Michael Symon's Cast Iron Pork Pie 10.24.11

Kale... Where have you been all my life???  Doesn't it seem like Kale came out of nowhere as an ingredient?

Now, you can't read a blog without hearing about the benefits.  Here's the Wikipedia paragraph that lists everything it does for you...

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties.^[1] Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying do not result in significant loss.^[2] Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.^[3][4] Kale is also a good source of carotenoids.^[5]

How can you not cook every recipe you find with this as an ingredient!

Like this.  Think Shepherd's Pie.  It's pretty basic, cooked meat, some type of filler for the meat and top with smashed potatoes and some cheese.  Reheat till the cheese is melted and just starting to char a bit.

Michael's recipe is terrific, click HERE to see The Chew website for his recipe.

I followed the recipe exact.  Then I started to think about it a bit.  Michael used nutmeg and cinnamon as spices.  Fine if you like savory, with just a bit of seasonings.  Me, I was after a kick.

A few days ago I blogged about Michael's spicy tomato blue cheese soup.  It was a terrific soup that uses sriracha sauce to add heat and I was in love with the soup.  I added just 1/2 a cup of the soup to the dish.  Not really enough to make it a stew at all, but enough to add that heat spice that I was after (and I love to use leftovers as an ingredient to stretch the foods I love).

I also had made some of Clinton Kelly's Texas Nachos a few days ago.  I used almost a whole jar of spicy queso cheese for the nachos.  I had maybe 1/2 cup left in the bottom of the jar.  I followed Michael's directions, but also added the leftover queso cheese on top of the cheddar.  Again, a nice little extra spice kick to the savory recipe.

And finally, as a tribute to Daphne, I doubled the amount of kale.  I had a BIG cast iron skillet.  needed to add something for volume, may as well add more of the healthiest ingredient.

And while I do not know about the taste of Michael's original recipe (I can only imagine).  I am sure it tasted just fine (think a really great Irish recipe).  I think I liked the extra spicy kick with my changes better.

It's just as good as you can imagine!

Clinton Kelly's Beef Bourguignon 10.13.11

It's the stuff of legends.  The show did a wonderful tribute to Julia Child; leaving out a tribute to Julie Powell of the movie and blog, Julie and Julia fame.  I would be bold enough to say that since the movie came out and with the dish being featured so prominently, Boeuf Bourguignon has taken on near mythic proportions.

But, as Clinton pointed out, in reality, it's beef stew.  A really really good beef stew, but non the less, it's beef stew.

In France, the dish is considered a "peasant dish".  This means it is a dish made from the less desirable ingredients left after the land lords were paid their rent with the best.  So, easy to grow root vegetables, lesser fattier cuts of meat and what ever happens to be left becomes... Stew!

About the only luxury item would be the red wine that is used to braise the beef as it cooks.  Even that, in days of yore (in France) was a peasant drink as table wine was almost mandatory because of the condition of the drinking water.

Even in the city, this dish can be made with the table scraps left over from the rich folks tables.

Kind of de-mystifies the snooty way to say "Boeuf Bourguignon".  It's just beef stew.

The recipe Clinton uses is a classic.  Beef browned in bacon fat and the meat slow simmered (braised) in red wine.  You can see the recipe by following THIS LINK (click the blue letters)  I did make a few small changes...

First, the recipe calls for a "bouquet Garni".  That's kind of a tea bag filled with spices like bay leaves, thyme and parsley.  I used some fresh Rosemary and left out the Thyme.  As far as parsley, it is a very colorful garnish, but does not really add much to the taste.  So, these bigger spices could just be laid on top and you can easily skip the time consuming step of making the "bouquet Garni".  You just need to remember to pick these out of the dish before you serve it.

Next, the recipe calls for braising the meat on a bed of the vegetables.  This is fine and correct, but...

I think Daphne Oz missed a chance to make this a tad more healthy.  I simply doubled the amount of carrots, pearl onions and mushrooms... more veggies.  These veggies take on the flavors of the wine, the beef and the bacon and are delicious.  BUT, they also take on the color of the red wine broth.  By doubling the amount of veggies, I was able to make my bed for the beef to rest on, plus, as you can see in the photo above, I was able to add some of the veggies on the top to be steam cooked.  This adds a slightly different taste, but also allows for a more colorful presentation.  Makes the dish look more worthy of the mystique.

  
My next change was to used canned peas.  They were pre cooked, so adding them at the beginning of the 2-3 hour cook time would have made just liquid peas.  Again, that is actually fine, but you lose the unique taste of the peas and the color contrast of the peas and carrots for your presentation.  It's just prettier to add them during the last 10 minutes over the top (drain them).

BTW, in the last step of the recipe (follow THIS LINK (click the blue letters)), it is implied that you can and should stir the stew as it cooks.  Especially if you add half the veggies on the top, there is just no need and in fact you would lose the flavor, color and texture contrast that my method achieves.  Do not stir.

And finally, there is a HUGE hole in the recipe...

The broth left in the dutch oven you cook this in makes the most AMAZING gravy...

Gravy is easy... Remove the stew, leaving about 2 cups of liquid in the bottom of the dutch oven.  bring to a simmer, whisk in flour about a TBS at a time (I needed 4 TBS for my gravy) to thicken to your desired consistency

Serve with mashed potatoes (or butter noodles is good too).

AND DO NOT FORGET THE GRAVY!  Not as pretty, so you may want to serve in a gravy boat to be added individually, but the gravy is not to be missed!

Mario Batali's Beef Braciole With Potato Salad 10.12.11

I was drawn to this recipe from the glowing review of the potato salad.  Served warm with a dijon mustard vinaigrette, with raw red onions and scallions and seasoned with fennel seeds.  I was intrigued by the idea of the onions being softened by the warm potatoes.  No cooking of the onions.  As Mario explained, they retained their snap, with just enough wilt to take the raw onion taste out of the finished dish.

And what a winner!  This is a terrific cold weather potato salad.  Served warm, as you can see in the photos, the onions did soften up.

And what a beautiful salad.  The red of the potato skins, the complimentary red of the onions and the contrasting green of the scallions makes this just about the prettiest potato salad I have ever seen.  And with the white of the potatoes, the colors of the Italian flag will make this a saved recipe for my next Columbus day party (any excuse)!

I followed the recipe from the website exactly.  You can see that by clicking HERE.

I did take some liberties with the beef braciole recipe.  No good reason other than economics and that mario gave permission to experiment while he was making the recipe on the show.

An American braciole is a rolled meat dish.  I love rolled meat dishes.  The stuffing inside the meat acts as a marinade from the inside that seasons and flavors the dish while it cooks.  Always the best tasting meat, so filled with flavors!

Mario uses eye of round steak.  I had a couple of 6 ounce KC Strips (also called just strip steaks, NY Strips, Club steaks).  I used a meat mallet to smash them flat.  You only want the meat to be about 1/2 inch thick.

Mario uses sage leaves.  I did not have any, but I did have a few Basil leaves, so basil it is!

Mario also uses pecorino Romano cheese.  I had some feta left over.  Feta is a cheese I love, but do not keep in stock.  Once I had opened the package for a recipe, I was looking for a use for the rest before it goes bad.  This completely changed the taste of the braciole completely.  Not bad, just different.

There are some tips that Mario covers on the episode.  You can see clips, including this segment, on The Chew website for that episode (Click HERE).  Mario grilled his on the stove top... I grilled mine in my grill.

You can read Mario's recipe on The Chew website by clicking HERE.  But as Mario points out on the show, a braciole is a great way to use up leftovers.  Just a little bit goes a long way to making a steak into something special!

Adam Richman's Roasted Chicken Soup 10.3.11

I was very much looking forward to today's episode.  Adam Richman of Man vs Food fame was the guest.  Man vs Food is one of those guilty pleasures.  The show features Adam visiting a town and attempting to eat up to 7 pounds of a restaurant's specialty food (or painfully spicy hot food).  If he eats the challenge, Man wins!  If he can not, food wins.  Guilty pleasure indeed, considering the chefs are insulted by watching their work go unappreciated for it's quality, and society in general is insulted by the vulgar amounts of food wasted.  Since food styling and food shows are now commonly referred as "Food Porn", Man vs Food must be considered the Hustler Magazine of options.

But, I can't help myself.  It's the train wreck I love to watch.

Adam's segment was fun to watch.  He actually cooked.  The recipe published on the website (click HERE) is more Asian chicken stock soup.  It was fun to have Adam's mother in the audience to help add banter.  I do wish there was a segment added to allow more of Adam to be shown (his show, his stories must be entertaining about the last three years).  Would have been interesting to have Daphne Oz (the health expert) discuss the show with Adam,  BUT, 2 segments, a great recipe and enough to get to know the guest just a bit more than I had before.

As to the recipe, I made a few changes.

First, I have a homemade chicken stock.  The recipe calls for simmering the chicken stock for an hour... why???  There was mention of adding carrots, celery, trinity, etc. on the show, but I had done all that when I made the stock.  Just not sure what the purpose of a slow simmer is to my stock... So I didn't do that.

Click the Photo to see
ChiliDawg's website

Next, I have a limit as to how many extra ingredients I will buy for a recipe.  I bought the Sriracha the recipe (and Adam strongly) recommended.  I did not have any Duck sauce.  But I researched a bit and decided I could substitute a bit of ChiliDawg's PEACHbanero pepper sauce in place of the Duck sauce.

Go ahead, check up on what exactly Duck sauce is and this is a suitable substitute (which adds lots of interesting ways to use the sauce... but I digress).

I also had no Miso paste.  Again, a bit of research I decided I could use a thick Worcestershire sauce.  That's why if you look at my soup and compare to the shot from the show, mine is darker.

And finally, I used remains from a store bought rotisserie chicken.  I love my rotisserie chickens.  So cheap, so easy to find and so perfectly cooked!

I did make a paste of the PEACHbanero and Sriracha sauce. I then mixed the chicken bits with the new sauce and baked in a covered casserole dish for about 30 minutes to heat thoroughly.

With these changes in mind, I made the recipe as instructed on the site (and in the show).  It was very very easy to make and quite delicious.  Loved the glass noodles, the oriental taste and of course, Sriracha sauce is legendary for it;s unique spiced taste.  Mother's milk to many!

It was a terrific episode for the view.  I am wondering if the View episodes will be rerun during vacation times (or if the guests rotate time off so that the show is fresh each day).  If it is, I will want to give Michael Symon's Lola Burger a try.

Paula Deen's Stuffed Pork Chops with Grits 9.29.11

By far, the best day on the Chew.  The pace has slowed (Thank you).  The recipes are just a tad more intricate (except this one). And best of all, the guests are allowed time.  Time for a story, time to get a little personal and time to fully cook a recipe.

This was a terrific recipe.  What else could you expect from Miss Paula?  I love the character of Paula Dean. I love the story (single Mom, making it work any way she could), and such a success story!  It was such a treat to see her interview.

The recipe was painfully simple.  She did call for a bone in chop.  My store had boneless chops on sale, so I lost a bit of the flavor.  I also Decided to add the slit myself, risking a finger or a knife through the side. Just be careful, cut slowly (SHARP knife of course) and you can easily cut this yourself.

I also add a rub to the outside of the chop.

I chose a simple rub, actually a store bought BBQ rub.  But I did add some brown sugar to the rub (about 2 parts (OK, 2 TBS) rub to 1 part (1 TBS) brown sugar).  The brown sugar melts as it cooks, leaving a beautiful glaze on the chop as it cooks.

Grilling is simple.  About 4-5 minutes per side.  You can get the diamond look by having a HOT grill ready when you start.  Cook for 3 minutes, then turn 90 degrees and cook for another three minutes.

Also, with this recipe, it is VITAL that you use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature.  The sausage MUST be 140 degrees to 160 (I recommend 140, Paula recommends 160).  The chops could be done long before the sausage is.  Big risk if you cook by time and the look of the outside.  Cook by internal Temperature.

I flavored the grits with a spicy pepper spread.

Paula's recipe and her comments on the show made a delicious grit.  She advises adding Cream Cheese and of course extra butter.  the cream cheese really added a lot with the sweet, creaminess contrasting with the grittiness of the texture of the grits.  Delicious.

But, a heaping TBS of ChiliDawg's brand MANGOnero (Mango and Habanero blend) spread really kicked the grits up a notch.  paired great with the milder seasoning I used for the chop.  Grits, on their own, are not very flavorful (although Miss Paula's were).  I like to add a spice to them, or a fruit jam to add just a bit more.

So, with these hints, tips in mind, this is one of those recipes I pretty much followed the recipe to the letter.  The good folks at the chew have a printable version of the recipe on their website (click HERE).  It's just kind of a throwaway direction as an option, but I really recommend using the Cream Cheese in the grits.  Adds a LOT.

Best episode yet.  The pace is settling in, the cast is settling in... Big changes in just 4 days!

Carla Hall's Smothered Lemon Chicken with Peas and Carrots 9.28.11

See the Turkey in the middle???

How about the Turkey and Hearts...

There was a quick aside comment on Day 3 of the chew while Carla was making her recipe that this was a deconstructed pot pie.

So, very simply, I grabbed a couple of cookie cutters, a sheet of Puff Pastry and (at 350 degrees) in 16 minutes, I had the makings of an actual deconstructed Pot Pie!

I did select the Turkey as this is a terrific idea for a Thanksgiving Turkey leftover dish.  As well as a rotisserie chicken recipe.  Sure the recipe calls for chicken, but no reason you can't just sub some turkey leftovers.

As to the show (The Chew)... This comes from day three of the show.  And, by far, the best show of the series.  Instead of the ridiculous pace of 5 recipes a show, we were treated to a multi part interview and recipe from Joy Behar (Lasagna).  For what it's worth, in my opinion, The multi segment gives enough time to enjoy the recipe and see the personality of the cook.  Sure, this was a guest star, but it is time to get to know the cast better.

But I digress...

But before I get to the recipe, I will try to justify my point... With this recipe.  This would have been a perfect opportunity to start a Cooking 201 series.  Not just a list of recipes that come together fast and easy, but get deeper into the more advanced basics.

Like gravy.

During the cooking demo, Carla kept talking about white gravy and milk gravy.  She also was adding flour at different stages with no explanation of why flour, what it did, and why she added some early and at the end.  Gravy is not terribly complicated, but it can be a make or break ingredient for a dish.

Again, just my opinion, but I sure do recall the first time I made gravy.  With the fast pace of the show, I think I would have been intimidated by this recipe without some experience (or more details on the show).

But, I do make gravy, and I was excited to make this recipe...

Since just the day before I had bought about 4 1/2 pounds of chicken!  At an INCREDIBLE price.  I am cheap.  Actually, I am very cheap.  I live on a budget, spending a limit of $100 a week on food.  I always shop sales, and take advantage with a freezer full of what was on sale last week, month (and sometimes longer).

Took a little extra work, as Carla's recipe called for boneless skinless.  These were bone in, skin on, which is actually much better, holds the flavor in, keeps the moisture in and the bone adds to the taste.  It was a simple matter of pulling the meat from the bone and discarding the skin.  $0.89 cents VRS a sale price of $2.25 a pouind, I can remove the bone and skin myself.

I made enough of the Puff Pastry cookies to line the bottom of a plate/bowl, and a few extras for the top to complete the deconstructed "pretty" presentation.

Click this photo to see THE CHEW's website link to
Carla Hall's Smothered Lemon Chicken with Peas and Carrots

I followed the recipe as I saw on the show... printed HERE.  In the photo above, you do not see much white gravy.  At that stage, I added more flour which made the gravy thicker and the color whiter.

I also started tasting.  It needed pepper.

So, with those two changes, and the extra little fun presentation, I LOVED THIS!  Garlicky, Lemony, rich thick white gravy and a hint of tarragon and thyme makes this a wonderful dish.  Perfect for a family and even better when you remember this for Christmas, Thanksgiving leftovers!