Taco Time and Other Treatz

No, that's not a messy taco in the photo above, but my homemade spicy Thai ahi tuna. TacoTime is the name of a geocache (GC9JC1T) I picked up in Reidsville on my way to Martinsville last night. It was essentially a park & grab — one of those that you generally don't have to look for very long because it's pretty obvious. It was a pleasing enough cache, but like so many that are hidden near otherwise abandoned or deserted areas, somebody decides that they absolutely must sit in their freaking cars for extended spells right there near the cache. I think I'm going to start a website that features coordinates for non-existent caches and call it www.muggleswhositincarsalldayfornoapparentreason.com. Wonder if it'll get much traffic.

Once I got to Martinsville, I made a supply run at the nearby Food Lion, headed home, and cooked up the lovely Thai dish you see above. It was quite delicious — and definitely HOT!

Friend Samaire stopped by bearing a couple of goodies she had picked up in New Jersey from mutual friend and fellow writer, Patrick Freivald. First was a Concord grape pie, which is apparently a regional dish; I wasn't aware Concord grape pies existed. I'm glad they do because this sucker was delicious. I followed the baking directions, but I was afraid the crust came out a bit overdone. It was dark, but by gummy, the texture was perfect. So, Concord grape pie is a dandy dish I would love to sample again. Second was a bottle of hot maple syrup, from Patrick's label, Frog's Point Honey. I've had Patrick's hot honey before, and it's fantastic. So is the "Spicy, Eh?" maple syrup. I put it on pancakes this morning, and it had just the right amount of HOT for my palette (your mileage might vary). To try these sweet/hot treats out for yourself, visit www.frogspointhoney.com. I bet you'll be glad you did.

So, Friday evening was good for treats. Today, my brother's friend and estate executor, Jane, came for a visit to see some of Phred's old stomping grounds and cover a few points of business regarding the estate. It was a little sad, but we did have a good conversation; plus, I enjoyed taking her to a few nearby locations where my brother and I had spent much time together in our youths.

So, until next time, be good to yourselves and be good to others. Ciao!

The Concord grape pie, fresh out of the oven

Damned Rodan’s Fiery Thai Beef with Basil

It’s recipe time. I frequently make a Thai dish or two that generally turns out acceptable in the extreme. Granted, my Thai cooking is quite simple, but the results are always satisfying. Here is a rough outline; I always tweak it a bit based on ingredients — and time — I have on hand. The amounts are approximate; all can be adjusted to taste.

Damned Rodan’s Fiery Thai Beef with Basil
What You Need (serves two): 

2 eight-oz. Angus beef steaks, thick cut

1 cup jasmine rice

1/2 cup white onion, chopped

1/2 cup green onion, diced

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

2 hot chili peppers, sliced

2 tbsp hot chili oil to marinate; 2 tbsp to cook

1 tsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder (or, if you’ve time and inclination, roast your garlic cloves)

For sauce:

1/3 cup chili garlic sauce

1/3 cup fish sauce

2 hot chili peppers, sliced

juice from 2 limes

1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar

Prep:
For best results, marinate the beef in hot chili oil, garlic, and a portion of the sauce for an hour or so before cooking. Save the rest of the sauce either for dipping or to pour on individual portions. Make sauce by combining chili garlic sauce, fish sauce, 2 of the hot chili peppers, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Stir together thoroughly. Combine basil and green onions in a separate bowl. Cook the rice prior or during beef prep.

What You Do:

1. Pour hot chili oil into a skillet (preferably wok or cast iron). Heat to medium high.
2. Place beef in skillet. Sear both sides of the beef — three to four minutes per side. After the first turn, drop the butter into the skillet and add the lime juice, chopped onions, and sliced chili peppers. Note: Your eyes will burn.
3. When the beef is seared, reduce heat to low. Remove beef from skillet and cut into slivers, against the grain. Place slivered beef back into skillet and cook on medium low to — preferably — no more than medium rare.
4. Spoon beef, peppers, onions, and reduced sauce onto rice. If you wish, add additional sauce. Top with basil and green onions.
5. Partake of the goodies and scream in agonized ecstasy.

You Might Be a Geocacher If...

...someone walking down the street notices you looking like this...

Or perhaps like this...

It was a valiant attempt, I must say, but it was Old Bloody Rob (a.k.a. Robgso) who made the find on this little beast. It's a good thing I didn't immediately drink a glass of water, as there is some mighty prickly holly up in there.

Natalie (a.k.a. Ms. Fishdownthestairs), Bloody Rob (a.k.a. Robgso), and I all actually performed an impressive array of holly acrobatics over in Clemmons (just west of Winston-Salem), NC, this morning. We also found a nice grove of bamboo to play in, though it might have been nice to have a panda along to help us out. It turned out to be a profitable day out in the field, with 15 cache finds to our credit. Our team moniker today was The Walking Dead, though we carried with us no dead weight, as even Old Rob found a few. (Okay, okay, so Old Rob always pulls his weight. So what? Big deal.)

We hunted and killed some lunch at Cha Da Thai Restaurant, which made me super happy because Ms. B. and I so often gather with friends at the nearby, insanely excellent Carmine's Italian Restaurant but rarely manage to get over to its Asian neighbor. I've still got a pleasant little burn going on from the seafood basil fried rice, and that was hours ago.

So nice to be out on the caching trail again, after being on something of a forced hiatus due to hurricanes and such. There shall be more caching next weekend, I assure you.

A happy little cache guardian at "Thing 1 & Thing 2" (GC6PV1N)

That big feller is the size of a dinner plate.

Miller Masterworks

Seriously, check out that stuff up there. Somewhere back in Deathrealm's ten-year run, artist M. Wayne Miller came to my attention. Whether he sought me out or vice-versa, I have no recollection, but it turned out he lived down the street from me, and it wasn't long before he became the go-to man whenever I needed art of exceptional caliber, be it for Deathrealm or some project of my own. Over the years, Wayne provided numerous illustrations for stories I ran in the magazine, and soon enough, the covers for my own novels and short-fiction collections. It doesn't hurt that Wayne is a fan of both Thai food and Godzilla — we get together now and again to celebrate these things. Truly, it's a rare and honorable soul what relishes the spectacle of miniature cities falling beneath the feet of monstrous, radioactively mutated rubber reptiles as much as I do, and Wayne is all there. Keeps us young and healthy, it does.

Wayne is currently the featured artist at GrayDogTales, and you need to check it out: M. Wayne Miller: An Artist Speaks. Go now.

Crying Tiger (Seua Rong Hai)

Thai food is about my favorite thing in the entire world, and one of my favorite Thai dishes is Crying Tiger (Seua Rong Hai), which is grilled beef over rice with a savory, spicy sauce. It's rare to find it on the menu at most Asian restaurants, at least locally, as it's a "northern" Thai delicacy, which seems to be the purview of a select few establishments here in the Piedmont Triad. There are umpteen Crying Tiger recipes online, and as with most Asian recipes, it's hard to find two that are even remotely similar. I went with my best guess in attempting to recreate the flavor and style of the dish, as prepared at Thai Chiang Mai in High Point, NC, and Rearn Thai in Greensboro, NC. Damn if I didn't pretty well nail it this evening.

What you need (makes four servings):
4 six-ounce top sirloin filets (or similar cuts of beef)
1½ cup soy sauce
1½ cup fish sauce
1 cup cilantro, crushed
¼ cup brown sugar
tomato (diced)
clove garlic (crushed)
6 Thai chili peppers, sliced thin
½ cup lime juice
1 cup green onions, chopped
cucumber, sliced thin; dice several sections to go in the dipping sauce
rice (about 1½ cups to make 4 servings).
leaf lettuce 

What you do:
The beef will need to marinate prior to cooking. To make the marinade, pour 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup fish sauce, ¾ cup cilantro, ⅛ cup brown sugar, ¾ of the diced tomato, ½ the garlic, about 2 of the 6 chili peppers, and ½ the lime juice into a large bowl. Stir briskly to blend and then place the beef in the bowl (I seasoned the beef with some garlic salt and cracked black pepper). Let marinate in the refrigerator for about one hour.

Mix the remaining soy sauce, fish sauce, cilantro, brown sugar, tomato, garlic, chili peppers, lime juice, green onions, and the diced cucumber; distribute in four small bowls to go with each individual beef dish.

Ideally, the beef should be grilled, but I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet in hot Thai chili oil. For this method, heat the skillet on high until the oil is hot. Drop in the meat and cover. After about two minutes, turn the heat down to medium-high and pour in the marinade with all ingredients. Let the beef cook for three to four minutes per side. When done, remove the beef from the skillet and cut into thin slices, against the grain. Serve over rice on a bed of lettuce and cucumber, with the dipping sauce on the side.

To go with mine, I made a Damned Rodan's Dirty Firetini. It took some doing, but I finally talked the neighbors out of calling the fire department.