make some of the French bread into garlic bread.  So I thought that maybe the overuse of my oven might have been overpowering the air conditioning a little.  A little later, my wife was doing dishes and noticed that the vent by her feet (the one that usually feels so good on the feet on a hot day) wasn't blowing air that was very cold.

I went out and noticed that the fan on the A/C unit outside wasn't moving.  It was making a bit of a buzzing noise, but there was no movement.  I fiddled about with it a little bit, but didn't really know what to do.

I called the company that fixed our furnace a few months ago and left a message.  This morning, I made an appointment for a technician to come out and fix whatever was wrong.  We needed it fixed quickly because the weather forecast for the next four days predicted temperatures just north of 100 degrees.  Yuck.

I also posted something on Facebook about our air conditioning woes.  Fortunately, one of the guys in my neighborhood had a similar problem and he told me how he fixed it for only the price of a part.

So I decided to check it out.  Air conditioners have a big compressor, heat exchange unit (like a radiator on a car) and a large fan in the outdoors part of the system.  Both the compressor and the fan rely on a capacitor (kind of like a mini battery) to get them started.  I took the capacitor off and realized right away that it was bad.  It had bulges on the top and bottom and a little yellowish oil had leaked out.  I used my multimeter to measure the capacitance across both capacitors (it's a dual capacitor) and both readings were zero.  That was definitely the problem.

It took a little while to track down a part, but once I had the part, I installed it and started up the system and the cold air started pouring out of the vents.  SUCCESS!

It was a little bit of a gamble, because I had already called the HVAC company and told them I didn't need the technician to come out after all.  If I had been wrong, we would have spent a rather warm night tonight.  But the gamble paid off.  For just over $30 and a couple of hours of running around, I was able to fix the problem.  The HVAC company would have charged me a LOT more than that.

It feels good to fix something myself.

I'm trying something a little bit new in my constant lifelong fight against fatness. I'm quite sure that this is something that I will be fighting against my whole life. I've been blessed with a slowish metabolism and I've also been blessed with a love for food. These things combine to make for a very large "me" unless I really work against these two things.

A while back, I posted something about skipping breakfast and how that's a way that I combat being fat. That's probably the reason that between mid-November and the end of December, I actually lost two pounds. For the first Christmas season that I remember, I didn't gain a few pounds.

That still doesn't change the fact that, in medical terms, I'm obese. I'm not overweight. I'm obese.

I've tried a couple of fad diets. They worked for me temporarily. The best thing I ever did was when I decided to ride my first century ride a few years ago. I dropped a lot of weight that summer, ending up under 200 lbs for the first time in many, many years. Yet, over the last few years, I've slowly gained it all back.

It didn't help that the one sport I really really enjoyed has been taken away from me. I loved racquetball. It's not going to ever be an option for me again. It didn't help that for a whole year, I couldn't ride a real bike because I didn't have the strength in my right hand to brake. It didn't help that even when I had the tendon problem in my elbow fixed, I didn't get back on my bike again.

Yet those are all just excuses.

So this week, I started an exercise that has been eye opening. I downloaded the "LiveStrong" app for my iPad and I started tracking my caloric input/output.

I'm sure that there are more accurate methods, but for $2.99 plus tax, this has a lot of bang for the buck.

I put in my height and weight and some other information (such as my activity level--sedentary. I'm a computer programmer, after all) and told the app that I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week and the app told me that I can consume 1702 calories per day.

It's actually not so bad, especially since I skip breakfast anyway. On days that I actually do something more physical--such as ride the spinner--I can eat more, because the 1702 calories are "net" calories--the difference between what I eat and what I burn. 45 minutes sweating away on the spinner can buy my a few hundred more calories.

The app also has a pretty large database of foods. It's not 100% accurate, I'm sure, but it's a lot better than not knowing at all how many calories I'm eating. I plan out what I'm going to eat for the day and I use the app to figure out approximately what I eat in a day.

It's been eye opening. Geez. No wonder I'm fat.

So I started this on Tuesday. I don't know how long I'll continue to actually log every single thing I eat, but I think it will be something that I can come back to if I can't figure out why I keep getting heavier and heavier. I think that when I hit a point where I want to just maintain my weight, I'll count calories for a while to figure out how much I can continue to eat.

So far so good. I'm down about 2 1/2 pounds. I know it's probably not all REAL weight loss, but at least part of it is.

I'm also planning on riding my bike this summer. A lot. I'm going to do multiple century rides and I'm going to do the cycling merit badge with the scouts in my area.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to drop 30 or 40 lbs this year and this will be one more tool that I'll have to keep from gaining it all back. Again.

Wish me luck. I'll post updates here from time to time.

Younger Son's Birthday was yesterday.  For his Birthday, he wanted ribs.  I, of course, used this as another opportunity to use my new smoker.

I found a recipe called BRITU.  (Best Ribs In The Universe)  If the name of the recipe isn't the whole truth, it comes pretty close.

I sprinkled the ribs with spices and smoked them for four hours using hickory and cherry woods.  When they passed the "tear test," I pulled them off, cut them into individual rib sections, and served them the sauce specified in the recipe.

They were VERY excellent ribs.  The meat didn't fall off the bone, but it did pull off without too much effort when I bit into them.  The smallest ends of the slabs of ribs were a little overcooked and dry, but the rest of the slabs were nice and juicy.  There was a great smoke ring on them, and the hickory gave them a bacon-y flavor that was really good.  The spice sprinkle was salty, which went really well with the sweet sauce.  The sauce really was a condiment and not a necessity--the flavor of the ribs spoke for themselves.

Happy Birthday, Younger Son!

Today, I fell in love with yet another method of cooking.

For Christmas, this year, I got a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.  Today, I used it for the first time.  I cooked two chickens.

BEST. CHICKEN. EVER.

No, SERIOUSLY.

Seriously.

Costco sells chickens for 99 cents per pound.  I bought a pair of 5 lb chickens last week in anticipation of being able to smoke them on my Christmas present.  You're probably wondering how I knew I was getting the Smokey Mountain Cooker for Christmas.  Well, it's rather hard to hide.  It's more than 3 feet tall an almost 2 feet in diameter.  Not to mention the fact that I ordered it myself.  :D

Last night, after waffling for a while on exactly how I was going to prepare the chickens for smoking, I finally decided to brine them instead of marinating them.  I removed the backbones and keel bones from the chickens and cut them into halves.  I put them in a brine mixture of water, salt, and brown sugar, and let them brine overnight.

This morning, I took them out of the brine and put them on a sheet pan in the refrigerator to let the skin air dry for a few hours.  Then it was time to decide what kind of a rub I wanted to put on the outside of the chickens.  I decided to use a basic bird rub recipe I found in a barbecue cookbook.  This meant a trip to the grocery store to get some dried chilies.  After seeding, toasting, and grinding up the chilies, I made the rub--a mixture of the fresh-made chili powder, cumin, curry powder, salt, and pepper.

While the charcoal was getting ready, I applied the rub to the chicken halves.  After placing some apple wood chunks on the top of the charcoal, I finished assembling the cooker and put the chicken on the grate.

A few minutes later, I went back outside to check on the smoker temperature.  It was smoking away within the perfect smoking temperature range and the apple wood was smelling sweet and delicious.  After an hour, I flipped the chicken over, and after another half hour, I put my thermometer probe in one of the chicken breasts.

The breasts still needed to rise another ten degrees before it was safe to eat.  20 minutes later, the temperature had only come up another degree.  It was taking longer than I thought it would, probably because the chickens were bigger than those called for in most recipes I had seen.  Since we wanted to eat at a decent hour, I pulled the chickens out of the smoker and put them in a 400 degree oven to bring them up to temperature.

And wow.  WOW!  Amazing.

Chicken really takes on the smoke flavor.  The combination of the sweet apple smoke and the spicy rub is amazing.  Amazing, I say!  The bright pink smoke ring looked great and the smoky flavor had penetrated the chicken all the way through.  It didn't really taste like chicken any more.  The chicken had been transformed into something entirely new.

The kitchen has a lingering sweet, smoky aroma and there are a few leftovers in the fridge that will disappear quickly tomorrow.

I'm hooked.  I can't wait to try smoking a turkey, a brisket, some ribs, a pork butt...

*happy sigh*

Split Pea With Ham Soup

We usually get a Honeybaked Ham for Christmas, and we use the ham bone to make this filling, comfort food.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry split peas
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 large meaty ham bone
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup shopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion

Preparation:

Rinse peas.  In a large soup pot, combine peas, broth, ham bone, marjoram, bay leaf, and a dash pepper.  Bring to boiling.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Remove meat.  When cool enough to handle, cut meat off bone and coarsely chop.  Discard bone.  Return meat to saucepan.  Stir in carrot, celery, and onion.  Return to boiling.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.  Discard bay leaf.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/25/twelve-drummers-drumming/

Backyard Baby Back Ribs

My wife used to hate ribs.  Used to.  These take a bit of work, but it's worth it!  This is another Alton Brown recipe, slightly modified--I removed the coffee and substituted lime juice for the margarita mix in the original recipe.  I also changed it from 2 full racks to 3 full racks because Costco sells cryo-packs with 3 slabs of baby back ribs.

Ingredients:

• 3 full racks/slabs (about 6-7 pounds) baby back pork ribs
• Kosher salt
• 9 Tablespoons Rub Number Nine (recipe follows)
• 3/4 cup orange juice--not fresh squeezed
• 3/4 cup lime juice--not fresh squeezed
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Place each rib rack on a sheet of extra-wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil.  (The foil should be 4 inches longer than the ribs on either end.)  Season racks liberally with kosher salt and sprinkle each rack with 3 tablespoons of the rub.  Turn the ribs, meat side down, and tightly seal each foil pouch.  Place on two half sheet pans and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the orange juice and lime juice in a liquid measuring cup.  Open one end of each pouch and evenly divide the liquid between the three pouches.  Reseal the pouches and place the sheet pans in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Remove the ribs from the oven, carefully open one end of each pouch and pour the braising liquid into a heatproof measuring cup.  Reseal the pouches and place them and the measuring cup of liquid into the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

The fat in the braising liquid will have solidified on top and can be removed at this time.  Transfer the liquid into a saucepan and add the honey, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper.  Whisk to combine.  Set over medium high heat and reduce to a sticky glaze, approximately 10-15 minutes.

Set a gas grill to medium-high and allow to heat for 10 minutes.  Cut each slab in half and place them on the grill, flesh side down, close the lid and decrease the heat to medium.  Leave alone for 3 minutes.  Flip and cook for another 3 minutes.  Flip and cook for 3 minutes on each side one more time or until each rib has a nice char.  Remove the ribs from the grill to a cutting board and cut into 2 rib portions, using kitchen shears.  Add the ribs and half the glaze to a large serving bowl and toss thoroughly to coat.  Serve the remaining glaze on the side.

Rub Number Nine

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chili powder
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• 2 Tablespoons ground thyme
• 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon allspice

Preparation:

Place all of the ingredients in an airtight container and shake to combine.  Store for up to 3 months.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/24/eleven-pipers-piping/

Onion Dip from Scratch

We always used to mix powdered onion soup mix into sour cream to create onion dip.  Then we saw Alton Brown prepare this version on Good Eats.  The trick is to carefully carmelize the onions without burning them.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups diced onions
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 3/4 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation:

In a saute pan over medium heat add oil, heat and add onions and salt. Cook the onions until they are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add the cooled onions. Refrigerate and stir again before serving.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/23/ten-lords-a-leaping/

Lynette's Dip

Last year, I invited some Longhorns fans over to my house to watch the BCS National Championship game and they brought this dip to share.  It's perfect for "bowl game season."

Ingredients:

• 1 large can refried beans
• 1/2 lb hamburger, browned
• 1/2 lb breakfast sausage, browned
• 1 small can green chilies
• 3 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
• 1 bottle taco sauce (medium or hotter)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 container avocado dip
• 1 small container sour cream
• Sliced olives
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped green onion

Preparation:

Spread the beans in a 9 by 13 pan.  Cover with cooked meats.  Layer chopped onions, chilies, then cheeses.  Top with taco sauce.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Top with container of avocado dip, then sour cream.  Sprinkle with olives, tomatoes, and green onion.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/22/nine-ladies-dancing/

Cheese Ball

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe and I loved it so much that for Christmas, they gave us a cheese ball serving set.  Now, my side of the family usually requests that I bring this to holiday gatherings.

Ingredients:

• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• chopped parsley

Preparation:

Soften the cream cheese.  Add the remaining ingredients except for the almonds and parsley.  Mix until well blended.  Spoon onto wax paper.  Mold into a ball using wax paper to protect your hands.  Refrigerate for several hours.  Roll in almonds and parsley.  Keep refrigerated.  Remove from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/21/eight-maids-a-milking/

Clam Chowder

This is a thick, creamy chowder that is perfect for a cold day.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 1 cup onions, finely chopped
• Two 6 1/2 ounce cans minced clams
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 quart half and half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preparation:

Place the potatoes, onions, and celery in a medium saucepan.  Drain the liquid from the minced clams into the vegetables and add enough water to just cover the vegetables.  Cook until the vegetables are barely tender.  Melt the butter in a soup pot.  Add the flour and cook and stir until bubbly.  Add the half and half all at once and cook and stir until you have a thick and bubbly white sauce.  Add the vegetables along with the water and clam juice they were cooked in to the white sauce and stir until smooth.  Add the clams, salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar and heat through.

Link to last year's post: http://misterme.com/2009/12/20/seven-swans-a-swimming/