Asparagus-Sweet Asparagus!!!

Beast's Kitchen has been on a hiatus while I've been in training at my new job at Sub-Zero and Wolf Appliance.  Soon I'll be moving home and working part-time from home and will have more time with Beast, who misses me dearly, and for writing.
This morning is a bit dreary in Madtown, but it was well worth getting out for the early spring Asparagus at the Dane County Farmer's Market.  I wait for this time of year all winter and don't really even care that the average price for the first couple of weeks is $5/lb.
I am in heaven...today I'll be grilling fresh local asparagus coated with olive oil and lemon zest--it doesn't get much better!
And I heard from one of the farmers that the morels should be early too...maybe even as soon as next week.  I expect those will run around $30/lb for the early ones, but what could be better than morels sauteed in garlic butter with a side of grilled asparagus-Delish!

Corned Beef Time

It's time again for Corned Beef for St Paddy's Day
Last year I tried corning my brisket myself and we thought it was pretty fun, so I'm doing it again this year.  If you get started today you still have time to corn your own brisket in time for St. Patrick's Day.
Here's the recipe again--the best part is you can use an organic, pasture raised local brisket...
Here's the recipe I used--I mix my own pickling spices, but you can purchase pickling spices already mixed at the store as well. I used a 3-lb brisket but this brine is sufficient for up to 8 lbs of brisket.


For the brine:
Place the following ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved in the mixture. Take off heat and cool before using.
6 cups water
2 cups amber beer
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pickling spices

Recipe for pickling spices:
1 t allspice berries
1 t coriander seed
1 t dill seeds
1 t ground mace
1/2 t cardamom seed
1/2 t yellow mustard seed
1/2 t brown mustard seed
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, crushed
2-1" pieces dried ginger
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 t black peppercorns

Trim any excess fat off the brisket and pierce all over so that the brine will soak in better. Place brisket in a glass or plastic container and cover with brine. Weight down the brisket with a couple of plates so that it stays submerged and refrigerate. Ideally you want to brine the brisket for 10 days, but can do as few as 4. On the 4th, and 8th day remove the brisket from the brine and rinse it with water and then place it back into the brine. On the last day rinse the brisket before slow cooking. Brisket is a meat that is best served by slowly braising over a low temperature. A slow cooker is perfect. Just place the brisket and any desired vegetables in the pot and add a couple of cups of liquid (I'm using stout beer), cover and leave it for several hours. It should be fork tender when you get back to it. If you don't have a slow cooker or crockpot, you can achieve he same thing in a covered dutch oven or roasting pot in the oven at about 225° for about 6 hours.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza with Farmer's Market Ingredients

Recently I've made a couple of breakfast pizzas with ingredients fresh from the Dane County Farmer's Market.  They might just be Tim's new favorite....after breakfast cheesecake, of course.

The first one was inspired by some leftover dough from pizza night the previous evening and I topped it with queso, sauteed baby bella mushrooms, spinach, artichoke hearts, scrambled eggs and cheese.  It was divine.
The second one I made with an herbed crust rolled super thin, and topped it with queso, sauteed onions and spinach, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese.  It too was quite good, but we preferred the first version more for some reason. 

A tip if you try this:  scramble the eggs soft because they'll cook more in the oven as the pizza cooks and you don't want them to end up rubbery.

Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup

March 1: Beer Day
(Tim says every day is beer day...)
Check out my recipe for Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup on Examiner.com here:
Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup
Cheers to Beer Day!

Sala Thai

Yesterday we finally tried Sala Thai on Fair Oaks near Milwaukee Street.  I'm not sure why we waited so long, but I know we'll be back again soon!  We went for lunch and arrived about 1:15 and were the only people there for a while until another couple came in to eat.  We ordered the Vietnamese Spring Roll, which comes with two and is  filled with cilantro, cucumber, carrots, lettuce, vermicelli noodles and eggs or shrimp.  We got the veggie version.  The Vietnamese style are served cold in a rice wrapper with a garlic peanut dipping sauce.  They were so huge and fantastic that I forgot all about taking a picture until they were gone.  I can't wait to go back for more.  We also ordered the Chicken Satay, which has 4 skewwers of grilled, marinated chicken and is served with a thick peanut sauce and a fresh cucumber salad.  The chicken was incredibly tender and moist and they were clearly made to order, not sitting in a steam table in the back.  The peanut sauce was good enough to drink and the cucumber salad was crisp and refreshing.  Another would order again for sure.  The only strange thing was the chicken was served on a piece of bread, which wasn't necessary to the dish.  We also ordered the Pad Kraprow, a spicy stir fry of peppers, onlions, garlic, mushrooms and basil with shrimp.  You can also order this with Chicken, Pork or Beef.  It was described on the menu as very hot, but my taste buds enjoyed a slow burn that I wouldn't classify as very hot.  It is not for those with mild tastes, though.  The dish was served over rice and was a plentiful lunch portion, allowing for leftovers...the best part!  We also ordered the Panang Curry with Shrimp, which is a peanut sauce curry with potatoes, carrots and basil.  It was really saucy and very good.  This also came served over rice and could be ordered with Chicken, Tofu or Beef instead of shrimp.  The menu is varied and has many options, with lunch portions during the day and dinner portions at night.  They also serve beer and wine and offer To Go food as well.  From the outside the building looks small, but there are a surprising number of tables and they aren't all jammed together.

According to the Carry Out menu, the hours are: Sunday-Monday Dinner 5-9; Tuesday-Thursday Lunch 11-3; Dinner 5-9; Friday Lunch 11-3; Dinner 5-9:30; Saturday Lunch 11:30-3; Dinner 5-9:30.

The phone is 608-246-1889 and the address is 36 S Fair Oaks Ave.

Give them a try soon...you won't be disappointed with the food, service or atmosphere.

Currant and Pecan Muffins

During the summer I try to freeze some of the more interesting fruits and berries for use during the winter when I'm getting itchy for springtime. This week we had used all of the breakfast items in the freezer so I made a batch of muffins with whole wheat flour, freshly ground flax seed, currants I had frozen from our CSA with JenEhr Farm, and some toasted pecans. They turned out yummy!
Currant and Pecan Muffins:
Preheat oven to 500° (yes, it's really 500°)...read on...
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white wheat flour
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup currants (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup toasted pecans
Mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients.
If using frozen currants, add them to the dry ingredients and stir before adding wet ingredients. If using fresh currants, wait until after adding the wet ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until moist. Batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy. Add the nuts last.
Grease a muffin tin and then use an ice-cream scoop to scoop the mix into the pan.
Place the pan in the oven and turn the oven down to 400°. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack before removing muffins from pan.
Tip: Heating the oven to 500° and then lowering the temp when putting in the muffins helps the muffins to develop a nice peak and a beauty brown top. If you are using a convection oven, turn down the temp to 375° and bake for 13-17 minutes, turning pan half way through baking to avoid having the blow over effect on the muffins.
Serve warm with butter.

Popovers

Comfort foods...for each of us they include different things.
Growing up we often had popovers and for me they are comfort food. But then again, what custard isn't???
Here's the recipe I use most often from the Moosewood Cookbook:
Custardy Popovers
-crisp and puffy, full of hot air, with a layer of custard on the inside
15 minutes to prepare
35 minutes to bake
makes 12 popovers
375° oven
4 eggs
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp melted butter
Beat together the eggs and the milk. Add flour and salt. Beat with a fork until mixture is uniform.
Preheat a muffin tin in the oven for 5 minutes. Brush the cups and the top surface generously with melted butter. Fill each muffin hole 2/3 full with batter. Work quickly so the tin stays hot. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes without opening the oven. Prick each popover with a fork to let steam escape. (this will help them hold their shape.
Serve immediately with butter and jam (optional).