Monday, 07 December 2009

  • Entrecôte of Beef with Oyster Mushrooms sauteed in Madeira wine and White Truffle Oil...

    Entrecôte of Beef with Oyster Mushrooms
    sauteed in Madeira wine and White Truffle Oil, on Roasted Potatoes
    with two sauces; Balsamic Shallot Cream Reduction
    and Sweet Thai Chili Tomato Glacé.






    I usually don't photograph my dinners.

    Last night though, after I had plated my dinner, I thought "hey this looks pretty good." and decided to take a shot or two just to catalogue what my dinner was.  Instead, I ended up mounting up the tripod and playing with some new lighting ideas for about an hour.  In the end, I got a few photos that I really liked; and now I'm left regretting that I didn't break out the tripod earlier and take process photos so I could post this on CHOW as a full photo instructional.




    * * * * *




    Basically, we've taken an Entrecôte of Beef, which is a fancy word for the center of a good piece of Ribeye; and crusted it with Cracked Black Peppercorns and Hawaiian Sea Salt before grilling it on a super-heated grill at about 800°F to get a nice char on it and pulling it off Chicago Blue (charred, rarer-than-rare inside). 

    At the same time, we've melted butter in a Cast Iron Skillet and then seared the Oyster Mushrooms to a nice browned crisp before adding a splash of Maderia Wine and dressing with a few drops of White Truffle Oil.

    The Steak is laid down on top of Roasted Potatoes, and the Mushrooms piled on top of the Steak; before the plate is dressed with two sauces:  One made by reducing a high-quality aged Balsamic Vinegar by 1/2 with minced shallots, and then adding cream; and the other by mixing Sweet Thai Chili sauce and Tomato Paste over heat and adding a bit of Sambal Oelek.

    Here's a couple of detail shots.






    Unfortunately, we only have finished result photos today. 

    I will, however, re-do this because it tastes so damned good, as a full-size photo cooking instructional on CHOW.




    * * * * *




    I entered a Xanga Commercial Contest put on by npr32486.

    Here is my entry.





    Yes, that's my voice in the beginning.  Yes, I realize I sound like the guy that does movie trailers, haha.  I made several other versions as well, including a parody funny/ cheesy/ sexy version.  You can view them here with more info on my process Here.

    As for the rest of the Xanga Commercial Contest entries, you can view them here on npr3286's site:


    Click Here for Xangamercials!


    Voting is active and ends on Friday at midnight.  Please go take a look at the work our fellow Xangans put into this contest; and vote for your favorite Commercial entry!

    Love and Aloha to you as always,


    ** EDIT:  I made this dish with about $6.00 in ingredients!  Learn to Cook! :)

    So how do you guys like your steak cooked?

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

  • Smacked & Loaded Roasted Potatoes

     
    Smacked & Loaded Roasted Potatoes
    Potatoes roasted in a Cast-Iron Pan, with Cheddar Cheese, Crisp Bacon, Sour Cream and Chives











    I'll say it right from the beginning:  These are likely to be the un-healthiest potatoes you will ever eat.

    Thanksgiving is upon us again this year.  Most of us will not be responsible for the Turkey; but instead if we are responsible for anything culinarily related for Thanksgiving dinner, it's often a side-dish.

    Everyone's Thanksgiving Dinner is going to have Mashed Potatoes.  This goes well with the Turkey, and generally everything else on a Thanksgiving menu; and I love Mashed Potatoes... but why not break out a Potato dish that will have people saying "damn, nevermind the Mashed Potatoes -- give me some of THAT."

    That brings us to our first side dish:  A Smacked Up & Loaded Potatoes in a Cast-Iron Pan, tossed in rendered Bacon Fat; then roasted in the oven, covered in Cheddar Cheese and crispy Bacon, baked again, and then topped with Sour Cream and Chives.  "Loaded", I think you understand.  But why "Smacked"?  Because we literally smack the Potatoes with the uncool business end of a Meat Tenderizer.

    Why smack the Potatoes with the spiky end of a Meat Tenderizer?

    Other than venting frustration at general holiday stress, pounding on potatoes with a big spiky metal hammer crushes and breaks up the surface of the potatoes, creating more surface area exposed to the air.  Why does this matter?  Because a Maillard Reaction (browning) isn't going to occur until moisture is gone; and the more surface area exposed, the quicker the evaporation of moisture; and thus the better and quicker the surface browning and cooking of the Potato.

    NOTE:  If you want to prepare this for more people, simply increase the ingredients used proportionally.


    I N G R E D I E N T S:

    5-6 Medium Russet Potatoes, quartered into 1" cube.
    5 Slices of Thick-cut Bacon, cut into 1/2" strips
    1 1/2 Cups Cheddar Cheese, Grated

    Sour Cream
    Chives
    Salt & Pepper


    P R O C E D U R E:

    Preheat your oven to 450°F.  We want it HOT.



    Quarter your Potatoes into 1" cube, skin and all.  The idea is for each one to be the right size to fit into your mouth when you stab it with a fork.  If people in your family have large mouths, feel free to cut larger cubes. 




    Cut your Bacon into roughly 1/2" strips; and cook them in your Cast Iron Pan.  If you don't have one, just cook them in a skillet.  When cooked/ crisped, remove them from the pan, and reserve the rendered Bacon Fat.




    Take your cubed Potatoes, microwave them for 5 minutes, and then toss them in the rendered Bacon Fat to coat.  This will be directly in the Cast Iron Pan if using one; or in your roasting pan if you do not have a Cast Iron Pan.




    Get out your large spiky metal hammer (aka Meat Tenderizer, War Mace, Mjöllnir, Sulfuras Hand of Ragnaros, whatever), and Smack the Potatoes around to create ridges and indentations in the surface.  Obviously if you're using a glass roasting dish, you want to do this outside of the dish.  Otherwise, have fun.  The amount of smashy-smashy is up to you.  I like mine fairly intact so I can fork it.  Don't get me wrong, I love spooning, but in this case, I'd rather just fork.

    Ahem.  Salt and Pepper, please.




    Lay the Potatoes out in a single layer, and roast at 450°F for about 20-25 minutes or until the Potatoes are nicely browned and cooked through (will pierce easily with anything).  Toss them around a bit.




    Drizzle your grated Cheddar Cheese on top, followed by your Bacon.  Put back into the oven and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or so until your Cheese is melted and browned to your satisfaction.

    You can serve directly in the Cast-Iron Pan if you like.  If you do, drop your Sour Cream and Chives directly onto the potatoes prior to bringing to serve.  Otherwise, let people serve themselves, with Sour Cream and Chives on the side.






    With Steak for Dinner



    Pan-fried with Eggs Over-Easy on sliced Pugilese Bread, Tomatoes for Breakfast.





    * * * * *




    One of the nice things about this dish is that it can be made ahead of time, brought to the house where the Thanksgiving dinner is being held, and quickly reheated.

    Especially if you have a Cast-Iron Pan, you can just bring the whole thing and throw it into the oven at the end of the cooking cycle of the Turkey.  It doesn't matter where you put it in the oven.  Heck, you could even put it in the grill outside.  As long as the pan can get nice and hot again, and the Potatoes and Cheese can get crispy and melty again, you're good to go -- just like fresh.  Top with Sour Cream and Chives, and you're good to go.  And if you like Hot Sauce, go wild.

    Also, don't think of this just as a Thanksgiving-only dish.  You could make this easily, anytime, for any event.  This tends to go well at Sports-related parties as well.  I think I've put this inside of a Burger once or twice even.  Use it as a side dish for Steak.  And given the 1% probability that you will have leftovers, you can also fill an Omelette with this the next morning.  Or break an Egg over it Over-Easy style and eat it on a slice of Toast (pictured above)

    If you want to do a classier version, use Butter instead of the Bacon Fat, and try melted Fontina Cheese served with a cold fresh Tomato slice and some fresh Thyme.  Or Ham, with Gruyere or Swiss Cheese with Caramelized Onions.  Or use the Roasted Potato base with some Arugula sprinkled on top, shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano and Proscuitto di Parma.

    Love and Aloha, 


    What is your favorite Thanksgiving Side-Dish?

Friday, 20 November 2009

  • Easy Fettuccine Alfredo


    Fettuccine Alfredo
    Cheese, Cream, Butter.  It's so easy to make, it's ridiculous.  Try it.








    I looked up from the stove, and smiled at Chieko and June sitting at the dining table, laughing together by the window ten feet away.


    My hands moved quickly now.  Much more quickly than they did ten years ago.  Stirring the sauce.  Modulating the heat.  Grating the cheese.  Flipping the prawns on the grill.  Checking the loaf of Ciabatta bread in the oven.  Dicing, chopping, mincing, slicing.  Our bottle of wine was uncorked and poured between the three of us, and I took a generous gulp of my favorite Pinot Grigio from my favorite little winery in Napa Valley as I prepared dinner for us.  Ten years ago, this would have been a major production.  But now, it was a simple weeknight dinner for us.

    Tonight, I was making Fettuccine Alfredo by request for June.

    I can never make Fettuccine Alfredo without remembering the very first time I ever cooked for somebody I loved -- cooking for my best friend Katie in my parents shoddy apartment in the ghetto, because she had told me it was her favorite dish and I wanted to make it for her.

    I looked around me.  So much had changed in the last ten years.  I wasn't a poor kid living in the projects anymore.  Instead of a decaying, roach-infested leftover kitchen from the sixties with a half-working range to match; I was standing in my own kitchen in my own place, with granite counter-tops, a hardwood floor, and high-end appliances neatly tucked into their enclosures.  Instead of using my mother's shoddy, scratched up T-Fal cookware, I was using All-Clad everything.  And instead of eating on a flimsy secondhand metal table with a view of the concrete building next door, we were eating on a custom-made Brazilian mahogany table by an expansive floor-to-ceiling window with a view that was spectacular by any standard.

    But Katie wasn't here.  And having Fettuccine Alfredo never seemed right without her.




    * * * * *




    Katie told me she loved it.  In hindsight, it must have tasted horrible, but she told me she loved it anyway. 

    What did I know?  We were just kids then -- fifteen years old; and I was cooking the first thing I ever tried cooking that wasn't instant ramen or chef boyardee.  We had gone to a nice Italian restaurant two weeks earlier, and shared a dinner I could barely afford but I wanted to treat her to anyway.  My parents could never afford that sort of thing then, so I had never been to a place like that before.  She told me she loved Fettuccine Alfredo, and not having the money to take her out like this yet wanting to treat her to what she loved, I told her that I would make it for her.

    I closed my eyes, and for a moment, I could almost hear her voice.  Here, my best friend still here with me.  Still here to have this Fettuccine Alfredo, finally made the way it's supposed to be made.

    I use top-grade Plugra european butter now.  And fresh non-ultra-pasteurized cream.  Fleur de sel.  And Parmigiano Reggiano.  I roll out and cut my Fettuccine by hand now, because this dish needs fresh-made pasta.

    Katie was kind to me then, telling me that she loved the first Fettuccine Alfredo I ever made, with margarine, milk, sawdust parmesan in a green can, and cream cheese.  I scorched the sauce, it was clumpy and watery, and the pasta clung together, half-cooked in places and over-cooked in others.  She knew better, but it didn't matter to her.

    I still remember her face when she put the first twirled fork-full into her mouth.



    No one has ever made that face since.  And I know why.  It's because she never took it for granted.  It's because she knew exactly why I had made it for her --

    -- That I made it for her just because I knew SHE loved it. 

    She knew I couldn't afford much, but I did what I could.  And she knew I didn't know how to cook, but I was trying my damned hardest anyway.  Because I was the only person in her entire life that actually gave a damn about her in a world of dysfunctional people who said they cared but really didn't.



    Today, it doesn't matter what I make.  I could serve a Croquette of Foie Gras and Kogyoku Apple Confit in Black Truffle Demi Glace Reduction, and it would be pedestrian.  Because that's just what people expect from me now.  And I knew that yes, Chieko and June would appreciate the Fettuccine Alfredo that I was making for them by request -- but they would just eat it.  It wouldn't matter that I'm using the best ingredients that money can buy, cooked with the best equipment that money can buy, with hands that money can't buy or that I'm making it because I care for them.

    The love would be there, but they would never feel as loved as Katie did that night eating my disgusting mass of loving slop.




    * * * * *




    This stuff above.  This is all Fettuccine Alfredo is.



    This is the Ninth Week of IReallyLikeFood's Challenge Of The Week Showcase, featuring ingredients and themes which readers and contributors use as a base for creating dishes.

    This Ninth Week, it's a Theme:  Pasta

    If there's any one dish that has significant meaning to me, it's Fettuccine Alfredo.

    It's the first real dish I ever made.  It's also the one dish that holds the most weight for me, because it was also the first dish I ever made that led me to the mantra that I live by now -- that Food = Love; made for the only girl in my lifetime who ever loved me purely, simply, and unconditionally.

    We all begin somewhere when we start to cook.  This is where it began for me; and maybe this is where it will begin for you, reader, as well.

    Fettuccine Alfredo is a simple dish.  Possibly one of the most simple Pasta dishes to make, and yet most people either don't know how, don't try it, or are too afraid to try making it at home.  The fact is, it just takes a few steps:  Cream and Butter together, simmer, then grated Cheese.  And it's done.  Really, it's that simple.

    However, do not substitute ingredients with this dish.  You must use Butter, not margarine.  You must use Cream (or half-and-half), not milk.  You must use a decent fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, not the sawdust-tasting crap in the green can.  You really should use a Fresh Fettuccine from the refrigerated section, not the dried stuff in a box -- it makes a big difference.  You don't have to use Plugra or Fleur de Sel or Parmigiano Reggiano, but the quality will show through if you do because this is such a simple dish. 

    Fettuccine Alfredo is also a good introduction to Cream-based Pasta sauces.  Add some minced garlic, and you have a garlic cream sauce.  Add some pesto, and you have a Creamy Pesto.  Change the cheese even, to Gorgonzola maybe.  Once you make your first Fettuccine Alfredo and realize how easy it is, you'll realize how versatile this basic technique is, and how many different dishes you can make just by changing a little bit or adding a little something more.

    I hope you give this one a try, just so you can see how easy it is to make at home.


    I N G R E D I E N T S:

    1 1/2 Cups Cream or Half-and-Half
    5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
    1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
    1lb (500g) Fresh Fettuccine

    Salt and Pepper/ Grated Nutmeg to taste


    P R O C E D U R E:

    Start by boiling your pasta water.




    When the water is at a rolling boil, add a bit of salt and add your Fettuccine.  Stir it around so it doesn't stick.  If you are using Fresh Fettuccine, you only need to boil for about 2 minutes.




    Combine your Cream and Butter in a saucepan or skillet.  Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.




    Add your grated cheese in a few batches at a time, stirring as you go.  It should melt into the cream as you stir.




    Take your cooked Fettuccine, add it to the Sauce pan, and stir until the sauce is absorbed.  Feel free to simmer it a few minutes longer if you like, but otherwise...
     
    Done.  Easy right?

    Salt / Pepper/ Nutmeg to taste.




    Fettuccine Alfredo is usually served as a Starter dish in Italy in small portions, with grilled meat.  I like mine with some Grilled Prawns.  These are U-15 Tiger Prawns which I've marinated for 30 minutes in garlic, olive oil and chili peppers; and then grilled until just medium-rare.  Yes, that's Galbi up there.  I eat it with that too.



    Plate and Serve immediately, as Alfredo is best eaten immediately.
    Also, I like to crumble Parmesan Cheese off of the block as a garnish.




    * * * * *




    I exhaled a deep breath on my balcony, letting my hands and forearms rest on the wrought iron railing in front of me.

    I looked back in through the window, at Chieko and June doing the dishes in the kitchen.  Chieko, like June's big sister.  June, who reminded me of Katie before we started down into the dark places of this world together, ten years ago.  Before Katie fell.  Before I fell.  When we were pure, innocent beings, like June was, laughing as she flung soap bubbles at Chieko.

    I sighed.  June.  Chieko.  This beautiful home.  I looked down at myself.  The tailored, hand-stitched shirt I wore so casually now would have paid a whole month's rent for my parents back then.  And the watch on my wrist could have paid my father for nearly a year back then, as he worked long difficult hours so that I would have a chance in life.  I would have, then, if I could have.  But life is what it is now, not then. 

    Everything, all of this, every dish I ever cooked and all that I am -- all started there that night, in my parents kitchen in our apartment in the ghetto, with the Fettuccine Alfredo and Katie.  For better or for worse, that dinner changed the course of my life... but I knew all that I had now... it was blood money.  And I hated it.  If it hadn't been for Katie and the Fettuccine Alfredo, I would not be who I was now, where I was, what I was.  But we paid so much for it.  Katie followed me into the deep, dark places of this world, and she paid a toll more costly than mine.  We paid too much for it.

    I wondered, what my life would have been like... what our life would have been like, had we never had our Fettuccine Alfredo that night?

    Love and Aloha, from another time and place.


    Do you have any Foods that have Special Significance to you?  A Food that invokes a memory, or makes you remember a certain time, place, or person?  What, Who or When?

    NOTE:  Read the Comments, there's some really interesting/ cute/ sad/ heartwarming stories being posted there by readers!

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

  • Linguine con Frutti di Mare


    Linguine con Frutti Di Mare
    Rustic Fishmonger's Seafood on Linguine in Tomato, Olive, Garlic, Basil Olive-Oil Wine Sauce









    This is the Ninth Week of IReallyLikeFood's Challenge Of The Week Showcase, featuring ingredients and themes which readers and contributors use as a base for creating dishes.

    This Ninth Week, it's a Theme:  Pasta




    * * * * *




    I've always had an affinity for the sea.

    Growing up near the ocean is a wonderful thing.  I've spent most of my life near the ocean in one place or another; and returning to tropical Pacific Blue is one of the major reasons I live in Hawai'i now.  One thing I have always loved, and found in common with seaside communities around the world, is the bounty of the fisherman's harvest prepared in rustic ways by the fishmonger's wives in their homes for their husbands returning from a day on the sea or on the docks.


    Our Linguine con Frutti di Mare is hearty in flavor, yet light in the stomach; complex in flavor and texture combinations, yet so simple in making use of fresh vegetables and seafoods, heftily spooned over al dente Linguine and served with warm, crusty Italian country bread.


    We start by sauteing Fresh Tomatoes in Olive Oil until it forms the base of a sauce; into which we add Garlic and Green Olives, before splashing in Marsala wine to open up additional flavor compounds in the Sauce and to give it an added level of richness.  We then dump in our bounty of Seafood -- Clams, Prawns, Scallops, Calamari and firm-fleshed Fish, and let it cook, releasing its natural ocean flavor into the Sauce; before adding roughly chopped Basil at the end, just before serving.




    Cherry Tomatoes, Green Olives, Garlic, Basil





    Prawns, Clams, Calamari, Diver Scallops, Escolar


    This is a simple dish that can be made quickly enough for a weeknight meal, but yet is worthy of serving dinner guests too.  This also a fairly inexpensive dish also (assuming you have things like olive oil), at least in areas that have access to seafood.  In a preparation for Four (although the recipe below is for TWO):

    Calamari:  $1.70
    Escolar:  $3.30
    Prawns:  $3.50
    Clams:  $4.50
    Basil:  $0.50
    Linguine:  $1.50
    Tomatoes:  $1.50
    Green Olives:  $0.50
    Garlic:  $0.30
    Wine:  $0.70

    For a total of about $18.00, leaving just enough to buy a nice loaf of crusty Italian Bread too with the change from a $20 bill; or $4.50 each for 4 dinner sized portions.  Not bad for a dish that would cost nearly four times that in a restaurant.

    Alright, let's do this.


    I N G R E D I E N T S:

    2 Tbsp Butter, Unsalted
    2 Tbsp Olive Oil
    1 Handful Cherry Tomatoes, halved
    8 Green Olives, thinly sliced (not black, GREEN - important)
    4 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
    1 Handful Basil, roughly chopped
    1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
    1/2 Cup Wine (I used Marsala for this)

    The Seafood you use is up to you.  I used Clams, Prawns, Calamari, Diver Scallops and Firm-Fleshed Fish.  Some combination of these is desirable.  The whole idea of this dish is the bountiful Fisherman's Harvest, so go wild with whatever you can get fresh and use a lot of whatever Seafood you want to.


    P R O C E D U R E:





    Boil your pasta.  I like using Linguine for this type of dish.  Fettuccine is too wide, Spaghetti and Angel Hair work too.  Make sure you use enough water -- 1 gallon to every 1 pound of pasta.  For more tips on how to cook perfect pasta, I cover it in this entry here:  Chicken with Garlic Mushroom Sauce Pasta.




    When your pan is hot, add your Olive Oil and Butter; spread it around to coat the pan, and then add your Halved Cherry Tomatoes.  Smash them up so that the Tomatoes release all of their flesh.  Cook for about 3 minutes.





    Add your Sliced Green Olives, Garlic, Italian Seasoning, and cook for another 3 minutes.




    Add your Wine, and cook for another 3 minutes.




    Add your Seafood, and cook another 3 minutes.




    Stir it around, cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Make sure you flip thicker pieces, and let the clams open up.




    Toss with your roughly chopped Basil.




    Done!




    * * * * *




    Frutti di Mare means, literally, "Fruit of the Sea."

    This is a dish I used to make, seaside, over small fires we would make in the sand on the beach in the evening as we watched the sun set into the ocean.  It's an experience I love, sitting there on a small wooden stool, giant wok in hand over fire built with collected driftwood; skin with that thin layer of sea salt on it, hair nappy from the dried seawater, and face tight after a day of diving on the reefs offshore. 

    We would free-dive then, with our nets and spearguns, catching our food; or picking it off of the rocks -- crabs, lobsters off of the sea floor, mussels on the rocks... sometimes we would even unlatch sea urchins out of their burrows for Uni (sea urchin roe) that could not be any fresher.  Through the day, we would fillet and part out our fish, eating it on the spot with our diving knives as Sashimi, or we would save it for our evening feast of our Fruits of the Sea at night.

    Those were good times then, times long gone; but times I look forward to again one day.  New friends, gathering together, maybe even in old places; making new memories, sharing good food and drink in each others' good company -- perhaps even here, some day, at a certain little beach house on a little strip of beach in front of a little reef, on this little island I now call home.

    My Love and Aloha to you, from these Islands of Hawai'i. 

    What is your favorite Pasta (or Italian) dish?  And where did you have it?

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CHOW: A Taste of Love


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Name: MC
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If you have any questions about anything, just ask.

I'm here to help you. I don't mind answering questions or giving individualized attention (so long as I have the time for it). Also, if you have any requests, please let me know and I'll consider what I can do.

CHOW Archives


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Pork and Chicken Satay Kebabs
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Kiwi Champagne Granita
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Trio of Kabocha Pumpkin:
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Chicken w/ Garlic Mushroom Sauce Pasta


Thai Basil Garlic Shrimp Curry Fried Rice


Thai Green Curry with Crispy Chicken and Eggplant


Japanese Katsudon


Rice Cooking Basics and Rice Cookers


Rice Basics and Rice Series Intro



Thousandthdish Archive


Sake Moi Li'i Napoleon
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& Snow Crab Risotto

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Diver Scallop and 'Nalo Greens, Pomegranate Sake Beurre Blanc
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Roast Chicken with Shiitake Cream Sauce Full Dinner
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Equipment Guide: Cookware
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Togarashi Seared Ahi
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Steak au Poivre
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Video Blog Entry
Shark Fin and Lobster Tung Bao in clear broth

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Braised Abalone on Fried Tofu in Broth

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Beef Stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff from 4th of July Leftovers

Foie Gras Croquette with
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Foie Gras Croquette with Crimini Mushroom/ Truffle demi-glace and Kogyoku Apple Confit

New England Clam Chowder
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Rustic Seafood Pasta
Rustic Seafood Pasta


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About CHOW: A Taste of Love


Welcome to CHOW: A Taste of Love.

I’m MC.

I used to write the Top-10 Xanga Featured Content Cooking Blog called Thousandthdish. I’m doing a series reboot with CHOW.

I’m going back to the basics.


My goal is to teach and build, one article at a time, a comprehensive cooking instruction site designed for a reader who doesn’t know how to cook at all; to be able to come in and build a foundation in cooking -- learning not only recipes, but also about the Ingredients they are using, Preparation and Cooking Technique, and the Science and History behind the food. I want them to be able to fully understand and be knowledgeable in cooking, and be completely comfortable in the kitchen.


Continuing the tradition of Thousandthdish, I will be incorporating food science, history, equipment reviews, technique demonstrations, and personal stories into the entries.

For most types of dish posted, I will prepare one Beginner version, and at least one Intermediate and one Advanced as well as one Hawaiian-Regional version.

We will also be making virtual culinary excursions to various cultures around the world, where we will learn how to bring international cuisine into our homes.

Come, friend, and eat with me.

My Love and Aloha,
-MC


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In the Waiting Line


This is the current production list of dishes I plan on making and posting. This is an on-going list, and dishes may or may not be produced in order. More dishes will be added to this list as time goes on.


[RICE SERIES]

An International trip, tasting dishes from world cuisines featuring Rice; and see how culinary cultures migrate and blend into one another.

  • Basic American Rice Pilafs
  • Creole Jambalaya
  • Cajun Étouffée
  • Mexican Arroz Con Pollo
  • Peruvian Tacu Tacu
  • Brazilian Feijoada
  • Spanish Seafood Paella
  • Italian Wild Mushroom Risotto
  • Italian Arancini (Risotto Balls)
  • Greek Spanakorizo
  • Moroccan Kefta Rice
  • Nigerian Djelof
  • Turkish Lamb Pilaf
  • Persian Lamb Polo
  • Indian Madras Lamb Pulao
  • Malaysian Nasi Goreng
  • Thai Green Curry Eggplant Rice
  • Chinese Congee
  • Chinese Young Chow Fried Rice
  • Taiwanese Sticky Rice
  • Hainanese Chicken Rice
  • Mongolian Roast Lamb Hotpot
  • Japanese Katsu Donburi
  • Japanese Sushi Rice Technique
  • Japanese Hot Sushi Casserole
  • Korean Konnamul Bap
  • Korean Kimchi Fried Rice
  • Hawaiian Loco Moco


  • [BREAKFAST SERIES]

    A relaxing weekend morning with a nice breakfast, a hot cup of Kona Coffee, and the company of someone I Love is my ideal of the perfect Saturday morning. Have breakfast with me.

  • Egg Basic Technique
  • Omelette Technique
  • Parisian French Toast
  • Double-Baked Bostock French Toast in Disaronno Amaretto Grand Marnier Reduction with Creme Fraiche
  • Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Creme Pancakes
  • Breakfast Meat Basics
  • Quiche Technique
  • Frittata Technique
  • Eggs Benedict/ Eggs Houssard with Marchand du Vin sauce
  • Japanese Chawan Mushi

    -- Chinese Dim Sum --

  • Dim Sum: Xiao Long Bao
  • Dim Sum: Look Fun
  • Dim Sum: Char Siu Bao
  • Dim Sum: Siu Mai
  • Dim Sum: Har Gow
  • Dim Sum: Low Pak Gao
  • Dim Sum: Seafood Roll
  • Dim Sum: Potstickers



  • [STREET FOOD SERIES]

    Visiting cultures around the world, one of my favorite things to do is sample the various street foods. Let's travel together to the Night Markets of the world and eat together.

  • Taipei: Sen Jian Bao
  • Taipei: Tsung-Yu Bin
  • Taipei: You-Tiao
  • Taipei: Niuroumian
  • Japan: Okonomiyaki
  • Japan: Takoyaki
  • Thailand: Pad Thai
  • Indonesia: Satay Kebabs
  • Brasil: Pao de Quiejo
  • Morocco: Briouats
  • Morocco: Chermoula Ouarka
  • Morocco: Kefta



  • [TENTATIVE PRODUCTION ORDER]

    This is my tentative guideline for CHOW production. I may or may not follow this order.

  • Thai Green Curry Part 2
  • Thai Basil Garlic Shrimp Fried Rice
  • Casarecce with Summer Vegetables
  • Pork Tenderloin w/ Port Beurre Rouge
  • Chicken Puttanesca Bread Sopa
  • Thai Beef Curry Samosas
  • Tempura for Kristin
  • Roasted Stuffed Tomato with Polenta
  • Stuffed Fried Tofu
  • MC Shrimp/ Marscapone/ Cilantro/ Peach Roll
  • Bacon wrapped Shrimp and Scallop Roll
  • Pan-Roasted Short Rib with Braised Won Bok
  • Breakfast Basics
  • Basic Egg Technique
  • Parisian French Toast w/ Palm Sugar Bananas in Dark Rum sauce
  • Miso Soup for Kristin
  • Omelette Technique
  • Brunch Puff Pastry Tarts
  • Entrecote of Beef with Marchand du Vin sauce
  • Blue Ginger Tofu with Sesame Miso
  • MC’s Crab Cakes
  • Roasted Pear w/ Balsamic Reduction Salad
  • Risotto Technique
  • Osso Bucco
  • Gourmet Home-made Pizza Basics
  • Roast Duck, Hoisin, Scallion, Reggiano Pizza
  • Shrimp, Feta, Basil, Olive Pizza
  • Spinach, Garlic, Mushroom Pizza
  • Wild Mushroom Pizza
  • MC’s BBQ Beer-Braised Ribs
  • MC’s BLT (home-smoked bacon, home-made mayo)
  • Bacon-wrapped Scallop Salad
  • Bacon-wrapped Chicken with Goat Cheese
  • Quiche Technique
  • Eggs Benedict/ Eggs Houssard
  • Pancake Technique
  • Crepe Technique
  • Popovers
  • Hawaiian Sweetbread French Toast w/ Lilikoi Honey Cognac sauce
  • Brioche French Toast with Grand Marnier reduction and Almond creme
  • Portuguese Bean Soup
  • Sushi Rice Technique
  • Nigirizushi Technique
  • Makzushi Technique
  • Temakizushi Technique
  • Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib)
  • Yorkshire Pudding
  • Creamed Spinach

  • Food = Love


    "What's your favorite food?"

    It's a question countless people have asked me over the years. For those who truly enjoy what is within the Heart and Soul of food, this is a question to which a much deeper yet much simpler answer is given than is expected.

    I heard once on a TV show, a question asked to an old woman who is legendary for her Soul Food restaurant in the deep South. The host asked her, "What is Soul Food?" And she replied,

    "Soul Food is Love."

    Modern Culinary Culture has forgotten the foundation of providing food out of Love and care. As food becomes more convenient and easier and quicker to obtain and eat, we lose out on an important aspect of the core of what food is to us.

    Look at any part of a Food-based Culture, and we will still see it -- life revolves around food, the growing and harvesting, the coming-together of the family and community, and even in the interactions between individuals. People make the time to spend with their Loved ones; not only out of necessity in the pooling of communal resources -- but also as a social and relational activity in sharing love and care with the eating of food at the center.

    In the Chinese part of my cultural heritage, the sharing of food is of great importance. The circular tables we find in Chinese restaurants, with Lazy Susans covered in extravagant banquet dishes for all to share and delight in together is our way. When we greet each other, we also ask each other, "你吃饭了吗?", (Nǐ Chī Fàn Le Ma?), or "Have you eaten yet?" It's how my parents greet me when we come together. Not because of a standardized, ritual inquiry, but because they have always showed me love through food.

    I grew up in the Projects.

    Food was scarce then. Food was valuable then. Yet, even with my parents barely scraping by with enough money to survive and raise us, they made it a point to be able to feed us. To this day, some of the cheapest, most 'ghetto' food remains my favorites. It's because I have memories of living in rat-infested, toe-up, broken-down apartments, enjoying a meal cooked by my mother or father, shared as a family coming together after a long day of hard work. Though we did not have much, we had much more than many other families who seemed to have much more.

    We had Love.

    In all those years, I never went hungry. To this day, I will not let someone I care about go hungry. The old woman who told the TV host "Soul Food is Love" understands what is in the Heart and Soul of cooking and being cooked for. It's Love.

    A fancy meal of Monkfish Liver with Yuzu Butter and Osetra Caviar or Kobe Beef with White Truffle Demi-Glace and seared Foie Gras made callously and carelessly by a talented chef who hates his job will find itself lacking to me.

    Yet, in my memory, a simple, basic Tuna Casserole made for me out of Love by a woman who once loved me, knowing that her act of cooking for me the only dish she knew how to make... it was the most incredible, most delicious, most heartwarming meal I could have.



    To me, Love can be tasted. And it has the most wonderful flavor I have ever known.


    The dishes found here on A Taste of Love come from many times and places in my life.

    Some of these dishes come from exclusive meals I've prepared for Diplomats, Admirals, and Foreign Dignitaries. Others from romantic culinary escapades with the past loves of my life. Some from memorable dinner parties with friends; or from comforting loved ones suffering heartaches over tears and hugs. A few are from dinners cooked for strangers I took in, who had nowhere to go on holidays meant to be spent with family. And even some come from meals I've cooked and provided to our Homeless Friends, Sheltered Abuse Victims, and the Unwanted that I've cared for in my years.

    This is my story of Love, told through Food.

    You ask me, "What's my favorite food?"

    It's Love.

    Mmm... blood.

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