I Met A Blond for Dinner in Napa, and It Was Good

I bet she was the kind of blond that would make a bishop want to kick a hole in a stained glass window, if he was inclined to drink enough of her. As for myself, I wasn't in the mood for vandalism or desecration, I was in the mood for dinner. Good on me, that I had the following lovelies in my fridge:

2 slices dry-cured Virginia ham, about 8 ounces total*

1 head of Napa cabbage, about 2 pounds after trimming

2 medium sized carrots

1 bottle Leffe Blond Belgian ale**

Now, I know what you are thinking: why not sit down with fork in one hand and glass in the other, and just set to on the victuals as is?

Because I aims to be all civilized, like. And that means some cooking is in the offing. So here is what occurred to my head bone while I was driving home from work, Tuesday night last week. I had been eyeballing the last two ham slices for a bit, having been inspired by a most excellent fried ham slice with egg, that I had for breakfast the Saturday before. This is top notch stuff and I wanted to do something special with it. My first thought was to make a ham and egg omelet: easy, quick and very tasty. But then I recalled my resolution to eat more vegetables, and remembered that I had also bought a head of Napa cabbage, which was waiting patiently in the crisper drawer. Ding! Light goes off! How about a saute, Gumbo-style?

Eureka! The plan came together like so. I would cut the ham into smaller pieces, fry them gently until just getting brown, then tip in the cabbage, cook until done. Sounded good, but I felt something was missing. I know: sauce or gravy of some sort. But how to get it?

That's when inspiration struck again. Why not a saute-braise combo, with the braising liquid...beer. Oh, yeah, now I'm on to something! I actually had three types of beer in the fridge, Anchor Bock, Sierra Nevada Bock and one Leffe. For whatever reason, my hand fell on the blond (hehheh) and that became the beer of choice.

I needed something else, though, some color...the cabbage was white and pale yellow-green, the ham a dark pink to sort of wine-red. How to brighten it up? Carrots, of course. The orange would make a good play against the other ingredients, I thought, so into the mix they went. I crossed my fingers, made an offering to the kitchen gods, and got down to it.

PLAY BY PLAY:

Open bottle of ale. Pour 2/3 to 1 cup into a bowl or cup and set aside. Sip the rest while you cook. Trim root end from cabbage. Slice leafy portions off ribs. Slice leafy portions into ribbons. Cut ribs into smaller pieces, about the size of a quarter. Slice carrots on the bias into pieces about an eighth of an inch thick, try to get them the same size as the cabbage ribs. Cut ham slices into pieces about an inch to inch-and-a-half wide on each side. Place ham slices in a large skillet (one that has a lid) and saute gently over medium heat. After they begin to color up a bit and render some of the fat, stir in the cabbage rib pieces and carrot slices. Stir to mix, and let saute for two to three minutes, until they begin to release some juices. When ready, drop in a handful of the cabbage ribbons and stir. Let the shrink (which they will) and then stir in more cabbage ribbons. Repeat until all the cabbage is in. Stir to mix and let saute thirty seconds to a minute more. Turn the heat up to medium high if needed. Season the mix with fresh ground black pepper to taste. Pour in the reserved ale, bring to a boil, them reduce the heat, place on the lid and simmer until the carrots and ribs are tender. It will take about 6-8 minutes, test as you go.

VERDICT:

For something I made up off the top of my head...it was much better than it had any right to be. It was tasty, and I had to restrain myself from eating the entire pan. I served it in a big bowl, over steamed long-grain rice with bay leaf and herbs and black pepper in the water. There was a fair amount of liquid in the pan, and it made a good sauce for the rice. I didn't use any salt because the Virginia ham is salty, and seasoned the dish up quite well.

Photos? My apologies, dear readers, I was having so much fun making the dish, and eating it, that I forgot to take any this time. Next time, I'll write myself a note...

*In case you are curious, the ham was from S. Wallace Edwards & Sons, in Surry, Virginia. Prime ham country, that is, and Edwards is primo stuff. They know from pig!

**A tip o' the tam to my bloggy friend, Mo "Mad Dog" Stoneskin, for bringing Leffe to my attention. Thanks, Mo! Everyone drop by his place, give him a read, drop some luv and tell him I sent you.

Snack Trends I Can Get Behind, Volume 1

Just so youse guys know?

Oreos dipped in Guinness taste pretty damn good.

*dunk*

Mmmmm...

Sunshine And A Glass Of Beer

Snippets from a lovely fall afternoon…

The weather here has been lovely, mostly, and today is no exception. The wind is up, and the temperature is down a bit. The sky has been clear almost all day with crisp, golden sunlight shining down on the changing leaves. It is the definition of a fall day. All I need now is a bit of wood smoke to round things out. Too bad I am without a fireplace.

I had the luxury of a walk around the park this morning, all by myself. After I made the circuit around the lake I sat for a time at a picnic table and did some people, and dog, watching. This is good dog walking weather and the pooches were out in force this morning. The dog count for the day stood at forty-nine before I left the park. With the exception of four tiny Chihuahuas I saw, today seemed to be a day for the big dogs. Labrador retrievers, Rottweilers, a bloodhound and even a Rhodesian ridgeback (I think). Some of them looked like they were so happy to be outside, I wanted to get down and roll in the grass with them.

I write this with a glass of beer sitting at my elbow. Anchor Steam beer to be exact. The sunlight coming in the window is shining through the amber liquid in the glass. It is an amazing color. Very fall-like in its radiance. In my opinion, Anchor Steam is one the greatest American beers out there. I don’t drink it as often as I should (wait, that didn’t come out right), rather, as often as I could, but I always dig it when I do.

Today I discovered that Anchor Steam goes quite well with roasted pumpkin seeds. I made them from the jack o’ lantern we carved up for Halloween. Toasted with a bit of oil and sprinkled with a spice blend (southwest seasoning from Penzeys’) they are a right tasty snack.

On the dining table are some placemats printed with pumpkins. More sunlight streams through the window at the far end of the table. I am struggling to come up with the right words to describe the glow and the color. Pretty is inadequate. Silvery-gold is accurate but seems trite. The fall light regains a wonderful clarity it loses during the smog season. Maybe it is the fall breezes, or the lack of humidity. Whatever the reason, I am always glad to see that light after the heavy wet towel we call a typical Baltimore summer.

Fall is making its way back, creeping in on leafy paws. The cooler, cleaner air is welcome. I sip some beer, chew some pumpkin seeds and give thanks that this is all I am obligated to do on this wonderful November day.