Bourbon-Raspberry Sauce

There's one thing that every Kentuckian knows.  Whether they drink it.  Cook with it.  Collect it.  Kentucky knows Bourbon.  After all, it's our unique limestone shelves that filter our waters to produce the best bourbon in the country, if not the world.

My husband, is definitely a fan of the drinking aspect.  Me, on the other hand, I love to cook with it.  This raspberry sauce can be used savory or sweet.  In this instance, it turned a normal banana split sundae into a phenomenal one.

Ingredients:

2 pints fresh raspberries
3-4 sprigs of thyme
zest from 2 lemons
juice from 2 lemons
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup bourbon

In a medium saucepan, combine the raspberries, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, brown sugar, and sugar.  Cook the mixture until the raspberries start to soften and the liquid is reduced by half.

Add the bourbon and set aflame to burn off the alcohol and concentrate the flavor.  Continue to cook until mixture starts to become syrupy.

Add mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.  Strain mixture of seeds and thyme.  Let cool to room temperature before using.

I could just eat spoonfuls of this stuff by itself, it's so good! 

Veal Scallopine w/ Curried Cauliflower & Mushroom Demi Glace

It's been a CRAZY week.

I left my internship at the Marriott hotel.  It just wasn't me.  Hotel food is just not me.

However, I spoke with my chef at the restaurant I work at and he is really good friends with Edward Lee (from Top Chef fame).  So he did an amazing job of setting me up a new internship at Lee's new place in Actor's Theatre, Milkwood.  I started this week and already love it.  Not only is it better hours than my normal job (I'm safely home by 10:30/11 as opposed to midnight or later!), but the food is impeccable! 

So I really haven't had much time at home this week, but was able to make this yesterday afternoon for my lunch and Andy's dinner later that night while I was away.  It came together quickly and was tasty, to boot!

Ingredients:

4 thinly sliced veal cutlets
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Cauliflower:
 
1/2 head of cauliflower, florets sliced thin
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan

Mushroom Demi:

1 oz. flour
1 oz. unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup mirepoix (small diced carrots, onion, celery)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups veal/beef stock, divided
6-8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Your sauce will take the longest time, so go ahead and start with that first.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter under medium heat.  Add the flour and slowly cook under moderate heat until you achieve a dark brown roux. You'll want to stir constantly so you don't scorch the flour. 

While you're waiting for your roux to darken, in a separate saute pan, heat olive oil under medium high heat.  Add mirepoix and cook until lightly caramelized.  Add tomato paste and cook for another minute or two to incorporate.  Set aside until roux is at desired dark brown color. 

Add mirepoix mixture to roux and stir to incorporate.  Temper in 2 cups of the stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 20-25 minutes.  Strain of solids, then return to saucepan.

Add remaining 2 cups of stock and reduce mixture by half. 

In a small saute pan under medium high heat, saute the mushrooms in a little bit of butter or olive oil until caramelized.  Add mushrooms to the demi and simmer under low heat for a out 10-15 minutes.

For the cauliflower:  Combine the cauliflower, curry powder, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and mix well.

Heat a medium saute pan under medium high heat and add remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Add cauliflower and saute until caramelized around the edges.  Finish by tossing with fresh parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese.

For the veal, heat a large saute pan under high heat and add olive oil.  Scallopine slices are really thin so you want a really hot pan so you can get a good sear quickly and prevent any overcooking.

Season the veal slices with salt and pepper and add to hot pan.  Get a nice golden brown sear and flip over and cook just for about 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.  These guys will cook very quickly.  Remove from pan and let rest on a cutting board for about 2-3 minutes.

To plate, spread a nice amount of sauce in the center of the plate.  Place some cauliflower slices over the sauce and top with 2 slices of veal.  And bam, veal scallopine.

Hope you guys have a great week!

Chicken Breasts w/ Mushroom Cream Sauce

It's been a crazy busy week.  I started my last quarter of culinary school and we're already fast out of the gate.  I might have to slow down the posting to at least once a week to keep up with school, work, and everyday life.  But we'll see!

Anyway, we made this quick and easy dinner last night.  Best part?  It's hella cheap, too!  I think I only spent a little over $10 to get everything I needed.  Now that's a bargain, isn't it?!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally
juice from 1 lemon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small shallot, minced
1 carrot, peeled and small diced
4 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup veal or beef stock
1/4 cup port wine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 oz. egg noodles, cooked
fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

In a large skillet, melt butter under medium high heat.  Season chicken breasts with lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.  Add to skillet and saute until browned on both sides and cooked through.  Transfer to a plate to rest. 

In the same skillet, add carrots, shallot, and mushrooms.  If needed, you can add a little more oil or butter to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Saute until mushrooms start to caramelize and carrots are slightly softened. 

Deglaze the pan with the veal stock and wine.  Reduce the mixture by half, or until it resembles an almost syrupy consistency. 

Stir in the heavy whipping cream and cook until sauce is thickened to your liking.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Slice the chicken breasts into small strips.

Toss the sauce with the egg noodles and place a decent amount onto plates.  Top noodles with chicken breast slices.  Garnish with parsley.

This comes together rather quickly and is perfect for any night of the week!  Not to mention that it's pretty darn tasty, too!  Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Paprika Chicken Casserole

Happy Friday everybody!  How was everyone's first week of 2013?!

We're still on the up and up over here!  We've been having a lot of comfort foods in our house lately, and this casserole ranks up near the top.  It's dead simple, absolutely delicious, and the leftovers make amazing lunches!

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup mirepoix (small diced carrot, celery, and onion)
 1 & 1/2 tablespoons paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
3 parsley stems
1 bay leaf
pinch of dried thyme
 1 onion, julienned
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 lb. egg noodles, cooked
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

In a large pot or casserole dish, melt butter under medium heat.  Add mirepoix and saute for about 3-4 minutes.  Push mirepoix aside and add chicken breasts in an even layer.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes, flipping once.  Sprinkle paprika over chicken and turn heat down to medium low.  Cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Add flour to the chicken and stir into mirepoix and cooking juices to make a paste.  Bring heat to medium and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

Add stock, wine, parsley stems, bay leaf, and thyme to the pot.  Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer.  Cover and cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked throughout.  Remove chicken from pot and set aside.

In a medium saute pan, add olive oil.  Add the onions and mushrooms and saute until they are caramelized and softened.  Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper, to taste, and set aside.

Bring the cooking liquid for the chicken to a boil and reduce mixture by half and slightly thickened.  Stir in heavy cream and continue to reduce sauce until it is at desired consistency.

Stir in cooked egg noodles and season sauce to taste.

Slice the chicken breasts into 1/2 inch thick pieces.  Layer in a casserole dish and top with onions and mushrooms.  Pour sauce and noodles over top of chicken and garnish with fresh parsley.

This definitely is enough to feed a family of 4.  It's filling and definitely delicious!  I could definitely drink the sauce like a glass of water.  It's too good not to make!  Warm up with a nice plate of this and have a great weekend, guys!

Chilean Sea Bass w/ Peas & Shiitake Veloute

I hope everyone that celebrated had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!

I know the Garbes definitely did!

Santa was very good to us!  Andy outdid himself this year and upgraded my little beginner Nikon D40 to a Nikon D3200!  It's absolutely awesome!  And better yet, it came with a wireless adapter to stream my photos from my camera directly to my iPhone!  How neat is that?!  So of course I had to start shooting with it right away.  And one of the first things I did was test out it's ability on food - DUH!  And doesn't it just capture this sea bass beautifully?!  Either that, or I'm getting better at my photography skills.  Maybe it's both =)

Anyway, the day was spent with both of our families, driving, and eating!  It was definitely all worth it!

This was our Christmas Eve dinner (the time when Andy and I usually open our presents to eachother) and we both cleaned our plates dry!  It was SO good!

Ingredients:

2 6 oz. Chilean Sea Bass fillets
salt and pepper, to taste
flour, for dredging

Shiitake Veloute:

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 & 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup seafood/fish stock
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup milk

1 & 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Heat a large saute pan under medium high heat.  Add olive oil and saute mushrooms until they start to soften, about 6-7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat a medium saucepan under medium heat and melt butter.  Whisk in flour to create a roux.  We're basically just making a fish/seafood gravy.  Cook roux for about 1-2 minutes, or until slightly a pale yellow color.  Slowly incorporate the stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  Then whisk in wine, followed by the milk.  Bring mixture to a boil and cook until slightly thickened, to sauce consistently.  You can thin it out with extra stock, if you need to.  Stir in the shiitake mushrooms and season to taste.  Keep warm until ready to use.

Season the sea bass with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess.  Heat some vegetable oil and/or butter in an oven-proof saute pan under medium high heat.  Place the sea bass, skin-side down, in the pan and cook until skin is crisp, about 3-4 minutes.  Flip over and carefully transfer pan to the oven to finish cooking the fish, about 5-6 minutes. 

While the bass is in the oven, you can quickly cook your peas.  Bring the water to a slow boil in a small saucepan.  Add peas and cook until warmed - they're frozen peas, so they're already cooked.  Drain and set aside.

When everything is ready, you can assemble your plate.  Place about 1/4 cup of the shiitake veloute in the center of each plate.  Top with a mound of peas.  Top the peas with the sea bass.  Garnish with whatever you like - I used some chives.

And voila - another simple and easy fish dish!  And it's gorgeous, to boot!

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week - and enjoy the snow (I know a lot of us experienced our first batches over the past couple of days!).

Halibut w/ Spinach & Scallop-Citrus Beurre Blanc

I'm telling you - I'm Beurre Blanc obsessed.

When in doubt for a pairing sauce for a dish - beurre blancs are your answer.  I mean, does butter not go with nearly everything?!  Seriously.

The only thing I didn't like about this dish is that the scallop flavor didn't come through as much as I wanted it do.  It may have been the citrus.  It could have overpowered the delicate flavor of the scallops.  But besides that, I was pretty satisfied with this dish - and Andy cleared his plate so I can't complain.

Ingredients:

Fish:

2 6 oz. halibut fillets
flour, for dusting
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups raw spinach, stemmed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste

3 sea scallops, cut in half
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Scallop-Citrus Beurre Blanc:

1 sea scallop, thinly sliced (think sashimi)
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup citrus champagne vinegar (alternatively, you can just do 1/4 cup citrus juices or a mixture of champagne vinegar and juices)
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

You can prepare your sauce first.  In a medium saucepan, combine the shallot and citrus vinegar.  Reduce to about 1-2 tablespoons.

Turn heat to low and slowly whisk in unsalted butter, one cube at a time.  Be careful not to add to much butter at once or you run the risk of your sauce breaking.  When all of butter is emulsified into the sauce, season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in thinly sliced scallops (the residual heat will cook them through) and chopped parsley.  Reserve sauce in a warm area until needed.  You can also choose to strain the mixture of the solids at this point, but I chose not to.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Season both sides of halibut fillets with salt and pepper.  Dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat an oven-proof skillet under medium high heat and add butter and oil.  (On a side note: We use a combination of peanut oil and butter in the restaurant I work at for two reasons.  The butter is there for browning and flavor, and the oil is there for a higher smoke point - to help achieve a desired "crust" - you can choose to not use both, but be forewarned if you just use butter, you run the risk of it burning, and if you just use oil, you may not get that desired golden crust)

Add your halibut to the pan and cook the first side until it is a nice golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.  Flip each fillet over and carefully transfer pan to the oven to finish cooking, about 3-5 minutes.

While your halibut is finishing you can wilt your spinach and saute your scallops.

Heat two pans under medium high heat.  Add butter to both pans, adding your spinach to one, and your scallops in the other. Of course you can do these separately, instead of all at once, but hey, multitasking is a skill we can all get better at, right?

Cook the spinach until wilted and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sear your scallops until you get a nice golden brown sear, and then flip over to continue cooking for about 30 seconds to a minute.  Since they're cut in half, you won't need to cook them as long as if they were kept whole.

To plate, arrange a mound of spinach in the center and top with halibut fillet.  Arrange 3 half scallops on each plate and top halibut with beurre blanc.  Voila!

I love using wilted spinach as a side dish.  It comes together so easily and give you an added color boost to any plate.

Hope you guys have a great start to your week!

Red Snapper w/ Sweet Mustard & Spinach

It's only two days before the big Thanksgiving Feast, here in the states.  My family is all over the place this year, with my dad visiting my brother in Florida, leaving the girls and my mom to fend for ourselves.  My sister is taking care of the main attraction (the turkey!) and I'll be doing all the sides.  I even plan to bust out a from-scratch pecan pie.  So hopefully all runs smoothly for us!  But not too smoothly, of course.  We don't want to end up having to put on Thanksgiving every year.  Hehe.

How do you all plan on celebrating the big Thanksgiving day?!

So I ended up taking home a 6 lb. red snapper yesterday from Whole Foods.  It just looked SO good.  Then I realized, what the heck am I going to do with a 6 lb. red snapper?!  After breaking it down, I ended up with 8 4 oz. fillets.  That's more than enough to feed us for a bit!  So I decided to give 4 of them to a couple close friends.  And with 2 of them I made this fantastic pre-birthday dinner for Andy (whose birthday is indeed today!).  He gobbled it all up without a problem!

Ingredients:

2 4 oz. red snapper fillets
flour, for dusting
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sweet Mustard Sauce:

2 tablespoons dijon mustard (I used the whole grain variety)
3 tablespoons boiling water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1-2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 lb. spinach, stems removed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
 salt and pepper, to taste

Caramelized Apples:

1 Granny Smith Apple, core removed and cut into 8 wedges
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Make your mustard sauce first.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the dijon mustard and boiling water, adding the water in small increments in order to create a smooth emulsion.

Slowly drizzle in vegetable oil, whisking constantly, until all is incorporated.  Stir in honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Set aside, until needed.

In a medium saute pan, melt the butter with the brown sugar.  When the sugar is dissolved, add your apple wedges.  Cook until the apples start to soften and are warm.  Hold warm until needed.

Heat a large oven-proof saute pan under medium high heat.  Add butter and oil to pan.  Season both sides of snapper fillets with salt and pepper.  Dust with flour, shaking off any excess.  Add snapper to the pan and cook until browned.  Carefully flip fish over and transfer pan to oven to finish cooking, about 3 minutes was perfect on these.

During those 3 minutes you can quickly saute your spinach.  Add butter to a medium pan under medium high heat.  When butter is melted, add spinach.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook spinach until wilted.  I find it's easiest to keep the spinach moving, to create steam.  This helps the spinach wilt faster, but you don't necessary have to do that if you don't want to.

To plate, arrange half of the spinach on each plate.  Top with snapper fillet.  Arrange the caramelized apples around snapper.  Finally, drizzle the sweet mustard sauce over top of the snapper.  Enjoy!

This is definitely a keeper dish!  Andy loves snapper more than any other fish, and I'm glad we've got a couple extra fillets in the freezer for when his craving strikes next!  I'm off to finish baking Andy's birthday cake - hope you all have a great day!

Porcini-Dusted Salmon w/ Sauce Colbert & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Hey guys!  November 13th is always a weird day for me.  It marks a day where someone close to me passed away.  No matter how much time passes (8 years today), it always seems like just yesterday that it happened.  I don't want to go into too much detail, because I don't want to depress anybody, but I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today without the impact of this person in my life.

This dish is elegant and tasty.  Easier than it looks, and definitely will impress dinner guests!

I love using dried porcini mushrooms as a component in dishes.  Just grind them up in a spice grinder and you have a powder that can bring a dish from ordinary to magical in a matter of seconds!  Definitely a secret ingredient I'd keep handy!

The sauce is basically a bearnaise sauce with the addition of a demi-glace.  In this case, a seafood demi-glace.

Ingredients:

Salmon:

2 6 oz. portions of salmon
salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons of dried porcini mushroom powder
flour, for dusting
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce Colbert:

1/4 cup champagne vinegar (I had an orange-infused one that brought some citrus flair to the sauce)
1/4 cup white wine 
1 tablespoon shallot, minced
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper, to taste
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 cup seafood stock

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

3 large red potatoes, washed and quartered
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
5 cloves roasted garlic
salt and pepper, to taste

Start by making your sauce.  In a small saucepan, combine the champagne vinegar, white wine, shallot, and tarragon.  Reduce mixture until it is about 2 tablespoons.  Strain and let cool. 

In another small saucepan, add the seafood stock and reduce to about 2-3 tablespoons.  Skim for any impurities and set aside.

Set up a double boiler under medium low heat.  Beat the egg yolks in the bowl until they are a pale yellow and slightly thicken.  Be careful not to let the eggs cook rapidly because you'll end up with a curdled mess.  You can remove the bowl from the double boiler, if needed.

Strain the cooled vinegar liquid into the egg yolks and continue to slowly cook, whisking constantly, over the double boiler.  Whisk in the cold butter, one tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter, about a tablespoon at a time.  Don't add any more in until the previous amount it whisked in - this is similar to making a hollandaise or mayonnaise. 

When all the butter is incorporated and the sauce is at your desired consistency, whisk in the reduced seafood stock and chopped parsley.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Reserve sauce under low heat, keeping an eye on it to make sure the eggs do not curdle. (I basically just let my bowl sit over the double boiler with the heat turned off, the residual heat should be enough to get you through cooking the rest of your meal).

Preheat oven to 425 F.

To make the mashed potatoes, add the potatoes to a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Boil until tender, about 20-25 minutes.  Drain and return to saucepan.  Add heavy cream, butter, goat cheese, and roasted garlic.  Mash until you reach your desired consistency - I like lumps, so I like to leave it very rustic.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place about 1/2 cup of flour in a pan.  Season both sides of salmon with salt and pepper.  Dust each piece of salmon with about 1 teaspoon of porcini mushroom powder.  Then dredge each piece of salmon in the flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat an oven-proof skillet under medium high heat and add olive oil.  Add salmon to pan, presentation-side down and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.  Flip salmon over and transfer pan to the oven and cook until flaky, about 5 minutes (I like my salmon on the medium rare to medium side).

To plate, place a mound of mashed potatoes in the center of your plate.  Top with the salmon fillet.  Drizzle sauce atop salmon and around plate.  Garnish with parsley.  Voila!  A simple meal that is full of flavor!

Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!

Steak Roulade w/ Caramelized Onions, Bacon, & Cheese

It's Friday!  Woohoo!

I don't have another day off until next Thursday, but at least it's one day closer to that!  Thinking positive, right?

My poor little Mocha dog is going through some allergies and is puffy and swollen all over.  I feel bad for the little girl, but the vet said all we can do is wait it out and keep giving her Benadryl like we have been.  Still don't like my little girl feeling like she does!

Anyway, we're gonna keep it low key this weekend, probably, so nothing exciting to report.

Andy did say that this dinner was one of the best he's had in quite some time.  Always a win in my book!  You can really stuff the roulade with whatever you fancy, I happened to have some onions in the pantry, some bacon in the fridge, and some nice Cocoa Cordona goat's milk cheese in the crisper (it's dusted with cocoa powder and is out. of. this. world.)

Ingredients:

Sauce Brune:

1 small carrot, peeled and diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1/4 cup country ham, diced
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons flour
6 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
10 parsley stems
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Roulade:

1 lb. flank steak, pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 pieces of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch thin strips
 1/4 cup cheese, shredded (I used Cocoa Cordona, but feel free to use whatever cheese you fancy!)
4 tablespoons stone ground mustard
salt and pepper, to taste

You'll want to get your sauce started first.  It takes a little while for it to reduce and develop flavor. 

Heat a large saucepan under medium high heat and melt the butter.  Add the carrot, celery, onion, and country ham.  Do not skip the country ham.  I think it really gives the sauce a depth of flavor that you don't get with just plain mirepoix.  However, do watch your salt - since the ham is cured, it's pretty salty to begin with, so you may not even have to season with any additional (I didn't).  Cook the vegetables until they are starting to become tender and the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour to make a roux.  Cook roux for about 10 minutes, or until it begins a nice nutty brown color.

Slowly stir in your beef stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  Add tomato paste, parsley stems, bay leaves, and thyme.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Leave partially covered and simmer for at least an hour to develop flavors.

Skim off any fat or scum as you see fit.  When the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, strain the liquid of the solids.  Season to taste and keep warm until ready to use.


While your sauce is simmering, you can caramelize your onions and cook your bacon.  Melt the butter in a large saute pan under medium heat.  Add onions and cook under low to medium heat until caramelized and golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Don't rush the onions, the slower they cook, the sweeter and tastier they'll be.  You don't want any browning, so be sure to stir them every so often.  Place onions in a medium bowl to cool.

Heat a small skillet under medium heat and add your strips of bacon.  Cook until crisp, then remove with a slotted spoon, transferring to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.  When bacon is dry, add in with onions.  Reserve about 3 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat from the pan.

Add shredded cheese to bowl with onions and bacon and mix well.  Taste for seasoning.

Place the flank steak horizontally in front of you (so that it is widest).  Spread the mustard atop the steak.  Place an even layer of the filling over top of the mustard.  Roll the steak up, like a jelly roll, keeping it as tight as possible.  Cut in half and tie each roulade like a roast with some kitchen twine.  Season the roulade with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet under medium high heat and add reserved bacon fat.  Add the roulades and cook until all sides are golden brown and caramelized.  Transfer the pan to the even to finish cooking, about 15-20 minutes, depending on your desired doneness.  Let roulades rest for at least 5 minutes before removing kitchen twine and slicing.

Remove kitchen twine with kitchen scissors and cut roulades into 1/2 inch slices.  Serve atop sauce brune and with desired vegetable or starch.  You've got a fancy meal that's simple and delicious!  And any leftover sauce brune you can freeze - that way you'll have a tasty sauce at the ready next time!

Have you ever made a roulade?  What do you like to stuff your roulades with?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Fried Catfish Fajita Tacos w/ Spicy Tartar Sauce

It's going to be a busy week, I can already tell!  But I'm trying to think positively, and fit in as much sleep as I can =)

I had a discussion with a friend a couple weeks ago about the proper way to cook catfish.  He said that he tried to be "healthy" and saute it with some vegetables and said it tasted awful.  I sort of looked at him in a puzzled look and began to laugh.  I then went on to tell him that it was common knowledge that the only way you can cook catfish is to fry it!  Am I right?!

So that got me in the mood for some catfish.  I've been on a fish taco kick, so I figured it would be a good addition to tacos, as well! Throw on some spicy homemade tartar sauce and you've got yourself a tasty lunch!

Ingredients:

Catfish:

2 catfish fillets, cut into 4 strips
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup flour
2 eggs, whisked
1-2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup cornmeal
oil, for frying
salt and pepper, to taste

1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 small onion, julienned
1 tablespoon olive oil

Spicy Tartar Sauce:

1 cup mayonaisse
2 pickles slices - about 1/4 cup (I used sweet dill sandwich slices, but feel free to use cornichons or butter, or whatever suits your fancy!), minced
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste (obviously you want a lot if you want it to be spicy!)

Tortillas, warmed

Set up a 3 compartment breading station - one pan for flour, one pan for egg wash, and one pan for cornmeal.

In the first pan, combine the paprika, black pepper, salt, oregano, sugar, garlic powder, cayenne, and flour.

In the next pan, combine the eggs and the water.  Make sure it is fairly well whisked together.

And in the third pan, place your cornmeal.

Heat enough oil in a heavy-bottomed pan to come up about an inch.  Heat under medium high heat until temperature reaches about 375F.

Fry catfish until white throughout and exterior is golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, flipping once.  Place on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper.

In a large saute pan, heat up olive oil under medium high heat.  Add bell peppers and onions.  Saute until onions are translucent and tender, but still somewhat crisp, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To make tartar sauce, combine mayo, pickles, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce in a medium bowl.  The more Tabasco the better, in my opinion!

To make your tacos, place one piece of fried catfish on top of a warmed tortilla.  Top with onion and bell pepper mixture and desired amount of tartar sauce.

For some reason, I've been loving making fish tacos for lunch.  It's so fast and easy - and pretty darn tasty!  How do you prepare your catfish?

Pork Chops w/ Stuffed Rosti Potatoes & Cherry Confit

Our AC has been out since Friday.  Apparently the motor went out on it.  Not the best couple of days in the house.  Especially because when I step outside, it feels 20 degrees cooler out there than in our house!  However, hope is not lost because the repairman is due to be here shortly and we should be back in the cool air (hopefully) in no time!

I had my little sister and her boyfriend over for dinner and game night last night.  We sat on the porch (because it was too hot to eat inside lol) and had this lovely pork chop meal!  While I didn't win ANY of the games we played, (I should have won Clue - but someone didn't realize he had a card that I guessed!) we had a lot of fun and it was great to see them!

This meal is just a little bit fussy, but a lot of things can be made ahead so really, it's not that bad!

Ingredients:

Stuffed Rosti Potatoes:

2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and julienned
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup goat cheese
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped

4 bone-in pork chops
 olive oil, for rubbing
salt and pepper, to taste

Port Wine Sauce:

1/2 cup ruby port wine
1 & 1/2 cup beef stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Cherry Confit:

1/4 cup red onion, minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon port wine sauce
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar

To prepare the potatoes, combine the potatoes, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet under medium high heat.  Add potato mixture and pack down with the back of a spoon into one even layer.  Cook until potatoes start to brown.

Flip the potatoes over and place the pan in the oven.  Cook until potatoes are crisp, flipping once in between (about 20 minutes per side). 

Let cool slightly.  Cut the potatoes into two round halves.  On one side, spread the goat cheese.  Top with the chopped rosemary and chives.  Place the other potato half on top to form a "sandwich".

In a medium saucepan, combine the beef stock and port wine sauce.  Bring to a boil.  In a small bowl, make a slurry with the cornstarch and cold water.  Add to saucepan and cook until mixture starts to thicken.  Keep warm until service.  Before plating, mount sauce with butter for a shinier appearance and added flavor.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To make cherry confit, heat the butter in a medium saute pan under medium high heat.  Add red onion and cook until softened, but not browned.  Add cherries.  Add brandy and flambe (carefully tip pan toward flame if you have a gas range, if not, just bring a match or long lighter close to pan until flame comes up).  Cook until flame runs out.  Stir in port wine and vinegar and cook until almost dry.  Keep warm until service.

Preheat a grill to medium high.  Rub pork chops with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Grill chops to desired doneness, about 4-5 minutes per side for a good medium.

Cut the potatoes into wedges and place in center of plate.  Lean pork chop against the potatoes and top with port wine sauce.  Sprinkle some cherries around plate.  Voila! 

There's tons of different flavors going on here.  Savory, sweet, delicious! 

Enjoy guys!

Salmon w/ Lemon Cream Beurre Blanc & Sauteed Vegetables

The traditional beurre blanc we made the other day was a very temperature sensitive sauce.  A lot of us don't have the time or patience to hover over something to make sure it doesn't break.  Am I right?  Well, a cream beurre blanc is a more stable version of a beurre blanc.  It allows the emulsification to become more stable. 

So today I've got a beautiful salmon dish, topped with the beurre blanc.  Easy. Simple. Delicious. 

Ingredients:

Lemon Cream Beurre Blanc:

1/2 tablespoon shallot, minced
1 teaspoons olive oil
3 oz. white wine
4 oz. heavy whipping cream
4 oz. butter, cut into 1 oz. portions and chilled
juice from 1 lemon
3 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Salmon:

2 6 oz. salmon fillets
1/2 cup flour, for dredging
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Vegetables:
 
1/2 lb. haricot vert (French green beans)
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
salt and pepper, to taste

Start by making your beurre blanc.  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and saute shallots until translucent.  Add wine, lemon juice, and thyme and reduce mixture by half.

Add the cream and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce by two-thirds.

Remove from the heat, but keep warm.  Whisk in the butter, an ounce at a time, moving back to the heat if necessary.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Strain mixture and hold warm.

Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.  Dredge salmon in flour, patting off any excess.

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan and add salmon, skin-side down (or presentation side if you've removed the skin).  Cook to desired temperature and set aside.

Season your vegetables and saute under medium high heat (you can use the same pan as the salmon, if you'd like - make sure to wipe out any excess grease).

To plate, place a mound of vegetables in the center of the plate.  Top with salmon fillet and beurre blanc.

This was a meal we enjoyed out on our back deck.  It was such a lovely summertime meal.  Hope you guys are having a great week so far!

Citrus-Thyme Beurre Blanc

Happy Wednesday ya'll!

I already feel so accomplished today.  I've worked out (went for a grueling hot 3 mile run!), gone grocery shopping, and mailed off some bills!  And now I'm even doing a blog post!  I'll have to use up my free time as much as I can, because after next week, it's back to school I go!

Anyway, I've been on a sauce kick lately (can't you tell?!) and I want to share another one of my favorite sauces.  A beurre blanc - translated to "white butter".  It's basically an emulsion of white wine/white wine vinegar and butter.  Throw in some herbs, citrus, or pretty much anything, and your possibilities are endless!  Today I'll be doing a Citrus-thyme beurre blanc because those are the flavors I have on hand, but feel free to play with the combinations of flavors!

One important thing to remember with beurre blancs, unless used right away, you need to keep them warm.  However, they can't get too hot (over 136F), or the emulsion will break, releasing the butter fat.  This can be fixed though if you allow the mixture to cool to about 110-120F and then rewhisk the emulsion.  The beurre blanc also can't get too cold.  If the temperature gets below 85F, then the butter fat will solidify.  Reheating it will separate the mixture into butter fat and water.  No rewhisking in the world can save it after that.  You could, however, use it as a softened flavored butter, just not a beurre blanc.  Anyway, let's get to it!

Ingredients:

1/4 oz. champagne/white wine vinegar (I used an orange champagne vinegar from Trader Joe's)
1 oz. white wine, like a chardonnay
juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper (white, if you have it), to taste
1/4 oz. shallot, minced
1 sprig of thyme
4 oz. butter, cut into 1 oz. portions, chilled

In a small saucepan, combine the white wine, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, and shallot under medium to medium high heat.  Reduce the mixture to about 2 tablespoons of liquid.  If too much liquid is left, your sauce will be too thin.  Remove the thyme from the mixture (it'll just get in the way when you start whisking)

Turn the heat down to low and whisk in the butter, one portion at a time.  Only add the next piece of butter when the last one is almost melted in.

 

Once all the butter is incorporated, remove saucepan from heat.  Strain the mixture and hold the sauce at a temperature between 100F and 130F or use right away.

A beurre blanc is perfect for topping seafood, chicken, or even beef!  Another versatile sauce that has many different flavors and applications.  Keep these babies in your arsenal when you want to impress - and stay tuned to what I end up doing with my beurre blanc!

Steak Allemande

 

How was everyone's weekend?

Ours was pretty fun!  I had to work Saturday night, but I had Sunday off.  We spend the day at a cookout for a friend's birthday.  We played volleyball for the majority of the afternoon - which was extremely fun, but also extremely exhausting!  We definitely weren't ready for it to be Monday though!

So we made allemande sauce last Friday.  Like I said, it is one of my favorite sauces and it goes very well with steak or chicken.  We had ourselves a fancy little steak dinner on Friday night (so much cheaper than going out!) and this is how we put it together! 

Ingredients:


2 NY Strip Steaks (or cut of your choice!)
Allemande Sauce, warmed
1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, halved
1/2 lb. red potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for rubbing steaks
salt and pepper, to taste

Light a grill under medium high heat and preheat your oven to 425 F.

In a large bowl, combine the brussels sprouts and potatoes with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet and roast for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Rub olive oil on both sides of steaks.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  Grill the steaks to desired doneness.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

To plate, place a decent amount of the roasted vegetables on the center of the plate.  Lean steak on top of vegetables.  Finish plate with allemande sauce. 

Voila!  Fancy dinner at home.  And oh. so. easy. 

Hope you guys have a great start to your week!

Allemande Sauce

 

Happy Friday everybody!

This quarter at school finally came to a close yesterday after I took my last final!  Hooray two weeks of freedom!  I've already started my "school-vacation" by redoing the bathroom - mainly just buying a new shower curtain, MAJOR dusting, some new rugs, and a few other odds and ends.  I'll have to post before and after pictures because it's definitely going to be "brighter"!

Anyway, I've got a sauce for ya today.  It's one that you don't see very often, and I have no idea why!  It's one of my favorites and it can go on practically any protein, although it's mostly used on meat and chicken.

This is actually a two for one post today - an Allemande is a small sauce to a mother sauce - Veloute.  So we've got to learn how to make a Veloute before we can make an Allemande.  But most of you probably already know how to make a Veloute.  Oh you don't think so?  Well... have you ever made a basic gravy?  Why yes?!  Well, my friends.  You've made a veloute - basically just a fancy way of saying gravy.  Who knew?! 

Well, let's get to it!

Ingredients:

Veloute:

1 oz. butter
1 oz. flour
2 & 1/2 cups chicken, beef, or fish stock
salt and pepper (white, if you have it), to taste


Allemande:

2 cups veloute sauce
1 eggs yolks
3 oz. heavy cream
1/8 oz. lemon juice
salt and pepper (white), to taste

Let's start by making our veloute.  In a large saucepan, heat up the butter under medium high heat.  Add the flour and stir.  This is a roux!  We'll want to cook it just until it's blonde in color.

Gradually add in your stock of choice (I used beef since this is going with a steak dish).  You'll want to be whisking constantly in order to prevent any lumps from forming.  Once the stock is incorporated, bring the mixture to a boil. 

 

Then reduce to a simmer and let reduce for about 30 minutes (about 2 cups).

Strain the mixture to remove any leftover lumps.  Voila, veloute.  This you can jar up and keep for a few days, no problem.  But we're taking it a couple steps further.

So for our allemande, place the veloute in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.  I have an abundance of rosemary at the moment, so I threw in a sprig of that to add a little more dimension to the sauce. 

Meanwhile, in a stainless steel bowl, whip the egg yolks with the heavy cream.  This will create what's called a "liaison."  Ladle about 1/3 of the veloute in with the yolks, whisking constantly.  This, of course, is the process of "tempering." 

Gradually add the tempered liaison to the saucepan with the rest of the veloute, whisking constantly.

Do not let the mixture come to a boil, this will curdle the eggs - and you don't want that.

Add the lemon juice and season mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.

Strain mixture for any leftover lumps and serve right away.

We ended up topping a nice grilled NY Strip with the sauce, but the possibilities are endless!  You can even mold the Allemande with different flavor possibilities too - fresh herbs, tomato paste, horseradish, mushrooms - whatever pairs well with the meal you're serving! 

Enjoy guys - and have a great weekend!  And stay tuned to see what awesome dish that this sauce lands on =)

Chicken Egg Foo Young

So after a recent trip to Happy China - just your run-of-the-mill take-out Chinese place, I decided to stray from the ordinary, and delve into some Egg Foo Young.

This was my first experience with Egg Foo Young, so I really had no idea what to expect.  After getting the take-out home, I discovered that it was pretty much just an amped-up omelette with a special "gravy".  It was tasty though, a little greasy, but maybe it was supposed to be that way?  I don't know.

Anyway, for breakfast/brunch yesterday, I decided to tackle Egg Foo Young at home.  The result was something much less greasy, and with tons more flavor!

Ingredients:

Egg Mixture:


3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 green onions, chopped
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup sliced portobello mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
6 eggs, slightly beaten

Sauce:

1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

In a large skillet under medium high heat, add vegetable oil and heat until shimmering.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet.  Cook until white throughout, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside in a large bowl.

Adding more oil if necessary, add ginger, green onions, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and green peppers to skillet.  Saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until vegetables start to soften.  Season with salt and pepper. 
Add vegetables to large bowl with the chicken.

Pour eggs into bowl with vegetables and chicken, and combine.

Heat a non-stick skillet under medium high heat, adding about a tablespoon of oil.  Add about half of the egg mixture to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until eggs have solidified.  Carefully fold half of the mixture over (like an omelet) and cook for an additional minute or 2, or until cooked throughout.

Repeat with remaining egg mixture.

For the sauce, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring mixture to a boil.

Make a slurry with the cold water and cornstarch.  As soon as the chicken broth mixture is at a boil, at the cornstarch slurry.  Heat for about 1-2 minutes, or until mixture thickens.  Pour gravy over eggs.

This was definitely delicious.  We had 2 huge Egg Foo Youngs and we both only ate half of it.  Not that we didn't like it, but we were just so full!  These things seriously pack a lot of stuff in!  Feel free to vary up the toppings, just like an ordinary omelette - but it's really the sauce that makes these special!

Have a great Tuesday guys, and see you all tomorrow!