baba ganoush

When I was a kid, I used to HATE eggplant. I am not sure if this was me being rebellious or if my taste buds were transitioning, but I just could not/would not eat it. Over the years, I have developed a liking to the vegetable. While I would not call it my favorite food to eat, I would not kick it off my dinner plate.

In the past I have prepared grilled eggplant and eggplant parmesan (breaded with a red sauce). This is my first attempt at making baba ganoush. It is actually quite simple....and delicious. Below is a pretty simple recipe I got from the Joy of Cooking (a classic and very versatile cookbook for anybody wanting to learn more about food - it should be a staple in any cook's kitchen).

• 3 eggplants
• 2-3 tablespoons tahini (less if you are my dad, more if you are Rachael)
• 1-3 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 10-12 sliced black olives
• the juice of 1-2 lemons
• 1-2 cloves of garlic (be careful, it is raw and can be overpowering)
• 1-2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

You can either roast the eggplants over an open flame for a few minutes to get the smokey flavor and then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour or put them directly in the oven for the full time.

I just put them in the oven for the full time (I may try cooking them over an open flame next time). I left the eggplants in the oven for an hour -- I wanted to make sure that they cooked all the way through.

Next, let the eggplants cool and then slice them down the middle. With a spoon, scoop out the insides onto either a dish or a colander. This is important -- with paper towels, dry the insides (othewise you will have wet and mushy baba ganoush -- nobody wants that).

Place the garlic in the food processor and turn it on until it is minced. Transfer the eggplant to the food processor and pulse the eggplant 8-10 times. Add the lemon juice, tahini, and salt and pepper. Pulse until the mixture is smooth. Taste to make sure that there is sufficient lemon juice, salt, and pepper (tasting the food during the preparation process is they key to making sure that it is well seasoned -- unless you are cooking with raw meat or eggs, you should always taste during the cooking process)

Remove the mixture from the food processor and place it in a bowl. Garnish with the parsley and sliced black olives. Drizzle the olive oil on top and serve!

Enjoy!

Pineapple

Pineapples have always been intimidating to me. Recently I picked one up at the store and decided to learn how to prepare it...it's easier than you'd think.

Let's start by first discussing how you can tell whether a pineapple is ripe. Pull one of the leaves from the top. If it comes out easily, it is ripe and ready to go!

Before you are ready to cut the pineapple, turn it upside down and put it in the refrigerator for about a half an hour. This redistributes the natural sugar throughout the fruit (when the pineapple sits, the sugar tends to settle on the bottom).

Next, twist off the top leaves (or cut them off). Then, cut off both the top and the bottom of the pineapple. Now comes the trickiest part. Take a knife and trim the outer edges of the pineapple only taking off the outer shell. You want to trim along with the shape of the fruit to minimize the amount of insides lost.

Lay the pineapple on its side and cut about 1 inch segments. Use your knife to cut around the center to remove the core (it is tough and not as sweet as the rest). Now cut the pineapple slices into pieces as you would a pizza.

That's it! It is a little laborious, but it is cheaper than buying pre-cut pineapples (and more rewarding)...

Top Chef - Week 2

With each passing year, the pool of Top Chef contestants becomes better. It is really inspiring seeing what each can do...

The Quickfire Challenge this week was to create the best sandwich. It was judged by the White House chef. The contestants drew knives and split into pairs and were forced to make their dish in thirty minutes....while wearing a single apron.

Tracey and Angelo won the challenge with a flounder sandwich with a siracha mayo. I told you siracha mayo is good!

For the main challenge this week, the contestants had to cook school lunch for school children for $130. The budgetary restriction was the biggest obstacle. The chefs were split into groups of four.

Kenny and Angelo (#1 and #2 in last week's power rankings) were on the same team. You would think that this would work out well, but their team was on the bottom! Their menu was a train wreck. It consisted of a chicken burger, peanut butter and celery crudites, a sweet potato puree with cinnamon and an apple bread pudding. The dishes looked wholly unappetizing. It was so bad that the judges basically asked Angelo whether he intentionally threw the challenge (because his team won the Quickfire challenge, he had immunity). He was caught on camera admitting that he does not like Kenny. In that, I figured out why I cannot root for the guy. I will be happy if and when he is eliminated.

The team with Lynne, Kelly, Arnold, Tiffanie won the challenge (the overall winner of the challenge was Kelly). Their menu looked great (especially considering the money limitation). They served a black bean cake & crispy sweet potatoes, braised pork carintas taco with pickled onions and cilantro, roasted corn salad and a caramelized sweet potato salad. Unlike the aforementioned menu, this menu had a lot of color. They did a great job.

The judges kicked Jacqueline off. She was an easy scapegoat because she actually admitted to adding 2 pounds of sugar in a challenge centered around healthy eating in schools. It is too bad because she seems very sweet, but it is too early in the competition for me to feel any connection to her.

Week 2 Power Rankings

1. Kenny -- this was not his finest week, but he did not do so poorly that he deserved to be dropped. I believe he was dealt a bad hand when he got stuck with Angelo on his team (maybe this is wishful thinking).
2. Angelo -- begrudgingly. I am not thrilled that he remains ranked. He did not perform well this week (nor with honor), but I believe it was intentional.
   
3. Lynne -- her black bean cake looked incredible.
   

Healthy Alternatives: Pop Chips

Generally I tend to crave savory food rather than sweets. Give me a potato chip over a piece of chocolate any day! Both sweet or savory food can be bad for you. Many healthy options sacrifice taste and flavor to save on calories.

One healthy alternative that nails both the taste and the health is pop chips. One small bag has 100 calories as compared to 250-300 calories for the traditional fried alternatives. Although the texture is a bit different, the taste is fantastic. My personal favorite is the BBQ flavor (but the original flavor and salt and vinegar both taste great also).

So, next time you want a guilt free snack, pick up a bag. I think you'll enjoy it!

Top Chef: Washington D.C.

Let me first apologize for the lack of posts last week. I won't let it happen again!

The new season of Top Chef started this week. For those of you who might not know, it is a Bravo cooking show in which a group of chefs compete with one another for the chance to become the top chef (not just a clever name). In previous seasons, Top Chef has been filmed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. This year it is in our nation's capital, and I am very excited to watch!

Rather than write about each episode in depth every week, I decided instead to create Power Rankings for my top three favorites to win the competition.

1. Kenny (the favorite) - Kenny first caught my eye with his knife skills. He is incredibly fast at prepping food and his dishes look incredible.
2. Angelo - He is probably not the favorite because of his personality. For some reason, I cannot get behind him. That being said, he seems like a very talented chef. He'll be around for a while in this competition.
3. Timothy - The third spot is up in the air right now. Tentatively, I have Timothy as #3, but perhaps that is only because I like his personality.

Miso Shrimp with Couscus

Last week at the impulse section of the grocery store I picked up Food & Wine Magazine. I have casually read the magazine before, but never with an intent to attempt to recreate dishes or expand my culinary horizons.

The first recipe I tried from the magazine was Miso Shrimp. I chose this recipe because I still have a tub of miso from my miso soup craving. The other ingredients include vegetable oil, graded ginger, minced garlic, lime juice, and brown sugar. Use 2-3 tablespoons of each ingredient. Whisk these ingredients together and marinate the shrimp for a few minutes (no longer, because the acidity from the lime juice will cook the shrimp (similar to a ceviche).

The recipe also called for a dipping sauce using mayonnaise and an ingredient called sambal oelek. I believe sambal oelek is a chili paste, so I substituted it for always reliable siracha sauce.

I served it over couscus with a baked potato. I was really impressed by the combination of flavors. I have never used miso in this manner, and I intend to look into ways to incorporate the ingredient in other dishes.

This dish was delicious and easy to prepare. Try it out!

Aioli

Instead of straight up mayonnaise, restaurants often serve aioli. It is one condiment that really distinguishes eating out from cooking at home. However, home cooks can make an aioli to spruce up homemade sandwiches as well.

A traditional aioli includes egg yolk, mayonnaise, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. However, often you will find it without the egg yolk (which is how I make it).

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of mayonnaise, the zest of 1 lemon, the juice of half a lemon, 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 minced garlic clove. The amount of each ingredient is to taste, but be careful with the garlic because it is raw and rather potent. That's it!

You can vary this recipe by substituting other ingredients for the lemon. Sun dried tomatoes work really well as do roasted red peppers. Some people also add sour cream in addition to the mayonnaise for a creamier taste.

Next time you make a sandwich at home, try this out - it really adds a lot of flavor to your meal!

Grilled Corn

Whether it is a side dish for hamburgers or part of a salsa, grilled corn is the essence of summertime. Here are a few grilling tips that will make your corn delicious:

- First soak the corn in salt water for 15 minutes. The ensures that the corn will not burn when it is on the grill.

- Remove the inner husks and silk linings. Peal the outer husks back like a banana and remove the inner linings. Refold the outer husks over the corn and twist the top. This allows for the corn to steam within the husk.

- Grill the corn on a medium/medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes. If you grill it at too high of a temperature, you will sear the corn.

- When you take the corn off the grill, season it with salt and butter. You don't have to douse the corn in butter to get the great taste. Just brush it!

Grilled Chicken

There is a fine line between well cooked chicken and over cooked chicken. The fear of undercooked poultry has led to chicken dishes often being dry and tasteless. Here are a couple of tips on grilling chicken properly:

1. Lightly pound the chicken prior to placing it on the grill. Be careful not to pound it too much. You are trying to create an even cooking surface for the meat. Obviously, if only a portion of the chicken is touching the surface of the grill, it will not cook evenly.
2. The internal temperature for the chicken should be around 165 degrees. You can tell whether the meat is cooked by touching it. If it is spongy, the chicken has not fully cooked.
3. Be liberal with the salt and pepper. Too often people under season meat on the grill. The salt and pepper season the entire piece of meat, not just the outer surface.
4. Let the meat rest! 10 minutes is a good rule of thumb. If you cut into the meat too early, you will lose all of those juices that keep it moist and delicious.
5. Sear the outside on a higher grill temperature and then cook the rest on a lower grill temperature. You want to create a nice crust for the chicken, but continuing to cook the chicken on such a high temperature will dry it out.
   

Angel Food Cake

Angel food cake is a simple dessert that is light and fluffy. It can be made fairly quickly.

This was my first attempt making the dish, and I thought it turned out pretty well. I used Alton Brown's recipe which calls for: sugar, salt, cake flour (I used all purpose flour), orange extract (I used vanilla extract), egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar.

First you combine a little water, tartar, vanilla extract, and egg whites in a bowl and whisk by hand for a few minutes. Next, move this to a mixer (set it to a very high speed). Slowly pour in half of the flour and sugar and mix until the mixture looks like sand dunes (around 7-8 minutes).

Once, as Alton Brown says, the mixture reaches medium peaks, remove it from the mixer and gently fold in the rest of the flour and sugar. Spoon the mixture into an angel food cake pan and let it cook for 30-35 minutes.

Let it cool upside down for an hour before removing it from the pan.

Serve it with sliced strawberries and whipped cream (which can be made easily from scratch by mixing heavy whipping cream and a little salt in the mixer for 5 minutes).

Enjoy!

BBQ Ribs

There are few things Southerners take more seriously than ribs. Being from the South, this is a dish I have long wanted to perfect. These ribs are my second attempt. My first try tasted okay, but were "slightly" blackened. Let's just say the first were not "blog" worthy.

The most traditional way to prepare ribs is to use a smoker. If you do not have one, you can either use a grill, your oven, or a combination of the two (which is what I do).

Ribs usually start with a dry rub (a mixture of ingredients combined in a bowl). You can be creative in making a dry rub or follow a recipe - I used Alton Brown's recipe for these ribs. It contained brown sugar, salt, chili powder (I used ancho chili powder), black pepper, cayenne pepper, jalapeno seasoning (I did not use this ingredient), Old Bay seasoning, thyme, and onion powder (I used garlic salt).

With many of these recipes, you don't have to follow ingredient list to the "T." Any recipe is open to interpretation.

Rub the dry rub thoroughly on both sides of the ribs (don't be afraid to use too much, the ribs will absorb the spices). Let the ribs rest in the refrigerator for an hour.

After the ribs have rested, put them in the oven at 275 degrees for 2.5 hours.

This recipe called for a braising liquid containing white wine, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey and garlic cloves. Thicken the ingredients by simmering in a sauce pan. About 1 hour and 15 minutes after the ribs have cooked, pour half the liquid on the ribs. When the ribs are ready to take out of the oven, pour the rest of the braising liquid on top.

At this point, transfer the ribs to the grill for the final 20-30 minutes of cooking. The key for this is that you do not want to cook the ribs at too high a temperature. You will want to either create a hot zone and a cool zone on the grill (by arranging most of the coals on one side and just a few on the other) or using only a few coals on the grill.

Turn the ribs in 15 minutes. When it reaches the rich brown color that we associate with ribs, their done. Enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Benedict

I do not know of a more delicious sauce in the world than holland- aise. What can be better than butter, egg yolk, and lemon?!? It is the base of one of my favorite dishes, eggs benedict.

In addition to the eggs, benedicts will have another protein such as ham, bacon, or even crab (which is very popular in San Francisco). The recipe pictured is a smoked salmon (or lox) benedict.

For the sauce: For many, hollandaise is intimidating. In reality, it is quite simple. 3 egg yolks, 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1 stick of butter (it makes four servings). You can either use a double boiler or a blender (or immersion blender). I use the latter and find it to be much easier.

The most complicated aspect of preparing the sauce is separating the egg yolks from the whites. This is done by cracking the egg in half and transferring the yolk back and forth to either half while letting the whites drop into another bowl (you can use the extra egg whites for an omelet).

Once the butter is melted transfer it into a mixing bowl and add the yolk and lemon. Blend together and that's it!

For the eggs: Before you start on the hollandaise, begin boiling water in a pot. When the water reaches a rolling boil, turn off the heat. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of white vinegar in the water (this is the key -- it keeps the egg white and yolk together. If you have tried to make poached eggs and found the whites to be runny or completely separate from the yolk, this is why).

Cook the eggs in the water for about 5-7 minutes (it really depends on personal preference). You are looking for the whites to not be translucent and the eggs to be somewhat firm. Be careful - you want a runny yolk and not a fully hardened yolk.

Toast an English muffin. Build two open faced sides by stacking the smoked salmon (or other protein), then one poached egg, and finally topping it with the hollandaise. Sprinkle a little paprika on top to finish the dish (optional).

If you are looking to impress friends or somebody special, try it out - they'll love it!

Batido de Mango (Mango Smoothie)

I saw this dish on an episode of Boy Meet's Grill with Bobby Flay. Bobby just threw the ingredients into the blender without going into detail about how much of each ingredient he used. Smoothies are very versatile in that you can try different fruits and bases and create delicious flavors.

This mango smoothie is perfect for the holiday weekend.

Ingredients:

1 Mango
2-3 scoops of Mango sorbet
1.5 cups of plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup of Milk
Sugar to taste (optional)

Place the ingredients in a blender and mix it. That's it! If it is too thick, just add more milk. It is easy, light and refreshing. Try it! If you want to make it into an adult beverage, the flavors would be great with rum.

Allegro Romano

Do you ever have a meal that makes you think, "why do I even try to cook myself?" I had one last night. Rachael and I decided it was high time for a romatic date, so we went to Allegro Romano in Russian Hill (San Francisco). I had been there once before on a hotel recommendation when my parents were in town. Because Italian cuisine is one of Rachael's favorites, I decide that this was the restaurant for us.

...it was a good call.

The setting for the restaurant could not be better. There are about 15-20 tables and it feels more like a large livingroom than it does a restaurant. When you walk in, you are greeted and seated by the owner - I question whether he ever takes off work.

Once seated, the staff was curteous and helpful, but never became over-involved with our meal nor so distant that they were not available. The restaurant placed fresh bread with a muted tomato-based dipping sauce on the table. The bread was good (but not mindblowing). The sauce was solid - it had a mild flavor that persisted throughout the bite, but never threatened to overpower your palate in consideration for the next course.

We decided to order bruschetta and beef carpaccio as appetizers. The bruschetta was spectacular. Two little pieces came with the order and we each savored every bite until it was gone. The dish had the perfect balance of olive oil, tomato and basil. The very slight flavors were a lovely way to start the meal.

Beef carpaccio is not for everybody. Some have a natural adversion to raw/mostly raw meat. I will never make this dish at home, I only order it at restaurants I know to be good and I am comfortable with. Allegro Romano's beef carpaccio makes me question how anybody can be a vegetarian. It was fantastic. The beef is topped with parmigiano-reggiano cheese (I think), which adds so much to the already wonderful meat. Each bite was incredibly fresh and delicious. I will definitely order it again.

For the main courses, we decided to share fettucini with a white truffle sauce and lobster ravoli. We decided to leave it up to the restaurant to pick the wine pairing with our dishes and they did a great job with this (it was not too expensive, but it was quite good). Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to make a note of what we were drinking - my bad.

The dishes were brought out (already split onto separate plates) as courses rather than all together. I loved this. It seemed as if we were having a five course meal. Timing, or a lack there of, is one of my biggest pet peaves when it comes to restaurant service. It is so frustrating when the server brings your appetizer and then the main course on its heels (or worse, at the same time!).

The fettucini came first. In-cred-ible. The white truffle sauce was light and airy. The pasta (obviously freshly made) was soft. Each bite was creamy and made us happier than the last. The lobster ravoli came next. It was a smart choice to lead with the fettucini because the ravoli had a vodka sauce (a heavier tomato-cream sauce). Biting into the ravoli forced me to close my eyes and enjoy the flavors. I cannot even put into words how delicious it was. We even dipped some of the bread in the remaining sauce when we were done (I know it is rude, but we made sure nobody was looking).

Finally for dessert, we had the tiramisu and chocolate gelatto. Before our dishes came, they brought port to the table and seemingly kept refilling it whenever I turned my head. It was about this time that a woman sitting beside us starting singing for the entire restaurant (I swear I am not making this up). Rather than go about their business, the restaurant staff stopped, turned off the lights in the kitchen and enjoyed the opera singing just as the patrons did.

Now, I am not a huge chocolate fan, but Rachael was very impressed with the gelatto. They dusted it with cocoa powder, which I thought was a nice touch. It was great. The tiramisu was like biting into a cloud. The coffee was not dominating (which I think is a typical mistake for this dish). Amazing.

After the meal, rather than hail a cab, we walked home. Before we could leave the restaurant they presented Rachael with a single rose - nice touch. It was a beautiful night, the moon was out and we were completely satisfied. It really made us appreciate our city and our neighborhood.

I would highly recommend checking this restaurant out. For what you get, it is a bargain - the dishes range from around $18-$28 dollars and the appetizers from around $4-$15. I have certainly paid more for much less.

Healthy Cooking Part II: Spring Rolls with Miso Soup

Not every post on this blog will be about culinary success. Part of the enjoyment of becoming a decent cook is the process. There will be great dishes and not so great dishes. I remember when I was younger my dad attempted to make a Lemongrass soup (we ended up getting takeout that night). Prior to this blog, I attempted to make a ragout (Rachael still says it is one of the worst things she has ever tasted). The point is - take chances and try new things! The takeout menu is only an arm's length away.

With that in mind, last night I decided to make spring rolls and miso soup. It actually turned out fairly well - I would not call it a disaster by any stretch, but it was my first attempt making spring rolls and there is plenty of room for improvement.

Spring Rolls

• Spring roll wrappers
• cabbage
• Shrimp (or another protein such as tofu or chicken)
• Mint
• Basil
  
• Cilantro
• Rice Noodles

Spring Roll Sauce

• Hoisin Sauce
• Chopped Peanuts
• Lime Juice
  
• Sirachi Sauce
• Basil
  

Miso Soup

• Red and/or White Miso
• Dashi (or vegetable/fish stock)
• Green Onion
• Yellow Onion
• Tofu

Start by placing the shrimp in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes. Watch the shrimp as they cook and when the blue color is replaced by orange, remove the shrimp from the water and rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set the shrimp aside and let them cool. Once the shrimp are cool to the touch, slice them in half down the middle (like a butterfly - but separate the sides).

In a small mixing bowl, stir together 3-4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons of chopped peanuts, 2 teaspoons of basil, the juice of 1 lime, and 1 teaspoon of sirachi sauce. Taste it and add water if it is too salty. Set aside.

Place rice noodles in a pot of boiling water for 5-8 minutes, until they are soft. Remove from heat and rinse with cold water.

Roughly chop the cabbage, mint, basil, and cilantro. Set aside.

In a stock pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook 1/2 of a diced yellow onion for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 cups of dashi/vegetable stock Let the stock and onions cook for 3-5 minutes. Add 3-4 tablespoons of Red/White Miso. I used half and half, but you can use all of one or the other. Add the green onion and tofu and cook for 3-5 more minutes. Simmer until you are ready to serve.

I used vegetable stock because I did not have dashi -- it was good, but it tasted more like chicken soup than the traditional miso soup we are used to. It is worth searching for dashi at a local Japanese market or specialty grocery store.

Fill a large mixing bowl with warm-hot water (not too hot - you have to put your hands in it). Submerge a rice wrapper in the water for 20-45 seconds (until it is soft and malleable). Lay the wrapper on a flat surface. Place 1-2 shrimp, basil, cilantro, mint, rice noodles, and cabbage (a small amount of each) about 2 inches from the bottom of the wrapper - you should also leave room on the edges. Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the filling. Next, fold the sides of the filling into the center (like you would when wrapping a present). Tightly roll the wrapper and slice in half.

I found that the biggest challenge with the spring rolls is to make the filling solid enough to where the roll will not fall apart. I think the key is to avoid overfilling each roll.

Enjoy!

Kyocera Mandoline

Yesterday I purchased a Kyocera mandoline from The Gourmet Depot in San Francisco. This store is a fantastic spot to find replacement parts for kitchen appliances and for other random cooking needs. I had to go to the store because somehow I managed to lose the dough hook for my mixer. Naturally, I found another product while waiting for the store clerk to locate the replacement.

Similar to the knives I posted about previously, this product uses a ceramic blade - actually a double ceramic blade. This enables the mandoline to make extremely thin slices by cutting on the "down" as well as the "up" motion.

This product will be great for making potato chips, pizza toppings, or sandwich fillings. Thus far I have only tested the product on a tomato, but I was very pleased with the results. I will update my review of this product as my experience with it continues.

You can find this product for about $20. While a knife works just as well, it does speed up the food preparation process.

Healthy Cooking Part I: Seared Ahi Tuna With Rice and a Cucumber Salad

I have noticed that while sometimes cooking from scratch enables you to control ingredients and create healthier dishes, it can often have the opposite effect (see BBQ Mac & Cheese). I was having a conversation yesterday with Rachael about how anybody can make four sticks of butter and cheese taste delicious. The real challenge is to make somebody eating healthy food not miss the unhealthy ingredients.

With that came the idea to do a series of posts about cooking healthy. This blog is not taking this direction permanently, nor is every post in the foreseeable future going to focus solely on healthy cooking. But hopefully by reading these posts you will try different flavor combinations using healthy ingredients and enjoy your meal just as much.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Rice and Cucumber Salad

Using my trusty Flavor Bible, I developed this dish and tried it for the first time last night. I first marinated two Sashimi-grade tuna steaks in 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of sesame oil (I found this simple marinade online) for about 5 hours. About 4 hours into the marinating, I started on the cucumber salad by roughly dicing an English Cucumber, 2 roma tomatoes (remove the seeds and juices), and 1/4 of a red onion.

Soak the red onion in white vinegar for a couple of minutes and then rinse with water. This removes that sharp raw onion taste that is so harsh. It is a trick I saw on a show with Rick Bayless and it works wonderfully.

Combine and toss all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Dress the salad with about 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (or more to taste), salt & pepper, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 2-3 tablespoons olive oil. Let the the ingredients absorb the juice, vinegar and olive oil for about an hour before serving. Although I did not use it in my salad last night, this dish would also be fantastic with crumbled feta.

This was my first time attempting to sear tuna. Usually when I purchase ahi tuna, I either make sushi or a spicy tuna poke (which I will write about at a later date). I thought this would be a nice change of pace.

I looked online for proper searing instructions and generally found that for seared tuna, you cook each side of the fish for about 2-3 minutes. As you might imagine, my DVR is filled with cooking shows, so I also searched it for any chef that had recently done an episode on tuna. Turns out, I had a "Boy Meets Grill" episode by Bobby Flay. He recommended cooking for about 4 minutes on one side and 5 seconds on the other.

Another thing he mentioned, was that sashimi grade tuna is best rare to medium rare, and should never be cooked more than medium. So taking this advice, I decided to combine both methods. I cooked the tuna for about 3-4 minutes over medium heat on one side and 1 minute on the other. I added 1-2 tablespoons of sesame seeds, salt, & pepper to the tuna just before placing on the grill pan. Note, to get the nice criss-cross texture on the fish slightly turn the tuna about 2 minutes into the searing. Be careful not to turn it too early! Moving fish too quickly on a grill is what causes it to stick -- you want to make sure that the crust is adequately formed before touching it.

I cooked this fish on a grill pan on my stove-top, but you could easily prepare it outside on your grill. Because the marinade contains oil (as does the tuna itself), I decided just to lightly coat the grill pan with some cooking spray.

Enjoy!

Greyhounds

As a disclaimer, I would not define myself as a huge drinker. But, like most, I do enjoy a nice cocktail from time to time. When I do drink, I usually go for quality spirits over quantity. I find that it really makes a difference the next day.

Last night I met up with a few friends at a local bar and was asked what I wanted. 90% of the time, this question would end with two words: vodka tonic. Sometimes, however, I prefer something different. After a few moments of thought, I look around the table and noticed that my friend had ordered a greyhound. I followed suit.

Greyhounds are a perfect drink for the summer. The drink is quite simple -- vodka and grapefruit juice. Ordinarily, I gravitate towards savory rather than sweet tastes, but the citrus cuts the vodka perfectly and it makes for a refreshing beverage.

If you would like to try this drink at home, my general rule of thumb is one part vodka and two parts grapefruit juice. This, of course, is left to the discretion of the person pouring the drink. The next time you are at a bar and have no idea what to order, give it a try! Just be safe -- it tastes more like grapefruit juice than vodka.

BBQ Slow Cooked Pulled Chicken (Part II)

And now for Part II of the BBQ Pulled Chicken post. As you may have read, yesterday I wrote about preparing the chicken and pulling it apart. Today's post will focus on making the BBQ sauce and a short discussion of different ways to use it.

The BBQ sauce I prepared came from Bobby Flay's cookbook. It was tasty, but I will add more sugar/honey the next time I make it. Rather than rip Bobby's sauce from his cookbook and copying into this post, I will explain the basic components of the BBQ sauce.

A typical BBQ sauce will have pureed tomatoes, onions, chili powder, honey, brown sugar, dry mustard, garlic, ketchup (or tomato paste), and Worcheshire sauce. Bobby's included molasses and chipotles in adobo (both of which I plan on experimenting with in the future). Basically, you start by dicing onions and then sautéing them until they are soft (about 5 minutes). You then add pureed tomatoes and water. Bring the ingredients to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add all of the other ingredients and simmer for another 30-45 minutes.

At this point, process the sauce in a food processer to make it smooth. As I said before, the sauce I made was not sweet enough for my liking, so I added honey and sugar after the fact. You can experiment with different peppers and spices and start to develop your own distinct BBQ sauce.

This particular batch of BBQ sauce went into three recipes: a BBQ chicken pizza, a pulled BBQ chicken sandwich, and BBQ mac & cheese.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

For this recipe I made pizza dough as I have explained in a previous post and placed the BBQ sauce on the dough (in place of pesto or tomato sauce), added cheese, the pulled chicken , bacon, and red onions. After the pizza was fully cooked, I topped it with cilantro (when adding herbs as a garnish, you want to do it after the dish has fully cooked or else they will lose their flavor).

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

This is as simple as it gets. Just toss the chicken in the BBQ sauce, add lettuce & tomato, and put it on a bun. It makes a great sandwich to take to work.


BBQ Mac & Cheese

This dish has three components: the cheese sauce, the pasta, and the chicken. The original recipe came from the Food Network Magazine, but I altered it a bit.

The pasta preparation is pretty basic: just put it in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. The cheese sauce is a little more complicated: Start by combining flour and melted butter in a sauce pan. Add milk (the recipe called for crème), cheese, sour cream, and BBQ sauce. Cook until it thickens. In a separate frying pan, sauté diced onions and celery. Add the pulled chicken and BBQ sauce.

Combine all of the components in a glass baking dish and cooked the dish for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Once again, this recipe lends itself to experimentation. Be creative with the cheese sauce. The key is that you want it to thicken. You ensure that it does by adding flour. If you decide that flour is needed, be sure not to add too much and to continuously stir -- it tends to become lumpy if you do not.

BBQ Slow Cooked Pulled Chicken (Part I)

This is a two part post describing the process of making BBQ slow cooked pulled chicken. In this post I will describe how to make the chicken. In tomorrow's post, I will write about making the BBQ sauce and a couple of different recipes in which you can use it.

Purchase a whole chicken (it should cost around $10-$12). If you have a slow cooker, then use it. If you do not, you can also use a dutch oven as a slow cooker (which is what I did).

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Begin by adding 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the dutch oven on your stove top. Brown each side of the bird on the surface for 5-7 minutes (I browned this bird for 5, but in hindsight, probably would have left it on the heat for another minute or two).

Because I plan on using this chicken with BBQ sauce, I only seasoned it with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken in the oven for about 1-2 hours (depending on the size of the chicken). After 70 minutes or so, stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast. If it is 160 degrees, the chicken is cooked. If not, leave it in longer.

Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes and then carve the meat and place it in a mixing bowl or platter. Then pull the meat apart with two forks (I found that using your hands works the best, but it is more labor intensive and some people probably feel uncomfortable doing this).

That's it! Pretty simple, but very good. If you wanted to serve the chicken as a main dish, you could cook it with vegetables, rosemary, lemon juice, celery, onion, and any other ingredients you like.

Enjoy and come back tomorrow for the second part of this post.

French Toast

Instead of using butter as a lubricant for the cooking surface, I instead cook the french toast in the same pan in which I previously cook bacon. This provides extra flavor in bite. French toast is wonderful with a side of strawberries or melon.

Ingredients

• 8 pieces white bread (or challah)
• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
  
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 8 pieces bacon
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• powdered sugar (optional)
• maple syrup to taste (optional)
  

Break the eggs and combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Fry the bacon on a flat surfaced grill pan. Once the bacon is fully cooked, blot the bacon with a paper towel and place the pieces in an oven heated to 290 degrees.

Dip the pieces of bread in the egg mixture and, without cleaning off the pan, put the bread on the same surface. Cook the bread for about 3-5 minutes per side. Add the powdered sugar and syrup.

Serve with the bacon and enjoy! You can preserve and scramble any leftover eggs at a later date.

America's Weekend

This weekend has been centered around America's pastimes. We have had a grill out, attended a baseball game and celebrated with others as they officially became barristers. Yes, that's right, in one weekend we had lawyers, burgers and baseball. What could be better (please no lawyer jokes)?

The grill out was jam packed with great food. We had hot dogs, salsa (see previous post), guacamole, mac & cheese, hot dogs, brats, beans, burgers, and queso fundido.

I am going to write specifically about two dishes: the burgers and the queso. I would write about the mac & cheese, but alas it is my friend Cole's intellectual property - plus I don't have it!). It was spectacular, though.

Burgers
Some people prefer a ground patty plain and grilled to perfection. Perhaps it is because my dad always mixed burgers with a wide array of ingredients (never twice the same), but my burger is a bit more complex...

• 1 pound of 80/20 ground meat (you can use leaner meat, but I think this is the perfect ratio for burgers)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• parsley
  
• chives
• ancho chili powder (or cayenne for a spicier burger)
• garlic salt

Mix the ingredients in a bowl, shape into patties and grill! Also, don't be afraid to mix and match ingredients and insert your favorite pantry staples. The only ingredients that I think are necessary are the bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and egg (as a binding agent). Everything else is optional and dependent on your personal taste.

Queso Fundido
One of the most underrated cooking skills an individual can possess is the ability to make dishes out of leftovers and limit waste. Queso fundido is a cheese sauce in which you dip chips - similar to a salsa. This queso dish was the bastard child of Cole's aforementioned mac & cheese. He was wondering what to do with the extra cheese that he had prepared, and Rachael and he decided that it would be perfect for a queso.

That is where I came in...

We diced sweet baby peppers, flour (to thicken the cheese sauce), beer (nothing goes better with cheese than beer), some cayenne pepper, more cheese, garlic salt, salt and chipotle chili in adobo sauce (an important ingredient in Mexican cuisine -- chipotle chilies are smoked jalapenos and the adobo is the sauce that it is marinated in. This does not provide a spicy taste, but rather a smokey flavor).

Once again, these ingredients are optional and there is certainly an opportunity to be creative when making queso. Try it the next time you have leftover cheese.

Food Network Magazine

Today I am going to write about a seemingly dying business model, the magazine. We all turn to the Internet for our news, sports, and even cooking needs. It is fast, convenient, and inexpensive. But rather than turn our back forever to the traditional printed word, what we should do instead is celebrate the deserving well-crafted print publications.

The more I cook, the more I search for books (both cookbooks and books about food) and magazines about cooking. I want to know everything about cooking and sometimes reading from from a book or magazine is just more comfortable than reading online.

I subscribed to Food Network Magazine after picking it up at an airport for my in-flight entertainment and thoroughly enjoying it. It is not too expensive, $18 for 10 issues. I know you are thinking, but Matt, can't I just get the recipes on foodnetwork.com. Well, I suppose you can. But the magazine also has kitchen product reviews, interest stories, and a section where Food Network personalities answer questions. Plus, there is a section in each issue containing 50 recipes of a certain cuisine (they have covered burgers, pizza, stir-fry...). The recipes online do not offer as many variations of one type of dish. In all, each issue contains over 100 recipes, including ideas for weeknight cooking (when time is of the essence) and weekend cooking (when you have more time to prepare meals).

Sometimes you don't know what to cook until you stumble upon it. In this, a periodical is still superior to a search engine. So, if you are at an airport or just your local newsstand and want to read something that is not depressing, check out Food Network Magazine.

Homemade Pasta

Pasta is all too often an afterthought in home cooking. We are all too happy to purchase the 99 cent package of pasta from the grocery store boil it in water and plop it over butter or tomato sauce and dinner is served. I have certainly done it and it works well. But sometimes you want more. This post is about those times.

People seem apprehensive to make fresh pasta, but it is actually quite simple (but it is somewhat time consuming).

Pasta Dough

• 3.75 cups All Purpose Flour
  
• 5 Eggs
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons Rosemary (optional)
  

Form the the flour in a crater-like well on a large surface. The surface should look like an onion ring with the flour on the edges and the surface visible in the middle (I will add pictures in the future). Break the eggs and put them in the middle of the "crater" along with the rosemary and olive oil. Whisk the ingredients together with a fork until they are combined. At this point, start to add the flour to the eggs bit by bit from the sides of the mound (be careful not to break the edges or the eggs will go everywhere - advice from experience!). Keep combining the flour from the edges until it is combined. Kneed the dough by pushing it out with the palms of your hand and then folding it on top of itself until it is soft and the lumps are worked out. This will take 10-15 minutes.

Cover the dough and let it rest for about 1.5 hours. That is it. I recommend that you make more than you will use because it is easily frozen and thawed for future use. This way, you can prepare a homemade pasta dish in under 30 minutes (which is what I did last night).

Old fashioned pasta rollers can be purchased for under $40. The Mixer attachment versions are much more (around $200). I have the former, and it works just as well - the only difference is the manual labor (you have to operate a crank instead of using the mixer's motor).

A pasta roller will have a dial with different numbers. The higher the number, the wider the separation between the individual rollers. First, dust the roller with some flour, then set the dial to the highest number and pass about a quarter of the dough through it. The dough will expand, so you don't want to add too much. The first few times through the roller, fold the dough on top of itself before sending it through the roller again. After about 5 or so passes through the roller at this setting, reduce the number to a low-middle width and pass the dough through the roller another 2-3 times. You want to dough to be almost translucent, but not so thin that you cannot work with it.

At this point, you will have a basic noodle from which you can make lasagna or ravioli (I will write about that process in a later post). If, however, you want to make a thinner noodle, such as fettuccine or angel hair, you will need to add an attachment (which comes with the pasta roller). All it takes is one pass through this attachment and your pasta is done.

Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes (it does not take as long as store-bought pasta because it is fresh and not dried).

Add the pasta to your favorite sauce and enjoy!

Cauliflower Gratin

And now for something completely unhealthy. Well, not completely, but it is not completely healthy either. Last night, I prepared grilled tilapia. I chose to use a grill pan instead of firing up the grill just for a couple of pieces of fish. The fish turned out pretty well, but that is for another post...

Now I would like to discuss the oft overlooked aspect of any meal, the side dish. I recently purchased cauliflower at the store for a raw casual snack, Rachael had the great idea of preparing a gratin with it when we were brainstorming what to serve with the tilapia.

So I went to the internet to search for a solid recipe. On Food Network.com, Ina Garten's recipe was very well rated (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cauliflower-gratin-recipe/index.html). Keeping with the inadvertent theme of the week, I decided to prepare the dish using her recipe.

It turned out quite well. I will spare the reader with an ingredient list or the preparation of the dish because it is all on the website. What I will write about instead is the base of the sauce - the roux. It is the building block of many French sauces. A Roux includes butter (or some other fat such as bacon) and flour.

You start the roux by melting butter and followed by adding flour. Mix the flour and butter together and cook until the raw flour taste is no longer present.

You can make a Gratin sauce with the roux by adding milk or creme and cheese (which is what Ina's recipe calls for). You can also make an Alfredo-style white sauce by adding creme, black peppercorns, garlic, parsley and Parmesan. It is pretty easy to do and delicious. Enjoy!

Lamb Kabobs

Since we are nearing summertime, I thought I would do my first in a series of posts about grilling. There are few methods of food preparation that are as satisfying as cooking over an open flame - it is so primal and hedonistic.

For those of you who do not have room for a grill outside or just don't have one, you can also grill over your stovetop with a grill pan. I purchased a cast iron one from Cost Plus for around $20. However, if you can have a grill, do it! It's worth it. I bought the little Weber (pictured) for under $75 and it does the trick just as well as the more expensive versions.

One of my big inhibitions when I was shopping for a grill was the aged old argument between which is better, gas or charcoal. My research on the matter was inconclusive. It seems that gas is easier because it does not require you to light the charcoal every time. However, some say that using gas changes the taste of the food. I honestly think it is personal preference and wonderful food can be made with either.

Ina Garten's Lamb Kabobs with Rachael Welden-Smth's (not Ray's) Tabouleh

So last night in the off and on rain, I decided to make lamb kabobs. This time I used one of Ina Garten's (also known as the Barefoot Contessa) recipes. The night before I made the kabobs, I marinated the lamb in some olive oil, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the marinade, I look forward to creating my own next time

Once the lamb is done marinating, the dish is really fast to prepare. To assemble the kabobs, I used store-bought steel skewers (you can also you wooden skewers - if you do, soak them for about 30 minutes first). Cut roma tomatoes because I did not have cherry tomatoes, small sweet peppers and red onions. I then placed each ingredient on the skewers in an alternating manner. The kabobs were done in about 6 minutes - but cook them to your personal preference (Ina said it would take longer, but my grill was pretty hot).

One method to tell if how done meat without cutting into it is by poking it. If the meat is spongy feeling, it is raw. If it is springy it is well done. Medium is in between. If you open your hand and touch the fleshy part between your thumb and forefinger, that is rare. If you make a fist and touch that same part, this is well done.

Rachael's Tabouleh

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup Mint
• 1/4 Cup Parsley
• 1 Tomato
• 1/2 Onion
• 1.25 Cups Whole Wheat Couscous
• A dash Rice Wine Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  
• 2 Lemons' juice
• 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
  

Bring a pot of water to boil. Put in the couscous in a heat resistant bowl and once boiling, pour the water until it is just covering the couscous. Cover the couscous and water until it absorbs (about 5 minutes). In the meantime....

Cut the onion, tomato, parsley, and mint. Once the couscous has absorbed the water, fluff it with a fork and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Dutch Ovens

Do you ever go to a kitchen store and see a tool or cookware that is prohibitively expensive? One such item is the dutch oven (insert jokes here), an essential dish for braising and roasting. The 5 qt Le Cruset dutch oven costs $240. Although this is a spectacular product, there are other options for less money that will serve your culinary needs.

One such item can be found at Cost Plus World Market (www.costplusworldmarket.com). For those of you who do not have a Cost Plus in your town, their items can also be ordered online and shipped to you directly.

Cost Plus offers a a 5 qt cast iron dutch oven for $59.99. I recently purchased this item and have been thoroughly impressed. In this instance, it does not seem that you pay for what you get and, although I have not cooked with the more expensive dutch oven, I couldn't imagine it being any different than its less expensive relative.

If you disagree or have any opinions on this matter, please let me know!

Enjoy!

Breakfast

Since it is the weekend, I thought I would write about the most important meal of the day -- breakfast. I know this is also the most skipped meal of the day. I am certainly guilty of this. The weekends, though present an opportunity to relax, be creative, and truly enjoy food.

I don't think there is an ingredient I cook with more than eggs. As the old slogan goes, "I love eggs..." As Bubba in Forrest Gump could attest, there are countless ways to prepare them -- you can fry them, bake them, boil them, poach them...I will spare the reader with more preparation methods. After all, I do not pretend to know as much about eggs as Bubba did about shrimp.

However, I will give you a simple recipe that you may find enjoyable...It is my first effort using the Flavor Bible (see last post), so feel free to alter it or tell me how it worked for you.


Poached Eggs Over Spinach on an English Muffin (serves 2)

• 4 Eggs
• 2 English Muffins
• 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
• Salt & Pepper
• 4 strips of Bacon (turkey or ham -- I prefer ham because it has a little more flavor)
  
• Sesame seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon Butter (optional)
• 3 cups of loosely packed Spinach
• 3-4 tablespoons White Vinegar
  

Timing is the most difficult part of this dish. Before preparing the other ingredients I would begin by heating the water, so you can bring it to a boil for the eggs quicker when it is time to do so.

The Spinach: cut the bacon into small slivers and add it to a sauce pan over medium heat. There is no need to add butter because the fat of the bacon will serve as a lubricant on the pan. once the bacon is cooked, add the garlic for about 1 minute. Next, add the sesame seeds and spinach. You want to cook the spinach for about 4 minutes (use the eye test). The spinach will get small, but you don't want it to wilt or become mushy. If you want add the butter to finish it off.

The Eggs: once the bacon is on the pan, turn the water heat to high and bring it to a boil. Add the white vinegar. Break the each egg into a glass container carefully so that the yolk remains in tact. Gently and slowly pour each egg into the boiling water so that the whites form around the yolk. Repeat. If the whites float around too much, you did not add enough vinegar. Keep in mind which egg you put in the water first because this will be the first one that is ready (I usually put them in the water clockwise). Once the eggs are in the water, turn off the heat and let the eggs cook for 5-8 minutes (using a slotted spoon, cup the eggs and examine them after 5 minutes). When the eggs are done, the whites should not be translucent and the yolk should not appear watery. The cooking time will also depend on personal preference.

The English Muffins: When the eggs are in the pot, toast the English Muffins.

Place the English Muffins on a plate open face and put a heaping of the Spinach on each side. Next, add the Poached Eggs and Sat & Pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

The Flavor Bible

As I become more interested in culinary arts, I feel a growing urge to bring creativity into my food rather than just following recipes. However, I have always felt that one of the challenges of creating unique foods from scratch is the unknown. How can we possibly know what flavors go together and which ingredients combine to create a culinary catastrophe?

The answer appears to be in The Flavor Bible....figures. This book is pretty remarkable. It is basically a flavor encyclopedia complete with ingredient combinations and flavor affinities (tried and true mixtures that work well together).

For instance, everybody knows that lamb and mint go well together. But I would have never guessed that lamb, cinnamon, and prunes are in a compatible flavor group. The book contains almost 400 pages of flavor knowledge that promises to be extremely useful for the adventurous cook. If you are interested in going off-book and starting to develop new dishes, I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Chipotle Shrimp Puffy Tacos

This is the last Mexican-themed post for at least a week....I promise. It will be hard, but I will do my best to refrain!!! The dish pictured above is my version of Chipotle Shrimp Puffy Tacos. It is inspired by two places: Nick's Cripsy Tacos (a San Francisco must!) and Throwdown with Bobby Flay (a show I would highly recommend). Similar to the tacos in Ben's last post, this dish is also a child of needing to go to the grocery store.

These tacos have three components, which I will write about individually: the Chipotle shrimp, the slaw, and the puffy tacos.

Chipotle Shrimp

• 2 Chipotles in adobo sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons Honey (or more to taste)
• 1/2 Lemon
• 1 Lime
• 1 cup Cilantro
• 1 teaspoon Salt (or more to taste)
• 1-2 cloves of Garlic
  

To make the sauce, combine the chipotles with some adobo sauce (be cautious, though, it is spicy), the lemon, the lime, garlic, cilantro and salt in a blender and mix well. Add honey and taste. If the sauce is still too spicy for your taste add some more honey to balance the heat (you could also use sugar, but I like taste of honey on shrimp).

Toss the sauce (which I use as a marinade and a cooking sauce in the shrimp and put in the refrigerator while making the other ingredients.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

• 3.75 cups of Masa
• 1 cup plus a little more of hot Water

You can also use store bought tortillas, but making them fresh tastes better and gives a certain satisfaction. Masa is Spanish for dough. I think of it as a cross between cornmeal and flour. Generally it comes in a large bag and you can store it in your pantry for use whenever you want fresh tortillas.

Knead the Masa and water until it is smooth and well combined. Cover the the mixture for 15 minutes. We'll come back to the dough once it is ready to prepare. At this point, it is probably a good idea to start heating up vegetable oil dutch oven or a strong bottomed pot -- you will want to put enough oil to completely submerge the flour tortilla (probably around 3 cups or so depending on the size of the pot/dutch oven).

The Slaw

• 2 Cabbage
• 1-2 tablespoons Honey
• 1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

Toss the ingredients. It is delicious -- It is a Bobby Flay inspired slaw, so you know it is good!

At this point, put the shrimp on the stove. I prefer using raw shrimp, but cooked shrimp will work as well. The cooking time will depend on which you decide to use, but the key is that you do not want to overcook the shrimp. When you bite into one, it should have a crunch (almost like a piece of asparagus). Cook the shrimp until the shrimp are nicely warmed. When you serve the tacos, you want them to be hotter than room temperature, but not extremely hot.

Now it is time to make the tacos puffy. The process begins as it would with any corn tortillas - by rolling golf ball sized pieces of the Masa mixture and placing it on a tortilla press (pictured to the right). This device is about $20 dollars and can be found at most places with a sizable cooking department (such as Bed Bath and Beyond). It is important to cover each side of the press with saran wrap or zip lock bags so the Masa mixture does not stick to the press.

The oil temperature should be between 300-350 degrees. Carefully drop the pressed tortilla into the oil (be careful because oil has a tendency to splash), and using tongs or another kitchen utensil, shape the tortilla like a saddle (how you would see a store bought tortilla).

Repeat until you have used all of the Masa mixture.

Once the tortillas have cooled a bit, build the taco by first placing the slaw, then the shrimp. Add cilantro and avocado for garnish. Enjoy!

Impromptu Meals - Meal #1 - Cinco Gobbler Tacos

I often find my kitchen in a dire state of emptiness. Stricken with too much space in my fridge and a random collection of canned items I have tried to create meals out of these seemingly disjointed products. This is the first recipe in my series of Impromptu Meals - Cinco Gobbler Tacos.

The point of this is to provide a guide for those of you who happen to have a lack of funds and a selection of random food available. I also try to use as few dishes as possible. Substitutions are encouraged, and I would love to hear feedback on how different versions work out.

Ingredients (serves four)
1 cup of white rice
1 can of mixed beans
1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies
7 slices of turkey bacon
4 small Russet potatoes
Broccoli stalk and carrot slaw (any type of raw shaved veggies should work)
Generic taco seasoning
Shredded Mexican cheese
A few teaspoons of olive oil
Soft tortillas or taco shells

• Start by putting about 1 3/4 cups of water in a medium pot. Fill another large pot about halfway with water and bring both pots to a boil (I always add a pinch of salt when boiling water).
• Skin your potatoes and dice them into small pieces (about 1/2 inch squares).
• When the water has boiled in the medium pot add your cup of white rice and cover. Add your diced potatoes to the large pot when it has boiled.
• Check the rice every few minutes, stirring occasionally, until all of the water has boiled off. If you have a rice cooker you could always use that to cook the rice, as it is much easier! The potatoes should only take about 5 minutes - you want them to be able to be cut fairly easily with a spoon, so check them often.
• If you have taco shells preheat your oven to 250 degrees now.
• Put two to three teaspoons of olive oil in a small skillet, and turn it to med/high. Wait until the oil starts popping and add your turkey bacon (depending on the size of your skillet you may have to repeat this process to cook all of the bacon). It usually takes about 3-4 minutes on each side for me, but you want to cook the bacon very crispy. When it is nice and crispy remove and place on a plate to the side. Keep the skillet on with the remaining oil - we will be using it soon.
• At this point your potatoes should be done, drain and set them aside. Rinse out the large pot that you cooked them in, and place this pot on low heat. Add your beans and tomatoes with chilies.
• Break up your crispy turkey bacon into small pieces (make sure that it isn't too hot to touch first!) and add it to the large pot with the beans and tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup of the taco seasoning and stir the pot over low heat.
• Take the (now cooked) potatoes and put them in the skillet with the remaining oil. Stir them around for a few minutes to add a little crisp to the sides. They should be done when the outside has a very light yellowish/brown color.
• After the potatoes are finished remove them from the skillet. Put the skillet on low heat and give it a minute to cool down. You can use this skillet to warm up your tortillas; it will only take a few seconds on each side to do so.

All of your separate ingredients are finished! If you have tortillas place your tortilla on a plate, add the rice, potatoes, bean/tomato/bacon mix, cheese, and slaw to the tortilla. Wrap, and eat! If you have taco shells load them up in the same order (minus the slaw), and put them in the oven. After a minute or two you can take them out, and add your slaw. Hint: You may need a fork for this one!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of the 5th of May, I have decided to pay homage to one of my culinary idols, Rick Bayless. For those of you who don't know of Mr. Bayless, I feel for you. Hopefully, this post will inspire you to look into him. Many will recognize the name from such shows as Top Chef Masters or Mexico: One Dish at a Time. One of Rick's stated passions is to show that Mexican cuisine can use the finest ingredients and be found in the finest of restaurants.

As you will undoubtedly see in future posts, Rick's passion for food and life is an inspiration to me. To date, I only have one of Rick's cookbooks -- Mexican Everyday. In it you can find recipes for making corn tortillas, moles, chipotle meatballs, chipotle shrimp (and countless other delicious creations). If you like Mexican cuisine, I would highly recommend checking it out.

One recipe I use often from Rick's book is his traditional salsa. Generally, I prefer a fresh tomato salsa rather than a chargrilled tomato/pepper salsa. This salsa is pretty straight forward: tomatoes, green onions (which I did not have, so I used white onion instead), serrano pepper, cilantro, garlic, and salt (or garlic salt for a little more of a garlic flavor).

Combine the garlic and pepper in a food processor and then add the cilantro and lime. Follow this by adding the tomatoes (at this point I would use the pulse function rather than just let the food processor run). Combine the ingredients until they reach your desired consistency (I prefer leaving it a bit chunky.

If you want a really thick salsa, you can squeeze the tomatoes to extract the inner juices prior to adding them to the food processor.

It is definitely as delicious as it looks! Try it out -- Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Homemade Pesto Pizza

So last night I decided to make Pesto Pizza. A few weeks ago (before this blog), I made homemade tomato sauce (I will write about it when I do it again). Since then, I have been anxious to try my hands at pesto. I got the recipe from Ina Garten on foodnetwork.com.

The ingredients for the pesto sauce are pretty simple: basil, walnuts, salt & pepper, pine nuts, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. The preparation is fairly straight forward: you put the the nuts and garlic in the food processor and then add the basil, salt and pepper. Then while still processing, you add the olive oil.

Ina's recipe makes a ton of pesto, so if you want less, I would recommend doing a half recipe. As always, I decided to make the full recipe and have two containers in the freezer to use for later.

The pesto turned out really well. The only thing I will change for next time is the amount of garlic - it is potentially overpowering, but I do love garlic...

I have made pizza a number of times and can do the dough pretty easily at this point. Like any rising dough, the pizza dough requires yeast. In addition, you add flour, salt, pepper, olive oil (and I like using rosemary as well) and warm water (to activate the yeast).

The dough has to rest for about 90 minutes and then you are good to go...

This was my first attempt using a pizza stone (these are good because they get really hot and allow you to get the same effect as using a pizza oven...well almost). The pizza came out pretty well, but I think I left it in for a minute too long.

My Birthday Dinner - The Scholars Inn

My birthday was last Tuesday and I decided to go to The Scholars Inn restaurant with a few friends for dinner. This is one of my favorite places to eat and drink, so I knew that I would not be disappointed.

I have had many of the items on the menu at The Scholars Inn, but I had never ordered the fillet before. It had been highly recommended to me by a few friends so I decided to go for it. I knew that this would be a quality cut of meat - I ordered it rare.

It was not the most visually pleasing dish when it initially came out. The steak was served on a bed of macaroni and cheese and there was virtually no color on the plate. Many of the dishes at The Scholars Inn are have a very complex appearance with beautiful colors, but this was extremely simplistic.

When I cut into the steak I could see that it was cooked perfectly. Just a crust of brown on the outside hiding the juicy red center. The flavor of the steak was wonderful, but surprisingly, even better when mixed with the macaroni underneath. The macaroni had a smoky flavor that when combined with the juices of the steak made the entire experience delicious. Another friend of mine who had also ordered the fillet was amazed at the flavor combination as well.

I have to say that I cannot remember eating a steak this good within the past few years. This meal combined with my favorite drink, Knob Creek Bourbon on the rocks, made for an absolutely amazing birthday dinner.

Ceramic Knives

About a year ago, I was in a kitchen store and came across a ceramic knife display. At this point I did not know too much about this product, but the store placed the knife by a piece of soft fruit and invited patrons to try it out.

Anybody who has experience with ceramic knives knows that I was impressed by the result. The cut was extremely sharp and allowed for great precision. I looked into getting the knife, but it was pretty expensive. The particular brand I experimented with was Kyocera (a leader in the industry). I searched online for a good deal on the knives, but still was not able to find a good enough deal to pull the trigger.

Then I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and made a find: a set of Silvermark ceramic knives for under $30 dollars. I think this would likely cost $100 for a similar Kyocera product. The Knives are pretty much identical to the more expensive counterpart, but just off-brand. I purchased the product, and l love it!

The brilliance of ceramic knives is that they never lose their sharpness. Theoretically the one millionth cut will be as sharp as the third cut. However, they are delicate and are prone to chipping. If you have a tendency of dropping cooking utensils, then ceramic knives are probably not for you. However, if this is not a problem, I would highly recommend looking into this product.

Derby Party!!!

Hello, my name is Matt. This is my first (of many posts). Let me start by saying how very excited I am that Ben and I have begun doing this. Not only is it a wonderful opportunity to catch up with and communicate with an old friend, but it also allows us to pursue our passion...cooking.

So without further ado, let me tell you about a derby party I attended yesterday in San Francisco. The setting was perfect: a beautiful backyard on a perfectly sunny day. There was something for everybody: dresses, huge hats, babies, and....GREAT food.

My friends Sara and Paul hosted the party. Paul decided that it would be fitting to buy a propane fryer. I think this was most appropriate. In all there were two fryers going, one with chicken and the other with catfish. For a first timer, I thought the chicken turned out great.

Lately I have decided that if I am going to bring food to a party, I want to prepare it myself. I don't knock anybody who decides to go to a store and get pre-made food, but there is a certain satisfaction I get from doing it myself. Going with the Southern theme, I brought two appetizers to the party - cheese straws and pimento cheese.

I got the cheese straw recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I would say this recipe book is a most for every novice cook. It has everything you would ever really need to know about food preparation and ingredients. The recipe is pretty simple: butter, flour, a little Worcestershire sauce, cheese and salt. The recipe also called for crushed red peppers, but I did not include it. Even though this was my first time making the cheese straws, I think they turned out pretty well. The straws were nice and crispy on the bottom and had a nice crunch. If I would have been preparing this dish for myself, I would have added Cayenne pepper for a kick, but I am always cautious about overpowering people when I do not know exactly who I am cooking for...

The pimento cheese recipe I got from foodnetwork.com. I felt a little guilty about this because usually I make my grandmother's recipe which I have grown up with. But, in the interest of trying out different recipes and expanding my own culinary experience, I decided to look for another recipe to try. This recipe was not so good for you: it contains mayo, monterey jack and sharp cheddar cheeses, garlic salt, pepper, cream cheese and crushed pimentos. Whenever I search for a recipe on foodnetwork.com, I generally look for one with the best reviews and also read the user posts because I like to see how the people who have tried the recipes changed it, in case I want to follow their lead.

The recipe called for beating the cream cheese, which I liked. However, I though there was too much of a mayo flavor coming through (and I even used less than what the recipe called for) Overall, I thought this recipe was good, but it was not my grandmother's! Maybe I am biased, but it didn't taste like home...

But, with good friends, good drinks, good food, and good weather I could not complain. All in all a wonderful derby and day.

The First Bite

My name is Ben Zemel and this is the first post in our new blog, The Last Bite. This blog was created by myself and my dear friend Matt Eisenstadt.

The main focus of this blog is food. We will discuss different recipes and cooking techniques, and we will review restaurants and kitchen supplies. Matt and I aren't trained chefs, however we both love preparing and eating great food.

We look forward to writing and reading your feedback!