McGowen BMT Sliders

My buddy Cliff made these tomato sliders for one of our dinner club parties and I promised him I would post them. That was in June. (I'm a little behind on the blogging).

Simple and quick recipe was really tasty and a great way to take advantage of fresh veggies in the summer time. Fresh basil, marinated mozzarella, tomatoes, and carmelized oninons. We also topped half with bleu cheese instead of mozz and they were even better. Grilling the buns is key

Morel Mushrooms

I included some pics from my recent mushroom hunt. I found these on my sister's property a couple of weeks ago (actually she found 3 of the 4. Thanks sis!). We cut them in half, soaked them in saltwater to kill any critters and had them for dinner. The recipe was pretty simple, just as my Grandpa Weber used to do. Flour, salt, pepper dredge and saute in butter. They tasted pretty darn good but next time I'm going to try something a little more complex that will let the flavor of the shrooms come through.




Before



After

Egg Drop Soup

Inspired by Kenji's post on seriouseats.com, I decided to give egg drop soup a try. As usual, his recipe turned out very tasty and satisfying. Next up, hot and sour soup.

1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
4 ounces chinese ham, chinese dried sausage, or slab bacon - I used 3 strips of bacon
6 scallions, greens thinly sliced, whites left whole
1-inch knob of ginger
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
Kosher salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 whole eggs

1. Combine stock, ham, scallion whites, ginger, and peppercorns in a small stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain broth, discard solids, and season to taste with salt.

2. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl and mix with a fork until homogeneous. Whisk into broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low.

3. Whisk together eggs and remaining teaspoon cornstarch until homogeneous. Transfer eggs to a small bowl and hold the tines of a fork or two chopsticks over the edge of it. Swirl the soup once with a large spoon, then slowly drizzle egg mixture into soup. Allow soup to sit for 15 seconds, the stir gently to break up the egg to desired size. Sprinkle with scallion greens and serve.

Poached Eggs on Toasted Baguette with Goat Cheese, and Black Pepper Vinaigrette

I couldn't let these ingredients go to waste so I made my Sunday brunch on Saturday. This was awesome. I will be making this next time I have overnight guests.

Ingredients
•Baguette, sliced lengthwise*
•Olive oil, to brush
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•3 ounces fresh goat cheese
•2 thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes
•4 large eggs, poached
•1 cup micro arugula
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette, recipe follows
•Fresh chervil leaves, to garnish
•*Cook's Note: Not the super skinny kind of baguette
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette
•1/4 cup white wine vinegar
•1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
•1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•1 teaspoon honey
•1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DirectionsHeat a grill pan and broiler.
Brush the halved baguette with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Put the bread onto a hot grill pan and grill cut-side down over high heat. Remove the grilled bread and spread the top of the bread with the goat cheese. Place the bread under the broiler and broil until the cheese is lightly golden brown. Top each slice of bread with a few slices of tomato and a poached egg. Cook's Note: Break the yolks on the sandwich.
Put the micro arugula in a bowl and toss with a few tablespoons vinaigrette and season with salt and black pepper. Top each egg with some of the greens and drizzle with more of the vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette:
Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, tarragon, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil, until emulsified. Whisk in the honey and black pepper.

Super Bowl Eats- Course 2&3

Potato Skins and Wangs!

Potato Skins w/ cheddar, and buffalo wings bw3's style. Word! Lazy cookin and lazy postin.

Cole Slaw

So, I love good homemade Cole Slaw. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I got it down pretty well. The Cole Slaw mix you get in the store is such a rip off and tastes like poop. Cole Slaw is cheap and easy to make and you will never buy the mix again. Follow a few simple rules and yours may turn out as tasty as mine.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar- If you want the tastiest Cole Slaw, you need to use Apple Cider Vinegar, not white vinegar, not red wine vinegar, Apple Cider only. Got it? Good.

2. Celery Seed- If you think you make good Cole Slaw and you don't use celery seed you are mistaken. Celery seed is a must, it gives it a little crunch, great flavor, and simply makes it taste like Cole Slaw. Use it!

My recipe is pretty simple, course I never really measure, I just add enough until it tastes how I like it, but I will try to estimate for all you folks out there in the Blogosphere.

Makes about 4 Servings

1/2 Head of Green Cabbage

1/4-1/2 Head of Red Cabbage

1 Carrot (grated)

1/2 Cup of Mayo

1-2 tbls of Apple Cider Vinegar

1- tbls of Sugar

1/2 tsp of Celery Seed

Salt and Pepper to taste

Half the head of cabbage, then cut into very thin shreds and mix with your carrot. I like to mix my "sauce" all together before I add it to the veggies. If you don't like it as creamy, use less mayo, if you like it creamier, add more. It's your world, I'm just livin in it. When you're happy with the "sauce" toss with the veggies to combine. Best made a day ahead to let everything come together. Enjoy!

Bacon Butter

Yeah. Thats right. Bacon Butter.

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter; room temp
3 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
2 scallions, sliced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Process:

Add bacon to food processor and chop until consistency of bacon bits. Add all other ingredients and blend until combined. Keep at room temp for best spreadability.

Nachos Carnitas

I attended an all dude, nfl playoff, mariokart on Wii, beer drinking, food-fest on Sunday. I had been wanting to make carnitas but since, another buddy already had the entree covered, I made my carnitas into nachos by adding fresh jalapenos, red onion, sour cream, cilantro and queso fresco. Turned out pretty good, however, I zested the oranges and limes before I baked that carnitas, and the exposed pith made the braising liquid too bitter. I got the recipe off of this blog:

http://www.bakingbarrister.com/2010/12/party-pork-pork-carnitas.html

Baked Calamari

On Christmas, Beth and I made some baked calamari as an appetizer. This healthier version turned out pretty well. I really wanted to get some fresh squid, but after going to 4 separate specialty markets in Columbus, I found its not "in season". So, we used a frozen package of pre-cleaned calamari from Giant Eagle ($3.99) and it was still pretty good. The key here was roasting our own red peppers for the dipping sauce. I always thought it was okay to use jarred roasted red peppers (especially if you are using them in a recipe and not eating them by themselves) however after making this recipe and tasting how sweet they were, I will be roasting my own from now on.

Ingredients:

Olive oil cooking spray
2 red bell peppers
7 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 habanero chile, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt, plus additional to taste
1/4 cup whole wheat panko
1/4 cup medium stone ground cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
fresh ground black pepper
1 egg
1 lb cleaned squid tentacles and bodies
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedge for garnish

Process:

1. Turn broiler on to high and place oven rack about 8 inches from heat source. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Cut sides of bell peppers away from cores so you have 8 flat pieces; discard core and seeds. Place on baking sheet, skin-side-up, and broil until skin is completely black, 10-12 minutes. Transfer bell peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel all black skin away from peppers and chop.

2. Turn off broiler and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic on a piece of aluminum foil and mist with cooking spray. Gather up edges of foil and pinch together at top. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Open foil packet and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and add cloves to a blender. Add bell peppers and habanero, and puree until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small bowl and season to taste with salt.

4. Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. In a gallon sided ziploc, combine the panko, cornmeal, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Slice squid bodies into about 1/2 inch pieces. Pat squid dry with paper towels. Dip a quarter of the squid in egg, shaking off excess, and add to bag with panko mixture. Seal bag and shake well to coat. Spread squid on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Repeat with remaining squid. Bake for 13-15 minutes until squid is opaque and slightly firm. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with cilantro, dip in sauce and eat it up.

THREE INGREDIENT THROWDOWN!!

CHALLENGE: Come up with a dish more delicious and inspiring than mine! And you only get three ingredients!!!!! It's crazy, I know. Maybe I'm still a little nuts from March Madness. Maybe all the new Butler bandwagon fans have finally pushed me over the edge, I mean, I'm all for them as well, but where did they all come from? Anyway, the idea just came to me as I was walking through Trader Joe's sulking about Andy's recent slap in the face. To say we don't care, wow. Jeff, I hope you are as insulted as I am. Romer, I hope you post something...anything. So, the only way for us to man up in this situation is to have a throwdown. A three ingredient throwdown.



Recipe:
1) Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara
2) Trader Joe's Frozen Shrimp
3) Trader Joe's Organic Polenta (the kind that is pre-rolled into a log)

Warm the marinara over low heat. Cut slices out of the polenta log. Fry polenta slices with butter in a skillet (preferably cast-iron) over moderate heat. When done frying the polenta, throw in the defrosted shrimp and warm up. Assemble. Lay down the polenta, place shrimp on top of polenta, then top with marinara.

This was delicious and crazy simple. It would make a wonderful appetizer for a dinner party.

Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin/Cuban Sliders

I made a pork tenderloin for dinner tonight, which made me realize that I never posted my Cuban Sliders from the Super Bowl. They are awesome and this pork is a tasty recipe all by itself or made into one of my favorite sandwichs of all time (see below for Cuban Sliders recipe). The key to the pork tenderloin is not to overcook it, I pull it when its at 148 degrees for medium (and yes people, pork can be cooked medium and you won't catch any diseases).

Pork tenderloins, Cuban style:
Adapted from a Rachel Ray Recipe

1 2/3 to 2 pounds pork tenderloin, 2 pieces, the average weight of 1 package, trimmed
Extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil, for drizzling
1 small onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 limes, zested
1 large orange, zested
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili flake
1/2 teaspoon cayenne peper

Method:

Rub tenderloins with oil and combine the rest of the ingredients in a large dish. Coat tenderloins with rub mixture and let marinade for upto 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400. Heat large cast iron skillet over high heat. Sear tenderloins on all sides, about 2 minutes per sided. Slide skillet into oven and cook until internal temp is 148 (about 20-25 minutes). Remove from pan, tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice on a bias and serve.

Tonight I opted to seared the tenderloins on one half of a preheated grill, then I killed the heat on that side and allowed them to finish on indirect heat until they reach 148. Its helpfull to have an oven thermometer for this method.

For the Cuban Sliders (makes 12):

1 recipe Cuban Style Pork Tenderloin
1 package of Hawaiian sweet bread (I used the dinner rolls for the sliders)
1/2 pound of smoked ham
1/4 pound of swiss cheese slices, cut into 4 squares (about the size of the rolls)
1/2 of mayonaise
1/4 cup of dijon mustard
Clausen pickle sandwich slices (halved)

Method:

Preheat 2 cookie sheets in a 400 degree oven. Slice the dinner rolls in half before seperating them. Mix together mayonaise and mustard. Spread mixture on both halves of the dinner rolls. Layer slider bottoms by adding, cheese, tenderloin, ham, more cheese, and a pickle. Finish with top buns and place sandwiches on one of the preheated cookie sheets. Place other cookie sheet on top and put a heavy object on top to press the sandwiched town. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until warmed through and cheese has melted.

Caprese Salad - Redesigned

Thought this was an interesting way to serve a caprese salad.

http://www.thepartydress.net/?p=2833

Beef Carpaccio

After finding out we were hosting a wine and cheese party last night, I decided I needed to add a little more protein at the party. While thinking of what meats I could provide, I thought back to all the Good Eats episodes I've seen and decided to try something I've never attempted; Beef Carpaccio. Now some people might debate if this actually counts as "cooking", as there is no real cooking involved, but I decided if I also posted the recipe for my favorite vinaigrette, it would count as an entry on this blog. As a side note, raw beef is awesome and I now love arugula.

Ingredients
8 to 10 ounces beef tenderloin (I bought a 1/2 lb prime fillet Mignon)
4 handfuls arugula
Your favorite vinaigrette (see below)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Shaved Parmesan
Directions
Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, unwrap the tenderloin and thinly slice the beef into approximately into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces. Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic. Place in a circular fashion, so when you pound the meat, it will form one thin disc. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin. Repeat until all of the meat is sliced and pounded. Divide the meat evenly among 4 chilled plates. Serve with greens tossed with vinaigrette, salt, pepper, Parmesan and a drizzle of Olive Oil.


Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar (red wine vinegar also works)
1 T lemon juice
1 T honey
1 T Dijon mustard
1.5 t Worcestershire sauce (or the pick-a-peppa sauce from my rootbeer wing recipe)
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 t dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except oil in a bowl and start whisking. Slowly stream in oil until emulsified. (store in fridge for up to 10 days.)

Rootbeer Bourbon Glazed Wings

For the super bowl we busted out the smoker and put these wings in there for about 2 hours. All I needed was a glaze to coat them. Thank you Emeril. I found this glaze on foodnetork.com, and it worked nicely. The smoking added a nice touch but you could easily grill or bake them.

As for the plethora of flavors, I didn't get a big bourbon flavor, so I would maybe increase that in the future. I also added 2 Thai bird chilies for some heat (I'll put some more in next time). The rootbeer I used was Virgil's microbrewed (whole foods, glad I had a couple extras to drink) and I actually found the Pick-A-Peppa sauce at world market (which by the way is a great place to buy spices). This recipe made about 40 wings and there was glaze left over.

Glaze:
2 (12-ounce) cans/bottles root beer
2 tablespoons hot pepper jelly
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons steak sauce (recommended: Emeril's Steak Sauce)
1 teaspoon Caribbean Pick-A-Peppa sauce
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 teaspoons bitters (recommended: Angostura)
1 cup bourbon
1 cup sugar
2 thai bird chilies

Method:

To make the glaze, place all of the ingredients for the glaze in a 6-quart pot or larger, and cook over medium-high heat. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to reduce to a glaze consistency, about 25 to 30 minutes longer. Remove the glaze from the stove and strain though a fine mesh strainer. Reserve and keep warm, until ready to use.

Toss cooked wings in glaze and broil for 1-2 minutes while watching. These will burn quickly.

Crab-tastic Croustini

I substituted shredded crab meat for the lump which is only $6 per can as opposed to $15.

Ingredients
1 loaf ficelle or thin French baguette
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
1 Meyer lemon, juiced
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 yellow pepper, seeds removed and diced
1 avocado, halved, pitted and flesh diced
1 shallot, finely diced
8 ounces lump crabmeat
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice the bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Lightly brush the bread slices with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet fitted with a rack and bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before topping with the crab mixture.

In a large bowl whisk together the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Add the yellow pepper, the avocado, shallot and the crabmeat to the lemon vinaigrette and toss gently, so as to not break up the crabmeat. Top the bread slices with about a tablespoon of the crab mixture and arrange on a serving platter.