Archive for September, 2010

Sep

2010

Roasted Sweet Corn Soup…

I picked up 8 ears of fresh corn from the organic market a few days ago without a plan on how to use them. I wanted to pick some up before we lose all of that great sweet corn flavor to the changing of the season. I stared at those ears for a couple of days, still timid to stand in front of the stove since my accident. Cooking on one foot hasn’t sounded too appealing. Allison has done a great job filling in, but I just couldn’t stay away from the thought of a delicious and satisfying soup once I felt that first chill of September air.

The only trouble really…is that I don’t know how to make Roasted Sweet Corn Soup. I know how to make Roasted Sweet Corn…kinda. At least I think I can give it a go as it looks easy enough in Michael Ruhlman’s Baked Buttered Corn post from a few days back. From there? Oh, I’ll figure something out.

To begin, I set the oven to 400 degrees and started zipping corn from the cob into an enameled dutch oven. I’d say it’s one of those beautiful Le Creuset fancy-schmancers, but hey — I’m a pastor, and we pastors can’t afford that type of thing. At least not unless we’re on really bad, late-night TV asking people to put their hands up to the screens. No…I got mine for around $30 at Sam’s Club. And it works great. Zip, Zip, Zip…

Oh yeah…the zipper. You could certainly just use a knife, but if you want something really accurate and fast. Getcha a corn zipper. I’ve got this one and it’ll zip the pip right out of your corn kernels.

Once I removed the kernels from my 8 ears of corn, I added 1 stick of salted butter to the party and just cut it into chunks.

I seasoned the corn with salt and pepper, then popped the dutch oven – lid off – into the 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. While the corn was in the oven, developing it’s roasty flavor, I broke the remaining corn cobs in half, dropped them into a fairly deep pot, and came up with a plan for stock.

I covered the cobs with about a gallon of water, put them over medium heat, and looked around the kitchen for something interesting to season this corn stock with.

My search for tasty stock components turned up these finds:

- Approx. 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Approx. 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Approx. 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- Approx. 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Approx. 1 TABLEspoon of fresh herbs ( I had cilantro and basil )
- Approx. 2 TABLEspoons of fresh lemon juice + the zest from that lemon
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, these were left whole
- Approx. 1 ounce of dried Mushrooms…you know, for Umami.

I tossed all of these items in, gave it all a good stir, and let it simmer away…

While that all transformed into something delicious, I removed the now roasted corn from the oven and allowed it to sit in it’s buttery goodness, just waiting anxiously for it’s liquidy counterpart.

I allowed the corn stock to simmer on the stove for about 2 hours to reduce and develop it’s flavors…tasting along the way to see if the smells lined up with the actual product. Yup — before I knew it, things started tasting pretty snazzy. Delusions of grandeur flooded my mind…

The time came to strain away the chunky bits from my stock, so I removed all of the cobs and reached for my high-end tinned steel Chinois to strain the soup. Remembering that I don’t own a high-end tinned steel “shen-wah” (again with the pastoral salary issue), I grabbed my finest regular Joe strainer. It worked.

To finish this and make it seem like an actual soup, I added in 1 cup of Half and Half, as well as 2 more TABLEspoons of butter. Since I was pouring my stock back into the dutch oven containing the corn, I was able to do this over a medium heat while stirring to bring everything together. I checked out the seasoning and that’s when it hit me…

“Whoa — I just made a pretty awesome Roasted Sweet Corn Soup.”

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.

Posted in Food // Cooking | 26 Comments »

Sep

2010

Ava, Ramona, and Beezus…

My wife, Allison, is a hard-working woman. She likes her job a lot, but I’ll admit that we do break down and buy a lottery ticket every six months or so to see if we can score her a stay at home mom position. It hasn’t worked out yet. She manages a community event venue in our area called Nathaniel Greene Lodge. Weddings, Funerals, Anniversary parties, community clubs, etc.. — Her position requires her to work a lot of weekends. Last night she was facilitating a wedding reception and I decided that I wanted to do something fun with my girl Ava.

There’s been tension lately with Ava and I. She’s 4 now…which means she knows everything about everything. She’s also a contrarian. Essentially, whatever I say causes her to do the opposite and we’ve been butting heads a lot recently. She’s been mean to her little brother fairly often as of late which tells me that she’s looking for attention. Since Allison was stuck working late, I decided to drop little Finn off at his Great Grandma’s house for a couple of hours while Ava and I went out for a daddy/daughter date night.

Ava loves Skyline Cheese Coneys (because she’s a genius), so we grabbed some Coneys and then went to see a movie together at the theater. I looked around for something cartoony, but I remembered that she’s 4 now…so I figured it was time for a bigger kid movie. We decided to see “Ramona and Beezus” based on the little girl novels. We picked out a bag of Swedish Fish (she gets that from her mama) and found our seats for the movie.

I realize that heavily tattooed, motorcycle-crashing men probably aren’t supposed to say things like this…but the movie was charming. It could not have been a more perfect movie for a Dad and his little girl to see together. It was funny, sweet, and imaginative. Ava was able to take everything in and easily sit through the hour and 43 minute show…she also kept snuggling close to me and kissing my hand or cheek.

We could have sat at home and watched a movie while we waited to get off work, but a date night with Ava seemed like a better idea. As I laid her in bed after she fell asleep in the car, I couldn’t help but feel like a good dad — sometimes you just know when you’re doing the things you’re supposed to be doing. I’m not trying to brag or be mushy, I just want to post this as a reminder to myself that I need to keep doing the stuff I’m supposed to be doing.

It’s way too easy to get lazy being an adult and forget to daydream with your little girl.

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments »

Sep

2010

Cincinnati Review: Terry’s Turf Club…

A couple of nights ago some friends picked me up to get me out of the house. We decided to go somewhere I’ve not been before for dinner — thankfully, these guys knew right where to take me.

Terry’s Turf Club is located @ 4618 Eastern Ave. in the East End of Cincinnati. I’d heard of the restaurant many times before, but I’m not really all that into burgers so I’ve never made an effort to get there. There are a lot of bad burger joints in Cincy…this isn’t one of them.

Terry’s couldn’t be located in a more unassuming place. It’s essentially a ghetto looking house that is parked in between other dilapidated houses. The only difference between these houses, is that Terry’s has neon lights all over it and there’s a line of people waiting to get inside.

A line of people? For a burger place? Methinks something good is happening in that neon house.

We had to wait for about 20 minutes outside, which didn’t bother me at all because we were able to grab a beer (of which they had tons to choose from) and share dumb guy stories as we waited. Time flies when you’re sharing dumb guy stories.

Once we sat down, I was impressed by how little they had on their menu. It was essentially Burgers and Fries…with various toppings for your burger including lump crab meat, caramelized onions, aged Gruyere cheese, and some other specialty stuff. Of course you could just go with lettuce and tomato if that’s what floats your boat. The only other item on the menu that I couldn’t seem to get past was a Filet Mignon sandwich topped with Béarnaise sauce.

All of the guys ordered their burger options, but it’s in my nature…it’s just who I am…I had to get the Filet Mignon sandwich. And I’m glad I did. I received the best sandwich I’ve ever tasted on Tuesday night – A Filet of Beef cooked to the perfect medium-rare, covered in just the right amount of a beautiful butter and egg yolk sauce that I’d gladly drink from a shoe if offered to do so. Yes, it was a $13 sandwich, but to be honest — that steak would have run you at least $25 if it was sitting on a plate next to some limp vegetables.

Although the phone pictures don’t do a whole lot of justice to the atmosphere of Terry’s Turf Club…I think you get the idea. It’s a diner. It’s filled with neon lights. It feels retro and you get the sense that you’ve been coming there for years even if it’s your first visit. Terry’s had the total package for me, great environment, small menu done really well, and tasty french fries. There’s nothing worse than being known for great burgers and having sucky french fries.

If you live in Cincinnati or you have the chance to pass through – Terry’s Turf Club is a culinary destination worth exploring. Top notch experience. I can see why it’s #1 on UrbanSpoon.com

One of our favorite moments of the night was just before we left. An older gentleman who was eating alone stopped just as he was exiting the door and yelled out to everyone, “OKAY EVERYBODY – WE’RE GOING TO BLESS THIS GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS BY SINGING…

♫ God bless America…
land that I love…
stand beside her….
and guide her…through the night with a light from above…”

By the third word he sang, the entire restaurant burst out in unison to loudly harmonize the rest of it.

It. Was. Epic.

I think I know where I’m taking Allison for our next date night.