Wet Head Life : 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Meals are Memories

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I want to do something different for the holidays this year. Instead of just blogging and giving you my holiday recipes, I am going to blog about FAMILY recipes. And I want you guys to join me! For the next six weeks, from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, I want everyone to join me in preserving their family legacy and heritage through recipes and traditions. I am going to challenge each and every one of you to go out and gather a family recipe along with the memory or tradition that goes along with that recipe. I always say the "Meals are Memories", how are you preserving yours?

During the next six weeks, I want you to start gathering those favorite family recipes and traditions. I want everyone to do this before it's too late. I know that there are a ton of questions I would ask my grandparents if they were still alive. I can't remember a single family holiday without them making "Golden Cadillacs" for dessert. Where did that tradition begin? What was the recipe? These are things that I don't want my kids and grandkids to ask, I want them to have all of our past, present and future traditions written down so they can be passed on. And that is the reason for this blog post. Ask you family members to give you a copy of their recipe and then write down a memory that goes along with it. During the holidays we see more family and friends and eat more meals together than any other time of the year, so don't let this season go to waste. Preserve those memories and start gathering those recipes and memories so you can pass them on to future generations.

Once you get a family recipe, make the dish and feel free to post a photo of that meal with the hashtag #mealsarememories. I would love to see how many families we can reach this holiday season.

I am going to start this off with my mother-in-law's goulash. I have included her recipe and I have added a few things to modernize it. So when I pass this recipe down to our kids and grandkids, I will add both her recipe and my updated version along with some of the stories and photos about both dishes. (Note: this is an American style goulash, not the traditional Hungarian goulash. The best Hungarian goulash I ever ate was at a restaurant in Marco Island, Florida called the Bavarian Inn. It was delicious. The main ingredients in all goulash are beef and paprika, then each region has their own interpretation of the dish.)

Here's what I made today from her recipe, while modernizing it a bit:

I added ground beef that is grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone free. I added the large onion, but instead of the macaroni I added cooked fusilli pasta. Instead of canned mushrooms, I added fresh mushrooms. In addition to the worcestershire sauce, I also added some soy sauce for a little more umami flavor. In addition to the red pepper, I also added some yellow and orange peppers. I added smoked paprika instead of regular paprika and I finished the dish off with fresh dill instead of oregano.

Now, get out and ask for those family recipes so you can start preserving those memories today. Don't forget to upload a photo of the dish you made using the recipe to social media using the hashtag #mealsarememories. I can't wait to see all of them!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving is 7 weeks away, do you have your menu planned? Don't worry, there's still a lot of time. I love to make compound butters in October and freeze them. You can make as many as you'd like and just pull them out when you start cooking and preparing your Thanksgiving feast.

Here is my post from last year - Compound Butter Blog Post

Compound Butters

Whether you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner or going somewhere, these compound butters are a must. You can use them in your dishes to make Thanksgiving easier or you can give them as a gift to the host.

This is my Thanksgiving tip, make theses butters. Compound butters are simple to make and the varieties are endless. Just add ingredients to softened, unsalted butter. Once you've blended your ingredients together, add the butter to some wax paper or parchment paper and roll up. You can refrigerate or freeze this butter.

My favorite is a roasted garlic and herb compound butter. I add roasted garlic and fresh herbs to some butter and if you like mushrooms, add some enoki mushrooms to this compound butter. It's great to add this to your turkey, inside and out. The butter will help make your turkey brown and the mushrooms will help keep the meat juicy while the herbs add a great, fresh flavor. The herbs I added were sage, rosemary, thyme and dill.

Roasted Garlic and Herb Butter

Here's my brown sugar and honey butter. I add butter, pumpkin pie spice (PPS), honey and brown sugar. If you really like things sweet, add some maple syrup as well. YUM! This is great to add to rolls, apple pie, sweet potato casserole or anything sweet at your Thanksgiving meal. I even use it for pancakes.

Brown Sugar, Honey and Pumpkin Pie Spice Butter

Another one I do is my spicy Harissa butter. I add my home made Harissa to a stick of softened, unsalted butter. This is great for adding to the turkey or any vegetables. It will add a nice spicy flavor.

Harissa Butter

You can check out my Harissa recipe on this blog. I posted it a few weeks ago.

http://triplebburgers.blogspot.com/search?q=harissa

Basil Pistachio Pesto Butter

Another idea is pesto butter. I add some home made pesto to a stick of softened, unsalted butter. This is also great to add to the turkey, vegetables or pasta. Here's my pesto recipe - http://triplebburgers.blogspot.com/search?q=caprese

Basil pistachio pesto butter

Black Sea Salt and Truffle Butter

Here's another idea...add some black sea salt and truffle oil to a stick of butter. This compound butter will have a cool, gray look to it and it will taste great. This is the butter that will have everyone talking, not only because of it's color but flavor as well.

Toasted Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Ginger and Garlic Butter

I also like to add soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, chives, garlic and ginger to some softened butter for a great savory butter.

If you only have time for two of these, I would recommend the roasted garlic and herb butter and also the brown sugar, honey and pumpkin pie spice butter.

Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, September 25, 2015

Tailgating Central

Check out my Tailgating Sports Segment for all the upcoming football games this season.

Blog Link

Video Link

Checklist Prep

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Last weekend for boating at Wave Club Water Sports at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in West Michigan

Labor Day is just 5 days away and it's our last weekend open at Wave Club Water Sports in Silver Lake, MI. The weather is supposed to be hot and sunny, so get out and enjoy the last big weekend of summer.

Ski Boat

Double and Single Kayaks

Gina Ferwerda - Pure Michigan Photo Contest Winner 2014

Wave Club is open 8am-8pm - Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend

Stand Up Paddle Boards

Sand Boards

Tubing

Pontoon Boats

Wave Runners

Log onto our website for more information and prices - Wave Club

You can also check out the Live Web Cam at Silver Lake - Silver Lake TV

Check out Wet Head Beach Shop while you're in Silver Lake for the latest Penny Long Boards, Go Pro's, Sanuk Sandals, Volcom Board Shorts, Sun Bum Skin Protection and Made in Detroit gear.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Waldorf Salad

I love a good Sunday brunch. Here's my twist on the classic Waldorf Salad.

R & R Waldorf Salad

Belgian endive boat filled with celery root and apples draped in a meyer lemon-creme fraiche dressing over a harissa chayote slice. Frisee and Michigan endive is then drizzled with a honey balsamic glaze and salted chocolate rye crisp candied walnuts complete this refreshing dish. Happy Sunday everyone!

Waldorf Salad also on my Boating, Boarding and Burgers Blog

INGREDIENTS

1 cup California walnuts

2 ounces dark chocolate

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon rye cracker crisps, crushed

1 cup celery root, peeled and julienned

1 granny smith apple, cored and julienned

1 gala apple, cored and julienned

1 Chayote squash, thinly sliced (peeled if mature and not a young Chayote)

1 cup crème fraiche

Juice of one Meyer lemon

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 young chayote squash, thinly sliced (peel if it’s a mature chayote)

1 tablespoon Harissa (you can use pre-made Harissa or my awesome Harissa recipe below)

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ancho chile powder

8 Belgian endive leaves, similar in size

4 cups frisee or Michigan endive

PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly toast walnuts on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Set aside.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler, then drizzle over toasted walnuts. Immediately sprinkle on the sea salt and crushed rye crisps.

In a medium sized bowl, add the celery root and apples. In a small bowl, whisk together the crème fraiche, lemon, vinegar, honey, kosher salt and pepper. Add half of the crème fraiche mixture to the celery and apples, fold together. Add the remaining crème fraiche mixture with the Harissa to the chayote slices in a small bowl and refrigerate both until assembly.

Bring vinegar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan; reduce to a simmer, and cook until thickened and syrupy, about 12-15 minutes. Add the honey, salt and chile powder.

Make a cut at the bottom base of the Belgian endive leaves, in the middle, vertically. To form each boat, connect two endive leaves at each base to form the boat. Fill with some celery and apple mixture.

To assemble, add some frisee to a plate. Then add a slice of the dressed chayote and then drizzle with some balsamic glaze. Top with a celery and apple filled endive boat. Then add some salted chocolate rye candied walnuts to the plate. Enjoy!

Harissa

2 red bell peppers, halved and seeded

4 ounces dried chili peppers, stemmed and seeded (I like to use ancho and guajillo for a mild to medium heat, but if you prefer it spicy you can add chile de arbol to them as well. Chipotle peppers will add extra heat along with a smoky flavor)

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 ½ teaspoons caraway seeds

1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 ½ teaspoons salt

4 garlic cloves

¼ cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons for sealing jar at the end

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast red peppers in oven, skin side up, for 30 minutes. Let cool then remove the outer skin.

Place dried peppers in a bowl and add hot water to rehydrate for 30 minutes. Then drain the peppers and set aside.

Add coriander, caraway, cumin and celery seeds to a small skillet and toast seeds for 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Add toasted seeds to a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and finely grind.

In a food processor, add all the peppers and remaining ingredients and blend well to form a paste scraping down the sides as necessary. Transfer to an airtight container and add the remaining oil on top and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

Note: Dried chili peppers should be handled with care to avoid burning hands or fingers. Use gloves when handling peppers. Always wash hands after handling chile peppers.

Harissa is a garlicky chile paste. Harissa adds tons of flavor to all of your favorite dishes, without the extra calories. This sauce can been used alongside of crudité platters as well as adding it to meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, pasta and eggs. It is also a great addition to hummus and aioli.