FoodB

Web site note, I turned the comments back on. I don't care if the comments are getting hit by spam anymore, I'll just keep deleting it until it becomes to much. It's happening on older posts anyways so I had a change of heart.

As mentioned in the previous post, we had a chance to get out of the house and head over to Garden Grove's strawberry festival on Saturday. We did leave unfulfilled in the strawberry category and on Sunday while we were grocery shopping, we decided to pick up a three pint box of the dang things. Jenn wanted to make something special with them and could not find a recipe so she came up with this recipe:

Woody's Strawberry Mint Delight
(Serving for 2)

1 Frozen Pound cake
1 Pint of Strawberry's
2 Tablespoons of sugar
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
Fresh Mint
Cool Whip

1. Hull the strawberry's, cut in half the long way and then cut in half the long way again. Quarter the strawberry's into even pieces and place into a mixing bowl.
2. Take the leaves of the mint and chop up very fine, almost minced to let the oils come out and put in the mixing bowl with the strawberry's.
3. Sprinkle the strawberry mixture with 1 Tablespoon of sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add the second Tablespoon of sugar and repeat. (You can be the judge if it needs more sugar or not, usually one more Tablespoon will do).
5. Let the strawberry's rest for about 10 minutes stirring around occasionally. You do not need to mash them, the strawberries will naturally release the juices and the sugar will meld with it making a nice gooey syrup.
6. When the strawberry's are done, cut the frozen pound cake into 1/2-inch slices and toast them on medium.
7. Place toasted pound cake slices each in a single serving dessert dishes. Spoon the strawberry mixture into each serving dessert dish. Drizzle with Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (use as much as wanted but beware over chocolating). Top with Cool Whip and serve

Man was this good. The first night Jenn made it I thought there was to much mint. A little mint can go a long way. Jenn thought that was the best part so that one just goes to personal taste. Even though I thought there was to much mint, it was still pretty damn good. All 4 of the flavors really go well together and the make one heck of a dessert. Good stuff!

Posted by Gordon at 08:01 AM | Permalink

I try to write posts to this site when I am in a good mood. I also tend to write most of my posts from work. Seeing as how lately that me having a good mood tends to only happen when I am not at work I have been struggling to keep up with the pace that I set in the last two weeks. So I am going to try and power through this one without getting off subject to much.

Really sucks that Memorial Day is over. It's funny how you look forward to these holidays so much and when they actually come up, the time goes by way to quickly. Jenn and I didn't do much on the weekend. One thing we were able to do was we got to head over to the strawberry festival out in Garden Grove. The festival was okay and we didn't end up staying to long because of the heat. I wanted to get a strawberry shortcake (it was a strawberry festival after all) but decided against it after seeing the line.

Other than that the only thing we did was to invite our friends Dan and Lee over on Monday. Jenn found a recipe that she wanted to try out and the portion sizes were to large for just 2 people. Seeing as how they enjoy when we cook for them, we figured that they would be perfect test cases. Here is the recipe:

Pancetta Wrapped Pork Roast

8 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) tied boneless pork loin roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups dry white wine

1. Blend the garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oil in a small food processor, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the garlic is minced.
2. Sprinkle the pork roast generously with salt and pepper. Arrange the pancetta slices on a work surface, overlapping slightly and forming a rectangle. Spread half of the garlic mixture over 1 side of the pork and between the 2 loins that meet in the center of the tied pork roast. Place the pork, garlic mixture side down, in the center of the pancetta rectangle. Spread the remaining garlic mixture over the remaining pork. Wrap the pancetta slices around the pork. Place the pork in a roasting pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
4. Pour 1/2 cup of broth and 1/2 cup of wine into the roasting pan. Add more broth and wine to the pan juices every 20 minutes. Roast the pork until a meat thermometer inserted into the center registers 145 degrees F for medium-rare, about 1 hour. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Tent with aluminum foil and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour the pan drippings into a glass measuring cup and spoon off any fat that rises to the top.
5. Using a large sharp carving knife, cut the pork into 1/4-inch-thick slices and serve with the pan juices.

We misinterpreted the directions and ties two roasts together. This caused a problem with the cook time because we increased the size of the roast significantly. I think if we ever try this one again, we will have to watch Giada do it on her show first.

Aside from having to cook it for longer, the pork was really good. Very tender and the pancetta around the outside was very crisp and full of flavor. We have some leftover pancetta and I'm thinking of ways that we can use it again before it goes bad. A very good meal to end the holiday weekend, even if it felt to short.

Posted by Gordon at 10:54 AM | Permalink

Jenn and I are big fans of Iron Chef: America. Our favorite chefs on the show are Masaharu Morimoto and Mario Batali. Morimoto is just amazing to watch because he does things that I don't see anyone else do on the show and Batali is just a character. We have never made anything from either chef and Jenn decided to take on a Batali recipe. Oddly enough she found this chickpea recipe a few weeks after we watched "Battle Chickpeas" on the afore mentioned Iron Chef. Batali kept referring to them as ceci beans which made me chuckle and when Jenn was making this soup, I must have repeated it about 756 times.

Chickpea Soup: Minestra se Ceci

4 1/2 cups chickpeas
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 Spanish onions
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin, plus 1 clove
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
12 (1-inch thick) slices Italian peasant bread
1 can anchovies in salt, deboned and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1. Place the chickpeas in a heavy-bottomed pot and just cover with cold water. Add the baking soda and cover. Leave the chickpeas to soak overnight.
2. When they are ready to be used, transfer the chickpeas and the soaking water to a large saucepan. Salt, to taste, and cook over a medium flame until tender.
3. Cut the onion in 1/2 through the root and slice them into half moons, each 1/8-inch thick.
4. In a second large saucepan, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden brown.
5. Add the garlic, tomatoes, chili flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Add the chickpeas and water and leave to simmer until the flavors have melded, for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes.
7. Before serving, chop the anchovies and add the parsley. Toast the bread slices, rub surface with the remaining garlic clove and spread on the anchovy paste. Drizzle them with olive oil and serve with the soup.

Pretty decent soup. I have to say that it was a lot better the next day for lunch. The first time I had it, I had to add some pepper to the broth to give it some more flavor. The next day though, it was really rich and the beans seemed to give up a lot of flavor. Maybe this was what was lost by using canned beans.

On another note, the recipe called for bread with an anchovy paste spread. Jenn made this and she tried it out. She said it was pretty nasty so unless you really enjoy anchovies, I would just do plain bread slices. It smelled pretty bad to me so I waited on Jenn's reaction before taking that plunge myself. Glad I did because she looked like someone spat on her food after trying it.

I just can't help it Jenn.

Ceci beans.

757

Posted by Gordon at 09:05 AM | Permalink

I'm trying out scheduling posts on FoodB. So this is past Gordon speaking to you (cue the bad music).

I've read a lot of differing opinions on the benefits of eating lamb. I will say this, it is nice to change it up every now and then. You can only eat so much ground beef in a week until you start to get that heavy stomach feeling. Jenn got the recipe from Emeril and I think it is the first time that we have ever tried to make something of his. Here it is:

Lamb Burgers with Feta Spread

2 1/4 pounds ground Lamb
1/2 cup minced Shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh Mint leaves
1 tablespoon minced Garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground Allspice
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, plus 1/8 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
4 ounces Feta Cheese, crumbled
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced green onion tops
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
6 hamburger buns
Lettuce leaves, for garnish, optional
Thinly sliced tomatoes, for garnish, optional
Sliced roasted red peppers, for garnish, optional

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the lamb, shallots, mint, garlic, salt, cumin, allspice, 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne, and the cinnamon and mix gently but thoroughly to combine. Using your hands, shape the mixture into 6 wide patties about 1/2-inch thick and transfer to a large plate or a platter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
2. Make the feta dip: Combine the remaining 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, feta cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, green onions, 1 teaspoon of the olive oil, and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and stir to blend well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight to allow flavors to blend.
3. When ready to cook the burgers, preheat a grill to medium-high. Brush the burgers on both sides with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. When the grill is hot, add the burgers and cook for about 4 minutes on each side for medium. Transfer the burgers to a platter and cover loosely with foil. Place the buns, cut sides down, and in batches if necessary, in the hot skillets and cook until warmed through and slightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Serve the buns with the cooked burgers and spoon some of the feta spread over each burger. Garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, and sliced roasted peppers if desired, and serve immediately.

The recipe was okay, but it just reminded me of the stuffed grape leaves that we make. All in all, this was a decent meal, but I don't think that I will be craving this one in the future. If you are really looking for a different type of burger, try the Chicken Spanakopita Burgers that we make from time to time.

Posted by Gordon at 09:18 AM | Permalink

I had this entry all nice and written up on Monday, and my browser crashed. Generally before I post I spell check it in Word and a few times that I have had a browser crash while writing an entry, I can just re-copy it from Word. For some reason I decided to close that as well without saving. Ugg.

In more completely unrelated site news, I am done with school. Well, that is, at least until next semester starts. I took my final on Tuesday for my intro to programming course. I'm pretty confident that I aced the class and I really enjoyed the course. Next semester I plan on taking 3 courses (C++, SQL and Unix) so I am going to enjoy the time off while I get it (BBQ here I come!)

Artichokes. Someone please explain these things to me.

When I was very young I had severe allergies and this really affected what I would eat as I grew up. I was allergic to most everything edible and I ended up eating a pretty basic diet of grains and meats. During that time I became very aware of the smell of foods and tended to avoid food that had very strong, distinct aroma's. This is why I have always avoided things such as salad dressing, chinese food and some of the most odorous vegetables.

That being said, artichokes were always something that I would avoid at all costs. I remember my parents steaming artichokes for themselves and the smell would just take over the house. I have a pretty strong nose so this left a big impression on me. For the longest time now, Jenn has been trying to get me to try artichokes and since I am usually involved in the menu creating process, it just wasn't going to happen. So the first week that Jenn does the menu all by herself, what is the lead-off hitter:

Steamed Whole Artichokes

4 sprigs Parsley
4 Garlic cloves
2 Bay Leaves
2 Lemons, cut in half
1/4 cup White Wine
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 quart Chicken Broth or water
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 whole Artichokes

1. Put the parsley, garlic, bay leaves, lemons, wine, oil and broth in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Season the liquid with salt and pepper. In the meantime prepare the artichokes.
2. Wash artichokes under cold water. Using a heavy stainless steel knife, cut off the stems close to the base. Pull off the lower petals that are small and tough. Cut off the top inch of the artichoke and rub with half a lemon to preserve the green color. Alternatively, you may put the artichokes in acidulated water. If you wish, trim the thorny tips of the petals with kitchen shears.
3. Place the artichokes in the steaming liquid, bottom up. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. The artichokes are done when a knife is inserted into the base and there is no resistance.
4. To eat, pull off a leaf and scrape the meat off the tender end with your front teeth. Dip the ends of the leaves in lemon juice and melted butter if desired. When you reach the center cone of purple prickly leaves, remove it. This is the choke that protects the heart. Now, scrape away the thistle fuzz covering the artichoke heart. The heart is the meatiest part of the artichoke. Steamed artichokes may be served hot or cold.

Ok, so all of those fears in my head were unfounded. I actually enjoyed the things once I was able to get one in my mouth. I didn't bother with the dipping sauce and just ate them straight ways. The leaves themselves are very odd to me and I don't think I really got the hang on that. The hearts though were really good. I mentioned to Jenn that I wouldn't mind having those as part of other recipes because they have a very simple flavor and would really be better as part of a bigger recipe.

So the artichoke didn't come alive and eat my brain like I thought it might. Maybe next time.

Posted by Gordon at 08:45 AM | Permalink

When my wife comes to me and asks if I would be interested in a new stuffed pork recipe my natural response is "hell yes".

A few weeks back I made a stop by Costco sans the misses, and naturally stopped by their meat section. After wiping the drool of my shirt, I decided to get some pork tenderloins and figure out what to do with them later. The package consisted of two packs so I figured there were only two tenderloins in the pack. I had a recipe that wasn't very good that I made (hence no update here) and ended up finding out that each pack had two tenderloins. So Jenn set out to find a good recipe that she could use to get rid of all that extra pork. Here is what she found:

Stuffed Pork Roast

3/4 pound Italian Sausage, chopped
1 cup chopped Baldwin Apples
2 tablespoons minced Shallots
3/4 cup chopped Walnuts, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped Parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
1 (3-pound) boneless Pork Loin roast
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Brown sausage in a sauté pan. Add apples and shallots and cook 3 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add walnuts and parsley, and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Let cool before stuffing.
3. Split the pork roast horizontally, forming a pocket; do not cut all the way through. Season roast inside and out with salt and pepper. Pack stuffing in the center and tie roast with enough butcher's twine to hold it together.
4. Heat oil in a large sauté pan. Add roast and sear on all sides until well-browned. Transfer to a rack set in a roasting pan and roast until a thermometer inserted in the center registers 145 to 150 degrees F, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Remove roast to a carving board, cover loosely with foil, and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Slice roast into 12 pieces. Serve 2 slices per serving, garnished with parsley.

Obviously this recipe called for a pork loin not tenderloins. Jenn was able to whip up some contraption that involved toothpicks and butchers string. I gotta say that I was pretty impressed because I didn't think the thing would hold together. Also we couldn't find Baldwin apples so we substituted Fuji's. Last we omitted the walnuts because I am allergic to them. All in all I really enjoyed it. Come on, pork stuffed with pork... how could I not like it. We could have taken it to the next level and wrapped it all in bacon but my head might have exploded.

Posted by Gordon at 10:30 AM | Permalink

Saturday is the day for me and PBS. With our cable provider we end up receiving three different PBS stations. One from LA, one from OC and another mystery one. The great thing is that they all have different programming. Even better is on Saturday they all play different cooking shows. When I wake up I generally go through the guide and see what they are cooking on each of the shows and record what sounds interesting. This is how I have found shows that I really enjoy such as America's Test Kitchen and BBQU.

One Saturday a couple of weeks back, Jenn and I were watching an Italian cooking show (sorry forgot the name of it), and the lady on it was making soups and salads. All of them sounded really good and Jenn decided she wanted to try making a zucchini based soup. Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Soup with Cheese and Eggs

2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
5 small Zucchini, ends trimmed, washed and diced
4 cups hot Chicken Broth
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Eggs
1/3 cup grated Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Small bunch of Basil leaves, torn into small pieces
Sliced Baguette

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and cook the zucchini until lightly browned.
2. Pour in the broth or water. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the cheese in a bowl and pour it into the soup. Stir well. Stir in the basil. Serve the soup as is or ladled over fried bread slices.

We really liked the soup. I think zucchini is the perfect soup vegetable because it has a lot of flavor when boiled and doesn't get to mushy. Also this recipe would not have been half as good if it did not have the slices of bread on the bottom. Jenn toasted the bread and I think that helped out also. The bread was able to keep its form longer and cooked bread tends to have a better flavor anyways. Word of advice if you do try this one, make sure to finish it off. We checked out the leftovers a day after and the fridge was not kind to it.

Posted by Gordon at 10:18 AM | Permalink

Why is buckwheat such a fun word to say. I can't imagine it is just because of Our Gang. Maybe it's Eddie Murphy's fault.

We bought an enormous cookbook at Costco about 3 years ago and this recipe was buried somewhere inside of it. The cookbook itself has a few recipes that we like, but for the most part it is geared more towards British taste as far as we can tell. Most of the recipes are kind of bland and there is way to much boiling of meat going on in the book. It also doesn't help that the whole thing is metric and pretty much a pain in the ass when the ingredient list hits about 15 different items and I spend 10 minutes just converting metric to whatever the hell we use. (By the way if you ever need to convert something, use Google. For instance just type in 5 liters to cups in the search bar and it will do all the messy math for you.)

This recipe is a great soup recipe. There is a lot of flavor in the broth and the noodles are not the typical egg noodles we get in most of our soups here in the States. It may be tricky finding some of the items (soba noodles and mirin) in a regular supermarket so you may want to try going to any asian market. I would also suggest that you get your vegetables their as well because I find that the veggies at the asian markets we go to are far superior to the neighborhood supermarket.

Soba Noodle Soup

8 ounce packet Soba noodles
2 Shitake mushrooms, sliced
64 fluid ounces (8 cups) of Vegetable stock
1/4 pound Snow Peas, sliced into thin strips
2 small Carrots, cut into julienne strips
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
6 Green Onions, sliced lengthwise
1 small piece of Ginger, cut into julienne strips
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Mirin (rice wine)
1 cup Bean Sprouts

1. Cook noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Combine the vegetable stock, mushrooms, snow peas, carrot, garlic, green onion & ginger in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.
3. Add soy sauce, mirin and bean sprouts. Cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Divide the noodles among four large serving bowls. Ladle the hot liquid & veggies of the top.

Addition to the note on yesterdays post, the comments are now gone. 2 hours after I set the spam filter to maximum, I received 4 more messages. Sorry that I am taking out the interactive portion of the site but if you feel like adding something to any of the posts, just shoot me an e-mail and I will add it somehow.

Posted by Gordon at 02:07 PM | Permalink

A whole month. That's the longest pause we have had around here. Fortunately I have 3 recipes that I will be posting the next few days so that won't happen again soon.

Fish. I have always found fish that is not fried to be pretty damn boring. And ever since I got really sick after Jenn and I made our own fried fish, I haven't really craved the stuff. When I was a kid my mom would make us red snapper all of the time and when we were in the store the other day I noticed that the snapper was on sale and Jenn said that she wanted to find a recipe that would feature our new, soon to be eaten, friend. Here is what she found.

Red Snapper Vera Cruz

4 Red Snapper fillets (4 ounces each)
1/4 cup fresh Lime juice
1 Tbsp. fresh Lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
1 Plum Tomato, coarsely chopped
4 Green Onions chopped
1/2 cup chopped Red Bell Pepper
Cilantro for garnish
1/2 cup of chopped Anaheim Pepper (optional)

1. Place red snapper in a shallow baking dish.
2. Combine lime juice, lemon juice and chili powder in measuring cup. Pour over snapper and let it marinate for 10 minutes, turning once or twice.
3. Sprinkle onions, tomato and peppers over snapper. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or just until snapper flakes in center.
4. Let stand, covered, 4 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

I really enjoyed this. The vegetables that cooked on top of the fish really helped add a lot of flavor. Seems really easy to prepare as well. Lately I have been noticing how much I enjoy chili powder also. Seems to be an ingredient in a lot of dishes that I enjoy.

On a systems note, I'm am thinking of removing the commenting section of this here site. I have been getting a lot of spam lately and have tried a few ways to filter it that just aren't working well. I really don't want to have to ask people register at some site and I think that is my last option. I figure that just removing it is the easiest way to deal since there are hardly any comments as is and most of the people that do comment also have my e-mail address. Hope y'all don't mind.

Posted by Gordon at 01:25 PM | Permalink