If there is anything more popular than mountain bikes on 10th Avenue (and there are many) Dungeons and Dragons rules the roost. While I have one single day committed to riding with any particular person (No Mercy Monday), these guys have two nights committed to rolling the old 12 sided die, and that ain’t code neither. Wednesday and Sunday,over and over, week after week, until the end of time apparently.
I cooked a delicious pot of Redfish Chowder last night thanks to a contribution of Redfish from Dan-Dan the MexiCan, and thought it only fair to spread the joy and invite the neighborhood over. One by one they wandered in, and although I could not see their weapons, I could sense the danger of so many mighty warriors at one gathering.
“By Demon’s Fang this soup is good!” says a fighting Bugbear to my left as he slurps daintily from his bowl. “Yes”, agrees Half-Elf Atom Blackmour, “better even than the fare of Hairfoot the Stout of Vastonia!” Bottles of mead from many lands adorned the table. Miller Lite, Samuel Adams, Tecate; it was a breathtaking display of ancient cultures. They ate in great haste, as they heard Dwayne the Dwelve arrive in his brand new Toyota Scion. Pleased to have made it through the meal with no violence or sorcery, I hastily cleared the table as a friendly Half-nymph began scrubbing the dishes and stacking the bowls. Due to some spell from Myjesta’s Cauldron the traveling band appeared quite ordinary to the eye, but I could hear the faint swish of a cloak, the ching-ching-ching of chain metal brushing against sword hilt as they left. Strangely, all I could see were Ska t-shirts and Chuck Taylors.
Redfish Chowder
3/4 -1 lb of whitefish/ chunked
4 slices of bacon
some prosciutto
unsalted butter
1 white onion
5-6 stalks of celery
3-4 carrots
fresh parsley
bottle of clam juice
2 quarts of stock (I used chicken)
misc. seafood ( I threw in some canned oysters)
2 large Russet potatoes (1/4 inch cubes)
1/2 pint of cream
all-purpose flour
Paprika
Render the bacon, then drain the fat off and remove the bacon. Add 1tblsp of the butter to the cracklins on the bottom of the pot. Saute the onion, celery, and carrot chopped fine/seasoned with Paprika, S & P, for about five minutes on high heat. Sprinkle about 2 Tblsp of flour over the veggies and continue to cook another 5 minutes or so. Slowly add the stock and clam juice and stir, be sure the heat is hot enough to deglaze the bottom of the pot with the liquid. Lower to a simmer, add the potatoes and allow them to cook a few minutes. Add the cream. Add the oysters, fish, etc. Chop the remaining bacon and prosciutto as well as the parsley. Let the chowder simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. When it achieves a creamy consistency, stir in the bacon, prosciutto, parsley.
Serve with crusty bread, Saltines, or Oyster Crackers.
Recipes, now? What’s next, home decor? Going for a demographic a cut above the “blue-collar” crowd? Well, it IS content, and I’m not putting anything out there for public derision on a regular basis. But I can’t help thinking of the culinary mysteries favored by Mrs. Hitops — absolute dreck. So I hope this is a temporary detour, and not the start of the gentrification of BRC. Still might try the recipe, though.
J-
Can you tell how many people stop by to read this stuff regularly, or do we have to come up with a pithy remark and leave it behind for our observation to be noted? I’m just curious. Sounds like a tasty recipe. It’s nice of you to treat those junior high friends of yours to a home-cooked meal. Just don’t get into trouble for buying ’em beer.
-cc the elfin king
Son, listen here. Life begins and ends at the fucking table for around here at the BRC. More recipes to come, so get your old lady a sharpened # 2 pencil so she can take good notes.
CC- That last comment was for the other fella, not you, in case you didn’t know that. And to answer your question, yes, I can monitor the high-volume traffic of the BRC. You are one in a proud 50 or so member community. Glad to have you, whoever the hell you are.
Never can seem to figure that out. Gotta go, the kids are banging on the door, time for the beer run.
That’s hilarious. Tolkein’s got nothing on my puma-spotting, gourmet cookin, earth-surfin son of the Shire.
Some readers moan about bike drone. Other readers balk when the subject strays. Yes, Fat Tires take center ring at the BigRingCircus but Local Culture is the true star of the show. Home Boy Juancho does a delightful job in capturing the essence of Life in Tallahassee. Perhaps that’s why some of you faceless tourists from parts afar don’t get it, and why others of you enjoy the show. Similar to the way some people love to find a Bennigans when they are traveling while others seek out the local fare. Recipes can be a window into the culture and geography of a place and I think they make an excellent sideshow here. I say keep cooking Home Boy.
Them’s fightin’ words, sinksman! Faceless tourist indeed! I’m a North Florida boy and almost hand grenade range to mission control, so I get it. I just like to yank Juancho’s chain and see what bubbles up from the BRC stewpot. I guess this chain-yanking thing cuts both ways.
By the way, seems like Sascha’s the only one with the nerve to show her face ’round here.
lol…
yanking chains do spice things up.
Succinctly put, aucillasinks. Those of us with an affinity for the smalltown-Florida brand of Southern culture as well as mountain biking certainly have a penchant for the non sequitur. Throwing a little fantasy role-playing reference and home-cookin’ just adds flavor to the crazy gumbo that this Juancho fellow cooks up.
To us and those like us…Damn few left.
Gumbo. Now there’s a good idea.
How about buttermilk instead of cream?
Hmmm, I don’t know about that, but maybe?
face? what face? You mean my blogger picture? That’s just some chick I paid to pose with my bike. I don’t even know her name 😉
I am paralyzed by my options here…
Not like you to be speechless twice in one night…are you sure you’re feeling ok?
You should be able to use buttermilk instead of cream for a lower fat chowder, but it won’t be as creamy.
An added bonus of buttermilk is that a glass of it will supposedly get rid of a hangover… but I’ve never tried it.
Well that was down right enjoyable! I’ll have to try out the recipe with some Michigan lake fish… once baby is born of course. Who knew we could poison our lakes with mercury to the extent that the fish is no longer edible? Anyway, hats off to Aucillasinks for putting into perfect words exactly how I feel about BRC. Keep cooking indeed, dear Juancho! In fact, next time I’d love your recipe for what is probably the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had! (Maybe you should just e-mail that to Dr. Detroit so you don’t get hassled too much!)