3 Limes - juice of
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp serrano chili, minced
1 Tbsp peanut butter
pinch sugar
Salad:
Salad greens
Cucumber
Radish
Green onion
Fresh mint, minced
Cilantro, chopped to your liking
Steak:
1 Lb flank steak cut into long strips against the grain (then pounded thin)
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1 Tb soy sauce
1/2 tsp Penzeys Bangkok seasoning
salt
pepper
Other:
1/4 Cup crushed peanuts
Mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, Penzeys Bangkok seasoning, salt and pepper in a bowl and add the steak. Coat the steak well in the mixture and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl add the juice of 3 limes, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, serrano chili, peanut butter, pinch of sugar and mix well. Set aside. Mix the salad fixins, and plate.
Heat a saute pan to medium heat. Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. Cook the beef for a few minutes on each side (or to you preferred doneness). Prepare the salads to your liking and arrange the steak on the salad and top with the dressing - Eat & Enjoy
I love the sandwich... The possibilities are almost endless. I've been known to go into a deli and just ask for a sandwich and give them free reign on what they make. It usually throws the person into a tailspin when I do - unless they are a true sammy master... Anyhoo, the pastrami and corned beef on rye is one of my favs. I always start with some nice fresh rye and a good quality pastrami, corned beef, and Swiss cheese.
Rye Bread Pastrami - I like Boars Head the best Corned Beef Swiss Cheese Red Onion, sliced thin Brown or Dijon Mustard butter olive oil
Start by heating a medium saute pan to a mediumish heat (not quite medium but not quite medium/low). Take the pastrami and corned beef and warm it up in the pan for a minute or two then move it to a plate or cutting board. Butter one side of each of the pieces of bread then add the bread butter side down to the pan and let it warm up for a minute or so. Top the brad with the Swiss cheese and you can put on some nice brown or Dijon mustard at this point too. Add the onion and meats on top of the cheese. Put the two slices together and cook until the outside of the bread is browned to your liking and everything inside is nice and warm. Plate, eat & enjoy!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I Love lamb. Although you don't get a lot of meat off of them, lamb chops are so succulent if not over cooked. My favorite way to cook lamb is on the grill but when that's not a option I use the broiler. It's just an upside down grill right? I like lamb so much because it fits into almost every culture. It's good dressed up or just with a bit of salt and pepper...
I went with a Herbs de Provence flavor on the chops.
A normal HdP has basil, fennel, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory, and thyme.
I didn't have any marjoram or fennel but I didn't let that stop me - I soldiered right on...
Rub a spot of oil on the chops so the herbs stick well...
Under the broiler getting happy...
With a preheated broiler it only takes 4-7 minutes on each side. Like always - never leave the broiler when you have food in there! It could catch fire....
I was quite shocked that Jeffrey Saad didn't win this seasons Next Food Network Star. I remember when they said Melissa's name I said WTF? He was ripped if you ask me, I think Melissa will put up an ok show but nothing like what he would have done. His passion for food was unmatched on the show...
I had saved the show on the DVR and after watching it a few times this is what I came up with for his recipe...
For the steak:
1 New York strip steak 3 Tbsp Harissa Salt and pepper
For the mayo:
1/2 Ccup mayo 1 Tbsp Harissa 1/4 Cup fresh chopped mint 1/4 Cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 2 cloves of garlic chopped 1 Tbsp olive oil Pinch of salt
1 Baguette 1 Yellow tomato, sliced 2 Cups arugula
Pat your steak dry and season it with salt and pepper. Rub on 1.5 tbsp of harissa on each side of the steak. Grill to a medium-rare but no more than a medium (that would disrespect the steak).
Break down the baguette to make two sandwiches. Grill the bread for a few minutes just to get some color on it. Spread the mayo on both sides of the bread. Cut the steak on the bias and lay across the bread. Top with the tomato and arugula. Eat & Enjoy...
Just a note about Harissa - before it is cooked it has quite a punch. It's spicy, very spicy... Once cooked it mellows out a bit on the spicy heat side, but the flavor explodes! I like it on eggs...
I've been wanting to make my own Cornish Pasties for some time now. I'm working on finding a great recipe and the technique to get a proper one made. With the help of some friends and YouTube I think I've found the recipe and how-to knowledge to get the job done.
According to Wikipedia - The Cornish Pasty is commonly associated with Cornwall, United Kingdom. It differs from a pie as it is made by placing the filling on a flat pastry shape, usually a circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package. The traditional Cornish pasty is filled with diced beef, sliced potato and onion, and baked.
Just about every recipe I could find had turnip (or swede) in them as well. There is a woman who comes to a lot of the farmers markets in the area that makes pasties of all sorts, and they're pretty darned good - I'm on a mission to do better!
The Pastry:
The pastry part of the recipe I'm using came from a video I found on YouTube by a lady named Dianna Tennant(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu40YWWdDC0 - it's a great video and I suggest you check it out...). I looked at a multitude of recipes and hers looked the best out of all of them! She stated she had some 60 years of experience with making them so that's good enough for me! The only thing I changed from what she did in the video is add shortening/lard to the recipe. She did all butter for these because as mentioned in the video someone there was a vegetarian. I might add a simple eggwash for the top of the pastry before baking but I'm going to play with that thought for a while...
12 ounces all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2.5 ounces cold, unsalted butter 2.5 ounces lard/shortening 10-12 tablespoons cold water
Put the flour in a large bowl and stir in the salt. Grate the cold butter and lard/shortening into the flour. Lightly rub the fat into the flour - do not over mix it - there will be some large bits of the fat left over (I'm guessing this will be a uber flaky pastry once baked). Start with 7 tablespoons of the water and mix it in . Add another 3 tablespoons of water and continue to mix with your hands. Move the part of the mixture that has come together to one side of the bowl and add the remaining two tablespoons of water to the dry part. You do not need to knead the dough much - just bring it together. Divide the dough into for equal portions and roll out on a well floured surface one at a time. I will have to play with it but it looks like she rolled them out to a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. Fill, crimp in that special Cornish Pasties way, poke a small hole to let steam escape, and cook them on partchment paper for an hour at 400 degreese (200 C).
The Filling:
I couldn't find one recipe for the filling that really knocked my socks off - so I've talken a mixture of some of my favorites I found and came up with my own...
10 ounces chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 small Idaho potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more if your a pepperholic like I am)
Basically I'm guessing I'm just going to prep everything and divide it up amongst the 4 pasties. No prep is involved other than washing, peeling (where needed) and dicing the items. They all go in uncooked and everybody gets well seasoned as they go in.
I'm going to try these out in the next few weeks and will post a video and the exact recipe I end up using - so make sure to come back and see my triumph or tragedy in the Cornish Pasties challenge...
I didn't eat much yesterday and when I was finally hungry all I could think about was a BLT. I looked in the fridge and I had all I needed except I was missing the L... I didn't let that stop me - Let me take a moment to say that when making a recipe if you don't have one particular item it doesn't mean you can't make the dish. Of course if you're making chicken marsala and you don't have any chicken you might be in a pinch - but if you don't have any pepper it's not like it's going to kill the dish to omit it. Anywho, my buddy The Tortilla Guy sent over a heap load of Tumaro's Wraps the other day and for the first time in all the shipments he's sent me the Priemium White Tortillas were in there! There is a difference in the tortillas at the store and let me tell you that Tumaro's Tortillas are the best I've ever had. They taste great and are a far superior product than the others...
Back to the BTC Wrap - I had Bacon, tomatoes, and well there's always a heap load of cheese in my fridge. So, you start with a wonderful Tumaro's Tortillas Wrap, lay down some many if that's your thing, add some cheese (I used the Kraft Deli American), tomatoes, a bit of salt and pepper, and finally your Bacon. Wrap, Eat & Enjoy...
1 Tumaro's Tortillas Wrap of your liking 1 Tomato sliced to your liking 4-5 Strips of cooked Bacon Lettuce Cheese if you like that on your BLTs Mayo Salt Pepper
For as much as I love meatball subs I almost never eat them. I don't even have one a year - maybe two or three every five years or so... But I love them. I don't get them out often because I'm usually disappointed at what I get. I'll admit in the video I went a bit overboard on the meatballs in the sub, but I was trying to set the point that most places stick 4 meatballs in there and all you're eating is bread. The bread is an important part of the sandwich but I need some meat!
1.5 Lb meatballs 2 large hogie rolls 2-3 cups pasta sauce. 12 slices of mozzarella cheese
Cook the meatballs in the pasta sauce until they are heated through. Slice your hogie roll and open it up but do not cut all the way through. Lay down 4 slices of the cheese then top with meatballs then lay a few more slices of cheese on top. Broil for just a few minutes so the cheese gets nice and melted on top. Eat & Enjoy!
When I go for a brat Johnsonville is the brat I usually turn to. My favorite way to eat is brat is on a bun with spicy mustard and raw onions - Done - That's it - 4 items and stop. But sometimes I like to dress it up a bit with some roasted peppers and other fun things... It's a brat so do what you need to with it - but don't let me catch you putting ketchup on it - That's just not right...
The original recipe for this soup came from a Saveur magazine. We've added a few things over the years to make it our own...
For some reason Hot & Sour Soup has always held somewhat of a mystery to me. I used to work at a Chinese restaurant called 456 when I was a kid and it always amazed me when they made the soup. It was one of the few things that was made in somewhat of a secretive fashion. Until I read the recipe in the magazine I had never tried to make it myself (actually I have never made it myself, Tina always makes it). I do the prep work and always fuss to make sure the potato is cooked enough (she would put them in at the last second and have the half raw if she could)... Anyway, this is a very simple recipe and it's better than anything I've ever tried in any restaurant.
For the Pork:
1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp brandy (won't be missed if you don't use it) 1 Tbsp cornstarch 1/4 Lb lean pork, cut into 1/4" dice
For the Soup:
3 Tbsp cornstarch 8 Cups chicken stock (can use pork but chicken is better) 3 Tbsp soy sauce 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar 1 Tsp freshly ground pepper (or more if you're a pepperholic like me) 1/2 Tsp cayenne 1 Tsp coarse salt 1/4 Cup cubed peeled potato 1/4 Cup or so shitake or wood ear mushrooms, trimmed, and cut into a 1/4" dice 12 oz. Firm tofu, drained and diced to your liking 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1 Tsp Asian sesame oil (not a necessaty we don't use it and the soup is great) 1/4 Cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
For the pork: Combine the soy suace, brandy (or some water if you're not using brandy), and cornstarch in a small bowl, add the pork and mix well. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
For the soup: Combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a small bowl. Put sotck, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, cayenne, and salt into a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add the pork, cornstarch mixture and reduce the heat to a medium low, and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup has thickened, about 30 minutes. Add the potato, mushrooms, and tofu and gently simmer until the potato is tender, 15-20 minutes.
Slowly drizzle the egg into the simmering soup in a thin, steady stream (do not stir as your pour, or the egg will form lumps). When the egg strands float to the surface, stir in the oil (if wanted).
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cilantro. Eat & Enjoy!
Bon Appetit...
~Nikko
--
Part 1 of 2
Part 2 of 2
This soup goes well with Potstickers! That's another show...
If Christopher Walkens had his own cooking show I'd watch every episode... This looks like a really good recipe - I might try and recreate it using my best Walkens voice...
Add meat and onion to a heated pan - add the Penzeys Greek seasoning, nutmeg, and cinnamon - mix in well. Once cooked drain off all the fat - set aside. Slice the eggplant into rounds and place on a sheet pan. Lightly salt the eggplant and cook at 400 degrees for 10 min or so just to soften them up a bit. Melt the butter in a large pan then add the flour to form a roux. Slowly add the milk and bring back to temperature so it thickens. Temper the egg yokes, then add to the bashamel. Stir in the cheese and mix well. Coat the bottom of a large pan with a bit of the sauce. Put down a layer of eggplant, lay on all the meat. Layer on the rest of the eggplant. Cover with the remaining sauce. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until it is nice and brown on top. Eat and enjoy - drink ouzo - dance - throw dishes and yell Opa!
My all time favorite breakfast food is biscuits & gravy - or B & G's are they're known in my house... I don't remember how old I was the first time I had biscuits & gravy but I'm pretty sure they put it in my baby bottle... Anyway, making this wonderful dish is very simple.
1 lb sausage - country or breakfast works well (not the spicy) 3-4 Tbs flour 2-3 Cups milk salt pepper love 1 Package of biscuits
Start by preheating the oven and making the biscuits according to the package. Then brown the sausage off. Once cooked remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat that was rendered. Sprinkle 3 to 4 tablespoons of flour over the sausage and mix it in well. Once all the flour is incorporated slowly add the milk a little at a time. Doing the milk in batches will help keep your gravy lump free. Turn up the heat to a medium high and the milk will thicken. Once it's to your desired thickness add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
I'm Greek so loving the flavor of lamb is in my DNA. I'll take lamb just about any way I can get it. Chops, loin, leg, roast - Gimme! When I was a kid my uncle Tony would sit out in the garage with his makeshift BBQ pit (he put down bricks then piled coals ontop of them and hand cranked an old Q he got in Greece... He would sit out there all day with a leg of lamb (or 2 or 3 or 4) drink ouzo, smoke cigars and talk to his buddies or my other uncles. I'll never forget the first time he let me come and hang out with him. It was truly a right of passage in our family. Anyhow - Tina and I do lamb once a month or so and here's a good one we did...
1 Bone in leg of lamb 1 Cup Olive oil 6 cloves garlic minced 3-6 Tbs rosemary 9 Anchovy fillets (no we're not kidding) Salt Pepper
Put your leg of lam on a rack in a roasting pan. In a bowl combine the olive oil, rosemary, anchovy, a bit of pepper and mix well. Cut small slits into the lamb and stick in some garlic and spices into each hole. Cover the rest of the lamb with the oil/spice mixture. Let sit for an hour covered or put in the fridge for 5 hours or so. Preheat oven to 400 degrees - cook lamb for about an hour or until medium rare - about 160 degrees F.
There are other things made in this video - beats, beat greens, rice... I'll let you watch the video to see how they're done...
Bon Appetit...
~Nikko
--
As someone who loves animals - Make sure you buy your meat from ranchers/companies who treat their animals well...
Making calzones at home is such a good thing... It gives you the flexibility to put what you want into your food. You pick your cheeses, meats, toppings, etc... Not that you can't do that at your local pizza joint, but you get to pick the brands you want to use as well. To me a calzone is just a folded over pizza. You start by making a normal pizza dough - in this one I wanted to add some whole wheat flour and it made for a nice change. I wouldn't want to make it this way all the time but it was good... Load in your fillings then make sure you get a nice crimping of the dough - you just don't want it to open and it's really the "crust" of the dish. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or so...
1 Packet active dry yeast 1 cup warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees) 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tsp salt 1 Tsp sugar (or a Tbsp of honey) 1.5 Cups flour 1 Cup whole wheat flour 1/4 Cup pizza sauce Ricotta cheese - as much as you like and can fit in Provolone cheese - 2-4 slices Mozzarella cheese - 2-4 slices 1/4 Lb cooked sausage 1/2 Small onion or scallions sliced thin Banana peppers to you liking Black olives to your liking
Chicken fried rice should not be something you only eat out of a box that was delivered to your door. With a few shortcuts it's uber simple to make at home.
1 lb chicken cut into bite sized pieces 6 cups of cold cooked rice - must be cold 1/2 cup diced onions 1/2 cup diced carrots 1/2 cup peas 2 eggs stir fry sauce to taste
I personally think it's nice to brown your chicken when preparing it for fried rice. That way it stands up to the rest of the dish. Most of the local place around here do not and I find the chicken gets lost in all the other tastes. With that said start by browning your chicken. When the chicken is about 85% done add the onion and carrots. Cook these for a few minutes. Add the eggs to the pan and scramble them. Once the eggs are done mix them in with the rest of the ingredients. Add the peas then add the cold rice and the stir fry sauce. You can add a much or as little of the stir fry sauce as you like. Mix everything together and bring it to temperature. Eat & Enjoy!
You might be asking yourself, why green curry again? The answer is quite simple - I love it!
Now I prefer fresh green curry when I have the time to make it, but when that's not the case the CurrySimple green curry is a really easy alternative. At the market you can find pre-diced just about anything you need to make this dish. The chicken, cilantro, and the lime are the only things you really need to cut yourself if you want it that way. When I need a quick meal that's not from a fast food place - I'm all good with using pre-cut items to speed up dinner...
1 pound chicken tenders (or any type of chicken you like 1 medium red onion diced 1 cup bell pepper (green, yellow, and red) diced 1 cup squash and zucchini sliced 1 package CurrySimple green curry 1 lime cilantro
Brown chicken in a spot of oil. Half way through add the onion. Cook until the chicken is done. Add the bell peppers, squash, and zucchini - cook for a few minutes. Add the CurrySimple green curry and bring to heat. Serve with rice, cilantro, and a nice squeeze of lime... Eat & Enjoy...
When you have someone who is not feeling well chicken noodle soup is the best thing to make for them. This is my almost homemade chicken noodle soup. It's almost homemade because I went to the store and bought a roasted chicken and used canned stock. Even with that it turned out really good...
1 roasted chicken - meat taken off the bone 2 large cans chicken stock 1/2 red onion diced 1 cup carrots diced 1 cup celery diced 1 bag of egg noodles (I used about 2/3 of a bag) salt pepper a dash of love
prep the veg and put them into a stock pot heated to medium high. Add a few good pinches of salt and sweat for about 5 minutes. Remove all the chicken meat from the bones and add the meat to the pot once the veg is done. Add your stock, and egg noodles and bring to a boil. Once the egg noodles are cooked to your liking the dish is done. Eat & Enjoy...
Pad Thai literally means "Thai-style stir-fried noodles". I think it really means "Rice noodles of love...".
If you are using a Pad Thai sauce (like the one I used from CurrySimple www.currysimple.com) this is a very easy dish to make. Without using a pre-made sauce it's a bit more involved.
You would think we were getting paid from them to use their stuff but that's just not true - It's just that good of a product so we like using it!
Anyway - This couldn't be any more simple. Soak your rice noodles in water until they soften. This should take about 20 minutes or so. They will soften in cold water and they won't be starchy like they are when you use hot water. Once your noodles are ready, stir fry up your tofu, chicken, scramble your egg, add the green onions. Add the rice noodles and pour on your Pad Thai sauce (I used about a quarter of a cup but you can use more if you like). Mix all of this well and bring it to temperature. Add your bean sprouts and mix through. Plate up your dish and add chopped roasted and salted peanuts, cilantro, and a wedge of lime. Eat and Enjoy!
1 package rice noodles softened in cold water 1/2 brick of firm tofu cut to your liking 1/2 pound of chicken cut to your liking 3 green onions sliced into bite sized pieces (you can use more if you like) 1 egg - scrambled in the pan 1/4 cup pad thai sauce (from CurrySimple www.currysimple.com) cilantro roasted salted peanuts lime wedges
There are thousands of Pad Thai recipes out there - This one came out really dang good! It was super simple and very tasty without the hassle of making your own Pad Thai sauce...
I love Thai Curry and I can't get over how easy the CurrySimple products are to use. The only thing I can find that you need to do to them is adjust the heat to your liking. I like HOT Thai food. Don't get me wrong there is a little zing in the package, but I like to add some head to bring it up to my liking. This was a last minute recipe that I came up with and it turned out really good!
1 Lb Chicken cubed (to your liking) .5 Red onion diced 1 Cup Red, Yellow, & Green peppers diced 1 Cup Snap peas 1 Package CurrySimple Red Curry Vegetable oil 1 Lb Pasta cooked
Boil pasta according to package, drain and set aside. In a hot pan add a spot of the vegetable oil and work it around the pan. Add the diced chicken and brown. Add the onions and cook for 2 min or so until they start to sweat. Add the diced peppers and warm them through. Add the snap peas and the Curry Simple Red Curry. Cook to temperature. Combine chicken mixture to pasta and toss. Eat & Enjoy!
Posts
