Cutlet Supreme

Get it? This is a picture of a Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and the post is about a CUTLET supreme. It's a play on words, very popular with experienced humorists.

This weekend we experimented wtih cutlets. We've tried several times and they haven't turned out great. Either the breading did not stay on, or they turned out too crispy. This weekend we nailed it.

Good cutlets can be made with chicken, pork or veal. First, use a tenderizing mallot to pound out the meat and get it thin and tender. Then get three shallow dishes and put all-purpose flour in one, two eggs in another and bread crumbs in the third. You pat dry the cutlet, salt and pepper it, dredge in the flour, then in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs.

You need a skillet filled with oil (we used olive oil) that is just full enough to fully cover the bottom and sides of the cutlets. Get it hot and throw them in the pool. turn them when they are golden brown and enjoy!

These are great with fresh lemon and would also make a great chicken or veal parmesan.

Why I Need A Trader Joe's

I'm going to say some things that I'm sure everyone agrees with: 1. Trader Joe's is great; 2. We need a Trader Joe's in Utah.

For me Trader Joe's is great for two reasons: 1. They have great TJ products like frozen pizzas, marinara sauce, mochi balls, to name a few; 2. They have specialty items at really low prices. The produce and bread products are hit and miss.

After moving back to Utah, I do miss not having a Trader Joe's and will join the other thousands of Utahns who have created facebook pages and lobbied the company to come here.

A Final Word About Grape Soda

This is a follow up to my earlier post about grape soda. I recently bought some Boylan's Grape and ended up being a little disappointed. It was good but tasted like melted Otter Pops, just a bit too much.

I've been wanting to try NuGrape Soda and finally picked up a bottle. I was very pleased. It tastes very similar to Nehi and has more of a subtle grape taste. So, if you're in the mood for the purple stuff, pick up some NuGrape.

Great Breakfast . . . After 10:30 AM

I have had a love/hate relationship with McDonalds. Until age 8, I adored the place. I dragged my parents there to enjoy playground equipment, Happy Meal toys and half of a hamburger and most of my fries.

After that, I lost my taste for it, to my parents' delight. When I lived in Taiwan for two years as a missionary, McDonalds was one of the few places I could get American food. I estimate that I consumed over a hundred Big Macs in a two year period and have only had one since I've returned to the U.S. (which has been almost 10 years, yikes).

I've always loved McDonald's breakfast, especially the Egg McMuffin. How many times have you felt like one and it's been past 10:30 AM? I've found that they're very easy to make. All you need is english muffins, cheese, canadian bacon and cheddar cheese. My good friend in Ohio taught me the secrets of mcmuffin manufacturing.

You pan fry the canadian bacon, scramble some eggs, toast the english muffin and put the cheese on top. You will be amazed. This weekend we tried them with homemade biscuits and actually liked the english muffin better.

Even More Rootbeer Reviews

This week I sampled two rootbeers that I've been wanting to try. I picked them up at World Market, which usually has a decent soda selection, but sometimes the stock gets low.

As you can probably tell from this blog, bulldogs are another passion of mine. A bulldog brand soda? What could be better? The notoriously harsh soda critics rate Bulldog Root Beer as one of the best on the market. I agree. It's made with cane sugar and honey and is brewed. It has a brewed taste and combines a lot of flavors. It has a little bit of a bite, which I like. When I was done I wanted to crack open another bottle.

Abita is from Louisiana, which apparently is not only known for drunken debauchery, but also known for root beer. Abita was definitely more of a traditional root beer. Very smooth with a hint of vanilla. It was also very good. I think if I had to chose between the two, Bulldog would get my vote.

Airport Security Hazard and Delicious Taco Garnish

Those of you who have seen Spinal Tap will know that even a cosmetic cucumber wrapped in tinfoil can be a problem for airport security.

If your family is anything like mine, taco night is a regularly occurring family activity. Tacos are cheap, good and easy to make. The cucumber is often overlooked as a garnish for tacos. They are delicious and add another flavor and crunch that is sure to make your taco nights a success.

Snob Salad

So the cobb salad is apparently the signature salad of snobby country clubs across the country. I've always wanted to join a country club, but tragically, I have significant school loans and have to worry about trivial things like food, clothing and shelter before enjoying the finer things in life.

The good news is, you can still enjoy a cobb salad without joining a country club. Some restaurants make it difficult to eat the cobb salads they serve. I've been to places where they bring out half hard boiled eggs, half avacados and huge strips of bacon on top of lettuce. In the words of our country club friends "send it back!" I say.

I prefer things to be well chopped and a lighter dressing for so many heavy ingredients. Normally I'm not a huge advocate of chain restaurants, but the Cheesecake Factory has one of the best cobb salads I've ever had. It's big enough for two people, so you can split it with your lover.

Splitting a salad with my wife at the Cheesecake Factory, who says I don't know how to live large?

Healthy Fatty Food

For our Super Bowl festivities, we used this wing recipe from Alton Brown. These wings are steamed and then baked, locking in the moisture. They were good, my only complaint is that they aren't as crispy as the ones I usually do (see my earlier wing post).

Still, a good solid recipe, I probably should have let them roast a little longer. It's a lot healthier than the other wings and much healthier than frying.

Steamed Milk

I've noticed that since I've been married I've been obligated to watch a lot of old black and white movies. I am a classic film fan and enjoy Casablanca, Psycho, and On the Waterfront in black and white. The 1940s versions of romantic comedies with Doris Day and Cary Grant are what I don't so much enjoy. Oh, the things you endure for love. I've sat through more of these than I'd care to admit.

That being said, have you ever noticed that women in these movies always have a glass of warm milk before bed or to soothe frazzled nerves? I always thought this was strange, but am a big fan of the steamed milk you get from coffee shops.

I did a previous post about a hot chocolate maker that we got for Christmas. You can also use this contraption to make steamed milk. We added Torani caramel syrup and it was very delicious.

The Good Ice

Crushed ice is the greatest. It seemed like all my favorite fast food joints growing up had crushed ice in the drink cups. Now it seems to be dissappearing, which is a tragedy.

It makes your drink a slushy mix of delicousness and the cubes are easy to chew. It also makes blending frozen drinks and smoothies very easy. When I am finally rolling like a big shot, I want to buy a fridge with a built-in crushed ice machine.

Hawaiian Mudslide

This weekend we tried an experiment to replicate a mud pie we had in Kona, Hawaii similar to the one pictured above.

This is a very easy thing to make and will get the same reaction as the volleyball scene in Top Gun from the women in your life. You will need:

1/2 gallon of coffee ice cream
one Jello no bake oreo dessert
one jar of Grandma Richardson's hot fudge sauce

The jello no bake dessert will have both the oreo crumbs (for the crust) and the chunks (to mix with the ice cream).

Soften the ice cream in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter (directions on jello container) and mix them with the oreo crumbs. Press crust into bottom of pie dish to form your crust. I used a 9" spring form pan. This made it really easy to cut and serve.

Put your crust in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Mix the ice cream with the oreo chunks, then spread over crust.

After ice cream has been in freezer for 2 hours, spread the room temperature hot fudge sauce over the top of ice cream. Let it freeze another 2 hours.

Cut and serve. It was delicious just like this, but if you want to make it even more decadent, add whip cream and heated hot fudge over the pie. Even if you don't like coffee flavor very much, the flavors blend together really well with just a hint of the coffee flavor.

Omelette Perfection!

I am an omelette fanatic. When I go to a nice restaurant for breakfast, it's usually what I order. It seems like a relatively straightforward thing to make yourself, but I have tried and failed several times.

The way I've always tried is putting your beat eggs into a pan and trying to get the top part cooked before the bottom burns--it never works. The result is a chewy, crispy crust with a runny middel. With most foods a little crispy is good, not with eggs.

I found a brilliant idea online. First, get everything ready to go in your omelette (I did sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions, canadian bacon and cheese) and turn on the broiler. Second, beat the eggs with a little milk and salt and pepper. The blender will make them really fluffy. Third, greas the pan. Fourth, put in the eggs THEN turn on the heat. Let the eggs cook gradually until the bottom of the omelette has the perfect consistency. Fifth, turn off the heat and stick the pan in the oven under the broiler. You will be able to tell when the cheese is melted and when the eggs on top look done.

Then you slide it out of the pan, fold it over and enjoy a perfect omelette. No flip, nothing too complicated.