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....
If you didn't know, the second Tuesday of the month is 'Taco Tuesday'. No, it's not a real thing, but why not - it sounds good... My earliest memories of tacos comes from being at "Taco Joe's" up in East Chicago. They had the best soft tacos. Every time we would go up to see my grandmother we would go by there and chow down. I was probably 4 or 5 the first time I had one, and I'll never forget how good it was. They were simple - flour tortilla, luscious port taco meat, a spot of cheese, hot sauce and that was about it. No frills either - oblong white plate stacked with 6 or 8 of the things and there you go... From what I can recall they had a very short menu and you got enough food on your plate to make you hurt if you ate it all. My mom was somehow able to get the recipe from them and one of these days I'll put it up.
Anyhow, back to yesterday's tacos - They were simple but oh so very good. I started out wanting to grill a strip steak tacos but just didn't have the energy to get into all of that so chicken inside it was...
Chicken - I had about a pound of chicken breast that I cut into chunks - a bit smaller than your normal bite size piece. I dusted them with Penzeys Adobo seasoning and sauted them to a yummy goodness. It took about 5 minutes over medium heat. There is a good Mexican spice mixture recipe twards the bottom of the page you can use if you don't have theis spice blend. Tomatillo salsa - was made for chicken - If you haven't tried it I suggest you give it a shot. Jut a tablespoon or so on your taco will do the trick. It's very easy to make but you can find pre-made in the market. It gives a really fresh flavor to just about anything. I made mine last night - roasted a few tomatillos, jalapeno, and garlic cloves, blitzed it with some onion and cilantro - yum! Will be doing a video on making it soon. It's really good with corn chips as well... Cilantro - I hate to admit that there was a time in my life that I didn't like cilantro. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I'm all about it now! I think cilantro adds a nice freshness to tacos... Tomatoes - For the first time this year I was able to use a tomato off one of my mater plants. It seemed to take them forever to produce this year... Anyhoo, they're not a must but I like them on my tacos. Green Onion - Usually I use red onion for my tacos but I didn't have any. I did have some green onion in the fridge and it was a good stand in. It tasted great on the tacos... Queso fresco - If you use a Mexican blend cheese for your tacos (which I'll admit I often do) that you get from Kraft or whomever, queso fresco will take your taco to another level. I've been using it a lot more lately and I have to say it's a really good addition. So good in fact that my usage of the other is dwindling rapidly. Avocado - Really do I need to go into this? Mexicanish food and Avocados go together without saying a word... I love avocados and it's not unusual for me to eat one as a snack with just a pinch of salt. Besides all that they look really great on top of a taco...
1 Lb chicken cut into small bite sized pieces 1 Tb Penzeys Adobo seasoning (or use the recipe below) Tomatoes cut to your liking Cilantro, cut to your liking Tomatillo salsa - 2 Tb per taco or so Queso Fresco - A little goes a long way Avocado - 2 - 3 slices per taco Green onion - 2 -4 stalks finely sliced into rounds
Heat a saute pan to medium. Mix the cut up chicken with the adobo seasoning and add to the pan. Cook chicken until fully cooked. Prepare the tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, and avocado and put into bowls. Heat the tortillas and let everyone have at it. I personally think it's best to let everyone make their own so they get what they want. Plus it's fun to make your own taco...
If you don't have any Penzeys Adobo seasoning I suggest you go get you some (www.penzeys.com)! If that's not an option give this mixture a try...
I use the term Mexican food loosely - I've been to Mexico quite a few times and well lets just say there's a big difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine. They aint got no nachos and everything they make is NOT smothered in a simple Kraft Mexican blend cheese... I'm working on a nice entry called Mexican vs. Tex-Mex - make sure you read it - that is if there really is anyone actually reading these things...
What better to eat on the 4th than smoked chicken wings. I decided on wings and it was a good idea to throw them on the smoker. This was a very easy process. I went to the market and bought some wings. I washed them and cut off the nubs off the end of the wings. I created the rub for these and they turned out really dang good. I go to Fast Boys and have their grilled wings every once and a while - they're really dang good - mine turned out better! It's a nice change to have them in the smoker - it really brings out a nice flavor.
Rub: Paprika chipotle pepper powder jalapeno pepper powder cayenne pepper powder granulated garlic shallot salt white pepper black pepper
So mix up the spices - coat the wings well and smoke for about 2 hours or so - or until done to your liking.
I love chicken wings. I'm not one who strays off the reservation with wing sauce - I want a nice straight forward hot sauce. You can have you're BBQ, Jerk, etc - I'll take just plain set your mouth afire hot sauce...
During football season you can find me at the local Buffalo Wild Wings watching Ohio State play almost every Saturday - Good football and good wings (and beer). I do like to have them at home every once and a while and they're easy to make. The only thing I don't like about making them at home is dealing with the oil after cooking the wings - but I don't let that stop me...
2 Tb butter 1/2 Cup Texas Pete's (or Frank's Hot Sauce) 1 tsp Penzeys Black & Red pepper
12 Chicken wings Peanut oil for frying
In a small saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted add the hot sauce and bring to temperature. Add the pepper and mix well. Take off the heat and set aside.
Cook the chicken wings in the preheated oil at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until fully cooked. Toss with the hot sauce and plate.
Serve with blue cheese or ranch and celery. Eat & Enjoy...
I love brown sugar. I always have - I eat it on my oatmeal a few times a week... This love makes it sad to report that I thought the Brown Sugar version of this fantastic ice cream tasted like burnt brown sugar... I took a few extra bites hoping that it would start to taste good but it didn't happen... One of the first times I've had an ice cream I didn't like :(
I really don't know anything about Julie Powell. I never read her blog (but would love to read it), I haven't read the book (but I ordered it), so the only thing I know is what's in the movie. I'm not sure why some of the die hard foodie bloggers are bashing her and the movie. Maybe they're pissed that they didn't think of it first? It's a brilliant idea - at least I think so. A friend and I are going to cook our way through the Cooking at Home series Julia Child and Jacques Pepin did - Actually this is something we've wanted to do forever and just haven't gotten around to it - but now it seems like a copycat thing and that kidna sucks... But we're going to soldier on and do it anyway...
Back to the movie - it was fun to see Powell's struggles with making some of the food and doing the blog but my real love of the movie were the parts with Julia Child in them. They were done so well... I have to admit I see her (Julia Child) as somewhat of a mother figure, and it was hard to see her and Paul get intimate onscreen. I had to look away. It was really neat to see her coming into cooking and her trials and tribulations of creating Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I am foodie enough to admit that a tear came to my eye when she finally got the approval letter from Knopf. As a site note a good friend of mine's (Steve The Tortilla Guy) mother has every single release of the book... I had no idea it took so long to create and get published. And look at it now...
So, if you're a foodie you'll enjoy the movie. If you Love Julia Child you'll love the movie as I did...
Well this treat couldn't be any easier. Thanks to my buddy Steve The Tortilla guy I have some fancy Chocolate Tumaro's Tortillas Wraps. I wanted to do something a bit off the reservation with them and make them into little cups then fill them with goodness.
These were all sorts of good...
They started with a Tumaro's chocolate wrap - I took them and cut them into 4 small rounds (I used a ramekin to make it easier). They were baked in a cupcake pan at 400 for about 10 min. It was amazing to see how the flavor developed once baked - they were amazing. I added a spot of chocolate syrup to the bottoms then I filled them with some cheesecake filling (I bought the Philly pre-made stuff at the market to make it easier). Topped them with some fresh strawberries that I had put a bit of sugar on and let sit for 20 minutes - and done... The only thing I'd change for next time is to make smaller rounds and use a smaller cupcake pan so they were bite sized...
I'm not one who's into jumping up and down over kitchen gadgets but I love my rice cooker. It takes the thought out of perfect rice. I have a cheap Rivel one that cost less than $20.00. It does a great job weather you're doing just 1 cup or 3. I can make perfect rice on the stove, but this really does take the work out of it...
I was in 4th grade and was home after school watching cooking shows when I heard Jeff Smith say "Life's too short for instant rice" - and to this day I can't bring myself to eat instant rice.
I drew a line in the sand and the Haagen-Dazs 5 Mint Ice Cream stepped right over it without even blinking...
These little pints of goodness are only made with only five ingredients - milk, cream, sugar, eggs and one of the following:
Brown Sugar
Coffee
Ginger
Milk Chocolate
Mint
Passion Fruit
Vanilla Bean
I love the fact that they're so simple and have a 1 flavor taste so you get to enjoy and embrase that one flavor.
Refreshing was the first thing that came to mind after I took the first bite. Remember it's not a chocolate mint that you're probably used to - It's just mint! And mint it is - I really enjoyed the flavor. The ice cream is nice and creamy and the simple ingredients reminds me of what my grandmother used to make. She only made vanilla (or at least that's all anyone that I asked could remember). It was usually an event when she would make it - the whole family would come over for a bowl...
I will say I've only had one (just) mint ice cream that I like better - I had dinner at Bouchon for my birthday last year and the chef made me these things called Bouchons - 3 little chocolate pastries with ice cream ontop of each one (see photo below). The middle one was a mint ice cream - made from mint out of the chefs garden (they call it garden mint ice cream)... It was so freaking good I could have eaten a gallon of it in one sitting - it was so good you should go the the restaurant just to get the mint ice cream. Anyhow, it's better than the Haagen-Dazs mint but don't let that stop you from getting the 5 Mint - it's good too...
I'm looking forward to tasting the others that are available - we'll let you know what we think as we try them!
This was the dessert the chef made me for my birthday at Bouchon - they called it Bouchons... The chef gave me a personal tour of the kitchen (which was absolutely amazing) - he spent about 20 minutes with us on a busy night - it was a fantastic evening!
When I was in Paris last year I had French onion soup for dinner Thanksgiving night. I'll say the setting was perfect - window seat, Eiffel Tower right outside - romance - love in the air - and a bitchy Chinese maitre d' (he was pissed that he gave us the best table in the house and we only ordered soup and a cheese plate). Sadly the soup wasn't all that. The cheese plate was pretty dang good though...
1/2 Cup butter (unsalted) 4 Onions, sliced 2 Garlic cloves, chopped 2 Bay leaves 2 Fresh thyme sprigs Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper (white pepper sucks) 1 Cup red wine 3 Heaping tbsp all-purpose flour 2 Quarts beef broth 1 Baguette 1/2 Lb Gruyere, grated (or more if your a cheeseaholic)
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper - cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized. This will take about 25 minutes or so. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry - about 5 minutes or so. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add the flour into the pot and stir in with the onions. Cook the mixture on a medium-low for a few minutes then add the beef broth. bring it up to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add a few pinches of salt and some pepper. Ladle the soup into oven proof bowls and float a few of the baguette slices in each bowl. Divide the cheese up and top the bowls well. Put the bowls on a baking sheet and stick them under a pre-heated broiler for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
A lot of places in Paris gave you a little plate of olives to snack on before your meal...
I spent some time at the Eifel Tower before our dinner - it was a grand time. It was snowing up at the top but no snow was making it down to the ground. FREEZING
Not that it matters but my x-wife makes the best French onion soup I've ever had. She use provolone and mozzarella cheese on top of hers instead of Swiss though...
We will be doing a French onion soup video soon so keep coming back!
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...
There's something about pizza that's cooked in a Coal-fired Oven. The taste really is different that anything you will find from a gas or wood-fired oven.
I finally had the chance to go to Lombardi's and I enjoyed every minute of it. The pizza was really good - and getting an up-close and personal look at their oven was really cool. The crust was absolutely fantastic. It had that flavor that only a coal-fired oven can give you. The only problem with my visit was that it was after spending a whole day at the Fancy Food Show so I really wasn't all that hungry. I had two slices of my pie and took the rest to go. I ended up giving it to some urban outdoorsman by my hotel.
Well I'm Greek and I love Greek food - not a stretch there right? The odd thing is that I cannot ever remember having anyone in the family ever roast a chicken. It was made 100 other ways but never roasted whole. My Yia Yia Sofia (off the boat from Greece great grandmother) would break down the chicken then roast it but never whole.
Anyway, I wanted to make a special dinner and I decided on a nice roasted Chicken.
I started the meal with a quick and easy appetizer plate with Kalamata Olives, ajavar (a spicy red pepper dip), hummus, feta, and some, baked pita strips (pita, a dash of olive oil, & Penzeys Greek seasoning baked in the oven).
The chicken was quite simple - I took a roaster, washed it out and trimmed all the excess skin/fat off. I coated it well under the skin of the breasts, thighs, and legs with Penzeys Greek seasoning, salt, pepper, and a bit of extra oregano. I squeezed the juice from 2 lemons over the top of the bird and shoved as many halved lemons, and a handful of garlic cloves up it's bum as I could. I wash and slice the taters and placed them in the bottom of the roasting pan. I drizzled them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, Greek seasoning, and mixed them well so they were all coated well.
Preheat the oven to 400F - Roast for 2 - 2.5 hours
There was some Greek salad as well but the photo of it didn't turn out so well... Simple salad greens, thinly sliced red onion, olives, feta, oil and white balsamic vinegar.
Dessert consisted of some greek treets I picked up at the store (Hala here in Jacksonville). They were good and rounded out the meal...
There was enough food to feed 4 hungry people so we had plenty of leftovers. The next day we made Greek chicken and potato hash - but that's another story...
For the most part, anything made with chocolate is better in the UK. Now there are a few chocolate things I'll take that are made here in the USA over the UK version but not many. M & M's from the UK are my absolute favorite but I'm also partial to their Mars bars (and they make for pretty funky photos too). I'm not sure what the point of this post is but if there's anyone in the UK who wants to send me some M & M's I'll be more than happy to take them...
Yes believe it or not sometimes I eat food that's almost healthy for you. I guess you could go ahead and say this was healthy food but there are a few tablespoons of butter in the dish.
I did all the prep work for this dish with one of those little hand held mandolin slicers - It only took a few minutes to do...
1/2 Cup red onion, thinly sliced 2 Cups zucchini, thinly sliced 2 Cups Squash, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp butter 1 Tsp salt 1 Tsp black pepper (white pepper sucks)
In a large pan melt the butter over a medium heat. Once melted add the red onion and a pinch of salt. Let the onion cook for 3-5 minutes or until it starts to become translucent. Add the zucchini and squash, add a few pinches of salt and some pepper, then mix the onion through. Let cook stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. You want some of the zucchini and squash to maintain a crisper texture. Once cooked to your liking, drain off any liquid that was drawn from the veggies. Eat & Enjoy!
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...
Let me start by saying that I love BBQ, however I am not a BBQ Sauce fan at all - I'm a dry rub fan. If I have to put it on something I like the Bullseye one you can get at the market - but only when I have to! Get it...
This recipe however is the mac daddy of all Mustard BBQ Sauces. It's so freaking good you'll want to eat it like soup.
2 Tbs butter 1 Small onion diced 1 Tbsp whole brown mustard seeds 1/2 Tsp turmeric 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 2 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar 1/2 Cup prepared yellow mustard 1/2 Cup spicy brown mustard 1/4 Tsp Worcestershire sauce 2-3 Tsp hot sauce - we used Texas Pete's
Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan, add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add the whole brown mustard seeds and cook over a medium low heat for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, lemon juice, and balsamic and mix well. Add the prepared yellow and spicy brown mustard to the mix and incorporate well. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce and mix well. Cook over low heat for another 15 minutes stirring often so things get happy happy and either cool and store in the fridge or use warm.
So Julie & Julia comes out this Friday August 7th and I can't wait. Not that I want to rush out to see a chick flick but I'm game for anything that has to do with Julia Child! http://www.julieandjulia.com/ is the website for the movie. I find it interesting that it is based on two true stories - Julia Child's life and that connection with Julie Powell's life... I'm excited to see how they come together in the movie. I've cooked a lot of Julia's recipes in my day but I couldn't imagine doing 524 in 365 days! I cook a lot but that's one huge commitment. I think the most interesting thing to see will be all the blogs etc that come out from people who were inspired by the movie...
Like so many others my life was changed by Julia Child. Her passion for food struck me deep even at a young age. I remember one day coming home from school and finding her show on TV - this was in a time when the only option was 4, 6, 10, and pbs (which I think was either 8 or 13)... At the first moment I fell in love. I remember thinking to myself this was better than cartoons. The first thing I remember seeing Julia make was puff pastry. She was wielding her rolling pin banging the dough like a master swordsman. The next thing I remember was watching her try and flip a pan full of what I think was potatoes - some of them didn't quite make it back into the pan and she blew it off like a cat falling off a ledge - dismissed it as it never happened. She picked up what fellout and put it back in the pan and went along her way. It was amazing... Through the years I always watched her and I'll never forget meeting her on one of her book tours. It was so amazing to personally tell her how much I thought of her and to shake her hand. Her birthday is August 15th and I'm trying to think of what to cook in honor of her. I've been thinking of something as simple as the perfect scrambled eggs (as done to her liking), Roasted Chicken (but Chef John at Food Wishes already did that), maybe a Spinach Turnover like the one she created with Simone Beck... Feedback would be helpful in this decision!
PBS Online: Julia Child Contains information and video clips from Julia Child's PBS television series: Lessons with the Master Chefs. In these programs, Julia shares the kitchen with some of the most respected chefs of our time. France honors culinary legend Julia ...
Julia Child UncensoredSome midi clips put together by Ed with funny things Julia Child could say..such as Grampa with relish, Hundreds of hours & You should have pot, just to name a few.
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