Archive for March, 2010

Double Day

March 28, 2010

Last Saturday I had a sick ride and hike double day.  It started at 9am at the Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation, Washington.  My riding buddy Scott and I hit the trails for about 2 hours.  For the first time, I had my Garmin Forerunner, which mapped the place very well.  Here are some stats of the ride:

- 8.8 miles of riding.

- Max speed of 36.7 mph.

- 3000 feet elevation gain.

I then spent the afternoon at Tiger Mountain.  It’s a stout climb.

- 2.5 miles out and back (so 5 miles total).

- Elevation gained is 3245 feet.

- It took us 1 hour and 6 minutes to get to the top.

I plan on hitting it up a few more times, and maybe with some textbooks in my pack, in order to train for my memorial day Mount Baker climb.

Alton Brown’s Chicken Dumpling Soup

March 28, 2010

This recipe is hot of the press, yo!  Alton Brown’s Chicken Dumpling Soup episode aired sometime last week on television, so the recipe hasn’t made its way to the web yet.  But that’s all about to change courtesy of Charlie Freedom.

The recipe goes like this:

- Pop the biggest whole chicken you can find, minus giblets, into your pressure cooker.  (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, multiple the time below by 6.)  I used a 4.5 pound fryer.

- Fill the pressure cooker with water to the max fill line (around 2/3).

- Get a boil and build the pressure.  Then let the thing cook on low heat for 45 minutes.

- Pull the bird out and place it in a bowl.  Let it cool.

- If you want a nice smooth broth, strain it through a colander or cheesecloth into another pot.

- At this point, if you want vegetables, chop ‘em up and put them into the broth.  Bring it to a simmer and leave it there until the veggies are cooked through.

- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull off all of the edible meat and place it into another bowl.

- Now it’s time to make the dumplings.  Take a 1/2 cup of the broth, 3 tablespoons of butter, and a 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, and place them in a small saucepan (or even a saucier if you’re cool).  Hit them with high heat.

- Mix with a wooden spoon until they come together to form a ball, and when they do, kill the heat.

- Add an egg to the ball of dough and hit them with a hand mixer (or stand mixer with the wire whip attached).  Then add a second egg.  Beat it until it turns into a super sticky mashed potato like substance.

- Transfer the sticky stuff to a large zip top bag.  Cram it all into the corner of the bag.

- When the veggies are cooked through in the broth, bring it back to a rolling boil.  And now comes the fun part.

- Cut a 1/2 hole in the corner of the zip top bag.  Then squirt out the dough and cut into 1 inch long chunks.  Let them fall into the boiling broth.

- When you’ve gotten all the dumplings created, cover the soup, and cook at a simmer for 10 minutes.

- Serve the soup and finish with fresh cracked black.  Bob’s your uncle.

My New Favorite: Duthie

March 15, 2010

I rode Duthie Hill Park this daylight savings morning of March 14, 2010.  I’d like to thank my main man Adam for convincing me that it was worth waking up at 7am on a blustery 35 degree morning to go riding.  It was more than worth it.

Duthie Hill Park is a new set of trails located about 30 minutes east of Seattle.  There’s a ton of stuff to ride:

- 6 miles of awesome, flowing XC trails

- Some insane freeride drops and features that I wouldn’t dare hit with my abilities

- Awesome practice section of log rides, small drops, and more.

We rode for about two hours this morning on a little bit of everything.  We rode all of the XC trails, practiced some super small drops, and went on the beginner freeride trail.

I have a feeling Duthie will become my new favorite place to ride.  The freeride and practice areas are better than the Collonade, and the XC trails are as good as any in the Seattle area.  I can’t wait to go back… and take some photos.  But for now, enjoy this sick video made by one of the Duthie volunteers:

Julia’s Boeuf

March 10, 2010

Wow, that title is disturbing.  But I had to get your attention!

On Sunday night, I made Boeuf Bourguignon, one of the defining recipe’s in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking“.  There’s not a lot I can say about the recipe that hasn’t been said before.  Except this: while it was a fantastic stew, it did let me down.  Why?  Because everything I’d heard about the recipe suggested it would be the greatest meal I’d ever cook.  And while yes, it was money, it definitely wasn’t mind blowing.  It was merely great.  Kind of like watching a good movie based on a mind blowing book.