I made this dish about a week ago and it ranked in my top three so far. Very easy and amazingly delicious. Give it a go.

Grilled Plank Steak with Soy-Chile Glaze
via Food & Wine

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 1/4 pounds flank steak
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Thinly sliced scallions and lime wedges

1. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. In a small saucepan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until syrupy, about 3 minutes; let cool.
2. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Grill the steak for 10 minutes for medium-rare meat, turning once; during the last minute, brush all but 2 tablespoons of the glaze over the steak. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Thinly slice the steak and brush with the reserved 2 tablespoons of glaze. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with scallions and serve with lime wedges.

Mushroom Fried Rice
via Food & Wine

• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
• 1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 6 scallions including green tops, sliced thin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1. Cook rice and set aside to cool. We have a rice cooker… so you should too.
2. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick frying pan or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil over moderately high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms and another tablespoon of the cooking oil. Add these mushrooms to the plate.
3. In the same frying pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of cooking oil over moderate heat. Add the red-pepper flakes, ginger, and scallions and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the rice, salt, and soy sauce. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes and then add the peas and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until everything’s warm, another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.

I woke up a little rough on Saturday morning thanks to some dogs we are taking care of. They have been little monsters. Still, I had an ample dinner Friday night and some time to eat a little breakfast and pack up my things into the car.

Chris had me coddle him by picking him up at his house (2 blocks away!). We made the drive deep in to Kent in time to get some coffee and make it to the start. There was an enormous group registering and chatting. I knew that there were almost a hundred pre-registered, so I’m guessing there was at least 25 over that, if not many more. It was really a sight to see.

The opening miles had a small climb followed by a quick decent. Somehow Matt and I found ourselves near the front with some of the much faster guys. I knew it wasn’t a pace I was going to keep all day, and Matt noted the same, but it was fun to head up the front for a while. Peter Beeson was chatting me up and looked happy to be on a wonderful ride.

We managed to hold their wheel on through Dash Point and almost back to “Enchanted” Parkway. Matt had a little issue with his seat post and I was happy enough to take the pace down a notch. I had a tough time remembering to eat and drink while holding a wheel like that. He had it fixed in no time and we caught up to Dan Boxer and some others who had just passed us.

We all held a wonderful paceline through Green Valley Road up until the monster hill up towards Black Diamond. I wasn’t really able to keep their wheel and dropped back a bit. I hobbled in to the control at the bakery a bit. I never really had the calories that I needed for the day and my head was threatening a headache on me. The solution? Two donuts, of course. Mark Thomas made a comment along the lines of “For someone who spends all his time eating, you sure look strong on your bike.” I noted that there is probably a connection.

Matt looked really tired and was just getting in as I was ready to leave. I felt bad leaving him but I wanted to really own the course this year for some reason.

I spent the next 10 to 15 miles riding alone and generally enjoying the scenery. I was holding a decent enough pace, but I was kind of surprised to not have anyone really catch up to me. I eventually caught up to a chef out of Portland who helped me take my mind off the ride for a little while. I can’t remember his name for the life of me though (help?). He had some music on him and I felt like I might be a little too chatty for him but he was a nice guy. We traded some pulls and he eventually started to drop me on the climb up Highway 410.

At first I was just a little bit back, and eventually I flatted my front tire and had to pull over. He was pretty well long gone by that point. I fixed my flat and got back on the road with only one rider passing me. I was kind of shocked to be honest.

Once back on the road, there was a steady little tailwind helping push me up the road towards the control at Greenwater (about 1700 feet elevation or so). There was some snow on the ground towards the end of the road just as David Rowe, of Ready to Ride fame, caught up and started to chat with me. He was one of the group that pulled me in to the finish on my first 600k. He is a wonderful rider and a pleasure to talk to.

I kept the control extremely short because I wanted to keep up with David. I ate a bag of Doritos while on the road. A few people noted me waving to them on the return trip down 410 with my discolored fingers in the air. Doritos are a staple on my ride diet. Mmm…

The tailwind that brought us in to Greenwater turned in to a headwind on the return. We took turns at the front and I grumbled a bit to myself at not being able to really enjoy the descent. We finally turned off on to one of my favorite roads in Washington, Mud Mountain Dam. It is a wide, well paved road with almost no traffic and a killer winding downhill portion at the end. It feels like it was built for road bicycles.

A few other riders caught up with us in Enumclaw at the last control. We chatted a bit and ramped up the pace a touch with the finish in sight. I was feeling pretty good overall. The flats I felt really strong on, but every major hill was a bit of a struggle. I lost the wheel of the group a few times but was saved by some well timed red lights. We all came in to the finish at Greg Cox’s house at an amazing 8 hours and 35 minutes. My last ride at 9:30 was already a personal best… so this was pretty damn cool.

I appreciate all of the support given on the ride, especially from Greg’s family. They open their house every year for this ride and deals with a bunch of sweaty, dirty bicyclists getting their stink all over the furniture.

See full results here.

More pictures here.

Read my report of the ride last year (which is pretty damn funny, looking back on it) here.

Snow! Rain! Wind!

Chris and I rode up to Capitol Hill for coffee at the best shop in town along with a fantastic donut. It was damn cold and starting to snow. At first it was the kind of snow that sticks to your jacket for a second but doesn’t pose any real threat of actually sticking to the ground. By the time we finished up with coffee, it was coming down in giant pillowy flakes.

“It’s like butterflies hitting me in the face,” Chris noted.

The ground started to slush and we made our descent down 10th avenue to meet at the start of the ride in the U District. My brakes didn’t quite feel on top of their game down the hill. We took it nice and slow so we wouldn’t end up on the butt end of a car at the bottom of the hill.

We were expecting to see the start line shutting down and sending people home. Surely a ride that was canceled last week for potential snow would cancel for actual snow… right? Nope. There were a few other fool hardy randos on the line and dancing in place to keep warm. The ride was on.

Eric and Maggie, the ride organizers were kind enough to have large amounts of coffee and cookies on hand to keep the stomachs happy.

My Ibex gloves were already soaked through by the time we got to the start. Normally they keep my hands comfortably wet, but that morning they were just wet. I always keep another pair in my bag, but I wanted to ride these out as long as possible.

Once the group got rolling, my wet hands went from uncomfortable to completely numb very fast. I couldn’t feel myself braking the bike. It was about as uncomfortable as I’ve ever felt on very gentle downhills.

Along the Burke Gilman, we stopped to change gloves. Chris was in the same boat and we needed to make sure we didn’t end up with frostbite. It took minute to even stretch the new gloves on over my twisted fingers. It felt like I had prosthetic hands. I could see them, they were there… they just wouldn’t do what I wanted them to.

The new, dry gloves worked pretty well despite the rain and snow not really letting up. It gave me hands a chance to warm up enough to keep some feeling in my fingers.

We took the Burke in to some northern Seattle neighborhoods that I fondly remember from last year. There is a stretch of a half mile of climbing with some 10-20′ish% grades. They are leg busting when it is dry out. With slush on the ground, it was a slog. I was pretty happy once I crested the final portion of those hills without any incident.

Matt, John, Chris and I kept a pretty tight group all day. It was stated early on that this wasn’t a day for personal bests. I was just in it to finish. Having the other guys around kept conversation light and gave us all a chance to get out of the relentless winds on occasion.

We caught up to Andy on the amazingly scary descent down towards Golden Gardens. He dropped his handlebar bag and took a spill on one of the switchbacks. He was giving everything a once over at the control and looked to have made it without much damage. I was happy to have him tag along for the rest of the ride. He has a great way of telling colorful (lewd) stories that makes time on the bike fly by.

After crossing the Ballard Locks and climbing in and out of Magnolia, we traded some pulls while heading south towards West Seattle. The wind was picking up and gusting by this point, and the forecasts had promised it to only get worse as the evening went on. The ride around Alki wasn’t as bad as I had expected thanks to a tight group of us keeping together.

Lincoln Park held some sun breaks and some welcome volunteers with more cookies and hot beverages. We probably spent a little too much time here, but we were enjoying ourselves by that point. No need to rush it. Most of the hard parts were over. There is a large climb out of West Seattle that I remember killing me last year. It didn’t feel nearly as bad with this time.

Matt picked up a flat on Trenton street on one of the steeper sections of a small rise. We found some shelter from the rain that came back with a vengence. He fixed his issue quickly and we hit the road again.

There is a big sweeping descent back down towards South Park (where Chris and I live) that I’ve done a hundred times. With the rain and sketchy feeling brakes, it was a white knuckler. I slowed down towards the end and Chris shot by me with even sketchier brake pads. He managed to wrangle it in before the turn but I could tell it wasn’t by choice.

The siren call of home (and possibly some whiskey to “warm” me) was tempting but we rode on by to catch a bike trail in our neighborhood that I actually wasn’t aware of. It didn’t really look like it was worth knowing about to be honest. It was cracked with roots and filled with terrible graffiti. Not the finest section of our city. Welcome to South Park.

I managed to snag my first flat in quite a long time on the ride out towards Seward Park. I found the glass and replaced it in a decent amount of time. I pumped it up all the way and worked the pump off the bead. The head of the tube blew off on me. In my rush, I didn’t notice my extra tube in my bag and I assumed that I only had the one. I never only have one… so I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking. I borrowed a tube from Chris and noticed that he had short valve stems on his tubes. I knew it wouldn’t work but I tried it anyways… Logical thinking wasn’t really working for me. A kind rando (Steven?… I’m terrible with names and I didn’t even see his face. I owe someone a tube) passing by lent me one and I put it in and pumped it up with some help from Andy. We were putting my stuff back together and he noted that I still had another tube in my bag.

We made the last control with about 2 minutes to spare, no thanks to me.

The winds were finally in our favor along Lake Washington. We had no trouble keeping a 20+mph pace until the climb up towards the Arboretum. We easily paced with traffic through there and caught up with another group of randos to ride towards the finish line at Big Time Ale House. We were all pretty damn happy to have the finish under our belts.

This 100k was at least as difficult as any 200k I’ve ever done.

We’re like a motorcycle gang… without the motors.

On April 17th, Dan Boxer, Matt Mikul, Joe Platzner, Greg Cox and I are going to ride our bicycles some stupid distance for a ridiculous amount of time. What else is new, right? This time we will have the t-shirts and buttons to help tell the tale though.

I designed a silly little graphic for the team and Joe threw down some cash for everyone to get some merch out of the deal. I am getting pretty excited about the whole process.

A fleche has an insane amount of rules to process so we are all pretty happy to have an old timer like Greg Cox on board (no offense Greg). He has mapped out a fantastic looking route that I think is in the process of being approved.

Regardless of how well we ride, we will sure look good doing it. After all, isn’t that what is most important?

Dan promised to make us all custom bicycles for the ride and Matt is paying for the airfare back from Olympia. They didn’t know that until now… but I’m sure they are game.

I’ve had a really good string of great meals lately, but this last week I had a couple of back to back failures. Well, the word “failure” might overstate it a bit.

The first dish was some extra breaded chicken that Norman had brought over for me to use up. He gave me pretty specific directions on how to cook them but the pan got too hot and burnt the outside without cooking them all the way through. I had to oven cook them for a bit and I couldn’t seem to get the meat thermometer to read properly. They seemed to end up burnt and overcooked a bit, but not terrible. I made what ended up being an extremely mediocre salad as a side. I was pretty disappointed all around.

The very next day I was pretty determined to redeem myself with a Chicken Gyro dish. The recipe tasted fantastic, but our broiler burnt out the Naan bread well before my instructions said they should. It said to warm for 3 minutes with foil over the top and then uncover for about 2 to brown them. It took about 45 seconds to go from warm to black and I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Regardless, the meal is worth making again.

A few days ago I had seen a recipe on TV (Cook’s Country) for whiskey barbecue pork chops that looked pretty amazing. I put that together last night with some pan fried potatoes that I grabbed from a recipe online.

If I were to do this again, I would probably make more sauce for the pork chops. It was delicious. Enjoy

Whiskey Pork Chops
Serves 4

• 1/2 cup  Whiskey (save some for dessert!)
• 1/2 cup apple juice (cider)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 4 bone-in, center-cut pork chops, about 1-inch thick
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, whisk together whiskey, cider, brown sugar, mustard, cayenne pepper, vanilla and 2 teaspoons vinegar.
2. Transfer 1/4 of the whiskey mixture to a gallon-sized zip-loc plastic bag. Reserve remaining marinade.
3. Add pork chops, press the air out of the bag, and seal. Turn bag to coat the chops with the marinade. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
4. Remove chops from the bag and pat with paper towels. Discard that marinade.
5. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Season chops with salt and pepper and cook until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Chops should not be fully cooked yet.
7. Transfer the chops to a plate and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
8. Add reserved whiskey mixture to the skillet.
9. Bring to a boil and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon.
10. Cook until reduced to a thick glaze, 3-5 minutes.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low and tip the plate with the chops on over the skillet to drain any juices that accumulated back into the skillet.
12. Add remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, whisk in butter and simmer until glaze is thick and sticky, 2-3 minutes.
13. Turn off head and return chops to skillet and let them rest in the pan until the glaze sticks to the pork chops. Evenly coat both sides
14. Check with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the chop. It should read at least 145°. It takes 5-7 minutes.

Panfried Smashed Potatoes
Via Epicurious (I skipped on the cheese)
Serves 4

• 8 medium red potatoes (about 2 inches long; 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Generously cover potatoes with cold water in a 3-to 4-quart pot and add 1 tablespoon salt.
2. Boil until almost tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Drain potatoes. Transfer to a baking sheet.
4. Lightly crush to about 3/4 inch thick with a potato masher, keeping potatoes intact as much as possible.
5. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
6. Transfer potatoes with a spatula to skillet, then lower heat to medium-low and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 20 minutes total.
7. Season generously with pepper.

Ragù alla Bolognese
Via Saveur

MAKES 4 CUPS

• 1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (with juice)
• 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 medium carrot, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1⁄4 b. ground beef chuck
• 1⁄2 lb. ground pork shoulder
• 1 4-oz. piece pancetta, finely chopped (subbed prosciutto for fun)
• 1⁄2 cup dry red wine
• 2 tbsp. Homemade Tomato Paste (canned… sorry)
• Homemade Tagliatelle (I used 1lb of packaged linguine)

1. Put the tomatoes and their juice into a blender; purée until smooth and set aside.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and caramelized, about 15 minutes more.
3. Add the beef and pork and cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the pancetta and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until its fat has rendered, about 10 minutes more. Increase the heat to medium, add the wine, and simmer, stirring constantly, until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add reserved tomato purée, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is very thick, about 3 hours.
4. Season ragù with salt and pepper. Toss with fresh tagliatelle or the pasta of your choice, or use in lasagne. Serve with grated parmigiano-reggiano.

Ricotta Crostinis with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Via Saveur

• Handful of cherry tomatoes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 loaf of ciabatta or another peasant-style bread
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 3/4 cups ricotta cheese,  room temperature
• Parmesan cheese
  

1. Toss tomatoes in a small skillet, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste, set 5″ under broiler element, and leave until the tomatoes have burst and started to release their juices, about 8 minutes. Set aside.
2. Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire in a grill or set gas grill to medium-high heat. Cut bread into 1/2″-thick crosswise slices. Drizzle the bread with olive oil. Grill bread slices until both sides have grill marks and slightly charred crusts, 4–5 minutes. (you can just pan fry these if you are lazy like I am)
3. While hot, rub bread with garlic, if you like. Slather 1 tbsp. of the ricotta on top of each toasted slice.
4. Spoon oozing cherry tomatoes onto ricotta. Garnish with thin shavings of parmesan cheese and more black pepper.

Goat Cheese Crostinis with Caramelized Apples
Recreated from a dish we had at Txori

• 1 Granny Smith Apple, cored and peeled, cut into slices
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs butter
• 1/2 loaf of ciabatta or another peasant-style bread
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 cups creamy goat cheese (sliced to fit bread)

1. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown apple slices in butter. Sprinkle sugar and cook until they are a deeper brown and sugar caramelizes with sugar.
2. Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire in a grill or set gas grill to medium-high heat. Cut bread into 1/2″-thick crosswise slices. Drizzle the bread with olive oil. Grill bread slices until both sides have grill marks and slightly charred crusts, 4–5 minutes. (you can just pan fry these if you are lazy like I am)
3. While hot, rub bread with garlic, if you like. Place goat cheese on top of each toasted slice.
4. Spoon apples and sauce onto ricotta. Enjoy.

Saturday was interesting to say the least. The idea was that Matt, Chris and I would go on a 100 mile “training ride” and then I would get back home to cook dinner for my mom and cousin who were in town for the night. Funny that a century is a fun little jaunt out in the morning now.

I got going a little early on Saturday morning and ended up on Capitol Hill much sooner than I thought that I might. Chris backed out with a cold so I naturally rode to the hill early. If I’m ready ahead of time for a ride, I always pace around the house. I’m not nervous… just antsy. I called up Matt and told him that I was like half an hour early (sorry, Matt) and that I could meet him at the coffee shop we were planning on going to. He offered to let me come up to his place and hang out for a bit.

I got to experience his four flight stair climb that he must tackle after each ride, bicycle and all. We left roughly on time but went to the coffee shop anyways for some donuts and coffee. Even though we motored to the start, we were still 5 minutes late or so.

The route put everyone on Burke Gilman, so we figured that we could just stay on trail and we would see people eventually. Despite moving along quite swiftly, we didn’t catch up to anyone. The winter training series must have really been working because everyone was long gone.

By the time we got out to Woodinville, we missed our proper turn and ended up riding towards Red Hook Brewery. We took an alternate hill in an attempt to cross paths with the correct roads. There were some amazingly beautiful climbs in the area. They were steep but tree lined and had low traffic. A few quick stops and GPS consulting later, we eventually found our way back on course.

In a real brevet, this would be a no no… but we were just trying to make our way around at this point. I don’t think we took any real shortcuts though. The hills were pretty relentless.

Once we got to Carnation, we made a decision to cut the ride “short” and go over Tolt Hill out towards Lake Sammamish and eventually catch the I-90 trail. We knew again that we weren’t doing ourselves any favors. It was actually just tacking on even more hills than we might of had. Still, it was fun to push my body a bit. I feel like I am getting a bit faster as the year goes on. It is a subtle increase in speed, but it really seems to make all the difference over the long haul.

We ended up catching a rider that left the SIR ride early and he hung with us in to town. He and Matt kept threatening to lose me over the few remaining hills back home but I hung on. I ended up with about 105 miles for the day, including my ride to meet up with Matt.

After we split up, I met my family at Stellar Pizza for a much needed late lunch. I tried my best to not look freakishly tired and be personable. My cousin was in town from McChord AFB with my mom in from Portland. They offered to go get the groceries for dinner so I could shower and rest up a bit.

For some reason, I chose a recipe that required about 4 hours of prep and cooking that night. It was my Lamb Shanks with mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts with pecans. Everything turned out amazing, but I lost most of my appetite in the process of putting it all together. For some reason, I always have a hard time eating much on the day of a ride. It was fun spending time with them all, but I had to crash out early.

P.S. – Candidate for Passive Aggressive Notes?