Holiday Status 12-29-2010

I am on the road afterall and visiting with my In-Laws in Alabama.  Last night dinner with the family was exciting.  A houseful of grandchildren and tons of good food.  We made the citrus champayne chicken, the caribbean compote, a green bean salad, and a version of the poached pears.  I will try to post some more but I am away from my computer and server so I have limited access.

Caribbean Cranberry Compote

I usually make the standard cranberry relish listed on the fresh cranberry package but decided to spice it up this year.

Ingredients
1/4 cup    Malibu Caribbean Rum  with natural coconut flavor
1/4 cup    Mango Tropical Rum Liqueur
3 inch      Vanilla bean
1              Orange
1 cup       Fresh Cranberries
2-3 tbl     Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup    Sugar

Preparartion

• Slice the cranberries while you melt the butter in a skillet
• Add the cranberries to the skillet along with the sugar, vanilla, and rums (be careful of the flamable alcohols)
• Flame the mixture to burn off the excess falmable alcohol
• Allow the cranberry mixture to boil but be carefyl not to burn
• When the cranberries are cooked smash the cranberries into a mush while continuing to cook.
• Add the zest of 1/2 an orange and mix well into the mixture
• Continue to cook on med to hi heat until the cranberries has thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool - I placed the mixture in a metal bowl and placed in the freezer to cool it quickly

Serving Suggestions
This is a beautiful deep red dish with a fair amount of texture.  Served in a white bowl with an appropiate ladle or spoon makes this both a visual and tasty side dish.

Citrus Champagne Chicken

This idea sprung from Pam at the lnik: For the Love of Cooking.  She had prepared a "spatchcocked chicken", a preparatin I had never heard before.  I looked it up in Wikipedia and found this reference: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2006/05/24/FDGEQIU78N1.DTL&o=3&type=printable.  Bottomline this inspired me to try something new.  So after spatchcock, which simply means to prepare before cooking, I decided to rummage in the kitchen.  By the way, the prepare before cooking consisted of removing the backbone and breast cartilage so that the bird could be flattened during the prearation process (check it out it is fun).  Now down to my recipe:

Ingredients
1 Whole chicken (I spatchcocked the bird, see link above)
1 Orange
1 Grapefuit
1 Lemon
1/4 cup    Orange Muscat Champange Vinegar
1/4 cup    White Balsamic Vinegar
700 ml     Champayne (I used a Stony River Malvasia Blanc from Livermore, Ca)
1/4 Onion
Handful Parsley
Salt
Pepper

Preparation

1. First I prepared the chicken - Spatchcocked
2. Placed it with the breast up in a cooking pan lightly coated in olive oil
3. Seasoned well with salt and pepper
4. Zested the lemon, orange, and grapeferuit over the chicken breast
5. Sliced and placed the lemon, orange and grapefruit pieces around, under, in the chicken
6. Chopped the onion & parsley then sprinkled it all around the chicken
7. Poured in the bottle of champagne (it wasn't quite full since we had drank a few glasses on Christmas Eve)


8. Covered and allowed to marinate for 4 hours
9. Pop into the oven at 350 until fully cooked

Serving Suggestions
Remove the meat from the roasting pan and cut into quarters.  Arrange on a plate and serve

Holiday Status

I haven't posted much the past week and a half.   Just busy with the holidays.  We had a potluck at work where Joe Uhtof and myself were responsible for the meat.  I made the London Broil with Brie & Spices while Joe made a Pork Roll with a Pesto Spread.  I had planned to be out of town until the new year but due to unwelcomed news from the vet, we have decided to stay home.  Looking for the silver lining we will have more quality time with Hondo, our loving pit bull and I will be able to try some new recipes and ideas.  Please stay tunes and enjoy the Holidays!

London Broil with Brie and Spices

In preparation for a potluck at work I tried grilling a london broil with a twist.  Using the 'Red Meat Marinade' earlier described I marinaded the meat over night.  Then I made a spread of olive oil, brie cheese, shallots, red onions, and bell peppers.  Trussed the meat with the filling and grilled.

Ingredients

• Brie Cheese
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Capsicum annuum - Red, yellow, & orange bell peppers
• Red onion
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Olive Oil

Preparation

• Pound or cut a london broil steak so that you have two long 1/2" steaks
• Marinade the steaks in the "Red Meat Marinade"  described in November's recipes
• Mix the brie (enough to spread onto the meat); a few tablespoons of olive oil; finely chopped red onions, shallots, & garlic; chopped rosemary, thyme, & sun-dried tomatoes until the mixture is spreadable
• Spread a thick layer of the brie mixture on one half of the steak
• Generously spread thin slices of the variously colored peppers over the brie spread
• Sprinkle chopped scallions over the spread
• Salt & pepper
• Now depending upon the shape of the meat you can either place a second piece of meat on top of the spread almost like making a sandwich or you can roll the steak and spread.  In either case use cooking twine to truss the meat and hold the roll & contents in place. 
•     NOTE 1:  Cooking twine is a simple string made of 100% cotton.  Any synthetic material would melt and impart a nasty flavor into your meat.  I picked a roll up at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
•     NOTE 2:  Trussing is merely tying the meat.  I usually start with a lop and simple knot, then I slip the twine under the meat running the twine from the first tie or knot about 2 inches.  All you have to do now is pull the twine thru the loop you make and continue to do so along the top of the meat.  You end with a simple knot to hold everything in place
• Finally I grilled the meat like any steak, turning it onto all four sides since my trussed meat was a rolled log.

Serving Suggestions

Once you take the meat off the grill allow it to set for a fe minutes then cut into slices.  Be sure to remove the ttruss twine since it is not edible and it would be an unpleasant surprise to be chewing on it.  I chose to cut about half the meat and to leave the other half whole so that it was presented as a hal cut log of beef.

Oak Smoked Chicken Breast, Pre-soaked in a Vinegar Brine Solution

Tried my hand at 'hot smoking' yesteday on the Weber Gas Grill. Not exactly a smoker but it worked fine. I soaked the whole skinless, boneless breast in a brine solution for a couple of hours. I also was fortunate to have a newly fell oak limb in my drive that I had just cut up for firewood. Even though the wod was partially green I soaked it in warm water while the chicken was in the brine solution. To my surprise my wife, who does not like smokey meats, really loved the flavors. The key to 'hot smoking' is to keep the steam and smoke from the wood to be constant while maintaining the temperature close to 300 to 350 degrees F. This allows the meat to cook slowly and to be infused with the smokey flavors. Oak has a mild flavor and burns slowly since it is so dense.

Ingredients for brine solution

• 1 Whole, skinless, boneless chicken breast (both halves)
• 2 six inch sprigs of rosemary
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• Small handful of peppercorns
• Small handful of sea salt
• Approx. 4 scallions
• Approx. 1 - 2 cups Vinegar - I used two vinegars (50/50) that I had available from previous travels. Any aged vinegar should be fine and let your taste preferences be your guide I use Aged Sherry vinegar from Fortnum & Mason, London, England and Vinaigre De Vin Vieux aromatic a' la Noix from Marcel Recorbet, France - simply an Old wine vinegar with walnut flavor

Preparation of brine solution

Finely chop the rosemary, garlic, and scallions.

In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients with the vinegar

Place the chicken breast into the solution ensuring that the ingredients are mixed and rubbed onto the breast. The solution should cover the breast.

Cover and let set in the refrigerator for at least 2 - 3 hours.

Preparation of smoker

Heat the grill normally but be aware of your set-up ahead of time so that you don't have to work too much with a hot grill or heat source. Read below before starting.

Arrange or set-up the heat source (the flame) so that the heat source will be under the smoking wood but not under the meat. On my gas grill I turned off the back burners, turned the middle burners to low and the front burners to medium heat.

Place the soaked smoking wood over the heat source. The set-up I used allowed the wood to be exposed to the front burner flames while it left the rear area with no flames. This is where I placed the meat.

Allow the wood to start to smoke. Depending on how dry the wood is it may take some time for the wood to heat enough to start smoking. It took about 30 minutes on my grill.

Once you have the wood smoking place the meat onto the grill without any direct flames. I let my senses let me know when the grill was ready. I did not see alot of smoke but could defintely smell the oaky aroma.

Close the lid but make sure there is adequate ventilation so that the wood will continue to burn and smoke.

Allow two to three hours for the meat to cook. You should check on the progress and turn the meat but try to keep your curiosity in check. You are using time, heat and smoke to do your cooking - opening and closing the smoker too often just delays the process.

Plating suggestions I tasted the meat when it came off of the grill and instantly thought of mustard and a hearty sandwich. I toasted two slices of multigrain bread, spread a small amount of German mustard on each slice, placed a generous heap of sliced chicken on top of the bread then sprinkled with a blend of shredded cheeses. I used a Trader Joe's (Giotto's) Quattro Formaggio, a blend of Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina, and Provolone. I served the sandwiches open faced. 　

　

Balsamic Drizzle

A friend asked the other day about olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  He wanted the balsamic to be thicker.  My first recommendation was a 75 years aged vinegar.  After some talk we kick around a balsamic reduction.  Today I gave it a try and it it pretty good.

Ingredients
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Port Wine

Preparation
Place a 1/4 to a 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a small skillet.  Heat on high untill it boils.  Move the skillet off the flame and add a quarter cup of port wine. Careful tilt the skillet towards the flame so that the alcohol 'flames' safely.  Continue boiling for a couple of minutes then reduce the heat and allow to simmer until the reduction is a syrup.

Plating Suggestions
This is a very sweet balsamic flavor.  I made open face chicken and tomato sandwiches and drizzled the reduction over the top.  It softened the toasted bread and added a nice sweet but sharp flavor to the sandwich, not to mention the dark color.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce & Enchiladas

Our Thanksgiving weekend included a quick pre-family dinner for my sister, neice, nephew, and my wife.  My sister Suzanne gave me a quick homemade enchilada sauce recipe, which we then used to make simple enchiladas.

Enchilada Sauce Ingredients
Olive Oil
Finely Chopped Garlic
Finely Chopped White Onion
Cumin
Cheyenne Pepper
Red Chile Powder
Tomato Sauce

Enchilada Sauce Preparation 
In a skillet heat olive oil, add the splices, garlic and onion.  Heat until the onions are translucent and add tomato sauce.  Continue to  cook the mixture until it reduces by half.  If it gets too thick add alittle water back into the mixture.  Allow the mixture to slightlu cool.

Preparation Enchilada Ingredients
Tortillas
Cooked Meat (Ground Meat, Chicken, Pork) - Optional
Cheese
Onion

Enchilada Preparation 
Drip the tortillas into the warm enchilada sauce, ensuring that both sides are thoroughly coated.  Arrange the dipped tortilla in a baking pan and fill with cheese, onions, and meat (if desired).  Roll the tortilla ingredients in the tortilla shell.  After the pan is filled with the rolled tortillas ana ingredients, pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese.  Place the contents into a oven pre-heated to 350 degrees F.  Allow the enchiladas to cook for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cheese inside the enchiladas have had time to completely melt.

Serving Suggestions
These simple enchiladas go well with rice & beans as well as quacamole, sour cream, and tortila chips

Gluten Free Quinoa Stuffing

The 2010 Thanksgiving was spent with the family and essentially everything was provided by my mom.  A few sides such as a Ceasar salad from my brother, truffle mashpotatoes was my addition, and then a lot of help around the kitchen by my sisters and nieces.  A great time was hed by all.  Since several of our family have to avoid gluten I tried a stove top substitution with Quinoa.

Ingredients
Quinoa
Chicken Broth
Onion
Celery
Sage
Poultry Spice
Salt & Pepper
Optional - Pre grilled diced chicken

Preparation
Prepare the quinoa per the package instructions - basically the standard 2 cups of liquid to a cup of grain, boil, simmer with cover, and fluff
While the quinoa is boiling add chopped celery and onion
Season with sage and poultry spice.  I used about 2 - 3 tsp for four coups of broth
Season with salt and pepper
Optional - to add a little protein to the dish I added a pre grilled diced chicken breast

Plating suggestions
At our dinner it was truly a family pot luck and we were out of bowls and serving directly from the pot.  However, the dish had a typical stuffing look after it was cooked.  It could easily be dressed up with a little color from parsley, an orange slice, and a few cranberries.

Sweet Cinnamon Banana

Using the poaching syrup from the Poached Pears I made a quick but tasty dessert

Ingredients

• Orange zest (1/2 orange)
• 4 Tablespoons of the poaching syrup
• 1 Banana
• Cinnamon
• Butter

Preparation

• Melt a small amount of butter, enough to coat the bottom of a saute pan
• Slice the banana into the pan
• Add the poaching syrup (be careful of the hot butter)
• Add cinnamon to taste (approx 1/4 tsp)
• Saute the banana slices until they are tender

Serve
The syrup and cinnamon should have fully coated the bananas.  Arrange the slices on the plate with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream

Poached Pears in Honey, Ginger, Pomerganate, and Cinnamon Syrup

I took this basic recipe from Giada De Laurentiis but made a few minor changes.  The poaching syrup was so good that I then made a follow-on cinnamon dish. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 Btl of Sweet Wine - I used  a Sangria (Bodega De San Antonio, Sangria Blanca)
• 2 - 4 Peeled pears, peeled & but with the stems left on (Small, firm, ripe Anjou or Bosc pears)
• 2 Cups of sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of honey
• 1 Piece of ginger (3/4")
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/3 pomegranate

Preparation

• Make a simple syrup with the 2 cups of sugar - 2 cups of water to 2 cups of sugar gently heated until the sugar dissolves
• In a sauce pan heat approx. 2 cups of wine with the other ingredients (cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, honey, and pomegranate seeds)
• Bring the solution to a simmer occasionally stirring to dissolve the honey
• Place the pears into the poaching solution and allow then to cook over low to medium heat until the pears become tender (approx 15 - 20 minutes)
• Remove the pears and allow them to cool
• Continue to reduce thepoaching solution over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the solution. NOTE: This will be used as a sauce over the pears when served and is the base that I used for a banana dessert, see next post
• Strain and remove the cinnamon stick, vanilla pod, and any pomerganate seeds

Serving

• Pour a small amount of the reduced syrup onto a plate
• Slice & remove the core of the pear,either in half or quarters and arrange on the plate
• Pour a small amount of syrup over the arrangement
• Garnish with pomegranate seeds and mint leaves
• Optional - Add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream next to the pears

Lemon/Lime Limoncello Chicken with Limoncello & Sangria Beurre Blanc Sauce

Ingredients

Lemon

Lime Infused Olive Oil

Orange Infused Olive Oil

Garlic

Unsalted Butter

Capers

White Sangria

Limoncello - (or lemoncello^{[citation needed]}) (Italian pronunciation: [limonˈtʃɛllo]) is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Menton in France, and the Maltese island of Gozo. Traditionally, it is made from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello.

Marinade

Zest the lemon and the lime into a bowl

Squeeze the juice of the lemon & lime into the bowl

Add ¼ tsp of garlic

Add equal amounts of the lemon& lime olive oil (approx. ¼ cup of each)

Stir, cover, and set aside

Prep the Chicken

I used boneless/skinless chicken slice down the middle of the breast so that I have two steaks per breast.

Place the chicken into pan and drench with ½ the marinade made above

Season, cover, and let stand for 2 hours minimum.

Grill the chicken on both side approximately 10 minutes each side

Limoncello & Sangria Beurre Blanc Sauce

Take the remaining ½ of the marinade and add 1 cup + of the white sangria wine

Put on low heat and reduce for about an hour until it is reduced to approximately ¼ cup

Just prior to serving turn the heat on high and whisk in ½ cup unsalted butter

Serving

Place the chicken steak on a plate and pour on a generous amount of the beurre blanc

Miso Marinade

Miso Marinade

Ingredients

Miso - 1-2 cups

Soy Sauce - enough to solvate ~ 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Shallots - handful

Lemon Zest - zest of 1-2 lemons

When I made my version I used a little white wine as well

Mix miso, soy sauce, lemon zest, and shallots in a large bowl.  Also white wine if you want.

This is a great marinade for chicken or fish.  Be careful since the soy sauce is salty, you probably will not need additional salt.  You should season to your own taste but taste the mixture before you add any additional salt components.

We used this on a sea bass and the results were fantastic.  A little secret – if you plan to grill or broil, then add a small amount of sugar in the mixture.  This will allow the fish or even the chicken to slightly blacken without burning any meat.  It is actually the sugar that is forming a glaze/char which is nice and crunchy.

Another great contribution from Chef John Surla

Tomatillo Chicken

This is a recipe I made many years ago:

Tomatillo Chicken

1.      Preparation

o       Vegetables preparation

§        Peel and wash about a dozen tomatillo

·        This is accomplished by peeling off the paper like shells and rinsing them in warm water

§        Purée the tomatillo in a blender or finely chop and put the tomatillo and juice off to the side

§        Chop up a medium white onion

§        Optional prepare additional vegetables (i.e. carrots, celery, peppers, etc) :

·        Julienne or chop to a desired size, suggested minimum bite size

o       Seasoning/blacken spices preparation

§        ¼ tsp cumin

§        ¼ tsp red chili powder

§        A dash or two of Cheyenne chili powder

§        ¼ tsp black pepper

§        ¼ tsp ground salt

§        1 tbl garlic powder

o       Chicken preparation

§        Rinse and pat dry 3 – 4 skinless/boneless chicken breasts

§        Slice the chicken breasts in half (lengthwise)

o       Cheese Preparation

§        Grate one lb of cheese

2.      Cooking (vegetables and chicken should be started together or such that the vegetables are ready to add to the chicken before they are over cooked)

o       Chicken

§        Heat olive oil in a skillet

§        Lay chicken pieces into the oil

·        Season with the ½ of the seasoning mixture and lay the seasoned side down

·        Season the opposite side of the chicken breast with the remaining seasoning

§        Brown/blacken chicken on both sides

§        Add ¼ to 1/3 portion of the tomatillo purée to the skillet along with 1 cup of white wine

§        Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes

o       Vegetables

§        Combine ¾ to 2/3 of the tomatillo purée, all of the chopped vegetables, 1 – 2 cups of white wine to a large pot (6 – 8 qts) season as desired and bring to a low simmer.  Do not cover, allow the juices to reduce but not burn, add wine as required to maintain juices. Try to not over cook the vegetables; you will want to have them still crispy when you add it to the chicken.

o       Combination

§        Add the entire contents of the brown/blacken chicken to the vegetable pot

§        Add ½ to ¾ of the cheese to the vegetable pot

§        Stir will apply low heat and allow cheese to melt

3.      Serving

o       Serve mixture over polenta, rice, or tortilla chips with a sprinkling of cilantro and cheese

o       Serve with a glass of the white wine used to cook the vegetables and meat

Tortilla Soup

I brought the chicken stock that I had made back to a boil, added celery, a tomato, cilantro, chives and salt/pepper.  I cooked up a couple of the chicken breast and then cubed the meat.  I spread a layer of corn torillas in the bottom of our bowls, ladled in the broth, added the cubed chicken, sprinkled with cheese, and decorated with a couple of cilantro sprig.

Almost any combination of vegetables can be added and usually I will add a few slices of avacado but had to do without on this day.

Buying boneless/skinless vs do it your self deboning/skinning

I normally buy the boneless/skinless breast of chicken.  The other day I thought why am I paying so much for someone else to prep the chicken.  I bought a large package of breast and proceeded to skin and debone.  Surprisingly it was a breeze.  First I just pulled the skin off the meat.  Then I took a knife and started following the bone and quickly had the boneless/skinless breat in hand.  I do have a good deboning knife and that did make the job easy but any good thin blade (recommend at least 6"+ long) will do.

To add to the advantage of self prepping I took the bones which still had some meat and the skin, placed them in a pot with water & an onion.  I boiled everything slowly for a couple of hours.  We needed to get some other things done so I separated the broth from the bones and skin, placed the broth in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and let it stand for a couple of days.  When I came back to the stock the fat had separated and was easily removed from the lid and the top of the stock.  This stock was great, it did need seasoning - alot of salt but it was more flavorful than any recently purchased chicken broth, even my favorite Wolfgang Puck.

NOTE: Cleaning poultry requires good cleaning practices.  A quick and easy way to disinfect is to mix a few capfuls of bleach in warm water and have it ready.  After all the prep is complete wash the cutting board, knife, and general area with soap and hot water.  Then rinse/wipe with the bleach solution & follow with a clean water wipe/rinse.  Quick, easy, and no salmonella!  Chef John showed me how they kept a warm sink of bleach and water so they could quickly dis-infect their knives and utensils as they went along.

Red Meat Marinade - (Great for Lamb Chops)

Rosemary
Thyme
Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Shallots
Garlic
Salt & Pepper

Finely chop all the dry ingedients and mix together in a 50/50 mixture of olive oil and Canola oil.  The reason for the 50/50 mixture is the canola oil will keep the mixture from solidifying while it is in the refrigerator

Pour the mixture over the meat and ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and all the meat has been coated.  Let the meat marinade until ready to cook (recommend at least over night)

Again this is compliments of Chef John Surla - Thanks John!

Cilantro Latin Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breast - either pounded flat or sliced lengthwise
Chopped white onion
Chopped cilantro at least 1/2 a bunch
White wine - I used a 2007 Maddalena Chardonnay from Monterey (from Souza Family Winery)

Saute' the finely chopped white onions and cilantro in an orange infused olive oil & the juice of 1 lemon
Once the onions are translucent sit the mixture aside and lightly brown the chicken breast in the orange infused olive oil.  When one side is browned turn the chicken over and cover with the sauteed onions and cilantro.  Add about a cup of wine or enough so that the chicken and saute' mixture is fully satuate with the wine.  Cover a let simmer until done (approximately 10 - 15 minutes)

Serve over white rice.  I used chicken broth and chives in the rice prep.

Red Wine Reduction

I have not repeated this recipe yet but here goes:

1 cup of veal stock
1 cup red wine (I would suggest a bold dry wine like a zinfindel)

shallots

2 stk unsalted butter

Similar to the Beurre blanc, you reduce everything in a sauce plan EXCEPT the butter.  Once you have a concentrated reduction stir in the the cubed butter quickly over high heat. 

If anyone tries this let me know - this may require a little tweaking

Lemon Beurre Blanc

I was asked to start sharing the recipes that I learned at my surprise birthday party.  I have to give kudo's to Chef John Surla for teaching me this one.  The following is a lemon beurre blanc sauce:

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter 2- 3 sticks
shallots
lemon
white wine (dry)

I started with a 1/2 to 3/4 of stick of unsalted butter and the diced shallots.  I melted the butter under low heat, added the the finely chopped shallot, and the zest from the lemon plus the juice. 

I then added about a cup of white wine.  I used a local Trebbiano, which is a chardonnay fermented in stainless steel rather than oak.  The wine is moderately dry and flavorful.  The ingredients were left on low - medium heat until it reduced down to about the original volume of the melted butter and lemon juice prior to me adding the wine. 

Then I added the remaining unsalted butter (I prepped the butter, cubing it into approximately 1/2 to 1 inch squares) to the mixture with the heat on high and aggressive stirring.  Once everything is combined and melted it is ready to serve.  Since this is a butter based dish I would wait to prepare just before serving and serve it hot. 

This sauce is great on fish or chicken but is extremely rich.  I have saved the sauce and reheated it with leftovers - it was still great.

Welcome to my new page.

If you have any recipes or cooking ideas, please post