Culinary Disasters

Do not check the URL yes you are still at the same artery clogging, braise filled, pork hugging, vegetarian bashing blog.  However, now that the garden is starting to spit out some decent produce time to start incorporating it into dishes. 

The joy of a salad is it can be whatever in the heck you want to add in it.  I had some awesome lettuce that I have been patiently waiting for to come out of the garden finally ready for the picking.  I noticed some spinach was ready so into my greedy little hands it goes.  Ohhh….rocket is ready (You noticing a theme yet?).  Oh the way back into the house I grabbed some thyme and basil.  Radishes I love but mine are not ready but a quick trip to the store for those and some tomatoes and green onions.  Of course not wanting anything to go to waste I shredded up some of the radish leaves and tossed them with the salad (note: radish leaves can be bitter so a little bit goes a long way but they add a great dynamic to any salad).

As far as salad dressing so many people go for this three million ingredient list dressing and then soak the salad in the dressing to the point all it is dressing.  If you work with the best ingredients you can find why would you kill that awesome taste?  I like to simply dress it with a pinch of salt and pepper, squirt of lemon juice, and a dash of extra virgin olive oil.  Toss to combine and plate.

For chicken you will need:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• About 1 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: Salad, Healthy, chicken, All // 6 Comments »

This is my first attempt at Taste and Create (http://forfood.rezimo.com/) which for those who don’t know each month you are given another blog and choose something from the blog and create it.  I have to say this is an amazing and fun concept and definitely something I am looking forward to next month. 

The blog I drew is Cooking All 4 Seasons (http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/).  I ventured over to her blog and was ecstatic to see Indian food.  Indian is one of those cuisines I love but have never dabbled in to much.  I was like a kid in a candy store and had such a hard time deciding what to make but this one really really stood out at me. 

The dish I chose to recreate was Chicken with roasted spices (http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2008/02/chicken-with-roasted-spices.html).  The major reason is this is this was one of my favorite styles of dishes which is simply what do I have available and what can I do with it.  The flavors in this dish also really stood out to me with this awesome spicy and sweet combination paired with the flavor from roasting some of the spices.  I have to tell you I am so happy I did it and hats off to Srivalli for coming up with this dish. 

I must confess I did attempt to make the roti (http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2007/08/biyam-rotti-rice-flour-rotis.html) to horrible horrible disastrous results.  Well not disastrous just ugly looking and lacking that cool brown poofiness that she had.  So instead I threw some basmati rice together and served the chicken with the rice.  However, I still think the failed roti is more proof of why baking is evil.   

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 lb of chicken
• 1 onion sliced finely
• 1 tomato diced
• 2 garlic cloves diced finely
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger finely diced (her recipe called for garlic ginger paste and there is even a good write-up on how to make it on her blog http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2008/02/ginger-garlic-paste-allam-vellulli.html but an already overflowing sink meant the blender or food processor was not getting dirty so I skipped making the paste )
• 1.5 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp  garam masala
• 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock
• roasted spice blend (listed below)
• Canola oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: chicken, All // 4 Comments »

Another one of those I have lemongrass, ginger, garlic (duh), and a bunch of other random shit so hmmm…ohhh….marinated steak sounds awesome.  I wanted to use flank steak but since I can’t read I grabbed flat iron out of the freezer on accident.  No harm no foul since both cuts love smoking hot heat and on the up side I still have a couple flank steaks in the freezer for another day.

Confession time the reason why I had lemongrass is because I thought it would be cool to halve the lemongrass and use them as skewers for shrimp using a marinade very similar to this one.  Ummm….yeah that idea absolutely blew up in my face and the lesson learned is lemongrass skewers + shrimp = might as well just take lemongrass and gnaw on it.

For this marinade you will need:

• 1 lb of your favorite steak cut sliced into 1 inch strips 
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 1 shallot
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Thumb size piece of ginger
• 1 TB of rice wine vinegar
• 2 TB of soy sauce
• 2 TB mirin
• Good squeeze of honey
• 1 of your favorite hot pepper
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• Pinch of ground coriander
• 2 TB of peanut or canola oil (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: beef, All // 4 Comments »

Tamarind is another one of those culinary adventures I have not experimented with but want to learn.  It really adds a great sour flavor to any dish and the first thing I think of when I think of sour is hot and sour soup.  So in order to balance that sourness I chose to add in a couple jalapenos.  The jalapenos added some great heat but next time I am going to use a habanero instead.

I of course went with pork chops since I have them on hand at all times.  However, chicken would be another awesome protein for this.  Fishwise I think this marinade is going to be way to strong and kill the fish.

For this marinade you will need:

• 1 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup of tamarind paste
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 jalapenos or 1 habanero pepper depending on how spicy you want it
• 1 TB of fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 TB of cilantro (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: pork, All // 4 Comments »

This dish is kind of my big f you to the crappy producers out there who have to scare us with salmonella in tomatoes.  Weird to go into a grocery store and see where tomatoes use to be just an empty area with a sign informing us because we want the cheapest tomatoes we could possibly get sick.

Fennel is one of those herbs that I rarely ever use.  So sad because it has an awesome flavor similar to anise and can bring a different level to any dish.  Plus every part of fennel is edible from the bulb to the flowers and everything in between so instantly I love it.

Even though it is getting close to the start of summer I can’t stop braising dishes and don’t think I ever will.  For some reason there is something relaxing about a protein simmering away and the flavorful liquid filling the house with beautiful aromas (way cheaper than buying air freshener).

For this dish you will need:

• 1 whole chicken cut into 6-8 pieces
• 1 bulb of fennel sliced thinly
• 1 onion sliced thinly
• 3 garlic cloves sliced thinly
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• Teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• Teaspoon of coriander
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• High temperature oil (I used a extra light olive oil) (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: chicken, All // 5 Comments »

Char siu is Chinese barbecued pork and probably the best way to describe this dish.  Traditionally it is strips of pork that are marinated in a mixture of honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, 5 spice powder, and sugar.  I modified it a little bit (hello crushed red pepper and garlic) and instead of using slices of pork I chose to marinate a pork tenderloin and then grill it.  While the pork was cooking I took the marinade and boiled it for a couple of minutes on the stove.

This brings me to another question for debate.  I will use reserved marinades as long as I can bring them to a boil on the stove for a couple of minutes.  I have never gotten sick but people look at me like I am strange for suggesting this.  If you are one of them then reserve some of the marinade and use that over the stove.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 TB honey
• 2 TB hoisin sauce
• 1/2 TB kosher salt
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• pinch of five spice powder (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: pork, All // 5 Comments »

I have been a grilling fool the last couple of weeks.  Normally I am a huge fan of the gas grill during the week but lately my trusty Weber charcoal has been getting a workout.

After doing the herb butter smoked chicken my next goal was to do a beer butt chicken.  For those who don’t know the prearation is done pretty much how it sounds.  A can of beer is stuck up a chicken’s butt and the chicken rests on the beer can and cooks that way.

There are many fancy tools you can buy at the local mega mart to help you keep your chicken upright but I have found the best way is just use what the chicken does to keep it up.  Put the beer can in about 1/2 way and use the two legs as tripods.  I have never had a chicken fall over with this method. 

I have also found the best way when grilling a beer butt chicken is to stick with an indirect method.  This means coals on one side and the chicken on another side or if you are a gasser one burner on and the chicken opposite side of that burner.  The skin will get plenty crispy with this method but if you like it a little more crispy start it with the chicken more towards the heat and then move it away after 10 or so minutes.

I also like to rotate the chicken 90 degrees every so often so all sides get equal treatment under the heat. 

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 can of beer about 1/2 empty.  The type of beer really does not make a difference which was disappointing to find out because I really wanted some of that Guinness flavor to get imparted into the meat.
• 3 cloves of garlic smashed
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1/4 cup of your favorite dry rub (relax I have a simple one for you) (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: chicken, All // 7 Comments »

Last week my boy Blaine over at Seven Son’s Meat (shameless plug) called me and informed me my order of 15 chickens were ready for pick up.  After doing a happy dance I scheduled a time to run out to the farm to pick them up. 

I wanted to get some pics when I was at the farm since it is where happy animals live but they were busy doing farm stuff and did not want to bother them.  However, imagine a beautiful 100+ acre farm full of woods where pigs, chicken, turkeys, and cattle all hang out eating and playing together.  It is like Disney Land but instead of an annoying mouse wishing you good luck as you leave you end up shrink-wrapped and wrapped in freezer paper.

I defrosted one of them when I got home and then sat there staring at him going now what.  Hmmm….it is a beautiful 70 degree day outside and I have zero things to do today but yard work.  I head out to the garage and there staring at me with this come on coach put me in the game look was my good old faithful smoker.  Started up some charcoal and went back inside to contemplate the chicken’s fate.  Kind of rubbed out but wait in my backyard I see it yes the joyous herb garden.  Hmmm….butter + herbs + smoke = goodness.  Ok butter + anything = goodness but my doctor keeps telling me I need to eat more green stuff. 

Simple easy recipe to follow:

• 1 whole chicken 
• 1/4 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup of assorted diced herbs (I used dill, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary)
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1/2 lemon sliced
• Kosher salt and black pepper (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: BBQ, chicken, All // 4 Comments »

The inspiration for this recipe came from Jamie Oliver’s show on Food Network.  He did a rhubarb pork using pork belly and it was intriguing to me since rhubarb is considered to be a dessert item not something to be served with pork.

I have rhubarb and duh I have pork so well why not give it a run.  Instead of using belly I opted to change it up and use a 2 lb pork shoulder.  This is not because I have a hatred of belly but rather convenience since it was easier to defrost a 2 lb shoulder than a 7 lb belly to get what I needed.

There was definitely a good hit of the tartness from the rhubarb in the dish which was nice and balanced with the heat from the jalapenos made for an awesome all around dish.

For this recipe you will need:

• Pork shoulder
• 1 lb of rhubarb cut into medium slices
• 1 shallot finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic finely diced
• 2 jalapenos finely diced
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 1.5 cups of chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 TB of honey
• 2 TB of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of 5 spice powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger (feel free to use fresh just use about 1 TB of it)
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 TB of canola oil (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: pork, All // 3 Comments »

Olives are in the top 5 for my favorite snacks of all times.  Normally in the fridge are plastic containers of blue cheese stuffed, jalapeno stuffed, kalamata, nicoise, manzanilla, and a bunch more ready for snacking. 

I feel like a bad used car commercial when I say I was overstocked and needed to get rid of some.  However, let me find my Crazy Jeff Hat and get on to the sale’s pitch.  Shit I must have lost my Crazy Jeff Hat oh well screw it if you like olives than well then do I have a dish for you. 

The key to this dish is to use a couple different varieties of olives so that there are layers of complexity.  Anymore this can be done relatively easily by heading to your local megamart and ponying up to the olive bar (p.s. if you are quick you can usually grab a couple for a snack while deciding on which varieties you like the best).

For this recipe you will need:

• Chicken thighs (you could use breasts but I have a deep love of thighs).
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 stalk of celery finally diced
• 1 carrot diced finely
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 TB of tomato paste
• 1 cup of assorted olives cut medium dice
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 TB of high temperature cooking oil (I used extra light olive oil)
• TB of unsalted butter (Click here to read the rest…)

  Tags: chicken, All // 5 Comments »