Foodie Friday - Veep-Stakes

Home Run. Grand Slam.

That's how I would describe Governor Sarah Palin's speech last night at the Republican National Convention.

I actually spent the better part of the last three evenings live-blogging during the speeches over at BlogHer (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). It was fun.

Yeah, I'm a nerd.

So to recap... she had incredible hair, a beautiful suit, and a lot of moxy.

Friends she brought it. That was some great TV.

Sorry, showing the nerdyness again.

Here's what I loved:

"You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick" (not an exact quote)
It was extremely endearing the way she engaged the other Hockey Moms from Michigan. When I looked at the transcript of her prepared remarks, this quote was not there. She was very comfortable addressing and acknowledging them off the cuff.

There was a theme in her speech, not so much about policy, but about showing differences between Senator McCain and Senator Obama.

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain,who use their careers to promote change."

"And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they are always, quote, "fighting for you," let us face the matter squarely. There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you..."

Some have called her remarks "snarky," "sarcastic," "off-putting." Yes, the may have been a little bit of those things. However, I think it was that tone that drew me in.

Some complained about the "Dem-bashing," but seriously, this was just a big pep rally. And what do we do at a pep rally? Talk a little trash about the opposing team. I didn't watch the DNC (should have, but didn't), and I expect they did their fair share of Republican bashing.

But, in the end, it was a heck of a speech. And Senator McCain showed some maturity and wisdom by listening to others and probably putting his own preferences aside by giving up who may have been his first choice to choose Governor Palin. There seem to be a lot of people that are awfully excited now about this campaign that have not been - myself included.

Therefore, in honor of our Republican VP Nominee, from the great state of Alaska, I'd like to share with you what we hear is one of Governor Sarah Palin's favorite dishes.

Moose Stew.

They say you can use venison in this recipe instead of moose. I think I'll do that since I actually do have some venison in my freezer. And, since there aren't any mooses (meese?) wandering around here in North Texas, most of us may just have to use beef. This actually looks very similar to the stew that I make with beef. I'll share that recipe with you sometime later.

But when I think of food from Alaska, more often than not, I think of salmon. And since moose isn't something we can just run down to Central Market to pick up, I thought this might be a little more practical for most of us. I'll share my favorite way to cook it.

I marinate the salmon fillet for a few minutes in a mixture of brown sugar, teryaki sauce, soy sauce, honey and crushed red pepper. Just before grilling I add some citrus (orange, lemon or lime juice). I grill salmon on a cedar plank (you know you need to soak it in water for quite a while first) over indirect heat (burners on one side, food on the other).

I like my salmon very much on the rare side. My man likes his salmon "minus the flopping" as he says it. So, just watch it very carefully, because even if you like it cooked more than it should be like my man does, it can get over-cooked and dry out very easily.

Another thing that is good is to take some smoked salmon and mix it with some cream cheese and eat it spread on a cracker. Oh, talk about delicious.