Another thing I noticed is that I do a lot of frying, and sautéing. My normal course of action would be to drop a pad of butter into the pan and away we go. Now I’ve made the switch to a small amount of olive oil for all of my frying. If I still have the craving for that flavor of butter, like when frying up some onions or pierogies, I wait until the end and add a ¼ of what I would have originally and I still get that nice glossy sheen and buttery taste. Previously a stick of butter in my home would last only about a week and a half. Now it will last four weeks or more. I’ve taken to freezing the other sticks in the box because they would be hitting the expiration before I use them.
My last tidbit here is regarding drinks. I’ve cut out most soda with the exception of use in an evening cocktail. I first made the switch to iced tea and now I am going toward making tea and adding the ice and honey myself to get rid of all the added sugar. Using tea bags I get a wider variety of flavors, save money and use less sugar. A travel mug or water bottle makes it just as portable. If you are working to be environmentally friendly then stopping the use of all those plastic bottles must really appeal to you.
As you can see there are no drastic changes here and yet I’ve managed to cutout a significant amount of sodium, fat, and calories from my diet. I think the addition of some go hard workouts is really going to make a difference in my weight. To add some motivation to the mix I’ve made multiple bets. Frankly I lose and I am broke so I better get on this. Want public declaration of weight from the fat guy? Well I am just on this side of 250 depending on the time of day so we will say I am 250. As we go and continue cooking on here I will update that and maybe throw in some tips I find as I go to keep eating better without changing what I eat.

Cupcakes from the Warm Sugar cupcakery in Hellertown

First up let’s talk Fajitas. This one is super fast and easy but will be a hit. Here’s what you need
2 strip steaks (not ny strip just the thin strip steaks)
1 green pepper (red, yellow, mix whatever you like) sliced into strips
1 yellow onion sliced into strips
1 diced tomato (optional)
Lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole, salsa etc… (optional)
chili powder (a blended would be best)
Smoked Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Cumin
Salt
Cracked pepper
Garlic powder
Cilantro (fresh if possible)
Olive oil
Teaspoon of butter (optional)
Flour tortillas (wrap in damp paper towel and microwave 20-30 seconds to warm them)

Peppers, onions, cilantro, a little butter

Mix the chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a large zip lock bag, amounts are to taste. For me I keep it mild and hold back on a lot of the chili powder, cayenne and paprika but step up the garlic. Since there is no acid component in this dry marinade you can do this the night before or in the morning before you leave for work. At least try to give it eight hours to marinate. Next is to throw the peppers and onions into a pan with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and start to sauté over medium heat until they are browned but still have a snap to them just before they are done toss in cilantro to taste and the butter to add a nice sheen and a little richness. Now you need to grab yourself a pan, grill pan if possible, add a little olive oil and turn the heat on high. When the oil is hot add the steaks. You should hear a nice sizzle when they hit the pan, 2-3 minutes per side depending on thickness. You should have a nice sear on each side and it shouldn’t be overdone in the middle. Remove from the pan, let rest a couple minutes and slice into strips. Now all you need to do is assemble with whatever you may like in your fajitas. For me just the peppers, onions, steak, sour cream and some red pepper sauce is all I need.

Steak nirvana

Total time to make this you are looking at roughly an hour including cutting up the veggies. This is easy, healthy, and makes for great leftovers the next day for lunch. In the next few posts I am going to go over a few more options including stir fry and a nice steak with baked potato.

Throw in some coffee and cream and we are ready to go

Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more.

Pour in the cream and milk, and whisk to blend.”

Now you have a base and you can play with it as you see fit. After talking with some friends and commenters from our Facebook page I have decided on a espresso ice cream with chocolate and maybe some toasted almonds. Once you have your base and any liquid ingredients added it’s time to refer to your ice cream maker for instructions. Next week I am going to post up and share how it turned out.

Amazon link for the Ben and Jerry book:

Despite the cooler weather some discussions last night at a blogger meeting hosted by lehighvalleylive.com has me daydreaming of spring. Talk of fresh fruits and veggies is leaving my little head all a flutter with tomatoes, string beans, onions and my favorite…garlic all fresh from the local fields. I know we are lucky to live in a time when we can get anything we want somewhat fresh at any time of year. Still though there is something to be said for that veggie grown in your own back yard…literally…figuratively…whatever. From your favorite farmer to your door it doesn’t get any better. For me it’s Teprovich farms in Germansville, the Tomatoes and string beans are the best I can get and make even a ravenous meat eater like me understand how you could go total herbivore. For some of you with a greener thumb (as opposed to my geek thumb) you can take the long walk to your back yard and reap what you’ve sown as it were.

Which brings me to my thought process of the past day. It seems I have, or will have, a couple strictly veggie eaters checking in from time to time. This being the case I think I am going to have to come up with an all veg, meat free, guilt free dish of my own to throw up here……I am assuming the pepper relish doesn’t could since it’s really a bit of a condiment hahaha. So for Johnny Sized I’m going to see about making that happen and in the meantime why don’t some of you hit the link to his blog over on the right side of my page. I for one will be watching his blog as he continues to attempt to be half the man he currently is.

Is the Cabbage really big or is she just small?

Pork roast in the dutch oven maybe?

        The holidays have come and gone. Besides a couple pounds and a bit more cushion around the midsection I am left with a dutch oven and an ice cream maker. The canister for the ice cream maker is in the fridge but I’m thinking the dutch oven is a bit more inviting at this time of the year so my focus is going there.

First off let me say I love the dutch oven. I picked up a 5 quart on Black Friday and I didn’t spend a couple hundred to do it. Since I am just starting out I went with a cheaper model I found in Kohls much like the one linked to below. So far I’ve been trying some standard recipes I already make like chili and flank steak stuffed with cheese and baked with a sauce to get the hang of how the dutch oven is different than my normal pots. Right off the bat you find out really quick you have to treat raising the temperature as a more gradual process. This is mainly due to the cast iron holding in the heat longer than a stainless steel pot. Once you know this though you should have no troubles. Now I don’t have any recipes yet or pictures but I should have something soon. I’m starting to do my research and I think I see a pot roast or Coq au vin in my future. I am tempted to be ambitious because I’ve always wanted to try homemade beef bourguignon and I think Julia Child’s recipe is calling my name.

I’m looking into the ice cream too but it’s requiring a bit more research since I’ve never made ice cream. With the dutch oven it’s taking things you already know how to work with and using a new tool to cook them with. Ice cream is all new for me. For instance I didn’t know that you have to make sure your flavors are strong in your mix because they mellow when it becomes ice cream. Still I don’t expect it will be long before I kick Ben and Jerry out of my freezer, those damn hippies have been in there too long.

Want your own dutch oven or ice cream maker? Check out these options for the beginner.

It may not look like much now but trust me by the end of this post...

Set your alarm early if you want to eat your pulled pork same day because this is one long cook time. Remove your shoulder from the brine and rinse it off before placing in a foil baking pan fat side up. Since I wasn’t smoking I rubbed a little liquid smoke over the top of the fat before applying a very liberal layer of dry rub. Your rub should be nice and thick as it will be flavoring the juices as the fat melts during the baking. Now place into the oven at 250 degrees. You are cooking until the pork shoulder has an internal temperature of between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. For an eight pound shoulder this will take roughly 8-9 hours. Resist the urge to add any liquids to the pan, after a few hours the juices will start to accumulate in the bottom and will be better than anything you could have added.

Ready for nine hours of low and slow goodness

Once you have reached the desired internal temp turn off the oven and leave the shoulder in for one to two hours to rest. Use this down time to throw together your cole slaw, make some corn on the cob etc… Remove from the oven and use whatever method you wish to shred your pork. I used the two fork method to remove the fat and shred but a set of gloves for handling meat work great also. At this stage you don’t need any more help from me. You just need to dig in and work through the feelings of ecstasy while remembering to breath, chew and swallow. Fair warning posting pictures online of this while making it may result in unannounced “Just happened to be in the neighborhood” guests and spontaneous reconnections with friends you haven’t heard from in ages. You’ve been warned.

Ready to be pulled and thrown on a bun

What’s in the brine:
½ cup Sea Salt
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup Brown sugar
5 Tablespoons dry rub
2 bay leaves
Pour the above mix over your pork shoulder and then proceed to add water to your container until the shoulder is as covered as possible. This should roughly be 1-2 quarts of water. If you require significantly more water then add more salt figure ¼ cup more salt per 1 quart of water.

Dry Rub
This one is a rough estimate adjust flavors to taste
1 Tbsp. each
Chili powder (good stuff people don’t cheap out)
Cumin
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Paprika
Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
½ to 1 cup give or take of brown sugar (depends on how sweet you want it and how much rub you need, adjust other spices accordingly if you feel it has become too sweet)

So I had the tools, I had the information I needed now I just had one problem. What do you get in season in PA when it’s still in the 40’s? A quick trip to the local Wegmans left me with two options. I could either spend more then I should for some gorgeous looking Raspberries or I could grab some veggies and do some pickling. Well I’ve used enough vinegar lately so I went and opted for the Raspberries. I flipped through the books, found out I needed two pounds, I cringed a lot and then I went and got them.

If you were these berries you would be in a bit of a jam right now

   The recipe I am using came from a book called “The Joy of Jams….” Ok the title is quite long but I will be linking to it at the bottom of the page and it’s written by Linda Ziedrich. It was incredibly simple. You will need a potato masher, pot or preserving pan, jar or jars to preserve or refrigerate with, a chilled plate and a spoon for stirring.  I will not be doing the instructions for preserving as I do feel you should read a book with all of the cautions and instructions, as such what you will need for canning is not listed here. I will say though that I used the Boiling Water Bath method as opposed to pressure canning.

  Ingredients for the simple Raspberry Jam:

2 pounds raspberries

3 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice   That’s it really and the instructions are equally easy. Put all of the ingredients into your pot, use the potato masher to crush the raspberries. Go against your basic instincts at this point and don’t crush them into oblivion if you want to have a slightly chunkier jam. Throw the heat on medium until the sugar is fully melted and then gradually raise the heat to medium high until it begins to boil. At this point stir frequently, once it seems to have thickened drop a spoonful on to the chilled plate. Once it stays in a mound, as opposed to a puddle, you are done. The book states to use the Boiling water method for ten minutes if you wish to preserve it.

Berries are crushed and the sugar has melted. Let the fun begin.

I think I can

   Next time I make this I think I am going to be prepared to make a double batch. It’s not even been a week and already it’s almost half gone. For such a simple recipe the results are incredible. To serve throw it on some pound cake or fresh buttered toast. I happened to have some homemade lemon curd sitting in the fridge. The curd combined with the jam, thanks to what can only be described as an epiphany by my father-in-law, is nothing short of foodie nirvana on some good pound cake. You may also consider using it on the Mr. Radar if you DARE give someone the raspberry. No Spaceballs fans here, well chuckle anyway its funny trust me. All joking aside this takes about an hour to make and is really the definition of instant crowd pleaser. Don’t sell yourself short give this one a try and let me know how it goes for you.

Ready for storage...if it makes it that long

   Ok here we are, paragraph two. Now it’s time to get into the details. Before you start make sure you have everything you need. We’ll be going over this for everything I show how to make here and this one happens to be the easiest. You need a knife, blender, large bowl, plastic wrap and some kind of grill or gas oven to char your peppers. You may also want to wear glooves unless you have the incredible self control needed to wash your hands 30 times and still avoid rubbing your eyes, or for some of you picking your nose. Nothing out of the ordinary there so let’s get started.

  First things first decide what kind of sauce you want to make. Do you want it mild, no heat or do you want to make grown men cry? I couldn’t decide so for this round I made two separate sauces. The first is a no heat, tons of flavor, sweet pepper sauce. This sauce is great thrown on a burger in place of ketchup, on a slice of fresh baked bread, or even pairs it with a nice strong cheese like a Pecorino Romano. When making a sauce like this you should really know your peppers or take the time to read the chart at your local grocery store. If you are doing this when the peppers are in season than go to your local farmers market and speak to the folks selling them and they will clue you in to the different heat levels and flavors.

Washed and ready to go

   To make the zero heat sauce I am making you will need the following:

1 ¾ cups white vinegar

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons sugar

2 pounds of mini sweet peppers (Usually sold in a pack of mixed red, yellow and orange peppers)

2 large green Cubanelle peppers, these are also sometimes labeled Italian Sweet peppers

5 or more cloves of garlic minced depending on who you may or may not want to kiss later

   We have our tools, we have our intentions, and we have our ingredients. Now it’s time to nap. I mean get going. Well you could nap, my sauce is done so it doesn’t matter to me. Go ahead, the rest of us will wait. *whistles a little tune*………you’re back? Good. What you want to do is rinse off all of your peppers with hot water and give them a quick check like you would any veggie to make sure none are rotten. Take each pepper and cut off the stem, slice them in half, and remove the seeds if desired. Now place them cut side down on a cookie sheet if you are going to be using the broiler method to roast them (I do not use oil for this method). Otherwise use vegetable or olive oil and brush the outside of the pepper before placing them skin side down on the grill. If you are using the broiler slide the tray into the oven and watch them. You want the skin to blacken in spots and start to blister. You may have to rotate your tray once to make sure all of your peppers get roasted. If you are grilling them then look for the same effect, remove from the heat when blackened and continue to the next step. Regardless of how you got here you now want to take your roasted peppers, while they are still hot, and place them in a bowl and cover it quickly with plastic wrap. Leave them to steam for roughly five minutes. Once the time is up remove them one at a time and remove the skin which should now slide off easily. There are two reasons really for doing this. The first reason is you don’t want a burnt or bitter taste to overwhelm your sauce. The second reason serves a purely aesthetic purpose. One or two little random flecks of black let’s someone know you made this at home but too much just takes away from the gorgeous color you will get from your peppers when the sauce is done.

Roasted, time to slip the skin off

                                                                                      Now comes the fun part. Place all of your ingredients into the blender, peppers first so you aren’t splashing vinegar all over the place. Now pulse the blender a couple times before throwing that baby into high gear. Make a few grunting sounds and watch it all come together. Once everything appears to be pulverized into tiny little bits you’re done. Sit back for a second, look at the container, marvel at what you did to those snobby little peppers. They thought they were so great with their bright colors and fresh taste. Throw your sauce in a jar, put it into the fridge and it should last about three weeks.

Roasting a Serrano

                                                                                   Below I am listing the ingredients for the hot version I made. The process is the same as above with the exception of roasting the Serrano Pepper. To roast the Serrano cut off the stem and insert a metal skewer. This will allow you to hold the pepper over the flame and roast it without roasting the life out of the chili. Once roasted drop in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap as before and then peel. I opted to leave the seeds in since I was going for a hotter flavor but you may remove them now if you wish.

                                                                                         For those who like it hot:

1 pound Jalapeno Peppers

¼ pound Serrano Peppers

¾-1 pound Poblano Peppers

2 cups vinegar

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 Tablespoons sugar

5 or more cloves of garlic minced

In jars but not processed

 Ok now go forth and leave the world of watery hot sauce behind. Later this week we will begin our first foray into canning so be sure to check back. Also be sure to like us on Facebook by heading to www.facebook.com/noroomforseconds  

Go in the door below this sign. Monthy Hall would be pleased

  Such is the case with the Farmers’ Market in Allentown, Pa at the Allentown Fairgrounds. The first site that greets you when entering the door varies depending on the door you choose.  You may get pizza, you may get baked goods, or you may get the yard sale version of a dollar store complete with second hand clothes. If you don’t choose correctly just power walk up the hall until you hit some of the better offerings. You may be a little surprised at what you find in this hallowed hall. There are a number of ethnic offerings including a Vietnamese Bistro, and a Mediterranean deli that offers all kinds of fresh dishes with the obligatory Feta sprinkled around. There is also a bake shop bringing in goods from Lancaster, including the apple Moravian cake below, and a bread shop that has the most incredible Sourdough.

Apple Moravian cake from the Amish Village Bake shop.

   Before I continue you may notice a complete lack of photographs from inside the market. Well let me just say that it was slow and every time I pulled out my camera it was well noticed and seemed to be frowned upon. When I did ask at a location I was greeted with a swift no. Despite explaining I am a blogger and am just writing a post that will only be seen by people who may stumble upon it. That being said I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been and do plan on returning with a photographer friend to maybe add a little credibility to my standing there. My first foray into canning is going to require a fair amount of fresh veggies so I will be there with more of a purpose.

   If you are fat and a foodie, like myself, a market with this much variety is a dangerous place. For today’s article I just strolled through and chose to avoid the half dozen butchers and save them for a later write up. I also have also gone rogue, wow that still sounds cheesy, and have avoided the fresh produce offerings. What you may ask did I choose to partake in? In what way did I satisfy my desire to try a little of everything? HOW did I make additions to my foodie resume? Well I am glad you asked but in the future keep it to one question, nobody likes someone who is long winded ok.

   My first small stop was to a shop called the “Bread Broker”. This is a shop I have visited many, many times over the years and without fail I get my loaf of San Francisco Sourdough. It’s chewy, it’s tangy, it’s got a beautiful crust, I love it like someone would love a distant relative or the child that isn’t your favorite (I won’t tell but you parents know which one I mean) ok fine so you don’t have a least favorite child. Aliens don’t exist; see I can deny the truth too. Anyway we’ll agree to disagree and say that I just really dig good bread. If you live in or near Allentown and haven’t been to Bread Broker then you are missing out.

  Now, as previously mentioned, I have been coming to this specific market for a number of years and yet I still find little things I never noticed before. Such is the case with Violets Horseradish. I have walked by Nanna’s Country Pantry a number of times and have even purchased honey and various jellies in the past. Today however my smart butt (my mother in law would not like it if I said the more common phrase so I have stolen her term for describing me) attitude lead me to a pretty great food find. I was walking by and saw a rather large sign that said “Violet’s Horseradish” and I asked the sweet elderly woman if she was in fact the aforementioned Violet. She informed me, with not so much as a smirk or chuckle, that she was not. However she did proceed to tell me that the horseradish was ground fresh that morning by her son whom also produced a mustard and hot cocktail sauce with the same ground root. She had me at freshly ground. Cracking open this jar will bring only the best possible of tears to your eyes. It will also keep you from ever being impressed by anything that has sat on a store shelf for months on end. There is a grain to it and one taste will leave you wishing you hadn’t thought it would be of the same potency of it’s on shelf second cousin twice removed that never gets an invite to the family reunions. Oh that’s you, umm sorry we still like you and all it’s just we like fresh ground better hug, hug kiss, kiss we’ll invite you next time really. I am still working out the right vehicle for this jar of spicy nirvana but when I decide you will see it here.

Good thing, small package, you get where I am going here

    The rest would be a bit of a blur were it not for my last stop at the Vietnamese Bistro. I plan on going back but as a quick stop I took some advice from Andrew Zimmerman and saw that looked good so I ate it. I was walking back to one of the exits, trying to avoid a shop that had refused my attempts at photography, when I glanced down and saw several things all at once but one stood out. Okay two there was a carrot that had its’ top carved into a very impressive tiny pineapple. It was awesome, I was too nervous to ask for a picture so picture a bright orange, monotone pineapple and go with it. The second was a cup of bright layers. The bottom layer was a crisp white, followed by a mint jelly shade of green, another white , one of nearly clear brown and a final layer of white. I had to enquire, and enquire I did. I was informed that it was a parfait of gelatin with the white being coconut, brown being coffee and the green being Pandan jelly. Now the first two are self explanatory but those of us outside of the pacific rim may not be familiar with the last. When I asked what it was I was shown a green leafy vegetable that most resembled a leak with longer green leaves. I have supplied a picture but I am at a loss to accurately describe the flavor. The texture was of Jell-O that has just firmed up way too much. The taste however was very unique, bright, and fresh with light flavors of coffee, coconut and an almost herbal flavor. Wish I could do better but let me say if you’re local try it once.

There's always room for asian......

 So there you have it. As warmer months approach we will be making a trip out to the second kind of farmers’ market and getting our hands on local grown vegetables and dairy. In our next post you can look forward to that hot chili sauce I mentioned. In the coming weeks we move on to canning and we will be making another field trip to our favorite local Italian deli, BellaG’s, out in Emmaus, pa. Now if you will excuse me I have to go and start roasting my nearly five pounds of chili peppers.

The right tools for the job

     I, like a lot of people, find canning to be something of a mystery and therefore assume it must be difficult. Well after giving it some thought I am going to give it a try for two reasons. Firstly I can’t keep making things and taking up the room in the fridge with jars of what are basically glorified condiments. Second when push comes to shove how hard could it be to do something that was incredibly common a hundred years ago. Today saying you canned your own peaches in syrup gets you exclamations of disbelief and the begging of a sample. In 1911 saying you canned your own peaches would have left people snickering and asking you if you wanted President Taft to come over and pin a damn medal on your chest and make today “Holy shit Steve canned peaches” day in your honor… they were very sarcastic in 1911 so just trust me that would have been the reaction. I am taking the first step today and ordering a basic canning setup from Amazon.com that includes the basics like funnels, jar and lid lifters, racks for cooling etc… I’ve posted a link to the setup in my Twitter feed or you can just click this link Norpro 7-Piece Home Canning Set  so feel free to hit that up and get one for yourself so you can play along at home. When the package comes in I will post up some pictures and start going over the process of prepping and sterilizing in preparation of the big show. The big show being me stumbling my way through the creation of some poor yet to be chosen veggie. Also I will be going over cookbooks to guide me on what I need to know as I start my canning quest. I’m going to highly recommend that you grab a book like this as you start out. If for no other reason having a recipe to tell you exactly how long to boil and process your jars is going to keep you staying in the happy area between Botulism and crap I boiled the jar too long and three months later I found out my spicy green beans are tangy mush.

      So in the coming week I will be making a beeline to the local farmers market and posting up pictures of what I find there and some tips from the vendors on what to look for. That’s right people I am braving a sea of the elderly and the bored just to do some reporting from the front lines. Then we will be picking up a peck of not so pickled peppers to again make some hot sauce and post up a recipe for something you will hopefully enjoy, make at home, tweak and call your own. Don’t worry we will be throwing up a mild version for the more timid in our audience.