sloppy giuseppe

I made timpano this weekend for a food-themed party, turned out will, will post the recipe shortly.

My lady bought more ground meat than was necessary, so I had a big batch of leftover ground meat sauce, made up of beef, turkey, and italian sausage. I also had some piquillo peppers left over from a chorizo pizza that I made on Friday night. Got me to thinking...

So, without further adieu, my "Sloppy Guiseppe", based on a sloppy joes recipe on allrecipes.com

Sloppy Guiseppes

1 lb leftover cooked ground meat
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper (or whatever pepper you have)
1 carrot, finely grated
1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tsp brown sugar
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the onion, pepper, carrot and garlic.
2. Add meat, then add all remaining ingredients, bring to boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Serve on nice rolls.

coquille st. jacques, aka scallops

Everywhere we went in France, when we ate scallops, they all had this little bitty orange "tail" on them. Tasted fine and meaty just like a scallop. I never see them here in California.

Watching an America's Test Kitchen episode about scallops and they were interviewing some New England fisherman lady who was demonstrating how to shuck scallops.

I was dismayed to see her demonstrate (and say) that in the US, they throw the coral (a.k.a. scallop roe) away. Damn. What a waste. From what I recall, it's just as tasty as the scallop meat.

Dave Lieberman's Cauliflower Soup

Made this a week or two ago. A very simple dinner, with good fresh bread, delicious. Consider adding a bit of fresh cream for extra richness, but perfectly good as-is.

Cauliflower Soup and Parmesan Crisps

Courtesy of Dave Lieberman and Food Network

Ingredients

Soup:

1 head cauliflower

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart low-sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crisps:

1 cup shredded Parmesan

Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower, coarsely chop, and reserve. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup, or puree in small batches in a blender and return it to the pot. Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, make the Parmesan crisps:

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the shredded cheese over the foil in 1 even thin layer. Bake about 10 minutes until golden brown and crisps. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Break sheet of crisp cheese into large pieces and garnish each soup bowl with a couple shards and a pinch of fresh chives.

DDD carnitas

This is my abstraction of a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (DDD) recipe that I saw for carnitas in 2009. The recipe comes from Guy Fieri's visit to Los Taquitos Mexican Food Grill, in Phoenix, AZ, where the Ochoa family makes traditional Mexican cuisine.

Los Taquitos Carnitas

One Pork shoulder, bone-in, probably 6-8lbs.

2 cinnamon sticks

1 head garlic, with top sliced off

1-2 cups condensed milk

1-2 cups cola

1 tbsp salt

Water (to almost cover)

1. Trim a little fat off the top of the pork shoulder, but leave some on for flavor.
2. Slice the pork a bit, but leave bone in
3. In a large pot, place pork, 2 cinnamon sticks, garlic, condensed milk, cola, salt, and water to almost cover.
4. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer, simmer 2 hours in covered pot.
5. Remove meat and shred.

Once shredded, you can throw it on the grill with some oil to get crisp. Make tacos or burrito, with some pico de gallo.