Honeymoon: Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters

Monday April 29, Cannon Beach, OR

After passing out last night at 7pm local time on Sunday night, I managed to stay abed until 6am. I'm the guy who sleeps 6 or 7 hours a night and 8 hours is a long night. Eleven hours is unheard of, but then I was exhausted from not only 15 hours of travel and a change of time zones, but from a whole year of grind without a break. During the night, the wind, the lapping waves, and the occasional seagull ruckus were very comforting. Ann said there was a big downpour in the night, but it didn't register with me.


Excellent Coffee in Cannon Beach

Before we left Virginia, Ann scouted the local restaurants including the Sleepy Monk, a fun coffeehouse a pleasant and easy 1/2-mile walk from the motel south down old 101 (the main drag) through the center of Cannon Beach. I'm not sure how she found it, but it was a cool find.

It was just slightly confusing to figure out where to enter the coffeehouse because there is signage for both the Sleepy Monk and the Irish Table, an Irish-themed restaurant that the space becomes after the coffee crew packs up for the day at 4pm. The coffee part of the space becomes the bar for the restaurant! Cool concept.

Have you ever walked into a place and just known intuitively that you belong there? I had this feeling when I stepped into the coffeehouse. The warm wood, slightly rustic worn look, and eclectic decor appealed to me. The place fit me and my mood like pulling on my favorite pullover on that first crisp fall day, an old friend that is both warm and comforting.

Coffee Beans Cooling

The coffee aromas on entering are intoxicating, in part because they actively roast beans on site. Newly roasted beans were cooling when we were there. We were immediately and warmly greeted by two women from behind the bar who bore great resemblance to each other. It didn't take long to discover that they were twins. They and almost everyone else that we met along the coast were super friendly.

The shop was filled with an ever changing mix of regulars, tourists, and bicyclists coming in off the highway to recharge. We even met a bicyclist who started in Montana and was on his way south. That guy climbed some crazy hills!

On our walk down from the motel, it threatened rain all the way and the threat finally became a reality: rain started slashing down just as we were sitting down, me with my coffee and Ann with her latte. Oh, the hardship of sitting in a funky warm coffeehouse drinking excellent coffee during a cold downpour!


Ann and Her First Latte

Ann's lattes, yes, she had two, looked fabulous and were served in short, wide Italian maiolica cups.  I went with the Guatemalan dark roast; I love espresso, but plain coffee was what I wanted. I think part of the deal is that drinking espresso is like a quick fling and drinking coffee is more of a long term relationship. I wanted to sit and sip and linger. Both of us got outstanding bacon blue cheese scones with a hint of green onion that were a fun twist on the traditional scone. The scones are baked fresh daily. Delicious! Our stomachs still being on East Coast time, we attacked the scones and soon enough we were feeling fine. I called it a bacon-coffee buzz.

And a Heart for Her Second

Bacon Blue Cheese Scones. Yeah Baby!

Right? How Awesome is This Chandelier?

Before, during, and after coffee, we got to chatting with the twins about this and that and naturally our foodie mission became known. They sent us off down the coast with a sheet of notes about what to see and do. And before we left, they had talked us into dining at the Irish Table that evening.

After the rain stopped we somewhat reluctantly took our leave to get started on our day.  On our walk back, we really took notice of the spring flowers blooming everywhere. The climate here seems perfect for a lot of plants; plants that we grow as shade plants are growing in full sun. Everything is so lush here.

Perfect Calla Lilies Everywhere

Huge Rosemary Bushes

Rhododendrons and Azaleas Everywhere

Honeymoon: Sunday April 28

Our honeymoon has been six months or more in the making. In the restaurant business, our time is not our own and the luxury of scheduling time off is a luxury we don't have. We get a single week off a year (and trust me, by the time we get to week 50 in our year, we are walking zombies) and that comes each year, the first week in May, coincident with the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.

This event, which some locals term the Redneck Mardi Gras, brings 250,000 people to our little town of 25,000 people. You'd think that would be a boom time for the restaurant business, but counter-intuitively, nobody (including us) has access to the restaurant for our three profitable nights of the week (Thu, Fri, Sat) and so we close and make the proverbial lemonade. I used to be bitter about this. I still am to a certain extent. Getting screwed by your own town is never fun.

But this is a happy story. Back in September when we got married, there was no time for a honeymoon. In fact, I was back at work at 7:30 the next morning, just like every Monday. And so the restaurant life forced us to postpone it until just now. In the meantime, Ann has been busily planning our delayed honeymoon, of which this is the tale. Kudos to her! Of all the things she does well, logistics is tops!

We left Winchester about 10:30pm after dinner service (everybody was hustling to get closed) on Saturday night and arrived at the Dulles Marriott at 11:30pm, a very quick trip to airport, just under an hour. We decided to stay the night at the hotel and leave our car there for the next week; it proved to be cheaper than paying for long term parking. Ann drove, thankfully since I was beat after a long, long dinner service, and that gave me the opportunity to observe the fabulous copper-colored slightly waning moon as we came up Snicker's Gap and crossed the Appalachian Trail and headed down into Loudoun County.

Trying to Take the Edge Off!

Ann had the foresight to bring along a bottle of Roederer Estate Brut Rosé that we drank from clunky hotel water glasses. This was a delicious way to try to take the edge off and try to get some sleep before our very early wake up call in the morning. If you've ever cooked in a restaurant, then you know exactly how pumped you are coming off the line on a Saturday night. Even with the wine, we couldn't wind down until 1 am.

Our cell phones went off with simultaneous klaxons at 0500. That really startled me; nothing startles me; go figure. In the pre-dawn darkness, we caught the 5:45 am shuttle to terminal. Even that early hour well before sunrise did not stop a male cardinal from proclaiming his turf in the hotel parking lot. As we stepped off the shuttle, quite unexpectedly we met Kenny, the restaurant's front of house/beverage manager and his girlfriend Mel, who were on their way to Sonoma for the week. My sous chef Tony went to San Diego for the week. I guess we all had the West Coast on the brain this year. Anywhere but Winchester.

I was feeling quite hungover from lack of sleep and looking forward to a cup of coffee on the other side of security. Sadly, there was no chance to grab any coffee (yikes!!) or breakfast as we had planned. Getting through security took longer than usual. I guess they've really upped the level since the bombing of the Boston Marathon a couple weeks ago. In comparison though, the security at SFO and PDX seemed to be almost non-existent next to what we went through at Dulles. By the time we got through security, our flight was already boarding when we arrived at the gate, naturally the furthest from the terminal. It had to be that way because I woke up with a bum right knee and a random bone chip floating in my right ankle. Ann was like a speed demon in the terminal leaving me at times trailing 30 yards in her wake.

Halfway through the flight two of the attendants came up to us. Our friend Erik, a United pilot himself who flies international wide-bodies, had let the crew know we were flying with them and that it was our honeymoon. They were very nice and gave us a bottle of random California Cab as a gift. And they were so thoughtful that they included a corkscrew in the wrapping for the bottle. Erik had obviously let them know I am a chef because the whole crew stopped by to talk about it since they are all based out of Loudoun and Clarke counties. And as my PR rep, Ann didn't miss a beat in handing out business cards to the crew. The poor little old Chinese couple on their return trip to Beijing who were sitting beside me didn't know what to make of all the fuss being made over the huge laowai sitting next to them. Ann was really tickled that they made a cabin announcement that it was our honeymoon and then again when the captain did the same. Me, I prefer to fly under the radar.

We were ravenous when we arrived at SFO, having missed breakfast at Dulles. Though I wanted a bowl of noodles for lunch, my bride had been talking about greasy cheeseburgers for the duration of the flight. The noodle and dim sum restaurant was a long, long walk from our departure gate and given our state of famishment and my bum ankle, I let Ann talk me into burgers at Anchor Steam, the closest restaurant to us. The horrible burger at Anchor Steam was almost as bad as the one we had at the Union Jack pub in Winchester the day we got our marriage license. To wash down the second worst burger of my life, I had a Liberty Ale and a Porter. Ann had a Corona and a California Lager. The beer was truly forgettable. Anchor, though a San Francisco institution, and I parted company two decades ago because their beer ceased to be relevant even back then.

Go Meat!

Our flight to Portland was mercifully brief and I even managed to snooze for a half an hour. That nap really helped me: I needed to be somewhat coherent to navigate the rental car through downtown Portland and then to the coast. Item number one on our agenda: find Olympic Provisions. After driving through a gentrifying industrial neighborhood in Northwest by the river, we found Olympic Provisions in a small storefront on Thurman St. Through the street-facing double doors is a front deli counter with two communal tables to the right and a handful of two-tops to the left, facing a tiny open galley kitchen of sorts. Behind is where they do their magic and magic it truly is. If you are a fan of charcuterie and salame in particular, Olympic Provisions makes the best salame I have ever tasted. If you are a foodie and you ever get near Portland, you need to go. They have two shops, one in NW and the other in SE. Get ye to the nearest as quickly as possible!

Once through the double doors, we stepped up to the counter which was topped with a little set of bins holding the different kinds of sausages. Below that in a refrigerated case were a few kinds of cheeses, pâtés, rillettes, and fresh sausages. And above the counter, wow! Just wow! You see it above in the photo. I don't have words to describe this monument to charcuterie.

These Sausages are World Class

We got four salame (saucisson d'Arles, cacciatore, chorizo Navarre, and salchichón), a tub of pork liver mousse topped with lard, two pieces of cheese, and two bottles of Pinot Noir from the built-in shelves along the dining room wall. The counter guy threw in a baguette and a brown paper-wrapped package of "meat sticks—they're like slim jims. We're working on them and they're not even for sale yet."

Our First "We're not in Kansas" Moment

As we headed west out of Portland on Highway 26, Ann started to get the idea that we were in an alien land. She's never been to the Pacific Northwest before and the immense stands of conifers took her by surprise. She snapped this photo out of the car window as we were heading up into the mountains. The huge stands of spruce and fir are even still quite a sight for me and I've been to the West Coast hundreds of times. What was most distressing to me were the vast sections of clear-cut forest, massive eyesores dominating the otherwise impressive vistas. I guess there has to be a balance between logging and preservation, but they have seriously destroyed some beautiful timber lands.

We were parched from traveling and needed water so we were looking for a convenient handy mart on the side of the road where we could grab a couple bottles of water. Pickings are slim out on Highway 26, but we finally spied Jacks Snacks Mart after about 20 minutes. Ann went in while I stayed in the car and figured out the headlight and seat controls. While she was in the store, I noticed a woman coming out who had just purchased a somewhat Victorian-looking lamp with an amazingly garish shade. When Ann came out two bottles of water in hand, she reported that in addition to snacks and water, Jacks had a lovely selection of lamps and hand-blown glass bongs. Ah yes, our second "We're not in Kansas" moment of the trip!

Speaking of bongs and things done differently from here, it seemed like everyone was driving stoned. Where in the world do people drive 50 and 55 mph in 55 zones? These people would get flattened trying to drive in and around DC. Seriously flattened. 

Cannon Beach: From our Window, Ecola Creek Flows into the Pacific

We arrived at our destination in Cannon Beach after being on the road for 15 hours, at a small seaside hotel called somewhat unimaginatively, The Waves. The place appeared neat and we were both surprised at our second-floor studio with a tiny kitchenette, vaulted ceilings, skylights, gas fireplace, and balcony looking over the beach where Ecola Creek flows into the Pacific. The walls of a warm peachy yellow and trim of blond wood lent a warmth to the room and were in contrast to the cloudy, gray evening sky. It was a nice place and we'd stay there again.



Our Dinner "Did Not Suck"

Starving we were. So the first thing we did was spread out our feast and get to it. The two cheeses are the fresh creamy Brillat-Savarin "Vignelait" cow's milk cheese and the firm sheep's milk Ossau-Iraty brébis. We opened the slim jims, the Calabrese sausage, and our all-time favorite, the salchichón. With its to-me-unusual spicing of nutmeg and cloves, it is the best salame I have ever eaten. With it, we opened the Scott Paul "Paulée" Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2010, which has gorgeous bright cherry fruit and was at that point one of the best Willamette Pinots I have tasted (I would taste many better ones later in the week, but what a great start!). We opened the Crowley Pinot Noir Dundee Hills "Entre Nous" 2010 at some later point in the week; it is much bigger, a lot riper and jammier, and not as good.

Tsunami?!! Our Third "We're not in Kansas" Moment

After our dinner at about 5pm local time, we took a walk on the beach before the sun went down to see the famous haystack rocks, which are pretty damn cool, but very soon the incessant wind had us turning around for the warmth of our room. Though it was a gorgeous sunny 68 in Portland by the time we deplaned at 1:30 local time, the temperature at the coast was a pleasant enough 54 when we arrived. Coupling that with 20-knot winds on the beach, though, it proved to be pretty chilly. I was dead asleep by 7pm local time.

First View of Haystack Rock

Dog Tired Food

I am at the end of my rope....physically....and....mentally.

It's been a year since I had any real time off. A really hard year of doing the restaurant grind six days a week and trying to squeeze what little personal life I have into one day a week.

Vacation (and belated honeymoon) is next week. If I can hang on.

I'm good for nothing right now. I stared at a draft of Tuesday night's menu for a half an hour yesterday and no ideas came to me. I came home after work and promptly fell asleep. I probably uttered 12 words to my wife yesterday. She hates the person I am right now. And truth be told, so do I.

What to cook when you're dog tired and you are the best cook in town and you cannot bear the thought of going out in public or eating somebody else's substandard food? What do you do when you were so disappointed in your restaurant dinner yesterday that you are craving really, really good food?

Annie hit it right on the head yesterday. It's chilly for April: we had very thick frost yesterday morning and not quite so much this morning, but we're longing for shorts weather, not sweater weather. We needed hot comfort food. We needed a bag of pork ragù out of the freezer. Hot, comforting, and outstandingly good. And we needed a really good bottle of red. F the salad. We didn't need a stinking salad.

Annie, hang in there. Just five more days....

Chalk Hill Estate Red 2009, Beautiful

Young Pecorino Romano, Perfect for Pasta

Ahhh! Sheer Comfort!

The Local, Charlottesville

We were in Charlottesville on Sunday to visit with my daughter Lillie who is at UVa. After spending the morning and early afternoon visiting three local wineries (and coming away largely disappointed), we met Lillie and toured the grounds, then walked the Downtown Mall, and finally, made the short hop over to Belmont to dine at The Local.

The Local wasn't at the top of my list (it wasn't far down it either) but all the restaurants higher up the list were closed on Sunday. And it is a restaurant after my own, serving local products in season, so I had high hopes for it.

I started with a beer because I was thirsty from walking all afternoon. Our server recommended a Blue Mountain beer. I recalled that we had passed Blue Mountain brewery earlier in the day up on Afton Mountain and the parking lot was full. Beer wasn't on our agenda this weekend, but I was happy to try a glass of their Full Nelson American Pale Ale featuring hops that Blue Mountain grows on their own farm here in Virginia. It was a nice enough beer and I am happy for having tried it.

Sticking with the local theme, I ordered a bottle of Michael Shaps Cabernet Franc 2008 and it turned out to be the best wine of our day. I have known of Michael Shaps for a long time and have tasted many wines for which he has been the consulting winemaker, but never tasted one of his eponymous wines before. And finally a decent wine glass. Our server brought us a couple of the Riedel restaurant series. They aren't great glasses but they aren't bad either. I wanted to spend more time looking through the fairly extensive wine list, but we were on a bit of a short schedule.

2008 Michael Shaps Cabernet Franc

Though we had very high hopes for the restaurant and even more so after seeing the extensive local wine and beer lists, the reality was a hit or miss dinner in which the star dish was made from non-local ingredients. To be fair, we had a good dinner and the kitchen was using really good quality product, but the kitchen made a lot of mistakes.

We shared six appetizers and a single main dish. The appetizer list looked much more appealing to me than the list of mains, but that is true in almost all restaurants including my own.

PEI Mussels, Leek-Fennel Broth, Spicy Aïoli, Crispy Rice Noodles

The mussels were really nice, big and plump, and well cooked. But as Ann put it, it would have been nice if there were some leek or fennel in the broth. Both flavors were missing from the broth. The aïoli was neither spicy nor garlicky and so I'm confused about why it was on the dish. The noodles didn't add anything to the mussels; they merely made the mussels difficult to eat. And a beef with the restaurant: where was any bread to soak up the juice? No bread was ever offered and there were no spoons or salt and pepper on the tables. Casual service? Yeah, I get it. But perhaps a touch too casual?

Crispy Shrimp; Pickled Ginger-Black Sesame Aïoli; Seaweed Salad

This shrimp dish was the best of the day and I guess that's kind of sad from a fresh and local menu. I felt that the sauces, especially the honey-sambal garnishing sauce, were too sweet. Judicious use of lime would have catapulted this dish to the next level. Still, tasty.

Roast Pork Belly; Grits Cake; Local Beer Mustard; Braised? Red Cabbage

Doesn't this dish sound awesome? A must have? You bet it does! In reality though, it was crap. Look carefully at the grits cake. Can you see how overcooked and dried out it is? Look at the cabbage. Does that cabbage look braised to you? No, it is essentially raw cabbage. And the pork belly, which you cannot see, is a travesty. That pig should not have died to suffer again what the kitchen did to its belly.

I am an expert at cooking pork belly and it shames me for our industry what other cooks are doing to it. The belly was roasted skin on until the point where the meat had just become tough as sin and the fat not cooked enough to become that unctuous delicacy that is high quality pork belly. Folks, unless you are going to make your pork skin into chicharrón, it is inedible and doesn't belong on the plate.

Gnocchi Bolognese

This is a pretty good rendition of Gnocchi Bolognese, though I prefer my gnocchi a little more tender and without egg. The sauce was OK, but not outstanding, and don't you think somebody could have given the bowl a wipe down before sending it out?

Truffled Mushroom Ragout on House-Made Fettuccine

I wanted to try their ragout of mushrooms (which they get from the same supplier that sends them to my restaurant) on fettuccine because I love both pasta and mushrooms. That there was a little white truffle oil didn't hurt either. Talk about boring. What about some shallots and sage in the mushrooms, just a little seasoning? Good quality ingredients but just missing the boat on seasoning. The fettuccine, though a tad thick for my personal preference, were very well cooked.

Truffled Mac and Cheese

Tell me, dear reader, when you picture mac and cheese, do you picture a bowl of plain elbow macaroni with some shredded cheese on top? I sure don't. Guys, cheese is what puts the cheese in mac and cheese. Try using some!

Duck Breast,  Roasted Garlic Mash, Roasted Sprouts/Carrots; Madeira Gravy

The menu calls this Crispy Skin Duck Breast and Lillie ordered it because she loves duck. Good kid! Now, look at this picture and show me the crispy skin. Can't find it? Neither can I. The skin is barely crisp in the center and totally flabby around the edges. And see the lack of color in the meat? It's bled out all over the plate from not being rested. Lillie ordered the gravy on the side, thank God, because this stuff is an abomination. I thought the vegetables were well done and the interior of the duck breast was cooked nicely.

OK, bottom line time. I would go back. They use very good local ingredients and I want to support that. It's a shame that the kitchen doesn't appear to have the horsepower (or drive, perhaps) to make the most of these awesome ingredients.

Charlottesville Area Wineries

Disappointment.

If I had to sum up our day tasting with three Charlottesville area wineries yesterday, disappointment would be the key word. I guess that we are very spoiled and very, very fortunate to have such awesome winegrowers as Jim Law at Linden, Jeff White at Glen Manor, and Jim Dolphin at Delaplane in our very own backyard.

I was looking forward to getting back to the town where I was born. Sometimes I miss the place. I had been back only twice since I left in 1984 and now having a daughter at UVa has given me the excuse to get back for the third time. Because her college (ahem, party) schedule did not allow her to be available until after 2pm, we decided to visit three wineries (our limit for a day) on our way into town before visiting her.

We dropped in on two wineries whose wines are on our list at the restaurant, Pollak Vineyards and King Family Vineyards, and a third, Veritas, whose wines we carried some years ago. All three of these are within spitting distance of each other to the west of Charlottesville, right on our way into town on US 250.

We went to Pollak first and of the three wineries, they made my favorite wines. Despite the very early hour of our arrival, the counter staff were exceptionally nice and we enjoyed interacting with them. The soaring tasting room overlooking the pond was beautiful and I could have spent a lot more time sitting outside contemplating nothing!

Pollak Tasting Room

Most of the Pollak wines that we tasted were 2011 and for the reds, that was a disaster vintage. Pollak weathered this vintage as well or better than most, producing light, but drinkable reds. The star of the day for me was the 2010 Meritage and I can see that having a place on our wine list at the restaurant. My one complaint about this winery is about their glassware: more of the same cheap, crappy stemware.

From Pollak, we backtracked a bit to Veritas passing our supplier of cultivated mushrooms, amFOG, and the Blue Mountain Brewery, as we worked our way up the mountain. During my bike racing years in college, I used to ride my bike along all these deserted country roads, that are now pretty crowded with winery traffic. I remember the old Saddleback Farm way up Afton Mountain Road; it is now the site of Veritas.

Entry at Veritas

Veritas is a drop dead gorgeous place and the tasting room is amazing with a huge fireplace dominating one end and leather sofas spread out everywhere. The open beams and woodwork give it a very upscale rustic look. As beautiful as it is, the wines don't match the venue and the venue, like that at Sunset Hills, is not for us. We didn't feel any particular warmth at this winery or any particular connection to the people. Where the staff at Pollok was warm and engaging, the staff at Veritas seemed to be going through the motions: pouring while distractedly looking off in the distance; reciting verbiage by rote. Speaking of warmth, all the wines are served ice cold (way too cold) in cheap crappy glassware.

We were passed off to three staff members during our tasting and it felt like we were interrupting them. I couldn't wait to leave. Mediocre wines in a crazy bar scene is not my cup of tea. It seems to me that contrary to most wineries, the quality has gone down over time at Veritas. Of course, that could also be the result of focusing on all the revenue generating events at a party central winery. The Sauvignon Blanc was the best of a boring lot and it lacks a lot compared to the awesome Sauvignon Blancs in our area.

Tasting Counter at Veritas

Annie Just Outside the Veritas Winery

Our next and last stop before Charlottesville was King Family winery, close to Crozet proper and the closest to Charlottesville of the wineries we visited. Again, another drop dead beautiful winery in the middle of Roseland Farm where the Virginia Polo team plays their home matches. And as you might imagine, being so situated draws the beautiful horsey crowd. We're more at home where people come for the wine and to hell with the amenities.

We tasted through the line up, again from horrid clunker glasses, and the wines were mostly 2011s. I thought the 2011 Merlot was serviceable but Ann decided she wanted to drink the Meritage even though I found it to have a rose petal lipstick nose.

King Family: Looking out over the Polo Field; Winery in Background

King Family have all manner of lunch goodies in a refrigerator in the tasting room for a self service lunch. Ann got a box of crackers, some local soft goat cheese from nearby Caromont Farm, a "Barolo" salami from Creminelli, and a tub of Three Little Pigs duck rillettes. We took a bottle of the Meritage and the food to the patio outside to enjoy the sun and have a bit of lunch.

Lunch and 2011 King Family Meritage

Caromont goat cheese is always good and we're big fans of both their Bloomsbury and Esmontonian cheeses. The fresh chèvre is OK, but not really goaty and unlike most people, I want my goat cheese to be goaty. The Creminelli sausage was really pretty damned good. I didn't know Creminelli before, but I do now. It is not as good as salame from Olympic Provisions, but it is closer than any other salame I have had. The rillettes were standard Three Little Pigs fare: undistinguished but serviceable. They are not in the same league with my own rillettes, but then that's true of a lot of other food too.

Remember when I was describing the King Family Meritage above, I wrote rose petals and lipstick? Those aren't really compliments and it is about to get worse. With food, especially the duck rillettes, the mid-palate exploded with cocoa and orange which combined in a rather sick way to taste almost like a chocolate covered dreamsicle. We ended up giving the remaining half bottle away to a table near ours.

Great Day with my Best Girl

So, while we had a good time visiting three wineries we had never visited before on a gorgeous spring day, we were left feeling pretty disappointed in what we tasted. Bummer.

Recycling: Buffalo Tacos with Mango Salsa

Buffalo Taco with Mango Salsa

Wow! Has spring sprung? Where it was largely brown last week, everything is a beautiful shade of green this week. Sunday out at Delaplane Cellars, where Ann and I were catering the barrel tasting, was even more gorgeous than the week before, especially with the massive cherry tree in front of Jim and Betsy's house in full riot of bloom.

At the tasting, two of my pairings were shrimp and mango salad with the 2012 Chardonnay, to bring out the tropical flavors in that wine, and pulled bison with blueberry compote with the 2011 Springlot Bordeaux blend. We had a pretty good quantity of each left over after the event.

As you might imagine, Monday April 15th was a special day in paperwork hell and after I finished wrestling at the office with not only the usual Monday paperwork, but 2012 taxes and 2013 first quarter estimates, I wasn't in the mood to cook. But, it occurred to me that with almost no effort, I could recycle the two leftover catering dishes into a great dinner.

How Good Does This Look?

To the mango and shrimp salad, which was equal quantities of diced mango and diced shrimp tossed in a bit of bright lime dressing, I added cilantro, green onions, garlic, black beans, a couple of finely minced jalapeños, more lime juice, and a good bit of salt for an almost instant mango salsa.

One Man's Pulled Bison is Another's Carne Machaca

The inspiration for the dinner was this big bowl of pulled bison which struck me as a really tasty version of carne machaca (literally, crushed meat) from Northern Mexico where beef or pork was preserved by drying it, then rehydrated and pounded to soften it. Tacos de carne machaca have always been a favorite food of mine. In the modern era, now that we have refrigeration, carne machaca is no longer dried first in most restaurants. Although it is possible to buy commercially prepared machaca seca, most restaurants do as we do: braise the raw meat slowly and then shred it. It doesn't hurt that in our case, we reduce the cooking liquids to a syrupy glaze and mix them back into the meat for maximum flavor.

Tacos de Carne Asada

Skirt Steak, Grilled Onions and Poblanos, Guac, Cheese, and Pico

Call them fajitas, tacos al carbón, tacos de carne asada, or anything else that pleases you. I just know that tender bits of grilled steak wrapped up in a tortilla with some freshly made guacamole, grilled poblanos and onions, and topped with queso para frijoles and pico de gallo is one of the great feeds of all time, especially for that very first time of the new year that it is nice enough to grill out.

And yesterday was that day!

Before (Note Chef Lube in Background)

Note the freaking awesome skirt steak from Bill and Holly at Martin's Angus Beef! I cannot say enough good about this meat. It is incredible, incredible as in the best I ever ate, and you need to run to a farmers market where they sell their beef and get you some. Do not stop, do not pass Go, do not collect $200! Hie thee to the market! You will not regret it.

After!

The Fixings

Above you see the red plate with the sliced beef, the peeled, seeded, and sliced poblanos, and the chopped onions. Above that, the pico de gallo: diced grape tomatoes, sliced green onions, garlic, minced jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Then the queso para frijoles in the middle: it's a little more rubbery and less salty than feta, but the idea is exactly the same. You could even use ricotta salata. And then on the right, the guacamole: avocado, minced jalapeño, crushed red pepper paste, lime juice, green onions, cilantro, and guaje seeds. And last, the flour tortillas. Me, I'm a big fan of corn tortillas, but the only one in the house and I'm not going to get a stack of fresh corn tortillas just for me.

Semillas Frescas de Guaje

Guaje seeds, come again? They're seeds from a pod of a locust-like tree from Southern Mexico that have a great green garlic flavor. I love them in guacamole: I don't add garlic to my guacamole when I add guaje seeds. I bought a bundle at the market and when the afternoon heat proved to be too much to be outside, I shelled them out while Ann and I sat in the sunroom under the ceiling fan, chewing the fat.

You'd be Smiling Too if You Were About to Feast!