I apologize for my absence of late, but I have been working on solving one of life's greatest mysteries. Tonight I answered the age old question, "What does one man make for dinner with broccoli and beef?" The answer is, of course, Beef and Broccoli. This is one typical Chinese dish that I actually can make, as it involves little more than adding beef to oil, broccoli to water and both to soy sauce and corn starch. It tastes pretty much true to any dime a dozen Chinese corner shop I've ever had beef broccoli from, the only difference being that I used jasmine rice instead of the sticky ball of uniformed Styrofoam container that would usually be distributed.

The real reason I haven't updated in the last couple days (and I apologize for my tardiness) is because I've been switching between jobs. I went from being able to work whenever I feel like it, to working an early morning shift, to working a night shift and although I've managed to work in time to cook dinner, I haven't been able to find time to write about it. To make matters worse, as I was finishing catching up on a 4 day delay, the power went out and I lost a portion of it, having to rewrite it again. At any rate, I'm in a better routine now and should be able to continue maintaining on a daily basis from here on in.

Tonight I was having a hard time coming up with what to have for dinner, which seems to be a common occurrence lately. In the back of my mind was this little package of discounted ground pork that I saw at the supermarket earlier this week. Obviously either someone bought it or it has been discarded by now (I hope), but I started looking for recipes using ground pork. I found one for something that I thought was some sort of casserole by the name, Pork and Lemon Polpentine, but is actually a fancy cocktail type meatball. The original recipe called for sardines which likely would've changed the flavor quite a bit. Instead, they were flavored mainly with lemon and thyme. The meatballs themselves are a little dry, but when combined with the sauce from pan drippings and chicken stock they were actually quite good.

So then I had to ask myself what I wanted to eat with a bunch of meatballs. Since my Meatball Marinara Sub was nearly transformed into spaghetti and meatballs, I figured I'd take the pasta and meatball route. Spaghetti and meatballs wouldn't work quite as well with a thyme and lemon flavored meatball, I figured, so I made Woodland Bowtie Pasta instead. It always amazes me how expensive nuts can be, especially pine nuts. I bought perhaps 2 heaping tablespoons of pine nuts for this dish specifically and it was almost a dollar! I am a fan of pine nuts, but they are not so especially delicious that I'm willing to pay so much very often. The sauce for the pasta is created from the drippings from the meatballs, as well as the flavor of the vegetables and olive oil, one of the simplest ways to dress pasta.

Speaking of pasta, I caught an episode of the new Jamie Oliver series, "Jamie's Italy" and I love it. I think it's really ballsy for a show like his to show something like a boar being hunted and gutted for the dinner of a village. It's kind of shocking and funny to his target audience, since we're all so dissociated with where our food actually comes from. I also think it's humorous how all these old Italian ladies are teaching him to cook and he's just sitting there saying, "I know how to make pasta… please!"

Shannon's had a stressful work week and our pet tree frog has been slowly dying (and passed), so I decided to surprise her with a home spa and dining experience. I removed everything from the bathroom and scrubbed it up, strategically placed candles and such and had a full bath when she got home. Gave her tea and a magazine and assorted girly cleaning things. When she got out I had hot towels, bathrobe and slippers waiting. Then I gave her a long massage on the folded out futon and finally fed her a very simple "spa" meal, thus earning many brownie points.

Some of the things I've seen on spa menus really baffle me. The ones with alcohol and cake especially. To me, spa food seems like it should be healthy and detoxifying, not rich and fattening. I suppose people go to the spa for varying reasons and health is but one of them. I have only had the pleasure of going to a spa once (well, technically twice) during my stay in Mexico. Even then, the food was just the resort's buffet, so I just kind of made something up for this.

The entree was Stuffed Chicken with a honey Dijon sauce. Her reaction was amusing. "This tastes like something, uh.. wait.. like.. I know! PICKLE!" because of all the dill and vinegar in the mustard, I suppose. At any rate, she thought it was good.

I had a leftover Roasted Beet, so I sliced it up for presentation in a Cucumber, Beet and Feta Salad. Had I had mixed greens I would've incorporated them into this, but alone it still has a nice "I'm paying for a small plate of vegetables" feel to it that I imagine I'd feel if I ordered this at a high class spa. It's also a sneaky way of making something that tastes like pickled beets without actually having to make pickled beets. To round out the plate I used some of the leftover Green Beans and Red Pepper.

I've been having fun with the cheap bulk sirloins we purchased, trying to break away from previously having not much interest in steak. Tonight I made Indian Spiced Steak which really hit the spot. It was not too spicy or extremely flavored, but you could still really tell what it was seasoned with. Every bite was infused with a mild curry sort of flavor. I sliced it up on a bed of Tomato Rice mixed with hot sauce.

To cool this down a bit I mixed up some Cucumber Tomato Raita. Every recipe for raita that I've ever seen relies heavily on mint, but this recipe doesn't use mint, it uses cumin. I'm not sure if that even makes it raita at all. Since I didn't know what raita actually translates to, I'm going to assume the emphasis is on the cucumber and yogurt and not on the actual flavor. Either way, I thought this was good, but I still prefer mint or dill with cucumber ala traditional raita or tzatziki. The cumin gave it a smoky flavor, which was rather odd combined with yogurt, but it worked with the cumin in the steak. Maybe this is some sort of Southwest-Indian fusion raita.

On the side I made a simple dish of Curried Carrots. I think carrots and curry go together quite well, and this dish could easily be made into a soup by pureeing it with chicken stock and some extra coconut milk and topped with a bit of fresh cilantro (or not). The carrots also mix quite well with the raita, if your curry powder is especially hot.

This is quite possibly the ultimate guy dinner. First, it's meat and potatoes. Second, it involves beer. Third, it involves chicks, but that's a bit misleading. I successfully made chicken using fire and a can of beer and have therefore increased my chances of staying on the island if I am ever to play Survivor. Furthermore, Beer Can Chicken not only didn't burn the apartment down, but was actually quite delicious.

As pictured was a shot I took before the cooking process was actually done. I was afraid that something may happen to ruin it entirely, so I wanted a progress picture. After the mishap with the Beef Ribs last night, I wasn't taking any chances with drippings and created a drip tray and placed several layers of tinfoil over the grill itself with a little reserve hole. This ended up working quite well. The end product kind of confused me. Once I'd cut into the chicken, I realized that the outer part of the breast was not fully cooked, while the rest of the meat was. The can had cooked the chicken from the inside out, while the outer part was not exposed to enough heat. I ended up throwing it in a roaster for another 45 minutes which did the trick.

I put so much effort into making sure this chicken thing worked out that I didn't really plan on any side dishes. So, I had the remaining 5 beers of the 6 pack and made Chili Fried Potatoes. The spicy part was diminished since I didn't slice the chilies or used dried ones as the original recipe suggested; all that heat stayed inside the peppers and didn't transfer to the potatoes. This was intended since I did not want to burn out my taste buds and not be able to taste the delicious chicken. The flavor of the chili lightly infused the potatoes, but I suppose I could've gotten away with just using red pepper. To stick with the beer puns, this spud's for you!

I found a discounted rack of ribs at the grocer, so tonight was my first attempt at making ribs. This was both exciting and frightening since I've never really cooked anything with indirect heat on the grill before. I went with a very simple rub and neglected to make any sauce, just so I could keep a watchful eye on what was going on. Since my apartment sized barbecue isn't set up very well for this sort of thing by default, I laid a couple of sheets of tinfoil over the grill and hoped that would work to catch the drippings. Bad idea. The fat from the Beef Ribs ended up dripping onto the coals and a huge fire erupted, burning through the tinfoil and lightly charring one side of the rack. I managed to extinguish the flames and finished the cooking process with the burners off and the heat from the coals cooking the meat.

The ribs were hardly anything to write home about. I was expecting several hours of slow cooking time and the whole process was over in about 25 minutes because of the flare up. I also didn't plan ahead for this, so I didn't have wood chips or anything to really infuse any sort of smoky flavor into the meat. The rub I used was a little salty (I actually rinsed one of the ribs under the tap) and the gristle that I couldn't distinguish before throwing them on the grill was quite chewy. Does that mean the ribs were bad? No, not really. I don't think I've ever truly had bad ribs. The meat was still fairly tender and it was a fun go.

I wasn't really sure what would go with ribs other than traditional fare, so I went with the cheapest things I could find in the produce section that I haven't already completely exploited; beets and green beans. I've been neglecting green beans because I'm not particularly fond of them, but I have no excuse for the beets. I made simple Roasted Beets with just a splash of balsamic vinegar and steamed, then fried up the Green Beans with Red Pepper. Nothing fancy going on here, just a nice vegetable accompaniment. Green beans must be in season because they were everywhere, really cheap and actually somewhat edible. I also had a portion of the Charred New Potatoes from Last Night with a dollop of sour cream.

We are still in possession of the barbecue, so I'm going to utilize that until it's torn away from me. I've never especially liked rosemary, finding it similar to taking a bite out of a pine tree, but I've discovered (like many before me) it's true mate; grilled meat. I skeptically made Grilled Lemon Rosemary Chicken, expecting to despise it as I have previously, but to my surprise it was actually very good. I used drumlets and wings and while they look quite charred, they were actually quite juicy and tender. More importantly though the rosemary actually enhanced the flavor instead of made me loathe it and the grilled lemon drizzled over top didn't hurt, either.

I also made Charred New Potatoes, which are exactly what they sound like. I blackened them on the grill and then finished them in the oven. Originally this seemed like a very good idea, and while the results looked pretty much like I expected, I was a bit leery about trying them. These were good, too! The potato char was quite dissimilar from the pasty ash I've grown accustomed to. I may have to do more experimenting with charred starches to see if this actually holds true or if only lightly charring the outside made it somewhat concealed to my palette. I used some of my flimsy chives from my herb garden, but firmer, developed chives would've been a lot better.

Looking for something green to add to the plate, I found a recipe for French Peas. Apparently the French have taken a liking to adding lettuce to their peas. Aside from that, there's not a whole lot different from how I would normally cook peas, but it's a definite reminder of why I love white pepper (because it tastes so good).

I had a difficult time deciding what I was going to eat tonight. I've been putting little to no effort into planning meals lately, my attention being directed to other things. I'm going to have to make an honest effort to whip up some menus and actually have things on hand or risk being cornered at dinner time without a clue.

Shannon wanted hamburgers, so I made hamburgers for her, and had a little bit of ground beef leftover. I figured I'd make some meatballs and pasta sauce and maybe do spaghetti and meatballs. Once the sauce and meatballs were cooked I changed my mind and thought maybe I'd just top them with parmesan and have them as a side dish. Then I changed my mind again, finally settling on a Meatball Marinara Sub. Once again utilizing my Tomato Sauce recipe, it's pretty hard to go wrong adding it to pretty much anything.

I love sandwiches. In fact, my meals today consisted entirely of sandwiches. For breakfast I had a sandwich of grilled chicken, brie and fig jam on ciabatta and it kept me full until deciding I better eat something for dinner or leaving this a very boring update. Perhaps 2007 will direct this domain to asandwichaday.com with a selection of 365 sandwiches. The A Food Year franchise knows no limits.

Tonight we had company over to watch Montreal absolutely clobber Carolina. It seems only appropriate, when inviting people to bring beer, that you serve barbecue. We just filled up the propane tank and I even took apart the grill to sort out all the ash and such that is a likely culprit of the uneven heating and when I went to get the flames going it just wouldn't start. Considering the origins of fire lie somewhere directly in my genealogical tree, I'm surprised it took so long to discover that I'd accidentally pulled out the connectors that fuel the propane into the barbecue. After some nervous experimentation, we ended up with a big gust of flames and everything was ready to go.

As I mentioned back in February, I felt it was necessary to try tamarind in some sort of barbecue sauce upon the discovery that it is one of the ingredients in Worcestershire sauce. I slowly pieced together ingredients for the Tamarind Barbecue Sirloins and in the end was left with a thick, dark syrup. I had been tasting the sauce after each ingredient addition (barbecue is not something to be messed with for the purpose of experimentation) and it sort of tasted a little off. I decided to give it a go anyway and after it'd been cooked up a bit on the grill it was actually quite tasty. One of my guests started swearing spontaneously a-la-tourettes and I thought he might've burned himself. Turns out that's just what he does when he's excited or really likes something, these steaks being that.

I was going to make Potato Salad, but yams were on sale for 39 cents a pound, so I made little baked yams with an Apple Chutney instead. The chutney was comprised all of flavors that I figured would be complimentary of yam, like apple, brown sugar and orange zest. I wasn't a huge fan of the chutney itself, but it did go with the yam. I'd take a simple roasted yam with a bit of butter and salt over it any day, though.

Finally, a simple Garlic Roasted Zucchini, which filled the oven with smoke in 5 minutes with its easily burnable garlic. The herbs and garlic were virtually indistinguishable, but I still think zucchini prepared pretty much any way (and especially with mushrooms) is perfect barbecue fare. Perhaps it's the ability to sop up steak juices that makes it such a great side dish. We also had Caesar Salad with homemade croutons.

This has seemed irrelevant until now, but since it's taking away from my kitchen, I feel it necessary to mention it. Shannon and I are moving to Montreal at the end of the summer and we are currently trying to sell everything that we own that does not fit in a suitcase. This seems like a daunting task and, rather than rush at the last minute and end up auctioning everything for 0, we decided we'd rather sleep on the floor in our empty apartment than risk relocating broke. We mentioned the move to the caretakers in our apartment and the word quickly spread like wildfire. They brought their son's family over and they bought up half our apartment. Sadly, this included a food processor, an electric griddle, a wok and the barbecue. Also, the light that was in this room, so I am currently typing this in the dark. While it is sad to see this stuff go, it is also nice to have several hundred dollars extra in our savings account. Alas, summer without a barbecue may prove to be a painful experience.

Please excuse my brief and somewhat tardy postings for the next couple of weeks, hockey playoffs are on and I find it hard to pull myself away from the Oilers losing in order to update the site. Last night I marinated Balsamic Herb Pork Tenderloin and, despite the large quantity of fresh herbs and marinating time, the only flavor that was really infused in the pork was that of the single clove of garlic. I thought for sure there'd be some sort of caramelized balsamic flavor, but just the garlic. It was still very good, though; tender and juicy.

I've had a can of broad beans in the cupboard for quite some time, but never got around to actually preparing them. I can't say that I'd ever had broad beans before, but I expected something like a lima bean or edamame judging by the color and shape of them on the label. They looked green and firm and large. In the can, however, they were mushy and brown and sort of sprouted. The first recipe I found that sounded somewhat appetizing was Sweet and Sour Broad Beans, so I went with that. The flavor of the beans themselves was sort of off-putting, and the sauce really didn't help all that much. Sweet and sour sauce definitely has its place, but with these beans is not where it should be found.

The first time I tried the Europe's Best Romanesco blend of vegetables I hated it, but was intrigued by the tiny little broccoflowers that come with it. After finishing the bag and being generally displeased, I'm not entirely sure why I bought another one. It's sat in the freezer for several months and I decided to thaw it and make White Wine and Thyme Romanesco Mix. As its name suggests, the flavor is predominately white wine and thyme and, as previous experience would suggest, I was not very satisfied with the results. My side dishes have been scraped to the sidelines (trash bin) and my pork will stick around to fill several sandwiches.