Cook It At Home

Chicken and Kielbasa Gumbo

2010-01-13T15:57:00.001-08:00

Gumbo. So warm, rich, filling, and most importantly, delicious. I was inspired by this recipe from Emeril, but went on my own path. This recipe is time consuming at a grand total of 4 hours of cooking time, but you don't have to do much while you're making it. There's very little chopping, and most of the "work" is stirring the pot so the roux doesn't stick or clump up. This would be a great recipe to make if you have to hang out with someone you don't know that well: you have to get up every 5 to 10 minutes to stir the pot, which will always give you an excuse to escape if the conversation runs dry. Although, if you're talking about this gumbo, that probably won't happen.

Ingredients:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 lb. kielbasa sausage (or Andouille, or chorizo, or veggie sausage)
6 cups chicken broth
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs)
2 tsp paprika
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground oregano
2 tsp file powder (it tastes kind of like black tea and is found in most grocery stores)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 green onions, chopped

Method:

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil. Once it's warmed up a little, add the flour. Stir every 2 to 3 minutes until the roux has become a dark almond color. Your stirring motion will be to scrap the bottom of the bottom, making sure that the flour is cooking evenly. This will take about 30 to 45 minutes.

The roux will start as a light tan color.

After a few minutes, it will start to bubble.

After about 20 minutes, it will turn a dark tan color...

...and then an almond color.

2. Once your roux is almond color, add the onion and bell pepper. STIR CONSTANTLY. The roux will darken and it combines with the vegetables. Continue stirring very often for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables wilt.

3. Add the kielbasa to the pot, and continue stirring very often until it is completely combined.

4. Once everything has been completely combined, add the chicken broth 2 cups at a time to the pot. Stir constantly after each pour, fully combining the pour before adding another one. After all 6 cups are in, add the paprika. It will look like this.

5. Cook this, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes, scrapping the bottom each time, for 1 hour. After an hour, add the chicken. Cook for another 2 hours.

6. About a half hour before the 2 hours is up, start cooking some rice to eat with the gumbo.
7. After the 2 hours are up, add the spices, parsley, and green onions. Turn off the heat, and stir to combine. At this point, it's molten lava hot, so wait a few minutes before diving it.

8. After you've waited, serve the gumbo on top of white rice. EAT.

Homemade spinach pasta and ragu bolognese

2010-01-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

Last night, Jamie and I made homemade pasta. It was surprisingly easy. We've had a pasta roller for some time now, but only broke it out for real last night.

Jamie focused on the pasta while I did the ragu. I followed this video for the bolognese. You can find a similar recipe from Mario on www.foodnetwork.com, but the video instructions are somewhat different. The video instructions tell you to cook everything longer than the written instructions, which worked out fine for a Sunday dinner.

I'll post pictures when I re-heat the food later.

Sliders

2010-01-08T18:14:00.001-08:00

Serves 4

A jar of homemade pickles

Why wait until summer to eat hamburgers? The ingredients, pictured above from left to right, are: a bag of lettuce/salad greens, fingerling potatoes, 2 red onions, and large rolls or really really small hamburger buns.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs. fingerling potatoes
1 lb. ground beef
2 t salt
2 t pepper
2 red onions
1/3 lb. delicious cheese, like Muenster
1 head of lettuce or 1 bag of salad greens
Pickles of your choice
Mayonnaise

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Put the fingerling potatoes in a baking pan. Once the oven comes up to temperature, roast the potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and delicious.

3. Combine the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and egg. Do mix it too much, or the burgers won't be as delicious.

4. Preheat a large skillet or grill pan over medium high heat. Gently form the meat into patties that are slightly larger than the buns you're using. Press a small indent into the center, so that each patty looks like a hockey puck. This will keep the burgers flat while they cook. Put 1 T of vegetable oil in the pan, and cook the burgers for about 3 minutes per side, flipping once. Don't press down on the patties with a spatula while they're cooking: it makes a nice sizzling sound, but that's just the juice running out of the patties. And if the juice is in the pan, it's not in the patties.

5. As you flip the burger, put a piece of the cheese on each patty.

3. Meanwhile, slice the red onions. Saute them in a medium skillet over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.

4. Once the patties are done, toast the buns. The patties should rest for 2 to 3 minutes before you assemble the burgers, so it's a perfect time for bun warming.

5. Assemble the burgers as follows: Bottom bun, lettuce, burger patty, a small bit of red onion, a pickle slice, mayonnaice, top bun. EAT.

New Years' Ham Baby

2010-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

Another recipe that I didn't invent, but was delicious nonetheless.

The ham baby, from Costco, 10.5 lbs. It came pre-sliced, which I would highly recommend. There's nothing worse than trying to slice thin pieces of ham when you're 3 (or 8) drinks in.

The ham baby, removed from packaging but before cooking. You can see a hint of the cornbread muffins I made in the background.

The ham baby, after cooking for 2-1/4 hours. There were plenty of leftovers, which I am still eating. It created a lot of juice in the pan, even before I added the glaze. I was worried at first, thinking, "Should I have used a roasting pan?!?!?" But the ham, especially the part that cooked in the liquid, was delicious.

Cuisinart Stick Blender

2010-01-03T10:17:00.001-08:00

For Christmas, I got a super cool stick blender with a bunch of attachments. In the below picture, from left to right:

Motor/handle/on-off button and stick blender attachment
Mini food processor
Whisk attachment
Blending cup

So far, I've used it to make blueberry shots on New Year's, a cherry brandy sauce, and pico de gallo.

Blueberry shots:
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
2 T and 2/3 cup vodka, separated
2 T sugar

In a blender or with a stick blender, combine the blueberries, 2 T vodka, and sugar.
In a martini shaker, add 1 cup of ice and pour 2/3 cup vodka over the top.
Using a small mesh strainer, pour the blueberry mixture into the shaker, using a spoon to stir the blueberries until only the pulp remains.
Shake it up, and pour into shot glasses.

Makes 4 large shots

2010 Cooking Resolutions

2009-12-31T15:21:00.000-08:00

2009 was the beginning of my culinary adventure. I hope 2010 takes it to another level.

This year, I resolve to:
1. Pickle an armful of asparagus
2. Make something with nopales
3. Memorize at least 5 baking ratios (like what proportions of bread, salt, water, and yeast make sourdough bread)
4. Make fudge from scratch
5. Buy a candy thermometer
6. Use my mandolin more
7. Focus on food plating at least 50% of the time I cook
8. Organize my kitchen tools so that I can find everything when I need it
9. Sharpen my knives more regularly (anything more than "never" will be an improvement)
10. Buy more aprons, especially ones with embroidery potential

Raspberry Cheesecake

2009-12-31T14:57:00.000-08:00

I can't say that I invented this recipe, but I did make it for Christmas. And it was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly (except for using frozen raspberries instead of fresh) because I've never made a cheesecake before, let alone one with a topping. It was daunting, and requires a springform pan, but I made it through.

The results are a more cake-like cheesecake that's not too sweet. I cake itself is light and fluffy, with only a hint of sweetness. I had my grandmother's version of cheesecake the next day, and hers is more dense and smooth, with a sour cream topping (for comparison). The topping is not very sweet, but that was good because I don't really like sugary desserts like I used to. Even my dad, who won't eat sweet things except for his mother's apple pie, liked it.

I forgot to take pictures of the process, or maybe they're on another camera, but here are a few of the final product.

Mason's Macaroni and Cheese

2009-12-09T20:26:00.001-08:00

Ingredients:
1 lb. small pasta, like penne, gemelli, or corkscrew
3 T butter
3 T flour
3 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar
1 1/2 cups shredded mild cheddar
1 cup shredded mozarella
2 T mustard
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Method:
0. Preheat the oven to 375 if eating immediately.
1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Drain the pasta back into the same pot.
2. Once you add the pasta to the water, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and whisk to combine. Let the butter and flour, now a roux, cook for 3 minutes, stirring every 30 to 60 seconds.
3. Get ready to whisk. Add the milk 3/4 cup at a time, whisking constantly, waiting for the milk to get hot before adding more. Once all the milk is in, cook the mixture for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the milk has reduced/condensed a little.
4. Add the 2 1/2 cups of the cheese to the milk, 1 handful at a time, stirring (not whisking) very often. Wait until the cheese melts before adding more.
5. Meanwhile, grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with butter or oil.
6. When the cheese is totally combined from the milk, take the saucepan off the heat.
7. In the large pot that you cooked the pasta in, pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir to combine. Pour this into the greased baking pan. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and panko bread crumbs over the top.
8. Loosely tent foil over the pan of macaroni and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, switch the broiler on, and cook the top for 5 to 15 minutes: however long it takes to become golden brown and delicious.
9. Remove from the oven and wait 5 to 10 minutes before eating. If you don't wait, the macaroni will not have time to set and will flop all over the place when you try to get it out of the pan. Waiting is critical! After you patiently wait, eat!

With some steak and greenery:

South East Asian Kedgeree

2009-12-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1 lb. cod filets
2 1/4 cups cold water
2 limes, quartered
2 T oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t garlic powder or 1 clove garlic
1 cup basmati rice
Fish sauce, optional
3 eggs, scrambled
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Poast the fish: In a baking pan with high sides, put the cod, water, and 1 lime inside with some salt and pepper. Cover with foil. Poach in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain the liquid into a measuring cup (pour out 2 1/4 cups). Put the foil back over the baking pan until you need the fish later.
3. Five minutes before the fish is ready, heat the oil in a medium or large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion, ground spices, and fish sauce to taste. Stir around for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir around for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the reserved cooking liquid and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring once. You can wait for up to an hour at this point before eating.
4. When you're ready to eat, flake the fish. Combine the rice with the fish, cooked eggs, juice of the second lime, and cilantro. Stir gently, and eat.

Potato Crusted Tilapia with Chive Oil

2009-10-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Serves 2

Ingredients:
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 Russet potato
- 2 6 oz. tilapia filets
- Salt and pepper
- 2 T chopped rosemary
- 1/3 cup chopped chives
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Slice the potato on a mandolin to about 1/8th inch thick.
Salt and pepper the tilapia filet.
Wrap the potato around the tilapia, overlapping the potato pieces.
Salt and pepper the potato, and sprinkle 1 T of rosemary over the top.
Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 T extra virgin olive oil to the pan.
When hot, carefully place the tilapia and potato in the pan. Flip once after 5 minutes, or when potato is browned on the bottom.
Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, chive, and rosemary.
Once the other side of the potato is browned, remove tilapia from pan onto a plate. Drizzle 1/2 the oil over each piece of fish.
Serve with a cheese bread and simple salad.

EAT

Deconstructed Apple Pie

2009-10-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 apples (I used 2 red, 1 green)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 t ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

Method:

Slice apples to about 1/2-inch thick wedges
Combine apples with other ingredients in a large bowl
Heat a medium-size saute pan over medium heat
Once the pan is hot, add apple mixture to the pan
Cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, until the apples have softened somewhat and the sugar has melted
Remove from heat and serve with ice cream on top and whipped cream, for a special treat. (This would also taste really good with melted cheddar cheese, if you're into that sort of thing)

Breakfast Tacos

2009-09-20T12:12:00.001-07:00

This morning, I wanted tacos and I wanted breakfast. These breakfast tacos were what I came up with.

Makes 4 tacos

Ingredients:
- 8 small corn tortillas
- 4 eggs
- 4 slices bacon
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- Sweet and spicy salsa (I used Sweet Jalapeno dressing)
- Sliced cheese (I used Jarlsberg, but most anything would be fine)

Method:

Fry the bacon to whatever level of done-ness you like (I like it crispy!)
When the bacon is almost done (about 4 minutes away), fry the eggs. Put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan, and let it get hot over medium high heat. Crack the eggs into the pan, trying to keep the egg together. It will spread out, but do the best you can. Cook the eggs for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are almost all the way solid and the yolk is starting to cook on the top. Don't cook the eggs all the way in the pan because they will continue to cook even when they're off the heat.
After you take the eggs out of the pan, heat up the tortillas in the same pan. Stack the tortillas on top of each other, and put them in the hot pan, flipping once after about a minute.

Assemble the tacos:

Take two tortillas, stacked on top of each other.
Put in one fried egg, and one piece of bacon (break it into two pieces).
Top the bacon with the cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Above: Breakfast tacos!
Below: Close-up of the finished product.

Shepherd's Pie

2009-09-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

I created this version of Shepherd's Pie with the intention of making it on the weekend and reheating it during the week. But, it smelled too good, and I couldn't wait to eat it!

Ingredients:

- 4 large Russet or Idaho potatoes
- 3 T olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or stew beef chunks
- 1 large onion
- 3 large carrots
- 3 celery stalks
- 4 large cloves garlic
- 3 T flour
- 3 T butter
- 2/3 cup shredded cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Peel and cut potatoes. Put them in a large pot of cold water. (Yes, cold water. Starting the potatoes in cold water allows them to cook more evenly). Put the water and potatoes on the stove to boil.
Start a large saucepan over medium high heat with 1 T of the olive oil. Once it's hot, add the ground beef. Cook until heated all the way through (no pink remains).
Meanwhile, cut the onion, carrots, garlic, and celery. Reserve on a plate.
Once the beef is browned, remove the beef to a plate, but leave the remaining oil and beef juice in the saucepan.
Add the veggies to the saucepan, cooking for 7 to 10 minutes until the veggies are softened.
Once the veggies are cooked, sprinkle the flour on top of the veggies. Heat and stir until the flour has been thoroughly mixed with the remaining liquid.
Add 1 cup of room temperature water to the pot. Stir, until the flour and water have combined. Add 1 more cup of water and stir.
Heat the water, beef, and veggies until the water starts to slow boil.
Meanwhile, drain and mash the potatoes. Stir in the butter, 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
Put the beef mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the beef. Spread the potatoes into a layer with a greased spatula.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the pie.
Put a piece of foil on top of the pie, tenting it so that it does not touch the cheese.
Put the pie into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the remaining liquid has been absorbed into the pie.
Once the liquid is absorbed, or you're ready to eat, switch the broiler on, remove the foil from the pie, and brown the cheese. Keep a close watch on this. You can pop open the over to watch once the broiler gets hot.
Remove the pie from the oven, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the pie has rested, enjoy!

Pork Ribs, Smoker Style

2009-09-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day, I wanted to make pork ribs, but didn't want dry ribs. I decided to use a vinegar-based "mop", which I used to baste the pork ribs every 30 minutes.

To start:
Make a fire using charcoal or wood logs.

We have a backyard smoker, so I used oak logs. You'll be waiting until the fire has mellowed to a low flame.
You'll also want to make sure your smoker/grill/fire pit has a lid. This isn't necessary, but it will help you control the fire temperature and add more smokey flavor to the ribs.

Meanwhile:
Prepare the ribs. I used pork back ribs, St. Louis style. Baby back ribs are nice, but too small for me, and country-style ribs are too big.

If you have the time, put a dry rub on the ribs the night before and let them sit in the fridge overnight.
If you don't have the time, put a dry rub on the ribs as early as you can.
Take the ribs out of the fridge about an hour before you're going to cook them (about when you've put the logs on the fire).

Ingredients:
- 3 racks of St. Louis pork ribs

Vinegar mop:
- 1 cup vinegar (I used white vinegar, but apple cider vinegar would be excellent)
- 1 T chili powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 1 T onion powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 T salt
- 1 T black pepper

In a small sauce pan, heat the vinegar over medium heat with the other ingredients until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Set aside until you're ready to use it. Put it in a squirt bottle (like the ones they have at diners for ketchup) for easy application.

Dry Rub:
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 T black pepper
- 2 T chili powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 2 t cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy)

The flavors of the dry rub are really up to you. You could do a mole style rub with unsweetened chocolate, or a sweet rub with sugar. The possibilities are endless.

Ready to Grill?

Once you're ready to grill, put the ribs on a platter and bring them to the grill.

Stack the racks on top of each other on the grill (this lets the juice/flavor fall on to the lower racks of ribs and helps to keep them moist).
After 30 minutes, rotate the racks, moving the bottom one to the top. Squirt the ribs with your mop, about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of mop.
Every 30 minutes, rotate the ribs and add more mop.
After about 2 hours, start checking the ribs for done-ness. They're done when you can rotate one of the rib bones and it starts to separate from the meat.
When the ribs are done, remove them from the grill and let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Chop the ribs (I like to use a cleaver or anther heavy knife for this) and serve.

You may have noticed that I didn't put BBQ sauce on the ribs. I like to serve at least 3 sauces on the side of the ribs so that everyone can choose whatever flavor(s) they like. I use homemade BBQ sauce when I'm feeling up to it, or store-bought if I'm crunched for time.

Happy cooking!

Guacamole Burgers

2009-09-19T12:17:00.001-07:00

ngredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 2 ripe avocados
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper

1. In a large bowl, mix the beef, pork, and salt and pepper (to taste). Use a spoon, and don't mix the meat too much. If you overwork the meat, it won't be as delicious.

2. In a hot, large skillet, heat 1 T. of vegetable oil (canola, peanut, whatever, just not olive oil).

3. Divide the meat into four portions. Form each portion into a patty, making a round indent in the center to keep the burger from becoming a hockey puck.

4. Put your patties in the skillet, cooking about 7 min. per side (flipping once) for well-done.

Don't smash the patties! Don't use a spatula to press on the patties while they're cooking. It makes a nice sound, but you're really squeezing the liquid out of the meat, which leads to dry burgers. And nobody wants a dry hamburger!

5. While the patties are cooking, remove the avocados from their shell, and put them in a medium bowl. Add the lime juice, and salt to taste. You can also add cilantro if you're feeling fancy. Using a fork, mash the avocados and mix with the lime juice and salt.

6. When the burgers are almost done, toast your burger buns.

7. Assemble the burgers, putting the guacamole on one bun. Enjoy!

Napa Green Bean Salad

2009-09-19T12:16:00.001-07:00

(It's called "Napa" salad because I got the ingredients for the dressing on a trip to Napa).

1 1/2 lbs. green beans and yellow beans
Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard (the grainier, the better)*

*I used this pink, large grain mustard. I had never seen pink mustard before. It has a nice, mellow flavor, without being spicy (at all) like some Dijon mustards can be.

Boil pot of salted water. Add green beans and yellow beans. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Once the beans are cooked (about 5 min), transfer the beans to the ice water (putting them in ice water stops them from cooking, which keeps them from being overcooked and mushy).

While the beans are cooking, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper (to taste). There's no need to stream in the olive oil because the mustard will hold the rest of the dressing together.

Mix the blanched green beans with the dressing, and enjoy!

Pork Potstickers

2009-09-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups roasted pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 T soy sauce
- 1 T sesame oil
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- Wonton wrappers

1. In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients except for wonton wrappers. Pulse until mixture is chunky, but not pureed (we're not making pate here).
2. Put pork mixture into a bowl.

3. Set up your workspace. You'll need a large baking sheet or platter for the potstickers once you've made them, a bowl of water, and a clean, dry surface for folding (like a cutting board).

4. Lay out a wonton wrapper. Put about 1/2 T pork mixture in the center.
5. Wet one finger with the water, and wipe it along two edges of the wrapper.
6. Fold the wrapper over diagonally, to make a flat isoceles triangle. Squeeze out all the air from the middle and make a tight seal all the way around.
7. Pick the wonton up so the filling is facing the ceiling.
8. Poke in the filling part a little to make an indent.
9. Fold the two farthest-apart edges together, as if they were hands clapping.
10. Wet one "hand" of the wonton, and press it against the other "hand" to seal.
11. Repeat until you run out of filling or wrappers, whatever comes first.

These wontons can be either pan-friend in a high-heat oil (like canola or peanut), or steamed in a basket. They also freeze beautifully (just put them on a baking sheet in the freezer, once frozen, move them to a plastic bag); just pan-fry or steam to reheat them.

Happy eating!