Special edition time!
(Yes I know we just talked Sunday, but I wanted to share this one with you because it moved me because its so good!)
Today was productive and after the day was done I was feeling like preparing a little Asian inspired dinner to go with a stack of comic books. That's my thing, nice quiet house, some good food and a stack of comic books.
I had recently seen Nigella Lawson prepare a Salmon dish on her show on the Cooking Channel, and that was on my mind most of the day and was the goal for dinner tonight. First things first, I had to run up to A-1 Comics and get my fix of books, then on the way home I stopped by Whole Foods and got a pound of Salmon, and some fresh Spinach, everything else I needed I already had at the house. So the menu for tonight's reading is Seared Salmon over Soy and Wasabi infused rice, along with some sauteed Spinach. It's simple and quick to prepare, and fantastic for those times you just want to cool out and have some alone time to get some reading in or music or something creative.
The rice I was using called for preparation as you would Sushi rice, so first I needed to prepare the vinegar mixture. A vinegar mixture is used in Sushi rice to add a little flavor to it. I took a 1/4 cup of Sushi vinegar, 2 Teaspoons of Salt, and 1/4 cup of Sugar. Put them all in a small pot and heat so it's hot, and dissolves but not so it's boiling. After its hot set it aside or leave it on very low on the stove. Before cooking the rice, I make sure to rinse it first. What I do is put it in a glass bowl and fill the bowl full of cold water, the water will be cloudy at first, then rinse the rise, drain and repeat. Continue to do this until the water is clear, then let it sit for 15 minutes. From there, since i was using 2 cups of rice, I put 2 cups of water in a pot and added the rice and brought to a boil, once its boiling reduce heat and let it cook until the water is gone. Once its finished put the rice in a wide glass bowl and fan it out so it cools. As it cools, pour the vinegar mixture over it and continue to fan it out so it cools evenly.
Right before preparing the rice I took my Salmon in let it marinade a Teriyaki marinade I picked up from Whole Foods, let it soak for about 20-30 minutes. At that point pull out a wide pan or griddle if you have one, put a couple of drops of Olive Oil on it, and get it hot on medium-high heat and take your Salmon and lay it on the pan for about a minute, gets a nice sear on it. Then turn it over and give the other side a sear for a minute as well. From there place the Salmon on a cutting board and slice it into small strips and lay it over your rice. Then I prepared some Wasabi infused Soy Sauce and poured that over the Salmon and rice....yeah baby!
At that point I prepared my Spinach. Real simple, real quick, real tasty. Take a pan, heat it and add some Olive Oil to it, then add some finely chopped Garlic and let that cook until it releases its flavors. Then add your fresh Spinach and let that saute' slowly, stirring often, and as the Spinach gets tasty you will get that aromatic flavor in the air...yes! After about 5 minutes your Spinach will be done and ready to go!
Now the meal is complete. All I need is a big-ass mug of Iced Tea and my stack of comics and I'm set for the night! First on my stack of book..."Invincible" number 76.
And as a side note, my buddy Amir, the film director, stopped by to talk about details of the latest project and I told him he picked the right night because I was creating in the kitchen tonight! He had some of the Salmon over rice and the Spinach, and while he didn't make himself a TGP, he did hit up a second helping... And let me say publicly here and now, and this is for my girl Susan over at the Susan Can Cook blog, in January I'm planning another Seafood Skewer night, and baby you are on the guest list!
And with that, I take my leave and get my grub on and my reading in! Try this one, you will not be disappointed!
Marc (Big Sexy)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Basking in the afterglow...
Happy Holidays Troops!
Recently I had the pleasure of having dinner at The Kitchen Restaurant, as a congratulations from my best friend Nicole, and I did promise that I would try a couple of things from their December menu. The evening was fantastic! I hadn't been there since July so it had been awhile since I had seen Chef De Cuisine Noah Zonca. And while other guests insisted on calling him "Chef Noah", not me. I had been there far too many times to fall into that trap. He's Noah, my buddy who happens to be an EXCELLENT Chef. Sometime during the night the conversation somehow got to my past brief stint as a Pro Wrestler. And when Noah was made aware of my ring name, he was like a puppy with a new toy. He told me that "You never should have let me hear that! That is your name from now on!" Nuts. Pretty soon people would stop by my table "Hi Sugar Bear!", or "Hey Sugar Bear, are you really a regular here?" It was all in fun though and Noah really is a good guy, so much so that he shared a couple of the recipes basics for a two of the courses that night. And as promised I did try them and I will share my results here.
The first thing I tried was their French Onion Soup. He made it sound easy, but in reality... The first thing I promised myself was that I would try and stay as close to the real thing as possible and would only deviate if absolutely necessary. So this morning Patty and I headed out to the Farmer's Market to collect the needed ingredients, first up I needed the onions. I needed some yellow onions, some Pearl onions, and some cippolinis. Not a problem. I also picked up some Swiss Gruyere over at Corti Brothers for the toasted topping. The recipe called for some Beef Stock, Duck Stock and Veal Stock. Beef was no problem. but locating some Duck and Veal stock was an issue. I had made my own Chicken stock in the past but wasn't quite ready to experiment withe making a duck and a veal stock. So I substituted with a Chicken stock instead. That was the only deviation from the recipe that I made.
So to get started I needed to carmelize my onions, and while that is a time intensive task it is one necessary to the soup. For the uninitiated, carmelizing onions is simple, Slice up the onions and then get a wide pan, heat that up on medium-high and put in a little olive oil, then place the onions in the pan and stir them so they are all coated and let simmer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt on the onions and as they brown spread them around and let them all brown evenly, this will take 30 minutes or so. I can't stress that you must take your time, you don't want to fry them, just let them brown. Carmelizing onions is like spending time with a ladyfriend, you have to take your time and go nice and slow...
Once the onions are nice and brown, then add 1/4 cup of flour to the pan and then its time to add the liquor. 1/2 cup of Port. 1/2 cup of Madera, 1/4cup of Cognac. Once the alcohol cooks off, then add the stock and a 1/4 cup of whole grain mustard, stir often and after about 30 minutes or so it should have all integrated and thickened nicely. After its simmering take a piece of bread, I used wheat, and slice some of the Swiss Cheese and place the cheese on the bread and broil until melted and place the bread on the soup after its in a bowl and....there it is...French Onion Soup. With a HUGE assist from Noah at the Kitchen, this was all possible because of his help. The taste is exquisite, not quite the Kitchen, but really good. So good that I will be doing it again, and for guests. It was a lot of new flavors and took awhile, but the end result was definitely worth it!
The next task was the Lobster Mac & Cheese, the only instruction I got from Noah was Bechamel Sauce and the three cheeses involved, White Cheddar, Talleggio and Parmesean. From there I was on my own.
This time the journey began at Corti Brothers for the cheeses, all three were present and accounted for so that was not a problem. I chose not to add the Lobster because I wanted to get the basic down first before I tried to poach some Lobster. After picking up the proper pasta, Radiatore, I was ready to go. Once I got back to the "Big Sexy Kitchen" I began the bechamel sauce. For this I used 5 teaspoons of butter, melted slowly, in a wide pan, and as the butter is melting take another pot and add 4 cups of milk to it and get it hot, not boiling, but hot. At the same time I started to boil my pasta water. After the butter has melted stir in 4 tablespoons of flour and once that's all together, begin to add the milk one cup at a time, and whisk until its smooth, then bring to a boil and reduce heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes whisking it periodically. As the sauce is simmering, add your pasta to boiling salted water, and the pasta should be done right as the sauce is finished. Let the pasta continue to cook in the hot water but reduce the heat from boiling, and turn the sauce to low. then take 1/3 cup of each of your cheeses and add them to the sauce, and they will melt in seamlessly, use the whisk to further smooth out the sauce. Drain your pasta and add it to the sauce, season with salt and a touch of nutmeg and serve hot. This one was ridiculous! I will NEVER make Mac & Cheese any other way again! This is the one! I can't stress enough how delicious this is, and once I do it again and add the poached lobster to it...
What's next? Don't know yet, but it will be tasty...
Thanks for reading and as always all comments are welcome!
Marc Wiggins Esq. (That sounds so nice...)
Recently I had the pleasure of having dinner at The Kitchen Restaurant, as a congratulations from my best friend Nicole, and I did promise that I would try a couple of things from their December menu. The evening was fantastic! I hadn't been there since July so it had been awhile since I had seen Chef De Cuisine Noah Zonca. And while other guests insisted on calling him "Chef Noah", not me. I had been there far too many times to fall into that trap. He's Noah, my buddy who happens to be an EXCELLENT Chef. Sometime during the night the conversation somehow got to my past brief stint as a Pro Wrestler. And when Noah was made aware of my ring name, he was like a puppy with a new toy. He told me that "You never should have let me hear that! That is your name from now on!" Nuts. Pretty soon people would stop by my table "Hi Sugar Bear!", or "Hey Sugar Bear, are you really a regular here?" It was all in fun though and Noah really is a good guy, so much so that he shared a couple of the recipes basics for a two of the courses that night. And as promised I did try them and I will share my results here.
The first thing I tried was their French Onion Soup. He made it sound easy, but in reality... The first thing I promised myself was that I would try and stay as close to the real thing as possible and would only deviate if absolutely necessary. So this morning Patty and I headed out to the Farmer's Market to collect the needed ingredients, first up I needed the onions. I needed some yellow onions, some Pearl onions, and some cippolinis. Not a problem. I also picked up some Swiss Gruyere over at Corti Brothers for the toasted topping. The recipe called for some Beef Stock, Duck Stock and Veal Stock. Beef was no problem. but locating some Duck and Veal stock was an issue. I had made my own Chicken stock in the past but wasn't quite ready to experiment withe making a duck and a veal stock. So I substituted with a Chicken stock instead. That was the only deviation from the recipe that I made.
So to get started I needed to carmelize my onions, and while that is a time intensive task it is one necessary to the soup. For the uninitiated, carmelizing onions is simple, Slice up the onions and then get a wide pan, heat that up on medium-high and put in a little olive oil, then place the onions in the pan and stir them so they are all coated and let simmer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt on the onions and as they brown spread them around and let them all brown evenly, this will take 30 minutes or so. I can't stress that you must take your time, you don't want to fry them, just let them brown. Carmelizing onions is like spending time with a ladyfriend, you have to take your time and go nice and slow...
Once the onions are nice and brown, then add 1/4 cup of flour to the pan and then its time to add the liquor. 1/2 cup of Port. 1/2 cup of Madera, 1/4cup of Cognac. Once the alcohol cooks off, then add the stock and a 1/4 cup of whole grain mustard, stir often and after about 30 minutes or so it should have all integrated and thickened nicely. After its simmering take a piece of bread, I used wheat, and slice some of the Swiss Cheese and place the cheese on the bread and broil until melted and place the bread on the soup after its in a bowl and....there it is...French Onion Soup. With a HUGE assist from Noah at the Kitchen, this was all possible because of his help. The taste is exquisite, not quite the Kitchen, but really good. So good that I will be doing it again, and for guests. It was a lot of new flavors and took awhile, but the end result was definitely worth it!
The next task was the Lobster Mac & Cheese, the only instruction I got from Noah was Bechamel Sauce and the three cheeses involved, White Cheddar, Talleggio and Parmesean. From there I was on my own.
This time the journey began at Corti Brothers for the cheeses, all three were present and accounted for so that was not a problem. I chose not to add the Lobster because I wanted to get the basic down first before I tried to poach some Lobster. After picking up the proper pasta, Radiatore, I was ready to go. Once I got back to the "Big Sexy Kitchen" I began the bechamel sauce. For this I used 5 teaspoons of butter, melted slowly, in a wide pan, and as the butter is melting take another pot and add 4 cups of milk to it and get it hot, not boiling, but hot. At the same time I started to boil my pasta water. After the butter has melted stir in 4 tablespoons of flour and once that's all together, begin to add the milk one cup at a time, and whisk until its smooth, then bring to a boil and reduce heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes whisking it periodically. As the sauce is simmering, add your pasta to boiling salted water, and the pasta should be done right as the sauce is finished. Let the pasta continue to cook in the hot water but reduce the heat from boiling, and turn the sauce to low. then take 1/3 cup of each of your cheeses and add them to the sauce, and they will melt in seamlessly, use the whisk to further smooth out the sauce. Drain your pasta and add it to the sauce, season with salt and a touch of nutmeg and serve hot. This one was ridiculous! I will NEVER make Mac & Cheese any other way again! This is the one! I can't stress enough how delicious this is, and once I do it again and add the poached lobster to it...
What's next? Don't know yet, but it will be tasty...
Thanks for reading and as always all comments are welcome!
Marc Wiggins Esq. (That sounds so nice...)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Field Trip Planning Quick Update
Greetings fellow Chefs...and those who like to experience good grub!
Previously I had discussed a field trip with Nicole to resolve the Red Velvet Cake issue. Who has the best, Sandra D's or Sellands? Well that question will remain unanswered for the present because we have a different field trip planned for tonight, for tonight we are dining at The Kitchen! Stop drinking the Haterade...you know who are...:)
Recently I was fortunate enough to become a member of the California State Bar and the last few weeks have been pretty hectic with celebrating and being sworn in and reflecting on just how serious this responsibility is. But Nicole, bless her heart, wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate and when said the Kitchen was our destination it was a done deal! Anyone who knows me knows that is my FAVORITE place for fine dining, period. I've been dozens of times and it never gets old or fail to live up to expectations, ever. But tonight I'm going to pay close attention to what Chef Noah is doing so I can attempt to capture the magic at home, which of course means that I am sharing the results with you! For those who have never been to The Kitchen, what they do is a demonstration dinner where everything is prepared right in front of you. It's like being on an episode of "Emeril Live" or on set of a number of other cooking shows. They change the menu monthly, so what they are offering is what the patrons will be having, I never look in advance because its always magnificent! But I did sneak a peek and saw they were doing a Lobster Mac & Cheese...yes! For those you are curious the menu is:
http://thekitchenrestaurant.com/menus/december_10.html
I will be paying close attention to Chef Noah and getting as much info about his recipes as he is willing to share, and form there I will prepare a few things and report my findings here next week.
Until next time troops!
Previously I had discussed a field trip with Nicole to resolve the Red Velvet Cake issue. Who has the best, Sandra D's or Sellands? Well that question will remain unanswered for the present because we have a different field trip planned for tonight, for tonight we are dining at The Kitchen! Stop drinking the Haterade...you know who are...:)
Recently I was fortunate enough to become a member of the California State Bar and the last few weeks have been pretty hectic with celebrating and being sworn in and reflecting on just how serious this responsibility is. But Nicole, bless her heart, wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate and when said the Kitchen was our destination it was a done deal! Anyone who knows me knows that is my FAVORITE place for fine dining, period. I've been dozens of times and it never gets old or fail to live up to expectations, ever. But tonight I'm going to pay close attention to what Chef Noah is doing so I can attempt to capture the magic at home, which of course means that I am sharing the results with you! For those who have never been to The Kitchen, what they do is a demonstration dinner where everything is prepared right in front of you. It's like being on an episode of "Emeril Live" or on set of a number of other cooking shows. They change the menu monthly, so what they are offering is what the patrons will be having, I never look in advance because its always magnificent! But I did sneak a peek and saw they were doing a Lobster Mac & Cheese...yes! For those you are curious the menu is:
http://thekitchenrestaurant.com/menus/december_10.html
I will be paying close attention to Chef Noah and getting as much info about his recipes as he is willing to share, and form there I will prepare a few things and report my findings here next week.
Until next time troops!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Spaghetti Fit!
Greetings Food Lovers and all things fun!
As I have previously mentioned, this weekend is the premiere of "The Walking Dead" on AMC, this is the same channel the bring us "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men", two excellent and critically acclaimed shows. I had talked about what I was planning to prepare for that night, but during the week it hit me. The Spaghetti Fit. It was useless to try and resist. When it happens I go straight to the kitchen and see what I need, and if I don't have it, I go get it. From there its time to cook...
I have always been a spaghetti fiend. When I was a kid, my mom would make it and it would be gone the next day, leftover are for suckers! I love it! And as I have expanded my horizons in the kitchen, I have developed my own interpretation on the dish. I definitely encourage you to try this one.
To start I fill my pasta boiler with water and get that boiling, then I grab a large stock pot and pour in a little olive oil and let that get warm over medium-high heat, then I take about 1 pound of Ground Beef, sometimes I'll use 1/2 pound of beef and 1/2 pound of Sausage, but for this excursion I used beef only. Once the pot is nice and war, then I add the beef that has already been pre-seasoned with salt and ground black pepper, as that starts brown and render down, I then add, depending on size, 1 or 2 Red Onions and 1 large Yellow Onion, and let the start cook along with the beef. While that is going on I will take 3-4 cloves of garlic and finely chop them up and add them to the fun. And right about now your kitchen should start filling up with that aromatic scent of good food...! Then I will take a basket or two of Mushrooms, depending on mood, and give them a very coarse or rough chop, I like to get chunks of Mushroom in every bite! Add them to the beef and watch as they all dance and blend and release their flavors...pure ecstasy.
In the past I have talked about making my own Tomato sauce, (Thanks Marcy for the Tomatoes!) but on this journey I was fresh out, nuts! But I was prepared because when I went to the store earlier I got two cans of tomato sauce, one large and one small. As well as one large can of diced tomatoes. I added that to the mixture and its magnificent! But not quite ready to rumble yet, after adding the tomato sauce I reduce the heat to a simmer and as the sauce simmers, I check to see if my pasta water is a nice boil, and since it is I salt that water and add a tablespoon of olive oil to it, the oil is the ensure the pasta won't stick, then add my pasta to the boiling water.
As my attention returns to my sauce I just need to add a few seasonings to it and we are done! As the sauce is simmering now, I add a tablespoon of Oregano, and a table spoon of Italian Seasoning. And since my mom likes hers with a little heat, I do as well, so I then add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Chili Powder to the sauce depending on my mood. I have learned that, like Gorgonzola, too much will overpower your finished product. So before adding the second tablespoon, taste it, if the heat quotient is sufficient then leave as is, if not, add a little more and taste again and once you are satisfied with the taste just let it simmer on low making sure to stir it periodically. That's to ensure an even and smooth distribution of the ingredients as well as making sure it doesn't stick to the pot.
Once the pasta is nice and done, usually about 8 minutes or so, drain all the water from it and add it to your sauce, let it all simmer together for a few minutes and then its time to grub! Serve along with a salad or some French bread and a glass of wine, and enjoy one of the simpler pleasures....
That's all for this brief one, so have a safe and fun Halloween, and I'll be watching "The Walking Dead" after the World Series, thus until next time...
Thanks for reading,
Marc-Big Sexy
As I have previously mentioned, this weekend is the premiere of "The Walking Dead" on AMC, this is the same channel the bring us "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men", two excellent and critically acclaimed shows. I had talked about what I was planning to prepare for that night, but during the week it hit me. The Spaghetti Fit. It was useless to try and resist. When it happens I go straight to the kitchen and see what I need, and if I don't have it, I go get it. From there its time to cook...
I have always been a spaghetti fiend. When I was a kid, my mom would make it and it would be gone the next day, leftover are for suckers! I love it! And as I have expanded my horizons in the kitchen, I have developed my own interpretation on the dish. I definitely encourage you to try this one.
To start I fill my pasta boiler with water and get that boiling, then I grab a large stock pot and pour in a little olive oil and let that get warm over medium-high heat, then I take about 1 pound of Ground Beef, sometimes I'll use 1/2 pound of beef and 1/2 pound of Sausage, but for this excursion I used beef only. Once the pot is nice and war, then I add the beef that has already been pre-seasoned with salt and ground black pepper, as that starts brown and render down, I then add, depending on size, 1 or 2 Red Onions and 1 large Yellow Onion, and let the start cook along with the beef. While that is going on I will take 3-4 cloves of garlic and finely chop them up and add them to the fun. And right about now your kitchen should start filling up with that aromatic scent of good food...! Then I will take a basket or two of Mushrooms, depending on mood, and give them a very coarse or rough chop, I like to get chunks of Mushroom in every bite! Add them to the beef and watch as they all dance and blend and release their flavors...pure ecstasy.
In the past I have talked about making my own Tomato sauce, (Thanks Marcy for the Tomatoes!) but on this journey I was fresh out, nuts! But I was prepared because when I went to the store earlier I got two cans of tomato sauce, one large and one small. As well as one large can of diced tomatoes. I added that to the mixture and its magnificent! But not quite ready to rumble yet, after adding the tomato sauce I reduce the heat to a simmer and as the sauce simmers, I check to see if my pasta water is a nice boil, and since it is I salt that water and add a tablespoon of olive oil to it, the oil is the ensure the pasta won't stick, then add my pasta to the boiling water.
As my attention returns to my sauce I just need to add a few seasonings to it and we are done! As the sauce is simmering now, I add a tablespoon of Oregano, and a table spoon of Italian Seasoning. And since my mom likes hers with a little heat, I do as well, so I then add 1 to 2 tablespoons of Chili Powder to the sauce depending on my mood. I have learned that, like Gorgonzola, too much will overpower your finished product. So before adding the second tablespoon, taste it, if the heat quotient is sufficient then leave as is, if not, add a little more and taste again and once you are satisfied with the taste just let it simmer on low making sure to stir it periodically. That's to ensure an even and smooth distribution of the ingredients as well as making sure it doesn't stick to the pot.
Once the pasta is nice and done, usually about 8 minutes or so, drain all the water from it and add it to your sauce, let it all simmer together for a few minutes and then its time to grub! Serve along with a salad or some French bread and a glass of wine, and enjoy one of the simpler pleasures....
That's all for this brief one, so have a safe and fun Halloween, and I'll be watching "The Walking Dead" after the World Series, thus until next time...
Thanks for reading,
Marc-Big Sexy
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Bowling For Sushi
Greetings once again fellow fans of grub and its preparation!
Over the weekend the past weekend I finally got my stove top repaired... "What's this?" some of you may ask, its simple, last week I almost blew the house up. Permit me to explain. I was cleaning the stove, as all of us chef's do, getting ready for the next creations, and during that I removed all of the knobs from the stove top and placed them in the dishwasher as is regular custom. About 10:00 or so that night someone, I forgot who(because I would shift blame that direction) mentioned pancakes. I thought "Well that sounds tasty", so I reached into the washer and took one of the knobs out and whipped up some pancakes, which were fantastic in my opinion...but I digress. After the dish washer finished its cycle, but before it was done drying completely, I decided to remove the rest of the knobs and place them back on the cook top. (I can hear some of you now, "Uh-oh...") Around midnight I was reading and listening to podcast partner Big Ken's "Flavorfoundation Radio", http://podcast.theflavorfoundation.com/, when I heard the stove make a ticking sound that it does when a person turns on one of the burners, thinking that was weird I went into the kitchen thinking that I had accidentally bumped one into the "start" or "ignite" position. So I just made sure knobs were secured and went back to listening and reading... About 30 minutes pass and then my lights dim and there's this crackling electrical sound coming from the kitchen, I look in there and out of the cook top there is this good-sized billow of white smoke. Oops. That could be a problem. My reaction was to turn the gas off to the stove, so I reached under the cook-top to shut off the gas line. The oven is a wall mount unit so it wasn't in the way. As I reached under the cook-top, I knocked over some glasses that had been stored there, not by me....grrrr.... As they broke I cut a few fingers on my right hand, just great, but didn't reach the gas lever. At this point I remembered that I am not a professional in this field and that there could be fire that I don't see, so I called the Fire Department just to be sure. When I called I was certain to point out it wasn't an emergency but that I just wanted to sure, and they said they would send someone out. The Fire Dept. arrived at my house 4 minutes later! Wow! They came in and turned off the gas and unplugged the stove top, checked out my hand and said it was probably the igniter shorting out from the moisture of the still damp knobs....yep, it looks like I've done it again... But I was very grateful for their fast response, and as such there will be a field trip to the station with some goodies from the kitchen, I have always been a strong believer in taking care of the team, and these firefighters did their thing and made certain that Big Sexy is still in one piece, gotta show my appreciation and respect for what they do.
Since I was without my cook-top for a week, I was resorted to trying new things, so as I was rummaging through the freezer and lo and behold I found some Scallops that I had picked up a few days prior. I love scallops. I'm not kidding. I promised myself the first thing I was doing when I got the stove repaired was something with those scallops... Thus on Friday after Joe from Zajic Appliance Repair did his thing and got me back on track, I was ready to rock. But what shall it be? Scallops and Pappardelle? Been there already. I was having a Sushi fit, so I decided to do my own but with a twist, instead if doing rolls I would serve it up in small bowls, that way when those who claim to not like sushi, but have never tried anything other than California Rolls-you know who are, can try this not knowing its really sushi just prepared in another fashion. I can be a devil at times...
So as the Scallops defrosted I went out and gathered other ingredients needed, I already had some dried wasabi and soy sauce, I just needed some scallions, cucumber and and sriracha sauce for the heat. And believe this stuff is no joke, the heat is on! I also picked up some fresh Tuna just for a little contrast.
First I started my rice. To begin with rinse the rice a couple of times under some cold water to make sure its clean, when the water around it is clear then move on to the next step. Using equal parts rice and water, bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer covered the entire time and once all the water has evaporated, the rice is done. From there transfer to a big wide glass or wooden bowl, and spread it out so it covers the bowl, then using a spatula begin to cut grooves in to the rice and add some sushi vinegar, then fold the rice over and repeat until the sushi rice is done. I use 1/2 cup for this today for 3 3/4 cups of rice. From there let the rice cool, and to keep it at room temperature once it has cooled cover it with a damp cloth.
Now its on to the spicy scallops! Again, very simple, first prepare the sauce by taking some mayonnaise and the sriracha and mixing it 1 part of srirachawasabi just enough so that the Soy sauce is a little cloudy. Now its time to assemble the bowl. What I used were Ramekins that I usually use for baking but they work just as well for this application. First take a scoop of rice, enough to fill the ramekin about half full, then add the soy sauce mixture, to the top of that, then top it off with the spicy scallop mixture, and add a touch of the soy sauce on top of that and it is time to grub! I also tried this with fresh Tuna substituted for scallops and it was equally delicious. The key is not too much sriracha sauce because it can easily overpower the other flavors. And I used small bowls because I wanted to approximate the serving size of maybe half a roll, that way guests can try the scallop one then a tuna and experience other things as well.
Later on when I had prepared the Scallop and Tuna mixtures and had then in the refrigerator, Smurf came by for a visit and during her customary raid of my refrigerator she came across the Scallops and asked what it was, and after I told her I then prepared some for her and she inhaled it! It was like a wolverine! Again, I take that as the highest for m of compliment, it appears that she enjoyed her munchies!
Sushi in a bowl...magnificent!
Until next time,
Marc (Big Sexy)
Over the weekend the past weekend I finally got my stove top repaired... "What's this?" some of you may ask, its simple, last week I almost blew the house up. Permit me to explain. I was cleaning the stove, as all of us chef's do, getting ready for the next creations, and during that I removed all of the knobs from the stove top and placed them in the dishwasher as is regular custom. About 10:00 or so that night someone, I forgot who(because I would shift blame that direction) mentioned pancakes. I thought "Well that sounds tasty", so I reached into the washer and took one of the knobs out and whipped up some pancakes, which were fantastic in my opinion...but I digress. After the dish washer finished its cycle, but before it was done drying completely, I decided to remove the rest of the knobs and place them back on the cook top. (I can hear some of you now, "Uh-oh...") Around midnight I was reading and listening to podcast partner Big Ken's "Flavorfoundation Radio", http://podcast.theflavorfoundation.com/, when I heard the stove make a ticking sound that it does when a person turns on one of the burners, thinking that was weird I went into the kitchen thinking that I had accidentally bumped one into the "start" or "ignite" position. So I just made sure knobs were secured and went back to listening and reading... About 30 minutes pass and then my lights dim and there's this crackling electrical sound coming from the kitchen, I look in there and out of the cook top there is this good-sized billow of white smoke. Oops. That could be a problem. My reaction was to turn the gas off to the stove, so I reached under the cook-top to shut off the gas line. The oven is a wall mount unit so it wasn't in the way. As I reached under the cook-top, I knocked over some glasses that had been stored there, not by me....grrrr.... As they broke I cut a few fingers on my right hand, just great, but didn't reach the gas lever. At this point I remembered that I am not a professional in this field and that there could be fire that I don't see, so I called the Fire Department just to be sure. When I called I was certain to point out it wasn't an emergency but that I just wanted to sure, and they said they would send someone out. The Fire Dept. arrived at my house 4 minutes later! Wow! They came in and turned off the gas and unplugged the stove top, checked out my hand and said it was probably the igniter shorting out from the moisture of the still damp knobs....yep, it looks like I've done it again... But I was very grateful for their fast response, and as such there will be a field trip to the station with some goodies from the kitchen, I have always been a strong believer in taking care of the team, and these firefighters did their thing and made certain that Big Sexy is still in one piece, gotta show my appreciation and respect for what they do.
Since I was without my cook-top for a week, I was resorted to trying new things, so as I was rummaging through the freezer and lo and behold I found some Scallops that I had picked up a few days prior. I love scallops. I'm not kidding. I promised myself the first thing I was doing when I got the stove repaired was something with those scallops... Thus on Friday after Joe from Zajic Appliance Repair did his thing and got me back on track, I was ready to rock. But what shall it be? Scallops and Pappardelle? Been there already. I was having a Sushi fit, so I decided to do my own but with a twist, instead if doing rolls I would serve it up in small bowls, that way when those who claim to not like sushi, but have never tried anything other than California Rolls-you know who are, can try this not knowing its really sushi just prepared in another fashion. I can be a devil at times...
So as the Scallops defrosted I went out and gathered other ingredients needed, I already had some dried wasabi and soy sauce, I just needed some scallions, cucumber and and sriracha sauce for the heat. And believe this stuff is no joke, the heat is on! I also picked up some fresh Tuna just for a little contrast.
First I started my rice. To begin with rinse the rice a couple of times under some cold water to make sure its clean, when the water around it is clear then move on to the next step. Using equal parts rice and water, bring to a boil, reduce and let simmer covered the entire time and once all the water has evaporated, the rice is done. From there transfer to a big wide glass or wooden bowl, and spread it out so it covers the bowl, then using a spatula begin to cut grooves in to the rice and add some sushi vinegar, then fold the rice over and repeat until the sushi rice is done. I use 1/2 cup for this today for 3 3/4 cups of rice. From there let the rice cool, and to keep it at room temperature once it has cooled cover it with a damp cloth.
Now its on to the spicy scallops! Again, very simple, first prepare the sauce by taking some mayonnaise and the sriracha and mixing it 1 part of srirachawasabi just enough so that the Soy sauce is a little cloudy. Now its time to assemble the bowl. What I used were Ramekins that I usually use for baking but they work just as well for this application. First take a scoop of rice, enough to fill the ramekin about half full, then add the soy sauce mixture, to the top of that, then top it off with the spicy scallop mixture, and add a touch of the soy sauce on top of that and it is time to grub! I also tried this with fresh Tuna substituted for scallops and it was equally delicious. The key is not too much sriracha sauce because it can easily overpower the other flavors. And I used small bowls because I wanted to approximate the serving size of maybe half a roll, that way guests can try the scallop one then a tuna and experience other things as well.
Later on when I had prepared the Scallop and Tuna mixtures and had then in the refrigerator, Smurf came by for a visit and during her customary raid of my refrigerator she came across the Scallops and asked what it was, and after I told her I then prepared some for her and she inhaled it! It was like a wolverine! Again, I take that as the highest for m of compliment, it appears that she enjoyed her munchies!
Sushi in a bowl...magnificent!
Until next time,
Marc (Big Sexy)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Humility is a heavy thing...
Greetings and Salutations one and all!
My deepest apologies for the hiatus between blogs, there is no excuse, just small things accumulating into bigger things thus becoming a distraction keeping me away from my blog. Nuts!
Last night I had the plan to execute my menu of Crab Cakes and some Popcorn shrimp. Along with some Steak-cut fries and some Sauvignon Blanc, all had the makings for a fun evening. But unfortunately at times things happen and adjustments have to be made.
Day started off nice, late Saturday night/early Sunday morning I went out to the Sacramento Softball Complex and watched my friend and teammate on my team, Team Sexy, play with some other people. It was good to see other teams from out of the area, and see some people that I hadn't seen in a while (Hi Tiffany!). After the game ended around 2:40 or so, this weekend was Midnight Madness, 48 hours of continuous softball, too much for me to play in, I can't handle the games in the wee hours like Dre can. So on not a lot of sleep the next morning I watched some football and then began to prep my kitchen for my planned menu. I went out to Corti Brothers market for the lump crab that is called for in the Crab Cake recipe, unfortunately there was none to be located, a bad omen... Instead I picked up a couple of pounds of Crab Leg meat and would chop it back here, no problem. Gathered up some Red and Yellow Bell peppers, garlic, and other items needed and returned home did some chopping, and started to saute my onions and garlic, after that was done I set them aside to cool. While they were cooling I chopped the crab meat and mixed it with some parmeseano-reggiano cheese,parsley, green onion and Creole mustard, which was a pain to track down! Next I prepared my own mayonnaise, this was accomplished by firing my trusty KitchenAid food processor and putting in 1 egg, juice from a lemon, and while the machine is working, slowly drizzle in 1 cup of vegetable oil. Season that with some salt and ground pepper, and after a few minutes it will whip into mayo! Pretty cool...
Now its time to assemble. I first added the sauteed veggies, now they were cooled off sufficiently, into the crab mix, then fold in the mayo, no problems everything going smooth... The next thing called for was 3/4 cup of fine bread crumbs folded into the crab. Uh-oh. No bread crumbs. But the genius decided to improvise, I looked in my pantry and found dried stuffing. "Just as good as bread crumbs, they're the same thing...", was the thought that went through my mind. The stuffing was not fine it was very coarse. But I pressed on....
Once I got the mix done it was on to the assembly line, in three bowls I had some seasoned flower, the next had three eggs whisked together, and in the last some seasoned bread crumbs (stuffing). The game plan called for me to take a handful of crab mixture, roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a pattie, then in succession dredge the pattie into the flour, then the egg wash, and finally the bread crumbs (stuffing). And from there into a heated pan with vegetable oil hot and ready to go. Lay them in the pan for 4 minutes a side then transfer to a cool paper towel drain off and repeat. Sounds simple enough. However I ran into a couple of problems. First the crab mix was too moist and wouldn't really allow me to shape it and they would fall apart once they hit the egg wash. I'm concluding that because I didn't follow the game plan and used stuffing instead of bread crumbs it bit me in the butt! I got them to hold together enough to get them into the pan, once I got them in they started to firm up, but the pan was too hot so the end result was a hockey puck. Damn. I reduced the heat and gave up trying to make patties, and instead made them into balls and rolled them in the flour, then the egg wash, and the stuffing. Once the pan had cooled down a bit I put them in and they cooked and by this time I had the process down and as they cooked and flattened out into the pattie shape. After getting several done it was time to prepare the popcorn shrimp.
The game plan was simple, two eggs, two tablespoons of heavy cream, add some spices to that for the egg wash, then of course I needed more bread crumbs...grrr... So I pulled out my trusty stuffing again and added some spices. Sounds like a plan, take the shrimp, about 15 or so, let them soak in the egg wash for about five minutes until they are nice and saturated, then while they are marinating take a deep pan or stewing pot and add 3-4 cups of vegetable oil and let it get hot. As the oil is heating up, remove the shrimp from the egg wash and roll them in the bread crumbs(stuffing) and dip them in the hot oil, let em fry up into golden brown and then its grub time! Great plan on paper, but once again the lack the of fine bread crumbs has reared its ugly head. Once I transferred the shrimp to the oil, the "batter" slid right off and sunk to the bottom. Damn.
Never fear, I only need to be humbled once and I'll learn from it, I will return in TWO weeks and share with you my menu for the premiere of "The Walking Dead" this Halloween on AMC. Being a die-hard reader of the book, I can't wait for the premiere, so you know I got some pretty fun grub lined up. And as always, before I take anything out for public consumption I have to give it a test drive.
Thanks for continued reading and we will chat again in 13 days and 22 hours....
Marc-Big Sexy (..and yes that name has really stuck over the years...pretty cool!)
My deepest apologies for the hiatus between blogs, there is no excuse, just small things accumulating into bigger things thus becoming a distraction keeping me away from my blog. Nuts!
Last night I had the plan to execute my menu of Crab Cakes and some Popcorn shrimp. Along with some Steak-cut fries and some Sauvignon Blanc, all had the makings for a fun evening. But unfortunately at times things happen and adjustments have to be made.
Day started off nice, late Saturday night/early Sunday morning I went out to the Sacramento Softball Complex and watched my friend and teammate on my team, Team Sexy, play with some other people. It was good to see other teams from out of the area, and see some people that I hadn't seen in a while (Hi Tiffany!). After the game ended around 2:40 or so, this weekend was Midnight Madness, 48 hours of continuous softball, too much for me to play in, I can't handle the games in the wee hours like Dre can. So on not a lot of sleep the next morning I watched some football and then began to prep my kitchen for my planned menu. I went out to Corti Brothers market for the lump crab that is called for in the Crab Cake recipe, unfortunately there was none to be located, a bad omen... Instead I picked up a couple of pounds of Crab Leg meat and would chop it back here, no problem. Gathered up some Red and Yellow Bell peppers, garlic, and other items needed and returned home did some chopping, and started to saute my onions and garlic, after that was done I set them aside to cool. While they were cooling I chopped the crab meat and mixed it with some parmeseano-reggiano cheese,parsley, green onion and Creole mustard, which was a pain to track down! Next I prepared my own mayonnaise, this was accomplished by firing my trusty KitchenAid food processor and putting in 1 egg, juice from a lemon, and while the machine is working, slowly drizzle in 1 cup of vegetable oil. Season that with some salt and ground pepper, and after a few minutes it will whip into mayo! Pretty cool...
Now its time to assemble. I first added the sauteed veggies, now they were cooled off sufficiently, into the crab mix, then fold in the mayo, no problems everything going smooth... The next thing called for was 3/4 cup of fine bread crumbs folded into the crab. Uh-oh. No bread crumbs. But the genius decided to improvise, I looked in my pantry and found dried stuffing. "Just as good as bread crumbs, they're the same thing...", was the thought that went through my mind. The stuffing was not fine it was very coarse. But I pressed on....
Once I got the mix done it was on to the assembly line, in three bowls I had some seasoned flower, the next had three eggs whisked together, and in the last some seasoned bread crumbs (stuffing). The game plan called for me to take a handful of crab mixture, roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a pattie, then in succession dredge the pattie into the flour, then the egg wash, and finally the bread crumbs (stuffing). And from there into a heated pan with vegetable oil hot and ready to go. Lay them in the pan for 4 minutes a side then transfer to a cool paper towel drain off and repeat. Sounds simple enough. However I ran into a couple of problems. First the crab mix was too moist and wouldn't really allow me to shape it and they would fall apart once they hit the egg wash. I'm concluding that because I didn't follow the game plan and used stuffing instead of bread crumbs it bit me in the butt! I got them to hold together enough to get them into the pan, once I got them in they started to firm up, but the pan was too hot so the end result was a hockey puck. Damn. I reduced the heat and gave up trying to make patties, and instead made them into balls and rolled them in the flour, then the egg wash, and the stuffing. Once the pan had cooled down a bit I put them in and they cooked and by this time I had the process down and as they cooked and flattened out into the pattie shape. After getting several done it was time to prepare the popcorn shrimp.
The game plan was simple, two eggs, two tablespoons of heavy cream, add some spices to that for the egg wash, then of course I needed more bread crumbs...grrr... So I pulled out my trusty stuffing again and added some spices. Sounds like a plan, take the shrimp, about 15 or so, let them soak in the egg wash for about five minutes until they are nice and saturated, then while they are marinating take a deep pan or stewing pot and add 3-4 cups of vegetable oil and let it get hot. As the oil is heating up, remove the shrimp from the egg wash and roll them in the bread crumbs(stuffing) and dip them in the hot oil, let em fry up into golden brown and then its grub time! Great plan on paper, but once again the lack the of fine bread crumbs has reared its ugly head. Once I transferred the shrimp to the oil, the "batter" slid right off and sunk to the bottom. Damn.
Never fear, I only need to be humbled once and I'll learn from it, I will return in TWO weeks and share with you my menu for the premiere of "The Walking Dead" this Halloween on AMC. Being a die-hard reader of the book, I can't wait for the premiere, so you know I got some pretty fun grub lined up. And as always, before I take anything out for public consumption I have to give it a test drive.
Thanks for continued reading and we will chat again in 13 days and 22 hours....
Marc-Big Sexy (..and yes that name has really stuck over the years...pretty cool!)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Local Flavor
Greetings once again from the kitchen!
First of all a huge "Thank You", to everyone for their support and kind words about the site thus far, I am very grateful and will continue and try to entertain you as best I can!
Ok, this week we got a couple of different things happening; there is the title of this piece, "Local Flavor", I have seen several chef's both local and celebrity, advocate the use of local foods. So in that vein I am fortunate to have a teammate on my softball team who has her own garden, (Hi Marcy) who hooked me up with some tomatoes and fresh basil, which was awesome! So from that I decided to try my own tomato sauce. Also on the menu for this edition is my take on my Grandfather's classic chili recipe that was provided to me by my mother and interpreted by me. And finally...the long awaited cheesecake discussion!
I have always had a preference for Italian foods, and while learning my way around the kitchen I have prepared many things of an Italian nature. I have learned how to prepare my own pasta from scratch, and it's not as difficult as you would believe. But I wanted to go further. Instead of using canned sauces and adding my own spices, I NEVER use a prepared sauce like a Ragu, I thought that I should learn how to do my own tomato sauce from scratch that way it is exactly what I want, not anyone else' interpretation, just mine.
First I needed some tomatoes, and as I mentioned earlier Marcy has her own garden and said she would bring some out to me at our next game. Last Wednesday she arrived with a large bag of Mama Mia tomatoes and a large jar of fresh Basil still in water. Perfect! One the way home the Basil scent filled up my entire truck and got me thinking of ways to best utilize my gifts. I like using basil in a lot of things and Marcy suggested a Pesto sauce. I'm not the biggest fan of Pesto but I have never tried my own either. So I may take a swing at that in the future. But today is about tomato sauce! Which leads me to the next player in this piece; Susan. I ran into Susan, from the Susan Can Cook blog last week, and because she is into canning and things like that I asked her the best way to peel a tomato. Again, easier than I thought, she told me that I need to boil some water, make an "X" in the bottom of each tomato, submerge them in the boiling water for about a minute until the skin starts to separate from the meat of the tomato. After that place the tomatoes in a bowl of iced water, to stop the cooking process, and once they have cooled sufficiently then peel the skin off and put them in your large pot. That's it. It's that simple to peel tomatoes.
From there it was time to do the sauce. For me I started with heating some Olive Oil in a saucepan, and then added some minced garlic, and since I like garlic I used about a half a cup. Then I added a chopped Red Onion. Then 6 of the Basil leaves and a teaspoon of red pepper chili flakes and some fresh ground pepper, yes I own a peppermill, and some salt.
Let that cook on medium-high for several minutes until the onions and garlic begin to get really aromatic, you're not trying to fry them, just get them nice and flavorful. From there transfer the onions and garlic to the pot where the peeled tomatoes are, add a cup of red wine and a 1/2 a cup of water, then let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes and you are done. What's cool about this is you can add whatever spices you want, Oregano more onion, less garlic, whatever you want to do. Once mine was done and I was preparing it as a spaghetti sauce, I added some mushrooms, and some chili powder for a little kick and I'm golden. My sauce is ready to go!
Our next presentation is some good-ass Chili! I love Chili. Really.
Before I get into my chili experiences I would to point out that my girl Kelly, who along with her husband Terry own the PepperTree Lounge in Union City, are doing a chili cook-off the weekend of the 18th and 19th but I can't attend because my softball team "Team Sexy" is in the League Championship Series invitational here that weekend. Crap. Otherwise the chili cook-off would get sexy...
As for the chili, I remember when I was very young my Grandfather would take all day making his chili in this gigantic pot, the whole house would be filled with that aroma, those are great memories. His chili was so good but it was HOT! He was originally from Texas and apparently they like their chili with some kick in the ass to it! I got the recipe from my mother because I was having a chili fit recently, so here we go...
First you must start off with certain ground of beef, only the amateurs use ground beef or turkey exclusively. I went over to Corti Brothers market and had them make me 3 pounds of chili meat, and that was going to be combined with 1 pound of ground beef for the base. When I got home I then diced up one red and one yellow onion, and they were pretty good sized, if you don't have the big-ass ones then use two.
From there you take your big-ass( yes there is a recurring theme here) stock pot, put in 2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil, get that heated over a high heat, add your beef, 3 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of Cumin, 1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper, and one bay leaf. Once the meat has browned then add your onions, stir them into your beef and let them cook together, about 8 minutes or so, then you can add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and let them cook into the mix for a minute or so. And at this point because there was no music on, I went over to the system and fired up some classic KISS, I went way back to 1975 and "KISS ALIVE", a little "Rock Bottom" from side four of the LP was just what I needed to get my rock on! That's what I'm talkin about...
From there add a big can of whole tomatoes and a smaller can of diced tomatoes, this was before I got my tomato hook-up from Marcy. Add 1 cup of Beef stock and bring to a boil, then add a little salt and reduce the heat to slow and let simmer for about 80-90 minutes, stirring often. After that if there is an excess of fat you can skim it off or you can do what Gramps used to do and a dd a sleeve of saltine crackers to it to thicken it up, either way is valid , the choice is yours. As it simmers I diced some celery and put it in about 30 minutes into the simmering process, I saw it on a show and wanted to give it a shot. After it was all done, I had a nice thick, big-ass pot of chili, and it was sooo....goood! I took some out to my teammate Jessica (Hi Jessica) and she loved it as well. I went to the store and picked up some Casper's hot dogs and some big-ass buns, and I was back in Oakland again. Having a Chili Cheese dog from Casper's on 55th Street and Telegraph Ave. Yes. The formative years of Big Sexy. Whenever I'm in the "510", I ALWAYS swing by Casper's and get a bag of hot dogs for the ride back to the State Capital. Doing them here is an excellent substitute...yum! Truly awesome eats!
Now we are going to shift gears, we have gone from sauces to a really thick and tasty chili, and now let's add a little sweets...for the ladies...
For my birthday several years ago, Nicole brought by a cheesecake that she had made just for me and this was the best cheesecake I have ever had. Period. Cheesecake Factory can bite me. Not even close. I asked for the recipe and like I mentioned in a prior blog, I made some great cheesecake....pudding. Definitely pilot error on my part, but I have addressed the bugs, and added my flair, and made a positively SLAMMING Peach/Strawberry cheesecake.
First I must mention that for this I got to use my trusty KitchenAid stand mixer, and I've said before and it bears mentioning, I love my KitchenAid mixer! Can't recommend it highly enough!
Now, take three bricks of cream cheese and let get soft in your mixing bowl, usually several hours at room temperature, then add 3 eggs, 1 egg white and a cup of Sugar. Then beat on low speed until smooth, and while that is happening take a stick of butter and grease your 9" breakaway cake pan and dust with fine Graham Cracker crumbs. Earlier in the day while your cream cheese is softening, prepare your peaches and strawberries. The peaches are very simple, open a can of peaches and drain them on some paper towels, too much moisture from them will prevent your cake from setting up properly, then slice them into quarters. To prepare the strawberries you get a basket of strawberries, remove the stems, then slice into quarters and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Afterward then strain them like you did the peaches. When your cake batter is smooth, then add the peaches and strawberries and mix again just to get then mixed in well, but not pulverize them. Then pour the cake batter into your pan and bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, then cool for another 30 minutes. From there you prepare your topping. Take 2 cups of sour cream, 7 tablespoon of sugar, and 2 teaspoon of real vanilla, mix thoroughly and pour over the cooled cake. Then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Once done, let cool then refrigerate overnight. The next day its on! You have you Peach/Strawberry cheesecake! The one I prepared was on a Sunday, and was gone on Wednesday. It was that good. If you were to try one thing from today's entry, do the cheesecake, you will not be disappointed. It is really that good, and you will never look at Cheesecake Factory the same again...
Go out there and do it people, you will not regret it!
First of all a huge "Thank You", to everyone for their support and kind words about the site thus far, I am very grateful and will continue and try to entertain you as best I can!
Ok, this week we got a couple of different things happening; there is the title of this piece, "Local Flavor", I have seen several chef's both local and celebrity, advocate the use of local foods. So in that vein I am fortunate to have a teammate on my softball team who has her own garden, (Hi Marcy) who hooked me up with some tomatoes and fresh basil, which was awesome! So from that I decided to try my own tomato sauce. Also on the menu for this edition is my take on my Grandfather's classic chili recipe that was provided to me by my mother and interpreted by me. And finally...the long awaited cheesecake discussion!
I have always had a preference for Italian foods, and while learning my way around the kitchen I have prepared many things of an Italian nature. I have learned how to prepare my own pasta from scratch, and it's not as difficult as you would believe. But I wanted to go further. Instead of using canned sauces and adding my own spices, I NEVER use a prepared sauce like a Ragu, I thought that I should learn how to do my own tomato sauce from scratch that way it is exactly what I want, not anyone else' interpretation, just mine.
First I needed some tomatoes, and as I mentioned earlier Marcy has her own garden and said she would bring some out to me at our next game. Last Wednesday she arrived with a large bag of Mama Mia tomatoes and a large jar of fresh Basil still in water. Perfect! One the way home the Basil scent filled up my entire truck and got me thinking of ways to best utilize my gifts. I like using basil in a lot of things and Marcy suggested a Pesto sauce. I'm not the biggest fan of Pesto but I have never tried my own either. So I may take a swing at that in the future. But today is about tomato sauce! Which leads me to the next player in this piece; Susan. I ran into Susan, from the Susan Can Cook blog last week, and because she is into canning and things like that I asked her the best way to peel a tomato. Again, easier than I thought, she told me that I need to boil some water, make an "X" in the bottom of each tomato, submerge them in the boiling water for about a minute until the skin starts to separate from the meat of the tomato. After that place the tomatoes in a bowl of iced water, to stop the cooking process, and once they have cooled sufficiently then peel the skin off and put them in your large pot. That's it. It's that simple to peel tomatoes.
From there it was time to do the sauce. For me I started with heating some Olive Oil in a saucepan, and then added some minced garlic, and since I like garlic I used about a half a cup. Then I added a chopped Red Onion. Then 6 of the Basil leaves and a teaspoon of red pepper chili flakes and some fresh ground pepper, yes I own a peppermill, and some salt.
Let that cook on medium-high for several minutes until the onions and garlic begin to get really aromatic, you're not trying to fry them, just get them nice and flavorful. From there transfer the onions and garlic to the pot where the peeled tomatoes are, add a cup of red wine and a 1/2 a cup of water, then let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes and you are done. What's cool about this is you can add whatever spices you want, Oregano more onion, less garlic, whatever you want to do. Once mine was done and I was preparing it as a spaghetti sauce, I added some mushrooms, and some chili powder for a little kick and I'm golden. My sauce is ready to go!
Our next presentation is some good-ass Chili! I love Chili. Really.
Before I get into my chili experiences I would to point out that my girl Kelly, who along with her husband Terry own the PepperTree Lounge in Union City, are doing a chili cook-off the weekend of the 18th and 19th but I can't attend because my softball team "Team Sexy" is in the League Championship Series invitational here that weekend. Crap. Otherwise the chili cook-off would get sexy...
As for the chili, I remember when I was very young my Grandfather would take all day making his chili in this gigantic pot, the whole house would be filled with that aroma, those are great memories. His chili was so good but it was HOT! He was originally from Texas and apparently they like their chili with some kick in the ass to it! I got the recipe from my mother because I was having a chili fit recently, so here we go...
First you must start off with certain ground of beef, only the amateurs use ground beef or turkey exclusively. I went over to Corti Brothers market and had them make me 3 pounds of chili meat, and that was going to be combined with 1 pound of ground beef for the base. When I got home I then diced up one red and one yellow onion, and they were pretty good sized, if you don't have the big-ass ones then use two.
From there you take your big-ass( yes there is a recurring theme here) stock pot, put in 2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil, get that heated over a high heat, add your beef, 3 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of Cumin, 1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper, and one bay leaf. Once the meat has browned then add your onions, stir them into your beef and let them cook together, about 8 minutes or so, then you can add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and let them cook into the mix for a minute or so. And at this point because there was no music on, I went over to the system and fired up some classic KISS, I went way back to 1975 and "KISS ALIVE", a little "Rock Bottom" from side four of the LP was just what I needed to get my rock on! That's what I'm talkin about...
From there add a big can of whole tomatoes and a smaller can of diced tomatoes, this was before I got my tomato hook-up from Marcy. Add 1 cup of Beef stock and bring to a boil, then add a little salt and reduce the heat to slow and let simmer for about 80-90 minutes, stirring often. After that if there is an excess of fat you can skim it off or you can do what Gramps used to do and a dd a sleeve of saltine crackers to it to thicken it up, either way is valid , the choice is yours. As it simmers I diced some celery and put it in about 30 minutes into the simmering process, I saw it on a show and wanted to give it a shot. After it was all done, I had a nice thick, big-ass pot of chili, and it was sooo....goood! I took some out to my teammate Jessica (Hi Jessica) and she loved it as well. I went to the store and picked up some Casper's hot dogs and some big-ass buns, and I was back in Oakland again. Having a Chili Cheese dog from Casper's on 55th Street and Telegraph Ave. Yes. The formative years of Big Sexy. Whenever I'm in the "510", I ALWAYS swing by Casper's and get a bag of hot dogs for the ride back to the State Capital. Doing them here is an excellent substitute...yum! Truly awesome eats!
Now we are going to shift gears, we have gone from sauces to a really thick and tasty chili, and now let's add a little sweets...for the ladies...
For my birthday several years ago, Nicole brought by a cheesecake that she had made just for me and this was the best cheesecake I have ever had. Period. Cheesecake Factory can bite me. Not even close. I asked for the recipe and like I mentioned in a prior blog, I made some great cheesecake....pudding. Definitely pilot error on my part, but I have addressed the bugs, and added my flair, and made a positively SLAMMING Peach/Strawberry cheesecake.
First I must mention that for this I got to use my trusty KitchenAid stand mixer, and I've said before and it bears mentioning, I love my KitchenAid mixer! Can't recommend it highly enough!
Now, take three bricks of cream cheese and let get soft in your mixing bowl, usually several hours at room temperature, then add 3 eggs, 1 egg white and a cup of Sugar. Then beat on low speed until smooth, and while that is happening take a stick of butter and grease your 9" breakaway cake pan and dust with fine Graham Cracker crumbs. Earlier in the day while your cream cheese is softening, prepare your peaches and strawberries. The peaches are very simple, open a can of peaches and drain them on some paper towels, too much moisture from them will prevent your cake from setting up properly, then slice them into quarters. To prepare the strawberries you get a basket of strawberries, remove the stems, then slice into quarters and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and let sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Afterward then strain them like you did the peaches. When your cake batter is smooth, then add the peaches and strawberries and mix again just to get then mixed in well, but not pulverize them. Then pour the cake batter into your pan and bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, then cool for another 30 minutes. From there you prepare your topping. Take 2 cups of sour cream, 7 tablespoon of sugar, and 2 teaspoon of real vanilla, mix thoroughly and pour over the cooled cake. Then bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Once done, let cool then refrigerate overnight. The next day its on! You have you Peach/Strawberry cheesecake! The one I prepared was on a Sunday, and was gone on Wednesday. It was that good. If you were to try one thing from today's entry, do the cheesecake, you will not be disappointed. It is really that good, and you will never look at Cheesecake Factory the same again...
Go out there and do it people, you will not regret it!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
So nice, I had to do it twice....
Greetings!
Welcome back to the cooking blog of yours truly, Big Sexy! First, I want to thank everyone who read the first blog and told me how much they enjoyed reading it. I definitely had a great time doing it, as well as preparing the food items for that weekend. Hopefully this one and subsequent ones will continue to entertain and inspire you to try something new in the kitchen yourself! One of the best chefs in the country, Randall Selland owner of the Kitchen here in Northern California, inspired me to try this and I'm of the mind-set that there are no rules, just go for it; if you miss, so what? Just start over. It's all about having a good time while learning a new skill.
This week I have a couple of goodies I want to share with you. I know on my Facebook page I mentioned a Shrimp and Scallop lasagna, which was magnificent, and I'll get to that shortly, but earlier this week I took an evening and prepared some Tuna Tetrazzini for my guest Nicole as she and I hung out and watched "Psych" on USA network. She is a devoted fan and I must admit that the show is starting to grow on me, its funny and well written, and has my buddy Corbin Bernsen on it. For those unfamiliar with him, he used to play attorney Arnold Becker on "L.A. Law" back in the late '80's-early '90's. I loved that show, and anything with him I'm going to at least take a look at a couple of times.
Originally, I saw the idea for Tuna Tetrazzini on an episode of "Emeril Live", and while his looks great, I took a little "artistic freedom" and made some variations on the formula. His can be found here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tuna-tetrazzini-recipe/index.html
As I continue this I will point out where I called an "audible" when I got to the line of scrimmage, that's a football thing; ask around, it's pretty straightforward.
To begin I chopped up some Red Onions, a Red and Yellow Bell Pepper, and added some fresh garlic to a hot stock pot of extra virgin olive oil, and sauteed them around a bit- At the same time, I fired up my pasta boiler and once it began to boil added a hint of olive oil and a little salt and begun the egg noodles. I used extra wide, but in the future I plan to do my own pasta. I saw a pasta making attachment for my KitchenAid mixer that I plan to pickup soon. And by the way, I love my KitchenAid goodies! makes it so much easier - how I got mine is a story for another time...suffice to say that I was completely guiltless and not a participant of any "skullduggery" that my sister Mel and Patty were in on....
As the onions and garlic were getting better acquainted, I then sliced and added some mushrooms to the party. Sauteed mushrooms and red onions are hands down one of my favorite flavor pairings, they work so well together.
At this point I added the spices, and the flour to make a nice thick roux, but as I stirred to thin it out a bit, I realized something was missing....music. I popped over to my system and put in a new CD that I had recently burned. I had to set the mood, get my sexy together. A little "I'd Never Thought I'd See The Day" by Sade was just the ticket. Cooking is a very personal skill when done right, and shouldn't be rushed if at all possible. Chefs should always be relaxed as he or she prepares a meal. I look at Noah over at The Kitchen, and when he's preparing any course at any time, he is a stone Mack Daddy in there! Smooth as glass, and I use that same approach when I do my thing.
As the roux began to thin out, I added the chicken stock and white wine, I use Bogle or Renwood when I can, I like them and they have fun tasting facilities, so no using Mad Dog 20/20 or Thunderbird...you know who you are...:). I then added the heavy cream and brought it to a boil, and then reduced the heat and let it thicken back up. Took a little taste to be certain that it's seasoned properly...delicious! Now once the noodles are done doing their thing, add them to the sauce, then add the tuna, the parsley, the pepper and the parmesan cheese. I went to the cheese guys over at Corti Brothers market for the cheese and then grated it myself, I used canned parmesan once when I tried this and there is a big difference between the two.
Started stirring and watched it all come together, and while it was doing all that, I took my casserole dish and buttered it liberally to prepare for baking. At this point two things happened, my new favorite song came on, "I'm Going In For The Kill" by La Roux, and I saw something in the recipe that I didn't agree with and called my audible. An audible is, for our friends who don't follow football, where there is a particular play called and when the quarterback gets to the line of scrimmage sees that the defense is aligned in such a manner that the planned play will not work. At that time the quarterback will call out a new play and the team will adjust to that. In my instance Emeril's recipe called for the crumbling of potato chips onto the Tetrazzini once its transferred to the casserole dish. I'm not trying to rip Emeril in any possible sense. He has forgotten more than I will ever know, but the thought of some crumbled Lay's on my Tetrazzini wasn't working for me. So I made the adjustment and sliced some mozzarella cheese and spread that over the top.
I put in the oven for 30 minutes at 375, and at the 25 minute mark or so Nicole (Hi Baby!) arrived and commented how she could smell it from outside. This is a good thing, dinner guests commenting on the aroma lets me know I'm on the right path. I removed at 30 minutes, let it cool for a bit, and then it was time to grub! The cheese, in my opinion, was such a better choice than the use of potato chips, primarily because all the chips would do is add a ton of salt and throw the flavors out of whack. Again, my opinion.
Nicole and I then fired up the big-screen and watched "Psych", and she thoroughly enjoyed dinner, which always makes it worthwhile to me. Great entertainment, great company, and great grub, what else is there?
And no, I didn't forget about the Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna, Big Sexy delivers as promised...
This past week after working out with my buddy Amir (What's up Dill!), the film director, we were at my house just recovering and somehow the TV was on Food Network and Paula Deen was on and she was making a seafood lasagna, and we both stopped talking simultaneously and watched her create this masterpiece almost effortlessly. We both were thinking the same thing; that looked GREAT!
I knew that I had to take a swing at something like that, so this weekend I put on my "Mad Scientist" hat and planned to do my take on it. The first thing I noticed was that she used Shrimp and Scallops, but no other seafood was included. That wouldn't do for me; I needed more flavors in mine...
Friday afternoon I went out and got the ingredients that I didn't have in the pantry already, and on Saturday before I just rushed in, I sat down and formulated the game plan, made changes where I thought were interesting, to me at least, and after I did the necessary prep, I was ready.
First thing was to start the boiling water for the lasagna noodles. Once that got up to warp speed I added some salt and a touch of olive oil to ensure the noodles don't stick after cooking. Once they were done, drain then set aside in a glass mixing bowl and add a little more olive oil to be certain there is no sticking when you start to assemble to the lasagna.
In a heavy saucepan I then put a good portion of butter, almost half a cube, let that melt and heat up then add some onions and slowly let them cook, we don't want to fry them, just enough so they are translucent, then add some fresh garlic and enjoy that aroma as is fills up your kitchen....yes!
After the onions and garlic are nice and flavorful, add in your heavy cream. Some people like to use Half & Half, others like whole milk. I like heavy cream for its richness, which I'll be paying for in the gym later. So be it. Then I added some Romano cheese to the sauce with a little Parmesan, for a little variety. After the sauce begins to thicken up, I added the scallops. Before doing so, I cut them into quarters just to ensure that each bite would contain some. After about 4 or 5 minutes, I added the shrimp, which I cut up, into thirds; I used the medium to larger size shrimp for this, (21 count to a pound). But I'm not done there. Then I added some fresh crab, because I love crab, and finally I added some clams and used some of that liquid to thin out the sauce just a touch as I didn't want it too think before baking.
At this point it's time to assemble the lasagna, and to do that I needed some music. Earlier in the day I recorded the latest Prince Podcast, and that one got a little tense, Mike and Big Ken had to be sent to neutral corners for a bit, but in the end everything was resolved and the team is rock solid. After that, a mysterious stranger provided me with a recording of Prince and the Revolution from a 1983 rehearsal doing a 24-minute version of The Time's "The Bird". Perfect choice for the assembly, the song had such a tight funky beat I could begin assembling my masterpiece and maintain my groove simultaneously.
I started by buttering my lasagna dish, then I poured a layer of sauce on the bottom, then I laid out four of the lasagna noodles, making sure they overlapped to form a solid seal, then I added some sauce, then another layer of noodles, then another layer of sauce, then another layer of noodles, then one more layer of sauce. After the last layer of sauce I topped it with some Romano, Provolone, and Mozzarella...yeah baby. Then I placed it into the pre-heated oven at 375 for 25 minutes.
After the time went off I removed from the oven and let it sit and cool for about 15 minutes, then it was time to take a taste...
Oh yeah...this is what I'm talkin about...fantastic.
Thick and rich and all of the seafood flavors are accounted for. The shrimp were firm but chewy or rubbery and the scallops were just melting in my mouth. Dare I say that I've done it again? I think so, but I'm not a neutral audience so what do I know? The only way to be certain is to have a few people over and let them sample it. So the next time I do it, this was just a test run, I'm calling in some favors to do a little tasting test. Susan over at the Susan Can Cook blog, I'm looking right at you...and yes that includes you too Dwayne.
Well that's about it form my kitchen this week, I know we ran a bit long, and a bit pasta heavy this time, but next time we change gears...Cheesecake! I took a recipe from Sheila, Nicole's mom, which was already ridiculous, but you know me by now- let's ramp it up a bit! I must admit that I tried this plan once, and made some great cheesecake...pudding. Yeah, I kind of goofed that first run, but I went back to the drawing board and see where I made my mistake. I addressed it, made the requisite adjustments and think I have it dialed in, stay tuned....
Gotta thank my girl Anna for providing me with the corrections on this one, she was definitely lookin out for me! Thank you love!
Thank you all for reading!
Marc (Big Sexy)
Welcome back to the cooking blog of yours truly, Big Sexy! First, I want to thank everyone who read the first blog and told me how much they enjoyed reading it. I definitely had a great time doing it, as well as preparing the food items for that weekend. Hopefully this one and subsequent ones will continue to entertain and inspire you to try something new in the kitchen yourself! One of the best chefs in the country, Randall Selland owner of the Kitchen here in Northern California, inspired me to try this and I'm of the mind-set that there are no rules, just go for it; if you miss, so what? Just start over. It's all about having a good time while learning a new skill.
This week I have a couple of goodies I want to share with you. I know on my Facebook page I mentioned a Shrimp and Scallop lasagna, which was magnificent, and I'll get to that shortly, but earlier this week I took an evening and prepared some Tuna Tetrazzini for my guest Nicole as she and I hung out and watched "Psych" on USA network. She is a devoted fan and I must admit that the show is starting to grow on me, its funny and well written, and has my buddy Corbin Bernsen on it. For those unfamiliar with him, he used to play attorney Arnold Becker on "L.A. Law" back in the late '80's-early '90's. I loved that show, and anything with him I'm going to at least take a look at a couple of times.
Originally, I saw the idea for Tuna Tetrazzini on an episode of "Emeril Live", and while his looks great, I took a little "artistic freedom" and made some variations on the formula. His can be found here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tuna-tetrazzini-recipe/index.html
As I continue this I will point out where I called an "audible" when I got to the line of scrimmage, that's a football thing; ask around, it's pretty straightforward.
To begin I chopped up some Red Onions, a Red and Yellow Bell Pepper, and added some fresh garlic to a hot stock pot of extra virgin olive oil, and sauteed them around a bit- At the same time, I fired up my pasta boiler and once it began to boil added a hint of olive oil and a little salt and begun the egg noodles. I used extra wide, but in the future I plan to do my own pasta. I saw a pasta making attachment for my KitchenAid mixer that I plan to pickup soon. And by the way, I love my KitchenAid goodies! makes it so much easier - how I got mine is a story for another time...suffice to say that I was completely guiltless and not a participant of any "skullduggery" that my sister Mel and Patty were in on....
As the onions and garlic were getting better acquainted, I then sliced and added some mushrooms to the party. Sauteed mushrooms and red onions are hands down one of my favorite flavor pairings, they work so well together.
At this point I added the spices, and the flour to make a nice thick roux, but as I stirred to thin it out a bit, I realized something was missing....music. I popped over to my system and put in a new CD that I had recently burned. I had to set the mood, get my sexy together. A little "I'd Never Thought I'd See The Day" by Sade was just the ticket. Cooking is a very personal skill when done right, and shouldn't be rushed if at all possible. Chefs should always be relaxed as he or she prepares a meal. I look at Noah over at The Kitchen, and when he's preparing any course at any time, he is a stone Mack Daddy in there! Smooth as glass, and I use that same approach when I do my thing.
As the roux began to thin out, I added the chicken stock and white wine, I use Bogle or Renwood when I can, I like them and they have fun tasting facilities, so no using Mad Dog 20/20 or Thunderbird...you know who you are...:). I then added the heavy cream and brought it to a boil, and then reduced the heat and let it thicken back up. Took a little taste to be certain that it's seasoned properly...delicious! Now once the noodles are done doing their thing, add them to the sauce, then add the tuna, the parsley, the pepper and the parmesan cheese. I went to the cheese guys over at Corti Brothers market for the cheese and then grated it myself, I used canned parmesan once when I tried this and there is a big difference between the two.
Started stirring and watched it all come together, and while it was doing all that, I took my casserole dish and buttered it liberally to prepare for baking. At this point two things happened, my new favorite song came on, "I'm Going In For The Kill" by La Roux, and I saw something in the recipe that I didn't agree with and called my audible. An audible is, for our friends who don't follow football, where there is a particular play called and when the quarterback gets to the line of scrimmage sees that the defense is aligned in such a manner that the planned play will not work. At that time the quarterback will call out a new play and the team will adjust to that. In my instance Emeril's recipe called for the crumbling of potato chips onto the Tetrazzini once its transferred to the casserole dish. I'm not trying to rip Emeril in any possible sense. He has forgotten more than I will ever know, but the thought of some crumbled Lay's on my Tetrazzini wasn't working for me. So I made the adjustment and sliced some mozzarella cheese and spread that over the top.
I put in the oven for 30 minutes at 375, and at the 25 minute mark or so Nicole (Hi Baby!) arrived and commented how she could smell it from outside. This is a good thing, dinner guests commenting on the aroma lets me know I'm on the right path. I removed at 30 minutes, let it cool for a bit, and then it was time to grub! The cheese, in my opinion, was such a better choice than the use of potato chips, primarily because all the chips would do is add a ton of salt and throw the flavors out of whack. Again, my opinion.
Nicole and I then fired up the big-screen and watched "Psych", and she thoroughly enjoyed dinner, which always makes it worthwhile to me. Great entertainment, great company, and great grub, what else is there?
And no, I didn't forget about the Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna, Big Sexy delivers as promised...
This past week after working out with my buddy Amir (What's up Dill!), the film director, we were at my house just recovering and somehow the TV was on Food Network and Paula Deen was on and she was making a seafood lasagna, and we both stopped talking simultaneously and watched her create this masterpiece almost effortlessly. We both were thinking the same thing; that looked GREAT!
I knew that I had to take a swing at something like that, so this weekend I put on my "Mad Scientist" hat and planned to do my take on it. The first thing I noticed was that she used Shrimp and Scallops, but no other seafood was included. That wouldn't do for me; I needed more flavors in mine...
Friday afternoon I went out and got the ingredients that I didn't have in the pantry already, and on Saturday before I just rushed in, I sat down and formulated the game plan, made changes where I thought were interesting, to me at least, and after I did the necessary prep, I was ready.
First thing was to start the boiling water for the lasagna noodles. Once that got up to warp speed I added some salt and a touch of olive oil to ensure the noodles don't stick after cooking. Once they were done, drain then set aside in a glass mixing bowl and add a little more olive oil to be certain there is no sticking when you start to assemble to the lasagna.
In a heavy saucepan I then put a good portion of butter, almost half a cube, let that melt and heat up then add some onions and slowly let them cook, we don't want to fry them, just enough so they are translucent, then add some fresh garlic and enjoy that aroma as is fills up your kitchen....yes!
After the onions and garlic are nice and flavorful, add in your heavy cream. Some people like to use Half & Half, others like whole milk. I like heavy cream for its richness, which I'll be paying for in the gym later. So be it. Then I added some Romano cheese to the sauce with a little Parmesan, for a little variety. After the sauce begins to thicken up, I added the scallops. Before doing so, I cut them into quarters just to ensure that each bite would contain some. After about 4 or 5 minutes, I added the shrimp, which I cut up, into thirds; I used the medium to larger size shrimp for this, (21 count to a pound). But I'm not done there. Then I added some fresh crab, because I love crab, and finally I added some clams and used some of that liquid to thin out the sauce just a touch as I didn't want it too think before baking.
At this point it's time to assemble the lasagna, and to do that I needed some music. Earlier in the day I recorded the latest Prince Podcast, and that one got a little tense, Mike and Big Ken had to be sent to neutral corners for a bit, but in the end everything was resolved and the team is rock solid. After that, a mysterious stranger provided me with a recording of Prince and the Revolution from a 1983 rehearsal doing a 24-minute version of The Time's "The Bird". Perfect choice for the assembly, the song had such a tight funky beat I could begin assembling my masterpiece and maintain my groove simultaneously.
I started by buttering my lasagna dish, then I poured a layer of sauce on the bottom, then I laid out four of the lasagna noodles, making sure they overlapped to form a solid seal, then I added some sauce, then another layer of noodles, then another layer of sauce, then another layer of noodles, then one more layer of sauce. After the last layer of sauce I topped it with some Romano, Provolone, and Mozzarella...yeah baby. Then I placed it into the pre-heated oven at 375 for 25 minutes.
After the time went off I removed from the oven and let it sit and cool for about 15 minutes, then it was time to take a taste...
Oh yeah...this is what I'm talkin about...fantastic.
Thick and rich and all of the seafood flavors are accounted for. The shrimp were firm but chewy or rubbery and the scallops were just melting in my mouth. Dare I say that I've done it again? I think so, but I'm not a neutral audience so what do I know? The only way to be certain is to have a few people over and let them sample it. So the next time I do it, this was just a test run, I'm calling in some favors to do a little tasting test. Susan over at the Susan Can Cook blog, I'm looking right at you...and yes that includes you too Dwayne.
Well that's about it form my kitchen this week, I know we ran a bit long, and a bit pasta heavy this time, but next time we change gears...Cheesecake! I took a recipe from Sheila, Nicole's mom, which was already ridiculous, but you know me by now- let's ramp it up a bit! I must admit that I tried this plan once, and made some great cheesecake...pudding. Yeah, I kind of goofed that first run, but I went back to the drawing board and see where I made my mistake. I addressed it, made the requisite adjustments and think I have it dialed in, stay tuned....
Gotta thank my girl Anna for providing me with the corrections on this one, she was definitely lookin out for me! Thank you love!
Thank you all for reading!
Marc (Big Sexy)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Trying something new...
Greetings!
My name is Marc Wiggins and in some circles I am affectionately referred to as Big Sexy, I started that about 15 years ago and it has stuck, just one of those good things I guess...
The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences in the kitchen as I expand and learn more of my new hobby: cooking. The inspiration to do this comes from my friend Susan over at her blog "Susan Can Cook", (Hi Susan!), and it was a a lot of fun to read about her recipes and thoughts on cooking. Here in Northern California where I am, I have the pleasure of experiencing some of the best dining in the State, and that coupled with my love of cooking shows and the Food Network, got me thinking, "I can try that myself". So after doing some research and speaking with several Chefs in the area (Hi Noah!) I decided to try a few things out for some of my close friends. Thus far I have done a Tuna Tetrazzini, Fettucine Alfredo, Grilled seafood on skewers, and a Seafood Caneloni. And I also prepare my own Sushi as well. As you can see I have a pre-disposition for Italian food and Seafood, this time I wanted to try and stretch out from my comfort zone, so while watching an episode of "Everyday Italian" with Giada DeLaurentis she prepared a Mushroom Risotto with Gorgonzola cheese, that looked delicious and I knew that I was going to take swing at that.
Earlier in the week I stopped by Selland's Market for some of their fantastic Meat Loaf and while there I asked for the recipe from the owner Nancy, and she was gracious enough to share it with me. In the name of full disclosure I have to divulge that Nancy and her husband Randall also own the Kitchen, which is hands down the best restaurant I have ever been to. My best friend Nicole took me there on my 40th birthday several years ago and now they cant get rid of me! I swear I'm like Norm from "Cheers" that way, I'm ALWAYS in there, it's truly that good and I love it.
So now that I was armed with the best Meat Loaf recipe that I had ever tasted, and was gearing up to try the Risotto from Giada, I needed some green to fill out the evening. I went to Emeril Lagasse and got a simple green salad recipe from his website, and now I was ready. Ready to step out of the comfort and familiarity of Italian and Seafood.
I spoke to my girlfriend Patty who was out of town up in Eureka but would be back Friday evening and called Nicole and told them both that I was cooking and trying something new this time. I told them of my planned menu, and I must admit that I was uncertain if a Risotto went with a Meat Loaf theme-wise, but decided "Who cares?" and moved forward with the planned festivities. My first task was to lay out the place settings, you can't plan an evening of fine dining on paper plates! Once I got all the glassware and utensils out and arranged, I did my menu shopping and was ready to roll!
The first task was to prepare the croutons for the salad, the required them to be baked for 20 minutes, and also allowed me to have them done in advance which would free up the oven for the Meat Loaf later. The salad was very simple, Romaine lettuce, some garlic and other items, then I needed to prepare the dressing.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/my-kinda-salad-recipe/index.html
Then I began to prepare the meat loaf, as fantastic as it tastes its very simple to make and doesn't have a lot of ingredients. I took the 2 pounds of ground beef, added the required ingredients, which did include some cheddar cheese which surprised me, I had never heard of that before. Added a couple of eggs, some crackers, a red onion and a few other items and let it bake for just under 2 hours at 325 degrees.
http://www.sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/October-2009/Make-It-Selland-rsquos-Meatloaf/
I did have to use two loaf pans to do it, I wasn't confident that the size pans that I was using could accommodate 2 pounds so I split it into two pans, and let it do its thing for the allotted time.
When the meat loaf got to about 90 minutes of bake time, I then began the Risotto. I had previously tried a Risotto that I saw Anne Burrell make on "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" and fumbled it completely, the game plan was perfect, the execution was less so. Far less so. With the salad done and only needing to be assembled, and the Meat Loaf baking away, I was ready to take on the Risotto. But first I had to get in the right frame of mind, I put on a compilation of some Swing Out Sister, and had a glass of wine, ok now I got my sexy together, lets do this!
The first thing about this Risotto was that the mushrooms needed to simmer in the Chicken Stock for 30 minutes to really make them tender, during that time I started to saute the onions in butter over medium high heat, the recipe wasn't specific so I used both Red and White Onions because I love Red Onions. After the 30 minutes had passed, using a slotted spoon, I removed the mushrooms from the Stock and added them to the Onions to further cook and just as they released their flavors and began to really react with the onions, I then added the Arborio rice. Its a special kind of rice that is only used for Risotto, its very puffy when compared to regular long grain rice. Right at this time Nicole arrived and mentioned how everything smelled so good, that was very nice to hear, and now the recipe called for me to add the Stock in 1/2 cup increments and begin stirring the Risotto. And for those of you who have done a Risotto, you know here is where you make or break it, the required and long amount of stirring. As I listened to the song "Now You're Not Here" fade and "Time Tracks You Down" begin, I'm still adding Stock in 1/2 cup increments, stirring until absorbed, then adding another 1/2 cup. This was done until the Stock was gone. Oh but we're not done, not yet, you're not ready for this yet ladies... Because as the song "You Already Know" begun, I started to add the crumbled Gorgonzola to the Risotto, this makes it even creamier. Then I added some Chives and a little Parmesan to garnish, and it was done. Gave it a hit of freshly ground pepper, and at that moment the oven timer went off signaling that the Meat Loaf was done, its all in the timing...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/gorgonzola-and-porcini-mushroom-risotto-recipe/index.html
Patty called and said that she would be an hour late, that's unfortunate because it was time to grub! Nicole loved every bite and told me so, then paid me the ultimate Chef's compliment in my book, she asked me for a T.G.P. To the uninitiated that means a "To-Go Plate", she was taking some home and had her lunch planned for the next day!
All in all it was a lot of fun to do, it showed me that I can prepare things other than Seafood and Italian dishes, the more I do this the more I like it. The next time I'm at the Kitchen, I will pay close attention to the detail because they do and it shows in both the presentation and the flavors, because when a person tries their hand at preparing meals like this, you can't half-ass it, has to be full on.
I plan to share my experiences every 10 to 14 days, because it takes time to plan and prep my kitchen, and I like to think when I try these things its a somewhat special occasion and I want to do it properly and not rush through it. I hope the journey will be as fun to read about as it will be to prepare. In the future I plan on inviting more friends over to dine with me, and while many are local, some come from as far as Honolulu, (Hi Lori), some are new friends I've made by being involved in the Prince Podcast, (What up Mike, Big Ken and Dey Droppin!), and from my softball team (Team Sexy is in the building!). Thus far I love doing it and I hope that my dining guests will enjoy it as well, until next time...
And any comments are welcome!
My name is Marc Wiggins and in some circles I am affectionately referred to as Big Sexy, I started that about 15 years ago and it has stuck, just one of those good things I guess...
The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences in the kitchen as I expand and learn more of my new hobby: cooking. The inspiration to do this comes from my friend Susan over at her blog "Susan Can Cook", (Hi Susan!), and it was a a lot of fun to read about her recipes and thoughts on cooking. Here in Northern California where I am, I have the pleasure of experiencing some of the best dining in the State, and that coupled with my love of cooking shows and the Food Network, got me thinking, "I can try that myself". So after doing some research and speaking with several Chefs in the area (Hi Noah!) I decided to try a few things out for some of my close friends. Thus far I have done a Tuna Tetrazzini, Fettucine Alfredo, Grilled seafood on skewers, and a Seafood Caneloni. And I also prepare my own Sushi as well. As you can see I have a pre-disposition for Italian food and Seafood, this time I wanted to try and stretch out from my comfort zone, so while watching an episode of "Everyday Italian" with Giada DeLaurentis she prepared a Mushroom Risotto with Gorgonzola cheese, that looked delicious and I knew that I was going to take swing at that.
Earlier in the week I stopped by Selland's Market for some of their fantastic Meat Loaf and while there I asked for the recipe from the owner Nancy, and she was gracious enough to share it with me. In the name of full disclosure I have to divulge that Nancy and her husband Randall also own the Kitchen, which is hands down the best restaurant I have ever been to. My best friend Nicole took me there on my 40th birthday several years ago and now they cant get rid of me! I swear I'm like Norm from "Cheers" that way, I'm ALWAYS in there, it's truly that good and I love it.
So now that I was armed with the best Meat Loaf recipe that I had ever tasted, and was gearing up to try the Risotto from Giada, I needed some green to fill out the evening. I went to Emeril Lagasse and got a simple green salad recipe from his website, and now I was ready. Ready to step out of the comfort and familiarity of Italian and Seafood.
I spoke to my girlfriend Patty who was out of town up in Eureka but would be back Friday evening and called Nicole and told them both that I was cooking and trying something new this time. I told them of my planned menu, and I must admit that I was uncertain if a Risotto went with a Meat Loaf theme-wise, but decided "Who cares?" and moved forward with the planned festivities. My first task was to lay out the place settings, you can't plan an evening of fine dining on paper plates! Once I got all the glassware and utensils out and arranged, I did my menu shopping and was ready to roll!
The first task was to prepare the croutons for the salad, the required them to be baked for 20 minutes, and also allowed me to have them done in advance which would free up the oven for the Meat Loaf later. The salad was very simple, Romaine lettuce, some garlic and other items, then I needed to prepare the dressing.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/my-kinda-salad-recipe/index.html
Then I began to prepare the meat loaf, as fantastic as it tastes its very simple to make and doesn't have a lot of ingredients. I took the 2 pounds of ground beef, added the required ingredients, which did include some cheddar cheese which surprised me, I had never heard of that before. Added a couple of eggs, some crackers, a red onion and a few other items and let it bake for just under 2 hours at 325 degrees.
http://www.sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/October-2009/Make-It-Selland-rsquos-Meatloaf/
I did have to use two loaf pans to do it, I wasn't confident that the size pans that I was using could accommodate 2 pounds so I split it into two pans, and let it do its thing for the allotted time.
When the meat loaf got to about 90 minutes of bake time, I then began the Risotto. I had previously tried a Risotto that I saw Anne Burrell make on "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" and fumbled it completely, the game plan was perfect, the execution was less so. Far less so. With the salad done and only needing to be assembled, and the Meat Loaf baking away, I was ready to take on the Risotto. But first I had to get in the right frame of mind, I put on a compilation of some Swing Out Sister, and had a glass of wine, ok now I got my sexy together, lets do this!
The first thing about this Risotto was that the mushrooms needed to simmer in the Chicken Stock for 30 minutes to really make them tender, during that time I started to saute the onions in butter over medium high heat, the recipe wasn't specific so I used both Red and White Onions because I love Red Onions. After the 30 minutes had passed, using a slotted spoon, I removed the mushrooms from the Stock and added them to the Onions to further cook and just as they released their flavors and began to really react with the onions, I then added the Arborio rice. Its a special kind of rice that is only used for Risotto, its very puffy when compared to regular long grain rice. Right at this time Nicole arrived and mentioned how everything smelled so good, that was very nice to hear, and now the recipe called for me to add the Stock in 1/2 cup increments and begin stirring the Risotto. And for those of you who have done a Risotto, you know here is where you make or break it, the required and long amount of stirring. As I listened to the song "Now You're Not Here" fade and "Time Tracks You Down" begin, I'm still adding Stock in 1/2 cup increments, stirring until absorbed, then adding another 1/2 cup. This was done until the Stock was gone. Oh but we're not done, not yet, you're not ready for this yet ladies... Because as the song "You Already Know" begun, I started to add the crumbled Gorgonzola to the Risotto, this makes it even creamier. Then I added some Chives and a little Parmesan to garnish, and it was done. Gave it a hit of freshly ground pepper, and at that moment the oven timer went off signaling that the Meat Loaf was done, its all in the timing...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/gorgonzola-and-porcini-mushroom-risotto-recipe/index.html
Patty called and said that she would be an hour late, that's unfortunate because it was time to grub! Nicole loved every bite and told me so, then paid me the ultimate Chef's compliment in my book, she asked me for a T.G.P. To the uninitiated that means a "To-Go Plate", she was taking some home and had her lunch planned for the next day!
All in all it was a lot of fun to do, it showed me that I can prepare things other than Seafood and Italian dishes, the more I do this the more I like it. The next time I'm at the Kitchen, I will pay close attention to the detail because they do and it shows in both the presentation and the flavors, because when a person tries their hand at preparing meals like this, you can't half-ass it, has to be full on.
I plan to share my experiences every 10 to 14 days, because it takes time to plan and prep my kitchen, and I like to think when I try these things its a somewhat special occasion and I want to do it properly and not rush through it. I hope the journey will be as fun to read about as it will be to prepare. In the future I plan on inviting more friends over to dine with me, and while many are local, some come from as far as Honolulu, (Hi Lori), some are new friends I've made by being involved in the Prince Podcast, (What up Mike, Big Ken and Dey Droppin!), and from my softball team (Team Sexy is in the building!). Thus far I love doing it and I hope that my dining guests will enjoy it as well, until next time...
And any comments are welcome!
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