Duff's

Duff's brought Buffalo one of the finest versions of wings back in 1969 and has continued to do so ever since. They are hot, there doesn't appear to be a mild, but even so, despite the heat, the flavor is full on from first taste to finish. To top it all off, they are undeniably addictive.

Their hot sauce is locally made and their house beer is brewed by Rochester's CB's Brewing Company. If you visit their home base in Amherst, NY, ask for Maggie as your waitress, she's a real sweetheart!








We ordered the 1/2 pitcher of house brew, fries, and 20 wing special and Blue and Bacon Burgers. What impressed me were the crisp shoestring fries, the equally crisp bacon, and the soft rolls from Costanzo's Bakery!

Nothing destroys a perfectly good blue cheese and bacon burger than stringy under-cooked bacon or a crappy cheap roll, and as you can see pictured below this was not the case. It was a stupendous burger! If only this post was scratch & sniff.

      

Tomato Skin Powder or Flakes - Flavor Booster

Since the sauce class on Saturday 8th, I've had two sheets of tomato skins drying. These are tasty to add to your spice blends. The concentrated, almost roasted red pepper flavor is a great flavor booster. I was inspired by a post in You Grow Girl (a blog that has loads of great ideas) which was inspired by Liana Krissoff's 'Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry'.

Only use organic tomatoes, to ensure a wholesome product. Slide two tomatoes at a time for 30 seconds in boiling water and then dunk them in icy cold water. Slip the skins off and drain in a colander. The tomatoes can then be processed for sauce.

The skins can be laid out on waxed or parchment paper and dried in a sunny and dry location or on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet set at 200 degrees until crisp.

Break up several tbls of peels into small pieces and grind them in a spice grinder, though a very clean coffee grinder will work too.

Using a coffee grinder can be a challenge as the peels grind unevenly. Powder puffs up to make you sneeze and you end up with a mix of grinds and flakes.

To be honest, I didn't really mind this. Sprinkled on homemade Fettucini Alfredo, this would present a stunning dish.

Store the powder/flakes in a clean and dry glass apothecary jar or vacuum sealed jar. Keep it in a dark, cool, and dry cabinet.

Chard Pie

Approximately 2 1/2 pounds of tomatoes are thinly sliced.

Three pounds of chard is steamed and then rinsed in cold water.

Fistful of fresh thyme.

Eight cloves worth of minced garlic, 4 tbls of olive oil and thyme heated on low.

Chard is squeezed and rough chopped and added to the pan. Sauted for ten minutes.

10 oz of cheese, shredded.

Using an oiled cheese cake pan, bread is layered first, then tomatoes, then chard, and then cheese.

Repeated until the pan is filled. Pressed down to compress the layers and then baked at 400 degrees for thirty minutes.

Set out to cool for 10 minutes and then removed from the form.

Sliced and served with steamed zucchini and watermelon.

You can use any kind of vegetable combination you'd like for this pie. Such as tomato and zucchini or onion, garlic, and leek. Use your imagination!

Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin with Tomato, Onion and Cucumber Salad

The organic tenderloin marinated in cracked peppercorns, powdered onion, celery salt, soy sauce and malt vinegar.

Grilled with large moist portobello mushrooms, this tenderloin reached 145 degrees very quickly. It sliced beautifully and was juicy and tender.

Served with olive tapenade and olive goat cheese, and an onion, tomato and cucumber  salad.