I can’t take too much credit for this one, its really the creation of a friend.  We decided to make lasagna tonight, he decided to show us what was up.  This one is really something special.

ingredients:

marinara sauce

1 green bell pepper, diced
1/3 C celery, diced
1/3 C carrot, diced
1/2 C white onion
4 cloves garlic
16 ounces tomato sauce
2 T tomato paste
1 C vegetable stock

filler

1 zucchini, diced
8 ounces portabella mushrooms, rough chopped
2 1/2 C eggplant diced

bechamel sauce

3/4 C shredded parmasean
4 C milk
4 T flour
4 T butter
1/2 C ricotta

other

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into strips
1 lb lasagna noodles

method:

Start by building the marinara sauce, that way it has plenty of time to come together.  Add the carrots, onion, and celery to a skillet along with 2 T olive oil.  Saute the mix on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, then put it into a food processor.  Start the processor and slowly add the stock.  Keep going until its fully pureed.  Pour into a sauce pan and add any remaining stock along with the tomato sauce, the tomato paste, and the bell pepper.  Place over medium-low heat and cover.

Next, we’ll build the filler.  Add the zucchini, mushrooms, and eggplant to a skillet along with 2 T olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Cook until the mushrooms have given up most of their moisture and the zucchini starts to become tender.  Feel free to add some fresh herbs to this step.  Rosemary, basil, and celery seed are all good choices.  That’s pretty much it on the filler.

Fill a large pot with water and place over high heat.  Once the water boils, turn the heat off and place the lasagna noodles into the water.  Once they are soaking, start building the final element to our lasagna, the bechamel sauce.  Put the milk into a saucepan and put on a burner over medium-low heat.  Once it begins to get warm, add the butter.  When the butter is all melted in, add the flour and stir well for at least a minute.

Ok, time to build.  Put a thin layer of the marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 lasagna pan.  Next is a layer of lasagna noodles (remember which way you orient them), followed by a thin layer of the filler.  Pour half the bechamel in next, then put on another layer of lasagna noodles (make sure they are opposite orientation of the first layer), then another layer of marinara sauce.  Next, another layer of filler, then another of noodles.  For the top, pour on the rest of the bechamel, any remaining filler, and any remaining marinara sauce.  Finish your new creation off by placing all the cheese on it.

Cover with foil, bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes.  For an optional finihsing touch, broil for 4-5 minutes at the very end of the baking cycle.  This last step will slightly crunchify the edges of the cheese and add a lot of flavor and texture.

enjoy :)
-E

With springtime upon us and the weather turning nice, something light and fresh just seemed like the right thing to do.  I tried all day to think of what would be the perfect fit, and then a friend suggested fish tacos.  Perfect!  Not only does that sound great, but I’ve never made it before.  Good food and a learning experience?  Count me in.  But, what fish to use?  After a bit of poking around the internet, I discovered that there are several options for this dish.  Mostly flaky white fish like cod, talapia, red snapper, orange roughy, and halibut.  I decided to use red snapper, but I was unable to locate any and ended up using halibut instead.  Sometimes living 2000 miles from the ocean has its drawbacks.  In the end, this dish came out great.  Its a modified mish mash of several recipes that ran across during my research.  Its simple, fast, and remarkably tasty.  Fish tacos, you are my new friend :)

Ingredients:

main

3 LB halibut filet
1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
10 6 inch corn tortillas

marinade

2 T olive oil
1 small handful fresh cilantro
1 T fresh lime juice
1 T fresh dill
2 t fresh cracked black pepper
2 t sea salt
1 t cumin
1 t cayenne
1 t paprika

crema sauce

1/4 C Mayo
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C plain yogurt
2 T fresh chopped cilantro
1 T fresh chopped dill
1 T fresh chopped green onions
1 T jalapeno juice
1 T lime juice
1 t garlic

Method:

Start by combining all the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor.  Spin on high until it all becomes a pourable liquid, then add it, along with the fish, to a plastic zip top bag.  Mix it all up a bit to make sure the fish is coated, then place the bag in the fridge for 1 hour.  If you are short on time, you can skip this marination step, but the result will be slightly bland fish.

While the fish is marinating, combine all the ingredients for the crema sauce in a mixing bowl and stir gently to combine.  Its hard to describe the consistency you are looking for here.  It should be thick enough to stick to a spoon, but thin enough to easily apply to the tacos.  Its one of those “you’ll know it when you see it” things.  To thin it, add water 1 tablespoon at a time, and use mayo to thicken.  You are looking for a tangy semi-sour taste, similar to tartar sauce.

After an hour, pull the fish out of the marinade and place it skin side down on a piece of foil.  Pour the marinade over the fish, cover with another piece of foil and seal the edges.  Place the sealed package on a baking sheet, and toss into a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes.  Once that time is up, pull the fish out, remove the top piece of foil and place under the broiler for another 3 minutes.  This last step helps crisp up the edges of the fish and slightly caramelizes the marinade.  It adds a bit of color and texture to the taco.  When done, the fish should flake easily away from the skin.

Warm the tortillas by wrapping in a damp paper towel and microwaving for 30 seconds.  Assemble yourself a taco by placing a good bit of fish into a folded tortilla, add some of the crema sauce, then top with the shredded cabbge.  Thats it.  Go eat some tacos!

enjoy :)
-E

Ingredients:

Rice:
14oz can of coconut milk
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 1/4 c water (more at my altitude)
Juice of one lime
2 tsp salt
chopped cilantro

Kabobs:
1 Pineapple skinned and cored then chopped into 1.5 inch chunks.
1 green and 1 red bell pepper (add an orange and a yellow if you love colour)
2 large red onions chopped into 1.5 inch squares … you know… KABOB STYLE
Skewers (I made 16 of them so I used 16 skewers, I figure 3-4 per person)
Limes for garnish.
About 2lbs of pork tenderloin chopped into 1.5 inch cubes. I had ends and pieces left over from trimming for the tournedos of pork thing I made the other day and I had 1 long thin tenderloin left that was too thin to use for the tournedos. (Backread if you want to see that meal. I’ll post a recipe if you want it.)

Dipping sauce / Marinade:
Soy sauce. I use Eden Foods Shoyu because I think it’s great stuff.
Sriracha Sauce (Cock Sauce).
Red pepper flakes.
Ponzu sauce.
Oyster sauce.
Sesame Oil.
Honey.
Garlic.
Ginger.

Ok, I have no idea on measurements here. I added stuff I thought would be good and I kept tasting it. Here is a basic list of what I added. Obviously Shoyu is the base and then a little bit of sesame oil. A good squirt of Sriracha. Several shakes from the spout end of the pepper flakes. A bit of ponzu to taste, I like this instead of vinegar for “zing” in dipping sauces sometimes. A few small dollops of oyster sauce. A large drizzle of honey. Either garlic powder or freshly grated garlic. I use a microplane grater to grate garlic for sauces, its SO much faster and better than a garlic press (I don’t own one) or mincing by hand. Fresh ginger grated with the same microplane grater.

Now I made this batch of marinade/sauce and then I wanted to thin it out so it wouldn’t be too strong as a marinade. I used beer to thin it out and a bit of water. Why? Because I like beer and I think it makes a great marinade. What kind? Well, I was drinking Dales Pale Ale, but I would think that anything would work so long as it’s light in colour.

Reserve 1/4 of the sauce BEFORE you add the beer for a dipping/drizzling sauce.

I pulled the skewers and set them to soak in a pan of water for 2 hours so they won’t catch fire. Make sure you do this, it’s an easy step to forget.

I put the chopped pork in with the beer/marinade sauce and let it sit until it was time to make kabobs. (I dunno. Maybe 1.25 hours? I’d say don’t let it go longer than that because otherwise all you are going to have is sauce flavored pork cubes. I’d say 45 minutes to an hour is best.)

I chopped all the fruit/veggies. and set them aside.

Then I went and had sex. I made sure to wash my hands afterwords.

Now It’s been a while and I started the grill. I used natural hardwood charcoal and a chimney starter. It was about 25 degrees outside, so I got it lit and let it sit, watching the chimney out the back door until I could see the glowing coals inside. I went out and dumped the coals into the bottom of the Weber grill and poured another chimney worth on top of them. Opened the vents so it would light those up as well.

Start the rice here. Sarah made the rice, but it was just all the liquids and salt in the pan, boil, add rice, boil, simmer until done. Turn off burner and let sit until service.
Chop and add cilantro as a garnish. Squeeze extra lime over rice if you want. You can add the cilantro into the rice and fluff it in, but I had 2 requests for no cilantro, so I put it on top and I think it probably was just as good.

At this point I skewered up the kabobs. I try to put the pineapple next to the pork because… well, I like how it tastes together and I think the juice from the pineapple helps to flavor the pork. Skewer them up and put them in a pan or on a baking sheet.
I checked the grill to make sure it’s hot. It was, so I pulled the kabobs outside and put 1/2 of them on the grill. I would put all of them on but I couldn’t because I didn’t have the space.
While the kabobs were cooking I sliced up limes for garnish and I turned on the oven broiler to high and moved the rack down to the middle.
Once the kabobs were 3/4 done I pulled them to a new clean baking sheet and set them aside. Then I put the rest of the kabobs on the grill.
I cooked this set of kabobs until they were about 3/4 done and then pulled them. Basically you want to see charring on your pineapple/onions/peppers and you don’t want to over cook the pork.
I combine the kabobs on the baking sheet and put them in the oven. They will finish cooking while I’m plating everything, opening the wine and setting the table.

Now I put the rice on plates, add cilantro on top, put limes on the side for garnish, squeeze lime over the rice for fresh lime taste, put out the dipping sauce on the table and…. then I pull out the kabobs, put them on the plates and yell “FOOD, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

Tags: coconut, kabobs, lime, pineapple, Pork, rice

Ok, so I’ve posted a bunch of pictures of food I’ve made recently and I haven’t put recipes up. Here is the first one.

I’ll start with one of the easiest ones: Earl Grey Smoked Duck with a Spring Vegetable Risotto. I based this off of two separate recipes that I knew and combined them into 1 meal I thought would go well together.  To do this effectively you will need to simultaneously preform both recipes. It’s not that hard as that both recipes are quite simple.

Duck And Risotto with Wine

Here is what you’ll need:

For the Duck:

Duck breasts, skin on. (mine were a little over 1/3 lb per breast)

About 2oz Earl Grey tea, Loose.

1 bamboo steamer

1 pot/pan/wok that the steamer fits over

Foil.

Caster sugar (golden)

Star Anise

How to do it:

Set up your wok (or whatever) and make sure your steamer fits snugly into it with plenty of room for the smoking substances. Layer the bottom of the wok with foil and then build up a foil “ring” around that so that the steamer seals fairly well when sitting in the wok. Get several heaping spoonfuls of earl grey and put them in the bottom of the wok along with a couple teaspoons full of caster sugar. I added 3 star anise as well.

Set oven to 350 and preheat.

Take your duck breasts and score then skin and fat in a crosshatch pattern being careful not to cut into the actual meat. Season the meat with a little salt and pepper and put it in the steamer. Make sure you can put both breasts on the same level of the steamer if it has multiple levels, putting one lower than the other will result in one breast being done more than the other. Turn the heat up to medium high and wait until you start to see wisps of smoke. Once you see the smoke turn the heat down to medium and close up the steamer for about 10-15 minutes. I checked to make sure it was smoking nicely inside and adjusted the temp as needed to keep a steady but not heavy bit of smoke flowing.

Get an oven safe pan (cast iron is what I use) heated up over medium high heat.

Once you feel the smoke has permeated the duck sufficiently (10-15 minutes) then pull the duck out and move it to the oven safe pan, SKIN SIDE DOWN. You are now rendering the fat out of the breast and searing the skin on the duck. Once skin is seared and fat rendered, move to the oven and cook to desired temp. Most people prefer duck medium rare or medium. I cooked mine to medium because Sarah (and many people) are a little worried by rare poultry. Once done, let rest for a few minutes, slice and serve.

For the Risotto:

1 pound asparagus

2 medium leeks

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3 cups water

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup frozen peas

2 medium garlic cloves minced fine

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

For the Gremolata:

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon finely grated zest from 1 lemon

How to do it:

Start off by breaking down the vegetables for the risotto: Cut asparagus ends (the tough part) off and set aside, clean the leaks (cut lengthwise and wash thoroughly with cool water) and separate the white and light green parts from the dark green, setting aside the dark green with the asparagus ends. Pluck the leaves off the stems of both the mint and parsley, set the stems aside as well.

Cut asparagus into ½ inch pieces. I used VERY thin asparagus so I cut them a bit longer, more like 1 inch.

Slice the leeks very thinly crosswise. Set each aside separately.

Chop finely the mint and parsley and grate the lemon zest. Combine, set aside.

In a heavy bottomed Dutch Oven or pot put 4 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups water to boil. In the mean time chop the green leek leaves, asparagus ends, mint stems and parsley stems and add them to the pot with the broth/water. Bring to boil covered, then partially uncover and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes, I do a little longer due to altitude. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinoise (pressing out all liquid) and set liquid in a pot on low heat, covered. Discard the stuff left in the strainer.

Heat dutch oven back to medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. Allow butter to melt and foam, when foam is mostly gone add asparagus and cook until barely tender (~5 minutes), then add peas. Cook together for until peas are barely thawed (~ 1 minute). Remove and set aside.

Add 3 more tablespoons butter to dutch oven and heat until foam subsides. Add leeks, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and cook (stirring frequently) until softened. Add rice and cook, stirring frequently until the edges of the rice are translucent. Add wine, continuing to stir, until completely absorbed.

When wine is absorbed add 1 cup broth. Stir Every minute (or so) until fully absorbed. Add 2^nd cup broth and stir (ever 1-2 minutes) until absorbed. Add final cup of broth and stir until fully absorbed and the bottom of the pan is nearly dry. Add half cups of broth , simmering and stirring until the rice is fully cooked and the bottom of the pan is almost dry (about 2 more cups of broth). Check the rice to make sure it is done enough (Risotto should NOT be mushy in any way it should have a bit of “bite” to it like properly done “al dente” pasta.

Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter, parmesan and the lemon juice. Fold in peas and asparagus gently until distributed and top with gremolata and serve.

Tags: Duck, Risotto, smoked, Tea

If you have an addictive personality, avoid this recipe.
Seriously, its the culinary equivalent of crack.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb pork sausage
1/4 lb ham
1/4 lb bacon
5 cans great northern beans
4 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 med. white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
3 1/2 C chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Start by melting the butter in a 4 quart pot over medium heat.  Once it starts to brown a bit, add the garlic, onion, and bacon.  Cook until the onions start to become translucent, then add the carrots, celery and the sausage.  Mix everything up and put the lid on.  Grab your food processor and put 2 cans of the beans, drained and rinsed, in it.  Set on puree and whirl till – you guessed it – pureed.  Add the machined beans to the pot and mix them in with their new friends. Put the lid back on for a few minutes to let everything get hot.  Next, add the rest of the beans, the ham, and the stock to the pot and replace the lid.  Cook for another 20 minutes on med-high heat.  Check it often, stir each time you check.  Taste it as you go, you’ll probably find that it wont need much seasoning.  If you want to add anything, try some cumin, coriander, and sage.  All three add an earthy tone that works well with the pork.  In the pic above, I topped mine off with a bit of Sriracha.  Makes a ton, so be prepared to take some to work the next day (or 5).

ejnoy,
-E

Tags: bacon, beans, Pork, sausage, Soup