ON VEGAN STUFFED PEPPERS

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So we’ve gone (very temporarily) vegan. I’d like to say that it is in response to the shame I feel from a week of road trip food and a recent stuffed-crust-pizza-breakdown (YOLO). But in reality, we’re seriously lacking in a vegan option for the Steve’s Deli menu and I do my best work under tight constraints.

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ON CHICKEN AND WAFFLES

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One time I talked to Charles Schultz, and he told me a secret about Snoopy.  I told him that Snoopy was my favorite character and that he was my inspiration for how to live my life.  I love dancing, and playing the piano, and living in a house (although mine’s bigger), and terrorizing yellow birds.  He told me that Snoopy’s favorite food is fried chicken.  I couldn’t believe it.  I always thought that Snoopy was more of a cheeseburger-dog, but I heard it from the man himself.  Years passed and I forgot about this conversation, but recently I found a snoopy waffle maker at a thrift store, and got some maple syrup from my crop share, so this dish came together in my mind instantly.  Sorry Woodstock.

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ON MUSHROOMS

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Our crop share included a pretty big bag of Crimini mushrooms this week.  So, we thought lets make a vegetarian sandwich.  We sauted some onion and the mushrooms in butter. A bit of wine. Then I remembered that I had just made a bunch of pressure cooked beef stock.  A couple of jokes later, I added a few cups of stock and cooked it down until it was thick and saucy.  We put it on a baguette with some arugula and garlic mayo.  Man, that was good.  Sometimes making food quickly just to have dinner and work on another project turns out surprisingly great food.  I guess its  helpful to have some pressure cooked stock around too.

ON PORK CHOPS

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My mother fed us pork chops as a child. They were grey and stringy. She used to say that they would make us stronger chewers. We ate them with mint jelly. I think it worked. I can out chew all my friends. One time I had a chew-off with my pal Natasha- we munched on harder and harder things. She’s got some strong jaws, but I ended up winning. I took a bite out of crime by crushing the trigger off a handgun we found in the dumpster. She said she wasn’t putting that into her mouth. I’m the champion.

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ON RADISH STEAK SANDWICH (CSA: Week 1)

This year we got a CSA from Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance. We got our first box yesterday. It included salad greens from Goose Creek Gardens and green radishes from Clarion River Organics. Don’t tell anyone, but other than putting them on salads or just eating them with some butter and salt, I’m not really sure what to do with radishes. So, I grated them and mixed them with goat cheese. I needed something to stand up to the strong flavors, and I had some steak in the fridge, so I cooked it. I mixed in some truffle oil and mustard, put it in the circulator and seared it on our new 220v induction burner. (See my post on the 3500W Cooketek for how much I love it.). I topped it with some of our CSA greens and it matched perfectly. Still wish I could eat this one each day and hope that my missing records aren’t difficult to reproduce.

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Also great as breakfast with a fried egg on top.
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