197 posts tagged “western”
The chops were marinated in a mixture of leftover champagne, apple cider, oil, lime juice, ginger, cloves and salt and pepper, and then cooked on a hot charcoal grill. The sauce was made from the marinade, which was reduced with some diced pear added in, and some strips of uncooked pear added at the end. 'Twas pretty nice.
Well, damn. That doesn't look good at all. Chicken and apple sausages, with buns, grilled. I consider this blog a diary, but damn... That looks pretty bad.
Nevermind the steak, I've gotta showcase these veggies — homegrown and all. Not grown by me, but nonetheless... Not gotten out of a supermarket, which I figure is a good thing. Summer squash and zucchini. And there's also some potato wedges. Had to parboil the taters, mind you, before grilling them.
I generally don't like to have to skidaddle between the kitchen and outdoor to the grill, but this thing turned out pretty nicely. Steak au poivre is a real no-brainer, though. Just sauté the steaks over medium heat, remove to a warm oven to keep warm and deglaze the pan with a generous bit of brandy, whisk in a touch of Dijon mustard and some cream; Bob's yer uncle.
I generally don't like to have to skidaddle between the kitchen and outdoor to the grill, but this thing turned out pretty nicely. Steak au poivre is a real no-brainer, though. Just sauté the steaks over medium heat, remove to a warm oven to keep warm and deglaze the pan with a generous bit of brandy, whisk in a touch of Dijon mustard and some cream; Bob's yer uncle.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why on earth I've never done this before. I love bleu cheese. I actually got the cheese intending to use it for a pizza, but ended up just going with the standard parm-mozz thing instead. I'd never thought of melting this cheese until I tasted a wacky bleu cheese & caramelized pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. As weird as it sounds, it tasted fantastic. I want to do a pizza night and serve something like that for dessert...
Okay, I finally managed to figure this one out properly, so here's my recipe for pasta with breadcrumbs and anchovies. A very simple and tasty dish.
Ingredients, for two
Pasta, salt
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
2 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 can of anchovies, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup toasted breadcrumbs
Method
1. Start the pasta water.
2. Toast the crumbs in the oven. I use the broiler, but be careful, because they turn dark very suddenly. It should only take a few minutes.
3. Start with the chopping and grating.
4. When the water is at a rolling boil, add salt and pasta. Let it go for about 12 min.
5. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the water.
6. Add everything to the pasta except the Parmesan and breadcrumbs and stir it together.
7. Add the Parmesan, and stir again (It is important that this happens quickly, so the pasta is still hot enough to melt the Parmesan. The reason why I add the Parmesan at the end is that if I do it first, it tends to clump up with the other ingredients).
8. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and if desired, extra parsley. Serve.
If you absolutely hate anchovies, I think this would be just as good with prosciutto.
Ingredients, for two
Pasta, salt
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
2 tsp chili pepper flakes
1 can of anchovies, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup toasted breadcrumbs
Method
1. Start the pasta water.
2. Toast the crumbs in the oven. I use the broiler, but be careful, because they turn dark very suddenly. It should only take a few minutes.
3. Start with the chopping and grating.
4. When the water is at a rolling boil, add salt and pasta. Let it go for about 12 min.
5. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the water.
6. Add everything to the pasta except the Parmesan and breadcrumbs and stir it together.
7. Add the Parmesan, and stir again (It is important that this happens quickly, so the pasta is still hot enough to melt the Parmesan. The reason why I add the Parmesan at the end is that if I do it first, it tends to clump up with the other ingredients).
8. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and if desired, extra parsley. Serve.
If you absolutely hate anchovies, I think this would be just as good with prosciutto.
Prosciutto, shiitake mushrooms, and moz and parm cheese. I ended up using more dough than I did the last time, so I had to lower the temperature on the stove, to ensure that the dough got cooked through. But I made sure to pre-heat the oven properly, so the pizza stone got enough time to warm up, which helps cooking it from below. Overall, I was very happy with this, but I don't think the picture does it justice. I should have added some basil leaves, I think.
Pizza is one of those things I'd like to get really good at. And reading the Breadmaker's Apprentice has helped. You've gotta have a good dough, for a good pizza. Slowing things down in the fridge for a day or two (probably more) allows the yeast to work its magic, and create a bread that actually tastes really nice — because it's not just the toppings that makes the pizza. The bread itself is very important.
Here's a shot of the underside — it's important (I think), to get a good crust. I don't like floppy pizzas. I mean, I'll eat Roundtable occasionally, but real pizza is different from that. Well, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. =)
Oh, and the Chinese cleaver is just something I used to pick up the pizza itself. I use a standard Western chef's knife for almost everything I do.
Pizza is one of those things I'd like to get really good at. And reading the Breadmaker's Apprentice has helped. You've gotta have a good dough, for a good pizza. Slowing things down in the fridge for a day or two (probably more) allows the yeast to work its magic, and create a bread that actually tastes really nice — because it's not just the toppings that makes the pizza. The bread itself is very important.
Here's a shot of the underside — it's important (I think), to get a good crust. I don't like floppy pizzas. I mean, I'll eat Roundtable occasionally, but real pizza is different from that. Well, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. =)
Well this is a little awkward... I misplaced this picture, and thus didn't upload it. And now I can't remember anything about the meal. It certainly seems to be pretty unremarkable. I've got microwaved, canned peas and carrots, which I personally like a lot — it's an extremely simple side-dish. But it just doesn't look that good in a picture. Also, I recognize the shell-shaped pasta, which I know comes out of a package. So I was obviously going for a minimal effort kinda meal. I rarely use that kinda stuff, because I consider cooking a hobby, and not a chore. But in this case I think I ended up looking at it as a chore, heheh. Oh well.
Man oh, man, does this look like a piece of turd, or what? It's such a fantastic bit of grub; I mean it's just about the most optimal dinner you could ask for: you got your protein (salmon), your veggies (spinach) and your starch (puff pastry) all there. Yet it looks crummy. It's a damn tragedy.
But it's damn good eats, mind you.
But it's damn good eats, mind you.
My second attempt at this Swiss potato pancake, and although this one was better than the first, I'm far from happy with it. First time around, it was really soggy. This time, it considerably less soggy, but it was nowhere near as crisp as it should have been. I just kept the lid on the pan for too long. To be honest, I'm thinking I shouldn't use a lid at all.
Also, sautéing the sausages (apple-chicken) and carrots as well as the rösti made the whole meal feel kinda greasy.
Also, sautéing the sausages (apple-chicken) and carrots as well as the rösti made the whole meal feel kinda greasy.
This was an odd trip. It all started out by me wanting to make rösti (this Swiss potato pancake thing), and I was looking around for some suitable protein and veggies to go with it... But then I just lost track of it all, because I came across this recipe for a Cornish game hen — which I promptly threw out the window, deciding that I could come up with something much better, myself...
Now, I ain't Heston Blumenthal, so this sort of blatant self-confidence doesn't always work out too good for me... It goes in cycles: when I screw something up, I humbly admit defeat and return to the well. But when I do get things right, I get excited, and try to expand and experiment, and generally do things that I'm not all that confident about. On this occasion, the success I had with my Crispy Thai Fish Cakes turbo-charged my self-confidence right into the field of abject, blinkered arrogance.
This sort of exuberance normally leads to — well, if not disaster, I'd at least call it questionable results... But I do learn from my mistakes, so I figure it's worth it. In this instance, though, it wasn't a disaster at all. It was actually pretty damn nice...
What I did was, I stuffed some Cornish rock game hens with a mirepoix (finely chopped carrots, celery and onions on a 1:1:2 ratio), and rubbed them with salt and pepper. Then I rigged a charcoal grill for indirect heat, with some apple-wood smoke boxes and a drip pan with apple cider (between the coals, to ensure moistness). While they cooked, I basted them (well, brushed them) with some melted butter infused with garlic and rosemary. For starch and veggies, I added some potato wedges and zucchini (tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper). They all came out great. I am absolutely, positively stoked. My culinary ego is flying so high right now, if Bobby Flay were to challenge me to a throw-down, I'd dismiss him with a snicker and demand to face Ferran Adrià in the Iron Chef arena, with one arm tied behind my back. Hehehe...
Now, game hens are really interesting things. They're like miniature chickens, as far as size goes, but the similarities end there... Chickens have a single benefit over tofu: they have texture — but beyond that, it's pretty much the same deal: no taste (not that there's anything inherently wrong about that, though — you can add taste to it, no problem). But game hens have a taste of their own. I guess I just lucked out, because I think a mirepoix stuffing, a garlic and rosemary baste, and a steam of apple cider complemented it really well. The applewood smoke might have been a bit of an overkill, but I'm not sure about that, because I've probably eaten a thousand chickens for every game hen I've eaten, so I'm probably just unfamiliar with flavorful fowl, as sad as that sounds.
Well, good stuff.
Now, I ain't Heston Blumenthal, so this sort of blatant self-confidence doesn't always work out too good for me... It goes in cycles: when I screw something up, I humbly admit defeat and return to the well. But when I do get things right, I get excited, and try to expand and experiment, and generally do things that I'm not all that confident about. On this occasion, the success I had with my Crispy Thai Fish Cakes turbo-charged my self-confidence right into the field of abject, blinkered arrogance.
This sort of exuberance normally leads to — well, if not disaster, I'd at least call it questionable results... But I do learn from my mistakes, so I figure it's worth it. In this instance, though, it wasn't a disaster at all. It was actually pretty damn nice...
What I did was, I stuffed some Cornish rock game hens with a mirepoix (finely chopped carrots, celery and onions on a 1:1:2 ratio), and rubbed them with salt and pepper. Then I rigged a charcoal grill for indirect heat, with some apple-wood smoke boxes and a drip pan with apple cider (between the coals, to ensure moistness). While they cooked, I basted them (well, brushed them) with some melted butter infused with garlic and rosemary. For starch and veggies, I added some potato wedges and zucchini (tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper). They all came out great. I am absolutely, positively stoked. My culinary ego is flying so high right now, if Bobby Flay were to challenge me to a throw-down, I'd dismiss him with a snicker and demand to face Ferran Adrià in the Iron Chef arena, with one arm tied behind my back. Hehehe...
Now, game hens are really interesting things. They're like miniature chickens, as far as size goes, but the similarities end there... Chickens have a single benefit over tofu: they have texture — but beyond that, it's pretty much the same deal: no taste (not that there's anything inherently wrong about that, though — you can add taste to it, no problem). But game hens have a taste of their own. I guess I just lucked out, because I think a mirepoix stuffing, a garlic and rosemary baste, and a steam of apple cider complemented it really well. The applewood smoke might have been a bit of an overkill, but I'm not sure about that, because I've probably eaten a thousand chickens for every game hen I've eaten, so I'm probably just unfamiliar with flavorful fowl, as sad as that sounds.
Well, good stuff.
