When I was growing up, if you needed a solution to a problem, you pretty much had to—gasp!—ask someone. It didn’t matter how detailed, trivial, or awkward the question was. You had to involve another party. The only alternative was to decode the antiquated Dewey Decimal System at your local library (or the library in the next town, if your question was embarrassing) and thumb through several books in the hope that at least one paragraph among hundreds would reference whatever problem you were working on.

I’m in my mid-30s, so we’re talking about a seismic shift in information gathering, problem-solving, and human relations, all in the span of one generation. That’s nothing short of miraculous. The internet has made it all possible, search has made it all navigable, and social media has made it all personal.

I recently wrote on my professional blog that, “in a way, the shift toward social media is like a shift back to a sort of Rockwellian community where everyone shares everything.” That kind of sharing is evident in the wisdom of crowds phenomenon, or, as Glenn Reynolds termed it, an “Army of Davids.” We’ve reached a point where the power of brands and the testimonials of friends pale in comparison to the aggregate reviews of strangers. We use their ratings to inform our decisions on which products to buy, which hotel rooms to book, and which restaurants to patronize. Industry now follows the herd instead of leading of it. This is a bold, new reality, and it’s truly empowering.

We’ve ingratiated this new phenomenon into all aspects of our lives. I’ve come to rely on it so much that I get really annoyed when the crowd abandons the unwritten rules of the herd and fails to properly assign value to things. This usually happens when passion, arrogance, and tribalism enter the equation. I want to keep this rant above the fray, so I won’t get into examples of ‘crowd fail’ in particularly polarizing arenas. The one area I will reference is a personal pet-peeve of mine; online recipes.

When people rate a product on Amazon or a service on Angie’s List, they issue a quick judgement and visualize that judgement with a rating of some sort. The gold star rating is commonly accepted and is usually very easily understood. Five stars is great. Four stars is good. Three stars is okay, with room for improvement. Two stars is poor. One star is as bad as it gets. This isn’t difficult stuff. So why is it that with online recipes, people rate something as five-star and then go on to list all of the changes they made? If they didn’t make the recipe, then why are they rating the recipe? Moreover, why are they rating an obviously deficient recipe as great?

Let’s say you’re looking for a recipe for chicken enchiladas. This is a typical rating and comment from AllRecipes:

And here’s an example from Epicurious, where they use a fork rating system instead of stars:



These are not outliers. Scroll through the comments and you’ll see that almost all of them are like this. Click on any other recipe and you’ll see the same pattern. It’s a systemic problem.

What is going on here?

Why is this commonly practiced by individual commenters? Why is it accepted by the crowd? Are these people just flaunting their own creativity? If so, why are they rating an imperfect recipe as perfect? Why not rate it three stars and then list the steps they think are necessary to elevate it?

This doesn’t make any sense to me. I can understand substituting one or two ingredients out of convenience or necessity and then being surprisingly pleased with the dish. But if you fundamentally rework the dish and then go on to give it five stars, you’re rating the wrong recipe, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you enter your variation of the dish as a new recipe and let the crowd determine its value?

You don’t really see this anywhere else.

Imagine if you were checking out an HDTV on Amazon and all of the commenters rated it as great. Must be a good TV, right? And then you read through the reviews and see that everyone had to jury rig it to make it work. You’d think, “well, this TV obviously sucks.” Why is it different with cooking?

Everyone is entitled to their own personal taste, but a dish either works or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work, then don’t rate it five stars. All that I come away with after reading these kinds of reviews is that a particular recipe is “SUPERB!!!,” but only if you don’t actually follow the recipe.

The cost of prized beef like tenderloin/filet, ribeye/prime rib, and top loin/strip has always been high. As peasants found ways to make the cheaper cuts taste deliciously tender, increased demand inflated the cost of those cuts as well. I’ve been trying to find the sweet spot between price and popularity. I eventually settled on what I think are the six most economical steaks that don’t sacrifice high quality for low cost. Buying these cuts will allow you to keep steaks in the weekly rotation without breaking the bank.

1. Shoulder Tender (a.k.a. Petite Roast)
This is a 2-3 pound muscle from the chuck area of the cow. It’s about the same size, shape, and cost as a pork tenderloin. It’s basically a poor man’s filet mignon. If you’re just feeding 4-6 people, you can actually use it to make a miniature version of beef wellington. You’ll probably have to call ahead to tell the butcher you want a whole shoulder tender. They usually slice it into butterflied steaks to increase their surface area. It’s very lean, so it will dry out and lose flavor the longer it cooks. Of all the steaks on this list, this one can be cooked the closest to well-done without becoming tough. Not that I’m advocating that, but it is possible.

2. Top Sirloin Cap Steak (a.k.a. Picanha)
This is a flat, triangular-shaped cut of meat from the top sirloin area of the cow. It’s the signature steak that’s served on long skewers at Brazilian churrascarias with a little of the cap (fat) left on. It looks kind of like a miniature brisket that weighs between 1½-2½ pounds. The fat in the cap crisps up like bacon and marinates the meat as it melts. You’ll probably have to call ahead to tell the butcher to separate it for you. Don’t cook it past medium.

3. Tri-Tip Steak (a.k.a. Triangle Roast)
This big, triangular muscle is usually sold intact as a roast or pre-cut into steaks. Top sirloin cap steak and tri-tip are often confused, so I should point out that true tri-tip steak comes from the bottom sirloin area of the cow. Untrimmed, it weighs around 5 pounds. It’s relatively lean, but it’s tough enough that you’re better off cutting against the grain, which can be difficult because of the odd shape. Don’t cook it past medium.

4. Flat Iron Steak (a.k.a. Top Blade Steak)
This is a flat steak cut from the shoulder/chuck area of the cow. The whole thing usually weighs between 2-3 pounds, but it’s often cut into two thinner steaks (bisected by a layer of gristle) that make for faster cooking. This is basically a three-minute steak. Don’t cook it past medium-rare and it helps to cut it against the grain.

5. Flank Steak (a.k.a. London Broil)
This is a flat cut that comes from the abdominal muscles of the cow below the bottom sirloin. It’s a relatively tough cut of meat that is often tenderized physically or with acidic marinades. The average steak weighs between 1-1½ pounds. Don’t just buy a “London Broil” and think you’re getting flank steak. It’s often mislabeled as a London Broil, but so are many other, tougher cuts of meat (usually top round). London Broil mainly refers to a generic braising roast. While true flank steak can be braised, I cook mine quickly over direct heat with a rub and sauce. Don’t cook it past medium-rare and be sure to cut against the grain. This steak (as well as skirt steak below) really shrinks when cooking, so be aware of that before you try to feed four people with one steak.

6. Skirt Steak (a.k.a. Fajita Steak)
This is a series of steaks cut from the plate area below the cow’s ribs. There are inside and outside cuts, but the main difference seems to be that the inside steaks are better trimmed. I think they taste the same. You can usually buy them in pre-cut steaks that each weigh around 1 pound. Demand for skirt and flank steak has risen with the popularity of Latin cuisine. If you’ve ever had really tender fajitas, they were probably made with one of these steaks. As a result, the price has been inching up. Still, it’s a good amount of beef for the money and it can be cooked in a flash. This cut really should be marinaded with some mixture of salt and citric acid to break down the fibers before cooking. As with flank steak above, don’t cook it past medium-rare and be sure to slice against the grain.
 

My no-fail cooking method

I’ve developed my own way of cooking steaks over the years. I can get a bit methodical when trying to improve a project or a process. Split-testing is part of my day job, so I guess it’s only natural that those techniques have migrated into my cooking as well. The steps listed below arose from my desire to prepare different steaks to the exact same doneness with consistent reliability.

1. I first trim and salt my steaks with a few pinches of kosher salt. The salt extracts moisture out of the meat, which dissolves the salt. Then the salty water is absorbed back into the meat. This is essential for enhancing flavor and tenderness.
2. If I buy my steaks early, I might ‘dry age’ them in the fridge for a few days in loose-fitting foil packets with air holes poked all around. This allows a small percentage of the moisture to evaporate out of the steaks, thereby enhancing flavor and tenderizing the meat even more. This step is entirely optional.
3. About an hour before the meal, I take the steaks out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature. Even if I had just bought the steaks at the store, I’d still salt them for an hour at room temperature and then pat them dry if necessary.
4. When I’m ready to cook the steaks, I press some more kosher salt and coarse-ground black pepper into the meat and coat with a tiny bit of oil (canola, peanut, sunflower, olive, etc.).
5. No matter how I cook my steaks, I first sear both sides with high, direct heat for a few minutes to develop a crust. After that, I move them to indirect heat.
6. While the steaks are cooking over indirect heat, I–and this might sound a little weird–fill the bottom of a dinner plate with water and microwave it for 1 minute. I just want the ceramic to heat up and retain a little warmth.
7. When the steaks hit the proper internal temperature (measured to the exact degree with an electric thermometer), I wipe the heated plate dry and set the steaks on it. I top each one with a little pat of butter and cover the plate with foil. Then I let the meat rest for 10 minutes. During this time, the steaks continue to cook and the blood redistributes evenly.

I know this sounds like an overly-complicated process to char a piece of meat, but it’s not really a lot of work. These little extra steps make a big difference. The reward is perfectly cooked steaks that have a large, pink center and a robust beef flavor.

I wanted to prepare a traditional Brazilian meal that would rival the experience we had in the Brazilian restaurant. I knew I was successful when the wife cleaned her plate and asked that picanha be added to the standard rotation.

The hardest part about making picanha (pronounced peeCONNya) with farofa is getting the picanha and the farofa. The internet is full of misinformation when it comes to pinpointing exactly which muscle constitutes the South American staple. After a long talk with my butcher, I discovered that to get authentic picanha, you have to ask for a top sirloin cap steak with a thin layer of the cap (fat) left on for flavoring. Americans’ aversion to gristle can make this cut hard to find if you’re buying it on an impulse, so it’s a good idea to call ahead. The whole cap steak is triangular in shape and usually weighs between 2-2½ pounds and costs around $20. I didn’t need that much meat, so I had the butcher cut me a rectangular portion that weighed about 1½ pounds and cost around $14.

This is succulent cut of beef that tastes like a cross between hanger steak and a NY strip. And at a fraction of the cost of NY strip, it’s a great bargain. Like so many traditional meals, picanha is a peasant dish. It was the select cut for the gauchos who herded cows in Brazil’s pastureland. It was cooked churrasco-style over an open flame and was prized for the way the melting fat marinaded the meat as it cooked. In the old days, the gauchos would skewer the steaks on their swords, coat them in salt, and cook them over the smoldering campfire coals. Since I’m not a gaucho and I don’t carry a sword, I cooked them over the ubiquitous red and black grill that speckles the suburban American landscape.

You can see the steak here. I carefully scored the fat in a ¼-inch crosshatch and rubbed about a tablespoon of kosher salt into the surface of the beef.

Next, I cut the meat into individual steaks and threaded them onto metal skewers. It’s important to use two skewers, or else the meat would be impossible to flip.

I used a chimney starter to get some charcoal red-hot and raked the coals into the center of the grill. Picanha is flavorful because of the fat that renders out, but that same fat causes frequent flare-ups. So it’s important to allow for indirect heat or else you’ll burn the meat.

Like always, I left nothing to chance. I used a digital thermometer to monitor the temperature. I intentionally under-cooked the meat a little and let it rest on a covered, heated plate until it reached rare/medium-rare.

Farofa is a popular Brazilian condiment. Every culture seems to have its own condiments. In the USA, we have ketchup. Belgians have aioli. Mexicans have pico de gallo. Argentines have chimichurri. Brazilians use farofa as the go-to condiment to season beans, meats, anything else that could use a boost in texture and taste. Farofa is seasoned flour made from dried and ground yuca and/or cassava. It’s grainy like uncooked grits and is a little salty and savory. It can be hard to find, so I ordered a bag of pre-seasoned farofa online. This brand pretty good, but it needs to be toasted in a warm pan with a little butter to really bring out the flavor.

The meal came out great. It was cheap, easy, and there were plenty of leftovers. Look at how succulent this steak looks. It had a genuinely beefy flavor and the fat was salty and stiff like bacon.

We’ve decided to replace the old prints we have hanging around the house with original pieces from local artists and/or ourselves. The wife bought me a set of brushes and paint, so I’m going to get back into art this spring and summer. I haven’t painted since my watercolor class a couple of years ago.

To begin, I thought we’d make some picture frames and just fill them with photos we’ve taken around town. I put an ad on Craigslist asking if anyone had any old barn wood laying around. Last weekend, we drove to a farm up around the North Carolina line and packed my car full of weathered lumber. The wood was a little damp, so I dried it with a box fan in the garage all week.

Making frames is pretty easy, but there are a couple of things you have to consider. No two pieces of my wood were the same width or thickness. And none of the slats were long enough to make a full picture frame. So I ripped all of the pieces down to 6½” (the largest common width) and used the cut-side for the interior of the frames. That way, I was able to pair the thicknesses as best as possible and mix and match the pieces together. I routed a ¼” channel to hold the glass.

I had to borrow a 12″ miter saw from a friend (mine is only 10″) and even that wouldn’t cut the complete board at a 45° angle. I used a hand saw to cut the stubborn remnants. I could have avoided this by ripping the slats to around 4″, but I wanted them to be big. Once they were all cut, I used clamps to glue the sides together and added some thinhead screws to hold the corners tight.

While the glue was drying, I printed four pictures on our new copier/printer. It’s amazing how much the quality of home printing has improved over the past ten years.

I ordered 8 panes of 1/8″-thick glass cut to 11″ x 11″. It cost $32, which was the only real expense of this project.

I laid the first pane of glass into the channel and then placed the 8″ x 8″ photo face-down in the center. Next, I placed a piece of double-sided tape on the back of the photo and laid the other pane of glass on top. Then I picked up both panes of glass and used scotch tape to seal them together at two of the edges. Finally, I used some masking tape to secure the glass to the the frame.

I used a template to drill a screw hole in the same place in each frame. This attention to detail is essential to hanging them evenly. I like how you can see the wall color through the glass, and the suspended photo actually casts a shadow on the wall behind it.

I used another piece of barn wood to make a small shelf to hang beneath the frames. It’s there to balance out the arrangement, visually, as well as to hold a drinking glass or a phone or whatever when someone is sitting in the chair.

I made this when the wife was out of town, so she’ll probably swap out some of the pictures for ones she likes better. Regardless, I think these frames came out great overall. They were pretty cheap, too.

I’ve been craving veal lately, so I decided to make some wiener schnitzel. It’s basically just breaded, pan-fried veal scallopini. Both of the wife’s grandmothers spent time in Germany, so this dish isn’t exotic to her at all. Her Croatian grandmother always pairs schnitzel with spaetzle. It makes sense. What better complements fried meat than fried carbs? The more butter, the better. To balance out the meal, I made some sweet and sour red cabbage.

I’ve blogged these recipes before, but I thought I’d put them together in one place since they go together so well.

• Wiener Schnitzel With Spaetzle
• Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage

This batch resulted in the best schnitzel I’ve ever eaten anywhere. The secret is in the eggwash.

In the time since I last posted about this dish, the wife and I bought a $10 spaetzle-maker. It’s a cheap little kitchen gadget that takes up more space than it’s worth, but it earns its keep when we have four pots and pans on the stove. It sits on top of the pot of water and one person pours the batter into the gadget and swipes it back and forth like a manual credit card reader, forcing the mixture through the holes and into the water below. This is a huge improvement over the old two-man system of suspending a colander over scalding water while the other person pressed down on the batter.

I meant to get a picture of the little gadget in action, but it was over as soon as it began. I’ll update the next time we make it.

I should add that this is a cumbersome process that results in a lot of dirty dishes. If you’re going to cook four cutlets, you may as well cook twelve. The prep and clean-up is the same. Plus, you end up with enough cabbage for twelve, so go big or go home.

Like I said in my previous posts (part 1, part 2) I’ve been waiting for several years to pull the trigger on a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) set-up. I wanted to fit everything ‘multimedia’ into a custom console in my den that kept my entire system streamlined, organized, and hidden from sight. This is how it all turned out. I’m very pleased with how clean the design looks in the room.

These pictures aren’t great. I think I got some dust on the camera lens when I was out in the workshop. Click on the first image to enlarge. It may take a moment to load, then use your right arrow key to advance:

Thanks to the false back I built into the console, you can’t see any wires except for a neatly-wound bundle that goes from the back of the TV through the backer-board and into the console. And I included a 2½ inch space beneath the unit to hide a couple of squid-like surge protectors and extension cables. During the build, I installed a toe kick that allows for airflow from the front of the unit so electrical heat shouldn’t be a problem.

As you can see, the printer is on a drawer that slides out to make it more accessible. The cool thing is, we can print over the air from our smartphones and laptops and anywhere in the world via Google cloud print. I don’t think we’ll use it much, but I guess it’s nice to have the option. And since it’s wireless, the wife can simply put it on the kitchen table when she gets the itch to print a bunch of photos and cards.

Since I didn’t put a vertical support beam in the upper chamber like I originally designed, I was able to keep my left, center, and right speakers symmetrical. If you look closely at the picture with the red circle, you’ll see a little USB dongle between the center speaker and the A/V receiver that runs down to the back of the PC and relays the signal from the HTPC remote. That way I can wake and control the computer without ever opening the cabinet doors, and it works from anywhere in the room. And when I say anywhere, I mean it. You’ll lose the ability to see the mouse arrow before the mouse stops reacting to your commands. The remote is like a big blackberry. It’s very easy to use, but back-lit keys would have made it even better.

It’s amazing to think that I fit my DVD collection in this one organizer. It’s even more amazing how light it is. Most of the weight is in those unnecessary plastic cases. I thought about burning all of my DVDs onto a hard drive, but it’s just not very practical with today’s technology, especially Blu-Ray discs. This is the next best way to save space. I bought some extra inserts, so this should last me for life. Most movies will be digital purchases from now on.

To make recharging less messy, I built an electric socket with two USB power ports directly into the floor of the console.

All in all, I think this piece came out great. The cabinet doors aren’t perfect, but the mistakes are small and hopefully only I will notice. I wish I had made the console about six inches shorter, but I can can live with the height. This might be the most square/plumb piece of furniture I’ve made ever made.

I pretty much had this same idea six years ago when I built my computer desk. So much has changed technologically since then that my computer desk is now obsolete (I actually planned for obsolescence, building it so that certain parts can be removed to transform it into an open secretary desk). That desk was the first really complex piece of furniture I ever built. I’ve come a long way too since then, managing to crank this project out with a mere 20 man-hours. Moreover, this console is both lighter and cheaper than the computer desk without compromising strength, and it’s more effective without compromising attractiveness.

A Technical Note

You might notice that this HTPC set-up is a space-waster, has redundancies, and isn’t as advanced as it could be. That’s true, but I’m trying to get the maximum possible output with the minimal possible input. There are a handful of OS/software/web-based solutions that would take this to the next level, but they’re so far from being all-inclusive and user-friendly that I just don’t feel like wasting my time with them.

I’m going to play around with Windows Media Center, Kylo, and maybe MediaPortal. But, let’s face it, we’re still at least 5-10 years away from an intuitive, all-inclusive HTPC platform. There’s too much DRM ambiguity, too many fractional platforms, and the software and hardware aren’t nearly integrated enough to aggregate and deliver content better a few disparate services can.

I’d love to try Boxee, but I’m not shelling out $170 just to play with it. I’d rather buy a 1080-supportive TV tuner and try using Windows Media Center as my cable box/DVR. That, combined with internet content in one UI, might be the best solution for now.

Think I’m wrong? Am I missing a major piece of the puzzle? Tell me about it in the comments.

Did you land on this page? Go back and see the previous posts in this series: part 1, part 2

Here’s all of the lumber. Since I was planning to paint the console, I got away with using select pine and plywood for the base and birch for the top. The whole thing cost around $325 to make, including the paint and the hardware. Look at this lumber pile. It just looks like work, doesn’t it?

I decided to just glue and screw the plywood to the side beams without any channel routing. Furniture like this isn’t difficult to make from a carpentry standpoint. It’s mostly 90° angles. The trick is anticipating how it’ll all come together and assembling everything in the proper order. I build things in my mind from top to bottom several times over before I buy any materials. As you can see, I had to plan several steps ahead with the sides panels, which support much of the console’s weight.

Then I attached the front slats directly to the sides and the console took shape. By doing it this way, I saved a ton of time. The frame came together in seven hours. I probably could have done it in half the time if I’d had a helper.

Next, I cut the top piece and routed a 45° angle on the underside of the lip to give it a little embellishment. There’s a false back that leaves 2½ inches of free space in the back of the console to allow for airflow, to dissipate light, to muffle noise, and to hide the myriad wires. I made it out of pegboard.

Once the everything was built, I added a sliding shelf for the printer and a shelf to hold the router and additional small components, respectively. I used a tinted primer to cut down on the final paint job. The softwood soaked up an entire quart of primer. Then I glued, screwed, and caulked the top piece to the base and painted it all with glossy black paint. This is the step that I dread in every project. Contorting yourself to get an even coat of paint in all the nooks and crannies of a piece of furniture strains muscles you didn’t even know you had.

I made the cabinet doors by gluing the slats together first. Over the years, I’ve learned that this is best done on the kitchen table over wax paper. My workbench and the garage floor are simply not level enough to ensure a good result.

Once the glue was dry, I routed the backsides of the frames and glued (and later caulked) plywood into the channels, making sure that the grain followed the same direction as the plywood on the sides.

After a quick sanding, I hung the doors. That might seem premature, since they weren’t painted yet, but I figure it’s easier to manage two pieces than four. I should add that I hate making and hanging doors. You can ruin an otherwise perfect piece of furniture with warped or uneven doors. I spend long periods of time at the hardware store laying slats on the ground and checking them for any signs of warpage or curvature. It’s kind of like this movie scene. Sometimes, cabinet doors look perfect for months until the seasons change and then a corner starts to lean away from the frame. It never closes properly again after that, and people will walk by and try to nudge it closed, even though it is closed. That’s like salt in the wound for me.

I attached the hinges to the door sets and the wife held them in place as I drilled the holes for the screws. Then I removed the doors, detached the hinges, and cut the doors in half on the table saw. They’re marked so that I know which door goes where on the console. Since everything was pre-drilled, the finished doors were easy to install in exactly the right position. I added some rubber pads to keep the doors from slamming, but since the doors close against the frame, I didn’t have to install door catches. That’s a nice reprieve. I hate installing door catches.

I remembered to brand the underside of the console.

UPDATE: Building a HTPC Console, Part 3

In the early ’80s, Waits began to shrug off the musical style that had made him famous. He became more experimental with his sound, releasing the album Swordfishtrombones in 1983 to a surprised audience. His songwriting moved away from ballads and toward more radical pop sounds. But what shocked his fans most was the way he tried on different voices like a shopper tries on clothes. He varied between sweet, somber tones and a gruff, blues-like howl. When a song ended, the seconds of silence between tracks made you agitate with wonder as to exactly which Tom Waits would appear next. You don’t really get that experience with anyone else.

As you might expect, some of Tom Waits’ fans didn’t follow him in his evolution.  But these changes brought new fans who appreciated his creativity and willingness to push barriers. Waits’ experimentation with sounds and vocals has only become more adventurous over the years, netting him several major awards and international renown.

Much like jumping head-first into Bob Dylan’s discography, Tom Waits’ catalogue can be a little intimidating. Shuffling between albums like Closing Time (1973) and Bone Machine (1999), you may wonder if you’re listening to the same artist at all. So here’s a suggested playlist that you might want to use as a cheat sheet. The songs are listed in chronological order by album release date. If you like these songs, then you might want to check out the whole albums. Either way, this will give you a good introduction to Tom Waits’ music, offering a small taste of his unique talent, wit, and charm.
 

Tom Waits’ Best Music: A Cheat Sheet

1. I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You, from the album, Closing Time (1973)
2. Ol ’55, from the album, Closing Time (1973)
3. Grapefruit Moon, from the album, Closing Time (1973)
4. Martha, from the album, Closing Time (1973)
5. San Diego Serenade, from the album, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
6. (Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night, from the album, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
7. Drunk on the Moon, from the album, The Heart of Saturday Night (1974)
8. The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me), from the album, Small Change (1976)
9. Invitation to the Blues, from the album, Small Change (1976)
10. Foreign Affair, from the album, Foreign Affairs (1977)
11. Downtown, from the album, Heartattack and Vine (1980)
12. Jersey Girl, from the album, Heartattack and Vine (1980)
13. Broken Bicycles, from the album, One From the Heart (1982)
14. Johnsburg, Illinois, from the album, Swordfishtrombines (1983)
15. In the Neighborhood, from the album, Swordfishtrombines (1983)
16. Time, from the album, Rain Dogs (1985)
17. Hang Down Your Head, from the album, Rain Dogs (1985)
18. Rain Dogs, from the album, Rain Dogs (1985)
19. Downtown Train, from the album, Rain Dogs (1985)
20. Innocent When You Dream (Barroom), from the album, Frank’s Wild Years (1987)
21. Cold, Cold, Ground, from the album, Frank’s Wild Years (1987)
22. I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, from the album, Bone Machine (1992)
23. Goin’ Out West, from the album, Bone Machine (1992)
24. Hold On, from the album, Mule Variations (1999)
25. House Where Nobody Lives, from the album, Mule Variations (1999)
26. Picture in a Frame, from the album, Mule Variations (1999)
27. All the World Is Green, from the album, Blood Money (2002)
28. You Can Never Hold Back Spring [CD-only], from the album, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)
29. Little Drop of Poison [CD-only], from the album, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)
30. Take Care of All My Children [CD-only], from the album, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006)

This list is by no means definitive or exhaustive. I didn’t even include all of Tom Waits’ albums. This is simply 30 songs that will serve as a blueprint for someone who’s just discovered Wait’s music and wants to learn more.  If you wanted to run to a used-CD store and pick up a few albums, I personally think these are his best five:

1. Closing Time
2. The Heart of Saturday Night
3. Rain Dogs
4. Mule Variations
5. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

Others may argue about whether another album or two should be include in this list, but no one will deny that you could do a lot worse than buying all five of these to start your collection.  You should also check out The Early Years, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for less-polished recordings of many of the songs listed above.

Did I miss something?  Think I’m way off with this list?  Tell me about it in the comments.

I was pretty late to organize my media on my computer. The wife and I didn’t get our first iPod until Christmas of 2009 and we quickly filled our old desktop PC with burned CDs. We needed a new computer, but I wanted to get one that was somewhat future-proof. These days, future-proof means it’ll last 5 years.

I’ve been wanting to move to Blu-Ray for a couple of years, but it didn’t make sense without a HDTV. And the wife and I wanted to do more streaming of online content, but we wanted to watch the content together at home. Without an internet-enabled device hooked up to a TV, it didn’t make much sense. Who wants to slouch over a laptop on the coffee table? So I decided I wouldn’t fork out any more money on electronics until I had a HTPC plan in place.

A lot of techies build their HTPCs from scratch, choosing graphics cards, processors, and drives to maximize their experience. I’m sure those machines are great, but I’m also pretty sure they’re not very wife-friendly. And I knew that if my set-up was any more complicated than switching the input on the TV remote, I would never hear the end of it. Plus, I’m not a gamer, so I don’t really need a maximal set-up.

To get the ball rolling, I bought a sleek little Windows 7 desktop with a dual-core processor, 500 GB of storage, as well as a 1 TB external hard drive. The PC basically exists as a network-attached storage device (NAS) as well as a web browser. With Windows HomeGroup, we store all of our music, pictures, video, and documents there and back it all up periodically to the cloud. Those files are easily accessible from several more user-friendly devices around the house via WI-FI.

My surround-sound A/V system still has a few years left in it, but it was time to retire my old DVD player. I’ve been making some extra income from my consulting work, so I finally joined the modern era and bought a Sony Blu-Ray player, a LG 1080p LCD HDTV, an EPSON wireless printer (which should be the last paper printer I ever buy), a DVD organizer, and a wireless, hand-held keyboard/mouse to use as a remote control. We’re still keeping digital cable with DVR for now, but I hope to dial back our usage and eventually cut our costs.

I used the dimensions of the new components to sketch out a plan for a multimedia console that would allow cool air into the storage space, block most of the light from bleeding into the rest of the room, and neatly store everything without showing any wires. This is my plan.

UPDATE: Building a HTPC Console, Part 2

There’s nothing complex about poppy seed chicken. If you’ve made it once, you’ve probably memorized the recipe. The only reason I’m blogging it is because a lot of people think it’s labor-intensive. It doesn’t have to be. As long as you have a stand mixer and a little time, it’s one of the easiest meals you can make, even if it’s not one of the healthiest. This version is based on my mother-in-law’s recipe.

Stand Mixer Poppy Seed Chicken

• 3-4 chicken breasts (depending on the size)
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

This is one of the wife’s favorite casseroles. It’s more like and upside-down chicken dip than anything else. What usually makes it labor-intensive is the shredding of the chicken. But, as I discussed in my chicken pot pie post, that’s an unnecessary step. If you have a stand mixer, it’ll do all of the work for you.

Preheat the oven to 400&dreg;. Place the chicken breasts in a 9 x 9 baking dish and just cover with chicken stock. Back uncovered for 40 minutes, turning once. You could do this in water, but I think the stock adds a little flavor. When the chicken goes into the oven, put the stick of butter out on the kitchen counter to soften.

When the chicken is finished cooking, drop the breasts into the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Do this while they’re hot. Lock the hinge and set the mixer to 2. It’ll jostle for a while and then settle down. It may splatter a little bit at first, so hold a kitchen towel up to the top of the bowl for a few seconds.

While the mixer is shredding your chicken, turn the oven down to 350°. Put the remaining butter in a 10 inch pan over medium-high heat. While it’s melting, crumble the Ritz crackers. I usually drop the whole sleeve on the ground and crush gently it with my heel. You have to be very careful not to burst the envelope or cracker crumbs will spill all over the place. Add the crumbs to the pan with the butter and shake until all of the crumbs are wet.

Add the rest of the butter (4 tablespoons), cream of chicken soup, sour cream, salt, pepper, and a couple of tablespoons of the chicken stock to the mixer bowl and increase the speed to 4. Meanwhile, shake your pan of cracker crumbs to make sure they’re toasting evenly. Pour the stock out of the baking pan, but you don’t need to wash it. When the chicken and sauce is incorporated evenly, pour the mixture into the still-warm baking dish. Top with the toasted cracker crumbs and sprinkle the poppy seeds evenly over the crackers.

Bake, covered, in a 350° oven for at least 30 minutes. Remove the foil for the last few minutes to crisp the top. If you do this right, you’ll only be actively preparing the dish for maybe four minutes. You’ll have a pan and a mixing bowl to clean, and that’s it. How easy is that? Serve alone or with salad and bread.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, then use a large food processor. In a worst-case scenario, you can shred the chicken with two forks. Hot, creamy, homemade poppy seed chicken will go a long way toward soothing the cramps that’ll plague your hands.

Once you realize how easy it is to shred meats in the stand mixer, you’ll feel like a fool for ever doing it the hard way. My BBQ pulled pork goes straight from the smoker to the stand mixer for shredding, Carolina-style, and then onto the serving tray with a little mustard-based sauce.

The Backstory

About a year ago, I redesigned my blog to give it a cleaner look in case potential clients were dropping by. I added a consulting page with a basic fee structure that was linked from the footers of websites I’ve built for others. But over the past year, I’ve been pulled more and more into the consulting arena. I thought it was finally time to orient my website away from random musings and more toward professional services. Not much is changing with me, personally; I’m still working full-time at my day job. I’ve just decided to more actively pursue my consulting work than I have in the past.

The Blog

If you enjoy getting pictures of my woodworking, recipes, and sundry DIY experiments emailed to you, you’ll still get them the same as before. Nothing is changing with the email subscription or the RSS feed. You’ll really only see the changes if you visit the front page of ChadChandler.com. Just scroll to the bottom of any page and you’ll see an area in black linking to my “Hobby Blog.” That’s where you can find all of the content you’re used to seeing.

Here’s a preview of the new look. Click on the image to visit the site and take a look around.

Problems associated with the redesign are what’s causing some old posts to go out via email to you. Sorry about that. I hope the problem goes away soon. If not, I’ll move to another feed publisher.

The New Feature

I’m publishing a separate “Free Advice” RSS feed for those readers who are interested in marketing and public relations. You can subscribe to it via feedburner or add this link to your bookmarks to see the new content. If you’d like to receive these new posts via email, click here and enter your email. If you don’t want anything to change, then don’t change anything. Life will go on exactly as it was before.

The Beg

If you know of anyone who’s looking for guidance in strategic marketing, web development, search engine optimization, or social media integration, please direct them to my website. Even if my services aren’t a good fit for their needs, I’d be happy to point them in the right direction.

If you don’t know of anyone who needs help, but you’re on LinkedIn, you could “follow” my little company page.

Thanks, and wish me luck!

Chad

I don’t eat raw vegetables. It sounds weird, but I’m allergic and I get itchy and blotchy all over. It happens with red wine sometimes too. It’s more annoying than dangerous, but I stay away from them whenever I can. One of the problems with cooking a lot is that it’s only economical to buy raw vegetables in bulk. I’ve recently made gumbo and meatloaf for Sunday meals. Each time, I had half a bag of carrots and celery left over. Since crudités is off the table, so to speak, I usually just make a chicken pot pie to get rid of the leftovers.

Chicken pot pie sounds intimidating, but it’s really not. It’s especially easy if you have a food processor or a stand mixer. Think of it as a super-thick version of chicken soup. Who’s afraid of making chicken soup? This is another Sunday recipe of mine, meaning it’s good to throw on the stove before church and then plan on finishing it a few hours later for lunch.

Chad Chandler’s Chicken Pot Pie

Crust

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (or lard)
• 2 eggs, beaten, divided

Filling

• 3 chicken breasts, poached and shredded
• 3½ cups low sodium chicken stock, divided
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup (1½sticks) butter
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 1 lb)
• 1 cup diced celery (about 1 lb)
• 1 cup diced russet potato (about 1 lb)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 leeks, cleaned and diced (light green parts only)
• ½ cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon fresh (or ½ teaspoon dried) sage
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• additional salt and pepper to taste

I think I learned how to make the crust from this recipe at Epicurious. Ideally, the crust should be made at least a few hours before baking the pie. If you can do it the night before, then that’s even better. I’ve made it two hours before baking (without refrigerating it at all) and no one was the wiser, so don’t stress too much over it.

If you have a stand mixer, pour the dry ingredients into the bowl and stir everything slowly (on 2) with the paddle attachment. Next, add the butter (a little at a time), the egg, and the shortening. Mix (on 4) until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to form it into a tight ball and smash it into a one-inch-thick disc. Wrap the disc tightly in plastic wrap and toss it into the fridge. If the dough looks mealy and doesn’t really come together, add cold water a tablespoon at a time until it does. Leave the mixer out on the counter.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, just pulse the dough with a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, then buy some pre-made dough from the freezer section of your grocery store. I’ve kneaded the dough by hand before, but it’s pretty labor-intensive and I don’t recommend it.

Put the chicken breasts in a casserole dish, pour in 1½ cups of chicken stock into the pan, and slide it uncovered into a 375° oven. It’s the same thing we do when we make creamy chicken salad. Flip them after about 20 minutes and take them out after around 40 minutes when cooked through. I used to shred boneless meat with two forks, but it’s painful and takes forever. Now I just toss all of the chicken into the stand mixer and let the paddle (on 2 at first and then I turn up to 4) shred it for me.

Peel and chop all of the vegetables into 1/4 inch cubes (ignore the peas until later). You want the pieces to be about the same size. Leeks are notoriously dirty, so you need to follow the directions here to clean them.

To make the roux, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it’s foaming, slowly add the flour and whisk constantly. You’ll need to cook the roux until it’s the color of light peanut butter. It’ll only take 5-10 minutes and then you add the remaining two cups of chicken stock as you continue to whisk. This is the base for the chicken pot pie. When the mixture comes to a boil, it’ll thicken up nicely.

Once it’s bubbling, add the chicken (and the leftover poaching stock), vegetables, peas, sage, salt, pepper, and stir. Turn the heat down to very low and cover. Simmer for at least one hour and up to four, stirring occasionally. I like to cook the pie filling until the potato is starting to fall apart, about three hours.

Let the dough come to room temperature before rolling (at least 30 minutes). Preheat the oven to 400°. Season the filling to taste with salt and pepper before pouring as much as you can into a 9 x 13 (4 quart) baking dish. Lightly flour a work surface and take the dough out of the plastic wrap. Roll the dough as uniformly as you can until it’s the size of the dish. Roll the dough over the roller and unroll it onto the casserole dish.

If you’re like me, you’ll tear it in a dozen places and it’ll be shaped like a salamander. Just pick up the flattened, deformed dough and lay it over the top of the casserole dish as best you can. Use scraps to fill any holes. It doesn’t matter how patchwork it looks. The dough pieces will meld together as they cook. Cut off the excess dough and brush the top of the dough with the other beaten egg.

Poke a few slits around the top of the crust to allow the steam to vent. There’s a good chance the pie will rise and boil over, so place the casserole dish onto a rimmed baking sheet. Gently slide it into the oven and bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour. Take it out when it looks like the crust is about to burn, if that makes sense. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

I should note that this recipe makes more crust than you need, but you need a lot of crust to be able to roll it big enough to cover a rectangular dish. So be aware that you’ll waste a good 25¢ of all-purpose flour. Tragic, I know.

Some people find it annoying that I’m not specific about the amount of vegetables, but it doesn’t really matter. You can load it up or skimp and the dish will come out the same as long as you make the roux correctly. So if you don’t want to add leeks, then leave them out. If you like mushrooms, add them in. I usually throw whatever I have in the “crisper” drawer into the pot.

On a side not, why do they call it a “crisper?” Have you ever put anything in there that didn’t come out more limp than it was going in? If there was truth in advertising, wouldn’t it be called the “rotter?”

It’s taken me a long time, but I’ve finally perfected gumbo. I’ve gone through countless over-complicated recipes over the years and have systematically thrown out the steps and ingredients that were superfluous. This recipe is what remained. It’s the best gumbo I’ve ever had.

I usually do a shrimp and sausage gumbo, but you could add crab, fish, chicken thighs, smoked turkey, or anything else you like. But you have to use one pound of hot andouille sausage or it won’t come out the same. That’s where the spices come from in this version.

Here’s pretty much everything you need:

Chad Chandler’s Perfect Gumbo

• 1 lb jumbo shrimp, halved (shells reserved)
• 1 lb hot andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
• 2 large (or 3 medium) onions, diced
• 4 large bell peppers, chopped
• 5 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 lb fresh okra, sliced, divided
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes, crushed
• 7 cups water
• 1 14.5 oz can chicken stock (1 3/4 cups)
• 14 tablespoons butter (just get two sticks), divided
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

It’s easy to look at this lengthy ingredient list and get intimidated, but it’s not really as complicated as it seems. There’s a lot of chopping and stirring at first, but once the gumbo is on the stove, you can walk away. Plus, you end up with six quarts of gourmet food for around $25.

You’re going to need a dutch oven or a large pan for the roux, a large pan for the sausage, and a small pot for the shrimp stock. So make room on the stove. I usually pour everything into a stock pot after it’s all mixed together and clean the other pots and pans.

To begin, slice the andouille sausage into 1/4 inch rounds and cut the smoked sausage into 1/4 inch half-moons. I do that so the wife knows which sausage is spicy and which is not. I throw the sausage into a large pan over medium heat while I’m chopping all of the onions, peppers, celery (known as the Holy Trinity in Cajun cooking) and garlic. You want to render the fat and let it crisp around the edges.

Once the veggies are all chopped (but not the okra), I pour the water and the chicken stock into a small pot and put it on the back burner. I bring out the shrimp and leave them on the counter by the stove.

Next, it’s time to make the roux. A roux isn’t difficult, but it is labor-intensive. And since gumbo gets its taste, color and texture from the roux, you can’t cheat. You melt a stick and half (12 tablespoons) of butter over medium heat until it foams. Then you gradually mix in 3/4 cups of flour. This process takes about twenty minutes, so be prepared to whisk almost constantly the entire time.

If the roux burns, it’s ruined; you have to start all over. So stir it constantly until it darkens to the color of peanut butter. Then it should get a little more watery and you can go about 20 seconds between stirring sessions. This is when I take the opportunity to peel the shrimp. I peel one, toss the peel into the pot of water, put the shrimp in a bowl, and then whisk the roux. Then another shrimp in hand, peel into the water, shrimp into a bowl, and whisk the roux. Over and over again until they’re all peeled and the shrimp are back in the fridge.

It can be a little daunting managing all of these pans at the same time, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Or better yet, get a helper. The wife was busy making new pillows for our den furniture, so I was on my own as usual.

Turn the heat up to medium-high on the shrimp stock. You want it to simmer (so turn it to low once it’s boiling) until the roux is finished cooking. If it starts to foam on top, slide it off the heat and blow on it or it’ll spill over and your house will smell like burnt marine exoskeleton for a few days.

Meanwhile, you should still be stirring the roux and shaking the sausage pan to make sure it’s not burning. If the suasage does start to stick to the bottom, just pour a little water into the pan to deglaze it.

When the roux gets to be the color of a Hershey’s chocolate bar, you’re done.

Place a colander over your roux pot and slowly pour in the stock. Once it’s all incorporated, whisk vigorously to combine. This is the base of your gumbo. Most of the work is done.

Turn the heat to medium-low and turn your focus to the sausage. By now, the sausage should have rendered a lot of orange-colored fat. You want to remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and toss it into the gumbo pot. Pour out all of the fat except for about three tablespoons. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter and pour in as much of the Trinity as you can get into the pan. Sprinkle a big pinch of salt over the vegetables. This will purge the water into the pan. If you can’t fit all of the Trinity into the pan, then just toss the rest into the gumbo pot.

You’re really just using the Trinity to deglaze the sausage pan and absorb all of the sausage flavor. While the vegetables render and eventually cook off their water, open the cans of tomatoes. Shake out the excess liquid over the sink, but it’s not a big deal if some remains. Pour the stewed tomatoes into a bowl and squeeze the chunks through your fingers until it’s all crushed uniformly. Then pour it into the gumbo pot.

When the trinity is starting to sizzle and brown, toss in the minced garlic, stir well, and let it all cook for a few more minutes. Then toss it all into the gumbo pot. You might have to use a bigger pot, and you might not.

Cut half of the okra into 1/2 inch rounds and toss it into the gumbo pot with the worcestershire, thyme, salt, and pepper. You’ll add the rest later. Bring the gumbo to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. If you taste the gumbo now, it’ll seem watery and off-tasting because of the worcestershire. That’s normal. Just trust me. Don’t add any more seasonings. Cover and simmer for at least four hours and up to six and it’ll turn out great.

After a few hours, slice and add the remaining okra. When there’s an hour left until you’re planning to serve the gumbo, take the lid off the pot and turn up the heat a little. You want to evaporate about a half-inch of the liquid. Just stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom and look at the waterline in the pot. When you’re fifteen minutes away from serving, cut the shrimp in half with some kitchen shears and add them to the gumbo. They’ll cook almost instantly.

Season to taste with a little salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Serve with white rice, hot sauce, and filé powder if you like it. I love filé in dark stews. It’s just dried and pounded sassafras leaves. But you should know that it gets gummy if it boils, so you never add it to the pot. Just sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon over your bowl.

This gumbo demands a good amount of prep work, but the payout is huge. The taste should be amazing, the texture should be thick and smooth, and you should have meat in every bite.