Tapenade Crusted Rib Eye in Mushroom Sauce

Had some left over tapendade (made from Cento cured black olives). Smothered a ribeye steak with the tapenade and some extra olive oil to spread it. Let sit for about 4 hours.

Then quartered some button mushrooms--squeezed dried in paper towel--and sauteed in butter till brown. Threw in chopped shallot, let cook about 3-4 minutes and removed from skillet.

Then scraped off tapenade from steak and paper-towel dried. Added to the hot skillet I just cooked mushrooms in to brown both sides. Remove. Then smothered both sides with tapenade again and put under broiler till med-rare.

Meanwhile, Added mushrooms back to skillet, 1/2 cup beef stock, glob of wine and reduced (and scraped some extra tapenade into skillet).

I served the mushroom sauce under the steak. I think this dish would have been perfect if I had added goat cheese to mushroom sauce.

(goes well with sauteed garlic and fresh spinach)

Modified Smothered Pork

Great Variation

3 pork shoulder blades or any cut pork with bone--seasoned well with cajun spice and browned in olive oil.

add 4 chopped onions to pan after removing pork. add two bell peppers. add three dried chiles. handful quartered button mushrooms. handful cherry tomatoes whole. 6 smashed cloves garlic. Let vegetables sweat a little, add back pork in small pieces and half cup flour. Yes--no roux on this one--leaner version without the oil. Just the flour. Mix thoroughly and add quart chicken stock. Some more spice, pepper, mix, and simmer for 2.5-3 hrs. I added a chopped onion after 1.5 hrs.

Stuffed Leg Quarters

Title of this post sounds almost like a medieval torture procedure. I doubt anyone reads this anymore. I do when I forget a recipe. That's about it.

Bought two stuffed leg quarters from Hebert's grocery (stuffed with onions, peppers, and chicken sausage--cajun seasoned). I added some konriko, placed in a pan with olive oil and red wine. Halved handful of mushrooms, tomatoes, a few slivers bell peppers and onion and fresh slices of garlic. Cooked on low for about 35-45 minutes. Removed leg quarters and crisped em up in broiler while I added some leaves of fresh spinach to sauce and reduced a little. Great meal. Would be good over rice.

The News

Today I read headlines:

North Korea asserts it will make more nukes
Ahmadinejad is elected--albeit suspiciously
Obama pledges to sign anti-smoking bill

Does anything seem a bit out of the ordinary here or is just me? I mean--holy shit. Who gives a crap about the war on tobacco right now--which is a bullshit war anyway--but still--what the hell.

Far Away and All Above

Too long. It has been a long long night's dream of fish and clear crystal waters too long. Will be home in the good place shortly. Too long in the dark and narrow mud. Here is good, very good, and been better in last few months than I ever imagined--more music, dancing, drinking, friends, and making more friends, and good times than I ever imagined possible. Good music. How often can you go out to a place, eat, drink, hear good Cajun music going all night, and dance, and enjoy yourself without any self-consciousness or feeling of self at all because we're all in this together and enjoying ourselves. I truly have never had that in any other country or state. Maybe a little in Kentucky, but not in all of it. Not like all of it here. Not like everywhere I go and finding it in all people, their Cajun eyes, dark and behind something, but there to dance and drink and sing and smile when the music plays and the food is served. Not like every weekend here.

But home tomorrow. I think there may be about 3 people that ever read this damn blog, so for all of you, I'm going home after the longest dark night I dont ever want to revisit. Let us just hope the trout are rising into sunlight and the mountain air clears the heart like good angels drinking the cup of salvation from streams of tomorrow.

The richest Braised Spare Ribs you'll ever eat

Tonight was whatever I had left on the counter night. So that was some frozen pork spare ribs, half a bottle of left-over wine (about 2 weeks old but not yet vinegar), mushrooms, and garlic. That seemed easy enough. So I browned spareribs after dousing them heavily with cajun spice. Removed and scraped brown particles from pan--added about 8 cloves garlic whole and 10-15 whole button mushrooms. Let them sizzle in pan with some butter till browned. Added more cajun spice and some dried chile peppers. Then added back the meat and spices. Then wine. Then a little chicken broth. Cooked it about 2 hours and added some tobasco and Worcestershire and a little bbq sauce. Once the sauce was significantly reduced and the pork pulled apart it was done. And a great meal for a cool evening.

You could easily substitute pork ribs for Beef Short Ribs and get same result (with a little beef broth in place of chicken).

A Long Dark Spring of the Soul

A living word moves upward like dove wings
Breaking morning sunshine in feather bejeweled
Tongues of flames that fall back to earth
And are tilled into dumb clods like autumn leaves

The Word leaves the earth in legs and arms
Intersecting with a smile or a kiss or even
Holding hands underneath a bridge
While the sound of cars pass by above

Words turn in wheels that move unmoving
Around moments of love that leave
Us waiting for the sun so we can fall asleep
Into moments of fire that purge us of desire