INTERMISSION

Lasagna!

All I'm gonna say about this is don't skimp on the sauce. Making a good sauce from scratch is key! The rest is easy. Actually it's all easy... As long as you have the sauce thing down. This is a good idea for those of you who might be interested in having good leftovers for like a week. Spend a little time at the beginning of the week making something like this and you'll have something to eat after work that may just get better as the week goes on.



NOTE: The sauce for this particular Lasagna was pretty much a quick Bolognese. I started by rendering some bacon and then browning Italian sausage and ground beef. Took the meats out of the pot and added some mirepoix (small dice) and let that caramelize for about 20 minutes. Then I added some anchovies, sun dried tomato paste and garlic. Gave that a quick saute' and the added the meats back to the pan. Next I added some white wine to deglaze and reduced that by about half. I then added about a cup of milk and let that reduce as well. Milk is a key factor in making a good bolognese. I then topped the pot off with just enough water to cover the meat and let it simmer for about 3 hours. After that I added some canned San Marzano tomatoes and a little red wine. Let this simmer for another hour with the lid off until it reduced to the consistency I was looking for. I tasted the sauce, adjusted salt,pepper and acidity with a little sherry vinegar, stirred in some fresh oregano and called it a day. or.. a sauce.. Then i let it cool outside in the snow and built a lasagna out of it. The End.

Three Peas

About 3 weeks ago Sarge invited me to join him in a little project. If you don't know who Sarge is, then you probably shouldn't even be reading this.

Intermission

For those of you who are still with us but still don't know who Sarge is: Sarge is a madman named Edward. He has a plastic-wrap belt and a look in his eye that screams: “Go ahead and sift that flour”. He's the kind of man who can get you a toe... with nail polish.

Intermission

Anyway, Sarge asked me to help him with this dinner (which was to take place tonight around 7pm) and I agreed to do so. He showed me a rough draft of the menu he had created and it looked very sexy right off the bat. We worked together yesterday to knock out some of the time-consuming stuff and we put the finishing touches on the dinner right at the last minute in the host's kitchen. During this “yesterday” that I speak of, Sarge schooled me on the ways of making lobster consomme', sourdough bread and several other menu items that I had little experience with. I learned a lot and good times were had by all!

This menu was his from start to finish. It was a dinner for 9 friends and here's what it looked like: (minus the wine parings that went with each)

• Amuse Bouche (see below)***

• Lobster ConsommÈ, Parsnip Confetti and Tarragon Royal.

• SautÈed Mano de Leon Scallop, Bacon and Juniper Braised Savoy Cabbage,Shaved Granny Smith Apple, Sage and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

• Pan Roasted Breast and Leg Confit of Bobwhite Quail, Rhubarb Chutney, Duck Liver Pate, Sourdough Toast, Red Wine & Cinnamon Gastrique.

• Maytag Blue Cheese, Mixed Greens, Cider Vinaigrette, Roasted Pear.

• Roasted Tenderloin of Beef, Brussels Sprout Leaves, Hedgehog Mushrooms, Gnocchi, White Truffle, Thyme and Natural Jus.

• Tahitian Vanilla Bean CrËme Brulee, Cardamom Poundcake,Candied Kumquats and Almond Praline.

*** Let's take a moment to bow our heads to this Amuse. Sarge has kids. Many of the people at this dinner have kids... So he thought it would be funny to start them out with something familiar. Something that really “hit home”. Something that says : “Wow!, I'm about to eat some really amazing food!”. And that 'something' was a frozen chicken nugget from a box, with a little ketchup and 3 peas. Nothing more... Nothing less.

Then the dinner moved on to the serious stuff and things turned out pretty damn good. We were happy, the guests were happy and the wine was flowing.

Sarge...

Sloppy Seconds!

I'm gonna make this quick. Here is some tomotillo-braised-pork butt, with pickled garlic and peppers on toasted bread. The pork was (once again) leftover from work. I believe the words were, "does anyone want this before I take it in the back and throw it out?" It was some of the best braised pork I have ever had at work so I went ahead and saved it from it's trashcan demise! It's what i had for a late dinner tonight after a long day of work/play. I was going to eat this with the Japanese beer I had in my fridge from last night's 'wok incident', but ended up washing it down with a glass of shiraz... once again.. by the fire. It's cold out.

NOTE: Don't be fooled or turned-off by the copious amounts of garlic portrayed in this picture. This garlic is pickled with hot peppers... Making it mild, sweet, sour and spicy all at the same time. Not harsh like you might expect raw garlic cloves to be. It's perfect for a sammie like this.. or a hot dog.. or a spoon...

Wok This Way: Part 1

I decided to call this post “part 1” because I'm sure over the lifespan of this blog there will be MANY references to the use of my wok. Asian food of different types may be one of my absolute favorite things to cook and eat. When people ask me what my “specialty” is in cooking, I always say that I don't have one because I love to cook so many different kinds of food... But every time i close my eyes to blink after being asked that question, i secretly see woks and bowls of various sambals dancing around in my head.

A wok is perhaps the single most important cooking tool in the Asian kitchen. I would rather have a wok than a knife if I only had to chose 1 thing to cook with. Perhaps I could sharpen the thin edge of the wok to make up for the loss of my beloved blade... who knows. Fortunately I am not being put in a position to choose between the two. In various Asian cuisines, woks are used in the same ways that other cultures might use several different pots, pans or bowls... The wok is cool cause it's just this one badass vessel that does so many different things. For example: tonight I'm making soup in mine. The last time I used it was to fry lobster in it's shell with hot peppers. That was sexy as hell, and so shall be this soup!

So here we go: To start I made a simple, light fish-stock. I had some fish bodies/heads which i picked up from an event we had a work last week. They were going to be thrown out so i wrapped them up, froze them and took them home. I thawed them out last night and put them into a pot when i got home from work today. I added some chopped leeks and parsnip and brought this up to a simmer. I only like to simmer fish stock for about 20 minutes. I want this broth to be delicate and light. Not fishy and weird. After that i just turned the pot off and left it near my wok on the stove. I will dip my ladle in it as needed for my cooking tonight and then throw the rest out. Yea.. i could freeze it.. but let's face it, my freezer is full of wild game, other frozen stocks, and the rats i feed my snakes. I don't have room for another container of stock.

For the soup I cut up some Chilean sea bass and cod into bite sized chunks. I added this to a bowl of chopped garlic, fermented black bean paste and kimchi paste. Kimchi paste is a spicy mixture of the various chilies and other things that are used in making kimchi from scratch. It's sexy shit. Yummy as hell. Then i added some shrimp and lime juice to the bowl and put this into the fridge to marinate while I moved on to the broth.

For the broth i started with the fish-stock I made earlier, some minced fresh ginger, and some lemongrass. I also added some raw Thai chilies and some Kafir lime leaves...Brought this up to a simmer in the wok and let it ride for about 20 minutes. Really just trying to infuse the ginger, kafir and lemongrass into the liquid almost like a tea. Then I added the seafood right to the broth along with some chopped shittake and oyster mushrooms. I also added some chopped kale for a little veg. Simmered this mixture until the seafood was cooked through then adjusted the seasoning with lime juice and fish sauce. This is kind of a “hot and sour” soup. Finished the whole thing off with some torn cilantro and served it up with lime wedges on the side and a bottle of sriracha on the table so we could add a little heat or acidity as needed. I personally love both.

The Next Blade

Here is the knife I intend to buy very soon. I broke my current knife cutting lobster. It may have been my fault... or it may have been a highly breakable blade... It matters not. I have my eye on a new one now baby. And here it is. The custom Hattori FH series 10 inch chef's knife. Made by a fucking ninja, for chefs alone.

It will be mine...

A word on Barbecue

It is well known that American barbecue is one of my specialties. Having said that, I'm planning on doing some very soon despite the -2 degree wind chill we have going on outside. I'm going to be working outside on a 4th floor balcony as well so that should make things interesting. I do most of my grilling outside on the balcony year round but thats just not the same when it comes to temp control. For barbecue (which WE SHOULD ALL KNOW is most certainly not the same thing as grilling) I am required to maintain a constant low temp of about 200-225 degrees F. This can be a little tricky in "the windy city" on the 4th floor balcony of a condo building in during the coldest part of winter! But i figure.. what the hell, if i can do it under these conditions, i should be able to do it under any conditions. So I'll take a look at my schedule and see when I can make this happen. The pictures attached to this post are of some ribs I did last year on a different balcony. I hated that balcony! I demand even better results this year!

Quick Tajine

Today was one of those days when i worked from about 7am till about 6pm. I wanted to cook something when I got home but I really didn't feel like eating too terribly late. One of the toys i have enjoyed playing with in the last few months has been my Emile Henry Flame-Series Tajine. It's a solid French clay Tajine with an enamel coating. I love cooking with it. Actually the whole line of Emile Henry Flame is pretty fucking cool. I have several pieces and I find that in some ways it is even superior to Le Creuset when it comes to heat distribution and slow cooking. Only major downside is that when you drop it on your kitchen floor, it breaks. Been there done that.

Traditionally the word Tajine is both the name of the cooking pot and the food created in it. It's origins are of North African descent. Personally I don't cook anything traditional in this thing. I put whatever the hell I want in it and walk away until it's done. It's kind of a cross between braising and roasting the way it cooks. I don't fill it with nearly as much liquid as i would for a typical braise. Often times I just put ingredients in it that i know will give off a lot of their own moisture. This usually results in very tender meats and veggies, with a thick, ultra-flavorful sauce in the bottom. Tonight I am doing chicken thigh/leg quarters with baby Basmatti rice, black olives, grape tomatoes, garlic, Spanish smoked paprika and fresh herbs. Usually i don't put rice in the tajine with everything else but i thought i would give it a shot. The idea is that i want this rice to totally absorb these other flavors and give me a little starch in this truly 1-pot-dinner.

I started this braise with a typical browning of the chicken. While I know my tajine is safe for high heat temps, i like to do my searing in another pan. I rubbed the chicken with some Spanish olive oil and smoked paprika and crisped the skin up in a cast iron skillet. After that, i set the chicken aside and threw in some onion, zucchini and garlic for a quick saute in all the chickeny goodness. Then i added a little baby rice and gave it a toast with the onion/zucchini. I dumped that whole thing into the tajine and topped it all off with the chicken, some tomatoes and black olives. About 1 cup of chicken stock went in on top of this (to cook the rice) and the tajine lid went on. After it was cooking stove top for a while i transfered the whole thing to a 300 degree oven to finish it off. I wanted to be able to cook the chicken evenly without killing the rice on the bottom. The whole thing cooked for about an hour and a half. After that i gave it a quick stir to move the rice around and topped it off with some fresh parsley and cilantro.

So there is that. Nothin fancy... Simple 'all in 1 pot' dinner, done by 8:30 and perfect for the freezing-ass snowy weather that's going on outside. I'll eat this with some spicy condiment like Sriracha or Sambal (cause im a freak like that) and hang out by the fire!

Oh.. and the whole thing cost me about 10 bucks. (one of the benefits of having a well stocked pantry of oils, spices and vinegars!)

So here it is...

For those of you who are interested, I am using blogger.com to create a live journal of the foods that I cook at home. Despite being surrounded by food and cooking in my professional setting, I am still totally obsessed with cooking during my free time and do it OFTEN. I'm going to TRY to include at least something about every single thing I cook in my home from now on... From the silly shit I do with leftovers... to the serious stuff. I don't prepare food at home every day because I typically cook in the evening and I often work nights... However, the days and evenings that I DO have off are usually filled with hours, if not entire days, dedicated to creating a pinnacle version of whatever culinary delight I have seen fit to challenge myself with at the time. It is an endless ritual within which I put everything and have mastered nothing.