My bad, I didn't take any! I didn't want to be that guy taking pictures of his meal. I'll tell you though, as much as I love pork belly (pretty much the best thing ever), the scallops with the sunchokes and the quail with the gouda grits really stood out. I had never had sunchoke before last night, but I promise I will again soon. If I knew how to make the Satsuma Beurre Monte, I'd just recreate it at home. Any suggestions? I have made the gouda grits before when doing a shrimp and grits, and that stuff just never gets old. I'd eat it every meal if I could. I kept it simple tonight- I was asked to cook a large pot of baked potato soup for my brother's last football game tomorrow, so here is my really easy, really fat recipe (fuck- no pics of this either, and I took it to my parents' house already): 6-7 fairly large Red Potatoes 1 Cup Butter 1 Cup Flour 3qts Whole Milk 1/2 Cup Chopped Green Onions 1lb Thick Cut Bacon, diced 2 Cups Sour Cream 10oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese Salt, Black Pepper, and Red Pepper to taste Peel potatoes, dice, and boil until fork tender. Strain and set aside until later. In a separate pan, fry bacon until crisp, and set aside until later. Now, in a large pot, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour to make a quick blond butter roux, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in milk until roux is completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Now, stir in the potatoes, green onions, and bacon. Once mixed, stir in sour cream. Let simmer for a few minutes, and then slowly add in cheese, stirring in until it is all melted in. Now just salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with more green onion.
I'm putting together a package for a secret santa victim to mail off Friday. Tonight I made orange frosted pecans, sesame seed candy (which is a Jewish treat apparently) and chocolate frosted peanut toffee. The first batch of toffee wasn't cooked long enough (my candy thermometer LIED!) so I had to make another. I just got through doing the dishes and I'm whipped. Tomorrow night I'm going to make smores cups and a personal favorite of mine - cranberry almond biscotti. Most people who try my biscotti give it a "that's pretty good" but not exactly scarfing it up. But I love it...especially with hot cocoa. I always make at least one batch every winter.
Has anyone ever tried beef tongues? I keep seeing them at Sams and the curious part of me always wants to try one but I puss out. What is the flavor like? If it's good, any tips for grilling one?
Had a pretty successful dinner last night. I LOVE Indian food, especially a reallly good biryani, but always assumed that, like most Indian foods, required a tremendous amount of effort to make. But last night, I made a low-fat chicken biryani which actually smelled and tasted pretty close to the good stuff, and was relatively easy to make. Recipe isn't with me, unfortunately, but PM me and I'll shoot it over. J
How about some healthy snack food recipes? Looking for something with minimal fat and carbs and a fair amount of protein. A friend of mine mentioned making cookiebars out of trail mix, dried cherries, and a small amount of dark chocolate.
I second this, except heavy on the carbs, with minimal sugar and protien. I'm a sprinter/ middistance runner and practice shits on me if I can't recover properly. I'm getting tired of just eating oatmeal every night for some extra calories (although it is easy to make). Thanks gys.
What do you guys like to do with ground beef? I'm tired of making chicken stir fry or pasta and veggies most nights in the week, and I'm looking for different recipes. I was thinking of getting a pound of ground beef and making into meat sauce, or just throwing it over rice, or making sloppy joes. I'd like to make it a pound at a time so I can have some leftovers. Hey Guy Fawkes - if you have a trader joes around you, just go pick up some roasted pistachio nuts. Very fast calories and protein. Also, I like their Clif Bars, they make a protein one that has 20g protein, they actually taste good, and they cost $1.50. I always eat one when I'm walking home after working out.
high protein snack: mix tuna with low-fat ranch dressing (not the fat free, that stuff is nasty) and spread on a slice of toast. ground beef: Off the top of my head, spaghetti is really easy. Beef taco bake is a little something different: http://www.campbellkitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=23817
I add 1 egg, some bread crumbs, half an onion, and some Worcestershire sauce to it. Mix it real good, then form it into patties. You then throw it on a grill fro about 5 minutes on each side. Some like cheese on top of that. You can vegies on top of it. Almost any vegie you want, and then some crazy people like to smash it between two pieces of bread.
I've been taking ground beef and mixing it with slightly mashed black beans, sauted onions/garlic, and egg whites and cooking them up in a frying pan. Very healthy, tasty, and easy to make. Plus they reheat nice in the oven. A little dill havarti cheese over the top and some mashed red bliss potatoes and you've got dinner. I've been eating a soy nut, pistachio, cashew mix that has some cajun spices mixed in that I get at a local farm stand. Pretty good stuff. I haven't tried the 20g protein Clif bar because I'm addicted to these Pure Protein s'mores bars. Mmmmmm.
Food Porn of the Day: Cranberry dust–coated foie gras that encapsulates a perfectly browned diver scallop. Served as a "lollipop".
Let's make this basic: Chalupa shell + ground beef + hot sauce + cheese + beer = heaven I prefer a corn chalupa shell to flour, but that's just personal preference. The amount of hot sauce is directly proportionate to the alcohol content/density of the beer. If you're doing the hamburger patties, take a (very) small tub of butter, defrost it a bit and mix in whatever spices/garlic/pepper you want to taste. Then put it back in the fridge. When you form the patty, do so in two parts, and place a cube of the butter + spice/garlic/whatever mix in the center. As it cooks, the flavor of your mix will radiate out into the meat. If you're like me, just top it with cheese and jalapenos. If you're not like me, eat it in a normal burger. Toasted buns. Mustard. Still good.
I've thought this one over, and here's what I'd recommend: Meatball Surprise: This is a meatball that encases a smaller ball of crabcake. It's fairly simple and easy to make. Buy two crab cakes from a store that specializes in fish (if you live in Gramercy then you can get them at the Food Emporium on 14/15th and B'way.) Take the crab cakes and cut each one into 4 separate pieces. Roll them into small balls. Then heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or grapeseed oil if you want them extra crisp) and heat the crab cake balls on them for about 2-3 minutes on each side. You don't want to cook them all the way through, but just enough to get the outside crisp. Take them out of the oil and place them on a paper napkin to drain off the extra oil. Let them cool off completely. Take a pound of ground beef. Add in a 1/4 cup of finely diced shallots, 1/4 cup of finely diced fresh garlic,a table spoon of shredded carrots (use a cheese grater or microplane to shred a carrot) and an 1/8 of a cup of port wine (any sweet wine will work), and lastly one egg. Mix them all together in a plastic bowl (add salt and pepper to taste). Once you are done here, let the meat sit in the fridge for a 1/2 an hour so it becomes slightly less mushy in the cold. Then you use the ground beef to form a cocoon over the crab cake, firmly encasing them at about a 1/2 inch all around. Bake those fuckers in an over at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the meat looks brown on the outside. I wouldn't recommend serving this in a red sauce, but it would go well with a nice garlic/olive oil sauce over penne or rigatoni. Mix in some fresh spinich or arugula and maybe some grape tomatoes (cut in half) or whatever vegtable you want to add to the sauce. You could also serve these in a sandwich or you could just have them with french fries and ketchup. Either way, it's a tasty treat. Both flavors of the meat and crab lend each other very well to the dish. I've wrapped the meatballs in bacon on occassion, but that's entirely up to you. Good luck.
Do you ever do consulting work? I would love to pick your brain about developing a new menu for my bar/restaurant down here in Florida.
Made sashimi for a dinner thing my family had, presentation is fun. This is yellowfin tuna I caught myself, there is avocado, ginger, jalepeno, wasabi, cilantro, dried apricots and some onions, the red sauce is siracha.
Anyone have any great Thanksgiving themed appetizer recipes they'd like to share? My mother insists on doing all the TG cooking herself which is fine but I figure I can at least take care of the finger food we eat before hand. TIA.
I get tongue tacos all of the time. It is quite good. If you are going to cook it at home, then you should use a pressure cooker to make it nice and tender.
Here are a few that I make. They are different and always seem to go first when I take them to a Thanksgiving Potluck. Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs 8 Hard boiled eggs 3 Tbsp. Mayonnaise 2 Tbsp. black olives, Minced 1/8 Tsp. dill weed 3 oz. smoked salmon Pepper to taste Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks placing them in a medium sized bowl. Add mayonnaise to yolks and combine. Stir in olives and dill week and fold in the smoked salmon. Pepper mixture to taste. Spoon mixture into egg halves and garnish with paprika. Refrigerate until firm. Makes 16 deviled eggs. Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms 1/2 pound Andouille sausage -- Cajun-style (if links remove casing) 1/4 cup parsley -- chopped 1 cup chopped onion 24 large mushroom caps -- save stems 1/4 cup bell pepper -- chopped 2 cups mayonnaise 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup water 3/4 cup instant rice Brown sausage, onions, bell pepper and mushroom stems. Add salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Add water and bring to a boil. Add rice and parsley. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, blend mayonnaise and cheese. Combine half of mayonnaise mixture to all of cooked sausage-rice mixture. Stuff mushrooms with this and spoon remaining mayonnaise-cheese mixture on top of mushrooms. Place in 9 x 12-inch baking dish and bake at 350F for35 minutes. Mushrooms will appear puffy and golden when done. Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls 1 pound elbow macaroni 3 cups seasoned bread crumbs 2 tablespoons unsalted butter Vegetable oil, for frying 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour Marinara or Alfredo sauce, to serve 2 cups milk, warmed, plus 2 tablespoons for egg wash 1 pound grated Cheddar 1 pound grated smoked Gouda Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 large eggs Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and stir it with a whisk. Cook for 2 minutes. Whisk the warmed milk into the flour mixture, working out any lumps. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cheeses, and stir until melted and smooth; season with salt and pepper. Fold the cheese sauce into macaroni. Pour the mac and cheese into a shallow pan and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours. Shape the cold mac and cheese into meatball-sized balls and place them onto a waxed paper-lined tray. Freeze the balls overnight. Beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons milk together to form an egg wash and pour it into a shallow bowl. Put the bread crumbs into another shallow bowl. Remove the mac and cheese balls from the freezer. Dip the frozen balls into the egg wash then into the bread crumbs. Put the balls back into the freezer until you are ready to fry. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the mac and cheese balls until they are golden brown and center is hot, about 5 minutes. Serve hot with your favorite marinara or Alfredo sauce or combination or both for dipping.