Pat is an excellent amateur chef. I know a lot of amateur chefs, myself included. I have to put him at the top. He's relentless when persuing perfection. His crab cakes are superior to any other attempt I've tasted.
Don't even attempt to argue that point with me. Everybody I know has their own crab cake recipe. I've tried every one of them. They've all come up short.
As is my wont, I took pictures of our adventures in cooking.
So then, I present to you a gallery of Doc Lloyd and Air Traffic Mike's "Culinary Adventures 2009".
Beef ribs marinated in red wine, light soy, herbs, and cayenne pepper.
The ribs after smoking/slow cooking on the grill for three hours
Doc roasted these fresh South Jersey red bell peppers to accompany the ribs. The balsamic vinaigrette was a hit.
I took charge of the potatoes. Diced russetts, white onion, sage, thyme, garlic, black pepper and salt. Roast at 400F in a preheated cast iron skillet for 25 minutes.
Sometimes you just have to take advantage of what's in season to plan future meals.
"Tomato Frenzy 2009". We put up 150 pounds of ripe South Jersey Roma tomatoes for the Winter.
Speaking of what's in season, who doesn't like fresh blue claw crabs? Bet you've never had them this way.
Doc Lloyd presents "Mom Lloyd's Fried Hardshell Crabs". These are hard shell crabs, mashed down between two plates, and sauteed in butter. We made a lot of these through the Summer.
So what did we do with the claws?
I took them to the pot with a proprietary blend of beer and spices. Hey, I'm not going to give away all of our recipes' secrets.
One fine Saturday the good Doctor and I found ourselves at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia.
I spied and purchased this prime(real USDA Grade Prime)rib:
It was the best $185 I've ever spent.
After being generously seasoned using our own prime rib seasoning it made its way to the rotisserie.
Prime rib at rest. Medium on the outer cuts, rare in the middle.
At the other end of the meat spectrum....
Scrapple! Note the ingredients. It's the pork snouts that keep it moist.
Speaking of pork remnants, "Air Traffic Mike's Southern Fried Chicken"!
The motto: "Where the bird from the yard meets seasoned flour and lard."
More comfort food:
My version of Shepard's Pie using garlic mashed potatoes and a parmesean cheese topping.
One of the nicest treats were these:
Fresh figs from the side yard.
On yet another excursion into Philly, we found ourselves in the Italian Market and nearby Oriental Market. As always, we came home with the truck fully loaded.
Bread from Sarcone's Bakery. They make a "tomato bread"(flat bread with a pasty thick tomato sauce) that is to die for. This day, having already had something to eat, we just got some nice crusty loaves of fresh Italian bread.
Next stop, Fiorella's to pick up some Italian sausage. If you're thinking, "Hey, that guy looks like he's worked there all his life.", you're right.
We got to Esposito's shortly thereafter. It was a tough choice between the calves feet and the Kobe burgers. After careful consideration, we opted for a case of the Kobe burgers.
We hadn't been to the Oriental Market in some time, so we loaded up our supplies from the Italian Market and made our way over there. The Oriental Market has a lot of stuff, most of which you don't see in American grocery stores.
They have a wide selection of rice, most of which are available in 50 pound sacks.
I'm a big fan of the barbequed duck and pork.
They have an unusual assortment of live "seafood" in the back.
Live bullfrog. There used to be a sign that read, "Not For Pets", but apparently they finally got their customer base to understand the concept.
They have a fine selection of fresh shellfish.
Live crab. It doesn't get any fresher than, "It was swimming when I bought it.'.
Not quite as fresh as his family pictured above. It doesn't get any deader than, "All eight are pointing up.".
Fancy and fresh is nice, but sometimes good old fashioned oven recipes are called for. We hit the first cold spell of the Fall.
"Air Traffic Mike's Chicken Pot Pie". Cast iron skillet is preferred, but onion soup crocks work nicely too.
Speaking of onion soup....
Doc showed me how to make a small, quick batch for two to four.
One fine day we decided to make some meatloaf. Neither of us could agree on the ingredients. "The 2009 Meatloaf Challenge" was on.
I went first, gathered up my spices and seasonings, and made this work of art. Satisfied I had things well in hand, I went upstairs to shower up.
When I came downstairs 20 minutes later, Doc presented this masterpiece:
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the 2009 Meatloaf Challenge Champion of the World!
On yet another trip to Philadelphia, these fine young crustaceans waved at us:
Aren't they cute?
We thought so too. They looked cold so we took them home and gave them a nice hot bath.
See? All nice and clean.
They eventually made their way into "Doc Lloyd's World Famous Lobster Thermidor". You've never had better because better doesn't exist past this point.
One of our more interesting meals was when Doc, in a moment of sheer insiration, ordered a case of hanger steak through a friend of ours. If you've never had hanger steak, do yourself a favor. Try one. Prepared properly, that being not more done than medium rare, you'll never have a better tasting piece of beef. Better than ribeye, strip, and filet.
We bought ours untrimmed. The price was less than $2.00/pound. I would remind you that is a wholesale price for the whole piece of meat, fat, scrap, and all. Even so, after some deft trimming by the two of us, our cost was still only $3.50/pound.
We trimmed four whole pieces, yeilding eight pieces of steak. Doc took four, I took four.
"Iron Chef Pennsville - Hanger Steak Battle" was on.
Doc opted for a chinese BBQ based marinade, I opted for my red wine/soy/ginger/garlic marinade.
Doc's entry draining prior to hitting the grill.
Doc's entry on the left, mine on the right.
The outcome? Close, but Doc prevailed with me casting the deciding vote. The Chinese BBQ left a really nice crispy char on the outside and the five spice seasoning went very well with the meat. Not overbearing, just a nice background to a very, very tasty and tender piece of steak.
Our last big foray would be one of my favorites. "Pat and Mike's Cream of Mushroom Soup". We were up near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania on some farm business. Kennett Square is the "Mushroom Capital of the World" by their own boast. I doubt the claim of the world, but they are indeed the "Mushroom Capital of the United States".
We stopped at one of the local growers who sells retail. We left with 3 pounds of fresh shitake, three pounds of fresh portabella, three pounds of fresh oyster, three pounds of fresh crimini, and three pounds each of medium and stuffer white button mushrooms.
How fresh were they? We waited while they cut them. All of them.
A lot of people make cream of mushroom soup using chicken stock or vegetable stock as their base. We don't. We make mushroom stock.
Sautee the stems, carrot, celery, thyme, and bay leaves in butter.
Once softened, add cold water and simmer.
Melt butter to sautee the caps.
Think we're going to have enough to share?
Believe me, the mushroom caps will cook down.
After the caps cook down, add flour and cook on low to make a roux.
Strain the mushroom stock and add to the caps/roux mixture.
Simmer until reduced by 1/4, add cream. Heat until just before it reaches a boil.
Serve with crusty bread and a medium dry white wine.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm full.
In spite of all the heavy lifting and hard labor we endured over the Summer, what you see above is what we did to relax. Neither of us has ever found cooking to be an onerous chore.
The nice thing was that I learned a few things from Doc and he from I. We've always worked well as a team. We put together some wonderful meals and more importantly made some more memories.
It doesn't get much better than that.
Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.
Air Traffic Mike, ret.
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