I believe the Ram’s Rest may hold the record for most cases consumed in North America, but we are still waiting for positive confirmation on that one. Stay tuned.

Many of you know may know this as the chicken wine due to the label, and if you do not know it, I would seek it out. For about $8, you will find a pretty good white wine that is real nice in the summer and pretty much all year around. I finally found it in Seattle at QFC for $7 with my advantage card, High Five, and plan on purchasing a case this weekend.

The funny thing is that it’s become an underground phenomenon. People all over have successfully ordered the McGang bang from McDonalds and have documented the experience. Read more at Eat Me Daily.

Copper River Salmon arrives May 15th each year and is known around the world as the best wild salmon available. Something about the cold water and length of the Copper River in Alaska make it delicious, which I am sure you can research if you care to find out the details.

The recession part of this has to do with price. Back in NYC, this salmon usually cost upwards of $40 a pound and in restaurants was a $50+ dish. Well this year due to a recession and a great catch prices are around $30 elsewhere and $20 here in Seattle.
I bought a beautiful 3/4 pound piece this afternoon and this is without a doubt the most delicious salmon I have ever had. This fish is a deep red and melts in your mouth. None of that nuclear orange with the painted white lines you normally see.
I am not sure how long this fish lasts, maybe 30-45 days, so if you see it in our local store, spend the extra $$$ and pick up Copper River Salmon. You will not regret it

Click here for Bacon Roll

Let’s focus on the Panzanella.

1 baguette

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1 lb fresh mozzarella

1 red onion

2 cloves minced garlic

Olive Oil for basting

Salt and Pepper to taste

½ cup pesto vinaigrette

This recipe takes the whole bread, tomato and mozzarella salad to new heights by not only combining it with a fresh pesto- balsamic vinaigrette, but get this, you actually grill the bread, mozzarella, onion and tomato first! Basically, the original recipe calls for several tomato, red onion, mozzarella and bread skewers, lightly dressed with olive and garlic, that are grilled, removed from their skewers, and then tossed with the Pesto-balsamic vinaigrette- and let me tell you, it’s really delicious. That said; having suffered through cleaning quite a few grills of molten mozzarella, I’ve come up with a better method to ensure that everything is cooked properly when combined. Moreover, I’ve abandoned the recipe for the vinaigrette and just make it how I like it now – I encourage you to do the same.

Firstly, if you have stale bread, use that. Stale bread toasts better and won’t get soggy like fresh bread does. If you don’t have any “day old” around, try to cube (about 1 ½ inch square) the fresh bread up few hours ahead of when you plan on making the Panzanella- this will let it dry out a bit. Next, key step here, when you are about 5 minutes out from getting started, put your mozzarella in the freezer. I can’t tell you how much it easier it is to cut cold mozzarella. Not only that, but it helps the cheese hold it shape a bit better during the grilling process. Without doing this you could wind up with melted cheese all over the grill!

As far as assembly of the kabobs goes, there is the main point of difference with the original recipe. Rather than combining the ingredients on the skewers, I do a few solely cherry or grape tomatoes, a few red onion kabobs and then combine the bread and mozzarella (cut into 1 inch cubes) on the last few kabobs before lightly dressing them with a bit of minced garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil. By doing this, you can control how much heat each of the ingredients get. Personally, I like the onion and tomatoes to get a bit more charred, so I get those on the grill first while I am putting the bread and mozzarella skewers together.

When making your pesto, use your favorite recipe. Some people use pine nuts, some walnuts, I like crushed red pepper; all that matters is that at the end you add a bit of balsamic vinegar to it and a touch more oil than you normally would to give it a slightly looser consistency. I usually make my pesto in a food processor, but I have done it by hand as well. If you have the time, give it a try- it’s quite sexy.

Once everything is grilled to your liking, remove from the skewers into a large bowl and toss to combine with the 2/3 of the pesto vinaigrette. I plate, and then top each with a bit more vinaigrette, salt and fresh pepper. Yummers!!

In an effort to usher in Autumn, I followed the Panzanella salad with Monkfish and Pancetta kabobs served with roasted butternut squash with fennel and lemon.

They were tasty but lacking some oommf. Next time I might make lemon oil or herb-anise vinaigrette or something to add a bit more acidity to the dish.

I followed that with black figs, with fresh ricotta, lemon sugar and balsamic reduction- sort of a dessert and cheese course in one. While I liked it for being light and fresh, I think next time I’ll combine the lemon sugar with the ricotta in advance with a touch of lemon juice tie those flavors together.

Till next year, goodbye tomatoes. Bring on the squash, figs, apples, pears, and Brussels sprouts!

Surely world domination is the next logical step & I’d like to get out early and on message; I salute our new Pepper Overlords.

Right on. Right on.

With body and mind still recovering from the Reach the Beach juggernaut, I can assure you that there has been no shortage of wine consumed in our house this week.  Ran into a delicious little gem acquired from the NH State liquor store on the way back down and thought I’d share.  I normally shy away from any vineyard that aligns itself with the “new school”, or relies on cheeky names and such.  Generally I find their wines sub-par and the approach ill conceived.  Yeah, I’ve suffered through more than my fair share of sharp tannins and unbalanced ho-ha garbage at the hands of Bonny Dune Vineyards.

But every now and then I take a gamble, and the purchase of a bottle of Ro Sham Bo Winery’s Reverend Zin paid off.  Granted it’s primarily Dry Creek, which is known for some excellent Zins, but this is a damn tasty bottle of wine.  Nice fruit, tanins and and full bodied without going overboard. It puts me in mind of another favorite Zin  – Renwood’s Jack Rabbit Flats.   Anyway, if you dig Zins, check it out.  And I must say, the Ro Sham Bo folks seems to have a delightfully zaney approach to their craft to boot.   The Dukes may just have to make a trip to the left coast to take in the annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament next year…

I have four Jalapeno pepper plants that produce around 40 peppers every two weeks. With the help of a friend, we put up five jars of pickled jalapeno slices the other weekend. The jalapenos are ridiculously fresh having been picked moments earlier. Can’t wait to introduce these little fellers to St. Peter…

I had never been to this restaurant before, but had heard exceptional things about the pork that flowed freely from the kitchen. I can tell you that they did not dissapoint.

We started off with a few different plates of thinly sliced ham and crusty bread, accompanied by a sauce that I mistakenly took for mustard. A closer inspection revealed it was mayonnaise cut with Sriracha and Red Eye gravy (coffee, pan drippings). Really interesting and quite tasty. The ham was bolstered by a few orders of lardo which is cured strips of pig fat. It’s a fairly subtle dish and a little unnerving. It’s not something I’d order every day, but I found it quite satisfying. Next was crispy lamb belly. I am a huge devotee of lamb and can honestly say that I have never tasted anything quite so “lamby”. Baaaaa humbug. But on to the main attractions.

Ssam means “anything wrapped” and one of the stand out items on the menu is a pork bun, essentially a flour pancake filled with braised pork belly, topped with a few dabs of Sriracha.

I can’t say I have tasted anything so good this entire year. I can see myself visiting this restaurant time and time again, slipping in for a few pork buns and a glass of wine. It’s pure magic.

But on to the main event. My friend had called the restaurant exactly one month before to get a reservation required for Bo Ssam. They have a 5:00, 6:30 and 11:00 seating every day for this special meal. But what is Bo Ssam? It’s a 6 lb pork butt that has been cooked for 10 hours. You shred the pork at the table, place it in a lettuce leaf, top with a fresh shucked oyster and your choice of accompaniments like rice and kimchi.

Although I had already eaten a great deal of swine, I managed to scarf down six of these delicious little packages. I found it equal to the pork bun in flavor, but it was a lot of fun to sit around a table and eat a communal dish.

I hard heard about Momofuku Ssam from a number of friends, but somehow it slipped off my radar. Don’t let this happen to you. If you like pork, get yourself over there and enjoy the fruits of their labor. You won’t regret it.

The base of my stuffing is sausage – sweet italian, hot italian or a mixture of the two. I then add breadcrumbs, parsley, red onion, parmesan, salt, pepper and an egg yolk to bind the mixture. A lot of recipes call for grated zucchini or squash, and you can experiment with herbs – a little rosemary works well. I can’t say there are particular ratios – add what you like, in the amount you like, just make sure it accents the sausage.

Now on to the vessel. I usually use green peppers, but there’s no reason you couldn’t mix it up – red, yellow, orange, purple, poblano or cubanelle. Just make sure they are firm, which denotes freshness. Cut them lengthwise and remove the stem, seeds and ribs. Stuff them so they have a mound on top – just like so.

Put them in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until they are browned. Serve immediately.

It may be the oldest trick in the book, but I love cutting a hole in bread and grilling it along with an egg to make a “bird nest”. Always a crowd pleaser.

I also tried something new – habanero infused rice. You take an unripe habanero which I imagine is difficult to find. I just happen to have about 50 right now in Peppertown USA. They are so fresh they appear to be fake…

You take the unripe habanero and drop it in boiling water along with the rice. At the end of the cooking process, the habanero will look as if its been stewed – it will have lost all of its firmness.

If the habanero ruptures during the process, you have to throw the rice out unless you want serious, serious heat. This recipe imparts a little heat, but largely adds a smoky flavor to the rice. When I cook this again, I’ll probably add another pepper for a more pronounced flavor. I served the rice along with some quesadillas that included fresh jalapenos from the garden.

I did a quick harvest before I left to come back to NYC – here’s the bounty.

I gave a friend a bag of those cherry tomatoes which he quickly used in a Summer Harvest Pasta. He roasted the tomatoes along with brussel sprouts, then tossed with bacon and shallots in a vinaigrette. Looks amazing…

I’m headed back out for Labor Day – more food porn to come!

At a gorgeous beach enjoying the many splendid fruits of the Shambaugh Victory Garden and it’s subsidiary Peppertown USA. I have been harvesting a lot of vegetables and herbs, wanted to share the food “pron”.

First, feast your eyes on the first pepper harvest:

This is a decent amount of action, akin to backseat groping, but is only a harbinger of things to come. Here’ the score. The jalapenos have been the fastest and the most prolific plants by far. I have 4 plants and was able to harvest around 50 peppers out of the gate. The largest of the plants has around 25 peppers on it at a time. The bell peppers are off to a slow start, but I picked a bunch of green ones to jump start production. Humans recommend that you pick the early fruits of a pepper plant in order to encourage more production. Bell Pepper plants produce around 3-4 peppers per plant at a time, and I have 10 plants. About to get funky with a capital P. I only have one Poblano plant, but it’s sprawling, halfway to a tomato plant, used a cage for support. The Cayenne peppers are just beginning to change color, not sure how long that process takes, but I think I’ll have around 30 peppers soon. The Cubanelle (sweet) are prolific, but not too large yet. And that red guy in that shiny silver pan is a Habanero. We have around 20 that are about ready to pop. I have 4 plants and it’s gonna be a bumper crop of napalm.

What to do with all of these peppers?

The first thing we did was follow a recent Gourmet recipe for Jalapeno Poppers.The fresh jalapenos from the garden are much hotter than store bought variety and not nearly as waxy. This is good eating – great with a beer on a hot summer day.

We made a quick tomato sauce using bell and jalapeno peppers. Perfect over linguine.

We harvested green beans and cooked them simply with shallots and garlic.

We spiced up my favorite potato recipe with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. Added a great NY strip rubbed with a Montreal steak spice.

The heirloom tomatoes are pop-and-locking across 6 basil plants that have gone into hyperdrive.

Birch made an epic caprese salad this past weekend.

We made 10 batches of pesto – third no butter, third with butter, third with sundried tomato. Here’s the no butter, made especially chunky for a tuna steak cooked later that night.

To honor all of this great food courtesy of the Shambaugh Victory Garden, I built a new leaf compost enclosure to help fuel future efforts.

That’s my first installment. More summer vacation food porn to come…

Still Life With Yellow Heirloom & Green Habenero. You don’t get much of a feel for the scale of this monster, but I’d put it at well over 1.5lb, maybe 2.

First cuts – and the inside looks perfect. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with the larger heirloom varietals. They can be rather persnickety; appearing ripe only to yield an unripe or, worse, rotten center. It also doesn’t necessarily help that they have such medical-wonder proportions, one lobe can be ideal and another not quite there yet. But this puppy was showing red tasty scrumptiousness across the board.

Fully butchered and being carefully watched over by a tasty glass of rose.

We figured best to enjoy this rite of season as a caprese salad w/ fresh basil from the garden and some lovely Burrata. i was introduced to Buratta not days before by our local cheese monger at the Green Grape’s new “Provisions” store. This cheese lady really knows her stuff and I’m not ashamed to admit she has a flawless track record of introducing and upselling me into new cheeses (4/4 for the record). When she told me about Burrata, that it was a mozzarella with additional cream inside, there was nothing to be done but scarf a sample. The deliciousness met my tongue, synapses fired, a waking dream of the tomato at home bubbled up and *POW*, just like that, sweet sweet commerce was made. I greedily scurried a ball of the imported stuff home to be mated to this awesome ‘mater.

Love the Buratta and love the Green Grape’s provisions; I’ll gladly sing both their praises for making my life better.

The result. Nothing but ultra fresh and perfectly ripe, garden-good, tomato and basil, delicious cheese, some olive oil, salt and pepper. It was 3 times as delicious as it looks; damn I love summer – victory garden indeed!

So after a weekend of mass pork consumption, and the onset of a mild case of trichinosis, it occurred to me that we might have somehow forgotten to pay homage to the sausage, the forgotten pork vehicle.

Bacon month turned into bacon summer and lord knows we have consumed some bacon. On top of the usual 2 pound a weekend minimum that has been set as the standing bar for the Ram’s Rest, this weekend we actually consumed 4.5 pounds of freshly cut slab bacon from the oh so sassy Smith Street butcher. For those of you not familiar with bacon, it is the pig’s way of saying thank you.

Lest I digress, back to the forgotten fruit.

In the madness of the bacon frenzy, we have neglected our friend the sausage, who has faithfully served us for so long & in so many wonderful ways. There is of course the link and the patty, who have been holding it down at breakfast since we figured out how to grind shit up. There’s also the hot dog (aka. frankfurter, frank, weenie, wiener, dog and tube steak) the most perfect $1 New York food on the planet. Like the oven at Peter Luger’s, the secret to the New York hotdog is to never change the water they boil them in, thus accumulating the flavor encapsulated in the nugs and boiled off bits from years of hot dogs. I go mustard/ketchup, kraut and onions, but I’m from here.

Beyond the commonly known breakfast sausages and garden-variety hot dogs I just mentioned, there are a plethora (yes jefe, a plethora) of other ‘sausage’ related products that make this world a better place. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, there are over 85 varieties of sausage (with many having sub-varieties).

I’m going to stick the ‘mainstream’ varieties, and by mainstream, I mean the ones I know and like. I am certain the butcher’s son (who shall remain nameless*) knows more about this subject than I do, but his absence at the last few meetings has put his membership into question and catapulted me into a position of authority.

When I am king, you all will hang.

In the “things everybody would identify as a sausage” category there’s: Bratwurst, Chorizo, Kielbasa, Weisswurst and a million flavors of what we simply call sausage. Each has it’s own magic and will be sampled in September, now officially know as Sausage Month..

On the somewhat forgotten side, are the Italian’s contributions to the party, Capacolla (aka Gabagool as in “what? you don’t like Gabagool?”)), Mortadella, Proscuitto and Salami. Though we more often than not see them sliced thinly (and in NG’s hands by the refrigerator), these varieties start off as tubes and slabs and then are sliced after the fact. Rest assured they are real and they are fantastic. These will also be represented in the Sausage of Truth showdown in September.

Lastly, there are other regional pleasures that mainly exist in the places that deem eating crazy shit to be totally fine.

Included in this category are: bangers, smokies, scrapple, lola, linguica, goetta and frizzies. Each are odd and, in their own way ,delicious. I might propose a mixed bag event where nations are represented by their respective meats.

All in all, the sausage is truly it’s own pork champion, not some redheaded stepchild of bacon. I am resolute that, after sausage month kicks off, you will all have a clearer understanding of the power of the sausage.

I just hope the lipitor holds up its end of the bargain.

]]> http://dofb.com/food/saw-zeech-the-forgotten-pork-vehicle/feed/ 1 http://dofb.com/food/pepper-suggestion-bhut-jolokia/ http://dofb.com/food/pepper-suggestion-bhut-jolokia/#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:30:57 +0000 admin http://dofb.com/?p=888 With all the talk of Peppertown USA, I would like to throw in a suggestion for next years crop, the Bhut Jolokia.
Weighing in at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units, the Bhut Jolokia chili from India is considered the worlds hottest pepper. Just to put that into perspective, the Jalapeno is a weak 10,000 Scoville Heat Units.

The video below is of Gavin McInnes eating a Bhut Jolokia pepper and is AWESOME. I hope we can attempt this same stunt next season after a visit to Peppertown USA

With Pepper Town USA neatly in order, the not- so-sleepy neighbor plot to the East (?) got out of control in the last few weeks. While it’s tenders were tending to other matters, the tomato trestle system could barely contain the high summer growth. Plants were growing every which way but as intended, with fear of taking over the basil and cucumber patches– egads!

A little known fact about grape and cherry tomatoes vines– allowed to grow along the ground, they will re-root and fuse with a neighboring plant. We had about 10 vines that made it from one side of the trestle to the other side. In an attempt to get some order back, I re-tied many of the vines and even tied some over the top of the trestle system so that the tomato bunches would start to grown over the trestle with fruit hanging down from the wires– rather than on the ground with easy access for all sorts of pests.

After 5 hours of re-giggering, Victory was indeed mine. Not with out some causalities, of course. About four sections of vine needed to by cut to make room and sun for other plants- there was just no way around it. Further, two pints of green tomatoes were shaken from their branches as the re-org took place. Not to worry, my friends, they will will not go down in vain. About three weeks from now, pickled green cherry tomatoes await your Labor Day martini!

As for the rest of the garden, the green beans and Pepper Town USA are in the lead with great strides and major yields ready for the taking.

I’ll wait for the Mayor of PT to arrive before harvest, as I think he has some plans for these beauties. The green beans were harvested and went to the pasteurization tank for their last Hoooray…

The cucumber plants seemed to suffer from the tomato invasion, and are not yielding as much as I would like to see at this point. I sourced some organic vegetable food from the hardware store and stuffed their little mounds– hopefully we see a turn around.

The Sugar snap peas maybe a complete loss, we’ll have to see how they do with the bit of maintenance and the additional water. Oh, and the basil party is on. One batch of basil pesto in the freezer already!

I guess the same can be said for any fruit, but we were definitely blown away by the sheer cherry awesomeness. If you’ve never slurped the juice that collects at the bottom of the bowl you’re using for pitting cherries, you haven’t lived. We muled about 10lbs home; most are frozen awaiting future diabolical cherry plans, but some yielded an amazing cherry/balsamic reduction for a grilled pork loin. Is there no end to the cherry’s excellence?!?

True indeed.

Yellow Sweets

Mixed sweets pickin’ pail

Fresh cherry pie!

Also of note; they show appropriate reverence for the jerky in Michigan. I’m having all of my mail forwarded here immediately.

When I think about a picnic, chicken is the first thing that comes to mind. I decided to try a new Deviled Chicken Drumsticks recipe last night. The recipe says it serves 6 as an entree. Umm. This chicken is so good that two of us plowed through it in record time. And it’s insanely easy, only 15 minutes of active cooking time. Can be served hot or cold. This is a real winner.

The ingredients are awfully simple. Get 2 1/2 – 3 pounds of good quality chicken drumsticks. I used D’Artagnan which I bought at the local supermarket. If you haven’t had it, their chicken is nothing short of incredible. It makes a huge difference in any recipe. Pat the drumsticks dry and coat in Dijon mustard. You then coat the drumsticks in a breading that is equal parts panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, along with salt, pepper, couple tablespoons of melted butter and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. You then roast in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes or until the chicken has browned.

It will look exactly like this. Chicken on deck!

In the 40′s and 50′s, every issue of Gourmet magazine featured cartoons. They posted a bunch on their site which I got a kick out of. Check them out.

They are pretty handy for a range of recipes like chili or mac n’ cheese, but I’ve been focusing on gratin dauphinoise. I have been experimenting a lot over the past year and think I finally cracked the code. Feast your eyes on this:

I don’t have a formal recipe, but this is super easy. I rub the cocotte with a garlic clove and butter. I then add layers of thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes. If you have a mandoline, use that to slice the potatoes. It’s not too difficult to achieve a similar effect with a chef’s knife, it’s just a lot more time consuming. After each layer, I add a tiny dollop of butter, a few finely chopped green onions, salt and pepper. Repeat until you have nearly reached the top of the cocotte. Mix equal parts whole milk and heavy cream, add that mixture to the cocotte so you have completely covered the potatoes. Top with Gruyere cheese. One tip: I place a sheet of aluminum foil on the oven rack directly underneath the potatoes to catch run-off – saves a lot of hassle, especially if you have sensitive smoke detectors. Cook at 375 degrees for around 30 minutes or until the cheese crust is bubbly, a little blackened.

I specialize in potato recipes and this has quickly become one of my all time favorites. One of the nicest things about the dish is the aroma of the green onions as you pierce the various layers. It’s irresistible. I am going to try a few new things for kicks: substitute jalapenos for green onions, add a few layers of pancetta but this recipe is a crowd pleaser.

You should get involved.

Although I am a big fan of peppers, I can’t say I personally cook with them all that much. I like to stuff bell peppers with a sausage breadcrumb mixture, make an occasional spicy Thai soup, but I don’t have a vast repertoire. Given that it’s about to rain peppers, I have got to get my house in order.

My first foray will be to make the perfect Jalapeno Popper, a favorite guilty pleasure. There is an incredible farm on the North Fork named Catapano that makes some of the best goat cheese I have ever tested. I think that cheese, jalapenos from the Shambaugh Victory Garden and a light tempura batter are going to produce a real winner. We’re also growing a lot of tomatoes and some really hot peppers so Salsas are a given. But what next?

If you have a great pepper recipe, please post a link in the comments section. I’d love to try a number of recipes and could really use the help!

After hours spent toiling in the hot sun doing battle with weeds, we finally wised up and mulched the f out of virtually all of the garden. The results are damn fine to behold and should dramaticly reduce the amount of weeding required to ensure intended plant primacy. It’s our garden, we play god and we decide the natural order. We hope…

Peppertown USA – a great place to live with an excellent school system.

Prized Tomato Trellis; trespassers will be drawn and quartered by order of The White Witch.

Basil patch right next to the tomatos for gustatory convenience. If we could grow a prosciutto bush, a mozzarella plant and a Rose vine in the same plot, I’d never leave the property.

As you can tell, everything is doing well. The tomatoes show remarkable progress, but the prize for “early bloomer” goes to the Cucumbers. I’m growing right meow…

I moved out of that carriage house, am no longer overloaded by it all and decided to try my hand. First, make some Basmati rice. Second, make some Chicken Tikki Masala.

Sound easy? Well, it actually is. It’s really a tomato based sauce with some type of dairy product to cut it, and lots of spices. I looked at a few recipes and freestyled my own. Here’s some inspiration:

Recipe 1, Recipe 2, Recipe 3

I had a watermelon on hand and decided to carve a “melon boat”, although I opted for the “melon basket” variation (easier to carry). I saw these a lot in the 70′s when I was a kid, haven’t seen one in a long while. You usually add cantaloupe and melon. It only takes 15-20 minutes and is all kinds of awesome. I served mine as desert with vodka.

The first is an ingenious system for the crop of heirloom tomatoes. They built two towers on either side of the raised bed. Placed a few wood screws into the top of each and strung a few strands of decent gauge wire across the bed. Once those were in place, the plants can be connected to the wire by means of string. The overall effect is that of a marionette.

The second was a simple trellis for a crop of snow peas. They took some old wire fencing and strung it across the back of the plants, up against the paddock. The vines can be easily trained to grow up the trellis, making harvest a snap.

If you have any ingenious garden structures of your own, please send us pics to dofb@dofb.com.

On the ride up I experienced one of those moments that every rider dreads, the kind of thing that puts a not in your gut just thinking about. I blew a front tire on the Merritt traveling at highway speed in failing light. Blowing a front shoe is one of those things you hear about happening but is by no means a regular occurrence. In fact, most of the folks I know who’ve been riding for a lifetime have never had their number come up. Let me tell you something – it is not a good time.

The tire went flat in about 10-15 seconds. Not with a bang or a pop…just all of the sudden the handling characteristics changed. At first subtly enough to wonder if it was odd pavement. And then, very quickly, the front forks started traveling about a foot in either direction, yanking the steering back, serpentining the bike and generally making it impossible to control. Mind you 75% of the braking on most bikes, and prob 90% on mine, is done with the front brake. So it was a pretty impossible situation to get the bike to rapidly slow while keeping it upright.

With mountains of luck, and a formation of Dukes behind me making sure I wasn’t struck by an oncoming car, I managed to keep the shiny side up and get to the shoulder. Where I no doubt would have remained if it weren’t for the formidable aid and patience of Sergeant Raymond LaPlante of the Orange PD. Ray pulled up on his police Harley to see what was doing and, over the course of the next 12 hours, not only helped us sort out local accommodations, sustenance/beverages and a great mechanic, but actually borrowed a trailer and, (on his morning off with his young son in tow!), pulled the wounded SuperBad from where I’d stashed her in the woods overnight to the shop for an early am fix that got us back on the road.

Ray’s effort not only saved our trip from ruin, it reminded all of us a bit about what’s so special about riding. That it’s appreciably different than traveling the roads in a steel cage. There’s a different connectedness to the experience of moving from place to place. You don’t always know what might happen (especially on an old bike), but that the journey in and of itself is adventure. And, more than anything else, the camaraderie of two wheels and that bikers look after one another.

So a hearty DOFB thanks and toast to Ray LaPlante. We sent many a cold beer to it’s maker this past weekend and damn it all if most of mine weren’t dedicated to his awesomeocity. Keep the rubber side down and looking forward to when we get to ride together!

The SuperBad being seen to by Art Handleman @ Valley Motorsports in Ansonia, CT. If you’re ever in a pinch with your machine in CT – Art’s the man to get you back on the road.
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Turns out – I had a “rust-based failure”. On older bikes that have seen weather at one point or another, the insides of the rims can get to rusting. Small metal filings eventually peel off and will, inevitably, roughly have their way with your tube. Here’s the shop tech de-rustifying the inside of my front rim.

To recap = small metal filings + rubber innertube + highway speed = bad. Put it on your list of shit to think about if you have a late model ride.
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Sergeant Ray and his awesome little boy Nathan flying the DOFB flag after dropping our side-show off at the shop. Nathan’s already bewitched by bikes and shows great promise. Rumor has it Ray may be heading up to NH this weekend as well. Boundless thanks to both of them for spending their morning sorting us out – couldn’t have done it without you fellahs. Have an awesome ride to the granite state Ray!
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Th big man…..Emperor of the Rage Hut, host for this Bike Week jaunt and head of the New Hampshire DOFB Chapter. Not a finer NH specimen to be found.
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Ride on Winni to the Wiers for a peek around, some grub and one (read:10) Margarita.
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Graham lends a helping hand to a parched Hombre
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2300 CC Triumph Rocket Sled….daaaaamn.
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Sweet trike art – Rowwwrrrrrr.
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The next day the Big Man took us on an epic ride up over the Sandwich Notch road, around through Waterville Valley and back over the Kank. Being dirt, recently graded and pretty steep in many places, The Notch road was especially challenging for some of the bikes. Fritz on the Yammie FJR1300 gets the hero’s salute for muscling that beast all the way through safely. That bike was built for smooth speed and she was more than a little ornery about the conditions. He rodeoed it though and, in exchange, was treated to a singular adventure through pristine NH back country. Nice work man.
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Big and mean never goes out of style in NH.
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DOFB, now with more Back Road Action!
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Juanito going native. The arm stripes perhaps suggest some sort of vestment. A man of the cloth? A country bishop perhaps?

Subsequently gathered evidence would seem to contravene this hypothesis.
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Graham loves it.
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Like Rodin’s thinker, this Duke too is made of granite. NH Chapter member (and lead carpenter) Whitney on his KLR. The KLR really is a perfect match for this guy and his natural surroundings.
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Top of the Kank….one of the best roads for riding on the East Coast and my personal favorite. The Dukes relay team will also be running the Kank this coming fall in the “Reach the Beach” 200+ mile relay. A painful reality not lost on those of us who’ll be on the squad as we climbed upward for 13 miles….
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Stop in Chocorua to visit the DOFB patron Saint – Ghee. Here’s she’s getting her annual ride around the block on the back of the Guzzer.
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Fritz on the Yammie. Can you believe he just took that 600lb beast over 20+ miles of mushy dirt logging roads?!?
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Heading back into the Wiers we start to get a taste of the action.
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Bike traffic for miles.
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Some local fauna met in traffic. The lady on the front claimed to have been arrested at last year’s bike week for mistakenly slugging a cop. Oops. Things can get a little dicey at Bike Week but come on ladies. These two sisters seemed a wee interested in a certain debonair Duke.
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This guy – can you believe it? No accounting for taste I suppose…
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Sunset at the rage Hut
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That pretty much concludes our trip. There were some other adventures had…a visit to the Franklin Girls’ natural lair, a few ‘old bike’ struggles with the Guzzi, electrical gremlins with the Triumph and many many coordinated high speed drifts to the curb of the highway for one dangling plate/about to be lost luggage/ atomic wedgie or another. But you’ll get that on these rolling thunder jobs.

Next year we’ll hope to have a bit more time and get a little more submersion into the epicenter of Bike Week. But I know I wouldn’t trade the ride we had on Saturday for much of anything – pure magic.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in making it happen this year…Ray and Chris especially!

Learn for yourself!

Some vegetables fared better than others, but overall, the season was a great success. The picture below shows the last harvest taken at the end of September, just some of the “fruits” of our labor:

We decided to add a second bed to the Shambaugh Victory Garden in our continued quest for agri-domination. The new bed in the background is almost entirely dedicated to the art of the pepper. We have red bell, yellow bell, orange bell, cubanelle, jalapeno, poblano, cayenne, habanero and the list goes on and on. 24 plants in total. The only pepper we seem to be missing is the famed Harlan Pepper. Truly a ‘Best in Show’ varietal, we’ll see if we can’t turn one up.

This year is off to a great start – plenty of rain and bright sunshine. We’ll keep everyone updated on the Victory Garden progress…

Sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and, I guess, this is one of those times for our beloved admin, erstwhile coach, training partner extraordinaire and certified master of the grill Jeff. He’s packed up the shop, loaded what’s important and is redeploying to the left coast in search of fortune, adventure and cracked crab. As we all navigate the fog caused by last night’s sayonara wumpus, I’d just like to pause for the cause and give a hearty HUZZAH to our partner in crime.

Fare thee well sir. You’ll be sorely missed but we’ve every confidence you’ll quickly get to holdin’ it down out there and swelling the ranks of the Dukes West Coast Chapter. Write when you get work and we’ll come inspect your beachhead.

Vaya con dios y un gato en tu pantalones Amigo.
-mismanagement

Glorious Fish Taco or Transcendent Fish Sandwich!!

Conditions are looking perfect for this epic bout. Fresh from his stint south of the border in Baja, Team Taco leader Graham “The Ram” Johnson looks poised to make a serious injection of Mexican awesomocity into the Shelter Island season opener. Consider Graham’s indefatigable kitchen gumption, natural southern-bred frying prowess and a rumor that the Mahi have been running 20 miles off Montauk point, and it’s easy to understand why Team Taco is the heavy odds-on favorite.

Don’t count The Fish Sammie gang out though. An underdog title suits us gritty kitchen pirates just fine & a lifetime spent researching the best New England has to offer ought to see us in the running every bite of the way.

Secrecy and intrigue are running thick as accusations of monger-bribing, recipe tampering and even buggery fly. Friendships may be scarred, clothing burnt and purity ransacked but, sammie or taco, taste-buds should emerge the contest’s the big winner. Stay tuned for updates, results and recipes. May our esteemed panel of Judges mind the framer’s intent and may the most delicious fishes win!

Lbs of Crawfish shipped up from Louisiana: 275

Lbs of Crawfish Consumed: 275

Barrels of Beer Consumed: 5 (!!)

Number of kick-ass Bands: 4-5

List of notable instruments demonstrated: Stand up base, drums, keys, mandolin, banjo, tuba (!), trombone (x2), trumpet, guitar (x5), maracas, tambourines, cowbell, neck-tie washboard!?!), accordion, larynx (yodeling), rubber chicken

Number of DJs intending to play: 5

Number of DJs who actually played: 3

Approximate number of attendees: 150 (+/- 25)

Number of unknowns who crashed: 25

Number of hours the party lasted: 11

All in all, an amazing time was had and a serious thanks out to them tasty lil bugs, the incredible bands, our excellent friends and everyone else who contributed of their time, energy and buzz to make this the best boil yet!

And now a few pics for da taste:

Special Cajun delivery…one of three mongo boxes of bugs straight from LA

Craw enforcement is serious work…one needs a placard for the vehicle

Said Craw Enforcement Vehicle and the attached compliance officer

The calm before the boil. Please note appropriately prominent placement of the NH state flag. Boil Free or Die baby!

Looks may deceive …this pint sized shellfish lover can eat her weight in Crawfish

$2 Goat gettin’ things roarin’ as the bugs start coming out. These guys wail!

Early round as folks start jockey for long-haul positioning.

Yum!

Washboard neck-tie?!?!? Are you F’n kidding me?? That’s the sort of raw power you won’t find in any boardroom folks.

Big Bill showing how it’s done

Crawfish honeys

Um….rockin?!?

Lotta brass

Boil subcommittee meeting

Oh when the roooooooooobes….
come out late at niiiiiiiiiiiiight…..

Oh when the robes come out laaaaate at niiiiiiiiight.

And of course a nice full breakfast after a 7 mile run on the island

60 Second Charcoal Starter

I would normally try and be witty and write a description of the product, but I think it is almost impossible to beat Skymall when it comes to product descriptions so here you go:

The barbecue starter that ignites charcoal in 60 seconds without requiring the use of lighter fluid, allowing you to start grilling in five minutes. Similar to the heat-focusing technology used in paint-stripping hot-air guns, the charcoal starter emits hot air at 1,290° F, providing a constant, precise flow of heat from the tip of the unit. Simply plug the device into a standard wall outlet, place the metal tip into the charcoal and hold down the button. When the charcoal sparks, remove the tip from the coals, but continue to point the unit at the charcoal for sixty seconds. Also ideal for lighting a wood-burning fireplace, the device has a cool-touch handle and an integrated stand.

Retail Price is $79.95 and does include an integrated stand.

Grab a 3-4 pound chicken from your local market, preferably an organic one. The first thing you need to do is remove the backbone. This is much easier than it sounds. Find the back of the chicken and cut it from top to bottom, 2″ to the left and right of dead center. You’ll need to use a sturdy knife to get through some bone. Once the backbone is out, you can flatten the chicken by pressing down on it with both hands.

Now you need to focus on seasoning your bird. I went the traditional route using garlic, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil, but this is an incredibly versatile recipe. You can use any combination of spices – thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, etc. Or you could go a strictly Asian route – garlic, ginger, green onions and sesame oil. The idea is that you mix these ingredients together in a bowl to make a marinade that is then rubbed all over the chicken. If you’re feeling sassy (and we hope you are), also tuck your mix under the skin.

Cover the chicken and place in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, but it can be left for up to a day.

Once you are ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees and grab a decent size, oven-safe skillet. I used a 12″ copper All-Clad saute pan, but a non-stick pan is a safer route. Throw any left-over herbs along with a tablespoon of oil into your skillet over medium-high heat.

Once the oil is hot, put the chicken in the pan, skin side down. You’ll need to place a weight across the top to press the chicken down while it cooks. I used a oven-safe Le Creusset pot with some foil across the bottom. You can use anything that is safe to put in an oven – the most common route is a brick or two wrapped in foil, giving the recipe its’ title.

Let this cook for 5 minutes, then place in oven for exactly 15 minutes. Pull the pan out of the oven and flip the bird. Hopefully, you won’t pull off any skin and you’ll see something like this…

Place your weight back on the top and put everything back in the oven for another 10 minutes. My oven is older so the time ended up being closer to 20 more minutes. To be safe, I’d use an instant read thermometer and make sure all parts are at least 165 degrees before pulling it out.

Once it’s out, let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Then cut to serve, garnish with lemon wedges. This is a sizable meal for 2 people, could feed 4 if you had decent sides.

Try this recipe for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!

The conversation did put me in mind of something funny from my childhood though. I remember a crotchety old Scout Master that I had cooking a small bear roast on the block of his 70′s F-150 while we were out competing in a winter derby of some sort. Yeah, yeah; I grew up in the hick-ish northlands where bear roasts, winter sled dog races and 70′s F-150s were pretty much the norm. But that’s not the point…what’s important to note here is that it is more than possible, if a little rural gangster, to cook a delicious meal on the top of your engine.

The Dukes are always as interested in unusual cooking techniques as we are in motorsports, beer etc. So, should we find ourselves unharmed, but deep in the desert with some ‘unexpected’ meat around, Mexican steaks can be cooked on a support truck’s engine block. Just sayin’.

In the interest of education, I provide the following guidelines:
* Prepare the food as if it were going into your oven
* Double-wrap securely in foil
* Identify your cooking surface. Usually the exhaust manifold is best, but warm up the engine, then shut it off and check for hot-spots.
* Make sure your food will fit snuggly in the cooking spot with the hood closed (test with a crumpled ball of foil approximately the same height.
* Cooking on the engine is essentially the same as braising and will take longer than a standard oven and shorter than a stockpot.
* Drive till it’s dine-time. Note: this is dependent on flat driving surface that will not upset the deliciousness secreted under your hood. Baja will require a stationary vehicle for cooking applications, lest we wind up with roast beast all over the engine block.

Sample barbecue approximate cooking times:

* Shrimp: 30-50 miles
* Trout or Salmon: 60-100 miles
* Chicken breasts: 60 miles at 65 mph
* Chicken wings: 140-200 miles
* Pork tenderloin: 250 miles
* Sliced, peeled potatoes: 55 miles

especially enterprising regular block cooker

Looking ever onward, 2008 looms large and Baja preparations are in full swing. It looks like we have the riding team pretty much set and in the coming weeks there’ll formal announcements on the team, equipment package(s), pit/support strategy and evolving sponsorship and partnering relationships. All in all – it’s already beginning to feel like 10 months isn’t going to leave a whole lot of time for anything but work and preparation for the race.

For those who have been keeping up with the evolution of DOFB and our various exploits – we wish you the safe and relaxing close to 2007 and look forward to prosperity and great deeds in the coming year; cheers!