Father of Six

Yeah. It’s been that long. Sorry.

I made Chicken Pojarski for dinner today. Served with potato and cheese Pierogies and asparagus, it has become one of our favorite special occasion meals. ‘Round these parts, we call it “Donna Chicken.” Long story.

Here’s the deal.

This is a chicken cutlet entree. You could buy chicken breasts and food process them yourself, but it’s much easier and time saving if you can find ground chicken.

Add the meat to the chilled bowl. Season generously with nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Next add melted butter, quantity varies, depending on how many people you are serving. Mix well.

Return the bowl and mixture to the freezer to chill. You want to be very cold when you shape the cutlets.

I like to do this part the day before the meal, including shaping the cutlets. So while I wait for the mixture to re-chill, this is what I do.

Next, using 1/2 a cup of the mixture for each cutlet, shape them into kind of a egg or pear shape. Football shape works too.

I return the cutlets to the refrigerator overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, you’ll need to prepare a dredging station. 1st flour, then lightly beaten egg, then bread crumbs. Dip one cutlet at a time into the flour, then in egg, then in bread crumbs. Press the crumbs gently into the cutlets then chill them until ready to cook. Warning – it’s a messy job!

Heat additional butter, cut with a little oil, in a large skillet on medium high, and carefully add the cutlets. Saute until golden brown (about 8 minutes) on each side.

I keep the cutlets warm in the oven while I make a paprika sauce to drizzle over the cutlets and pierogies. I also saute the pierogies in walnut oil.

And finally serve the dish with steamed asparagus. Snazzy plates optional.

I put in 112 miles on my bike this week, including 45 in a brutal, seemingly constant headwind yesterday. I think that was probably the worst day I’ve ever had on my bike. In places where I could easily do 25-27 mph, I pushed hard to to 10-12. It was a tough.

We had a good weekend. I took Boomer to the Denver March Powwow Friday morning. Frybread and a new wooden, hand-carved with the face of a wolf, slingshot were the highlights.

Tami and I went to dinner with Tim and Jeanne Friday night at the White Chocolate Grill. The food was fantastic, and as always, the company was even better.

We’re getting a new front door installed today. Tami has been asking for the old door to be replaced for about five years now, and it has finally made it to the top of the home improvement projects list.

I’ve been home for the past two weeks, but that changes tomorrow. I’m off the San Jose for the entire week, and it will be full throttle from now until Amanda graduates and we take our trip to New Orleans, May 25 – 29.

There’s several days of preparation – marinating, rubbing, and resting – prior to smoking a brisket. On the day of the loading the smoker, you have to get up early, and put on the proper attire.

(As with all these photos – click to enlarge.)

My smoker is a Kenmore vertical electric model.

There are multiple rack locations inside the smoker. I usually put whatever I smoke in the top position.

At the bottom, near the electrical element, I have two pans. The one on the left is for fluids for steam generation. I’ve used water, beer, and wine. On the right is the wood chip pan. I’ve only used apple tree chips.

At the top is the brisket – completely marinated, rubbed, rested and with a thermometer.

After four or so hours of smoking, I remove the brisket …

… then cover in Italian dressing, wrap in foil, and put back into the smoker for another 3-4 hours.

At 170 to 180 degrees it is finished.

It was fantastic – served with salad, baked beans, mashed potatoes, green beans, and asparagus.

Tami and I went to dinner with our favorite local dining partners, Tim and Jeanne, last night at The Melting Pot.

This franchise of the Melting Pot is in the former Carnegie Foundation Littleton Public Library, built in 1920, at the far west end of Main Street.

Here is how the building looked in 1920:

And here is how it looked last night (11/1/2008.)

The Melting Pot sign.

Here is a photo of Tami and I, shot into the mirror, while we were waiting Tim and Jeanne.

We were seating way down in the dungeon portion of the building (some say the haunted portion) at a cozy, two-burner table.

Both couples decided upon the Fall Feast, which included a three course fondue, salad, and a bottle of wine.

The first course was a cheese fondue, made with four cheeses, lager beer, and scallions. This is served with raw vegetables, granny smith apples, and an assortment of bread.

The second course was our salads. Me, Tami, and Jeanne all had the California – with a spring mix, crumbled bleu cheese, walnuts, crushed tomatoes, and a tasty raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Tim had a Caesar.

Next, course three, was our main entree. We had chicken breast, three differently prepared styles of steak, shrimp, and salmon. Additionally, we had broccoli, zucchini, mushroom caps, and potatoes. This was all served with seven different dipping sauces.

Finally, the fourth course – dessert!
We had the Flaming Turtle chocolate , and Tim and Jeanne had the Bailey’s Irish Creme chocolate. This came with brownies, rice crispy treats, graham cracker covered marshmallows, Oreo cookie crumb covered marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and a piece of cheesecake.

A fantastic dining experience, with the best company, left us all very satisfied.

So the long weekend was great.

Visiting with Dad and Susan was great, as usual. We had a little diner party with all the kids on Friday evening. Greg came over too. On Saturday we all climbed into the basement and watched a movie called Honeydripper. In general I wouldn’t recommend the film, save for the final 90 seconds. If you’re ever in need of a reminder of how it feels to absolutely love the moment you are in, with utter joy and abandon, watch these 90 seconds – it’ll make you feel good. Later that evening, Trohe, Rick, Tanner and Macy joined us for a fine dinner. Dad and Suze made their way back to Missouri early Sunday morning.

Sunday was spent trying to stay cool. It’s been hot around here lately.

Later in the day, we met Tim and Jeanne for dinner at Cafe Terracotta in downtown Littleton. As usual – great food, and even better company. It’s fun to try these new hole-in-the-wall and not the run of the mill type places.

I extended the weekend one day by taking Monday off. I had a nice 25 mile bike ride on the pig and spent the rest of the day just relaxing.

It’s been a while since I posted any photos … so here goes.

(Click the photo to see a larger image – be patient, some are large and might take a few moments to load.)

Lets start with a little Boomer as Batman.

Next, we find Brit and Daner out for a hike.

Then, cousins Macy and Boomer laying in the grass.

Moving along, we have a candid shot of Becca and Manda, with beau’s Andrew and Howie, after a sidewalk chalk session.

Boomer, the next Olympic 100m Freestyle Champion.

A triptych of Boomer in Overalls.

And finally, my Chicken and Leek Pie from Sunday’s Dinner.

My throat didn’t hurt so much this morning, so I got up and was determined to ride the pig on the Platte River, Bear Creek, 470, back to the Platte, Lee Gulch super loop.

And off I went, another 40 miler. While riding the pig is slower than Mo, I really can’t complain too much. The new slick tires have worked out great and I actually enjoyed myself.

I made the Chicken and Leek Pie for dinner. It was fantastic!. Tami, Nana, myself and Becca all enjoyed it. Tami and I had two servings, and I was very surprised that Becca cleaned her plate. There’s leftovers if anyone wants to come over for a sample.

The news from the bike shop leads me to believe that Mo won”t be back to me until Friday next. So I bought slicks and tubes for the pig and swapped out the big knobby tires with them last night.

I also picked up Danielle at the airport late last night. She was returning from her trip to New Orleans. Fleur-de-lys.

This morning I rode the pig on a loop of the Highline Canal, the 470 Bike Path, the Platte River Trail and the Lee Gulch Trail. I did one particular section, including the Lee Gulch climb, three times. Total mileage = 40. That a lot for the pig, but it was a decent ride.

I feeling a bit under the weather. Sore throat and tired. Stress?

I hope to get another significant ride in tomorrow morning (as long as I’m feeling well enough) and then I have a recipe for a Chicken and Leek Pie that I hoping to prepare for supper. Great Expectations.

Danielle is in Louisiana as part of celebrating her 21st birthday. She just sent me this picture of the best place on earth to get a po-boy.

Tami and I went to JaJa Bistro Thursday evening as part of a downtown Littleton boutique event.

Whilst there we had an amazing bottle of wine and the most delectable chocolate mousse ever created.

So on Sunday, we had a French Bistro dinner.

Red Potatoes sautéed in walnut oil, seasoned with nutmeg, garlic and chives. This was mixed with onions sautéed in butter, topped with Parmesan cheese, and baked to melt the cheese.

Then we had a half New York Strip steak, marinated overnight, and topped with a Green Peppercorn sauce.

All this was served with a tossed green salad with cheese/garlic croûtons and creamy French dressing.

Dessert was a chocolate mousse that I made from scratch.

It was divine.