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Wild Rice/Basmati Rice Pilaf with Mint, Orange Zest and Walnuts

Monday, May 31st, 2010

As a Minnesota youth with a dad that hunted, a platter of roasted teal ducks was autumn fare.  It was usually served with wild rice–also a product of Minnesota.  Wild rice comes from a marsh grass and is much harder than rice and therefore takes far more boiling time.  Prepared properly, it’s fluffy, nutty and chewy; undercooked, it’s tough and unpleasant to chew; overcooked it falls apart and is mushy. Start by simmering for 35 minutes.  The grains should start to open by then but still be tooth tough.  Go from there about 7 minutes at a time until the grains are open and are plump, yet el dente. 

As good as it is, wild rice is too intense and too chewy to eat straight (it’s also too expensive).  So it needs some help while holding its own as the predominant taste.  Here is a wild rice pilaf that I have favored  for years, though I can’t say it came from Mom.  It has a recipe within it, which I try to avoid, but it’s a great dish and worth the effort.

Yield:  About 8 servings
See abbreviations, if needed

•  5          scallions or spring onions, diced
•  1          carrot, finely and precisely diced (brunoise)
•  ½         stalk celery, sliced large (it will be discarded)
•  1.5C    wild rice
•  4C       chicken broth
•  2C       water�
•  ½T       RWV
•  2T        light EVOO
•  ¼C      chopped fresh parsley
•  ¼C     chopped fresh mint leaves
•  2          oranges zest
•  ½C      chopped walnuts or pecans
• S/P
•  ½C     basmati rice (or other long grain rice) prepared as basmati rice pilaf

1.  Place wild rice in a large fine strainer and wash under cold running water until water is clear
2.  BTB broth and water, RWV, wild rice, scallions, carrot, celery and pepper.  Simmer covered until rice is plump, intact and tender, about 40-50 minutes, Taste as you go the last ten minutes
3.  Prepare Basmati rice pilaf and set aside
4.  Drain wild rice and remove celery parts
5.  Combine the rices in a bowl w/ EVOO and add the remaining      ingredients, then taste.   Add salt, toss and adjust seasoning
6.  Serve warm or ambient

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Posted in (2)Food, Potato, Rice and Grain Recipes, Vegetable Recipes | 1 Comment »

New Smoker Update

Friday, May 7th, 2010

We’re cooking for the Pleasant Grove Church May Festival again this year.  Nothing fancy just hot dogs, hamburgers and BBQ.  Hardly worth wearing a chef’s jacket for this event, but we’ve done it for about 15 years, so . . .

I decided that I would liven things up by smoking a pork shoulder for the event. Further down on this page are the results of our first effort with the Weber Bullet:  a pork shoulder that looked great but was really fat. I paid $1.95 a pound at the supermarket for a 6 pound shoulder that yielded less than 2 pounds of barely edible meat.  It was awful.

This time I bought a well husbanded boneless pork shoulder from our local Organic Butcher.  This shoulder, from a farm in Pennsylvania, came in at 8.5 pounds and went for $6.00 a pound!  TLW always says that Mr. Arbuckle was right:  “you get what you pay for.” My experience is otherwise with most food products described as organic.  The only exception, to date, is meat. 

I brought the hunk home and vacuum-marinated it overnight in Scott’s Barbecue Sauce, as before. I then got up early the next morning and started the smoke at 0730.  13.5 hours later, the shoulder’s temp hit 200F as I took it off to cool.  It shredded effortlessly and has great color and a nice smoke ring.  Above all, the meat is as lean, moist and tasty as this cut can get.  Yield?  4.2 pounds. I threw away at most a half pound as too fat-ladened.

Bargain pull pork sandwiches coming up this Saturday.  Meat and charcoal: $65.  . . .yet sandwiches are going for $2.50 each.  Maybe Mr. Arbuckle will show up.

Notes:
The Organic Butcher has an informative Web site at:  theorganicbutcher.com.

The Weber Bullet, at least at our location, needs to be more mobile. So a trip to the hardware store and we have . . .

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New Smoker

Monday, April 12th, 2010

TLW got me a birthday present that has been on the wish list for years.  A smoker.  I chose Weber’s Smokey Mountain Cooker (aka The Weber Bullet) because it’s only a smoker (I don’t need two grills), it’s a Weber product, it’s fairly compact and it’s tried and true with a big following of Internet devotees.

Finally found the time to try out the The Weber smoker. I got a pork blade shoulder from Safeway, marinated it with some hot Carolina  vinegar in a vacuum bag for a day and started up the bullet for a ten hour smoke.  Lighting the charcoal and placing in some hickory wood and adjusting the resultant heat to 225F and keeping it was there was straightforward. We brushed the roast with barbecue sauce at the start and again mid-way through.

So here we have:

A 7 pound  pork butt yielded only 2.25 pounds of shredded pork ready for tacos or pulled pork sandwiches.  But I have a problem with this meat.  It’s fat.  I didn’t pull the roast apart until the following morning when the meat was cold, so the fat was more clearly apparent than if the roast was pulled hot and served a la minute.

I am beginning to gain insight as to why every smoker chef to publish a cookbook and put his picture on it appears, shall we say, well rounded.  First, one needs fortification during the arduous ten hour smoking process–perhaps a beer an hour.  Second, the product has a high fat content.

Honestly, We’re not sure we’re going to eat this stuff . . .

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Apricot, Coconut and Chocolate Chip Scones

Monday, April 12th, 2010

I forgot how the subject of scones came up while at a beach house in Florida two weeks ago. but as soon as we got home I looked for recipes.  Clayton’s
Complete Book of Breads, which is pretty old, had five of them but Yockelson had two nicer ones.  From one, I tossed out the banana, substituted dried apricots and then goosed the coconut a bit. So here we have:

Scones
See Abbreviations, if needed
Yield:  about 16 small pie-shaped scones or 8 big ones
2 1/2 C  AP flour
2 3/4 t    baking powder
1/4 t       cream of tartar
1/2 t       salt
1/3 C     10X sugar
6 T         unsalted butter, cold and small cubed
2            large eggs
6 T         heavy cream
1 t          vanilla extract
1 C        finely diced dried apricots
3/4 C     semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 C     sweetened coconut flakes

1.  Preheat oven to 400F
2.  In a large SSB, whisk together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt and 10X
3.  Add the cold cubed butter and cut it into the flour with a rounded dough blade or fork to
reduce the cubes into large pea-sized bits
4.  In a smaller SSB, whisk eggs, cream and vanilla together
5.  Empty the wet SSB into the dry SSB, add the diced apricots, chocolate chips and coconut
6.  Fold and knead to form a dough (if too dry add a little more cream)
7.  Turn out on floured surface and knead briefly
8.  Roll out dough into a 9-10 inch disk and cut eight wedges with a chef’s knife
9.  Transfer scones to a sheet pan, lined with a silicone pad or parchment paper
10.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes
11.  Remove from the fridge and (optional) remove each wedge to a cutting board and
cut each wedge in two to make 16 scones
12.  Return scones to sheet pan and bake at 400F for about 16 minutes (or about 12 minutes
convection). Scones are done when they start to brown and/or interior temp is +185F
Optional:  Prior to baking, top each scone with a few chocolate chips or sprinkles
Note:  Next time I make these, I will add the zest from one lemon.  I think it would help.

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A Salad of Smoked Salmon and Grilled Corn Salsa

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Here is one of the dishes I demonstrated at a cooking class a few years ago. The recipe is an adaptation of recipes from Chef Pernot’s Ceviche!.  Pernot uses cold-smoked salmon here, which is, for is our purposes, too much of a hassle to make at home.  Hot-smoked salmon is easy to make if you have a Camerons Stovetop Smoker.  This dish makes a great first course.  It is too intense to be served in a larger portion as an entrée.

Yield:  Four salad-size servings
For the Salsa:
Yield:  about 3 cups
See Abbreviations, if needed
·     7        ears of corn, grilled and cut, or 1 lb frozen corn kernels, sautéed
·     6        fresh limes, juiced
·     ¼ C   chopped fresh cilantro
·     2-3    serrano chilies, seeded and small diced
·     1 t     chopped chipotles in adobo sauce (see note)
·     4 T    extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
·     1 T    red wine vinegar (RWV)
·     1       large red onion, small diced
·     1       large red bell pepper, small diced
·     4       fresh small tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and small diced
·     S/P    to taste

1.  Husk the corn, grill to well browned, cool and cut off the kernels, or defrost a 1 lb. package of corn kernels and sauté them without oil in a non-stick pan until they begin to color
2.  Small dice the cilantro, onion, bell pepper and tomatoes using your best knife techniques
3.  In a medium stainless steel bowl, combine the diced items from Step 2 with the freshly squeezed lime juice, EVOO, RWV and chipotles in adobo sauce
4.  Add the corn and mix thoroughly
5.  Place in fridge for one hour to macerate
6.  When ready, remove from fridge, let stand awhile and check seasoning (salt)
7.  Serve with a slotted spoon to drain off the lime juice
Note: “Chipotles in adobo sauce” comes in small cans. La Morena brand is good, readily available but very hot.  I prefer a medium hot, very smoky-flavored brand by Chile Today – Hot Tamale (available at www.chiletoday.com).
For the Smoked Salmon:
Yield:  4 salad servings
·    1       1-1¼ lb piece of fresh, skinless salmon filet
·    1 T    kosher salt
·    1 T    sugar
·    1 T    paprika (not the hot variety)
·    1 T    ancho chili powder, if available, or regular chili powder
·    ½ t    chipotle chili powder, if available, or delete

1.  Make a dry rub in a small stainless steel bowl by combining the salt, sugar, paprika and chili powders
2.  Place the salmon filet in a medium flat glass dish and rub both sides evenly with the dry rub
3.  Place the salmon, covered, in the fridge for about 2 hours
4.  Using the Camerons Stovetop Smoker:
·    Place 2T of Alden wood chips in the bottom of the smoker
·    Spray the bottom pan and grill with Pam
·    Place the dry-rubbed salmon filet on the grill
·    Slide the cover on to ¼ inch of being closed
·    Light the burner and set to medium-low
·    When smoke begins to emerge from the smoker
o    close the cover tightly and
o    set the timer
·    Cook 10 minutes per pound, then turn off the burner and let the smoker cool, closed, for 5 minutes
5.  Carefully remove the fish from the smoker, cover and fridge until cold
Note:  The ancho and chipotle chili powders are inexpensive and available at www.chiletoday.com.  The ancho powder is mild; the chipotle powder is medium hot. Both can be used like other powdered seasonings.
To Assemble The Salad:
1.  Remove the smoked salmon filet from the fridge.  With a sharp knife, cut thin biased   slices across the grain (perpendicular to head-tail), just thick enough so that the slice of salmon holds and does not break apart. (Practice with the first two slices)
2.  Using a slotted spoon, place about 1 cup of corn salsa in the center of each salad plate and shape each into a mound
3.  Nicely arrange, vertically and overlapping, four or five slices of smoked salmon around the mound of salsa.  Press the grouping together with both hands to mold the salmon round and to raise the salsa in the middle
4.  Garnish with a few cilantro leaves and/or a few drops of vinaigrette, if desired
Note: Any remaining smoked salmon will keep well in the fridge, covered, for 2-3 days.

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Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | 2 Comments »

Curry in a Hurrry

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

The U.S. Navy inherited a taste for curry—a hot, spicy, gravy-based dish of East Indian origin—from the Royal Navy.  It has been a favorite menu item in navy wardrooms for a century and at my table for decades.  Recipes abound, meatless versions as well.

Making the stuff from scratch was enough of a hassle that we didn’t have it at home all that often.  I then discovered a curry sauce mix that is very good and quick.  It is called S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix.  It’s available in many supermarkets. (Safeway has it.)  It comes in three strengths—try medium-hot first.  Just add 2.5 cups of water, bring it to boil, and its ready.  (Note: the mix contains MSG and meat by-products.)  Good as it is, it can be improved.

Yield: 3-4 servings

1.  Start with a 10-inch sauté pan and brown in oil a sliced large onion, a diced green bell pepper, and a couple of carrots diced and blanched in boiling water for a few minutes before joining the onion and green pepper.  This takes time to ensure that everything is cooked through.
2.  Most often, at my home, the meat product (about 1.25 lbs) for this everyday dish is leftover lamb that is cubed or chicken that is pulled apart and tossed in with the veggies when they are done.  Shrimp can also be used.  If raw meat is used, cut it to bite sized cubes, stir fry it in a skillet to just barely done, drain and add it to the sauté pan with the veggies.  If using raw shrimp, add them directly to the veggies, since they cook so quickly.  If using pre-cooked shrimp, don’t add them until Step 5.
3.  In a large measuring cup, break up the sauce mix bar and add 2.5 cups of water.  Use only 2 cups of water if you prefer a drier curry.
4.  Dissolve the sauce mix in the water—heat in the microwave and stir.
5.  Add the sauce mix to the veggies and meat or shrimp, bring to boil, simmer for about 5 minutes or until the meat is tender or the shrimp are done.  Serve over rice, preferably basmati rice (prepare about ½ cup of rice per serving).
6.  Option:  You can increase the heat of this dish at the end of Step 1 by adding 2 teaspoons of curry powder or Patak’s Kashmiri Masala Paste.  Lamb takes the additional heat best.  Shrimp not at all.
7.  Desired Option:  Add to the warmth and bouquet of this dish wonderfully with garam masala—a northern India blend of dry-roasted spices available in many supermarkets.  Sprinkle a tablespoon of garam masala over the surface of the dish at the simmer stage in Step 5.  The addition of garam masala will remove all doubt in the household that it’s curry night.

Traditionally, this dish is accompanied by an array of garnishes selected to add contrasting textures, flavors and to reduce the heat. Each garnish is served in its own bowl.  Favorites include chutney, fresh lime wedges, toasted coconut, raisins and finely chopped unsalted peanuts, hard-boiled egg, and bacon.

If you want to step back into India a hundred years, prepare lamb curry for a dinner party.  Then gather up the grandchildren—one for each the seven garnishes—to parade and serve your seated guests.  You can then, as they did in the Raj, describe this entrée as a “Seven Boy Curry.”

Beer goes great with curry, especially when the curry is spicy hot.

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Quik Chix Tagine

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Costco is selling imported Indian vegetarian side dishes that are quite tasty and also work well as cooking sauces.  Pictured is the Madras Lentil selection with tomato, red beans,onions,chilies and lintils in a thick sauce, all in a boil-and-serve pouch.  Try ‘em.

Our tagine has been gathering dust atop the fridge for a couple months, so it was time to use it for a quick dinner.
Here’s the dish:

1.  Take the skin off of six chicken thighs, rub them with salt and pepper, and brown them in a couple tablespoons of peanut or grapeseed oil in the cast iron tagine bottom. (Don’t do this in a clay-bottom tagine.  If you have one of those, sauté the chicken separately.)
2.  Remove the thighs, carefully drain off the browning oil and then return the thighs to the hot tagine bottom.
3.  Halve about eight small red potatoes and place them around the thighs.
4.  Pour a pouch of the Indian veggie sauce over the thighs and potatoes.
5.  Add about a half cup of low salt chicken broth (not too much or the tagine will spurt all over the stove top, while cooking).
6.  Set the burner to simmer, put the top on the tagine bottom and set the timer for 50 minutes.
7.  At the 30 minute mark, lift the top and add some asparagus, as shown.
8.  When done, serve in heated shallow soup plates.

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Posted in (2)Food, Poultry and Game Recipes | 3 Comments »

Shrimp and Smoked Salmon Canapé

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Yes, they take time to make but they also make an occasion special.  And guests love ‘em.  This canapé was inspired by some I made at The George Town Club many years ago.  It has what it needs: sweet creme fraiche, sour capers and raw spinach, salty salmon with shrimp, bitter dill and bread.
Here’s how:

Yield:  About 24 canapé
See abbreviations, if needed
24              uncooked shrimp, shelled
24              squares or rounds of bread sliced thin
24              fresh cucumber rounds, sliced thin
24              spinach leaves, washed and dried
1/2lb          smoked salmon
bunch         fresh dill sprigs, destemmed
5 oz          creme fraiche
48              capers

1.   Pour a bottle of beer in a pot, BTB, drop in the shrimp, turn off the heat, cover for 1 minute,
drain and set aside to cool
2.   Cut 24 thin slices of bread (cocktail bread, rye, wheat, etc.).  Square (1.5″) or round (40mm) each
and set aside
3.   Decoratively peel a cucumber and cut thin slices and set aside
4.   Select nice spinach leaves and trim to bread size
5.   Cut smoked salmon to bread size and set aside
6.   Finely chop a bunch of dill fronds (about 1/4 cup chopped
7.   Stir the dill into the creme fraiche and return to fridge
8.   Cut whole shrimp in two and then slice each half lengthwise
9.  To assemble:

  • spread creme fraiche onto bread
  • top with cucumber and then top cucumber with creme fraiche
  • top with salmon slice
  • dip both sides of bottom half of shrimp in creme fraishe and place on top of salmon
  • top shrimp half with spinach leaf
  • dip both sides of top half of shrimp with creme fraiche and close over spinach
  • garnish with a couple of capers (or caviar if plush)

10.  Hold in fridge and serve cool

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Roasted Leg of Lamb with Green Sauce

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Roasted leg of lamb is an Easter tradition.  So with a group of 11 en route, I ordered up two legs from the neighborhood high end butcher who gets them from a farm nearby.  (While I will not pay extra for organic produce, the idea of well husbanded meat, raised and slaughtered nearby is attractive.)  I have yet to be disappointed with the freshness and quality of well husbanded meat and poultry–the relatively few times I’ve gone for them.

The lamb legs came with the aitch bone removed, as I requested, but with the sirloin flab still attached.  Good! So the first task was to tie the flap on and shape each roast. I then frenched the trotter ends of the bone.  We used a marinade of mustard-based garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, rosemary and EVOO.  All lathered up, the legs were then vacuum sealed for a 24 hour stay in the fridge and to be taken out 2 hours before roasting.

Roasting instructions for leg of lamb vary by cookbook.  Since we have a very good oven vent, the legs were started off at 450F for 20 minutes–each legs turned at the 10 minute mark.  Heat was then reduced to 375F and the legs were turned again at 30 minutes.  To our surprise the legs were done in another 30 minutes for a total roasting time of about 80 minutes.  Indeed the Thermopen read 140F at the first check and 130F near the bone–ten over where I wanted it. After resting for 20 minutes they carved out medium rare with some rare at the bone and some well done at the surface.  In all, these legs of lamb looked beautiful from start to finish and roasted out moist and very tender.

(Note:  It didn’t exactly go as described above.  I made the mistake of starting the whole roasting process with water in the bottom of the roasting pan to reduce smoking at 450F.  Well of course, all the initial energy went to boiling off the water.  The oven didn’t boom to the desired 450F until the pan was boiled dry, which took just long enough to make me nervous.)  No harm done, but dah . . .

For the sauce (well liked):  In a food processor:  1.5C yogurt;  4 spring onions chopped white and green;  1/2t of freshly shaved frozen ginger;  1 large jalapeno pepper with seeds and white removed;  a whole package or bunch of mint leaves; an equal sized bunch of cilantro leaves; some salt and a little fresh ground pepper.  Spin all this to smooth and then taste.  It should be balanced, with equal notes of mint and cilantro. When  right, pour the green sauce into a gravy boat and then fridge.  Take it out of the fridge early and let it warm up a bit before serving as a side to the sliced lamb.
(Another note: Do all you can to keep the lamb very warm–hot platter and warmed plates.)

Posted in (2)Food, Meat Recipes | No Comments »

A Better Way to Hard Boil Eggs

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Welcome to the most popular page on this Web site (about 5000 hits each Easter week).

Here is a better way to hard boil eggs and to cool and peel them:
(Excerpted from Chicken, Egg and Tuna Salad Spreads)

To hard boil:
·   Place the eggs in a roomy saucepan and fill the pan with cold water to
completely cover the eggs
·   Bring to boil over high heat
·   Simmer for 30 seconds
·   Turn the heat off, cover, and let stand 12 minutes

To cool:
·   Leave the eggs in the pan and drain off the hot water
·   Place the pan, eggs and all, in the sink under running cold water until the water in
the pan is cold
·   Let the eggs cool in the cold water bath for 5 minutes

To peel:
·   Drain off the cold water, but leave the eggs in the pan
·   Shake the pan vigorously to crack the eggs
·   Peel eggs under running water

More about eggs:

Other how-to’s:

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

How to Puree Garlic with a Chef’s Knife

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