Boeuf Bourguignon!

A few weeks ago my Wife and I stopped by the Camarillo Outlets on the way home from Santa Barbara. We found that they had a Le Creuset Outlet! We had been wanting to purchase some enamelwear for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity! Today was our first usage of the new items, and what better way to break them in then with Julia Child's famous recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon.

We tried to stay as true to the original recipe as possible. However, I have no idea where to possibly find Chunk Bacon in this country. The closest thing I could find was the in-house smoked bacon at Whole Foods. It is thickly cut and less salty than commercially packaged bacon. I blanched the bacon to try and eliminate the smokey flavor as much as possible.

All in all, it turned out well. I think my only mistake was that I did not monitor the oven temperature well enough to just simmer the beef. The beef was not as tender as it should have been. However, the flavor of the sauce and vegetables more than made up for it!

Trout!

My wife and I lately have really been trying to cook at home more often. As part of this plan we now make a menu for the week every Sunday, and then only buy what is needed at the grocery store. We have been doing this for a few weeks now, and so far it has been working out very well! We are doing this to eat healthier, waste less food, and to save money.

We had a physical trainer many years ago before we got married. She emphasized eating 5 times a day instead of 3 to somehow boost the metabolism. We are trying to follow that plan again, and we are also attempting to eat roughly the same number of calories as we did. I whipped up a quick menu template to help keep track. We attach the current menu to the fridge.

We have been taking turns making the menu. My wife put together some great wraps for lunches a few weeks ago! However, this week it was my turn.

Von's had a sale today on Rainbow Trout, two fish were only 3.50$! I secretly made dinner for my wife because I knew that cooking a whole fish for her would get a great reaction! She loves all kinds of animals and is pretty sensitive to meat that resembles the creature that it comes from. For instance she won't eat the calamari that looks like the little squid, only the flat kind. Actually, I am lucky she eats any meat at all, because she used to be a vegetarian.

Anyway, I pan fried the fish whole and did my best at making a good looking plate. When I presented dinner to her at first she looked really happy, but once she looked a little closer she realized what it was she really freaked out! At first she refused to eat at all, but finally she calmed down was fine with me just removing the head and tail.

In the end she really liked it, and I was able to freak her out one last time by eating one of the fish eyes!

Prime Rib!

Lately they have been having incredible deals on Prime Rib at Von's. I picked up a 4lb two rib roast for 15$, where it is usually closer to 40$. Overall it came out well, just slightly overdone for my liking. I also made Yorkshire pudding from its juices! My wife gets upset if I don't make something "green" to go along with dinner, so I fried up some zucchini as well.

Today was overall just a great day! We woke up this morning without having an alarm clock set, which hasn't happened in a long time. Every few months we like to take the train down to go visit Amoeba records to buy some new music. We hadn't gone in a long time and we had nothing planned for today, so we spur of the moment decided to go! On the ride to Union Station we noticed that the train seemed much more crowded than usual, and when we arrived we found out why. Today is National Train Day. I love trains! They had all sorts of stuff going on at Union Station; a model train exhibit, wine tasting information, giveaways and more. My wife picked up all sorts of goodies for her students, and I picked up a bunch of information on trains.

My sister is moving to Minnesota, and it seems like the perfect excuse to take the Amtrak Train from Seattle over to St. Paul. I learned today that the train ride is only 40 hours (I thought it would be longer!). It departs from Seattle at 4:45 PM. You spend the entire next day traveling through Montana and North Dakota which are both supposed to be beautiful. The following morning the train arrives in St. Paul at 7:50 AM. The timing seems ideal. We would definitely get a sleeper car, and as long as it is booked far enough in advance it doesn't look to be very expensive!

Chicken Soup!

My wife Jena and I have been feeling a little sick off and on for the past few weeks. Today we have really been trying to recuperate. We have been drinking tea all day long, taking vitamin C, and basically just trying to rest. Jena is of Jewish heritage and her Grandmother has a terrific homemade chicken soup recipe. We figured it only right to cook up a batch while we are on the mend. I am actually enjoying it right now as I write this. It came out perfectly.

Steak

On the plane ride home from Florida I watched a steak cooking competition on the food network and it inspired me to cook up a rib-eye. I decided to pan fry this particular steak because the broiler ends up being too messy and I am not really set up to barbecue. I first marinated the steak in butter, beer, worchestire sauce, fresh garlic, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper for about 10 minutes on each side. I then pan friend the steak for 3 or so minutes per side in some oil. Although probably not the healthiest way to prepare a steak it sure was good!

Bratwurst!

I just made Bratwurst today using a simple but awesome recipe! I boil the brats in a mixture of 1 part water to 1 part Budweiser for about 25 minutes along with a yellow onion cut into rings. I used 1 1/2 cans of beer for 5 brats. After boiling I then broil them for about 3 minutes. Served with rice is always good. Pictured are the leftovers. Om nom nom nom nom.