Waffle Sandwich (with bacon!)

After giving in to the the temptation of a nutella and organic raspberry jam waffle at a downtown waffle cart after a disheartening Blazer loss, we felt that the only proper thing to do to follow up a delicious waffle was to eat more delicious waffles. And since you are reading this and I am writing this, you can probably infer with a fair amount of certainty that that was exactly what we did. Since we went sweet with the vendor grub, we went savory back home. Behold, the majesty:

The waffle was my first attempt at a Liege-style waffle, meaning that the waffle was made with waffle dough instead of a more typical batter. Once the waffle dough is allowed to rise, you fold in the sugar so that it caramelizes on the exterior of the waffle as it cooks, creating a sweet and very crispy exterior and a pillowy soft interior. In short - it is awesome.

To complete the sandwich, I cooked up some black forest bacon, cut as thick as a 2 x 4, layered on some deli turkey and havarti cheese, canceled my previous appointments, turned the phone off, threw the Do Not Disturb sign on the front door, and had at it.

Two points for bacon. And infinity billion points for waffles.

--Isaac.

Giving Thanks Through Our Stomachs

Thanksgiving: where eating until you can't move is encouraged, and very possibly even mandatory in some areas.

Our contributions to the family feast this year were cardamom bread (via Isaac)....

 

....and cranberry sauce, three ways (via Mary)....

The three flavors pictured are: jalapeno-tequila, jagermeister-peach schnapps, and the classic traditional variety, sans booze. If you have a scratch and sniff enabled computer monitor, then you'll have no problem telling which one is which. If not, I recommend the upgrade.

--Isaac

The Pumpkinocalypse Has Begun

If October was official pork month, then the entire 4th quarter of the year should be devoted to pumpkins. Since the last week of October, pumpkins have been sacrificed and then reborn in my kitchen as the following:

• Pumpkin muffins,
• Pumpkin scones,
• Pumpkin pancakes,
• Pumpkin soup,
• Pumpkin cookies
• Pumpkin bread 
• Pumpkin on a stick
• Pumpkin spread on cardboard
• Pumpkin and trout

So tonight, I wanted to A) use pumpkin in a savory dish for dinner, and B) knock it off with the small scale baked goods and go for the gold with a pumpkin pie.

The end result tonight was Penne with Andouille in a Pumpkin Sauce:

Enlarged to show awesomeness

I kinda just subbed pumpkin into a tomato-based sauce, replaced the Italian herbs with more "fall/Thanksgiving/pumpkin" appropriate spices, and added zesty Andouille sausage.

And then, the pie:

'Nuff said about that.

I had been using canned pumpkin puree, but I just ran across sweet baking pumpkins at Whole Foods, so it looks like there is little hope in sight for the end of the Great Fall Pumpkin Massacre of Aught Ten.

--Isaac

PS: I tried a sample of cranberry white cheddar cheese during the previously discussed trip to Whole Foods, and it was FANtastic. I recommend you go get some right now for your cereal tomorrow morning.

The Finale

I somehow reached the end of the pork shoulder. It put up a valiant effort, but in the end, it was no match for my knife and a total of 32 hours in a slow cooker.

Halloween always meant a number of things growing up:

• Candy,
• Costumes,
• Steady rain for the next nine months,
• Football TV broadcasts highlighting all the fans wearing costumes, and
• Chili!

All good things (except that rain one), but only one pairs well with 2+ pounds of pork shoulder. What I'm trying to get at here is that I made chili. Lots. Lots of Halloween Chili.

I didn't wrap the last piece of shoulder in the spice rub overnight before cooking it. Can't say why exactly. Just didn't feel like it, or I forgot, or I wanted to do something different than the previous two hunks-o-pork.

After cooking the pork, I shredded the meaty goodness, and added in the veggies for another eight hour beauty nap.

After chanting the magic words... Halloween Chili.

It was scary good... or maybe even spooktacular...ok, negative points awarded for Halloween puns. But the chili was still full of win. And pork. And more win. But mostly pork.

Hooray for October being National Pork Month. That was awesome and delicious. I think next month is going to be National Anything-But-Pork Month. 

--Isaac