Withdrawl

So last Sunday I drove to Atlanta for some training and the launch of the 21st. century Beetle.  I'm telling you this because Sunday is my day to cook.  I also lost my day off because I drove back Monday, so I am in withdrawal from the kitchen in a bad way.  Today I will make up for that.

Breakfast

I did a New Orleans take on the classic Eggs Benedict.  Last night I made Andouille, cheddar cheese grits that I let cool over night in a lined round cake pan.  First, I diced the Audouille and sauteed it in olive oil.  Next I added the water and stone ground, organic, white corn grits, and let them thicken.  Next I added the sharp cheddar cheese.  This morning I cut it into rounds, dredged in flour, egg wash, and Panko bread crumbs, and fried them golden brown.  Now how can that not taste good?  I topped the fried grit cakes with two poached eggs and covered that with a Tasso/lemon, Hollandaise.  The richness of the Hollandaise, the silky texture of the eggs, and the salty, smokey, crispy texture of the grit cakes, was incredible.  This will definitely be in the Sunday brunch rotation.  I also got to thinking about my shrimp and grits.  How about serving the shrimp and Andouille over fried, smoked Gouda, grit cakes?  That would be different.  OK, so now I have to prep for lunch.

Lunch

For lunch I'm grilling chicken wings and glazing them with an apricot, chipotle, sauce and serving with homemade ranch blue cheese dipping sauce.  First after washing the chicken wings I dried them, placed them in a bowl, and drizzled oil over them.  Next I seasoned them with my Bubbaque rub seasoning.  After about an hour in the frig, I grilled them over a low charcoal fire until crispy on the outside.  The glaze is made by melting a jar of Apricot preserves in a sauce pan and adding three chipotles in adobo sauce.  I removed them from the grill in a bowl and drizzled the glaze over them, tossing as I go.  Returning them to the grill I let the glaze set and served with the dipping sauce.  Maybe I can get the wife to serve me in some orange shorts and a tank top.  Na!!!!

Dinner

Tonight is steak night.  I'm going Tuscan style.  Large Porterhouse steaks marinated in garlic and rosemary and served with a lemon gremolata.  My side dish is fire roasted tomato Risotto.  First I cut some fresh rosemary from the garden and chop it with about four cloves of garlic.  Drizzle some good extra virgin olive oil on the steaks a rub the rosemary/garlic mixture in to the steaks.  Place in a zip bag and let them sit in the frig for an hour.  Grill medium rare.  To make the gremolata, I steep garlic and lemon zest in olive oil on low for about 30 minutes.  This allows the garlic and lemon zest to release they're flavors without burning the garlic.  Last I add the juice of one lemon and some fresh parsley.  For the Risotto I use canned fire roasted tomatoes.  I start with sauteed shallots and garlic then toast the Aborio rice.  Slowly add warm chicken stock a cup at a time until the rice absorbs the liquid and releases it's starch.  Slowly add more stock until the Risotto is aldente (to the tooth).  Take it off the heat and add fresh grated Parmesan cheese and some fresh parsley.  Well I think I satisfied my cooking habit for a while.

Grilled Pizza

If you haven't grilled pizza, you need to try it.  The smokey flavor adds a great edge to the crust and toppings.  Tonight I grilled two pizzas.  One a traditional pepperoni, meatball (homemade), black olive, and onion.  The other is my Cajun pizza.  Shrimp, Andouille, Artichokes, and onion.  The Andouille was sliced thin like pepperoni, and the shrimp were sauteed in my seafood seasoning before hitting the pizza.  The local grocery store has pizza dough in the bakery.  I use a pizza stone purchased on line at Red Sky Grilling. You must let the stone pre heat like the oven.  I have had some difficulty getting the pizza to slide off the peal.  I use corn meal, but it has been a struggle.  The outcome has been delicious.  You must try this pizza. 

Apricot Srirachi glazed chicken wings

Tonight I was in the mood for some chicken wings, so I tried the apricot sriracha glaze from an earlier post.  I combined an 18oz. jar of apricot preserves with 1/3 cup each, creole mustard, sriracha pepper sauce, honey, and brown sugar.  I got the idea from a BBQ forum that I'm on.  The recipe called for orange marmalade instead of the apricot preserves.  Along with the wing I made fire roasted tomato risotto and balsamic glazed roasted chipolini onions.  The wings are sticky and sweet with a back heat from the sriracha pepper sauce.  I first marinaded them in my Bubbaque rub and grilled them on the Weber grill.  The fire roasted tomato risotto was creamy and had a great sharpness from the Parmesan cheese.  All together the meal was outstanding.  My wife bought me an apple pie for later with some Breyers vanilla bean ice cream.  I can't wait.

Good cooking.

St. Valentines Day Dinner

So it's Valentines Day and to add to the card and present I got for my wife, I cooked a great dinner. I went to Sam's club and they had fillet mignon on sale, so I bought a pack of four beautiful steaks that were bound for the grill. I also bought some 16-20 count shrimp that accompanied the steaks on the grill, at Tarpon Dock seafood. I used hardwood charcoal which for the uninitiated is wood that has been processed as charcoal instead of sawdust that has been processed with binders to make briquettes. It has a distinct flavor and burns hotter that briquettes. The steaks were marinated in my homemade steak marinade and the shrimp were seasoned with my Bubbaque seafood seasoning and skewered. Along with the surf and turf I served garlic and rosemary, roasted, baby Yukon Gold potatoes and some roasted Chipolini onions. The real hit was the pear, walnut, and Gorgonzola salad dressed with a Balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The contrast between the sharp, pungent Gorgonzola blue cheese, the crunchy, earthy, note of the walnuts, and the sweet, crisp, red Anjou pears, was spectacular. I could eat that everyday. We washed this all down with a bottle of Bolla Valpolacello, slightly fruity, oakey red wine. My wife broke out the fine china and silver, and added some candle light. It was an elegant dinner. For dessert I had a can of Ready whip and a bottle of Hersey's chocolate syrup, and that's all I'll say about that.

Good cooking.

Hyping my Super Bowl food.

Since my beloved Saints didn't make the Super Bowl yet again, I don't have a favorite this year, but I do pull for the underdog. What a story it would be if the Cards win this one. I will be home watching all the Hype getting my last big NFL fix before the off season. I decided to do a Sports Bar theme for my food. After Church we will start with Nachos while the grill gets to temp. Not your standard Nachos made with that gloppy, runny, tasteless, excuse for cheese that pours from a can. I have some extra sharp cheese that will sit high upon a bed of crisp corn chips, green onions, black beans and Chipotle taco ground beef. Next we will have some homemade steamed Chinese pork dumplings, served with two dipping sauces, both homemade. One is a sweet and sour, the other is an Asian soy sauce based. The final course is chicken wings, but not just any wings. They are marinating in an Asian marinade made of garlic, green onions, ginger, May Ploy, (a sweet chili sauce), rice vinegar, and lime juice. I have made a ranch blue cheese dipping sauce for the wings. The wings will be grilled of course. I hope your team wins or at least you enjoy some good food. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Good Cooking.

p.s. I got caught up in the game and didn't take pictures. Sorry.

Why do we like to gnaw ribs?

It's simple. It's part of our make up. It's in our DNA. It's primal man. Let go back in time.

Man's first cooked meal was BBQ. Our ancestors lived in caves and were hunter/gatherers. Before fire man ate raw. Then one day cromag wakes up, steps out of his cave, and has a big morning yawn. Except this time there is a different smell in the air. It's acrid but enticing. He follows his nose and discovers fire. Probably a grass or bush fire started by lightning. After he burns himself a few times he learns to control fire and to bring it back to the cave. It provides light, warmth, and security against other animals. One day he brings home a kill and the family enjoys a fest around the fire. The carcass is left by the fire and in the morning when Og wakens he finds the meat has changed. It's darker, easier to pull, and easier to chew and digest. BBQ was born and we have had a love for it ever since, which leads me to today's dinner.

Baby Back ribs. For the last two hours I have been monitoring my temp gauge and my WSM (Weber Smoky Mountain) has been running true at about 250 to 260 degrees. I'm using the 2-2-1 method which is 2 hours exposed to heat and smoke, 2 hours foiled, and 1 hour exposed to heat and basted with sauce. I rubbed them with my homemade Bubbaque rub. The sugar caramelizes and forms a great crust. I know your mouth is watering. I know you can smell the hickory smoke. I'm serving them with pinto beans, hoe cakes, and left over mac & cheese from Friday night.

Happy cooking.

Friday night seafood

New Orleans is a Catholic city. Having grown up in a predominately Protestant town, I knew there were Catholics, but they didn't stand out in any way, except going to Church on Saturday in order to not have to deal with the rush of Baptist and Methodist, to the local buffet after Church on Sunday. I grew up coming home from Church on Sunday to the smell of Sunday Dinner, provided either by my mother or my grandmother, Gran Gran. Sunday dinner is something that has been lost on today's hurried family life.

After moving to New Orleans and getting married, I soon found out how deep the Catholic traditions would bleed into the culture of the city. Friday nights were always seafood night. This is a hold over from the days when Catholics didn't eat meat on Fridays. This is why McDonald's created the fish sandwich. Although my in-laws were life long Methodist, we always went out to eat seafood on Friday nights. Seafood restaurants have lines of people waiting for tables on Friday night. In my logical way of thinking, I always thought we should wait until Saturday night to eat seafood therefore avoid the long wait for food. I don't like to wait for food. As it may, now when I ask my wife what she wants for dinner on Friday nights it is invariable seafood.

This Friday I went to Tarpon Dock seafood at the foot of the Tarpon Dock bridge, were they have the freshest seafood in town. The shrimp, snapper, grouper, and crab cakes looked great, so I chose a pound of 21-25 count headless shrimp, a small grouper fillet, and two crab cakes. The crab cakes were pan roasted, meaning they were sauteed in a cast iron skillet and when turned, they were placed in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking. The shrimp and grouper were fried. Seafood screams to be fried. The contrast of crispy outer crust and soft firm interior is a classic. Although frying can be daunting for some it really is easy if you follow some simple rules. Always have your oil or shortening hot. Remember when you put the seafood in the fryer the temperature will drop, so heat the oil above your target temperature of 350 to 375 before dropping the seafood. Cut your fish into small pieces so the fish will cook before the crust get over cooks. Always allow your breaded seafood to rest so the coating will have time to set on the seafood. I prefer Zatarain's seafood fry. I also use an egg and milk wash so the coating will have something to hold onto. I use two cups of milk, two eggs, and a good tablespoon of yellow mustard as my wash. You can add a couple of drops of Tabasco, if you like thing spicy. This Friday I served the seafood with some homemade mac and cheese. I used some smoked Gouda in the mac and cheese to give it a surprising smoky flavor. My wife would be mad at me if I served fried seafood with out my tarter sauce. Mayo, dill relish, green onions, capers, and lemon juice is all it takes. My wife actually makes her own sauce. She mixes my tarter sauce with ketchup. She's been doing that since she was a child.

Well I hope you will honor your food traditions and keep them alive.

Happy cooking.

Stuffed Flank Steak

Saturday I made a stuffed flank steak. Flank steak is one of my favorite things to grill. It's relativley inexpencive and is full of great beef flavor. I stuffed it with spinach and artichokes. The stuffing was made with frozen chopped spinach, parmesan cheese, garlic, Italian bread crumbs, and olive oil. A layer of smoked Gouda cheese was added before it was rolled. I wrapped it in bacon and tied it with butchers twine. It was cooked indirect till it reached an internal temp. of 120 degrees. I served it with a side of Linguini tossed with garlic and olive oil. Note the theme. I hope you enjoy the pics.