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.

ATK carnitas

Kinda funny that ATK is showing how to make "pork tostadas", really just carnitas. But the recipe looks pretty good anyhow. They call it "Tinga"

2 lbs. boneless pork butt/pork shoulder, cut into 1" cubes

1 tsp table salt

1 onion, cut into 4 pieces

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

3 garlic cloves

Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp dried chipotle powder

1 14oz can tomato sauce

1 cup pork braising liquid (reserved from pork)

2 bay leaves

Garnishes

Lime wedges

Queso fresco

Avocado, diced

Cilantro

In a large pot, add 6 cups cold water, onion, 2 sprig thyme, 3 garlic cloves.

Bring to simmer, then cover, and simmer over medium-low for about 1.25 to 1.5 hours, or until pork starts to shred.

Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.

Remove garlic, onion, thyme.

Shred pork (it's easy using a potato masher).

In a 12" skillet, heat olive oil. Add onion, oregano and pork, and fry for 7-10 minutes,

Fry over high heat for 7-10 minutes, until edges of pork are crisp.

To finish pork, add garlic & chipotle powder, cook stirring for 1 minute.

Add tomato sauce, braising liquid, and bay leaf

Cook until sauce reduces, 7-10 minutes.

To fry tortillas, heat 1 cup oil in skillet to 350F

Fry corn tortillas for a minute or two per side. Set aside on towel to drain.

Garnish with diced avocado, cilanto, queso fresco, and lime wedges

german night recipes

1/15/11:

Creamy Mushroom Sauce (from Diane Phillips Perfect Party Foods); I augmented by 50/50 chicken & beef stock, also about 1tbsp of brandy before adding flour.

Roast Pork Loin from ATK; did a brine using Alton Brown's brine (I think; I had a plastic cup of it stored in the cabinet) for 1 hour before pan searing then roasting.

Pretzels (my own recipe)

Apple Schnapps

Riesling

weight of yeast

From the Red Star web site, 1 packet of active dry yeast is typically 1/4 oz (7.1g)

1 package is usually 2-1/4 teaspoons, but not exactly.

Good to know for conversion of volumetric recipes.

Other interesting things I learned about ADY on the Red Star site:

1. Active Dry Yeast can be added directly to dry ingredients! Use liquid temperatures of 120°F-130°F. Yeast activity may decrease if it comes into direct contact with salt or sugar.
2. If dissolving ADY, add to 110°F-115°F water.

yeast amounts

From Daniel DiMuzio's "Bread Baking: An Artisan's Perspective"

This applies to instant yeast in a lean dough, at 77F, for rising times during bulk fermentation

• 0.3% - 3-4 hours
• 0.4 - 0.5% - 1.5 to 2 hours
• 0.7% - 1 hour
• 1% - 30 to 45 min

Nanking sweet potatoes

Yum!


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nanking sweet potatoes quest

11/27/2010: So Beckey bought some sweet potatoes for T-Day, and I'd been hankering to make the ones that I've had with the sesame chicken at the House of Nanking in San Francisco.

Years ago, I found a book of San Francisco recipes that listed how to make these. I remember making them at my mom's for Chrismas, I think, with Beckey, but they turned out just OK, maybe too much soy sauce.

So I tried two different versions this evening. Both were pretty good, but not exactly Nanking-style.

Here are the two versions; the basic procedure is the same, just the sauce recipe varies.

Nanking-style Sweet Potatoes V1

1/2 large sweet potato, sliced somewhere between 1/8" - 1/4" on mandoline

4c. canola oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 green onion, sliced, for garnish

Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in small saute pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, let reduce for 5 minutes, and turn off heat.
2. In small batches, fry sweet potatoes at 350-375F for 1 minute, then remove onto paper towels to drain and cool.
3. When first fry is complete, heat oil to 375F, and fry potatoes again in batches, for about 1 minute, remove and drain.
4. When complete, reheat sauce to boil, add potatoes to sauce, toss.
5. ADD SESAME OIL, AND TOSS.
6. Serve at once, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds.

Sauce V1

1/4c. light soy sauce

1/4c. rice wine vinegar

1/4c. white sugar

1 tsp worcheshire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp homemade pickled ginger (or fresh ginger)

Sauce V1 Results

• A bit too sweet and too salty
• Also a bit too much ginger
• Nice caramelization, I cooked for 10 minutes, maybe too caramelized, very thick and sticky

Sauce V2

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1/4c. rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tbsp mirin

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp worcheshire sauce

1 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp homemade pickled ginger (or fresh ginger)

1 pinch red chili flakes

Sauce V2 results

• Better balance
• A bit spicy; omit chili flakes next time
• Still maybe too garlicky

FOR NEXT TIME (Sauce V3):

• Less soy sauce (2 tbsp)
• Add chicken stock (1/4c) and let reduce
• Try re-adding worcheshire?

Stuffin'

Just out of the oven, 450f for 40 minutes, broiled on hi for 3 min


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The bird is the word

2010 bird, 19-20 lbs



Note timer, came out after about 3 hours, at 165 for thigh.





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2010 holiday stuffing/dressing

This is my girl's family recipe, like her grandparents made and her mom continues to make. Plenty to stuff a 16 lb bird. Originally wrote it down in 2008, while her mom was making it at home.

Makes a large mixing bowl full, probably 12-15 servings, maybe more!

Prep time: about 70 minutes

2 bags of Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing (Note: 12oz? Cubbinsons comes in two 6oz bags, so 12oz?)

3 medium apples, any kind of RED apple (Gala), peeled and rough chopped

2 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/2 bunch (5 stalks?) celery, chopped

1 lb of large white mushrooms, rough chopped, about 12-15 count, stems removed

1 lb Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage

3 eggs

2 sticks of butter

2 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

1 tbsp fresh thyme

2 tbsp fresh parsley

1 tbsp fresh sage

2 cans chicken broth (24-28 oz) (OMITTED THIS TIME)

1/2 box Bell's Seasoning (I USED 1 WHOLE BOX)

1 tbsp black pepper

No salt (stock, stuffing mix and other has salt already, Jackie doesn't add salt)

Instructions

(I've changed them slightly from the original version, to make it easier to do).

1. Pulse stuffing mix until small dice, like breadcrumb. Set aside in large bowl.
2. In batches, grind celery, apple, onion, and mushroom in the food processor until uniform.
3. Add both cans of broth and eggs to food processor. Add all fresh and dried spices except Bell's. Pulse some more. Add to breadcrumb bowl.
4. In a large skillet, melt butter and brown the sausage in it.
5. Pour entire butter/sausage mixture over stuffing.
6. Add boiling water (probably 2-4 cups) and stir to combine to moisten the mixture.
7. Knead, squeezing thru your fingers to make sure there are no lumps and mixture is uniform and even, 3-5 minutes.
8. Add Bell's seasoning, "until it smells right". She used approx 1/2 of a new box. (I used a whole box this time)
9. Add more warm water to make the mixture very moist. At night it will be very wet, because it will soak up water.
10. Should look as wet as a meatloaf. Sprinkle a little Bell Seasoning over the top.
11. Bake at 450F for 40 minutes, and broil for 3 minutes. (Most everything is cooked except the egg, so shouldn't take too long).

My girl's mom (Jackie) stuffs it in the bird, bakes the leftovers.

RESULTS:

• Nice thin crust, pretty moist inside (could've probably gone for 1 hr @ 450).
• Not enough salt!! Aaack!!! Probably because I left out the chicken stock. Still, would've been better to cook a small patty and taste it for salt.
• Perhaps too much Bell's, tastes strongly

2010 turkey

20lb, 16-17min/lb, so 5.33 to 5.66 hours estimated cook time

one 20lb turkey

2 carrots, peeled and rough chopped

2 onions, peeled and rough chopped

2 celery stalks, rough chopped

1/2 stick softened butter (or leftover butter from last year)

10 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp rosemary, minced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 extra rosemary branch

1 lemon, split in 1/2

Kosher salt

1. Mix softened butter, garlic, parsley, 2 tbs rosemary, and a pinch of kosher salt
2. Preheat oven to 500F
3. Get roasting pan with rack; spray rack with canola cooking spray (or wipe with canola or vegetable oil)
4. Remove giblets (or giblet pack) from turkey...it's there! If it's not in the body, check the neck cavity!
5. Rinse turkey well, place on roasting rack breast side UP, pat inside dry with paper towels.
6. Add vegetables and giblets to roasting pan
7. Work skin loose with fingers
8. Put 1/2 butter/garlic mixture under skin
9. Stuff turkey with lemon, rosemary branch
10. Truss legs and tuck under
11. Pat skin VERY DRY
12. Rub remaining butter/garlic mixture over skin.
13. Season skin very liberally with salt
14. Roast at 500F for 30 minutes
15. Reduce heat to 350F
16. Cook for remaining time, until thigh temp hits 161F (it's about 16-17min/lb).
17. Remove and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving.

NOTE: in at 445pm; initial timer time 4 hrs.

Cook time: about 3 hours to get to 165F in thigh. Removed and let rest for 30 minutes.

RESULTS:

Golden brown skin

Very well-seasoned; breast meat was infused, likely from high salt on skin

Breast was still moist

Thigh meat was nice, tiny bit of blood around thigh sockets, but otherwise fine.

Holiday Stuffing/Dressing

This is my girl's family recipe, like her grandparents made and her mom continues to make. Plenty to stuff a 16 lb bird. Originally wrote it down in 2008, while her mom was making it at home.

Makes a large mixing bowl full, probably 12-15 servings, maybe more!

2 bags of Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing (Note: 12oz? Cubbinsons comes in two 6oz bags, so 12oz?)

3-4 apples, any kind of RED apple (Gala), peeled and rough chopped

2 medium brown onion, chopped

1/2 bunch (5 stalks?) celery, chopped

1 lb of large white mushrooms, rough chopped, about 12-15 count, stems removed (NOTE only had 8oz in 2010)

1 lb Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage

3-4 eggs

2 sticks of butter

Dried basil (maybe 2 tbsp?)

Dried oregano (maybe 2 tbsp?)* (during Thanksgiving 2009, her mom said she never uses oregano, that she only uses ROSEMARY, never oregano)

Dried parsley (maybe 2 tbsp?)

Fresh thyme, parsley, sage chopped (maybe 1 tbsp of each)

2 cans chicken broth

Bell's Seasoning, about 1/2 box

Lot of pepper

No salt (stock, stuffing mix and other has salt already, Jackie doesn't add salt)

Instructions

(I've changed them slightly from the original version, to make it easier to do).

1. Pulse stuffing mix until small dice, like breadcrumb. Set aside in large bowl.
2. In batches, grind celery, apple, onion, and mushroom in the food processor until uniform.
3. Add both cans of broth and eggs to food processor. Add all fresh and dried spices except Bell's. Pulse some more. Add to breadcrumb bowl.
4. In a large skillet, melt butter and brown the sausage in it.
5. Pour entire butter/sausage mixture over stuffing.
6. Add boiling water (probably 2-4 cups) and stir to combine to moisten the mixture.
7. Knead, squeezing thru your fingers to make sure there are no lumps and mixture is uniform and even, 3-5 minutes.
8. Add Bell's seasoning, "until it smells right". She used approx 1/2 of a new box.
9. Add more warm water to make the mixture very moist. At night it will be very wet, because it will soak up water.
10. Should look as wet as a meatloaf. Sprinkle a little Bell Seasoning over the top.
11. Bake at ?? for ??. (Most everything is cooked except the egg, so shouldn't take too long).

My girl's mom (Jackie) stuffs it in the bird, bakes the leftovers.

blue cheese 3?

Made chicken wings tonight. Used the Beacon-style fry method: 350 for 2 min, then 375 for 7 minutes. It's like the skin was lacquered, very very crispy. I did dust the skin in a bit of cornstarch, flour, garlic powder and paprika, but not really even noticeably so.

I like the blue cheese dip I made tonight. The yogurt adds nice tang.

3 tbsp mayo

3 tbsp plain nonfat yogurt

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp dried parsley

4 tbsp crumbled blue cheese

Mix with fork to really mash those blue cheese nuggets.

blackened wings with creamy remoulade

So we're going to a Cajun/Creole dinner tonight with friends in L.A.

Decided to make chicken wings in a Cajun way: with blackening spices! And made a remoulade sauce to go along. Problem was (shoulda thought of this) the blackening spice might conflict with the remoulade, which is spicy (woulda been better to make very plain wings and serve with spicy remoulade!) Solution: the creamy remoulade! Still a bit of spice, but creamy, and should cut whatever heat there might be from the wings.

NOTE: as it turns out, the wings weren't that spicy by themselves, despite the "blackening", so the regular remoulade worked better anyways.

2 pkg chicken wings (about 24-30 pieces)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Season wings with blackening rub on both sides.
3. Place wings on a cooling rack, on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 35 minutes.
5. Remove, and fry at high temp (375) for 3 minutes.

Blackening Rub

4 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Creamy Remoulade

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup plain yogurt, non-fat

4-6 tbsp remoulade, to taste

Remoulade

1/4 c. creole or wholegrain mustard

1/4 c. white wine vinegar

2/3 c. vegetable oil

2.5 tbsp horseradish, drained

2.5 tbsp dill pickle, minced

2 tbsp scallion greens, minced

1.5 tsp cayenne* (maybe less!)

1.25 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

No knead latest

This one had some barley malt syrup in it





Definitely more dense and moist, loaf feels heavy for its size. Open crumb but not light Thicker more leathery crust. I think it was definitely overproofed. That said I'm surprised at the good browning despite. I would try this recipe again with shorter rise time




Oven spring was about the same as the last one, still not great.


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recreating a favorite pickle - part 1

One of my favorite pickles was called "Cowboy Medley", made up until about 2007 by a company based in Lone Pine, CA called Swab's High Sierra. They sadly went out of business due to family issues. After having the jar for 2 years unopened in my fridge, I finally decided to crack it open and taste it...

...MMM...damn good. The pickled garlic really infuses everything. The vinegar isn't sharp, but it definitely tastes pretty salty, but not in a bad way. The flavors just blend sooo nicely. I taste a tad bit of sweetness, but I don't see it on the ingredients. It's entirely possible there's a tiny bit of sugar in there.

So I dissected about 1.5 cups of pickle mix:

24g red peppers, sliced (about 8 thin slices)

58g small green olives (about 27 small olives)

24g peeled whole garlic cloves (about 26 cloves)

71g pepperoncini peppers (about 6 medium pepperoncinis)

The pickling liquid, as far as I could tell is made from:

spring water

distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)

dried oregano

dried basil

minced garlic

salt

Regarding the quantities for the pickle liquid, I don't know. Using the interwebs for some research, I think this might work, although I'd have to try it to verify the taste:

1c distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)

.5c spring water

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried basil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

Bring vinegar and water to boil in non-reactive pot.

What are some other ratios? 

Heres one I found:

2 quarts (8 cups) white vinegar

 1 cup pickling salt 

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup mustard seed 

2 tbsp. celery seed 

1 small dried hot pepper

Here's another:

1 cup water 5 cups vinegar (5%)

4 tsp canning or pickling salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 cloves garlic

And another:

2 quarts (8 cups) water

1/4 c. vinegar (5%)

1/2 c. salt

flavorings

Wow, being a baker I have really learned to hate volumetric measurements.

I'll work on it...more to come!

Grilled fennel sandwich

Had an extra bulb of fennel handy...I really like fennel, it's such a great food. Mild licorice flavor, slightly sweet and nicely crunchy raw, even sweeter (but no more licoricey) when roasted, but with a mellowed flavor, akin to caramelized onion.

Grilled Fennel Sandwich

1 fennel bulb, cleaned and tops removed (save tops for fennel oil)

1 tbsp olive oil

Fresh spinach, washed and dried

Green onion, sliced thin

Roasted red pepper

2 tbsp harissa

1 tsp fennel oil (recipe follows)

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Baguette or other crusty bread

Slice fennel, cutting along the widest aspect, including the core

Brush with olive oil, salt and pepper

Grill for 3 minutes per side on hot grill

Remove, and drizzle with fennel oil

Grill bread slices for 2-3 minutes per side

Assemble sandwich: mayo, harissa, fennel, roasted red pepper, spinach, salt and pepper.

Fennel oil

Fronds from 1 fennel bulb, washed and rough chopped

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Blanch fronds and parsley in boiling water for 10 seconds. Submerge in ice bath.

Add to blender. Pulse to chop further.

Add oil and puree until smooth.

Pour solids and oil into glass or plastic container.

Use or cover and refrigerate for up to 7 days.