The crime scene was a turkey roast

Normally, I just let my disasters in the kitchen slide with nary a mention in these parts. However, I've been inspired by Lex Culinaria's honesty about her culinary near-disaster and I've decided to share a little tragedy of my own.

The occasion was a turkey roast that I'd had thawing in the fridge for days. I'd just put the finishing touches on my new light box (via the excellent Make Blog) and here was an excellent opportunity to put it to good use.

Inspired by my foodie brethren, I went all Meathenge on it. I brined the roast, crusted it with some BBQ rub and set it in the oven until the thermometer read done. Add a couple of pieces of lettuce, my slicing knife and voila, a perfect picture of a perfect roast.

It went down pretty well, too. It was a bit salty (brined it a bit too long), but it was still a pretty good dinner. Jenny didn't like it, so she nibbled at hers before making something else for dinner. No big deal. More for me.

Well I certainly got more. More bathroom time. I felt terrible for days.

So I decided to send it to my friend and co-worker Brian for analysis. He promptly went all CSI on it. He simply took my digital image, magnified and enhanced sector C8, adjusted the eigenvalues and tweaked the spectrometer index. The results were shocking.

Yep, garden variety food poisoning. I'm usually a fanatic about keeping my food fresh, but in the hustle and bustle of our trip prep I'd failed to heed FDA guidelines regarding storage of raw turkey. I'd let the bird sit far too long in the fridge, and it paid me back with a little "extra seasoning."

Let this be a lesson to others.

Off on Holiday...

Jenny and I will be off for the next week to the land of Aloha for some sun and relaxation. We scored some awesome (and cheap) tickets to Maui, and felt like reliving our honeymoon, if only for a short time!

I expect to be blogging again at the beginning of April!

Aloha a hui hou...

In case you're wondering, we took this picture in Kauai on our honeymoon. That's the gorgeous Hanalei valley, with Mount Waialeale in the background.

Getting the Point(s)

Just when I think I'm really getting good, I make a rookie mistake. I've been on Weight Watchers for over 5 years now, and I've gotten to the point where I think I know just about everything.

Turns out that I don't. While I was researching for a future post, I came across a fact that completely rocked my world. See, I've been chugging along just nicely thinking that a tablespoon of oil is 2 WW points.

WRONG! It's actually 4 points. So this means all the dozens of recipes I've written are wrong as far as points value are concerned.

Now I know for most people that that's not a big deal, and in fact I don't cook with a lot of oil anyway. But the fact of the matter is that I sometimes choke on the most basic WW facts. While I try to be as accurate as possible with my points values, even I can (and will) be wrong.

What should we all learn from this mistake? That even when you think you know everything, you don't. Time breeds complacency, and that breeds carelessness. As I've said in my disclaimer, be sure to double-check your recipes from time to time.

In fact, over the years I've noticed the nutritional information changing on some of my favorite foods. As you can probably guess, none have been for the better. Truth is, even commercial food suppliers get it wrong from time to time, and have to quietly issue a change in their label.

This also goes for portion sizes, too. I've caught myself several times eyeballing a "cup" of cereal in the morning. Ha! I've measured out my "cups" before, and sometimes I've been off by more than half a cup, as in half a cup too much.

We must all remain ever vigilant with our points trackers and guidebooks ready. I've learned my lesson, and I hope you don't make the same mistake.

Obviously, I have to go back and edit some recipes. If a recipe has been changed to reflect my new-found wisdom, you'll see an update at the bottom of the post. If not, go ahead and assume that I've calculated the points wrong and adjust accordingly. Hey, think of it as your homework for the week!

Our Lady of the Grilled Chicken Sandwich

You know when someone uses a name like "Guadalupe Mountain" on a Mexican product, that it has to be awesome. People south of the border don't throw around such a holy name to describe ordinary foodstuffs like tortillas or chiles in adobo sauce. No, this was a righteous product, capable of producing fajitas and tacos as God had intended.

I found myself pondering such matters in the aisle of my local supermarket this weekend. The occasion was the first day of real honest-to-God summertime weather in Atlanta, and I wasn't going to squander it eating my usual ham sandwich and banana lunch. No, I was going to prepare a feast fit for some co-workers. And on the menu I envisioned a grilled chicken sandwich, maybe with some beans and rice on the side. Faced with a lack of research time, I decided to skip the billions of marinade and sauce recipes and to just grab a bottle of something at the market.

There are a galaxy of sauces and marinades on the shelves at the megamart. Usually, I just walk right past the million or so bottles of McSauce (bbq, honey bbq, honey mustard, honey mustard bbq...) and look for the lonely straggler, far away from home and tucked meekly into the corner. I found what I was looking for in World Harbor's Guadalupe Mountain Fajita Sauce. This was it! I mean, what kind of self-respecting grillmeister would believe the lies lies lies that meat can be marinated in 15 minutes? Or that people in Kansas City would know anything about the subtle savory-sweet qualities that make grilled chicken sing?

No, this was a job for something authentic. Something special. Something bottled in Maine.

Ok, so I didn't actually look at the place of origin when I bought it. Oh well, yet another company leveraging God's word to sell fajita sauce. Still, it's a darn good product. It successfully pulled double duty as an overnight marinade and as a basting sauce during grilling. It sure did a number on a bunch of boneless skinless breasts, and everyone commented on its near-perfect flavors for the dish.

I splurged for some quality buns, added some shredded Mexican cheese blend, and prepped a light slaw to top the sandwich. Add some bean salad and a bit of Spanish rice (shamefully obtained from a box) on the side, and you've got a lunch that that's truly holy. Behold, the Guadalupe Chicken Sandwich!

OLGCS Mexican Slaw

1/4 head Green Cabbage, chopped finely
1/2 cup White Onion, diced
2 handfulls Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1/2 teaspoon Lime Zest

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Enjoy on sandwiches, tacos, etc.

4 points for the entire batch (which is a lot of topping).

Update 3/18 - This recipe has been corrected for points value.

A Slightly Hokey Poke...

You put some "Lenten" in,
You take some red meat out,
You put some "Hawaiian" in,
And you don't have to do without...

Lent. God's way of telling me I don't eat enough fish.

Normally, I'm not a major carnivore, but for some reason having to do without makes that little bit of beef, pork or chicken I do have in my diet that much better. Still, this time of year is as good as any to explore the ocean and try to find something more interesting than fish sticks, tuna salad or pasta.

The same 48-hour bender of Hawaiian-themed travel shows that produced our planned trip to Maui also exposed me to a classic recipe done up by Sam Choy, the original "Never Trust a Skinny Chef." In a quick cooking segment he made poke, a Hawaiian classic of chopped raw ahi tuna flavored with tons of island love (translation: soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and sweet onions). Given my upcoming fast and constant hunger for all things aloha, I took note of the recipe and vowed to explore it later.

All the pieces came together when I found a great recipe for poke written by Joan Namkoong on the Eat Feed recipe page. It seemed like a perfect meal for a Lenten Friday dinner.

Still, there are a few problems. Atlanta is a long way from the fertile waters of the Pacific Ocean, and tuna doesn't exactly like traveling long distances. Lacking sushi-quality tuna (within my budget), I substituted salmon, which is available at my supermarket. It too is not of suitable quality to be consumed raw, so I steamed it and let it cool to room temperature.

I'd also advise using a microplane to grate the ginger instead of mincing it as the recipe suggests so you don't get chunks of ginger in the marinade. Cut back to 1 teaspoon if you do it this way, as the increased surface area really kicks up the ginger flavor.

Half of the Eat Feed recipe (made with honey) is roughly 14 points and feeds 2-3 people.

This really doesn't make the dish poke, but since the flavorings were similar I decided to use artistic license and fudge it. My poke went particularly well with some warm white rice (topped with nori) and a few slices of fresh cut pineapple.

The result? An awesomely tasty dish and a little something tropical for an otherwise normal winter day.

Update 3/18 - This recipe has been corrected for points value.

Update 3/31 - I've had the opportunity to try real Ahi Poke at the Old Lahaina Luau in Hawaii, and frankly my variation is similar in spirit only. The real stuff is incredible. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Update 4/7 - This photo was entered in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This photography contest!

Stir Fried: Dinner after a long day of work

Ah, the fabulous life of a food blogger. We dine on exotic dishes, travel to beautiful restaurants and feast on the limitless bounty afforded by boutique olive oil shops and specialty chocolate stores.

Yeah right. This is not that kind of blog.

Truth is, most of our dinners are more Rachel Ray than Emeril Lagasse. Usually I save the big time cooking for the weekend, when I have more time to research, shop and clean. Most of our weeknight dinners consist of quick dishes that are thrown together with leftovers or scraps.

Last night's dinner wasn't much different. I've actually started using more fat in my food, and stir frying a ton of vegetables with some chicken is an excellent way to do it. You can cut the oil back to 1 tablespoon, but I think it's worth the extra points to hit 'em with both barrels. I added ham because ham tastes goooooooood.

I've also been experimenting with pounding the chicken flat before cooking. In my observation, this tenderizes the meat, breaking down some of the muscle tissue. I'll have to do more work and report later.

Week Night Chicken Stir Fry

1 lg Chicken Breast, pounded flat (approx. 6-8 oz.)
1 med onion, loosely chopped
5-6 slices Deli Style (thin) Ham, julianned
1/2 lb. Frozen Broccoli Cuts
3 cloves Garlic
2 tablespoons Oil (stir fry, canola or other high smoke point oil will do)
20 drops Hot Sauce (I use Sriracha)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 cups Cooked White Rice

Heat the oil in a stir fry pan or skillet over high heat until very, very hot. Toss in the chicken, and cook until just not pink anymore. Add onions and salt. Cook until onions start to turn translucent, then add the garlic and ham. When food is almost completely cooked, add the broccoli and cook until the broccoli is soft.

Serve with 1 cup of rice. You don't have to make mini rice monuments unless you really want to, or unless you're taking a picture for a food blog.

Serves 2, 10 points per serving (including the rice)