Michael Symon's Pumpkin Chocolate Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce 11.16.11

I LOVES me a bread pudding!

And I LOVES me a whiskey sauce!

On the show, Michael made a Caramel Sauce that looked delicious.  BUT...

For Thanksgiving, I made a Caramel Apple Cheesecake and a traditional Pumpkin Pie to serve for dessert.

Since the cheesecake had a caramel taste, and the pumpkin pie was "kid friendly", I opted for a more adult Whiskey Sauce.

And it was delicious!

The sauce recipe is very easy...

1 stick of Butter (softened to room Temp)
1 1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup Bourbon (I like Maker's Mark)

In a small sauce pan over low heat, combine sugar and butter until the butter has melted and the sugar is absorbed.  Remove from the heat, add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking the entire time.  It is important that the yolks do not cook.  Finally, add the whiskey to taste!

As to the brad pudding...

What a great combination, pumpkin savory, with the seasonings of the season, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the chocolate for sweetness and pecans for nutty roasted aroma and texture.

Simply DELICIOUS and oh so easy to make.

From the recipe posted on the Chew Website (Click HERE), I made a few minor changes

Pre heat the oven to 325 degrees

1 3/4 cup Half and Half
3 large Eggs
1/2 tsp ground Ginger
6 cups Day old Bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1 cup pureed Pumpkin (can use can)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Toasted Pecan Pieces
1 stick melted butter
Whole pecans to garnish

In a Kitchenade mixer or large bowl, combine 1/2 and 1/2, Pumpkin, Sugar, Eggs, and seasonings
Add the Bread Cubes, mix gently (do not mix the cubes so much they reduce to crumbs).
Add the Pecan pieces, melted butter and Chocolate Chips and mix again (carefully)

Transfer to a prepared baking dish, bake for 45 minutes, until the custard is set.
 About 15 minutes before it is done, add a few whole pecans to the top for a pretty presentation!

Best served warm and best served with the whiskey sauce!!!

Simply delicious... A bit savory, a bit sweet and a bit whiskey; a real crowd pleaser!

Michael Symon's Mac and Cheese Casserole 11.11.11

I think next time I need to read the recipe just a little closer.  Instead of tossing the breadcrumbs with parsley at the end, I ran bread crumbs and parsley through a few pulses of a food processor.  Came out with that slightly unappetizing green colored topping.

Today's recipe Tasted fantastic!  Bacon and nutmeg and the addition of sweet creamy mascarpone cheese certainly makes the taste of this side dish stand out.  But adding the parsley colored bread crumbs took just a bit of the joy from the final product.

But that's just aesthetics, the taste left nothing to be desired, it was absolutely as good as hoped!

In addition to the slight error (again, my fault, the recipe clearly says to toss together, not sure what got into my head to pulse), I made a few slight changes in the recipe.

Michael used a rigatoni tube shaped pasta.  For Mac and Cheese, I like to use a Fusilli shaped spiral pasta.  i think the cheese that gets into the spiral is the perfect balance of cheese and pasta.

I also chose to use a high fiber whole wheat pasta.  After all, what's good for the American Colon is good for the USA!

And I served this as a side dish with a delicious spicy Cajun spiced Blackened Pork Chop!  Perfectly balancing the creamy sweetness of the cheese and the heat of the peppered chop.

Here's what I did...

1 pound Bacon
3 TBS Flour
1 Onion, diced
1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced
2 cloves Garlic, smashed and minced
1 Quart 1/2 and 1/2
pinch Nutmeg
Bunch of chopped Parsley
1 pound Whole Wheat Fusilli
1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese
1 cup Mascarpone
2 cups bread crumbs

The dish is very very easy... Make the pasta as directed (al dente actually, cook 1 minute under the time recommended)
Preheat oven to 375
Cook bacon, drain and chop.
Add onion and squash to the bacon grease and saute until the onion is translucent.  Add the garlic and mix.
Slowly add the flour to the remaining grease and stir to make a roux.  Keep stirring until it softens and liquefies.
Slowly add the 1/2 & 1/2 while mixing and bring to a simmer.
Add in 1/2 of the Gruyere and nutmeg and stir until all of the cheese has melted.
Add the Mascarpone and continue to mix until melted and incorporated into the cheese
Add the pasta and mix

TOSS  the bread crumbs with the parsley and remaining gruyere and sprinkle over the mixture
Bake for 8 minutes

And ENJOY (highly recommend serving this with a spicy Cajun Blackened Pork Chop!

Michael Symon's Sweet Potato Gratin 11.10.11

Happy Thanksgiving indeed, as this is one of the suggested side dishes.  It is a tad indulgent as it calls for 2 cups of heavy cream.  If you check the recipe on The Chew website (click HERE), many folks left a few alternatives to the cream.  Half and half as well as some type of coconut liquid that does not taste coconut.

Me, I indulged.

It's not a terribly complicated recipe, but my does this make just about the best ever sweet potatoes.  the cream magically absorbs the taste of the Parmesan cheese, the creaminess is simply delicious when spiced with red chilis and scallions.  And everything is better with garlic!

And that's pretty much the recipe...

Thin slice a few potatoes.

Simmer the cream with minced red chilis, sliced scallions, smashed and finely minced garlic and LOTS of Parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 375
Line a baking dish with a single layer of the cream goo
add another layer of potatoes and goo
add another layer of potatoes and goo

Baked covered with tin foil for about 35 minutes
uncover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes until you get that nice beautiful crust on teh top

Yeah, the cream adds a lot... But as far as taste, it really does add a lot.  As one of the commenters said, "Sure beats the canned yams, pineapple, marshmallow dish for the hoidays"

Michael Symon's Caramelized Onions 10.31.11

I am sorry about the terrible picture of the finished product, but I was in the midst of Halloween plans (that The Chew figured prominently in).  But, here these little sweet jewels are...

Not going to spend a lot of time talking about these, as I want to show off my Halloween...

BUT... Incredibly easy and incredibly useful little condiment.  Of course, on The Chew website you will find a delicious tutorial in print (Click HERE for the printed recipe), and also the video of Michael making his (Click HERE for the video recap).

I did make one small change (two ingredients and I still make a change... go figure).  I had fried up a pound of bacon, so i caramelized my onions in BACON FAT!!!

About the only trick is to keep the heat low so nothing gets burnt.  Be patient, it takes at least 30 minutes, sometimes more,.  Beyond that, you are waiting for the natural sugars to work their way out of the onions and then to melt and become... CARAMEL!  Well, a form of caramel any way.

I do love that The Chew crew are adding little extras to the dishes they make.  It's the little extras that really can make a dish stand out.

Like here...

It's my world (well, Cul de Sac) famous REDNECK SHEPHERD's PIE!

But I wonder, since I used the incredible warm vinaigrette potato salad using Mario Batali's recipe, should I still call it "redneck"???

It is my favorite left over dish.  Especially after a great smoke (Ribs, pulled pork and beans, not Marlboros).

Layer of leftover Smoked Beans
Layer of leftover Pulled pork
Add a can of Creamed Corn
Add a layer of these caramelized Onions
add a drizzle of BBQ sauce
Add a layer of mashed potatoes

And for the mashed potatoes this time I used the leftover warm potato salad that Mario showed The Chew back on October 12th.

It's an incredible salad, made with a vinaigrette, capers, fennel seeds, scallions and lots more.

I had just enough left over from our party last weekend to make this dish. I just warmed it up a bit, made mashed potatoes from the original salad and viola... an incredible mashed potato salad, perfect top top my former Redneck Shepherd's pie.

Guess I need to start calling this my Mario Batali Redneck Shepherd's pie!

Which we served to my favorite taste tester just before we settled into our annual Norman Rockwell Halloween.  My neighborhood is pretty popular for trick or treaters.  It's a neighborhood of 4 bedroom houses, so everyone has kids.  My wife and I and our neighbors join forces, sit out on our drive way and hand out candy, bouncy balls and light sticks.

We also dress for the occasion...

That's my wife on the left as my Spoon, my favorite taste tester neighbors, Jim and Herme as my knife and fork...

And here's me as...

The IRON Chef !!!

And, in hopes that Michael Symon would stop by for a memorable Halloween...

The secret ingredient was Bacon... Chocolate Bacon Buttons for all the Mom's and Dads (well, the first 100 moms and dads, that's how many I made with a pound of bacon and 1 bag of Chocolate Chips.

Happy Halloween from the suburbs...

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!

Michael Symon's Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup 10.18.11

It was soup day!!!

I love soups.  And the whole day did not disappoint.  This was a close call, as there was a gulf shrimp and grits soup recipe that looked really good as well.  But, in the end I decided to go with what I had in stock.

BTW, just a couple of days earlier I was shopping at Sam's Club, the big Costco-like warehouse store.and spied a HUGE can of tomatoes for less than $3.  Serendipity.

Click the photo above to see my
review of Michael's other Tomato Soup

I did find this interesting that Michael would post a second tomato soup just a few days apart.  Interesting, but there is very little comparison.  The soup that he used as an accent for a fancy grilled cheese was a quicky (it really did come together in about 5 minutes).  Savory seasoned, with Cumin and thick, almost like a dip.

Whereas, this is a spicy soup, seasoned with Sriracha sauce (the hot "rooster" sauce).  The spice is cut a bit with cream and blue cheese, but it is spiced instead of savory.

I made a few changes...

I was all set to add the chicken stock to the soup as it was cooking.  But, since the juices from the big can of tomatoes was added, as the tomatoes cooked down, what was left was still a thick soup (as I like).  Adding stock would have thinned it out too much for my taste.  I added 1/4 cup of stock, but saw the beautiful thick luscious soup being thinned and stopped at that small amount.

The soup also calls for a tiny amount of fresh oregano.  First, I did not have any, second, I was using canned tomatoes at the height of tomato picking season and third, I have a pretty good dried spice mix that I use (combined with a little bit of lemon zest).  This way, I was able to make this a pantry soup, something I generally have all of the ingredients on hand.

BTW, I make my own Mediterranean spice mix I call, "Not Your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence".  You will be seeing this ALOT.  It's a fast way to add that special savory taste to any dish.  I make about 2 cups worth a month and bit by bit, it is gone!  Tastes great on everything from eggs to chicken and anything in between!

While Oregano spice on it's own is fine, It was so much easier to just add a couple of TBS of this...

Here's my formula...

• 1 part dried tarragon
• 1 part dried Oregano
• 1 part dried Dill
• 1 part dried Rosemary
• 1 part dries Thyme
• 1 part dried Garlic Flakes
• 1/2 part course grind Sea Salt
• 1/2 part fresh ground Peppercorns
• 1/2 part fresh Lemon Zest
  Note: if I know I am going to use this up in a week or two, I will go ahead and zest the lemon.  Sometimes I make enough to last a month or two with no real plans to use it.  On those occasions, I do not add lemon zest, instead I will add fresh zest as I make whatever recipe I am using the spice mix.

And I made a very simple grilled cheese (just provolone) to go with the soup!

You can see Michael's original recipe by clicking HERE.  I did simmer the tomatoes much longer than Michael implied, about 2 hours at a very low simmer.  In my opinion, it breaks the tomatoes down better, allowing the sweetness to come through... before we added to Sriracha sauce!!!

The recipe made a huge pot.  Easily a dozen servings.  Perfect for a cool fall weeknight and plenty of lunches afterwards.  And with the very inexpensive huge box store can of tomatoes, this comes in at less than a dollar a serving.  The budget buster is the blue cheese, but if you shop carefully, it is a great budget saving soup!

I mean WOW, great taste, a pantry soup and a budget dream!

Michael Symon’s Spinach and Feta Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup 10.11.11

This is one fancy toasted cheese sandwich!

It was part of an Iron Chef throwdown featuring Michael and Mario Batali (using guest judge, Marimoto).  While Mario's sandwich looked delicious (An Italian Ham and Cheese), it took some pretty exotic ingredients, fennel Salami, Fontina and pickled peppers.  Stuff I rarely if ever have in my pantry.  I hate the idea of shopping to make a sandwich.  And since I had just used up the last of my summer basil to make some pesto, I had a bit of pine nuts, the only luxury item I usually do not stock in Michael's sammy.

BTW, Marimoto whimped out and did not choose a winner of the "contest".  Sure, it's all in fun, but if the producers are going to go to the trouble of having a guest, doing the groundwork for a contest and teasing us with the tasting; just felt a little cheated.

Michael had a clever addition to his sandwich.  The assignment was to make a sandwich in 5 minutes (easy enough when you have all the ingredients mise en placed and pre-cut).  Michael, in true Iron Chef fashion, added a quickie tomato soup as a garnish for the sandwich.

I mean really, what's more "all-American" (the theme for the day) than grilled cheese and tomato soup?

I did need to fudge a bit with the ingredients to the soup.  I made mine extra thick, almost a dipping sauce for the sandwich.  Michael's recipe calls for a can of tomato puree.  I neither had any, nor have I ever seen this in the store.  So, I assumed and used a can of diced tomatoes and then used my wand mixer to puree them myself.

You can see Michael's recipe on The Chew website by clicking HERE.

Here's what I did...

1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cream

Heat the diced tomatoes in a sauce pan (do not drain, water and all) until the juices begin to simmer.
Add the tomato paste and mix well
Add the seasonings and continue to simmer
Add the cream to desired consistency and creaminess

The soup really did come together in just 5 minutes.  This is a gem of a recipe.  Uses ingredients I always have in stock, the cumin really shines and the thick dipping sauce I made can easily be thinned by leaving out the tomato paste.  5 minute tomato soup... I love it!!!

As to the sandwich, equally a winner!  Kind of a Greek toasted cheese.  I made the sandwich exactly as Michael recommends on the website (and in the show), click HERE.  He does saute his spinach in butter.  While indeed tasty, I think i would just use a nice extra virgin olive oil next time.

Also, pine nuts... HATE EM.  Not for the taste, but for the outrageous price.  I happened to have a small handful left from a pesto I had made a couple of days ago.  Ordinarily I never have these in stock.  Just a matter of timing that I had this luxury budget busting ingredient on hand.

Next time I make this with walnuts or pecans.  You would lose the total Greek-ness of the recipe, but move this to a lunch sandwich made with ingredients in your pantry.

And the Feta was AMAZING!

Michael Symon's Grilled Banana, Bacon, Chocolate and Hazelnut Sandwich 10.7.11

There must be a dirty word that the host's of The Chew are not allowed to say...

NUTELLA

Throughout the segment, they simply referred to the Chocolate/Hazelnut spread.  Whoa to anyone with an urge to give this a try, but are not aware.

Although personally, I think Nutella should be appointed it's own food group on the charts.  It is a name brand and believe it or not, there are other brands advertising themselves as chocolate/hazelnut, so I guess I can see the need to be coy about the name.

But come on... it's Nutella!

I do think that Michael Symon missed an opportunity with this recipe.  On the show, he advises buttering the bread before you toast the sandwich.

Much as he is such an advocate of bacon fat (the rendered grease after frying up the bacon), why not just toast the sandwich in the bacon fat.... YUM!

This is one of those recipes where everything is in the title.

It's a sandwich, so you need a couple slices of bread (I make my own, but on the show, Michael just uses a couple of slices of a store bought loaf).

Nutella spread

Bananas (sliced lengthwise)

Bacon

Assemble the sandwich and fry in a thin layer of bacon fat (or butter the bread and toast as Michael does in the show).

The Chew website does have a recipe posted, Click HERE.  Although for some reason they leave off the banana in the title and in their photo (it is in the recipe and was shown on the show).

As to the taste... this ranks as an incredible OMG !!!  Sure, it's an odd combination, hot bananas, chocolate and bacon, but it all comes together perfect.  As I said, Nutella can do no wrong.  I am filing this away for family visits.  Think Thanksgiving or Christmas morning with lots of kids and grandkids.  This is a HOME RUN!