Moonless Feast

Well, the full moon decided to skip out on the feast yesterday - honored guest, no less. Bah, guess being made of cheese already it had no desire to stop by for a bite of Deeper n' Ever.

Clouds harried Deb and noone234 in the astronomy business. Justin and I delivered Deb's scope to the front yard but damned if I could remember which axis was supposed to be aimed north. As I explained to kk1raven, that ain't my shtick. I seemed to keep pointing the thing into the trees, which is more my area of expertise, but that wasn't all too helpful: the trees were much more clearly seen without the benefit of being flipped upside down in an astronomical telescope. They did get some stars in focus later, I heard, and so 1jadedhart went out to take a look - but I never heard back on more detail.

The Deeper n' Ever went quicker n' ever, with only a few mouthfuls left over from two generous dishes (each dish normally provides this family of 5 with two meals...) Deb and dragonflypug whipped up a salad that also went in the blink of an eye - the tomato monster Mr. B polished off at least one whole box of cherry tomatoes on his own. noone234 provided the Riesling - my personal favorite form of grape juice - and that gave a nice finishing touch to the meal. After a short while - and the attempted setting up of the telescopes - we brought out the delicious lemon cake made by kk1raven as well as the chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered peanut butter balls made by 1jadedhart's daughter.

The prelude to the feast involved a guitar lesson, and that went well - much practicing involved on the part of the student since her last lesson - and towards the end of the evening settled into a jam session of sorts. Justin and I played The Kraken a couple of times, Jack Sparrow/A Jug o' This once, and then did some improv as well. Later on, we worked on a few of my tunes. It was some consolation for me, as the lungs didn't want to go along with the planned events involving outdoors and winter air - the bronchial tubes kept complaining about the cold stabbity-stab of the air or something - and by that time, I had pretty much exhausted energy reserves. Hopefully, I was still able to be moderately entertaining, even if planted upon the couch.

And yes, the recipe for Deeper n' Ever will be posted posty hasty, for those inquiring minds.

Recipe: Deeper n' Ever

Update: I just posted a (slight) variation of this with pictures here! =)

Deeper n' Ever has a long and storied history - in story, literally. It is one of my signature dishes, with origins that stretch back to the dawn of time as far as me actually cooking things, as a development upon my steak tips. In short, I've heard it described as - or as a variation of - shepherd's pie; it can also, much more simply, be considered potato skins deluxe.

As for the story, the name - and general concept to actually pull it together as it is now - was inspired by Brian Jacques' Redwall books, which I would read to Deb every night. In those stories, much attention is paid to the feasts and fare that the woodland creatures enjoy, and much is made, in particular, about a creation of the moles named Turnip and Tater and Beetroot Deeper n' Ever Pie (pronounced more like "poie" in the quaint mole dialect.) That dish is hearty enough - and delicious enough - to inspire the moles to dive in headfirst and eat their way through.

Now the thing about the steak tips is that the plates of potato were always prepared individually - one after the other in the microwave to set about melting the cheeses. When combined with a ravenous crew, this often left me sitting down to the table with my plate as the first diners were clearing their own plates. The objective when Deeper n' Ever was created was simple: serve the entire table at once, without staggering servings by a half-dozen minutes or so.

It began life with spiced burger, and bore the name Cheese and Tater and Burger Deeper n' Ever Pie - which was quickly shortened to Deeper n' Ever. The seasonings used were derived from the Béarnaise sauce used on the delicious potato skins served by The Dandelion Green restaurant in Burlington, MA. The original dish often had the burger swapped out for bacon, as you'll see presented here:

• 1 package Oscar Myer Bacon
• 6 medium-largish baking potatoes
• canola oil (spray or rub)
• 16 oz. extra sharp Wisconsin cheddar, thickly shredded
• 8 oz. Monterrey Jack, thickly shredded
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• fresh ground black pepper
• tarragon
• chervil
• tarragon vinegar
• butter

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.

Lightly cover the potatoes with canola oil - either by spraying or rubbing them - and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in oven. Bake for an hour or so, or until tender. The higher heat and longer cooking time brings out more flavor from the skins, and adds to the tastes of the meal.

Pan-fry the bacon, set aside to drain. Don't overcook the bacon - it actually adds more by being slightly less cooked; although some crumbly bits are welcome for texture and so on. I often try to get a range of doneness in there.

Lightly spray or rub a large baking dish with canola oil - butter and cheese will provide most of the oils needed, but this will prevent the skins from sticking.

Carefully topple the potato out of their foil and into the dish. Mash up a bit with a fork - break apart skins and spread out a bit, really. I put a bit or two of butter on each potato as I crush it up, so that it melts in nicely. The goal is to fill the dish with a single layer of crushed potato and skins - not too thick, not too thin. (This is where experience on knowing your dish and selecting the appropriate number and size of potatoes comes in.)

Grind some fresh black pepper on the potato. Do not ever use pre-ground pepper. It is evil. Fresh ground is the only acceptable way to handle black pepper.

Sprinkle on the tarragon and chervil, and then spread the scallions over the mix. Sprinkle *lightly* with tarragon vinegar - add flavor, don't make the potatoes swim with it. Crumble the bacon, and then top with the cheese.

Bake at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts thoroughly.

Red Tailed Visitor

A beautiful red tailed hawk just stopped by for a while, perched about 20-30' down the back path, about 10' from the ground.

Deb caught sight of him while we were discussing what to do for lunch today, and kept an eye on him while I hunted down her camera. I just found him as she was bringing him into focus when he decided to fly away, low, through the trees.

Beautiful, but, alas, no photographic evidence.

Deb is considering wearing the camera as an earring so she has it at hand, having missed this bird and the pileated woodpecker a few weeks ago. And the deer that looked incredible amidst the fresh snowfall and large snowflakes last week.