FoodB

I really can't believe that I have now hit 100 posts here on Foodb. This whole thing just started out as an experiment and kinda morphed into something all on its own.

I just did some stats and oddly enough it took me 420 days to hit 100. I didn't plan that at all and for the few of those in the know, that's just weird. So if my division skills are still there, I post every 4.2 days. Considering that for the most part I do not post on weekends, that number comes down to one post for every three days. And once again factoring in vacations/sickness/work/school/doing dishes... I think that is a pretty impressive number.

So with all of this food knowledge I was thinking what amazing facts could I pass on now that this site hit a milestone. Well the first thing that came to mind was my wife is an awesome cook. I think that with the right training and determination that she could go on to cook for big fancy restaurants anywhere. Thankfully though she decided to cook for little ol' me and I am grateful for that every time she brings a hot dish to me at night. Even when I don't enjoy the meal I still have to thank her because she is always trying new things and always working hard to impress me. I love you Jenn and I hope you continue on our journey to become the best chef I know (which you already are btw).

So back to the business at hand. We made this recipe last week. Jenn and I both really like red snapper and she found this recipe from Bobby Flay. I don't know what it is about Bobby that makes me not want to like him but I find that I do tend to enjoy the recipes he shares. Must be the name. I don't know anyone over the age of 8 that can pull off being named Bobby. But enough about him, here's the recipe:

Grilled Red Snapper with Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo

4 skinless red snapper fillets, 8 ounces each
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo
1 grapefruit, sliced, for garnish

Grapefruit-Thyme Mojo
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cloves roasted garlic
1 grapefruit, juiced
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons grated grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon honey
2 serrano chiles, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

1. Heat your grill to high.
2. Brush the fish with oil and season both sides of the fish with the salt and pepper. Place the fish on the grill, and grill for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and slightly charred. Turn the fish over and continue grilling, for 3 to 4 minutes for medium doneness. Remove the fish from the grill and let rest 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle mojo over snapper and serve with grapefruit slices on the side.

Chef Note:I did not add the peppers like usual but I did add a little bit of pepper to the dressing. Also, we did not grill the fish so I just brushed olive oil on the fish and salted each side with Sea Salt, then fried it in a pan with some olive oil 3 minutes per side, it came out rater nicely.

Good stuff as always. As the note above says, this recipe was supposed to be grilled. Unfortunately I was out of charcoal and propane that day and Jenn had to improvise. I think it was a good thing though because I have grilled fish many times and have always had a problem with it. Fish is so easy to destroy on a grill and I don't really have steady hands so it tends to look like it went through a blender once I finish the cooking.

So now I have to figure out what to talk about for the next 100 posts. Maybe I will finally post something under the breakfast category... Maybe we will discover that eskimo food is our new love... Maybe we will get a decent range one of these days that was made sometime after 1960. You never know.

Posted by Gordon at 08:22 AM | Permalink

Cool, I get to recycle the graphic for this post. Just my little part to save the planet.

I mentioned in the last post that I am not a fan of feta except in rare situations. So with that said I was surprised when Jenn made dinner one night last week and I found out that what we were having was chicken breasts stuffed with feta. Here is the recipe that she used:

Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
12 ounces goat cheese, with garlic and herbs
Fresh basil leaves
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Pre-Heat oven 375
2. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached.. Cut 12 thick slices of the goat cheese and place 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast. Rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I have to say that this one wasn't really my cup of tea. The chicken was fine and I am sure that if I actually liked feta that I would have enjoyed the whole thing. Jennifer and her mother, who we were entertaining, both really enjoyed it so it's just a personal taste thing.

The side dish that Jenn made with the chicken though was really good. I am pretty much good with most any recipe that involves zucchini.

Zucchini with Parmesan

8 medium zucchini
Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions cut in half and sliced 1/2 inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Remove the ends of the zucchini and, if they are large, cut in half lengthwise. Slice the zucchini diagonally in 1/2-inch slices. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) sauté pan and add the onions. Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat, until they start to brown. Add half the zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook, tossing occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until just cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove to a serving platter and repeat with the rest of the zucchini. Serve immediately.

Posted by Gordon at 10:48 AM | Permalink

I am not a big fan of feta cheese. Personally I find feta to be very chalky and very salty. That being said there are a few times where I don't mind feta.

Jenn and I both enjoy Mediterranean meals and we really don't cook enough of it. So as part of last weeks menu she decided to go with a Bobby Flay recipe that incorporated a lot of ingredients that we enjoy. Once we realized that the recipe called for lamb loin chops (about $15 a pound with bones in them) we decided to get creative on this one. And below is the recipe that Jenn came up with to save our budget a bit:

Lamb Meatball w/Feta Yogurt, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad

Lamb Meatballs

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves
1 pound of ground lamb
4 pocket less pitas or Lavash
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, zest, garlic and rosemary in a medium shallow baking dish, add lamb and turn to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Feta Yogurt Sauce

1 cup yogurt, drained
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 small red onion, finely sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

1. Pre-Heat oven 350
2. Take the lamb mixture and start rolling into meatballs (about an inch or so). Place in a heated pan with olive oil and cook on two sides for 2 to 3 minutes at a time to get a nice brown crust. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake in the oven no longer than 10 minutes.
3. Take the pita breads and put yogurt spread on them, some of the tomato and Cucumber salad and about 4 lamb meatballs.

Chefs Notes: This was my take on a Bobby Flay dish that I found, however he asked for lamb tenderloin and to grill it, however we can’t afford lamb tenderloin so we twisted the recipe some. I also used a English Cucumber because it has less seeds and used some of our little grape tomato’s from our garden that I cut in half and only one regular tomato for the bigger pieces and I think it came out rater nicely. I also drizzled a little bit of olive oil on the salad to give it a little flavor.

I really liked this one. When Jenn made my pita, she got a little happy with the feta sauce. I didn't mind the sauce itself I just didn't want a lot. Even with that minor, minor problem I liked it a lot. The next day I had enough to make 2 pitas at work and I have to say that they were the perfect hand food for eating in your car. Easy to reheat, easy to assemble and no mess. Good stuff all around.

Posted by Gordon at 01:25 PM | Permalink

I think I found my new love when it comes to BBQing.

About a year ago I was really wanting to get a charcoal BBQ. At that point I had a propane grill that I got some time ago as a Christmas present and I had my smoker which I bought myself as a tax return present. So naturally I wanted the final major form of BBQ cooking to complete my collection. I found one on craigslist for $10 and it has been sitting in my yard pretty much unused ever since then. Propane is so much easier to just fire up and throw the meat on.

Then I ran out of propane.

So when I really wanted to make the below recipe, I had to fire up the charcoal grill. At first I was kind of upset that I had o take the time out to light the coals, get them set up and then watch the meat to make sure it didn't burn. Somewhere in the middle of all of that I realized that a strange calm came over me and I was actually enjoying the simplicity of it all. So I think from now on I will be doing all of our BBQing on the charcoal grill because I'm not really that busy of a person and I really had a blast.

Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa

Marinade
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
A couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
A sprinkling of salt

Steak
1 2-pound tri-tip steak or roast
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Salsa
1 large green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped (if you don't have green, probably any color will do)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley, basil, or arugula
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Prepare the marinade in a large bowl, stirring together all of the marinade ingredients. Place steak in the bowl and coat on all sides with the marinade. Let the steak sit in the marinade and come to room temperature while you prepare the grill. (No need to marinate the steak more than 20 minutes or so.)
2. Prepare the grill for direct high heat. If you are using charcoal, use approximately 5 pounds of coals. Bank the coals so that more of them are on one side than the other, so that you have a high heat zone and a lower heat zone.
3. When the grill is ready and hot, remove the meat from the marinade and dry it all around with paper towels. Sprinkle all sides of the tri-tip generously with both salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Place the tri-tip on the grill, on the hot direct heat side. Leave the cover off and watch carefully for flare-ups. As the meat browns, any fat will melt and drip on to the coals causing flare-ups. These are okay, as long as they don't get out of control. Keep moving the tri-tip around the grill away from the flames if they get too high. After one side of the meat is browned (about 5 minutes) use tongs to flip it on to the other side. When it is browned all around, move the tri-tip to the lower heat side of the grill. Cover the grill and close the vents enough so that you maintain about 300-325°F temperature in the grill. (If you are using a charcoal grill, you can place a meat thermometer through the vents to measure the heat.) If you are using a gas grill, turn off one of the burners and move the meat over that burner for indirect heating.
5. Cook the tri-tip until a meat thermometer reads 130°F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat (15-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat). Remove the tri-tip from the grill. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Prepare the salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients into a small bowl.
7. Cut the tri-tip in 1/4-inch slices against the grain. Serve with the salsa.

Wow. This was a great meal. Jenn made some potatoes with garlic in a foil pack that I threw on the grill also. The potatoes were perfect. I overcooked the meat a little (ended up being about medium-well) but it was still pretty tender. The star of the show though was the salsa that we put on top of the steak. We used an orange pepper instead of green because we both find that the flavor of the orange ones is the best. After the meal was done I commented that the salsa (which didn't really taste like the salsa that we are used to from Mexican restaurants) could have been used in more ways. We could have thrown it in with the potatoes and it would have tasted great. We could have ate it by itself and it would have made a good side dish. All in all I think we found a keeper and this one will definitely be the recipe of choice when I get tri-tip in the future.

Also to give credit, I found this recipe on Simply Recipes. I subscribed to their RSS feed some time ago and their stuff always looks really good.

Posted by Gordon at 09:14 AM | Permalink

Probably a bad thing to have a picture of Michael Richards on my site but whenever I hear the term fusilli, I think of this episode of Seinfeld.

If you haven't been reading this blog for the last year you probably haven't noticed how big pasta nuts that my wife and I are. Generally we have at least one Italian meal a week and that's all right by me. Lately it seems that Jenn is shying away from traditional American view of Italian food (red sauces and noodles) and branching out into what else the country is known for.

The reason Jenn found this dish was because we had some sweet Italian sausage leftover from a previous recipe and it was really good sausage so we didn't want it to go to waste. The Italian deli we frequent makes their own sausage fresh and it is really the best sausage that I have ever had. Most sausage are a mix between ground meat and spices and one of the most common spices in Italian sausage is fennel seeds. I have found that in most sausage the fennel seeds are like little stones and I just figured that fennel seeds were tough. That was until I had Lucci's sausage and didn't have to pick rock hard seeds out of my teeth. I don't plan on ever buying the mass produced crap ever again now.

Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 tablespoons of oil reserved
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
2 (8-ounce) packages frozen artichoke hearts
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
16 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, plus additional for garnish
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
8 ounces water-packed fresh mozzarella, drained and cubed, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-size pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl. Add the artichokes and garlic to the same skillet, and sauté over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fusilli in boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta (do not rinse). Add the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, and parsley to the artichoke mixture. Toss until the sauce is almost absorbed by the pasta. Stir in the mozzarella. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve, passing the additional Parmesan cheese alongside.

Chef Note: We could not find frozen artichoke hearts so had to settle for can ones that we rinsed well. Personally I think the frozen ones would have gone better with the whole dish and we will have to keep an eye out for them for the next time we make this. Also, instead of hot sausage we used sweet Italian sausage.

Good stuff. I finished off the leftovers all by myself. Most likely we could have cut the recipe in half and still had leftovers. When discussing the meal with Jenn I told her that the leftovers I had were good luke warm as well so I was thinking that this would be a good replacement for the traditional pasta salad at a get together.

Posted by Gordon at 09:19 AM | Permalink

When it comes to food, there are a lot of things that I am not a big fan of. There's the unholy-three (pickles, mayo, and mustard) and then there are things that I have varying levels of distaste for. Most of those are from being allergic to them when I was young to just not caring for them. Cream and cheese based pasta sauces are a group that I actually tried when I was younger and just didn't care for. I still have that dislike of what I call white sauces and tend to stick to tomato based only.

So it was quite a shock to see what Jen was making next:

Penne with 5 Cheeses

Kosher salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup crushed tomatoes in thick tomato puree
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded imported Italian fontina (1 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup crumbled Italian Gorgonzola (1 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella Shredded
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 pound imported penne rigate pasta
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1. Preheat Oven 500 degrees.
2. Bring 5 Quartz of salted water to a boil.
3. Combine all the ingredients except the penne and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
4. Drop the penne into the boiling water and parboil for 10 minutes. Drain well in a colander and add to the ingredients in the mixing bowl, tossing to combine.
5. Put the mixture in a casserole dish and dot with butter and bake until bubbly and brown on top, 10-15 minutes.

I have to admit that I liked this recipe. Jenn ended up forgetting to add the ricotta so ours was only 4 cheeses but I don't think it really made much of a difference. Even though I did like it, this one did bad things to me. I am somewhat lactose intolerant. Some days I can eat a gallon of ice cream while chasing it with a gallon of milk and nothing will come from it. Some days if sprinkle an ounce of cheese on a salad I will think that God punch me in the stomach. This recipe caused a great big gut punch. Didn't help that I decided to bring some in for lunch the next day not thinking about it as well. So unfortunately I think this one is going to go on the list of good recipes that we won't be trying again just because there is nothing worse than feeling your insides moving around.

Posted by Gordon at 02:24 PM | Permalink

Soup and more soup.

The latest batch of soup is a popular post-Christmas soup because most families have a leftover ham hock lying around and what better way to use it than to throw it in a pot and boil the crap out of it. Since we didn't make a ham in recent weeks, we ended up buying ours pre-smoked. BTW, this is one big pot of soup so you better have some extra Tupperware lying around for leftovers.

Navy Bean Soup

1 pound navy beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
10 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 large smoked ham hocks, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
8 cups of cold water
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Butter for garnish

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes; remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. Drain and reserve. Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine.
2. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven combine the beans, herb bundle, hocks, onions, and garlic with the water. Bring to a boil, cover, and adjust the heat so the soup cooks at a gentle simmer. Cook until the beans and hock are completely tender, about 1-1/2 hours.
3. Turn off the heat and remove the hocks. Cool slightly. Remove the meat from the hocks, discarding the bones, fat, and skin. Cut the meat into small cubes. Remove the herb bundle and discard.
4. Puree about 3 cups of the beans with a some of the liquid in a blender. (For a smoother soup puree all the beans.) Stir the puree and diced meat into the soup. Heat the soup and adjust the seasoning as needed with salt and pepper.

Good soup. I thought the ham hocks that we bought were probably a lot better than if we had used a post meal ham hock. The smoky flavor coming off of them to just made the soup smell amazing. I don't imagine you can smoke soup but if you could it would have smelled like what we were eating. The only complaint I have was that I wish that I had bought some bread before hand because this was a perfect soup to dip bread in. Next time for sure.

Site note: I added a soup category since we have been rocking the soup bells a lot lately. Hopefully I will get around to updating all of the previous soup recipes to make it easier to find.

Posted by Gordon at 11:17 AM | Permalink

The picture for today's post barely has anything to do with Today's recipe, but I just couldn't get over that there was a baseball player named Coot Veal. I now have a new name for our future kids honey!

Jenn found this recipe basically because it included two things that we had in our fridge that were main ingredients, pancetta and mascarpone. Finding decent Veal chops turned out to be quite an adventure. Our normally reliable market, Plowboys, was all out of them so we had to pick them up at Albertsons. I don't want to knock Albertsons too much because the one near our house has a pretty decent selection of big BBQ meats, but when it comes to steaks and chops they tend to have the thinnest cuts possible. All of their meat is cut less than half an inch and that's fine in some situations, but I have been finding that a thicker cut is generally a better piece of meat.

Veal Chops Stuffed with Mascarpone, Pancetta, and Caramelized Onions

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, diced
2 cups coarsely chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 bone-in, double-cut veal loin chops, 12 to 14 ounces each
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups veal or beef stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 Teaspoons of the following mixed together for the rub on the chops:

Paprika
Salt
Garlic Powder
Black pepper
Onion Powder
Dried Oregano
Dried Thyme
Cayenne Pepper (Optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and, when hot, add the pancetta. Cook, stirring frequently, until crispy, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and are caramelized around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the thyme and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
3. In a mixing bowl combine the pancetta, cooled onion mixture, and mascarpone. Mix gently but thoroughly. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
4. Using a sharp knife, make an incision into a veal chop near the top of the bone. Following the curve of the bone, cut a pocket, about 3 inches long into the side of each veal chop, making sure not to pierce the other side. Stuff each chop with 1/4 of the pancetta-onion-cheese mixture. Repeat with remaining veal chops and stuffing mixture. Season both sides of each chop with the spice mix.
5. Heat a large sauté pan until hot. Add the vegetable oil and, when hot, add the chops and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the chops to the prepared baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes for medium rare. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving with the sauce.
6. While the chops are searing, begin the pan sauce: heat 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a medium sauté pan until foamy. Add the shallots and cook, stirring until soft, 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of garlic and 1 teaspoon of thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by 2/3 about 5 minutes. Add the stock and parsley and continue to simmer until sauce has reduced to a thickness that coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes longer. Remove from the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and whisk or swirl to combine. Adjust seasonings with a pinch of salt. Serve immediately or keep warm but do not allow sauce to boil.

CHEFS NOTES: We didn't buy the thick cut chops so I improvised and just cut them off the bone and pounded them flat because they are so soft and tender. I then laid the stuffing mixture in the middle of the chop and laid the sides over. If sealed nicely on their own. I also used dried thyme because its less of a hassle but make sure you don't use too much, make sure and eyeball it.

In the past I have had a problem with the concept of veal. I know it's hypocritical to say it's wrong to eat veal while powering down a double cheeseburger, but I just couldn't stand eating something that was young. I'm still not thrilled with veal but now will eat it without saying anything. Luckily the price of good veal generally makes it outside of my shopping range and therefore it is rarely served at my house.

That being said, this was a good meal. Jenn really had a good idea when she decided to roll the chops instead of stuffing them. Both of us where having a real hard time trying to make a pocket for the stuffing in such a thin chop. The mascarpone was very interesting also. When it was stuffed into the chop it was the consistency of warm butter. Once cooked it was very creamy and really made the meal for me. Also the sauce was really good as well. We cooked up some leftover parsnips as well and I thought that dipping the parsnips in the sauce was a hit as well. Good meal all around with ingredients that I am not used to getting on a regular basis.

Posted by Gordon at 09:18 AM | Permalink