Bastille Day 2015

Most of you by now realize that I default to French themed cooking when I am without other inspiration, but Bastille Day requires that nothing else even be considered!  For those that might have missed last year's dinner, you can find it here.  For those who just want to see what this year brought, keep reading!

I still had a bunch of duck and french salumi from a previous D'Artagnan order, so I popped over to Whole Foods for a few other items and then was ready to go.

Charcuterie plate

The first course was a charcuterie comprising French cheese and salumi as well as sliced fresh baguette.  We enjoyed this course with a little bit of Champagne.

Broiled mussels

 For the next bit of fun, I did baked mussels that were topped with chopped garlic & Jambon de Bayonne (French prosciutto) and then finished off with some thin slices of cheese.  Into the broiler the mussels went along with two pieces of baguette that had been brushed with melted butter.  Once the cheese had gotten nice and crispy I pulled out the mussels and plated with the baguette (cut in half and served standing).

Duck three ways (crispy skin, poached egg and confit) with garlic white bean puree)

For this next course I had a little fun with one of my favorites, duck!  First I used the Vitamix to blend warm white beans and garlic into a puree, setting aside.  I started a pot of water boiling, with a little white vinegar, so I would have a poaching bath.  Next I took a confit leg and carefully removed the skin and the large chunks of visible fat.  I then sliced the large meat portion of the leg from the bone so that I could cut it into strips.  I also cut thick strips of the skin.  I heated a saute pan and then tossed in some of the duck fat, allowing it to melt down before putting the skin into the pan (fat side down) to cook like bacon.  Once flipped I added the chunks of meat to warm as well.  At this point 2 duck eggs went into the poaching bath and then I began plating the rest of the dish.  As I finished plating it was time for the eggs to come out and I added them to the dish and it was ready for consumption.

Lavender ribeye w/ mashers, roasted garlic and ratatouille

The final course in this dinner was centered around a Shell's find ... Lavender ribeye (source & recipe here)!  This required finding thick-cut bone in ribeye steaks as well as dried lavender.  Luckily for me, Whole Foods had both ... although I did substitute dry aged boneless ribeye and it took a bit to find the lavender (it's by the bulk foods if you are looking for it).  It was well worth the hunt for lavender though as the steak had a very unique flavor that made the steak taste lighter than a grilled ribeye normally does.  I served the steak over whipped mashed potatoes with a ratatouille of fresh Farmer's market veggies and a baked garlic bulb.  I highly recommend trying this one, you'll enjoy!

Sautee, Poach and Braise ... yeah, sounded weird to me too!

For this dinner I decided to have some fun with Harissa, and to try a new way of cooking.  As I have previously written about, Harissa is an awesome northern African spice that I love both cooking with and eating.  For this dinner I went with a bone-in pork chop that I started by searing, then poached and then moved into the pot to braise.  To start, pre-heat the oven to 375F.

I started with a 1" thick, bone-in chop, with both the loin and tenderloin side on it.  I sautéed the strip over medium-high heat for 3 minutes in melted butted and then flipped it and reduced the heat to medium-low.  I added 1/4 cup of white wine to the pan and lightly poached the chop for another 3 minutes before removing from the heat.

For the braising sauce, I made up a batch of Harissa paste by mixing a dry spice blend with water (I did 2 tbsp of each.  I then stirred that into 1 cup of Pomi crushed tomatoes and poured that into the braising pot along with six skinned garlic cloves.  I covered the pot and then put into the oven.

I braised for 20 minutes at 375 and then reduced the heat to 325 for another 5 minutes.  I then removed from heat and rested for 5 minutes, still covered.

I served the chop sliced over Israeli cous-cous with the garlic cloves and braising sauce as accompaniments.  Try this and enjoy!

Another reason I'm Not allowed to bake

For this dinner I was once again reminded why I am not allowed to bake.  I attempted to make a batch of red pepper corn bread to serve with our grilled steak and Brussel's sprouts.

I popped open a bag of cornbread mix and followed the directions to a tee adding the exact right amounts of water, oil & egg.  I used a whisk to mix to the right consistency and then chopped up a fresh bell pepper and stirred that into the mix.  I poured it into the baking pan and baked for the prescribed period of time, testing with a toothpick to ensure it came out clean.

Everything looked good until I flipped it over onto the cooling rack and it promptly fell apart.  What I had neglected to account for what the additional liquid that would bake out of the peppers and completely throw off the mixture.  Yes, that's why what was supposed to be cornbread looks surprisingly like rice in the picture.  On the bright side, it was still tasty, albeit a little mushy.

Steak and Crab ... a tasty combination!

Whole Foods has had Alaskan King Crab legs off and on here for the last few months, and every now and then I just can't refuse.  For this dinner I went with a filet topped with the crab served alongside sautéed kale and stewed white beans.

To make the crab topper I sautéed the crab in butter with sliced fresh garlic and just before finishing I hit it with splash of white wine to loosen everything up.  I plated everything else and then topped off the steak with the crab mix ... it was amazing, try it an enjoy!

David Chang is an incredibly innovative chef and his line of Momo Fuku restaurants are not to be missed.  

Recently Shells found that Chang had started to bottle and sell his Ssam Sauce online.  Ssam sauce, at its core, is a mix of fermented bean paste and spicy chile paste.  For this dinner I found a nice meaty rack of ribs at Whole Foods and had them cut longwise into three strips.  I slow roasted the ribs at 325F for 3 hours covered and then added sauce and cooked them, uncovered for another hour.

I served the ribs with roasted wedges and salad.  The savory and spicy Korean flavor of the sauce adding a unique spice (no pun intended) to an otherwise very American dinner.  I highly recommend either making your own (recipe here) or buying some (much easier option) and trying this out.  Give it a try and enjoy!

Full meal on the grill

On of the great things about summer is that it's so easy to sit outside and just fire up the grill.  For this dinner that's just what I did with a whole collection of food: kale, garlic heads, bread, scallops, steak & even twice baked potatoes!

I turned on the left two burners of the grill and left the right two off to enable me to use indirect heat on some of the ingredients and direct heat on others.

The bread and garlic cloves went on the top rack for about 25 minutes before the steak went on.  The kale was on the lower rack, but as far away from the heat as it could be.  The 25 minutes was spent with the lid closed.

After the 25 minutes were up, on went the steak and potatoes.  For the potatoes I put them in a roasting tray away from the heat.

The steak, a dry aged NY Strip, went on direct heat.  After five minutes of cooking I rotated the strip 1/4 and then flipped it after another five.

Once the steak was flipped, I added the scollops to the grill.  After five more minutes of cooking I removed the steak to a cutting board and covered with a light towel.  At this point I also flipped the scallops and allowed them to finish cooking (they should not be translucent except in the very center).

After the scallops finished cooking, everything came off the grill and then it was time to plate.




I plated with the kale as a base to build on and then plated the potatoes, steak, scallops and garlic head in circular fashion around the plate.  It tasted as good as it looks in the following picture, try it yourself and enjoy!

The wonderful flavors of Pork!

I suspect that each week you go to the grocery store and buy basically the same things, I know I do.  And don't get me wrong, I love doing grilled pork chops during the week ... but I don't want to do the same boring thing each week.  I'll bet that you don't either.  With that in mind, I thought I'd share a couple of dinners we've done recently that use basically the same ingredients but feel very different.

For this first dinner, I used a base of kale as the veg component and then made baked wedges as the potato.

For the pork in this meal I did a pickle juice brining (soak the chops in pickle juice over night, flipping once) and then grilled them.  I used Stubb's spicy Bar-b-que sauce to give a sweet and spicy glaze to offset the savoriness imparted by the pickle juice.

For this next pork chop I coated it with an Italian seasoning and then grilled it.  I topped the chop with a mix of roasted red peppers and thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.  I used the SearzAll to melt the cheese on the top; however you could always use a broiler in a pinch.

For this dinner I served the chop once again with baked wedges and sautéed kale.

I changed the base up a little bit for this dinner, using sautéed collard greens and mashed potatoes.

For the pork I went with a grilled chop that I hadn't pre-treated in any way.  This is the toughest way to grill a pork chop because it can dry out quickly.

The "sauce" I made for this dinner was made with the bulbs of two spring onions that were lightly sautéed and then simmered for an hour with about 2 cups of beef stock.  At this point it was well reduced and was the perfect finish to this dinner.

For this final dinner I went with a Chimmichuri rub made combining a chimichurri mix and olive oil.  I grilled the steaks and then topped them with thin slices of parmesan cheese.  I melted the cheese down with the SearzAll, but as above you could use a broiler if you needed to.

I served this dish over mashed potatoes with roasted brussels sprouts.




So there you have it four fun ways to try and spice up your pork dinners, try one and enjoy!

Back with a vengeance ... or at least dinner

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but that didn't mean that when Mom and Dad came to visit we weren't able to cut back and cook some fun food.

We started with a raw bar set up, oysters and clams on the half-shell.  For the oysters I had a little fun and made a puree of avocado, lemon juice and a little bit of white wine.  The clams we ate with a traditional cocktail sauce.

Next up came Mom's contribution to the festivities, grilled octopus salad with seasoned potatoes and baby lettuce.  The marinade on the octopus helped to break down some of the chewiness and the grilling firmed up the outside just enough to give it that perfect texture.

What meal could be complete without Foie Gras?  For this I did a simple preparation of seared foie in a cognac glaze.   The trick with foie gras is to cook it in a nice hot pan so that it can warm all the way through and get a crispy exterior; all the while remembering that foie gras is a fat and will cook down to oil if you cook it too long.  I added a grilled spring onion and some sautéed shiitake mushrooms too!

The last dish was a take on a recurring favorite at our house, with the addition of a little twist; look there on the right.  The main was grilled dry aged NY Strip steak, finished with truffle butter and the searzall of course, served over white beans with greens.  And as a little treat I bought a small summer truffle and served shaved slices of truffle to finish off the dish.

Just a Tuesday night dinner ...

A couple of weeks ago I saw something at Whole Foods that looked cool and I thought would be easy and tasty ... Pacific Razor Clams.  Yeah, not so much.  But, like any adventurous cook I figured ... let's try it anyways!

A quick google search told me that I would need to clean the clams and then I would be able to partition and cook them.  Preferred preparation?  Fried.  Well, that part I could do at least.

As you can see from the picture, I was finally able to get the clams cleaned, partitioned and cooked.  I cooked them with a mix of salt, pepper and garlic in butter.  They were tasty but totally not worth the effort at this point.  Guess I'll have to head back to the west coast at some point and try them the "right" way so I can figure out how to correctly make them at home.

For the second part of this dinner I made grilled veal chops with a spring onion topper served over mashed potatoes and greens.

Steamed clams and brown butter ... yup!

Having some fun out on the patio during the weekend is one of our favorite pastimes, and for those that haven't figured it out yet ... having fun = food.

For this snack I steamed up a batch of clams, but it was the accompaniment I served them with that stole the show.  Browned butter is a great flavor enhancer, and perfect for serving with steamed shellfish (or for basting a steak).

Browned butter is incredibly simple to make, and leaves a world of opportunities in terms of flavor you can add to it.  For this dish I pulled some fresh sage from the garden, but really any fresh herb will do.

Sage Browned Butter w/ Clams

12 Little neck clams

3 tbsp butter (I prefer a nice European butter like Plugra, but any butter will do)

1 large fresh sage leaf

Use an in pot steamer to steam the clams until they all open ... a larger pot ensure the clams have space to open.  If you use a smaller pot you may need to adjust the clams once some open to ensure the others aren't prevented from doing so.  

Melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat.  While the butter is melting, cut the sage into strips.  Once the butter begins to foam, stir often with a whisk until the foam dissipates.  Add the sage and continue to cook for another couple of minutes (actual time will depend on the size of the sauce pan and how much of the butter is in contact with the bottom of the pan).  Once the butter has turned a nice caramel color, remove from heat and strain (this will remove the pieces of sage, not a required step) into a small ramekin to serve.  Enjoy!

An article about Brussel Sprouts? Why not?

9 out of ten times when I ask someone what they think about Brussel Sprouts, tell me they're disgusting and don't want any. I think these people are confusing boiled Brussel Sprouts or those Green Giant ones that you boil in the bag with what I'm talking about!

What then am I talking about?  I'm talking about sea salt, pancetta and a nice hot oven ... that's right, forget boiling, we're roasting!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
1 bag fresh Brussel Sprouts
2 thick cut slices of pancetta (about 1/3 inch each)
1/2 Tbsp corse sea salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

First think you want to do is preheat your oven to 425F (well, after buying the ingredients of course).  While the oven is pre-heating, roughly chop the pancetta and place in a mixing bowl (don't cut too fine as it will shrink in cooking, but you don't want massive chunks either).  Wash your sprouts and then trim the bases of each and remove any suspect leaves.  Slice the sprouts in half and then add to the bowl.  Add the oil and salt and then toss to mix well.  Cook the sprouts on a baking sheet in a single layer until well browned.  Time in the oven is dependent on size.  Start by cooking for 15 minutes then check every five minutes until browned. Serve and enjoy!

Presentation School: Serving a bone in cut of meat, to share!

When serving a bone in cut of meat for 2 or more people to share, it's important to make it easy, but still look good.  Presentation is all about the little things that come together to give the impression of something much bigger.

One of my favorite ways to get people excited about the presentation is to serve a bone in cut of meat that has been cut away from the bone and then put back in place.

In the example you can see to the right, I took a bone in pork chop and sliced both sides along the bone to remove the loin and tenderloin cuts.  I then slice the pieces of meat and then line them back up with the bone so that they can be easily picked up by folks at the table with a fork or tongs.


The best part about this trick is that you can serve the cut of meat right on the cutting board, avoiding the need to dirty another serving dish (unless you want to of course).

For this dinner I served it much more homestyle with a storage container full of taco shop guac set alongside the pork on the cutting board.  No need to dirty up a host of serving dishes when it's just Shells and I eating!

Try this tip and watch you guests be impressed, enjoy!