The last few weeks have been solid in their awesomeness, if not a bit busy.
Two weekends ago, Jane and I finished our 4th annual Seattle to Portland ride with some good friends. I made a promise on twitter that I would take photos of all of the scenic sections of the ride. I can’t remember if I saw any. Maybe I am a bit jaded after the scenic tour de force that was the Cascade 1200.

It is funny how time slips on by without much notice though. 4 years ago, STP was the event on my calendar as I was coming straight out of chemo. We had literally 3 months to train and get my body back into shape for it after my stem cell transplant. Perhaps needless to say, but it was a bit easier this year.

Saturday night, we took a detour off the course in order to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound (just north of Centrailia). The water slides were killer and a hot tub after a day in the saddle is something to be cherished. The Great Wolf will be a destination from here on out. Big thanks to Chris for ferrying our bags around for the weekend (and having time to hit the waterpark with us).

The ride itself was pretty uneventful. We made sure to take plenty of “real food” stops that I think everyone appreciated. We weren’t the fastest group ever, but it didn’t matter. While we were actually on the road, we kept a pretty quick pace.

Once we made it in to Portland on Sunday,  our friends Joshua and Brit were amazingly gracious hosts to Jane and I. It was almost over the top in it’s awesomeness getting served beer and steak while watching le Tour on actual cable TV (I’m pretty cheap at home). I really love Portland more and more each time we visit.

We had a chance to repay them this weekend when they came up to Seattle. Jane and I made a list of all of the joints that we wanted to take them and attempted to get to most of them. It was ridiculous just how much money we spent over the course of 2 days on food and drink. I’m pretty sure it was worth it, but it is all a bit hazy now.

I need to go on some sort of diet now. All of my fitness from Cascade is probably shot already.

The whole weekend lead up to an over the top feast with a bunch of Thundering Hooves porterhouses purchased from Capitol Hill’s new butcher, Rain Shadow Meats. We pulled fresh carrots from the garden and roasted those as well, with a pesto made from the greens. Josh and Brit pulled together a massive salad and some stuffed portabello mushrooms for Chris and Emily.

I’m still annoyed that I had to go back to work today. Some weekends just don’t deserve to end.

After our wonderful trip to the Olympic Bay Tidelands, we ended up with a whole bunch of clams to use up. I quickly figured out exactly what I wanted to make with them.

I decided on three separate recipes: Clam Chowder (obviously… jeez), a clam pasta and a clam pizza. I wanted to make the pizza a bit like the wonderful one at Tom Douglas’ Serious Pie. Pasta was kind of a no brainer for me since I love to make the stuff lately.

We had a total draw of 80 clams (the limit for the two of us, per day). I split off 40 of those for the chowder and roughly split the rest between the pasta and pizza dishes, with a little more going towards the pasta.

I decided to make the first meal the pasta. That way the clams would be at their freshest. The other dishes had a bit more flavor and ingredients to mask the seafood if they weren’t as fresh.

Obviously, you don’t have to roll out the pasta on your own. Just use any long pasta like linguine. If you want to give it a shot though (and I really recommend that you try), check out Saveur’s tagliatelle recipe. It is my go to dough. If you don’t have a pasta roller, you can use a rolling pin the old fashioned way.

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Jane and I went clamming for the first time this weekend. We set out on Saturday and drove to the south end of the Hood Canal, just north of Shelton, WA. It took about an hour and a half to drive there, but man, was it worth it.

This might sound silly, but I’ve been antsy to go forage food ever since I read Omnivore’s Dilemma. I don’t feel confident enough in my skills to go out and grab wild plants, even though I’m pretty sure I know what they look like. I’ve cooked with them a few times, so I shouldn’t worry so much. Still, there was a great draw to the shell-fishing that I can’t quite put my finger on. I was excited; we both were.

On Friday afternoon, we took a trip down to Burien to get some licenses at Fred Meyer (Washington’s Wal-Mart… there, I said it). We stood in line with people returning their carpet shampooers and cheap electronics. A man with a low wheeze came in behind us. He started to quiz us about what kind of fishing we planned on doing and where at.

“Olympic Bay? Oh, I used to get huge draws out of there. Yeah, I actually went to prison for catching 10,000 over my limit (The limit is 40 per person…). A year and a day.”

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I’ve been a real (asian) soup fiend lately. I’m constantly craving Phở and have been known to order a bowl of ramen here and there. As soon as I saw this recipe (originally with mackerel), I knew that I had to make it.

Interestingly, this also marks the first time I’ve actually gone inside and purchased something from the Seattle Fish Company on California Ave in West Seattle. I’ve been by it many times and kept promising that I would. It is a wonderful shop with anything seafood related that you could possibly want, right up to the lemons and limes near the register. I’ll be back soon.

adapted from the Spilled Milk podcast (so excellent)
serves 4

• 1 lb. of red-snapper (feel free to try any white fish as a sub)
• salt
• 1/4 lb. daikon – peeled, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 tbsp dashi bouillon (or 2 cups of fish stock)
• 4 1/2 cups water (2 1/2 if using the stock)
• 1/2 cup sake
• 1/2 cup white miso
• 1/2 head of napa cabbage – chopped roughly
• 1/2 package firm tofu – cut into four pieces
• 4 ounces oyster mushrooms -  pulled apart
• 1 bunch spinach – stemmed
• 4 teaspoons grated ginger (a microplane works best)
• sliced scallions

Salt the fish generously on a plate and place in the fridge for roughly 30 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Get a large pot of water boiling and lower the heat to simmer the chopped daikon for about 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove the daikon slices and rinse them under cold water in a strainer to stop the cooking process. Set them aside but keep the water on the stove.

Slice the fish into 1 inch squares. Set up a bowl with cold water near by. Once the water is simmering again, blanch the fish in batches for roughly 15 seconds and transfer immediately to the cold water bowl. Once all the fish is done, drain, and dry the fish on towels.

Combine the dashi, water, sake and miso in a large mixing bowl. Whisk it all together.

Place the chopped cabbage in the bottom of a large stockpot so it covers the bottom. Put the spinach in a layer above that. Arrange the tofu, mushrooms, and daikon into individual, neat bunches on top of the greens. Leave some room for the fish in one corner. Pour in the broth. Don’t worry if the liquid doesn’t seem to cover the top yet.

Place a cover over pot and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Take off the cover and reduce the heat to low / medium-low. Add the fish back in to the space that you saved. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Try to maintain a very low simmer.

Serve in bowls with scallions and ginger.

Homemade Energy Bars

I refuse to say “Power Bar”… it makes me think of that chalky crap bar they sling.
Via Bitchin Camaro (a new one for me).

These bars are AMAZING, plain and simple. I know Elvis wasn’t a health nut, but if he rode brevets (or ran marathons), this would be his bar. I’m sure he would have one of his chefs whip it together. Me, I have to dig out the cookware myself. It is a rough life.

I tried out a couple of different recipes with success, including these bars from Grit and Glimmer. They were very good as well (especially the medjool dates), but these are just outstanding. I have a love for the peanut butter and banana combo though, so I may be biased.

One thing you want to keep in mind with both of these recipes, it really helps to spend some time chopping the nuts with a knife. I could never get the “pound out with a roller” technique to give me very consistent sizes. It seemed like they were either smashed to a fine powder or completely whole. As soon as I switched over to a good, sharp chefs knife, everything kind of fell into line on that front.

Some of the ingredients might cost a bit up front (brown rice syrup, specifically), but you will have plenty left over for another round of awesomeness. For what it’s worth, I omitted the vanilla and don’t think I lost too much. I had the agave nectar on hand, but I’m definitely going to try a batch with some honey next time.

As always, the bulk section is your friend on this. PCC has an amazing spice and grain bulk section that you should hit up. I personally don’t need a whole bottle of ground cardamom sitting around collecting dust. Just pick up what you need for a few cents.

We are starting to piece together our flèche team for the year. The plan is to travel light, long and fast. Chris and I are joining up with Joshua Bryant in Portland to hook out to the Oregon coast up into Olympia.

Chris made this amazing drawing and I added some fonts and what not. We are thinking it would look pretty kick ass on some jean jackets. I’m not sure how that is going to work exactly…

If you really like it, I’m sure Chris would be willing to tattoo it on you permanently for a small fee.

The Friday of the ride, we are taking the train down with our bikes for a 2pm start with Joshua in Portland. We should have a couple of hours to impress the locals with our charm. I’ve heard they don’t see many bikes down there, so those will be a hit, I’m sure.

Last year I rode with a bunch of flatulent, chatty randonneurs that were sure that breakfast was in “the next town”. It wasn’t. It never was!

I have no idea how this year will shake out, but I guarantee it will be an experience. Expect all of the gruesome details (hopefully no vomit involved) sometime in April. I have a bad history with night starts, so I’m looking to correct that. Still, it wouldn’t be a rando ride if I wasn’t questioning my sanity at least one time along the way.

Special thanks to Jane and Norman for once again helping drive us back home. I’m sure they will have a crazy weekend harassing the local hippies. I expect nothing less.

I know one thing is fact, I will be eating nachos at least once when I hit the finish. Olympia Hot Dog Company, here I come!

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe (aka Baby or Rapini) , Goat Cheese and Hot Italian Sausage
Serves 4 to 5 – adapted from Saveur

Pasta is one of my favorite meals, ever. I really should cut back. I blame pasta and beer directly for my pear shape and lack of a real climbing ability. That said, maybe you have a better moderation ability than I do.

This recipe would be wonderful with any pasta. The original shows orecchiette, which is wonderful, but I find can be a little pricier than others. I had my father up from San Diego, so I went a little fancier and made some homemade pasta noodles. It takes a bit more time, but I’m getting faster at it.

The original recipe also doesn’t have the meat in it, but I know that sausage and broccoli rabe are a classic Italian pairing. Feel free to omit the meat if you want to make it vegetarian.

• 1 bunch broccoli rabe (about 1 lb.)
• 4 Hot Italian sausages, casing removed
• 1⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of your knife
  
• 3⁄4 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
• Around 1 lb. pasta of your choice
• 2 tbsp. lemon zest
• 4 oz. goat cheese

Prep the broccoli:

Get a large pot of water boiling with some kosher salt and boil the broccoli rabe for about 4 minutes, until tender. Transfer rabe to  a bowl of ice water. You are stopping the cooking process and making sure that it keeps a nice green color. Drain and pat dry on some towels. Chop the broccoli roughly into bite sized pieces.

Start sauce:

Heat 2 tbsp. oil over medium heat in a large skillet and add the Italian sausage. Break it with the back of a wooden spoon as it browns. Add the rest of the olive oil and the garlic. Cook for roughly 3 minutes to let the garlic brown and the olive oil pick up the flavors. Toss in the chile flakes and cook until fragrant, roughly 30 seconds. Add the broccoli rabe and toss until all the flavors incorporate. Remove from heat.

Cook pasta and combine:

Boil a large pot of salted water and cook your pasta as long as required for your preferred style. If you make fresh pasta, boil 3 to 4 minutes. If you have dry pasta, it usually takes 8 to 10 minutes. Once done, drain the water but save a cup of the pasta water to add to your sauce. Dump the drained pasta straight into the sauce along with some of the saved water (start with 1/4 cup) and lemon zest. Toss everything together and add more pasta water as needed.

When serving, add a few small dollops of goat cheese to each plate. A little goes a long way.

I’ve managed to make it to a couple of the SIR Winter Training Series rides so far. I’m not quite as on the ball as I want to be right now, but I feel like I’m making a comeback of sorts.

On Saturday, Chris, Dan Boxer and I rode out to Bothell (25 – 30 miles or so) for a “35 mile” ride around the hills in the area. The cue snakes everyone through an evil series of loops, up and down, but mostly up. Somehow there ends up being something like 4000 feet of climbing. It wasn’t until I flipped my cue sheet over that I realized that the course was actually 45 miles, with plenty of hills still coming.

I figured that I had enough food on me, but I was dead wrong. I forgot my bananas out the door, and some of my Shot Blocks in my bag were hard as rocks. I need to make sure to squeeze them before assuming they’ll work for me. I had a baggie full of awesome homemade energy bars, but they mostly just got me through the first half of the day.

By the time I was on the last hill, my legs were burning and I was seriously undernourished. I was completely bonking by the time we got back to park. I laid out on the ground and soaked in a little bit of sun. I tried to eat a little bit of a (different) protein bar that I had in my bag. It was way too sweet and sent my stomach reeling. Sometimes you have to learn the nutritional stuff the hard way.

Dan and Chris basically had to nurse me back home. I spent at least 15 minutes on the side of the Burke Gilman Trail laying in the grass letting my stomach settle. Thankfully, it was an amazingly beautiful day for it.

I was anxious to get home though. I had planned to make dinner for my “little” cousin Thomas. He is shipping off to Kyrgyzstan (not to sound like a jerky American, but I had to google that again) with the military. Someone gave him a license to operate a 2 million dollar cargo loader…

We got him pizza’d up with some friends and drank some beers. It was a generally pleasant night, despite my aching body and throbbing muscles.

On the cooking forefront, I’ve had a pretty good streak of Sunday baking going. Three weeks ago I made a homemade pita bread from a couple of random online recipe sites. They came out great so I made a double batch of hummus that I’m still working on. I’ve been meaning to cook up some eggs and stuff them into breakfast pockets. Soon!

Two weeks ago, I had another successful run with making bagels. This time I was able to use a proper stand mixer since Norman was able to find his dough hook attachment. It was so much easier this time around. I still made sure to get in and hand knead a bit though. I’m starting to actually enjoy that process. I played around with some poppy seeds and onions for toppings. I burnt the onions a bit, but the poppy seeds worked great.

Last night I made some English muffins (with Jane’s help) out of Norman’s “The Bread Bible” (Beth Hensperger’s) book. I am constantly surprised at how easy these staples are to make. They take a little bit of time, but it is totally worth it. I’m getting to the point where I can handle multiple projects at the same time, so it cuts down on overall cooking time. I was able to cook us dinner while multitasking the bagel cooking.

English Muffins

Makes 16 or so

• 4-4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (can sub out a cup or two with whole wheat if you want)
• 1 tbsp of salt
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp of active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup of room temperature milk
• 2 tbsp of melted butter

1. Combine the water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl with a whisk and sit until foamy (10 minutes).
2. Combine 2 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in egg, milk, butter, and yeast mixture. Mix with a paddle attachment (or wooden spoon) until creamy (2 minutes).
3. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl.
4. Switch to a dough hook attachment and turn on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. If you use a dough hook, you can still hand knead for a few minutes to ensure that the dough is smooth.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl and the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size (1 1/2 hours). If it takes longer, be patient.
6. Sprinkle a work surface with cornmeal. Pour the dough out of the bowl and onto the surface and roll out to a roughly 1/2″ thick rectangle. Use a 3″ cookie cutter (or large glass) to cut out muffin shaped pieces of the dough. Combine the scraps and roll them out to make more muffins.
7. Heat a large griddle over medium heat. Cook muffins for up to 10 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them though, they can burn fairly easily. Mine all needed about 7-8 minutes per side. It takes a while for the middle of the muffin to cook properly.
8. Cool on a wire rack. Be patient!
9. Spread muffins open with a fork.

Cooking the sauce

Croque-Madame (one of the best things, ever)
Serves 2 – adapted from Epicurious

There are lots of weak versions of this recipe out there. This one beats any I’ve tasted in any restaurant. You’re opinions may vary.

This has enough calories to get you through a 600K.

For sauce
• 2 tbps unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tbps flour
• 1 cups whole milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Black Forest Ham and Gruyere Cheese

For sandwiches
• 2 tbps unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 ounces coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (3/4 cup)
• 4 slices white sandwich bread
• Dijon mustard (to taste)
• 1/4 lb thinly sliced cooked ham
• 2 large eggs

Grilled in butter

Topped with sauce and broiled

Finished with a fried egg

Making the sauce:

Melt 2 tbsp of the butter over medium-low heat and whisk in the flour a bit at a time. Let the mixture (a roux) cook for about 3 minutes. It is important to keep whisking it so nothing burns. Consider it exercise for the calorie fest to come.

Slowly at the milk and whisk to incorporate. Bring it to a boil and then drop the heat to a light simmer. Let it cook for about 5 minutes but keep an eye on it. It will threaten to boil over if you aren’t careful. Whisk it occasionally.

Mix in the salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1/4 cup of the cheese until melted. Remove the sauce from the heat. Cover the mixture with a cloth or wax paper (not a lid) while you prepare the sandwiches.

Making the sandwiches:

Lay out the 4 slices of bread. Top two of the slices with a few tablespoons of the sauce each. Split the remainder of the cheese over the slices with the sauce. Spread mustard on the empty slices and top with ham.

Preheat broiler with rack 5 inches or so from heat source.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in large skillet and cook sandwiches over medium-low heat until golden brown, 2 minutes per side Alternatively, you could butter the bread directly, but I find that you need a bit more butter to cover that way.

Transfer sandwiches to a shallow baking pan and wipe out skillet.

Top sandwiches with the remainder of the sauce and broil until the top is golden and bubbly. Note that I cooked mine a touch too long. Keep a close eye on it. There is a very fine line between perfect and burned.

While that is cooking, start 1 tbsp of butter in the skillet you wiped out earlier. Fry up the 2 large eggs over medium heat with a touch of salt and pepper.

Top the sandwiches with the eggs. Eat it right away. Perfect.

My boss at my full time job was nice enough to let me borrow her pasta roller about a month ago. She claimed to have not touched it “in years”, so I didn’t need to be in a hurry to get it back. That is good because I’ve cooked 3 or 4 homemade pasta dishes with it now (I lost track, really).

Before I got the roller, I tried my hand at a potato gnocchi…

Finished gnocchi with ragu

Uncooked gnocchi

Gnocchi with Ragu (adapted from Epicurious)

Variations on original
• I made my favorite ragu from this recipe on Saveur

It is really important that you are able to mash the potatoes very fine. A potato ricer would have been really nice, but I don’t own one (yet). I mashed by hand and ended up with a few small chunks that I had to pick out by hand while forming the gnocchi. It wasn’t a huge deal, but made the process take all that much longer.

Honestly, this isn’t a recipe for a weeknight. I spent like 4 hours on the whole thing, but I’m pretty positive that I could knock half an hour to an hour off with some practice. The ragu itself has to cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours though. It doesn’t need to be babysat, but you need to have some patience.

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