Pork chops are one of those meats that have gotten a bad rap over past years. Hopefully this is a recipe which will bring the beloved pork chop back from the old recipe box abyss. These days in a lot of high end restaurants, flavored butters are very common. One of the most common is blue cheese butter. Most think of steak with blue cheese. But, pork is very delicious with blue cheese. I wanted to take it a step further and make a butter with good English Stilton. Then, as a vegetable, I also wanted to pair the chop with another under-rated veggie...the humble asparagus. Although I would normally advocate for roasted vegetables. When asparagus is roasted, it tastes delicious, but it shrinks and shrivels up. I want crisp vibrant colored vegetables. So, you can either blanch or steam the asparagus and then saute it with garlic, salt, pepper, and a splash of white wine. You then serve this on the side of the pork chop and stilton butter. The butter will mix with the white wine and create a wonderful sauce. Oh so delicious! Bon Appetit! Note: the picture above is the closest I could find to my recipe.
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On a nice overcast day like today, there is nothing better than making a nice big batch of hearty soup. One soup I think is so delicious and yet so simple is a classic Italian Wedding Soup. It has all of the great comforts. It has he classic trio of vegetables (celery, carrots, and onions), spinach, cheese, meatballs,and pasta. It is a whole meal in itself. I love making this because it is easy as can be and all you have to do is grab a big bowl of it, curl up on the couch and watch a great movie. If you need a quick meal that is relatively stress free, this is a great go to recipe. A good way to take more stress out of it, you can use a really good brand of frozen meatballs. But, of course the best way is to make your own. Bon Appetit!
This is without a doubt, my all time favorite dish I have ever made and eaten. Ever since I saw the movie "Julie and Julia" and watched Julia Child make it on her first television show, I knew I was hooked. To the French this is a peasant dish, but to me its the best dish ever invented. I make this when ever I can. I have made it at least 4 or 5 times for all of my friends for lunch at school. When you have made it for 35 people it gets easier to make a single batch of the recipe. It is so simple (after the first time making it) and yet so divine. It is a beef stew with Red Wine, Bacon, Carrots, Mushrooms, and braised onions (which are cooked separately and added later). In the original Julia Child recipe you use a good red wine. But unfortunately for me, you have to be 21 to buy wine, so I have discovered cooking wine is sold in most grocery stores and you don't have to be 21 to buy it. It is a mix of different blends of wines with salt already added. The brand I use is Holland House. They make red, white, Marsala,and sherry cooking wines. Most chefs will probably call for my execution for this, but I prefer to use this cooking wine when making this because, I have found that the salt level and flavor of the dish is spot on every time because the wine has salt already in it. That way I don't have to worry about adding salt to it. But you can of course use a good red wine from your local liquor store. That is just my personal preference. The actual cooking of the dish is relatively simple. As I said above, it gets easier each time you make it. I could now make it in my sleep. You start out by rendering bacon lardons in a dutch oven or oven safe casserole. Remove the bacon and brown the stew meat in the bacon fat. Remove the meat and saute the carrots in the fat. Return everything to the pot and add your wine, beef stock, and herbs and seasonings. Cover and place in a preheated oven. When meat is cooked about 2 hours later. Strain the sauce into another saucepan. Place sauce over moderate heat and thicken it. You correct seasoning if you need. You then add back the meat and carrots. What I recommend now is to let it cool, cover it, and refrigerate overnight or a day or two. The stew gains in flavor the longer it sits. You then just have to reheat it slowly. Once reheated or ready to serve, you add your braised onions and sauteed mushrooms. You don't add the mushrooms until just before serving, otherwise they will sort of dissolve. It is now ready to serve. When it comes to serving it, the traditional way to serve it is over rice or buttered noodles. I personally view this as a cheap way to serve it and is a waste of such a delicious dish. I like to make some herb roasted potatoes and serve the stew over this. I feel if you are making a rich and gourmet dish like this, don't serve it over something healthy and boring like rice. But again, it is up to you how you wish to serve it. As a matter of fact you don't have to serve it over anything. For example, on the day after eating it, I just eat the leftovers in a bowl with a chunk of french bread. If you make this dish and you say you don't care for it, you obviously have no taste for good food whatsoever. I will warn you, the cost for this dish is around $30-40 for all of the meat and veggies and spices. It is for special occasions. They way I feel, I would have this every week if I could. So please make this as fast as you can. The recipe for the Beouf Borguignon, braised onion and Sauteed Mushrooms is below. As Julia Child says..."Bon Appetit"!
This idea came to me when I was researching various ways of making pasta sauce. I was watching "Barefoot Contessa" on Food Network and she was making the classic Pasta alla Vodka. I was drawn towards the creamy looking sauce. I thought how could I make that without the vodka and add more flavor. Then, I thought of red wine. As I say, any good wine can add great flavor to any savory dish. So I started experimenting, and as a student at Allegany College of MD for Culinary Arts,when you have a recipe to test, the best way to do it is to make it for the students for lunch. I made it and it was very well received. So I thought, this is a keeper. Bon Appetit! Note: The picture above was my first attempt. The recipe as it is now is not as chunky.
For a quick yet elegant steak dinner, turn to a delicious Steak au Poivre. It is a very popular French steak dish. It is a steak of your choice, yet I would prefer a filet mignon steak. You coat it in roughly cracked peppercorns. The longer you let it sit, the better flavor the steak will have. You then sear it on each side for about 4-5 minutes until browned and cooked to your desired done-ness. You then make a sauce from the pan drippings. You saute some minced shallots or onions. Then, degrease the pan with beef stock and French Cognac. Be careful when you pour the cognac. Turn the flame or heat down or off to prevent flare ups. After you boil it for a few minutes, you swirl in some butter to give the sauce a little bit of body. You then serve this sauce over the steaks. For a side dish, I would suggest some sort of potatoes. A classic would be some matchstick fried potatoes. They are excellent with the sauce.
I love anything with Gorganzola. I also love anything made by Ina Garten. When I saw her make this on her show Barefoot Contessa, I knew I had to make this. It is fettuccine pasta, tossed with crispy prosciutto or bacon, peas, and a creamy Gorganzola Alfredo sauce. It is topped with shaved Parmesan and chopped basil. It is absolutely delicious. If you like blue cheese, you will love this. I am without a doubt, making this for my friends for lunch at Allegany College of MD. If the chef likes it, we may run it as a special or something. I suggest you try it. The recipe is below. Cheers!
This is one of my top five cookies. Whenever I make these, they are gone by the end of the day...mostly by me! I made these for my cousin's graduation party once. There was probably over a dozen desserts and these were the most popular. What I love it that they are so simple to make. Sugar cookies coated and baked in cinnamon sugar. If you decide to make them...make sure you bake enough. They will disappear before your eyes. If you don't have a lot of time, and you still want to make a delicious dessert, these are a great option. I will warn you, you will be hooked from then on! Cheers!
This is with out a doubt the most delicious rice dish I have ever made. It is spicy from the Chorizo, tangy from the wine, freshness from the peas, and creamy from the Manchego cheese. If you think you don't like rice or risotto your mind will change once you get a good taste of this divine creation. This was the first risotto I have ever made, and I am glad I tried this one first. Although, once I start experimenting with other recipes, I know that none will ever taste as delicious as this. I made it for my friends at Allegany College of MD for lunch. We were doing demonstrations on various cooking techniques. The chef asked me to find a recipe for risotto. i didn't want to do some boring old basic parmesan risotto. I wanted to do a recipe with many different layers of flavor. I stumbled on this and it started a day filled with Chorizo, Red Wine, and manchego cheese. I highly suggest you go to your local market immediately for the ingredients. There is one thing for sure...you need to have patience when cooking this. It takes around 45 minutes to an hour of constant stirring. The recipe for this is below. I beg you all to try it. Bon Appetit!
On such a wonderful sunny day with a nice breeze, what could be better than a good Ploughman's Lunch. Its good in a nice corner of a London park or right in your back yard right here in the good old USA. This dish is a traditional composed meal that was taken into the fields of the hard working ploughmen. It was a quick bite to have on the go. It is just a mixture of meats, breads, fruits and or vegetables. This is served with a variety of condiments. I will give you a list of all the different items for a great Ploughman's Lunch.
The great thing about this is you don't have to have everything on the list. You can have just an apple and some cheese and bread, or whatever you happen to have in your fridge. For a complete recipe, click on the picture below. Bon Appetit! Here is the final part of my blog post: British Food Products in the USA! Obviously this is only the tip of the Tower (pun intended), but this is just a basic knowledge of the most well known brands common to Britain. 11. Walker's Crisps - The thing to know if you go to Britain if you want Potato Chips, they are called "Crisps" over there. If you say "chips" they will give you what we call french fries. Walkers is the biggest name in Crisps over there. They are owned by PepsiCo. and are the British Brand of our Lay's Potato Chips. They come in a number of flavors, such as: Salt and Vinegar, Pickled Onion, Prawn Cocktail, Worcester Sauce, and Tomato Ketchup. These are just a few. 12. Bisto - This is basically just instant gravy mix. They have many numerous flavors over there. They come in resealable containers. The flavors include: beef, chicken, vegetable, cheese sauce, parsley sauce, white sauce, roast onion, and Chip Shop Curry. 13. Haywards Pickled Onions - If you like onions for a snack, these are for you. they are small white onions, pickled in a brine. They are delicious as a snack with some cheese and crackers, or with a Ploughman's Lunch. I highly suggest you try them. 14. Jaffa Cakes - My friend will kill me if I don't mention Jaffa Cakes. They are one of my favorites. They are small bite size sponge cakes topped with an orange jelly and coated in dark chocolate. They are oh so good. They can be addictive. There are a few brands: McVities', Jacobs. Try them immediately. 15. Irn Bru - Pronounced "Iron Brew". Irn-Bru is a soda from Scotland which is extremely popular in the UK. In fact it’s Scotland’s number 1 selling drink, outselling even Coca Cola. Irn Bru has a unique rusty orange color and a sweet rustic scent making it distinctly different from other drinks. It’s quite fizzy and tastes especially wonderful when icy cold. Apparently it’s great for hangovers too. The joke is that they say, the only thing with more sugar, is a 5lb. bag of sugar. Once again, you can find all of these products online at the British Food Depot. Click on the button below to go there now. Try these and you will like them. I can guarantee it. Cheerio!
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