Bacon Baklava...Yeah we went there!

I follow the food magazines of Bon Appetit and Food & Wine.  So a few weeks ago I was looking through Facebook and happened upon a post about baklava.  I'm not a huge dessert fan but I LOVE good baklava.  So when I saw the recipe I thought this seems interesting enough for me to try to make it on my own.  I know what goes into baklava..anyone who has ever fought with phyllo dough knows it will not be an easy dessert to prepare yourself.  What really got me was the fact it had bacon in it.  

Here is the link to the recipe.

As usual I followed this recipe pretty much to the letter.  Here are a few helpful hints if you do decide to tackle this.  I was very pleased how this came out especially for this being my attempt. 

Phyllo Dough - Follow the instructions on the packaging for proper thawing time and take it seriously if it says to cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel.  DO IT! It will dry out very quickly.  Good news is that because you layer so much of the dough if you have a few ripped pieces it really won't be noticed.  Having a second set of hands might make the layering part a bit easier.

Bacon - I microwaved my bacon and I honestly don't think you would be able to tell the difference on how you cook it.  Do what is easiest for you.

Nuts - I had some challenges on the processing of the nuts.  It was my first use of the Vitamix without Tom available to help.  Let's just say I had a few larger pieces of nuts in the baklava...and guess what..it still tasted awesome!

Orange Water / Rose Water - I used orange blossom water this time.  I would be tempted to try the rose water if I see at the store.  I honestly don't remember where we got it from buy my guess would be you can find at speciality stores like Whole Foods and Fresh Market.

Timing - It is key that you have the syrup ready to pour over the baklava as it comes out of the oven.  So time your steps accordingly.  The cook time is painless however building the baklava layer by layer will take time.  

Below are a few pictures of the baklava in the pan as it cooled.  Also I suggest serving slightly warmed in the microwave with ice cream!

Fancy Mexican Food ... just the thing for one day home in two weeks!

Knowing that I'd be coming home for basically just long enough to shove the contents of my suitcase into the washing machine and then repack ... I wanted something fun for Saturday night dinner.  I also needed to bribe Shells on the laundry aspect since I hadn't been home to cook for two weeks.

I had just eaten some tasty Mexican food in Houston and it had made me want to experiment with a couple of things.  Shells wasn't going to argue, even though I refused to share the menu ahead of time.

For the first course I made a style of "Taco Shop" guacamole which is a mix of tomatillos and avocados with jalapenos, lime juice and cilantro.  I served it with a quesadilla for dipping, but I kept the bowl of guacamole full for each of us all night.

For the next tasting component I served blistered shishito peppers with corse sea salt.  These peppers are a great tasting, mild pepper (I've heard 1 in 10 is hit, but I think it's less than that).

For this next course sauteed a U-10 sea scallop that had been sliced into three even slices.  In between the first two slices I served a thin slice of avocado, in between the second and third was a slice of Cotija cheese that had been lightly grilled.  A splash of "Taco Shop" guac finished off the plate.

For this course I used some extra scallops I had from the prior course and some shrimp that I would be using for the next course to make a quesadilla filling.  I used Oaxaca melting quesadilla cheese as the filler and plated with some thin tomatillo and jalapeno slices.

For the shrimp course (and second to last course in the dinner) I made a slow cooked poblano cream sauce that I served over sauteed shrimp and then topped with queso fresco.

Poblano Cream Sauce
3 poblano peppers
1 cup cream
1/4 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp Oaxaca cheese

Roast the Poblano peppers at 375F until soft and the edges are well browned.  Chop the poblanos into thin strips that are about 1/4" in width and 3/4" in length.  Add them to the cream and whole milk and cook in a heavy pan on the lowest temperature setting.  Allow the mixture to cook for at least 30 minutes (preferably more), whisking occasionally to help it thicken.  Immediately before serving add the cheese and whisk well to mix.

The final course was a take on a dish I have made many times, arrachera.  For this rendition I used a USDA Prime New York strip and marinated it for a short 3 hours in the black pepper and Jugo Magi mix before grilling it.  I cooked it to a nice rare and served it sliced, family style, on a single platter.  Hope this dish brings you some inspiration to try something fun and enjoy!

She Can Finally Make a Lasagna!

So a few weeks back when Tom was not feeling well I made my 3rd attempt at making lasagna.  I can make bread from scratch, build dumplings, and make a mean multilayer cake but you put some noodles, sauce and cheese in front of me I find ways to mess it up!  Don't believe me ask Tom!!!  I was anticipating Tom would be out of the kitchen for a few days and figured a lasagna would be a great meal for us to have for lunches and additional dinners.

I'm happy to say that this time it was a success.  I used a recipe from Bon Appetit.  Click here for recipe.  

Here are a few things I changed and would change in the future for this recipe.

Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage - Whole Foods did not have spicy so I just got the mild.  I added a few flakes of red pepper when sautéing to give a little more spice!  Worked just fine.

Whole Milk Ricotta cheese - I did purchase the whole milk but if I make again I do plan to buy the lower fat version.  I don't think this would change the texture or taste! 

Grated Whole Milk Mozzarella - I went with part skim mozzarella and it worked fine!  Honestly think that in most cases (unless baking) you can substitute a lower fat item when whole is listed.  I tested that concept by only doing one change here.  

Warning: I used my largest non stick skillet which I believe is a 12 inch.  Once I added the tomatoes it was quiet full!  It still worked great but take the request for a large skillet seriously!

Hint:  I suggest preparing your ingredients ahead of time as much as you can.  The timing moves quick and you want to make it as efficient as possible.  Also if you forget to split the parmesan cheese  it still tastes ok :-).

Overall this recipe was relatively easy...the no boil lasagna noodles worked great...just remember to leave time for them to sit in water.  

I definitely plan to try this recipe again.  I will update the blog if I find any new tricks!

Random inspiration strikes again!

So Tom walks into Whole Foods, gets some inspiration and walks out with a bunch of random stuff, sound like a story you've heard on this blog before?  Yeah, I know, but honestly that really is what happens most of the time!  When I don't have something planned I always start by going to the seafood counter to look for inspiration there first, then I head to the meat counter ... once I have finished these two stops I know what I need to go back for in the veggie section.

For this dinner I had my first stroke of inspiration when I saw Stone Crab claws in the seafood section ... yes please!  I grabbed a pound of those and then headed to the meat counter to see what else I could find.  I was preparing myself for disappointment when I saw there was no Dry-Aged beef out, until I noted the certified USDA Prime filet!  I grabbed a nice thick one and with the start of a plan I headed back to the veggies to figure out what else I was going to serve with dinner.

I had originally been thinking of either stuffing the filet with the crab, or making a crab sauce of sort, but once I got home I decided it might be more fun to play with a "crab cake" of sorts so I went that route.  I de-shelled the crab and decided that rather than traditional crab cakes I would blend a combination of crab and diced avocado into a Johnny Cake mix and see how that worked.  I won't be posting the full recipe here because it really didn't work out as planned.  The Johnny Cake batter was fine (yellow grits, boiling water, sugar, salt and pepper) but I tried to blend too much crab and avocado mix into it and made the cakes too thick.  The centers ended up a little gritty!  If you'd like to try and see if you can do better I would try aiming more for pancake thickness and cooking them until crispy on both sides.  I served them with a sour cream and pimento cheese sauce.

While wandering the vegetable section I had been struck with a couple of points of inspiration ... steak is best served simply with asparagus, and I really wanted to make a sweet onion crepe with truffle sauce.  For those that may not remember, this is a Marc Vetri inspiration that we have loved and made a few times (Sweet Onion Crepe in the New Year's dinner).  The filet I cooked in my prefered winter style (cast iron pan and broiler to finish) and combined with the sweet onion crepe and truffle sauce to offset the need for another protein ... it was divine and exactly what I hadn't known I was looking for when I walked into Whole Foods that day!

Having a little fun with king crab

This post is a bit delayed (it was Shells' birthday dinner in early February), but I figured better late then never.  Some of you may have seen the pictures on Shells' facebook right afterwards, now you can see what all the fun was actually about!

I was walking through Whole Foods trying to figure out what I was going to do for the dinner and was forced to stop in my tracks when I saw the display at the seafood counter that read ... Alaskan King Crab.  Yup, sounds good to me!  I picked up two legs (about 1 lb of crab) and started thinking about the fun things I could do with it.  I had always planned on beef for dinner so I went and grabbed a bit of that as well and then grabbed some veggies and headed off to the kitchen to start getting creative.

Crab bites with avocado cream 

For the first course I decided to do something simple ... I deshelled one of the leg keeping the meat completely intact and then cut it into round slices about 3/4" thick.  I made an avocado puree (using the Vitamix of course!) that was very simple mix of water and a ripe avocado with a little salt and then whipped the puree into a bit of sour cream with a whisk to complete the creamy texture I was looking for.  The actual dish was simple from that point as I sauteed the crab on both flat sides in butter until cooked just through and then served with a bit of the sauce on the plate.

King Crab "confit"

For the second course I decided to combine the remaining solid pieces I had cut off of the crab as well as some of the stringy pieces I had removed from the smaller parts of the shells.  I called this dish King Crab "confit" because it had a similar texture to the chunks and little pieces you would expect to find when eating something like a duck confit leg.  I cooked it up in a saute pan with a little bit of butter and garlic and then added a bit of wine to create a sauce and then I served in a small shallow bowl with a small spoon.

Steak and Crab w/ Baked Potato and Baby Artichoke

For the final savory course of the evening I decided to pair the remaining crab (I only had used about 1/2 of the crab by this point) with the beef and serve it with two of Shells' favorites ... a baked potato and baby artichokes.  I bought baby filets and cooked them in a cast iron skillet before topping them with a mix of chipped king crab and sliced garlic that had been sauteed in butter.  I served the artichokes with drawn butter and the baked potatoes with sour cream and parmesan cheese.

The final course of this dinner was a homemade ice-cream sandwich, we were so full of crab though that we only needed a half.  Hope something here has inspired you, try it and enjoy!

It's winter, that means soup!

Soup is one of my favorite things to make on a nice cold day.  The longer you let it sit and simmer, the better all the tastes come together and the better it will make your whole house smell.  Soup is also great because you can really make it to be anything you want by adding whatever catches your fancy.

My favorite winter time soup starts with a bean base.  I just grab whatever 12, 14, 15 (or whatever number the packaging calls out) bean soup mix I can find to start the soup.  When I cook this, I use my 12 qt stock pot, but you could easily use something smaller if you choose to.

Hearty Bean Soup w/ Sausage, Shrimp and Kale
1 pkg 15 bean soup mix (discard flavor package)
1 - 1.5 lbs sausage (cut into chunks)
3/4 lb 30-40 ct shrimp (shells removed)
1 bunch kale (roughly chopped to about 2 inch pieces)
1 box (26oz) Pomi chopped tomatoes
2 pkgs Goya Sazon
1 tsp salt
Additional Salt and Pepper to taste
Crusty bread and shredded parm for garnish

Before beginning you'll want to put the bean mix into a strainer and check carefully for any stones that may have made it into the packaging with the beans, and then rinse the beans.  To start I put the beans into my stock pot and then fill the pot about 1/4 full with water.  Some people like to soak the beans overnight to get them tender ... I find that this means you can't let them cook as long then and so you can't build up all of the flavor.  I add the tsp of salt and then bring the beans and water to a boil for about 5 minutes (stirring frequently) before turning down to a low simmer.

While waiting for the beans to return to a simmer, you have another choice to make in regards to the shrimp and sausage.  You can put both directly into the pot (uncooked) and they will cook throughout the process, but I find that this can sometimes make them feel a little water logged.  I like to cook both the shrimp and the sausage in a saute pan first, getting a bit of a crust on the outsides and keeping them from absorbing as much water.

Once the beans are simmering, add the pomi tomatoes, kale, shrimp, sausage and the seasonings.  Stir everything well.  Now this is the most important part ... partially cover the pot so that some liquid can evaporate, ensure the temperature is low enough that it will lightly simmer but not boil or burn, and WALK AWAY!

Feel free to check back every hour or so to make sure you're not losing too much liquid and give it a little stir.  This is also when you may want to take a little sample to make sure the sausage still tastes ok :-)  After about an hour of simmering the soup is technically ready to be served, but I like to let it simmer for at least 4-5 hours to make sure all of the tastes merge together perfectly.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a little bit of parm on top of the soup in a bowl, serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

Failing to make proper style chips, but I made a tasty sauce!

There is a difference between french fries and chips ... and yes, beyond the obvious that Ore-Ida makes the former and Lays the latter.  When the British, the Aussies or anyone else says chips, they mean a fried potato that has a bit more substance than your standard french fry.  I am not always a fan of chips because they tend not to be toward the soggy side, but in Australia earlier this year my thoughts on chips were taken to a different place!

While eating at our hotel restaurant I bit into a chip that was the perfect combination of fried, crispy, exterior and creamy perfection inside.  For this dinner I attempted to recreate them.  While I was able to get the outside nice and crispy with the traditional double fry approach used in Belgian frittes, I was unable to get the smooth, creamy inside I was looking for.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, in traditional Belgian style frittes, you will actually cut the fries into evenly sized strips and then fry them for about five minutes.  You then remove them and allow them to rest on a rack (or some paper towel) and sweat out the additional moisture before frying them a second time until crispy.

I served these chips up with a garlic, rosemary and sriracha sour cream sauce along with broccoli and broiled snapper.

Garlic, rosemary and sriracha sour cream sauce
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 Tbsp cream (or whole milk)
2 cloves roasted garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary (minced)
1/2 tsp sriracha

Mix all ingredients well, spoon over whatever and enjoy!

Make your own Mojo!

Continuing along the recent trend of using my Vitamix for everything, I used it yet again for this dinner to make a mojo style marinade.  I must pause here for a disclaimer, I do not actually know all of the ingredients that go into a real mojo, this was really just my take on it.

I used this marinade on a combination of pork cuts and then served it with mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts w/ pancetta.  As a side note, this marinade is really tasty with the pork but I wouldn't recommend serving more than a little bit of it as a sauce (e.g. what I did on the plate here).

Pork with Mojo Marinade (note that you need to do this the day ahead)

1 lb pork tenderloin

1 lb pork belly

2 large oranges

1 lime

1 head garlic

1/3 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp dried oregano

1 jalapeno (seeded)

1 Tbsp cilantro

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

In your Vitamix (or blender/food processor if you haven't yet been convinced to buy a Vitamix) combine the cloves from the head of garlic (remove the papery outer skin), jalapeno, cilantro, salt, pepper, oil and the juice from the oranges and lime.  Blend until smooth.

Put the pork into an airtight container and pour in the marinade.  Seal and shake to coat the pork.  Marinate the pork overnight, shaking again in the morning to ensure that the pork stays evenly coated.

Allow the pork to come to room temperature and preheat the oven to 350F. Wrap the pork loosely in foil and slow roast in the oven for 2 hours.  Remove the pork from the oven and raise the temperature to 425F.  Remove the pork pieces from the foil and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut the pork into chunks and transfer to an oven proof dish.  Into the oven with it for 15-20 minutes or until the edges get nice and crispy.

Remove the pork from the oven, plate with whatever you're serving it with and enjoy!

Flank Steak with Blistered Tomatillo Salsa

For the longest time I did not think I liked tomatillos, and not because I didn't like the taste.  They're annoying because you have to take the shell off of them, and they're sticky.  Great reasons, right?

Well, luckily, I've been forcing myself to get over this and do some cooking with them recently which has lead to some pretty awesome results.  For this dinner I wanted something with a bit of heat and flavor to go with strip steak so I fired up the oven to make a Blistered Tomatillo Salsa.

Blistered Tomatillo Salsa
10 tomatillos (husks removed)
8 cloves garlic (add less if you don't have a garlic obsession like me, add more if you are afraid of vampires)
1/2 small yellow onion (peeled and halved)
2 serrano peppers
1 lime
1 avocado
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.  Put the tomatillos, garlic, onion and peppers on a tray and into the oven they go.  They will need to roast for about 20 - 30 minutes, but check every five minutes or so (flip after ten) and remove the individual items as they finish roasting (garlic should be golden and soft, everything else should have a bit of a char on it and also be soft).

You'll want to bring the veggies to room temp, and while this is happening you can decide how much heat you want the salsa to have.  Remove the stems from the peppers no matter what, but then choose to remove some or all of the seeds to bring down the heat (this can be easily done by cutting the peppers lengthwise and using a spoon to scrape them out).

Transfer the room temp veggies (plus any liquid that accumulated in your roasting pan) to your vitamix (or blender) and then add the avocado and the juice of the lime.  Add salt and pepper to taste and then blend until smooth.  Serve and enjoy!

Restaurant Highlight - Attica, Melbourne Australia

As you all know Tom and I just returned from a 3 week holiday to Australia.  Tom has also been telling me for weeks that I need to start blogging again.  My reasoning that I take all the pictures for the blog was not enough.  So to start off I will run through what we enjoyed at Attica in Australia.

Tom and I decided prior to leaving that we would do 3 "big dinners".  Our definition of big dinner is basically a restaurant that only serves or is known for their tasting menus.  Because these restaurants do not run cheap we limited ourselves to 3.  First up was Attica, which is located in a suburb of Melbourne.  We came to know of Attica after the chef was highlighted in a Bon Appetit article as well as the restaurant being ranked 32 on the List of Top 50 restaurants in the world.  The restaurant is located on a street that reminded me of Carytown in Richmond with lots of shops and restaurants around.

Front of Attica

We knew going in that the restaurant is knowing for "foraging" and growing their own vegetables and herbs.  I anticipated that the focus on the food rather than decor and I was pleasantly surprised.  Inside were dark walls, white table cloths and minimal wall art.  It was a small place with only 50 tables and 1 seating a night. We noticed quickly that reservations are 15 mins apart which allows for the staff to keep up with serving and give everyone proper attention.  After a cocktail for Tom and glass of champagne for me we started with some amuse bouche.  

Baby corn in the husk

Cheese curd and local honeycomb

<--- The chef of the evening came out to  serve the raw honeycomb which was amazing.

I had never actually seen baby corn in husk before but thought the presentation was fantastic-->

The mussels and flowers were in a chicken broth it was very refreshing and you can taste the freshness of the flowers.

Blue Mussels and Summer flowers

Wallaby Blood Pikelet

Recipe on back for Wallaby Blood Pikelet

 The last amuse bouche was a Wallaby blood Pikelet.  This came out and unwrapped in front of us and on the back of the paper was a recipe for the pikelet.

The mystery of the 2 white porcelain feather was solved pretty quickly when the butter and a hazelnut spread came out.  They were to be used to spread on your bread.  The topping of the hazelnut spread is salt bush (which you can ensure Tom found some to bring home to play with in his cooking).

Now on to the main tastes...First up was spanner crab and begonia.  This was lovely and light.  Again fresh flowers and herbs make the dish so fresh.

Spanner Crab and Begonia

Next was Salted Red Kangaroo and Bunya Bunya.  Bunya Bunya is a pine tree that has edible nuts.  

Salted Red Kangaroo

The next two courses are mainstays on their menu.  The first is called Minted Potato, Medium Rare.  This reads just as you expect.  They cook the potato to not be fully cooked so you actually have a bit of "crunchiness" to it.  It was fantastic.  The second is called 142 days.  I should have taken a picture of the waiter building this course for us.  They come out with a bowl with huge cabbage leaves and build the dish in front of you.  Basically the cabbage is ~142 days old!  It is served with an emu ragu. 

Minted Potato 

142 Days

 The next course was King George Whiting in Paperbark.  I took a pic of how it was presented and then when it was open.  The best was the waiter reminding us to NOT eat the bark.  I commented that I have to assume that someone tried.  She confirmed.  She said it wouldn't kill you but it was quite chewy :-).  Let's just say they liked butter on this dish!!!

King George Whiting in Paperbark

Open to reveal the Whiting

Our last savory course of the meal was Pork, Rotten Corn and Lemon Aspen.  The yellow is the Rotten Corn.  I can't remember the story about it!  Just trust me that it was not rotten tasting in anyway.

Pork, Rotten Corn and Lemon Aspen

Prior to our last three dessert courses we had the opportunity to go out to their small roof top garden (they have a larger space down the road where the chefs go each morning to pick the food for the evenings meal).  This smaller garden had a selection of herbs and edible flowers that we had the opportunity to forage for to include with a scoop of ice cream.  Sorry no pics of that!

The remaining desserts are pictured below.  Egg's were chocolate and were served in small nests to each table.   I don't remember the story on The industrious Beet but I do know this was the one dish I was not a huge fan of.  

Pears and Maiden

The Industrious Beet

Pukeko's Egg

Overall we had a wonderful time.  The service was top notch and the food was so fresh.  Details in serving ware and presentation took priority to focus on the food.   Let us know if you have any additional questions about the dishes.  Tom took some notes at the meal as well and are happy to add commentary from what we can remember.

Sweet Potato Puree

So I didn't have much time to play with my new toy (Vitamix) before we left town for holiday, but this was one dish that I was able to use it for.  The vitamix is a great tool for creating smooth purees that don't need to be super liquidy (you can make perfect mashed potatoes in a vitamix, for instance) and that was exactly what I was after for this dinner.

This sweet potato was really closer to mashed potatoes, from a consistency perspective, than a sauce ... which is exactly what I wanted as a base for this grilled pork and greens dish.  If you do not have a vitamix to use for this, instead of using a blender, you will want to do it the old fashioned way with a bowl, masher and spoon.

Sweet Potato Puree

2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped into cubes)
1/2 cup milk
1/6 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage (1 tsp if using dried)
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Put the sweet potato cubes, milk and sage into a heavy sauce pan and add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper (based on your taste).  Put the sauce pan on lowest heat setting and cover to allow the sweet potato to cook slowly.  You will want to cook the potatoes until soft (a knife should pass into the flesh easily) about 30 - 45 minutes depending on the size of the cubes.  The milk may separate a little bit and leave white curds on the potatoes, that is ok.

Once the sweet potato is softened, transfer the potatoes to the vitamix and add the butter, parmesan and 1 tbsp of milk.  Begin mixing the mixture, adding milk by the tbsp until you get to your desired texture for the puree, plate and enjoy!

Contrary to popular belief, a twice baked potato is four times as good

Ok, so you caught me ... sometimes a twice baked potato is 16 times as good as a regular baked potato (although Shells doesn't believe that).  I love making twice baked potatoes, and they are so super easy, I don't know why you wouldn't want to make them too.  For this dinner I paired up a couple of twice baked potatoes with steak & mushrooms and some nice broiled asparagus; but really they go with anything.

Twice Baked Potatoes (for 2 people)

2 medium/small baking potatoes (you can use 1 large as well if you want 1 side per person), washed

2 slices bacon

5 tbsp shredded cheese blend (your choice, whatever you like)

1 green onion, washed

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 425F and the rub the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook in the 425F oven for about 45 minutes or until soft.  While the potatoes are cooking, pan fry the bacon, drain and then roughly chop.  Dice the green onion.

Once the potatoes are cooked ... put the bacon, 3 tbsp of cheese, milk, green onion and butter in a bowl.  Use a hot glove, or a towel, and a sharp knife to cut the potatoes straight through the middle long-wise.  Use a large spoon to scoop the middle out of the potato halves, you should leave about 1/4 - 1/5 inch of potato on the side of the skin to allow it to keep it's shape.  Transfer the scooped middle to the bowl with the other ingredients and then mix well until smooth.

Switch oven to broil.

Spoon the smooth mixture back into the potato skin halves until it is all used and then top with the reserved cheese.  Put under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling, serve and enjoy!