chowder:
genrous olive oil, then a cup to aout cup and to coup and a half of leeks. aim for the green areas first, then julienne the bottom.
fry for a coulple of minutes, then garlic, couple of cloves minced.
for the mushrooms, once the leeks are stewing, wash them, then cut into slices. make sure the leeks are nicely spread across the bottom.
then one full basin/ or cup of clam juice. follow with an equal amount of water.
allow the entire stew to cook for about couple of minutes, until it is boiling.
next chop the zucchini, cut them thinly lenghtwise, then dice them width wise.
prepare cod/scrod, hell salmon if you are feeling wild. aim for a white filet. cut them into 1inch, to 3/4 inch pieces, squares. uncover the stew to cool down a little.
add the zucchini once the stew seems nicely cooked. then sprinkle the potato flake. one cup, to make sure the potato flakes don't clump up, make sure you use a whisk while adding it slowly to the stew.
cut shrimp, if they are large, to roughly around the same size as the cod
about half a cup of half and half. bring to a boil and it is ready to serve once it comes back to a boil.
bacon rescued brussel sprouts;
sautee the entire time
dice the brussel sprouts thinly. in the meantime, have your bacon cooking on a hot pan, and then mix into it sliced brussel sprouts. add in some salt, then add some pepper as well. then cover the entire setup, sweating out the brussel sprouts. keep cooking until you see that most of the moisture is gone, ie. you see that when you remove the cover and you see not as much steam coming out.
"can never go wrong with a good olive oil"
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
jacques pepin is awesome:
seafood chowder
olive oil in to a deep pan. heat, while you slice up an entire leek. julienne the end. add in about 1-2 cloves of minced garlic spirnkle in salt and pepper. then add one cup of clam juice, will serve as the base. then an equal amount of water. bring to a boil. in the middle of the boil step, add in some sliced mushrooms. in the meantime, cut into about .5-1inch long pieces of cod. once the mixture is in a boil, use a wisk to add one cup of potato flakes to act as a thickener, to ensure that it does not clump up. bring the mixture to a boil again. during that boil step, take 3-4 squash, slice into cubes and add into pan when mixture is in a boil. add in about 3-4tblspn of half and half to enhance the chowder.
after a couple of minutes after adding the squash, and literally only minutes until people are about to eat, add in the cod, and follow with 10-12 shrimp that you have also cut into small cubes (if starting with medium shrimp).
enjoy!
i haven;t tried this yet, but it is defn on my list.
kqed.org/morefastfoodmyway
seafood chowder
olive oil in to a deep pan. heat, while you slice up an entire leek. julienne the end. add in about 1-2 cloves of minced garlic spirnkle in salt and pepper. then add one cup of clam juice, will serve as the base. then an equal amount of water. bring to a boil. in the middle of the boil step, add in some sliced mushrooms. in the meantime, cut into about .5-1inch long pieces of cod. once the mixture is in a boil, use a wisk to add one cup of potato flakes to act as a thickener, to ensure that it does not clump up. bring the mixture to a boil again. during that boil step, take 3-4 squash, slice into cubes and add into pan when mixture is in a boil. add in about 3-4tblspn of half and half to enhance the chowder.
after a couple of minutes after adding the squash, and literally only minutes until people are about to eat, add in the cod, and follow with 10-12 shrimp that you have also cut into small cubes (if starting with medium shrimp).
enjoy!
i haven;t tried this yet, but it is defn on my list.
kqed.org/morefastfoodmyway
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Oven Baked Halibut Steaks
easiness personified:
1) Have friend go to Alaska, fish for week and return with several halibut steaks as a present.
2) Thaw the fish in the fridge and don't do it under hot water, or i will personally hunt you down. This cooks the fish, which you don't want to happen.
pre-heat oven to 400deg.
Lay down a foil about the size of 2/3 of your oven pan. I will add about .5 tblspn of olive oil onto the foil, spread around such that you cover the cooking surface, the size of your steak!
Now stack the following on the foil. I will take a lemon, and slice it width-wise, such that you end up with circle slice of lemon. remember, as thinly as possible, always. Assume that i mean this every time you slice something, unless i note otherwise. then place the halibut steak on top. add a little salt, some pepper and thinly sliced/diced basil. I suggest thai basil, but italian suffices. Next, slice tomatoes in the same way you did with the lemons (heirloom tomatoes aka as ugly, are magical for this dish), but make the slices around 1cm-1.2cm thick. Place the slices on top of the halibut.
Roll up the foil into a sealed bag way. wherein the fish is in the center and you roll up the sides. Place in oven and its takes around 20-30min, depending on your oven. Check after 18min, and take a fork, stick into the steak. if you can move the fish cleanly apart from itself, this indicates cooked.
the beauty of this dish, aside from its ease, is how the liquid from the tomatoes infuses its way downward into the halibut, along with the basil!
most definitely GO.
1) Have friend go to Alaska, fish for week and return with several halibut steaks as a present.
2) Thaw the fish in the fridge and don't do it under hot water, or i will personally hunt you down. This cooks the fish, which you don't want to happen.
pre-heat oven to 400deg.
Lay down a foil about the size of 2/3 of your oven pan. I will add about .5 tblspn of olive oil onto the foil, spread around such that you cover the cooking surface, the size of your steak!
Now stack the following on the foil. I will take a lemon, and slice it width-wise, such that you end up with circle slice of lemon. remember, as thinly as possible, always. Assume that i mean this every time you slice something, unless i note otherwise. then place the halibut steak on top. add a little salt, some pepper and thinly sliced/diced basil. I suggest thai basil, but italian suffices. Next, slice tomatoes in the same way you did with the lemons (heirloom tomatoes aka as ugly, are magical for this dish), but make the slices around 1cm-1.2cm thick. Place the slices on top of the halibut.
Roll up the foil into a sealed bag way. wherein the fish is in the center and you roll up the sides. Place in oven and its takes around 20-30min, depending on your oven. Check after 18min, and take a fork, stick into the steak. if you can move the fish cleanly apart from itself, this indicates cooked.
the beauty of this dish, aside from its ease, is how the liquid from the tomatoes infuses its way downward into the halibut, along with the basil!
most definitely GO.
Beef Tapa
hi there!
any cut of meat, really. the wonders of marination. actually, I would even go so far as to calling this cured beef.
in slicing the beef, make sure that you try to remove as much as fat as possible. now I am not saying strip it off every piece, but remove large pieces, this is important because you will be frying these and any remaining fat will be in the pan while frying. Aim for beef slices no more than 1-1.5cmwide, and around 6-8cm long. Im anal-retentive, i know, it aint news, move on.
Place meat slices in a metal bowl and heap on a good amount of brown-sugar. Enough brown suger such that you can easily cover every piece of meat with a coat of brown sugar. Once you have fully worked the sugar into the beef.... and I mean work it in; then add soy sauce such that you are able to 1/2 of the way submerge the meat. now work in the soysauce, and try to rub it such that you use up most of the liquid. you will notice it thicken. this is why it is important to work in the sugar first, you don't want to just wash it away with the soysauce. After a couple of minutes of working the entire mixture with you hands, move meat off to a corner of the bowl, drain off excess soy sauce then cover the tastiness with a foil cover and place into the fridge overnight.
The next evening/day/whenever you wish really, remove foil, look at the meat, admire, then add a little bit of white sugar (tempers the flavor) just enough for a thin coat over the top layer of the meat. work in the sugar again and massage the entire marinade, you want to do this to evenly distribute the flavor that has settled in the bottom on the bowl. refoil and place into the fridge again overnight. The second night of marination REALLY helps make the meat tender. I've rushed this dish with one evening, and it isn't half bad, but it is a little tougher and the flavor is not quite spread throughout the entire meat.
Now, for cooking. I highly suggest a wok, and this will become apparent why:
Place cooking oil, amount enough such that the flat layer of the wok has about .5-1cm of oil. Hah, now you know why its important to remove excess fat! Now, it is important that you oil be on high, and be piping hot when you place in the meat. and I mean HOT. like near smoking. Don't worry about any splashback.... be a man :)
Once hot, add on all the meat and stir vigorously. You need to make sure the meat starts releasing liquid before it sticks to the wok. Once you see the juice come out, and bubble, cook the meat for about another 5-6min in this. I usually place a pan cover on top of the meat. and once you see the mixture bubbling out from the sides of the pan cover, that indicates it is near 3/4 cooked.
Now, once the meat is about 3/4 of the way cooked, remove it from the center of the wok. Make sure that all the meat is hanging up on the sides of the pan. You will then leave them there while you reduce the juice and flavory goodness to a nice sticky deliciousness. Keep the wok near high, and stir the liquid for a while, letting it bubble. Keep at this, occassionally mixing in the meat quickly, just to keep the meat moist, but then promptly return it to the sides of the pan. Reduce the mixture until you can tell it is pretty thick and reduced in volume to about 1/3-1/4 of what it used to be. You want the meat off to the side to prevent it form overcooking AND this dramatically increase the rate at which the mixture reduces.
Once you've reduced the mixture, mix the meat in one last time, and the sauce must be reduced to the point that some of it invariably gets stuck on the sides of the wok, no longer running down the sides - my indicator of whether or not I have reduced it enough.
While the dish cools (i toss the dish throughly in the wok, trying to cover every piece of meat with the reduction, then leave the entire thing in the wok while i move to the next thing), I cook eggs over easy, or to your liking, and slice up some tomatoes.
This dish is served on a bed of rice, meat on top, tomato slices and egg on the side.
I suggest: GO!
any cut of meat, really. the wonders of marination. actually, I would even go so far as to calling this cured beef.
in slicing the beef, make sure that you try to remove as much as fat as possible. now I am not saying strip it off every piece, but remove large pieces, this is important because you will be frying these and any remaining fat will be in the pan while frying. Aim for beef slices no more than 1-1.5cmwide, and around 6-8cm long. Im anal-retentive, i know, it aint news, move on.
Place meat slices in a metal bowl and heap on a good amount of brown-sugar. Enough brown suger such that you can easily cover every piece of meat with a coat of brown sugar. Once you have fully worked the sugar into the beef.... and I mean work it in; then add soy sauce such that you are able to 1/2 of the way submerge the meat. now work in the soysauce, and try to rub it such that you use up most of the liquid. you will notice it thicken. this is why it is important to work in the sugar first, you don't want to just wash it away with the soysauce. After a couple of minutes of working the entire mixture with you hands, move meat off to a corner of the bowl, drain off excess soy sauce then cover the tastiness with a foil cover and place into the fridge overnight.
The next evening/day/whenever you wish really, remove foil, look at the meat, admire, then add a little bit of white sugar (tempers the flavor) just enough for a thin coat over the top layer of the meat. work in the sugar again and massage the entire marinade, you want to do this to evenly distribute the flavor that has settled in the bottom on the bowl. refoil and place into the fridge again overnight. The second night of marination REALLY helps make the meat tender. I've rushed this dish with one evening, and it isn't half bad, but it is a little tougher and the flavor is not quite spread throughout the entire meat.
Now, for cooking. I highly suggest a wok, and this will become apparent why:
Place cooking oil, amount enough such that the flat layer of the wok has about .5-1cm of oil. Hah, now you know why its important to remove excess fat! Now, it is important that you oil be on high, and be piping hot when you place in the meat. and I mean HOT. like near smoking. Don't worry about any splashback.... be a man :)
Once hot, add on all the meat and stir vigorously. You need to make sure the meat starts releasing liquid before it sticks to the wok. Once you see the juice come out, and bubble, cook the meat for about another 5-6min in this. I usually place a pan cover on top of the meat. and once you see the mixture bubbling out from the sides of the pan cover, that indicates it is near 3/4 cooked.
Now, once the meat is about 3/4 of the way cooked, remove it from the center of the wok. Make sure that all the meat is hanging up on the sides of the pan. You will then leave them there while you reduce the juice and flavory goodness to a nice sticky deliciousness. Keep the wok near high, and stir the liquid for a while, letting it bubble. Keep at this, occassionally mixing in the meat quickly, just to keep the meat moist, but then promptly return it to the sides of the pan. Reduce the mixture until you can tell it is pretty thick and reduced in volume to about 1/3-1/4 of what it used to be. You want the meat off to the side to prevent it form overcooking AND this dramatically increase the rate at which the mixture reduces.
Once you've reduced the mixture, mix the meat in one last time, and the sauce must be reduced to the point that some of it invariably gets stuck on the sides of the wok, no longer running down the sides - my indicator of whether or not I have reduced it enough.
While the dish cools (i toss the dish throughly in the wok, trying to cover every piece of meat with the reduction, then leave the entire thing in the wok while i move to the next thing), I cook eggs over easy, or to your liking, and slice up some tomatoes.
This dish is served on a bed of rice, meat on top, tomato slices and egg on the side.
I suggest: GO!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Chimichurri with beef
So i love to marinate cheap meat bought from the store and turn it into something delicious.
One of my assured recipes is to take the meat, slice it into your desired sizes. I tend to grill, well, most anything; so if it was a piece of flank or chuck, i would cut it in half, such that you end up with sheets of meat. Next i place it into a a large freezer bag, then add a thinly sliced onion. Now i must also add that i am very particular about slicing anything as thinly as possible. Maybe its because in high school physics the only concept i truly understood was surface area, such that any increase in it (dependent on HOW many times you can slice a veggie/fruit) will inevitably lead to an increase in its contact with your marinade/meat etc. Or maybe its because i think my knife is a badass and i just love slicing things as thinly as possible. but whatever. the point is, i cut the onion as thinly as possible. Include one lemon squeezed lemon per 1-1.5lbs of meat, then enough soy sauce such that the meat is just covered (don't douse it with soy sauce). Another way of determining your ideal proportion is to mix the lemon and soy sauce separately, and mix it dependent on taste (to each his own, right). add a little pepper, and sometimes I also add garlic, depends on how you feel!
Let sit overnight. in the morning, invert the bag.
Now 1.5hr before food goes on the grill, prepare the chimichurri rub. if you look this up on the internet, you will see tons of versions, styles. it is an incredibly versatile marinade, although after testing it, ive found it works fantastic with beef, not so much with chicken, and decent with pork. but i would definitely call this a beef rub.
2tblspn of:
oregano
basil
thyme
(parsley, though i've never used this, AHEM kath :)
1tblspn of:
summer savory
paprika
garlic
kosher salt
crushed black pepper (i use a little less of this, mainly because i reserve most of my spice in the form of cayenne pepper. which is just MAGICAL)
1tspn of:
crushed red pepper
and maybe half a tspn if cayenne, be liberal!
mix quickly, then add 2:2 tblspn of vinegar:water and let the mixture rehydrate for 15' RT. make sure to mix what little liquid you add-in thoroughly. i am usually anti-vinegar, but in the end it is all about solubility. you add in a mixture of water (wherein some spices/flavors are soluble) and vinegar (same concept) and by letting the rub rehydrate, you are pulling out of the spices a liquid mixture of their flavors. after 15', add in 3tblspn of olive oil (wherein even more flavors insoluble in the previous two solvents come out!) mix throughly. I will then generously rub the mix onto the meat. and i mean GENEROUSLY. Let sit for one hour in the fridge.
During grilling, try to avoid pouring beer on the meat. it is one of my favorite things to do while grilling, maintains the moisture of grilled meats, but in this case you end up just washing off the seasoning. The beauty of this rub lies in that it burns, and burns really easily. however, if packed generously on top of the meat, you end up burning mainly the rub, and not so much the meat. thus what you end up with is charred carne asada with all the smoke and flavor of the rub but with the tender moisture achieved by the overnight marinade not to mention two very different flavors on the inside and outside of the meat.
suggestion: most definitely GO.
One of my assured recipes is to take the meat, slice it into your desired sizes. I tend to grill, well, most anything; so if it was a piece of flank or chuck, i would cut it in half, such that you end up with sheets of meat. Next i place it into a a large freezer bag, then add a thinly sliced onion. Now i must also add that i am very particular about slicing anything as thinly as possible. Maybe its because in high school physics the only concept i truly understood was surface area, such that any increase in it (dependent on HOW many times you can slice a veggie/fruit) will inevitably lead to an increase in its contact with your marinade/meat etc. Or maybe its because i think my knife is a badass and i just love slicing things as thinly as possible. but whatever. the point is, i cut the onion as thinly as possible. Include one lemon squeezed lemon per 1-1.5lbs of meat, then enough soy sauce such that the meat is just covered (don't douse it with soy sauce). Another way of determining your ideal proportion is to mix the lemon and soy sauce separately, and mix it dependent on taste (to each his own, right). add a little pepper, and sometimes I also add garlic, depends on how you feel!
Let sit overnight. in the morning, invert the bag.
Now 1.5hr before food goes on the grill, prepare the chimichurri rub. if you look this up on the internet, you will see tons of versions, styles. it is an incredibly versatile marinade, although after testing it, ive found it works fantastic with beef, not so much with chicken, and decent with pork. but i would definitely call this a beef rub.
2tblspn of:
oregano
basil
thyme
(parsley, though i've never used this, AHEM kath :)
1tblspn of:
summer savory
paprika
garlic
kosher salt
crushed black pepper (i use a little less of this, mainly because i reserve most of my spice in the form of cayenne pepper. which is just MAGICAL)
1tspn of:
crushed red pepper
and maybe half a tspn if cayenne, be liberal!
mix quickly, then add 2:2 tblspn of vinegar:water and let the mixture rehydrate for 15' RT. make sure to mix what little liquid you add-in thoroughly. i am usually anti-vinegar, but in the end it is all about solubility. you add in a mixture of water (wherein some spices/flavors are soluble) and vinegar (same concept) and by letting the rub rehydrate, you are pulling out of the spices a liquid mixture of their flavors. after 15', add in 3tblspn of olive oil (wherein even more flavors insoluble in the previous two solvents come out!) mix throughly. I will then generously rub the mix onto the meat. and i mean GENEROUSLY. Let sit for one hour in the fridge.
During grilling, try to avoid pouring beer on the meat. it is one of my favorite things to do while grilling, maintains the moisture of grilled meats, but in this case you end up just washing off the seasoning. The beauty of this rub lies in that it burns, and burns really easily. however, if packed generously on top of the meat, you end up burning mainly the rub, and not so much the meat. thus what you end up with is charred carne asada with all the smoke and flavor of the rub but with the tender moisture achieved by the overnight marinade not to mention two very different flavors on the inside and outside of the meat.
suggestion: most definitely GO.
Monday, August 24, 2009
my favorite quiche recipe, shamelessly stolen from epicuriousdotcom. but then hey, is any cooking idea ever truly original? i have learned most of my dishes from other people then added my own personal touch to it. in the end, all that matters is that it tastes good!
Filling
Filling
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup chopped shallots (about 2 medium)
- 1/2 pound mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 5 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 2 large eggs
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground black pepper
- 2 green onions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely grated Gruyère cheese - Ahem. feel free to indulge
For filling:
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Increase heat to high and sauté until liquid is absorbed and mushrooms are tender, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 1/2 teaspoons thyme and cook 1 minute. Transfer mixture to plate. Cool mushrooms completely.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place cooled crust in pan on baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons thyme. Drain mushrooms, if needed. Scatter mushrooms over thyme. Whisk cream, eggs, salt, and pepper in medium bowl. Pour egg mixture over mushrooms. Sprinkle with green onions and cheese.
Bake quiche until custard is set, about 25 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
N.B. i just use store-bought pie crust. i won't even pretend that i can bake. oh also, be a little more liberal with the gruyere. i add to pie crust, with the filling, then even on top of the egg. it is delicious after all.
roast cornish game hen:
coat with summer savory, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, hint of pepper and cayenne and a light cover of dill weed.
roast in oven, raised if possible (i.e. not touching your collectin pan) 375-400 for 1:30h. Check with meat thermo for whens it ready. while its cookin, every 10-15m , or so, check on it and douse with chicken broth, low salt. this keeps the chicken moist and unfortunately increases the cook time a good half hour. but i promise you the crispy skin will be well worth it.
finally, at around the 10m till mark (or basically when the meat thermo read 170-175 (roughly 10 min till ready) prepare onion and garlic sauteed (med-high heat) in olive oil. after the garlic has been on for `2-3min, until you smell them cooking, and while making sure your oil is hot! add in two handfuls of spinach and keep stirring in wok until you see them soften and turn the dark green color. add on a sprinkle of sugar to caramelize, then the kicker: using the squirt thingy you use to wet the chicken in the oven. yeah, thats right, i don't know what it is called. squirt on to the spinach a decent amount of the chicken grazy that has collected on the pan.
enjoy.
suggestion: GO
roast in oven, raised if possible (i.e. not touching your collectin pan) 375-400 for 1:30h. Check with meat thermo for whens it ready. while its cookin, every 10-15m , or so, check on it and douse with chicken broth, low salt. this keeps the chicken moist and unfortunately increases the cook time a good half hour. but i promise you the crispy skin will be well worth it.
finally, at around the 10m till mark (or basically when the meat thermo read 170-175 (roughly 10 min till ready) prepare onion and garlic sauteed (med-high heat) in olive oil. after the garlic has been on for `2-3min, until you smell them cooking, and while making sure your oil is hot! add in two handfuls of spinach and keep stirring in wok until you see them soften and turn the dark green color. add on a sprinkle of sugar to caramelize, then the kicker: using the squirt thingy you use to wet the chicken in the oven. yeah, thats right, i don't know what it is called. squirt on to the spinach a decent amount of the chicken grazy that has collected on the pan.
enjoy.
suggestion: GO
Welcome!
Hi folks,
first off, if you have any problems with punctuation, proper Capitalization and loose limits on when semicolons may be used, it may be best for you to move onto the next random thing. secondly, thank you for stopping by. this will by my foray into the random, tilted towards food and places i have tried, want to try and will try at some future point. every once in a while, i will likely post about my latest irritation or joie de vivre, which are not mutually exclusive.
once again, hello, welcome and i hope you enjoy.
first off, if you have any problems with punctuation, proper Capitalization and loose limits on when semicolons may be used, it may be best for you to move onto the next random thing. secondly, thank you for stopping by. this will by my foray into the random, tilted towards food and places i have tried, want to try and will try at some future point. every once in a while, i will likely post about my latest irritation or joie de vivre, which are not mutually exclusive.
once again, hello, welcome and i hope you enjoy.
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