Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Boston Creme Pie

Boston Creme Pie, originally uploaded by Squidly.

It actually was just “ok”. If we do it again, I’ll change up the cake recipe (too dry) and the glaze.

Eggs Benedict

Diane requested a fancy Sunday meal, so today I made the brunch classic: “Eggs Benedict.” There are many different accounts of the origins of this dish, and the recipe can be tweaked to include various meat and herb combinations. The classic recipe includes two halves of an English Muffin, topped by slices of Canadian Bacon, a poached egg, and a slathering of hollandaise sauce.

Creating this dish was a lot of fun. I followed the instructions in my CIA manual. Here’s the Youtube video of the preparation:

Poaching Eggs:

Preparing Hollandaise

The Verdict: Two big Thumbs up from Diane!

Grilled Yellowfin Tuna Steak

Grilled Yellowfin Tuna Steak

Marinate 45 minutes in:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 minced clove of garlic
1 tablespoon chopped thyme (or whatever you want)
1 tsp pepper.

Grill in an oiled grill pan over medium heat for 5 minutes or so per side.
Removed when internal temperature reached 120degrees.

Awesome tasting and a great source of protein. Pricey though!

On The Line

On The Line, originally uploaded by Squidly.

I’m currently reading this. More than a cookbook, it’s an incredibly detailed account of the inner workings of a top restaurant. Some inspiring recipes to be found here as well. Recommended.

Dragons Breath Chili

I made a big batch of chili yesterday, and let it cook all afternoon while I watched football. The name of this recipe is “Dragon’s Breath Chili.” While that sounds daunting, the end result isn’t too spicy…just a nice, moderate warming. I suppose the name stems from the fact that there are 5 different types of pepper in this recipe. From Guy Fieri, on the Food Network. This is the second time I’ve made it, and the only real negative is that there is a LOT of prep work to do. I think the end result is worth it. Note: you may want to swap out various cuts of meat…it’s ok, so long as the final quantities are the same. This would be interesting to try with turkey or pork.

Dragons Breath Chili

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons bacon grease, or canola oil
• 2 red bell peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
• 2 jalapenos, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
• 1 head garlic, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 2 pounds ground beef, coarse grind
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 2 teaspoons granulated onion
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons hot paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 12 ounces lager beer
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, with juice
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans kidney beans, with juice

Directions

In large stock pot over high heat, add butter and bacon grease. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, chiles and onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and saute a minute longer. Add chuck and brown. Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much. Cook until meat is nicely browned and cooked through, about 7 to10 minutes.

Add in granulated onions, granulated garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.

Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes.

Stir in beer and chicken stock. Add beans, lower heat and simmer for (a minimum of) 2 hours.

Making “Play-doh”

Sea Bass, Parsnips, Spinach, & Vanilla-Saffron Sauce

The skin of the fish was very crispy and offered a nice texture change-up to the rest of the dish. The key was ensuring that the skin was bone dry before slapping it down in the saute pan.

And surprisingly the spinach was a strength. I’m not a spinach fan, but it was fantastic cooked the way it was here.

Recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook.

The recipe is too involved to repeat here, but I’ll definitely be making this again. The base sauce was a reduction of the mussel-broth I made yesterday, combined with vanilla bean, saffron, cream and beurre monte (butter whisked constantly during melting to keep it from seperating.) The parsnips were boiled in cream and run through a ricer (I don’t own a tamis.)

The spinach was wilted with orange zest (which was later removed.)

So delicious.