Texas

The recipe combination tasted great, but didn't turn out exactly as planned. This is Bobby Flay's Texas Burger (Grill it! page 47) with Charred Corn Polenta with Grilled Tomato Vinaigrette (Boy Meets Grill page 198). The Polenta took all afternoon to prepare. I first grilled two ears of yellow corn then cut off the kernels. I boiled chicken stock in a pot over the grill with cornmeal, parsley, lots of cheeses, and the corn until it became a paste. The paste was poured into pan and refrigerated (in this case I just left it covered outside since the high temp was 25). It was supposed to sit for four hours, but we got hungry and started grilling it after only three and a half. It was supposed to bake into a corn bread squares, but as you can see, what we got was sort of scrambled corn pancakes. Dorothy made the coleslaw that went over the burger. That part was terrific.

Ordinarily all of Bobby's glazes, stocks, sauces, and salsas are made from scratch. We don't use anything from a can or jar if we can absolutely help it. But, Bobby gave permission this one time: "feel free to substitute your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce" (Grill it! page 47). I saw this as an opening to use a sauce that has become a family tradition in a short amount of time. My son Ziggy lives in Texas. Every time he comes for a visit he brings me Texas hot sauce and barbecue sauce. He always brings hot sauce (Tennesseans call it picante') from El Fenix in Dallas. When we visit him we always eat at El Fenix before we walk over to the American Airlines center to see the Mavericks play. He knows that one jar of El Fenix will last me about three months. For Christmas he also gave me barbecue sauces. I don't know how he gets through airport security with the sauce - but I never ask. So, with Bobby's permission I used the Fort Worth Stockyards Chipotle World Famous All Purpose Sauce on the Texas Burgers.  

I found an interesting cross reference. I have Tom Perini's Texas Cowboy Cooking book from the Perini Ranch. His recipe for Coleslaw and for Skillet Corn Bread (pages 61 and 133 respectfully) were very close to Bobby Flay's versions. Polenta is considered Italy's 'other' national dish. Actually pasta is from southern Italy and polenta is from the north - interesting how it is also a traditional dish of the American southwest as well. So this dish is a fusion of cultures - Texas, Italy, via New York. The combination works great. Come to think of it, I was born in Texas, Dorothy was born in New York and that has been a great combination too!

Wisdom of the Grill - Grilling burgers should remain simple. Just form the ground beef into a patty, brush with Canola Oil then hit it with salt and pepper (it does have to be Kosher salt and ground black peppercorns) . Don't mess with this formula. Don't mix stuff into the ground beef while you are forming the patties. No onions, no bread crumbs, nothing. If you start putting stuff in the meat then pretty soon you are just making meatloaf! (Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries and Shakes, page 12) The one thing you should do is make a crater in the middle of the patty with your thumb. This will prevent the juices from building up in the center when the burger is on the grill. There is nothing wrong with the juices puffing up the middle of the burger except that, to some rookie grillers, the temptation is too great to take the spatula and press the burger back down. Squeezing the juice out of a burger is a Cardinal Sin. You can never allow this to happen. Proper grill etiquette allows you to stop a fellow griller from doing this even when you are a quest in his/her home.

Weather Report - It was cold again, but people should not confuse weather and climate. The Earth is still under attack from global climate change even when we endure record cold snaps! The uninformed often use extreme and extended cold weather as fodder to deny the inevitable damage to climate.

What was on? Well these were Texas Burgers and Grilled Cornmeal, so we had to listen to George Straight. Dorothy and I share the same itunes account and then download to our separate ipods. She had listed George Strait on the playlist as King George. But the Polenta took four hours to make so at some point I livened things up with Los Lonely Boys. We saw them play at the Ryman several years ago and they rocked the old place. They are from Texas, but they call their music Texican. Check them out: http://www.loslonelyboys.com/# 

While we are on the subject of Texas lets clear one thing up. Any state that declares themselves "like a whole other country" cannot at the same time claim to have "America's Team." That team cannot be named here, but we hope they lose to the Eagles this weekend.

What to drink? The cold beer was great yesterday - but its so cold outside. A room temperature red wine with beef just can't be beat. We choose the Smoking Loon Cab. Its not very expensive, and went well with the burgers and tamed that Chipotle Sauce.

It doesn't look like the cold is going away any time soon - but I'll keep the fire going!

Paul