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Author Topic: Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!  (Read 526050 times)
voodoolily
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Reply #35 on: July 11, 2005, 06:18:44 PM

Quote
I got this from Alton Brown (from the Food Network)

Easily one of the top 5 coolest nerds of all time. I Heart Good Eats.

Me too. AB is my #1 Celebrity Crush

My favorite non-cookbook book about food:

On Food and Cooking

An amazing book, very interesting.

I'm halfway through this one. An excellent read. What Einstein Told His Cook is also very good, as I've mentioned a few times before.

My French friends are in town this week. They brought some amazing wine. I made my famous quesadillas for dinner. This can be prepared on the stove or on the grill. I prefer it on the grill, but it started raining, so there that is. Recipe follows:

Chicken, Nectarine and Gorgonzola Quesadillas (Serves 4 for dinner, or 8-10 as appies)

The Guts:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken titties (if you're grilling, leave whole; if cooking stovetop slice into very thin strips)
3 nectarines (medium sized), pitted and sliced very thin (~1/8" thick)
1 lb. gorgonzola, sliced very thin
8 burrito-sized tortillas

The Sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp fig preserves or honey
1 tbsp black truffle oil (optional - if you don't have it use olive oil, but you can get it pretty cheap at Trader Joe's)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade (that means finely sliced into shreds - stack 4 or 5 leaves and roll like a cigar, then finely slice crosswise)
fat pinch kosher salt (or sea salt, but kosh is better)
several cracks of pepper

I know that sounds like a lot of ingredients, but the flavor isn't too busy, I promise. Whisk dressing in medium-sized bowl until emulsified. Reserve a coupla tbsps of the dressing for drizzling. Marinate chicken in the rest of dressing while you slice the nectarines and gorg.

If grilling, place nectarines on foil that's been sprayed with Pam or sommat to avoid a huge pain in your ass. Place over high heat and grill until nectarines begin to caramelize. If cooking indoors, spray baking sheet and broil until caramelized (a little browned on top). I do this while the chicken is cooking.

Grill chicken over med-high heat until done (use the "hand trick" - touch your ring finger to your thumb and with your other hand feel the fleshy part of your thumb. Feel how hard it feels? That's hpw your chicken breast should feel when it's done. This trick is great for grilling all meat - index finger to thumb is rare, middle finger is med-rare, ring finger is medium and pinky is well done). Slice cooked breast very thin and drizzle with some of the reserved marinade, and mix to coat. If cooking indoors, saute pre-sliced chicken over med-high heat until browned.

Assemble quesadillas: Onto grill or large pan (med to med-high heat) place tortilla, then sliced cheese, then nectarine slices, then chicken, and top with second tortilla. You should be mentally dividing the fillings into fourths so you have enough for all quesadillas. When crispy and browned on the underside CAREFULLY flip without losing your fillings. Pans work good for this because you can just place your hand on top and flip the whole pan, then gently slide the quesadilla back to the pan.

When all of them are done, cut each one into fourths (if for dinner) or eighths (if appies). Drizzle a few drops of remaining dressing on each. Serve with a green salad and a crisp white wine.

BTW - the dressing recipe above is my catch-all marinade/salad dressing. If using with red meat, blackstrap molasses, fresh rosemary and juniper berries are a nice addition. This dressing goes wonderfully with other veined cheeses, pears and walnuts too. Fidget with it to your tastes. I like mine a little on the sweet side, so I usually nudge a little more figs or berries into it. You can drizzle a little creme fraiche with it and it looks wunderbra.


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Reply #36 on: July 12, 2005, 10:49:41 PM

Good Eats is the reason why I miss cable.

Myself, I'm sort of a not-really-cook who struggles to make things like shepard's pies.

For me, this is High Cooking:

Take a very good quality chili, optimally non-sodium.

Mix in plentiful amounts of fritos corn chips.

Add grated cheese, be it cheddar or pepper jack or whatever, to taste.
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Reply #37 on: July 13, 2005, 12:10:39 PM

I think we should have an Alton Brown appreciation thread.

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Reply #38 on: July 13, 2005, 12:21:02 PM

I think we should have an Alton Brown appreciation thread.

I second that emotion.



Meeeee-ow!

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Reply #39 on: July 15, 2005, 03:00:39 PM

You want some really impressive recipies, follow this link:

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/knudsen2/1.html

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Reply #40 on: July 15, 2005, 03:03:28 PM

When I get out to AZ there's a bunch of recipes from Just Hungry I'd like to make.
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Reply #41 on: July 15, 2005, 03:08:39 PM

Lucky for you that it will likely be hot enough to cook them all on the sidewalk  :-D

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Reply #42 on: August 22, 2005, 03:56:45 PM

Beef Wellington a la voodoolily (I call this dish "beef tenderloin en croute ("on croot") with oyster mushroom duxelle". Sounds better.)

Background information: This recipe is written as though the reader is a complete novice. No, I don't think you're stupid, I just want to make sure you do this right and get the results you want. I made this with venison and wild oyster mushrooms that I foraged, which made it awesome. Conversely, I used store-bought puff pastry instead of making pastry dough to save myself some effort. I like my beef medium-rare, and this is certainly the best way to serve venison (or buffalo), which is a leaner meat and prone to toughness if cooked much longer. It's important to brown the meat before you put it into the pastry because you can give the meat a chance to "rest" which will minimize the juices leaking all out into the pastry making it soggy. Joy of Cooking skips this step, but it's imperative that you obey me here. Also, by the time the pastry is golden brown and delicious, the meat will be perfect and not bloody or tough. Get the best wild mushrooms you can get to make this dish really special, but if you can't find 'em, portabellas or cremini will work fine."En croute" is French for "in a crust", I think, and duxelle is a traditional mushroom paste commonly used in crepes.

Serve with a petite syrah or a nice shiraz.

Step 1: make the duxelle

8 oz mushrooms, cleaned
1.5 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsps finely minced shallots
1 tbsp dry sherry or Madiera, or a dry red wine if that's all you have
1/4 cup heavy cream
S&P to taste
pinch nutmeg

Mince the fuck out of the mushrooms until they're practically a fine powder (if you have a food processor you're golden). Squeeze small handfuls (1/4 cup at a time) to get all the moisture out of 'em to extract the bitter juices. They'll be in a solid lump if you've done it right. Heat butter and oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until the foam subsides. Add shallots and cook for a minute or two. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often until they've begun to brown, 5 or 6 minutes. Add sherry and cook until completely evaporated. Turn off stove and add cream, S&P and nutmeg. Set aside to cool. If you can afford it, you can add a few ounces of foie gras to this mixture which will likely lead to you getting oral sex from the person you're serving this to.

Step 2: prepare beef

1 center-cut filet of beef or chateaubriand (or 1 venison tenderloin), trimmed of fat and tendony thingies
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsps olive oil

In a pan large enough to accomodate the beef, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the beef, and gently lay the meat in the pan. The point here is to get a nice sear and some browing (maillard) on the meat before you put it in the pastry. After a minute, using tongs, roll the beef and repeat until browned on all sides (including the two ends). Remove meat with tongs and set on a large plate to rest for 10 minutes. DO NOT RINSE OUT PAN. You'll use it later, and you want all the yummy brown bits that the French call "fond" for the sauce.

Step 3: Assembly

1 package puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk egg, water and milk together into an eggwash. Set aside. Lay out pastry dough on a large baking sheet that's been lined with parchment (or lightly grease the baking sheet). Spread the duxelle onto the meat to make a layer about 1/4" thick that completely surrounds the meat. Fold the pastry gently up and around the meat, wrapping into a neat little package. Trim any excess dough. Roll the package so the seam side is down, and then brush lightly with the egg wash. With a toothpick or skewer, artfully poke two or three evenly-spaced holes in the top of the pastry to allow steam to vent. Slide the masterpiece into the oven and bake until the crust is golden, about 35 minutes.

If you really must ruin your meat by cooking it past medium-rare, then just loosely lay some foil on top when it's brown and finish until a meat thermometer reads the following temperatures:

120-125 for rare
125-130 for medium rare
135-140 for medium

But please, for the love of god, do not cook it past medium or you'll have a big old mess when you try to slice it, and you will not get the oral sex. You shouldn't have to use foil if you're only going to medium-rare or rare. Let sit, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 4: The Sauce

You should make this while the meat is in the oven, so everything will be done at once.

1 cup beef stock (or broth)
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp allspice berries
4 or 5 cloves
1" piece of cinnamon stick
salt to taste

Heat a small pan (not the one you used to brown the beef) over medium-high heat. Place the spices in the dry pan and kinda shake the pan like you're making popcorn until the spices start to relase their wonderful fragrances. Remove pan from heat and place the meat-browning pan on the burner that's still turned on. Deglaze the pan by stirring the red wine into it, scraping with a wooden spoon and stirring to dissolve all that good stuff. Add the juice from the rested meat, the stock, balsamic and toasted spices and simmer until liquid is reduced by about half. It should be somewhat thick and syrupy. Salt to taste. Strain out spices with a fine-mesh sieve, through cheesecloth or through a coffee filter if that's all you have. This sauce is awesome as a pan gravy for any red meat, by the way.

*    *    *
Slice wellington into inch-thick slices. Drizzle sauce into a puddle near the slices, or however you think it'll look awesome.

Recommended side dishes:
pan-fried new potatoes with parsley
green beans with citrus zest

Make side dishes while the wellington is baking/resting.

Potatoes: boil while wellington is baking, and then finish while it's resting
Figure about two baby potatoes per person. I like Yukon gold, but any small white potato is fine. Peel a strip of the skin of so there's a ring of peeled potato around the middle, with just the tender skin on the ends. Place potatoes in a pot of cold, salted water and bring to boil. Cook the potatoes until fork tender, then strain. Melt a fat pat of butter in a pan until it starts to foam, and add potatoes. Brown on all sides, and sprinkle with fresh minced parley when serving. Crack a little pepper on that shit.

Green beans: cook when wellington is resting
Trim ends off beans, and blanch in boiling water just until they turn bright green. Shock in a bath of ice water to stop cooking. Melt some butter and saute beans for about 3 minutes, basically until they're tender. Add S&P, and sprinkle with fresh orange or lemon zest. To get zest, just use the fine part of a cheese grater (or obviously if you have a microplane zester use it), grating off only the outer, colored part of the rind.

Bon appetit!



« Last Edit: August 22, 2005, 04:03:49 PM by voodoolily »

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Reply #43 on: August 22, 2005, 04:02:22 PM

Quote
likely lead to you getting oral sex from the person you're serving this to.

You definitely need your own adult cooking show.


Sounds really damned good, btw.

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Reply #44 on: August 22, 2005, 04:35:26 PM

I say, front page it :p

Edit: First add estimated cook time and maybe price/person and then frontpage it.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2005, 04:42:27 PM by MrHat »
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Reply #45 on: August 22, 2005, 04:35:54 PM

If you can afford it, you can add a few ounces of foie gras to this mixture which will likely lead to you getting oral sex from the person you're serving this to.

How very Iron Chef of you.
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Reply #46 on: August 23, 2005, 11:16:29 AM

I have no idea how much a chateaubriand costs (I used venison tenderloin that my dad gave me), but the rest of the groceries, not including wine, should be around ten quid. The recipe serves 6-8, so including the beef (maybe $20?), it's less than ten bucks a person, right? This also assumes you have things like olive oil already in your kitchen. Buy the spices in the bulk section, so you don't end up dropping 5 bucks for a jar of juniper berries. Most newer grocery stores have a bulk herbs and spices section.

I think it took me about an hour to make everything, including prep time, give or take maybe 10-15 minutes. Start thawing the pastry about two hours before you start, or just pop it in the fridge the night before.

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Reply #47 on: September 01, 2005, 05:26:03 PM

voodoolily for the fucking win!
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Reply #48 on: September 02, 2005, 10:18:10 AM

I really am so happy that it turned out well, Mr. Hat. But the sauce came out a little too vinegary? You can always add more beef stock while it's simmering, or right before service (I mean RIGHT before) whisk in a pat of butter. But I'd recommend simply adding more stock and simmer the fuck out of it 'til it's syrupy.

As per a point Mr. Hat made, if you can't find juniper and allspice berries, you can sub a long sprig of fresh rosemary for the juniper and just leave the allspice berries out (although they really are nice if you can get 'em). Just add the rosemary in one piece to the liquid (don't put it in the pan with the other spices to toast).

*   *   *

Sauced and I were at an art opening last night that had the jankiest cracker and sliced apple spread, with $3/bottle wine. It was our friend's show, and I guess the lack of food became an issue at the last minute. I jokingly told them that I'll cater their next opening, but then Sauced and I got to talking and we're thinking "why the fuck not?" So if any of you know people in the catering business who could give me some advice, I am giving very serious consideration to giving it a go on my own.

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Reply #49 on: September 02, 2005, 12:44:21 PM

Just remember that your skills at math is more important than your skills at cooking if you want to make money doing this.

Buying the right amount of ingredients and calculating your prices, so that you actually make money is the hardest part of being a head chef (or running a catering business).

-----
Now I've always been tougt that searing meat should be done at high heat - thet rules out the use of olive oil since it has too low a smoke point (your hero Alton Brown is with me on this).

Anyway, the Joy of Cooking leaves out that part, because it's a myth that you can seal in juices by searing. Searing is done because the maillard adds great taste. This is something that cooks have known for ages and that the recent fad in mixing cooking with science has actually proven to be true. The part about not overcooking the meat in your (otherwise great recipe) is what keeps the juices in - stop the process at the magic moment and let the meat rest and the juices will stay.
Some of the food science guys have taken to making steaks by grilling them on low low heat (50 degrees celcius I think) for several hours instead - the result is pure magic.

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Reply #50 on: September 02, 2005, 01:03:43 PM

My point for pre-browning the meat is that you can let it rest before it gets thrown into the pastry, and so you don't have to overcook the pastry to get the meat done. It's not so much a sear as it is a parcooking. Also, cooking expensive meat over high heat is risky business, and I rarely go above the medium-high/high threshold, no matter what I cook.

FTR, I never said that searing seals in the juices - I said it gains a nice maillard and that resting it before it goes in the pastry minimizes juice leakage. I always end up with a few tablespoons of juice whenever I rest any meat (except fish, but that's another show), and it's better to put it in sauce than to sog up your puff. AB isn't always right, either. I disagree with him about plenty. But I still think he's nifty.  smiley

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Reply #51 on: September 02, 2005, 01:25:50 PM

Well, then just stick to my comments above the line.

There's a lot af nasty logistics going into cooking to make money instead of cooking to make friends.
You have a good taste in food, and if you want to make swanky food for high end catering (which I suppose a gallery opening could well demand) this goes double.
I've seen the profit margins on some of the really expensive places with Guide Michelin mentions... there isn't much room for mistakes in that world.


Fast food - that's where the gold lies.

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Reply #52 on: September 02, 2005, 01:31:00 PM

Luckily since I grew up on the gubment cheese I know how to make most stuff from scratch (e.g., demi glace, stocks, etc.) using scraps. Also, most of what I make is pretty cheap and easy (not labor- or cost-intensive). Factor in ability to do SE Asian cuisine (the cheapest by far) and willingness to do everything myself and I hoping I have something.

But like you said, I'm not really worried about whether or not I can pull it off, it's the business end of things that's daunting.

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Reply #53 on: September 02, 2005, 01:46:36 PM

Remember the key to overcharging for food: silver dollar-sized portions with some stupid design made with dribbled sauce. Bingo, $100/plate!

Gourmet restaurants and chefs bug me. Just make the food and pile it as high as possible, thanks :)
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Reply #54 on: September 02, 2005, 02:02:46 PM


Gourmet restaurants and chefs bug me. Just make the food and pile it as high as possible, thanks :)

Pfft.  Yes, and down with a Natty Light, right? *gag* *barf*

I like gourmet restaurants.  I like good food presentation.  Yes, I'm one of those people.  I'm somewhat with you on portion size; too little food pisses me off.   Nothing like spending 40 bucks on a dish and you're through the main part in 5 bites.   But too much food can be just as bad if it's presented in a way that makes the meal look ultimately unapetizing.  I see this a lot with thick cuts of meat ("here's your HALF A PIG, sir, would you like some crushed pepper?"), rice dishes,  and Italian dishes.

The best places I've been too around here all seem to have the same thing in common.  Enough food just to fill me up but not make me feel over full, good but not overly artsy or complicated presentation, side dishes that blend well with the meal but don't distract from it, and prices that are somewhat reasonable for the quality of food. I rarely end up taking any of it home in a doggy bag, but I never leave wishing I had gotten more.  This mostly works with bistros and mediterranean/greek food places around here.


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Reply #55 on: September 02, 2005, 02:12:32 PM

That's why I really like the whole "small plates" movement here. A small plate of pasta $5-6, a beet salad $6 or 7, a leg of duck confit with chive mashed potatoes $10-12, you can eat a 3 or 4 course meal for 20 bucks and still have room for dessert! I always have such a hard time deciding what to get anyway, since I love food like boys love pr0n. Sauced is usually game to share with me, unless there's steak (which he'll order 9 times outta 10), then I'm left to my own devices on what to pick.

And Sky, sometimes you take a regular down-home dish like jambalaya, and you give it a little love (home-made prawn stock, good smoked sausage and a few squirts of liquid smoke; corn bread baked in cast rion with bacon fat and fresh corn and jalapenos) and you've created art. That's what gourmet means to me. For me, sometimes presentation simply means a good shred of sharp cheddar and a few drops of Tabasco. Or a pretty bowl. It doesn't need to be all verticality and red pepper roulis with a chiffonade of kefir lime leaf.

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Reply #56 on: September 02, 2005, 02:16:20 PM

Quote
a beet salad $6 or 7

I wouldn't pay $.06 for a beet salad. GodDAMN those things are nasty. I could just sprinkle a handful of topsoil on my greens and get the same taste.

OTOH, I am down with some jambalaya. One of my all time favorite dishes.

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Reply #57 on: September 02, 2005, 02:17:06 PM

Remember the key to overcharging for food: silver dollar-sized portions with some stupid design made with dribbled sauce. Bingo, $100/plate!

Gourmet restaurants and chefs bug me. Just make the food and pile it as high as possible, thanks :)

Heathen.

If it's true gourmet restaurant (and not some gimmicky trendy place designed to fleeces celebrities and oil millionaires), that stuff was immensely expensive to make and a lot of high paid specialists took part in the preparation. In addition to this, you will have enough courses (usually between 5 and 9) to make sure you're absolutely full afterwards. I've eaten in enough of these places to know (usually others pay for me).
The sad part is that done right, the profit made on a true gourmet meal is much less than what a McDonalds make on the same time.

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Reply #58 on: September 02, 2005, 02:23:18 PM


I wouldn't pay $.06 for a beet salad. GodDAMN those things are nasty. I could just sprinkle a handful of topsoil on my greens and get the same taste.


I LOVE sweet, earthy little nuggets of joy that are beets. But if they sit in the fridge too long they do get nasty fibrous and bitter. But all roasted little golden beets with figgy honey dressing and goat cheese? YUM.

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Reply #59 on: September 02, 2005, 02:25:05 PM

I can now never eat anything ever prepared in your kitchen on the off chance that it spent time near a beet. That sucks!

When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM

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Reply #60 on: September 02, 2005, 02:26:17 PM

Don't worry, the bright magenta stains usually give it away. I've never cooked a beet that wasn't obviously a beet.

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Reply #61 on: September 02, 2005, 08:28:38 PM

I would come over and eat at your house.  Like, nightly.



Oh, and btw, all the ingrediants I bought plus 2 bottles of 6 dollar wine ran me $100 bucks.

Not too bad since that fucking meat came out BEAUTIFUL.  OTH it sucks for left overs for some reason.
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Reply #62 on: September 02, 2005, 08:32:15 PM

This is some useful stuff.











You know, if I actually cared to cook.

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Reply #63 on: September 03, 2005, 10:15:36 AM

Quote
Pfft.  Yes, and down with a Natty Light, right? *gag* *barf*
I didn't comment on the kind of food served, rather the presentation. (in the Natty beer thread I did utter my distaste for all things Natty).

The restaurants I tend to eat in will fill you up with great food for $5-10/plate. That matters to someone who works in the public sector for peanuts. But I'll give you the point on multiple courses, that's not a bad idea (if a bit expensive).

Voodoolil, I totally agree with your definition of gourmet, really, though I don't call it that. It's just the term I snagged for the foppish 'artiste' type chefs. Me? I'm a cook, not a chef ;) I was actually quite close to attending culinary school, but gave up the idea after being a short order cook, too much pressure imo, and my timing leaves a lot to be desired (as in timing dishes for a table of eight while also timing dishes for eight other tables...).

But I gotta echo the beet hate. Maybe I've never had them prepared properly, it's a holdover hate from my parents.
voodoolily
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Reply #64 on: October 05, 2005, 04:46:04 PM

I was goofing off in the kitchen last night and made something yummy. Here it is:

Pork loin chops with ginger and roasted grapes
Roasted ducati squash stuffed with apples, walnuts and gorgonzola (I know, I use it all the time but it's one of my favs)
Sauteed mustard greens with bacon and orange zest

Loin chops:
2 pork loin chops (1" thick, about 3" across)
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 small handfuls seedless grapes, chopped coarsely
1/4 c finely minced onion
1/4 c white wine (I keep a bottle of cheapish stuff on top of the fridge for cooking, but NEVER use cooking wine)
kosher salt/black pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucier (with oven-proof handle!), heat 1 tsp olive oil over med-med high heat (I set it in between med and med high). S&P the chops, rub the ginger on top and lay them in the pan ginger-side up. Shake the pan periodically, and when the chops shake loose that means they have some good maillard and can be flipped. After about 3 minutes of cooking on the other side, deglaze the pan with the wine and dump the grapes and onions on top of the chops. Place pan in oven to pan-roast for about ten minutes or so. I do the finger test to check doneness:

Touch your index finger to your thumb like you're doing the "okay" sign. With your other hand, feel the meat of your thumb. That is what medium-rare feels like. The middle finger to thumb feels like medium, ring finger is medium-well and pinky is well done (or overcooked). This is a handy trick if you're grilling and/or don't want to lose all the meat's juices by piercing it with a thermometer.

Remove from oven when done to your liking and let rest in the pan for five minutes. Plate chops/grapes and drizzle with pan sauce. Le art!

Ducati squash:
These are cute little striped, torpedo-shaped Italian squash but this also works perfectly with acorn squash as a main dish.


1 ducati squash, halved lengthwise and seeded. Roast in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

1 tbsp. butter
1 firm, tart apple (like Fuji), cored, peeled and diced into 1/4" dice
1/3 c chopped walnuts or pecans
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 c orange juice or apple juice
pinch salt and nutmeg, fatter pinch cinnamon
hearty glug of bourbon or whiskey if you have it
2 tsp. gorgonzola crumbles

Melt butter in small saucier over medium heat. Add apple and saute, stirring often, for five minutes. Add walnuts, brown sugar, oj, seasonings and bourbon and stir. What the hell, take a swig of the bourbon for yourself. You're cooking dinner, so you've earned it. Continue to cook for five more minutes. Spoon into roasted squash halves and sprinkle gorg crumbles on top. Finish roasting in oven for ten minutes. Perfect fall accompanyment to pretty much any meat dish.

Greens:

1 bunch mustard greens (or other bitter greens) stemmed, washed and chopped coarsely
1 slice bacon, chopped finely
1/4 c minced onion
zest from 1 orange
fatty pinch kosher salt
small splash apple cider vinegar

Saute bacon and onions in a large saucepan (that has a fitting lid) over medium-high heat. Stir frequently. When bacon begins to brown add greens and salt and put on the lid. In five minutes (when they begin to wilt) flip the greens with some tongs and turn the heat off. In another minute they should be wilted but still bright green and al dente. Strain out that bitter brownish-green juice in the bottom of the pan and return the greens, adding the zest and the vinegar. Toss to coat. Bon appetit! This is awesome with blackened salmon and cornbread, or pretty much anything. I thought it was good with last night's meal because the other two dishes were on the sweet side, and this balanced the meal out nicely.

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The Legend of Zephyr - a different blog.
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Reply #65 on: October 05, 2005, 05:37:36 PM

mmmm... especially the greens.  I could live on things like mustard greens and rapini.  I'm going try those pork chops sometime soon, too.

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Reply #66 on: October 06, 2005, 06:19:47 AM

I've been making a lot of greens lately since my girlfriend is health conscious (whatever that means, heh). But I like all kinds of food, so it's no big deal to make something 'healthy'.

Ideally I'd make greens in bacon grease, too, but I've been using some evoo to simmer my garlic and diced cherry peppers. Then I toss in spinach greens and let them simmer down to the 'al dente' phase. Strain the juice and use as a bed for the main meal.

Made some chicken florentine the other night and put that over the greens, worked out great. Her favorite, my first attempt. I'd rather be lucky than good ;)
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Reply #67 on: October 06, 2005, 11:03:51 AM


voodoolily
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Finnuh, munnuh, muhfuh, I enjoy creating new written vernacular, s'all.


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Reply #68 on: October 06, 2005, 11:05:33 AM

She makes me punchy and stabby. Not sure why, but I just wanna punch her in the face.

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The Legend of Zephyr - a different blog.
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Reply #69 on: October 06, 2005, 11:40:09 AM

I go from wanting to shag her to wanting to choke her and back again every 10 seconds or so. She is really irritating, but there is some quality there that I find appealing somehow. Maybe it is just that she cooks!  evil

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