FoodB

In an effort to update this website with a little more regularity, I asked my wife if she would want to do some updates. Here is the first of her posts.

Years ago my friends dad had gone on a month long fishing trip and invited some of us over to feast on his treasure. He had caught a bunch of yellow fin tuna and the last time I had indulged myself on that was when I had stayed in Hawaii. I will never forget the Parmesan Yellow fin Tuna Steaks he made. Even though I never got the recipe from him I tried the other night to replicate my own. It didn't taste anything like his but I can sure say that mine were good. He cooked his well done, as for mine, well I love it pink in the middle, brought out way more flavor I think.

Parmesan Yellow Fin Tuna Steaks

2 Yellow Fin Tuna Steaks
1 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese, shredded
Sea Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

1. Rinse the Tuna Steaks and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Season front and back of fish with Sea Salt & pepper.
3. Shred the parmesan cheese and lay out on a plate.
4. Lay the Tuna steak in the shredded parmesan cheese on both sides. You can lightly press the cheese onto the fish and it will stick to it, make sure that it covers with a good layer.
5. Take some olive oil and only put enough in to surface the pan and heat up the pan to medium-high.
6. Place steak on pan and sear for 4-5 minutes per side, or until cheese forms a golden brown crust on each side.

Note: The steak is going to be rare in the middle; you are only searing the outside of the tuna. If you don't like it rare, then go ahead and throw it in the oven for a few minutes. Also when cooking with sea food I usually find that it's a good idea and better to use sea salt instead of regular salt; however you don't have to do this.

Posted by Gordon at 10:44 AM | Permalink

I am starving. I am sitting at work and thought it would be a good idea to get out another post for this here blog. I am realizing that it probably wasn't such a good idea.

Last week we our usual recipe for Cornish Game Hens. We both really like it and haven't felt the need to expand on it really. When you buy game hens though, you typically get a pack with two of them in it and usually we just throw the extra one in the freezer for a future retread of the same recipe. This week we decided to go ahead and find another recipe that involved our favorite little bird. So after much searching, it Emeril to the rescue:

Bulgur, Herb, and Feta Stuffed Cornish Hens

1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup medium-grain bulgur
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus generous sprigs for garnish
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus generous sprigs for garnish
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, plus generous sprigs for garnish
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
4 scallions (white and green), chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup crumbled Greek feta (about 3 ounces)
4 Cornish game hens, backbone and breast bone removed (butterflied)
Charred Tomato Coulis, recipe follows

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, toast the bulgur in a medium skillet over medium heat until fragrant and nutty, about 4 minutes. Stir in the bulgur, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the bulgur to a medium bowl and fluff with a fork. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil, chopped herbs, pine nuts, 2 teaspoons salt, scallions, and garlic and season with pepper, to taste. Cool slightly and add the egg and feta, and mix to combine. Set the stuffing aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
4. Lay the hens on a work surface. Starting from the neck of a hen, slip a couple fingers between the skin and breast, and loosen the skin. Take a large spoonful of the stuffing and slip the spoon between the skin and breast. With your free hand, hold the stuffing in place and gently pull the spoon out, leaving the stuffing behind. Press the skin down to evenly distribute the stuffing over the breast. Repeat until the hens are evenly stuffed. Cross the legs of the birds at the breastbone and tie them with a piece of kitchen twine.
5. Arrange the hens breast-side up on a baking sheet. Brush all over with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Roast the birds until well browned and crispy, and an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted into the thigh, about 40 minutes.
7. To serve, split the hens in half lengthwise. Pour the coulis onto a platter and arrange the hens on top. Garnish with the herb sprigs and serve.

Charred Tomato Coulis
4 medium ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the tomatoes over 2 gas burners on high and cook, turning occasionally, until charred and peeling. Alternatively, broil the tomatoes until charred. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside to steam for 5 minutes. Peel and seed the tomatoes.
2. Transfer the tomatoes to a blender with the vinegar and garlic and puree until smooth. While the motor is running, drizzle in the oil until incorporated. Season with pepper, to taste.

Pretty intense recipe. The bird and the stuffing were both good stuff. As for the tomato coulis, there was a little accident and I ended up cleaning more of it off of the counter than ended up on our plates. I'm not really a sauce person myself so I let Jenn have the bulk of what could be salvaged. As for the stuffing, I was very surprised that the feta or the dill didn't overpower it. I'm not a big fan of either so I was a little worried when I saw that both of them were involved. Since there was only two of us, we decided to split the recipe by 4 (which made for some interesting fractional measurements). Also we avoided the pine nuts due to possible allergic reactions as always. The recipe may seem intimidating just looking at the amount of ingredients and steps, but I think Jenn had a pretty easy time of it. All and all, another keeper.

Posted by Gordon at 11:12 AM | Permalink

Back on Labor day weekend, it was frickin' hot. So the natural place for most people to go when it is hot is to the movies (that is if you are not really a beach person). That weekend we got a chance to see Pixar's latest movie, Ratatouille. Cute little film and the only problem I had with it was that it seemed to be geared more for adults. I like animated films that are geared more for kids yet have a little things thrown in for the parents in the crowd. Those movies tend to be more light-hearted in my book.

So oddly enough when we were making the menu for last week, we got to our usual question of what soup should we make for the week. My mother gave us a really good soup book which I have been using for that same question for the past month and I came across ratatouille in it. After seeing it made in the movie we were both curious and already had an eggplant in the fridge, so why not.

Ratatouille

2 medium eggplants (2 – 2 1/2 lbs. total) cut into 1 inch dice
Salt
2 large zucchini (1 1/2 lbs. total) cut into 1 inch dice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium cloves of garlic minced
3 medium ripe tomatoes, cored, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 Tablespoon minced fresh Thyme leaves
Ground Black pepper

1. Place the eggplant in a large colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle the eggplant with 2 teaspoons salt and toss to distribute the salt evenly. Let the eggplant stand for at least 1 hour and preferably 2 to 3 hours. Rinse the eggplant well to remove the salt and place on a triple thickness of paper towels. Cover with another triple layer of towels. Using your palms, press the eggplant firmly until it feels very firm when pressed between fingertips. Set aside.
2. Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Toss the eggplant and zucchini with 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Divide the mixed vegetables between 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets and season liberally with salt to taste. Place the baking sheets in the oven and roast the vegetables stirring every 10 minutes, until the eggplant and zucchini are well-browned and very tender, 30 – 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring often until the onion is golden and very soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook until their juices are released and tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the reserved eggplant and zucchini to the pot, stirring gently but thoroughly to coat until the vegetables are reheated. Add the parsley, basil and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chefs Notes
For the tomatoes there is a whole process you can go through peeling the tomatoes if you don't have the best knife skills or one shortcut you could do is to buy a can of whole tomatoes that has it already done for you. Notes on the process are as follows:

Peeling Tomatoes

1. Place the cored tomatoes in a saucepan of boiling water, no more than five at a time. Boil until the skin splits and begins to curl around the cored area of the tomato, about 15 seconds for very ripe tomatoes and up to 30 seconds for firmer tomatoes. Remove the tomatoes from the water with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.


2. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel back the skins with a paring knife. Use the curled edges at the core as your point of departure.

For the Salt, I prefer to use Kosher salt when cooking and flat leaf (Italian Parsley) when recipes call for it. It gives a more fresh flavor to things.

If you don't feel like taking the time out to cut up fresh herbs you can always use dry herbs but just greatly reduce the measurements it asks for because the dry is reduced in size quite a bit.

I only used one tray for roasting the veggies because I had a big enough pan, as long as everything consists of one layer, a couple here and there is no big deal. Also I didn’t use a dutch oven, I just used a plane old skillet but reduced the heat because the heat goes through that metal a lot quicker.

End Chefs Notes

Pretty impressive stuff here. I have no idea why it was in our soup and stew book because there wasn't anything that resembled a broth involved. It was also nice to have a dinner that did not involve a meat as the star of the dish. I've noticed that most of our meals revolve around some kind of meat and the few times we have tried to veer away from this, the results have been mixed. But this is a welcome addition to our collection and a healthy choice as well.

Posted by Gordon at 11:28 AM | Permalink

The Simply Recipes website is my new crack. We have made 2 things from them now and I have really enjoyed both.

The second dish we made was the stuffed zucchini recipe below. I saw it come across my RSS reader and when I saw the picture of the finished product, I really wanted to try it. Was a little difficult convincing Jenn that this wouldn't be another one of my disaster project recipes. I find that for every three recipes I try to take on, Usually one of them is good. I know, enough talk, get to the food!

Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey Sausage

1 zucchini about 12 inches long, or 6 medium ones
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 pound ground turkey
2 diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

1. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving shells about 1/4 inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides, and sauté another 2 minutes.
3. In a separate skillet heat a Tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground turkey. Lightly brown the turkey, stirring only occasionally. After the turkey browns on one side, stir it so that it has a chance to brown on other sides. Cook until the ground turkey is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in the onion and mushroom mixture from the other pan. Add the wine. Stir in tomato, basil and rosemary and cook 1 minute longer. Drain any excess fat. Remove mixture from heat and set it aside.
4. When mixture has cooled, add cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Fill zucchini shells with mixture. Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch of water. Place filled zucchini halves in pan and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove zucchini from pan and serve while hot.

Good stuff! I thought that hollowing out the zucchinis was going to be a nightmare. Boy was I surprised when I had finished the job in 10 minutes. We omitted the mushrooms from this dish because the 'shrooms just ain't my thing. We had plenty of leftovers on this one also.

One thing we discussed afterwards was the choice of meats. Ground turkey is alright, it just tends to dry out very easily. Jenn and I both agree that this recipe would have gone better with either ground chicken or chicken sausage. I think it might be good with ground pork as well but Jenn usually knows better when it comes to stuff like substituting. This one is definitely a keeper and I have yet to find a recipe with zucchini that I don't like.

Posted by Gordon at 01:55 PM | Permalink

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

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

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

Back in May , Jenn made a recipe that involved sausage stuffed in a pork roast and being the funny man I am, made a joke about having three kinds of pork mashed together would probably make my head explode. Well I found out last week that my wife is either trying to see if that is true (and therefore trying to kill me) or just trying to make the most insane pork chop ever. Here is the heart stopping recipe in all it's glory:

Sausage Stuffed, Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound Sausage (Italian or Andouille)
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1/4 cup chopped orange bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups crumbled corn bread
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 (14 to 16-ounce) bone-in loin pork chops
16 slices bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage out of its casing and cook, stirring, until brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, bell peppers, and celery and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the black pepper, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the corn bread and chicken stock and cook, stirring, until the corn bread is soft, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and mix in the parsley. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, with a thin sharp knife, cut a slit into the side of the pork chops about 2 1/2-inches across and 1-inch deep. Season the chops on both sides with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Then stuff each chop with about 1/2 cup of the cooled corn bread stuffing. (The chops will be very full.) Wrap 4 slices of bacon around each chop, making sure that each end of bacon overlaps the next, so that the chop is completely wrapped. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a very large heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully lay the chops in the pan. Cook until the bacon is crispy, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven. Transfer the chops to a platter and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm and serve.

Really, I mean, come on! Pork chops stuffed with sausage, wrapped in bacon. How could I not like this one. I can't even put into words how much I liked this one. The stuffing was really good to. Another version of corn bread stuffing that I can imagine eating any old day of the week. Good stuff on all three layers.

Posted by Gordon at 01:35 PM | Permalink

Our quest to create ravioli's continues. In our first adventure we made everything from scratch. The results were not so good. We did learn a lot and making anything from scratch tends to take practice.

Our second attempt was a lot better. That time we didn't try to make the pasta ourselves. Instead we used store bought won-ton wrappers and the results were great.

With that in mind, Jenn decided to get a little creative on the fillings. We are eating healthier and on a trip to Trader Joe's she came across some chicken sausages. Personally the thought of chicken sausage didn't really sound appetizing to me but I was willing to give it a try. Also we picked up some sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil and she decided to make 2 different kinds of ravioli's. Here is a brief explanation of what we did to create the stuffing's:

Chicken Sausage and Mozzarella cheese

For these ravioli's, we removed the meat from the casing and then cooked it in a pan until it was firm and brown. Once we let the sausage cool we added some shredded mozzarella and presto, instant ravioli stuffing.

Mozzarella Cheese, Sun dried Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

What we did with the sun dried tomatoes was put them in a food processor until they were like a paste. For the fresh basil I just finely cut up the basil leaves. Add mozzarella and mix together. Important thing to note on this one is to add some salt to the mix for a little seasoning.

Really good stuff here and we had enough stuffing to make extra and freeze them for a day in which we didn't want to cook (which turned out to be yesterday). I helped stuff the raviolis and I was thinking that this would be a perfect recipe to make with kids because it is easy using the won-ton wrappers, it allows them to pick their own ingredients, and they get to get their hands dirty making it.

Posted by Gordon at 03:36 PM | Permalink

Once again, I am handing off the posting duties to my wife for this last recipe. I didn't really care for it but I could tell that she really like it so I thought it better if she wrote it up. Take it away hon:

It's Woody again, writing another food blog. Gordon didn't particularly like this dish all that well but I thought it was so good so I wanted to write a review on this recipe.

I saw this recipe on Food 911 and thought it would be something new and exciting to make.

Shrimp Ceviche Served in Coconuts

1 Lemon, halved
1 head Garlic, halved
3 Bay Leaves
8 Peppercorns
Sea salt
1 1/2 lbs. large Shrimp, peeled
2 cups Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Lime Juice (about 6 to 8 limes), plus more for drizzling
1 Red Onion, sliced thin
2 Serrano Chiles, sliced thin
1/2 bunch freshly chopped Cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
4 Coconuts
2 cups rock or kosher Salt, for serving
Extra-virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling

1. Make the ceviche: Put a large pot of water over high heat and add the lemon, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt, to taste. When it comes to a boil add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Let the shrimp poach just until they are cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the shrimp to a sheet pan and refrigerate. When they are cool slice them in half lengthwise. Combine the coconut milk, lime juice, onion, chiles, and cilantro in a large bowl and season it with salt. Add the cooled shrimp and let them marinate, refrigerated, for about 1/2 hour.
2. Prepare the coconut shells: Take a hammer and hit the coconut repeatedly (not too hard) around its equator, turning the coconut in your hand. It will eventually split into 2 halves. Drain the liquid from the coconuts.
3. To serve: Pour the salt onto a large platter and nestle the coconut halves into the salt so they stand upright. Divide the ceviche among the coconut halves; garnish with drizzles of lime juice, olive oil and cilantro.

Chefs Note: Now I didn't use the Serrano Chilies because I can't do spicy and I didn't use the Rock Salt or Coconuts for presentation. And I didn't have a whole garlic clove so I just used Garlic Powder and it was fine.

All in all this was a great dish. There were flavors that I had personally never had before and it was so exciting to me. The coconut milk was so light and added such a gentle flavor to it and it especially went great with the cilantro. I seriously could not get enough of it. I ended up eating Gordon's half. Gordon didn't like it because he doesn't like coconut all that much. Now I don't like shredded coconut because of the texture but I love the taste and the taste was definitely in the milk.

This is definitely something fun to do at a next BBQ or summer party. It was light and refreshing.

Posted by Gordon at 11:07 AM | Permalink

We had quite a track record going there for awhile. Jenn had been picking meals and it seemed like they were all things that we would be willing to try again.

Well that all ended last week. Last week we tried making a chicken recipe that called for a peach/mango BBQ sauce. I have seen BBQ recipes that use peach or mango so I didn't think anything of it. When we tried it we realized that the sauce was quite, how to say this, nasty. I put my sauce on the side so I was able to just eat the chicken plain but Jenn was not so lucky.

Last night we also ruined our "we have yet to have a bad soup" milestone as well. I won't go into to much detail but it was definitely an odd flavor.

One thing we did have on Monday that we enjoyed was this lamb recipe. I am growing into quite the lamb fan these days. I noticed that when I finish a lamb chop, I don't feel quite as weighed down as I would if I had eaten beef. Maybe I am a New Zealander at heart.

Lamb Chops with Rosemary Plum Sauce and Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette and Diced Egg

Cooking spray
1 bunch asparagus
4 small red potatoes, quartered
Salt and ground black pepper
4 (4-ounce) boneless lamb loin chops, trimmed of fat
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, rinsed and chopped
1 cup prepared plum sauce
2 Tbsp prepared plum preserves
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 hard-boiled egg, shelled and diced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
3. Arrange asparagus and potatoes on baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Season with salt and black pepper. Roast 20 to 25 minutes, until tender and golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, season lamb chops all over with salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chops and sear 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove lamb from pan and set aside. Add leeks to the same pan and sauté 3 minutes, until soft. Return lamb to pan.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together plum sauce, plum preserves and rosemary. Pour mixture over lamb chops. Simmer 5 minutes, until lamb is tender and medium-rare to medium.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, oil and mustard. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Arrange asparagus on a serving dish. Drizzle lemon vinaigrette over top. Top with diced egg. Serve lamb chops with asparagus and potatoes on the side and extra sauce (with leeks) spooned over top.

Good stuff. Lamb loin chop are relatively expensive so this one will probably be a special occasion meal. Neither of us know what prepared plum sauce is so we just used plum sauce from the Asian section of the market. Also we couldn't find plum preserves so we just omitted it from the recipe. The sauce was probably not as thick as it could have been but there wasn't anything really missing from the lamb.

Posted by Gordon at 01:38 PM | Permalink

Yesterday was the first day of our new diet. We are not going on the traditional Weight Watchers or low carb diets, just trying to eat healthier and downsize our portions. We have been noticing that our portions for meals have been getting bigger and our waistbands have been doing the same. So with that in mind we set up a few rules to help us get back on track towards getting fit again. Here are the main ones:

• No soda
• No candy
• Splitting meals when we go out
• Reducing portions on items we make
• Healthy snacks
• Exercising regularly

Now these are not set in stone goals and we will have the occasional day off. Once we get over the initial hump of starting it, we will not even have to think about these things anymore.

On top of the guidelines we set up, Jenn is making menus that are a little healthier than we normally see. We eat fairly good foods on a regular basis but there is always room for improvement. The first meal she found was a Middle Eastern inspired meal from Bobby Flay:

Mint Marinated Grilled Shrimp Tabbouleh Salad

Tabbouleh
1/2-cup medium or coarsely cracked bulgur
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4-cup baby arugula leaves
2 large green onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint, plus fresh mint leaves for garnish
1/4-cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1 clove garlic, chopped to a paste
1/4-cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Place bulgur in a bowl and pour the boiling water over. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until bulgur is tender and most of the water is absorbed, about 1 to 2 hours.
2. Drain off any excess liquid from the bulgur and stir in the arugula, green onions and mint.
3. Whisk together the lemon juice, garlic and oil and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the bulgur and season with salt and pepper.

Grilled shrimp
1/4-cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/4-cup canola oil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-pound shrimp (20 to 24 size), shelled and deveined
Salt

1. Combine juice, mint, oil and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Place shrimp in a bowl, pour marinade over and stir to coat evenly in the marinade. Marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Heat grill to high. Season shrimp with salt and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until slightly charred and just cooked through.
3. Transfer tabbouleh to a platter and top with the grilled shrimp. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Chef's Note: I chopped the arugula up fine before adding it

We both enjoyed this one. The tabbouleh had too much lemon juice for my taste. Jenn pointed out that if you ate the shrimp and salad at the same time, the effects of the lemon juice where not as noticeable. I did enjoy the tabbouleh otherwise and hopefully we can start making our own, because I have yet to find a place down here in So Cal that make decent tabbouleh. We also tried the bulgur after Jenn added the hot water and we might have some ideas on new recipes for that. The bulgur had a unique flavor and with a little help could become a healthy snack for us when we are craving sweets.

So the first day of the diet was pretty rough on me especially. The only way I get caffeine is through soda and I never realized how much I depended on the stuff to wake up in the morning. Craving candy in the afternoon was a pretty miserable experience also. This morning is a little better so far and hopefully by the end of the week I won't miss it at all.

Posted by Gordon at 08:29 AM | Permalink

What I know about Syria could probably fit into a very small pamphlet. Basically it's in the Middle East and our esteemed leader thinks that they are evil. So the real question is, if I eat the food from an evil country does that make me evil too? We delved into this philosophical quandary with this latest meal:

Syrian Lamb with Green Beans

4 to 6 shoulder Lamb Chops, fat removed and bones in for flavor
3 Tbsp. Butter
2 medium Onions chopped
2 large cloves Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
1 small Red Bell Pepper
1 tsp. Oregano
1/4 cup Water
2 pounds fresh Green Beans, snapped and cut into bite size pieces
1 (28-ounce) can crushed Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper, to taste

1. Sauté the chops in butter so they are brown on both sides. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the green beans and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 1 hour on a medium fire checking occasionally to be sure the lamb mixture is not boiling too rapidly.

I was very surprised by this recipe. The cuts of lamb were very fatty and didn't really appear to have too much quality meat on them. Also there were a lot of tomatoes for the sauce and I am not really a fan of cooking red peppers and tomatoes in the same recipe. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy both, just in separate meals. And throwing green beans into the mix seemed odd as well. Somehow it all worked. The lamb was really tender and the beans tasted really good.

And do I feel any "eviler" after the meal? I am going to have go with no. Proving once again that Guttermouth's song "Can't we all just get along (at the dinner table)" is true and real peace can only be achieved though food.

Posted by Gordon at 09:41 AM | Permalink

Almost caught up. Jenn noted that on Wednesday this little site will be a year old. Pretty impressive for a guy that gets distracted easily.

Jenn now has a method to creating new menus for the week. She will find three new recipes, including one soup recipe, and then fall back on three things that we have already made. I have a little input, which is probably for the best. If I have my heart set on something she will go ahead and make it, but if I have to fill up meals for a whole week I usually end up just finding stuff to fill open days. Those filler recipes usually end up being pretty bad and then we get into a funk. It's probably best that Jenn picks the meals out as well just because it's a lot easier to get geeked up for something that you decided on.

That in mind, Jenn found this Emeril recipe last week:

Beef Braised in Barolo

1/4 cup olive oil
1 (3-pound) boneless beef chuck roast, patted dry
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped pancetta or bacon
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 bottles Barolo, or other dry Piedmont red wine, such as Dolcetto or Barbera
2 to 4 cups beef stock
4 whole cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef and cook, turning, to brown on all sides. Remove from the pan. To the fat in the pan, add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the beef to the pan and add the wine, 2 cups of the stock, whole cloves, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the meat is tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, occasionally turning the meat and skimming any foam that forms on the surface. Add the remaining 2 cups of stock, as needed, to keep the meat covered with liquid.
2. Remove the meat from the pan and tent with foil to keep warm.
3. Strain the sauce into a saucepan and place over high heat. Cook until the sauce is reduced to a consistency thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
4. Thinly slice the beef across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices. Serve the beef ladled with the sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Good stuff. We are not wine people so we have no idea what Barolo is so we just used the wine that we had on hand for cooking. The meat itself was very tender and even though we brought knives to eat with, they remained clean for the night. Unfortunately we are going on a diet next week and this meal is not the most healthy of dishes, so it may be awhile before we revisit this one.

Posted by Gordon at 08:09 AM | Permalink

For Christmas we got a pasta machine. We have used it a few times and we must say that the first few times we used it, we were very outmatched. Making your own pasta sheets for raviolis is very difficult because they end up around 4-5 feet long. We are definitely going to keep trying until we get the hang of it.

Jenn was watching Giada on Everyday Italian and she had a recipe for raviolis that used wanton wrappers. Jenn found this very novel and decided to try for herself. Here's the recipe:

Prosciutto Ravioli

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
2 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
48 wonton wrappers
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
Freshly grated pecorino

1. Whisk the ricotta, spinach, prosciutto, egg yolks, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
2. Place 1 tablespoon of the ricotta filling in the center of a wonton wrapper. Brush the edge of the wrapper lightly with water. Fold the wrapper in half, enclosing the filling completely and forming a triangle. Pinch the edges to seal. Transfer the ravioli to baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers. (Can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead; cover and refrigerate.)
3. Melt the butter in a heavy small skillet over medium heat. Add the oregano and stir 1 minute. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
4. Working in batches, cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the ravioli to a large shallow bowl.
5. Pour the oregano butter over the ravioli and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the pecorino over the ravioli and serve.

Good stuff, and much better than store bought. It takes very little time to make these ahead of time and we even made extra to freeze. The possibilities for filling are pretty much up to what ingredients you have. So instead of buying your raviolis pre-made, try using wanton wrappers.

Posted by Gordon at 08:54 PM | Permalink

I think that's a record. 5 posts in a week. Call out the marching bands.

Jenn seems to be on a tear lately finding recipes that I have never had before. On Wednesday it was short ribs. Both Jennifer an I really enjoy Korean BBQ. We live right next to Korea town in Garden Grove and we are just surrounded by really good Korean restaurants. One of the great things about getting Korean is that it is one of the few places that I can spicy food (kimchi) without having to worry about Jenn getting an upset stomach. With Korean food, if anything is red, it's probably spicy.

Marinated Beef Short Ribs

3 3/4 pounds Beef Short Ribs, cut in 1/2-inch slices with bones
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon dried Red Pepper flakes

Marinade:
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
3 Tbsp. Plum sauce
2 Tbsp. Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. Soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Peanut oil
1 Tbsp. Sesame oil
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Chili Paste
1 Tbsp. pureed Garlic
1 Tbsp. freshly grated Ginger
1 bunch Cilantro, stems trimmed and roughly chopped
1 bunch Scallions, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Lay across a rack in a roasting pan or baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine water, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Brush over top side of ribs and bake an additional 10 minutes. Turn, brush again, and bake 10 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
3. Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add roasted ribs and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or as long as 24.
4. Preheat grill or broiler. Grill ribs for 2 minutes per side and serve immediately.

Wow was this a good one. I thought that oven roasting such a thin piece of meat would really dry it out, but the basting with water every 10 minutes must have stopped that pretty well. We cooked the ribs the night before we were going to eat them and let them marinate for 24 hours. I would suggest doing that if you decide on making this because I think they had a lot more flavor than if they had just marinated for 4 hours. I would also recommend finishing them off on the grill and not the broiler. The grill added a little bit of smoke flavor which is always welcome in my house.

After re-reading the recipe I noticed that it calls for ribs that are 1/2 an inch think and I think that the ones we purchase were about 1/8 of an inch. That didn't really affect anything and made the griling pretty easy. Thinking back I don't believe we needed to oven roast them for so long, but again, the basting with water and lemon juice probably counter acted anything that could have gone bad.

As usual we omitted the spicy stuff in this recipe (red pepper and chili paste) and I didn't really miss them all that much. Good stuff and I could imagine using the marinade for making jerky as well.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 AM | Permalink

I had my first lamb shank about 6 months ago when we tried Catal Restaurant in Downtown Disney. Since then I have noticed they had shanks at Plowboys, but for some reason we never got around to trying to make them ourselves.

So Jenn set out last week and ended up finding a shank recipe and I was more than down with that. Here is the recipe she found:

North African-influenced Lamb Shanks

4 (1 pound) lamb shanks
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
1 cup large diced carrots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
4 cups lamb stock, or chicken stock
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1. Season the shanks generously on all sides with the salt and black pepper, and lightly with the turmeric. Place the flour on a large plate. Dredge the shanks in the flour and shake to remove any excess.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy sauté pan over high heat. Add the shanks and sear until well-browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the shanks. Add the remaining teaspoon of oil, then the cinnamon, cumin, ginger, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until the onions are starting to color, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir to deglaze the pan, cook until reduced slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Return the shanks to the pot, add the stock, cilantro, parsley, orange juice, and orange peel, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with the lid slightly ajar, and simmer until the shanks are tender and the meat starts to fall from the bones, 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours, skimming occasionally to remove any scum that forms on the surface.
4. Remove from the heat. Plate them and drizzle with the sauce and serve immediately.

This recipe take a good while to cook so you really need to prepare for making this. When it was done cooking the meat was just falling off the bones. The lamb was very tender and very tasty as well. I think if we try this one in the future I might have Jenn play with the sauce recipe a little. Not that it was bad, just the opposite in fact, I just think that it could be perfected with a little experimentation. Maybe adding some spices at the end could just boost it to the next level.

Posted by Gordon at 08:00 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

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

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

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

On my quest for easy meals that require little time to prepare, I came across this little number. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare everything and 8 minutes to cook. Also I found that my favorite butcher, Plowboys, offers much better ground lamb than I find in the store. That made for a really good meal. We served this one up with some cut up cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions on top of round of pita bread.

Middle Eastern Lamb Patties with Yogurt Sauce

Lamb patties
2 slices high-quality White Sandwich Bread with crusts removed
3 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt
1 lbs. Ground Lamb
2 Tbsp. Minced Fresh Cilantro
1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
Pinch of Cayenne
3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Yogurt Sauce
1 cup Plain Yogurt
2 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Garlic Clove, minced
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

1. Make Lamb Patties: Tear bread into small pieces and mash with yogurt to form west paste in medium bowl. Add lamb, cilantro, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, cumin, & cayenne, and mix until uniform. Pinch off 3 Tbsn sized pieces of meat mixture, roll firmly into balls (12 balls), then flatten into small patties about 1 1/2 inches thick.
2. Brown Patties: Heat oil in 12 inch non-stick skillet over high heat until shimmering. Brown patties on just one side, about 2 minutes. Flip patties over, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until well browned on second side, about 6 minutes. Transfer patties to paper towel-lined plate.
3. Make Yogurt Sauce: While patties cook, mix sauce ingredients together and season with salt & pepper to taste. Serve patties with sauce.

Really good stuff here. If you have never tried ground lamb before, this would be a good starter. Ground lamb as a very unique flavor and doesn't feel as heavy as ground beef does when it is cooked in patty form. Wish I could tell you that it is more nutritious but everything I read about it states that it is about the same as ground beef, so you'll just have to try it for the adventure of it all.

Note: It was mentioned in the comments that I should add more real pictures of the food we make. I have to agree with that. It may take a few weeks though because the only reliable camera we have right now is our camera phones so I need to get a connector before I can do that full time. Thanks for the suggestion Joe!

Posted by Gordon at 09:00 AM | Permalink

So tired. Feels like I've been in constant motion. I started school about 4 weeks ago and that has been taking its toll. As well I have been trying to keep up on other projects such as fixing my computer (which is finally done!)

Here is a recipe that I have been meaning to put up for about 3 weeks now. It's an easy little chicken recipe that takes about 20 minutes to make. The jus is really good and I think it would go well with other recipes (I was thinking it would be a good dipping sauce for potstickers myself).

Pan Roasted Chicken Parts w/Lemon-Thyme Jus

Chicken
3-3 1/2 lbs. bone-in, skin-on Chicken pieces
Salt and ground Pepper for taste
1 Tsp. Vegetable Oil
6 Garlic Cloves, peeled and smashed

Jus
1 Shallot, minced
1 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 Tsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into 2 pieces and chilled
1 Tbsp. fresh Lemon juice

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven 450 degrees.
2. Pat chicken parts dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Brown chicken well on both sides, about 10 minutes total.
3. Flip chicken parts skin side down. Scatter smashed garlic cloves around chicken and stir to coat with oil. Transfer skillet to oven and roast chicken until thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees on instant read thermometer and thighs or drumsticks register 175 degrees, 8-10 minutes total.
4. Remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken parts to platter and tent with foil. Pour off all but 1 Tsp. fat from skillet (Leave garlic in skillet).
5. Return skillet with garlic to medium high heat and heat until fat is shimmering. Add shallot and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, thyme and any accumulated chicken juices, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until sauce has reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Turn heart to low and whist in butter, one piece at a time. Off heat, stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, pouring sauce over chicken or passing separately.

It's pretty odd that we have been eating a lot of chicken lately. Jenn isn't the biggest chicken fan so we usually don't get it that often. No complaints here though cause I love fowl.

Posted by Gordon at 02:24 PM | Permalink

We tried a new fried chicken recipe last night and I think we have a new favorite ladies and gentlemen.

Back in August, Jenn learned how to make her mom's fried chicken. The recipe is really good and I must say that I have enjoyed it every time it has been made for me. But Jenn and I were watching Tyler Florence, who is becoming one of our favorite TV chefs at the moment, and he made up some fried chicken that we just had to try. He used a different approach than the one we used for Jenn's moms recipe and he submerged the chicken in oil instead of pan frying it. Also he added some flavor to the flour and buttermilk to thicken the skin. Here's the recipe:

Fried Chicken

1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken, cut up into 10 pieces
Kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne
Freshly ground black pepper
1 quart buttermilk
2 tablespoons hot chili sauce
Peanut oil, for frying
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
3 big sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 bunch fresh sage
1/2 head garlic, smashed, husk still attached
Lemon wedges, for serving

1. Put the chicken pieces into a large bowl. Cover the chicken with water by 1 inch; add 1 tablespoon of salt for each quart of water used. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. In a large shallow platter, mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne until well blended; season generously with salt and pepper. In another platter combine the buttermilk and hot sauce with a fork and season with salt and pepper.
3. Drain the chicken and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces, a few at a time, in the flour mixture, then dip them into the buttermilk; dredge them again in the seasoned flour. Set aside and let the chicken rest while you prepare the oil.
4. Put about 3 inches of oil into a large deep pot; it should not come up more than half way. Add the thyme, rosemary, sage, and garlic to the cool oil and heat over medium-high heat until the oil registers 350 to 365 degrees F on one of those clip-on deep-fry thermometers. The herbs and garlic will perfume the oil with their flavor as the oil comes up to temperature.
5. Once the oil has reached 350 to 365 degrees F, working in batches, carefully add the chicken pieces 3 or 4 at a time. Fry, turning the pieces once, until golden brown and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Total cooking time should be about 30 minutes. When the chicken is done, take a big skimmer and remove the chicken pieces and herbs from the pot, shaking off as much oil as you can, and lay it on a tea towel or brown paper bag to soak up the oil. Sprinkle all over with more salt and a dusting of cracked black pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Once all the chicken is fried, scatter the fried herbs and garlic over the top. Serve hot, with big lemon wedges.

Note: We omitted the spicy stuff (hot sauce and cayenne) and the results were fine.

Good stuff!

Also on the same episode he made a batch of corn that looked better than the typical batch of corn would. We tried this one out on Saturday, when I burned the ribs, and everyone enjoyed it. Here ya go:

Roasted Corn with Chili Lime Butter

6 ears fresh corn, unhusked
1/4 pound butter (1 stick), room temperature
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 lime, zested

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the corn in its husks directly on the oven rack and roast until the corn is soft when you press on it, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. While the corn is roasting, combine the butter with the chili powder and lime zest.
4. Peel down the husks and tie in a knot to use as a handle while eating. Rub the corn with soft butter mixture, and serve.

Posted by Gordon at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Christmas was very good to our kitchen. We invited some new cooking items into our midst including a mixer and a pasta machine. With those two items I decided we should try making some ravioli's from scratch. One of our favorite Italian restaurants, Rombi's, has choices of different homemade ravioli's and they are by far some of the best pasta that I have ever had. So instead of going out and paying $30 to eat out, we thought we would try our hand at making some ravioli's.

Here is the recipe that we used to make the dough. It was pretty easy to make in the mixer and I am starting to wonder how we ever lived without one.

Ravioli Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add eggs 1 at a time and continue to mix. Drizzle in oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
2. Cut the ball of dough in half, cover and reserve the dough you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it through the pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at its widest setting. Guide the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. *Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue until the machine is at its narrowest setting. The dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick.

For the filling we used a spinach, ricotta, parmesan and egg mixture that was pretty tasty. There really is no limit to what you can put inside of a ravioli so we thought we would try the most basic of ingredients. We were also given a ravioli form which creates pockets inside of the stretched dough to place the filling and helps seal the edges.

Once the ravioli's are formed, you need to air dry them for 30 minutes. This is where we screwed up without meaning to. We put the ravioli's on a paper plate and didn't turn them over every few minutes. They ended up sticking to the plates and when we went to cook them there were a few that we had to sacrifice. Cooking them only took 4 minutes in boiling water and all of this was topped with some canned marinara sauce that Jenn had made for Christmas.

This was a lot of work but the results were really good for our first try. Next time I plan on using smaller pieces of dough in the pasta machine because they started to reach lengths of over 4 feet once pressed. Also next time we will use wax paper to dry the finished ravioli's on instead of paper plates.

On another note, the marinara sauce that we canned tasted really good once it had time to set for awhile. Not to say that I don't like the flavor of it when Jenn cooks it fresh, but the flavor just seemed to come together so well after being in the jar. I am starting to think we need to make a bunch of tomato sauces for our own pantry pretty soon.

Posted by Gordon at 12:32 PM | Permalink

It's kind of embarrassing to admit this but I am a horrible at cooking steaks. I mentioned briefly in my last post that I tend to screw up steaks whenever I cook them but that is really downplaying my relation with the bovine meat products. Let's just say that in my time I can say that I have only cooked two good steaks total.

Let me clarify that though. I've cooked a lot of roasts that were good or amazing, I've smoked a few briskets and still have a bit to learn about those and I love me some tri-tip and haven't messed one up yet, but what I am talking about is generally a cut of the cow that is less than an inch thick and will fit on a plate.

The first steak I successfully made was a rib eye that I pan fried. I got the recipe from the Everyday Italian cookbook that I gave Jenn a few Christmases ago and we were both shocked on how good it was. The second I got off from Food 911 and that is the recipe I am sharing today. Really good stuff and comes out looking under-cooked but trust me it was perfect. Here you go:

Filet Mignon

2 (8-ounce) filet mignon steaks
Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Season filet mignon steaks generously with salt and pepper.
3. In a heavy, ovenproof skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Pan-sear the steaks, only on 1 side, for 2 minutes until a crust forms.
4. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 minutes or until cooked medium rare.

Pretty simple. This is what they charge you $28 bucks for at a fancy restaurant so save your money and do it at home.

So now I have no more excuses when it comes to making a good steak. I will say this though, I tried making it again and ended up cooking it to much so watch your time carefully. Nothing worse than trying to eat a hockey puck, unless of course your into that kind of thing.

Posted by Gordon at 12:19 PM | Permalink

Chicken is probably my favorite meat. It is one of the first things that I learned to BBQ and I tend to lean toward cooking it more than anything else. When it comes to BBQ'ing, I tend to screw up steaks any time I cook them and I only smoke pork so my grill generally only sees chicken's cooking on it.

For Christmas, my mom and dad got us a roasting pan. I have wanted one for some time to help with making cheese cakes. When you make a cheese cake, you need to place the cake pan in a water bath and we only have pans that are about an inch high. Now I can make a proper cheese cake.

With the pan though, Jenn decided to try her hand at roasting a chicken. We have roasted chicken in the oven previously and the results were generally good, but I know now what was missing. The difference this time is we had a rack to keep the chicken separate from the pan so it was not seeping in it's own cooked out fat. I don't find chicken fat very appetizing and this was a welcome change. The meat was very moist and the skin was nice and crisp. An added bonus was that we were able to use the leftover meat from the chicken for chicken taco's the next day and chicken salad the day after that. Three meals in one cooking, that's good stuff!

Herb Roasted Chicken

1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Majoram
1 tsp Dried Sage
1 Tbsn Fresh Chopped Rosemary
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 3lbs. Whole Chicken
2 Large Chopped Carrots
1 cup Pearl Onions Peeled (use frozen onions to save time)
1 Tspn Olive Oil
1 10oz. package Frozen Peas Thawed

1. For herb rub, combine the herbs, salt and pepper.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Loosen skin on chicken breast and using your fingers carefully spread half the herb rub under the skin.
4. Skewer neck skin to back and tie legs to tail with toothpicks. Twist wings under back.
5. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the chicken.
6. Place chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan.
7. Roast uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
8. In a casserole dish, combine carrots and onions.
9. Toss the remaining herb rub and olive oil, cover and place in the oven.
10. Roast about 45 minutes more until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
11. Add the peas to the casserole the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Posted by Gordon at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know I know, it sounds like a strange concept. When I think of deep fried meat one of the last things that I think of is beef. Jen and I were introduced to this recipe while we were living up in Portland by our good friend Miki. She introduced us to a lot of good food as well as teaching us how to make Shabu Shabu (without spending $80 at a restaurant). So when she invited us over for fried beef one night we were very skeptical but trusted her completely when it came to food. Here is the recipe that she gave us and if you are reading this Miki, I still miss your kitchen:

Fried Beef

1 Flank Steak
2 Tbs Grated Ginger
1 clove Minced Garlic
1 Chopped Onion
1 tsp. MSG
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Mirin
Flour for Dredging
Green onions on the side

1. Take the flank steak and put saran wrap over it, pound it with a meat tenderizer starting for the middle working your way to the ends. Repeat on the other side of the flank steak.
2. Cut Flank steak into bite size pieces, about and inch cubed.
3. Mix together the ginger, garlic, onion, MSG, Soy Sauce, Sugar & Mirin in a large zip lock bag (preferably a gallon or quart size) and then add the steak.
4. Marinate either overnight or at least for an hour ( the longer you marinate the better the flavor and the more tender the meat will be.)
5. You can use either a deep fryer or a pan of oil, enough to deep fry these and raise the temp to 375 degrees.
6. After marinating is done and oil is heated, put flour in a bowl and start dredging the pieces of steak from the marinade into the flour.
7. Put pieces of dredged steak into the fryer but don’t do too many pieces at one time, you wont want them to stick together.
8. Deep fry for 4-5 minutes or until brown.
9. Remove from fryer and place on a paper towel for draining.
10. Serve with white rice and garnish with green onions.

Posted by Gordon at 02:39 PM | Permalink

The holidays have come to an end. Here at Foodb we are also celebrating our 50th posting. Pretty good for a guy that gets bored very easily and gives up on projects quickly. When I started this site, all I was looking for was a way to document the recipes that I enjoyed and make a sort of online family cookbook for ourselves. In the months since it has kind of morphed into an inspiration for my wife and I to find better recipes and enjoy cooking more.

So for the 50th posting I thought I would post the recipe for the ham that we made for last years Christmas party that we held. We saw Alton Brown make it and it was an easy enough recipe and looked really good so we thought it was perfect for Christmas Eve. It was very well received and from now on I will measure all hams to this one.

City Ham

1 city style (brined) ham, hock end*
1/4 Cup brown mustard
2 Cups dark brown sugar
1-ounce bourbon (poured into a spritz bottle)
2 Cups crushed ginger snap cookies

*Cook's note: A city ham is basically any brined ham that's packed in a plastic bag, held in a refrigerated case and marked "ready to cook", "partially cooked" or "ready to serve". Better city hams are also labeled "ham in natural juices".

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly. Place ham, cut side down, in a roasting pan. Using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting, score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut. (If you're using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and first few layers of fat). Rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across. Once you've made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise. The aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham. (Don't worry too much about precision here.)
3. Tent the ham with heavy duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130 degrees F.
4. Remove and use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat that come off with them.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Dab dry with paper towels, then brush on a liberal coat of mustard, using either a basting brush or a clean paint brush (clean as in never-touched paint). Sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated. Spritz this layer lightly with bourbon, then loosely pack on