chow's IReallyLikeFood

Kellie's Birthday Dinner: Procedure

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:18:17 GMT

Dry-Aged Filet Mignon with Hawaiian Red Sea Salt, Cracked Tellicherry Peppercorns;
Pan-seared Asian Oyster Mushrooms and Chinese Red Shallots and White Truffle oil,
on wilted Thai Hot Basil and Skillet-Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes; with two sauces:
A Balsamic Shallot Cream Reduction and a Sweet Thai Chili Tomato Glace.

Hawaiian Watercress, Orange, Avocado, Red Onion with Choysum Blossom Salad with a Ginger Lime Dressing.

Macadamia Nut Brownie with three chocolates, with Nutella 72% Cacao Ganache, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream, and Fresh Raspberries.

It's been a while, here on CHOW, I know.

Over the past four months, I've prepared and shot about two dozen dishes; some posted onto Arenadi, but many that remain in the queue for CHOW. I apologize for not keeping up with CHOW over the past four months. I literally haven't even logged in here since then, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Initially I intended to just take a short break from CHOW -- maybe a few weeks, or a month. But that kept stretching out longer and longer until I find myself here today four months behind.

I've been working on Arenadi, since I felt the need to have a personal blog again; and I found myself neglecting CHOW. Now, I'm going to keep my two Xangas active side-by-side like in the old days. CHOW will return to being a dedicated cooking blog; and Arenadi will change in scope to yield its purely cooking-based posts over to CHOW. Arenadi was always meant to be a "back room" to CHOW, and so I will use it as such -- with posts that have to do with food and cooking, but not direct recipes.

If you are a reader of one, I recommend you subscribe to both, as both will have different content, with some content inter-related.

For example, for this Birthday Dinner post, there will be two halves: The first half will be here on CHOW (this entry), detailing the preparation of the dishes in usual CHOW style, with full photo instructions. The second half will be on Arenadi, where I will talk about how to take tips and strategies from a Restaurant Kitchen and adapt them for home use: how to prepare multiple-course dinners in a timely manner for your guests; as well as talk a bit about the night personally.

Thank you for having me back.

This one is going to be a long one, with three courses. The main course, some of you may recognize as being the last entry I did here on CHOW several months ago, but never re-made it with procedure photos. I figured that if anything, coming back here with that same dish would be a good way to return. I've tweaked it just a little bit, but it's pretty much the same dish. I made this three-course dinner for my friend Kellie's Birthday this last Friday at her place, and shot it for CHOW.

Let's get started.

* * * * *

Main Course:
Dry-Aged Filet Mignon with Hawaiian Red Sea Salt, Cracked Tellicherry Peppercorns;
Pan-seared Asian Oyster Mushrooms and Chinese Red Shallots and White Truffle oil,
on wilted Thai Hot Basil and Skillet-Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes; with two sauces:
A Balsamic Shallot Cream Reduction and a Sweet Thai Chili Tomato Glace.

When I originally designed the menu for Kellie's Birthday Dinner, I designed it with this dish as the center course. This was the last dish I posted on CHOW, and so I wanted to return to it so I could finally post it. This is also a very good "special occasion dinner" steak; and as Kellie is a real steak lover, this immediately came to mind anyway. I wanted to make her a steak dish that would both blow her mind; and introduce her to my personal Hawaiian Regional style, based on the bringing together of Western and Asian ingredients and techniques in harmony.

The result is an explosion in your mouth of contrasting and complimenting flavors, textures, temperatures -- all centered on and harmonizing with the Dry-Aged Filet Mignon.

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

Service for Two:

2 Filets Mignon, Dry-Aged, about 12-14oz.
Hawaiian Red Sea Salt
Black Tellicherry Peppercorns, cracked

4-5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, medium, cubed into 1/2 cube
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable Oil or Butter to coat

1 Bunch Thai Hot Basil
1/2 lb Oyster Mushrooms or other wild mushrooms (Chanterille, etc.)
3 Chinese Red Shallots, sliced
Splash of White Truffle Oil

1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1/4 cup Cream
3 Tbsp Aged Balsamic Vinegar to taste
1 Chinese Red Shallot, minced

Cooking Oil

P R O C E D U R E:

We start with our Potatoes. You don't have to use Yukon Gold. You can use any potato you want. Cube them into about 1/2" cube. Dress them with some vegetable oil, and salt and pepper them. I follow up with a liberal sprinkling of Cayenne pepper.

Heat your oven to 425F, place the potatoes in a Cast-Iron skillet, and bake about 30 minutes, or until browned and crisp.

Tie your Filets Mignon with butcher's twine to keep them in-shape; liberally sprinkle Hawaiian Sea Salt and Cracked Peppercorns on the top and bottom surfaces. It is important to let the Steak sit for at least 15 minutes with the Salt on them; so the salt can melt into the meat.

Place your skillet on High heat, add your oil, and wait for the oil to shimmer. When the oil shimmers, this means the pan is hot enough to sear the steak. Using Tongs, place the Filets Mignon onto the hot pan. Make sure there is adequate space between the Filets Mignon; if they are too close together, they will not cook properly.

Cook them for 5 minutes on each side, flipping them onto a new part of the pan when you do. Remove the Filets Mignon from the skillet and transfer them to a Pie Pan or any other Oven-suitable dish. Place the pan into the oven for another 5-10 minutes, or until your meat thermometer reaches your desired internal temperature: 140F for Medium-Rare, 155F for Medium. I like mine Blue, so I pull mine at 125F.

Using the same skillet you used for the Filets Mignon, add your Oyster Mushrooms into the pan, making sure they are spaced out nicely. This is VERY important. If you do not have enough room between the mushrooms, they will not brown, and will just turn to soggy mush. After a few minutes, turn one of the mushrooms to check it's browning progress. If it's nicely browned, flip the rest of the mushrooms and add the shallots. Cook until shallots are softened and both sides of the mushrooms are caramelized.

When the Potatoes are done, they should look like this.

The first sauce is a Balsamic Shallot Cream Reduction. Use the smallest saucepan you have. I use 1-quart. Take your shallots and add them to the cream, and bring them to a simmer together. Add the Balsamic Vinegar and whisk. Let the volume reduce by half, but do not let it boil over. When reduced, strain the sauce, and reserve on the side.

NOTE: The ingredient volume measurements I give are very rough. The best thing to do is add a little of each until you find the right balance for yourself by TASTING IT as you go.

The second sauce is very simple. Combine your Thai Sweet Chili sauce and your Tomato Paste. Add a little bit of water to desired consistency, simmer and reserve.

Lay down the Thai Hot Basil first. Thai Hot Basil is NOT the sweet basil we are familiar with. It has a very distinct difference in flavor, texture and appearance. If you cannot find Thai Hot Basil, use another spicy green. Lay down the hot potatoes out of the skillet on top of the leaves. This will wilt them.

Place the Filet Mignon on top of the Potatoes, and place the mushrooms and shallots on top of the Filet Mignon. Dress with a splash of White Truffle Oil. Make sure your sauces are still hot (if they are cold, they will not sauce properly), and use a spoon to sauce the edges of the plate.

Nom Nom Nom.

* * * * *

Salad Course:
Hawaiian Watercress, Orange, Avocado, Red Onion with
Choy Sum Blossom Salad with Ginger Lime Dressing

Kellie has a thing for salads. One of the things that often surprises people is that she eats so much salad; while at the same time being a person who loves meat very much. In this way, we are similar. I eat a salad every day. I eat a lot of raw food. But I have no qualms about having a 48oz bone-in Porterhouse steak on my plate either. Being someone who loves salad, and not having a wide exposure to what salad CAN be, beyond what our conventional notion of salad is, I wanted to show her what happens when you think out of the box a little bit.

Choysum is a vegetable common to Asian cuisine. Usually though, we never see it after it's blossomed. Because Chinese people don't like uncooked vegetables in general, they don't realize that an entire world of raw food exists within their realm of produce. I try everything raw. One day I realized that Choysum, when "overgrown" to the point where it blossoms (treat it like flowers, in a vase), produces an edible blossom that has a very pleasant, delicate bitter-sweet flavor; that goes especially well with raw Hawaiian Watercress, Oranges, Ginger and Lime. Balancing it out with smooth, buttery Avocado completes the flavor-texture composition.

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

Service for 2-3:

1 1/2 cups Orange pieces from 3 medium Oranges
1 tsp Ginger, grated (fresh)
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Lime Juice (fresh)
1 Pinch Cayenne
1 Tbsp Mint Leaves, chopped finely
3 Tbsp Vegetable or Olive Oil
1/4 small Red Onion, sliced very thin
1 medium Avocado, firm but ripe
1 medium bunch Watercress, stemmed and cut into 2" pieces; about 3 cups
1 cup Choysum Blossoms (from flowering Choysum)

P R O C E D U R E:

Start with your Orange. Cut the top and bottom off of the orange first, so they have flat surfaces to stand on. Then, working from top to bottom, use your knife to cut away the skin and pith until all you have is a ball of orange flesh. Cut the ball in half, and each half into thirds lengthwise, so you have wedges. Cut those wedges horizontally to form little cubes.

Grate your Ginger. I like using Young Ginger for this, but I couldn't find any that day so I used regular Ginger. Don't use Ginger that's too old though. This also works with Galangal, if you can get it. To grate it, peel the skin with your knife, and use a microplane grater as pictured above. You don't want large chunks of ginger; just a finely infused ginger pulp.

Slice your Red Onions paper thin with either a knife or a mandoline. Mince your Mint.

Combine your Mustard, Cayenne, and Lime Juice first. Then slowly pour the Olive Oil in, whisking as you go. This will create the emulsification that your dressing is based on, and keep it together. Add your Mint and Red Onions now, and stir to incorporate.

Cut your Avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit by chopping into it lightly with the heel of your blade. Dispose of the pit by holding the handle of your knife and banging it against the edge of the sink so the pit falls out. My Avocado was a little too ripe, so it was difficult to handle. You want to use an avocado that is firm. Cut the half again lengthwise, until you have quarters. Cut the flesh of the quarters lengthwise without cutting through the skin; then scoop out the whole sliced quarter with a spoon.

I used a bowl for this Salad, which made laying down the Avocado in a fan shape difficult. If you use a plate, it will look nicer; and just fan the Avocado out.

Cut or tear the Watercress to remove the stems. When done, add the Oranges, Watercress, and Choysum Blossom to the dressing and toss to incorporate.

Plate and Serve.

* * * * *

Dessert Course:
Macadamia Nut Brownie with three chocolates, with Nutella 72% Cacao Ganache,
Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream, and Fresh Raspberries.

I purposely didn't want to get fancy with this one. I wanted to do a simple, homey, comfortable dessert. When people ask me what my favorite dessert is, they are often surprised that it's not something even remotely fancy. It's literally, a hot brownie with vanilla ice cream on it. That's it.

When I asked Kellie what her favorite dessert was, she told me initially that if it had Chocolate and Raspberries, she'd love it. So I initially thought of doing a Molten Dark Chocolate Cake with a Raspberry Coulis and Mint. But during a random conversation, she said that she really liked Brownie and Ice Cream together -- it was the only way she could eat Ice Cream because of her sensitive teeth, and the heat from the Brownie counteracted the cold Ice Cream. During another conversation, she said she liked Macadamia Nuts; and in another, Nutella.

So I decided to combine all of these elements into one single preparation of a classic Comfort Dessert (with Kellie being far from home on her Birthday). For the sake of this recipe, don't bother making a brownie from scratch, and don't bother making your own ice cream. If you want to, go ahead; but this is fine with a Ghirardelli brownie mix and some good Haagen Daas vanilla ice cream. The only thing you really have to make is the Nutella Ganache, and that's simple. It's the same one from the Kona Coffee Shortbread Cookie recipe from Battle Coffee last year on CHOW, but I'll cover it again briefly here.

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

Ganache:

1 Cup 72% Ghirardelli Baking Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Cream
2 Tbsp Nutella

Brownie
Raspberries
Vanilla Ice Cream
Macadamia Nuts, chopped

P R O C E D U R E:

Take your chocolate chips and put them in a bowl. I like the Ghirardelli baking chips because of their melting characteristic. Heat your cream, and pour over the chips. Stir to incorporate.

When incorporated, it will look smooth. Add the Nutella now, and continue to stir to incorporate. Place the Brownie down first, spoon your Nutella Ganache over it. Scoop your ice cream on top, sprinkle Macadamia Nut shavings, and garnish with Fresh Raspberries.

Melted Nutella Dark Chocolate Ganache over a hot Triple-Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownie,
with Macadamia Nut Shavings, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream, and Fresh Raspberries.

So simple, but so full of sweet, tasty win.

* * * * *

Thank you for having me back (again).

I have a lot to catch up on, I know. I haven't been on CHOW for four months now. I have a lot of messages to reply to; including a surprise one from an old online friend I lost touch with around ten years ago who somehow found me again.

I apologize in advance; but I'm going to timestamp this entry a few (and only a few) times over the course of the next week so that people can see that I'm back and writing here again.

Also, if you are not subscribed to my personal blog at Arenadi already, I encourage you to do so. Even if you're only here for the food, I write about food there as well -- except instead of recipes (although there are some simple ones there), I write about food in general and give tips on things like how to select, transport and store ice cream properly. Or about food culture. It's also where I write about my non-food related personal life.

Click on over, at least for today, so you can catch the second half of this entry.

My Love and Aloha, I hope you enjoy this :)

MC

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

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:14:28 GMT

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?

Smacked & Loaded Roasted Potatoes

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:41:35 GMT

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?

Easy Fettuccine Alfredo

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:20:45 GMT

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!

Linguine con Frutti di Mare

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:15:41 GMT

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?

Chocolate Chip Cookies Part 2

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:10:33 GMT

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies Part II -- The Care Package Batch (Mini Entry)

Right now, I have roughly 256 Chocolate Chip Cookies sitting on my kitchen table.

Yes, it's Care Package time again.

Lacey, Elise, Lauren, Maxine, Jacquie, Steph, and Erika; you are Batch 1. You should be receiving your cookies as soon as the USPS decides to deliver your Priority Mail box (or in the case of the Canadians, as soon as your flying moose deliver your package, eh).

I decided to shoot the process and results and turn this into a mini-entry, or addendum, to accompany the earlier Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies post from two weeks ago.

In that previous entry, we covered how the various ingredients that make a Chocolate Chip cookie and how the various techniques used to produce a Chocolate Chip Cookie contributed to the final result. We took one step further and covered how varying Ingredients and their ratios and how choosing specific techniques would result in our own individual concepts of our individual Perfect Cookie; using two of Alton Brown's recipes to demonstrate our concepts of how Ingredients and Techniques worked.

In this entry, we will cover my own individual idea of my Perfect Cookie; and the method of producing it. My Perfect Cookie is thinner at the edge and thicker in the center, but not too thick. It's lumpy and looks home-made. It has a crisp, slightly spread edge, right out of the oven; but has a substantial bite and a pleasant chewiness when eaten. It's not as sweet as the other cookies, but has a soft molasses flavor to it.

This recipe is also more usable to more people because the stand mixer is not as important. This version is much easier to make by hand with a spoon and a mixing bowl.

I will be referencing the earlier post; so if there is any confusion, just go back and look at it.

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

1 1/2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup White Sugar

1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 Cups + 2 Tbsp AP Flour

2 Cups Random Chocolate Chips/ Nuts (your discretion)

P R O C E D U R E:

Instead of Creaming cold Butter and Sugar together, we are melting the Butter first. The liquid form Butter works better for Gluten formation, producing a chewier cookie.

Mix your MELTED Butter and Sugar together and blend until incorporated.

Add your Egg, Yolks, and Vanilla. When you add your Eggs, break them into bowls first. Crack your egg into a bowl. If the Yolk breaks, use it as a "whole" egg and just dump it into the Butter-Sugar mixture. If the Yolk remains intact, use the broken Shell to "cup" the yolk and extract it from the white and add the Yolk to the Butter-Sugar mixture.

Dump out the white and start over again. This is because if you have an extra white in the bowl, and you crack another egg into it and it breaks, you just wasted that egg since you can no longer add it to the Butter-Sugar mixture as a 'whole" egg since it has an extra portion of white in it.

There are two egg yolks in the photo above because I made my dough in double-batches.

Blend your Butter-Sugar mixture and your Egg, Yolk and Vanilla together until well incorporated.

After sifting together your Flour, Baking Soda and Salt (you can also put them all in a bowl and whisk it around for a while), add your Dry-Ingredient mixture to the Wet-Ingredient mixture a little at a time. This is so that the Dry Ingredients can absorb and incorporate better into the Wet Ingredients.

Beat the combined dough together until well incorporated. Do not worry about over-beating with this recipe; the more you beat the dough, the more gluten formation there will be, and the chewier your cookie will be.

At this point, you can part out the dough into different bowls to use with different cookie ingredients. This is so that using one dough recipe, you can make multiple kinds of cookies.

I always hand-mix my "toppings" into the dough mixture. This ensures a very even incorporation. I do this by sprinkling the "toppings" on top of the dough, and then cutting into the dough with the spatula like a knife; and folding the dough over. This, incidentally, is the same technique used when preparing Sushi Rice, and it works well.

When incorporated, chill your dough for 30 minutes or more. Chilling the dough and letting it sit allows the ingredients to meld better, and also makes for easier workability and less spreading in the oven. There will be an initial spreading on the contact surface, assuring a crisp edge, but the cookie will hold its shape better.

When ready, Preheat your oven to 325°F. Spoon your dough balls onto Parchment and spread them out appropriately.

Make sure you use Parchment. This not only makes your surface non-stick, but it allows you to cycle your batches quicker; as you can stage your next batch of cookies on Parchment on the countertop -- when the batch in the oven comes out, you can de-pan the entire Parchment at once; and you can slide an entire new LOADED Parchment back on for your pan to immediately go back into the oven.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 325°F, or until the edges turn slightly brown and crisp; and the center is still soft and puffy.

Done.

* * * * *

I've never been much of a baker until lately.

I don't need to repeat why I haven't been much of a baker until lately; most of you read it in the writer's note on the Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies post. As sad as my reason for learning how to bake might be, it's letting me share Cookie Love with Loved ones. And yes, in various ways, I love every single one of you who is getting a care package full of Cookies and other things from me in a few days.

I actually enjoyed baking for the first time in a very very very long time last night. I also began to see for the first time how therapeutic baking can be -- on one hand it's so exacting and so methodical that it almost becomes robotic and mindless, but on the other hand, it's so emotionally satisfying to stand in a kitchen that smells like baking cookies and chocolate; knowing that the very cookies I am making are going to end up bringing a smile to people I love. It really is satisfying in many ways, and I can begin to see that I could enjoy doing this much more.

It was a happy feeling, yes. Happier than I'd felt this entire year, probably. But I also began to feel a bittersweet longing last night, standing in my kitchen alone, dimly lit by the stove hood lamp and the light of my macbook; leaning back against my countertop with a glass of cold Moscato d'Asti in hand, swaying back and forth, eyes closed, to softly playing Jazz.

Whoever you are, wherever you are -- I know I've always dreamed of you baking for me. But I don't need that anymore. I can bake just fine now for myself.

But I want to bake with you now.

I want to spend evenings in the kitchen with you, like this one, in the soft light, sharing a bottle of wine and listening to music like this. I want to spend the time in between batches of cookies coming in and out of the oven with you... lightly pulling you close, holding your hand in mine, with my arm around your waist; and your cheek nuzzled into my chest, gently swaying back and forth... just the two of us, in our kitchen... together.

As cynical and jaded as I have become, there's always just a little left. I am wary to even hope these days; but I'm still left with dreams long dreamed but never fulfilled. Maybe I am just being foolish. Maybe the cynic that buried the old romantic me is right -- that my dreams are foolish ones; that I really have no hope, and that I will live alone and die a lonely bitter old man someday. But maybe there really is something in that little glimmer of hope that peeks out from the shadow once in a great while -- maybe there is a reason why it refuses to die no matter how crushed it has been over the years.

It's amazing how my heart still beats. But it does.

And so you, my loves, receive this little bit of TLC from me this day. I hope it brightens your spirit when you receive it; and I hope you return my love back into the world.

With my Love and Aloha, from these islands of Hawai'i,

No question today. Just tell me something completely random. I don't care how random it is, just blurt out the first thing on your mind right now :)

Galbi Jjim (Korean Braised Beef Shortrib and Vegetable Stew)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:46:06 GMT

Galbi Jjim

Korean Braised Beef Shortrib and Vegetable Stew

(some stew liquid removed to show contents better)

This is the Eighth 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 Eighth Week, it's a Theme: Stews

I decided to revisit one of my old favorites, Galbi Jjim.

Some of you really oldschool readers from back when I was writing at Thousandthdish may remember this dish; either from there or from Koreancooking (wow, the old days) where it was posted too. In fact, a lot of you first found this blog from that Galbi Jjim entry, some of you who eventually became very good friends of mine; so in that way, this dish was responsible for bringing about many of our friendships.

For you oldschool readers, this may be a bit of a re-run; but if you ever made this; this is one of the best tasting things I've ever made for Dish/ Chow, and it's worth making again this winter, now that things are starting to get cold again.

Also, there are many techniques in this entry that are relevant to making stews in general; as we cover the science of braising and how/ why low-and-slow works best in cooking meats from tough to fork-tender.

For you new readers, this one is a time-tested recipe that's been made by... well, a lot of people. And it's become a winter stew staple for many. It's also very easy to make.

Speaking of the old days -- take a look at the comment/ eprop count back in those days. I can't even imagine getting 210 comments and 338 eprops on a single freaking post anymore.

Anyway, let's get to the meat of it.

Get it? Meat? Har-har. *cough* Ok.

* * * * *

Galbi Jjim (갈비찜) is a dish often found in a large clay or stone pot on the table during Korean family dinners and celebrations, and for many people, represents true home-style comfort food.

The Korean word Galbi (갈비) refers to the Beef Rib cut from the Chuck Primal located between ribs 1 through 5. These have a higher meat to fat proportion than the cuts from ribs 6 to 12 of the Plate Primal, but when cut from a Choice or Prime graded primal, these are often very well marbled and suitable for steak-type eating.

Galbi is cut in two styles: The English or "Thick-cut" or "Jjim" style, that are cut parallel to the bone; and the Flanken, or the "Cali" or "L.A." style, which are cut across the bone, with three or four short bones in a long strip. I happen to like using thick cuts of Flanken cut, sliced between the bones, although the English cut is the more common cut used for this dish.

The Korean word Jjim (찜), taken literally, is to steam (but actually refers to braising in english). Most people, when making Galbi Jjim, make the mistake of immersing and boiling the Galbi in a sauce that is over-diluted with water and then removing it too quickly before the connective tissues can break down. The key to making a flavorful and tender Galbi Jjim is to use a technique that "steams" (braises) the Galbi while it is only partially immersed in a thick, super-saturated braising sauce for a long period of time.

We will be focusing on material and technique -- three aspects of the dish to make our perfect Galbi Jjim: Tenderization through natural and added Enzymatic action; The moist-heat Jjim (braising) technique; and the necessity of the bones and connective tissues.

TENDERIZING

First, we start with a big ol' hunk o' Galbi.

Dry-Aging Beef

Beef is dry-aged to make it more tender and flavorful. During dry-aging, enzymatic proteolysis, or breakdown of muscle proteins, connective tissues and fibers occurs. Larger protein components of meat break down into smaller fragments and as this process continues, the meat becomes extremely tender. Also, because a significant amount of moisture evaporates during dry-aging, the beef has a stronger, more intense flavor.

The best way to dry-age beef at home is to do it the way Alton Brown does it. The technique is simple, and can be found in my Steak au Poivre recipe on Thousandthdish. You don't have to dry-age your beef, but if you do your results will be better.

K O R E A N P E A R
Fruits as Tenderizing Agents

Certain fruits contain Protease enzymes like Bromelain and Papain that can be used to break down protein for use as a meat tenderizer.

Papaya and Kiwi are among the strongest. If you use Papaya and Kiwi, you must be careful how long you expose your meat -- you can literally turn your meat into mush if you leave it too long.

We are using Korean Pear because it is the most authentic. Asian Pears are acceptable also, but the proteolytic action of the Korean Pear is about twice as effective as the Asian Pear.

For this recipe, we are mainly using the Korean Pear for flavor, because proteolytic enzymatic activity stops above cooking temperatures. If you want your Galbi even more tender, marinate in the Pear juice before cooking.

BRAISING (Jjim 찜)

A braise is based on flavor extraction. A SMALL amount of braising liquid is added to the meat and the pot is covered. As everything begins to cook, steam is generated from the simmering broth. The broth will begin to pick up the flavors released by the meat and the meat will return its own flavors into the broth. The broth transforms from a simple braising liquid into a flavorful, complex sauce.

Braising is a moist-heat cooking technique. Moist heat breaks down the collagen in meat. Braising allows for this connective tissue breakdown without muscle-fiber breakdown. The braising process heats the muscle fibers, which consist mainly of water. Once heated, they contract, which squeezes out some of the moisture and causes shrinking and drying. Connective tissues also release water when heated. Plus, the heat and moisture turns the collagen in the connective tissue into a rich, flavorful gelatin that also melds with the braising liquid. When the muscle fibers reabsorb this liquid, the braising cycle is complete.

Food scientists have compared collagen conversions in a rump roast when it is dry-roasted well done (about a two-hour process), and when it is braised for 30 minutes and for 90 minutes. The roasted sample had 14% of its collagen gelatinized, the 30-minute braise 11%, and the 90- minute braise 52%. The long, slow braise is the best way to tenderize meat with high connective-tissue content.

KEY: To properly make Galbi Jjim, you MUST braise it slow-and-low for at least 90 minutes.

KEY: Make sure you use the bones in this dish. During the braising, marrow will escape, flavoring your sauce with the same richness you find in Osso Bucco. Boneless "Galbi" will not have the connective tissue attached to the bone, and will not taste as good in this dish.

* * * * *

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

STUFF:

4 lbs beef short rib, english or "thick" cut
10 gingko nuts (optional*)
10 dried jujuba (red chinese dates)

SAUCE:

6 cups beef stock (stock left over from boiling beef rib)
10 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp grated pear (preferably Korean pear)
1 piece rock sugar or 4 Tbsp honey (or 9 Tbsp of sugar)
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 pieces ginger cut into 1/2 pieces and smashed
2 Tbsp sesame seed oil
1/4 cup rice wine
3 Tbsp fine gochugaro**

ADD-ON AT END:

1 medium onion, rustic chopped
10 chestnuts, whole and peeled
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
10 fresh pyogo or shiitake mushrooms***
10 fresh oyster mushrooms
1 handful enoki mushrooms

* NOTE: If you can get gingko nuts, by all means use them. Authentic Galbi Jjim uses gingko nuts. However, as they are almost impossible to find, good luck. Rumor has it that there are gingko trees somewhere in Central Park where you can get gingko nuts for free.

** NOTE: Gochugaro is Korean red chili pepper flake/ powder. If you are using the kind from Korea and not China (look on the package, most gochugaro in the United States is from China), reduce by half.

*** NOTE: We are using FRESH Pyogo or Shiitake mushrooms because they are more subtle in flavor and texture, and dried variety overpowers in this dish. Use dried if you must, but this tastes better with fresh.

P R O C E D U R E:

Let's start with the Beef. First, cut it between the bones if you have Flanken Cut. If you have the English or Jjim cut, it should already be cut similarly from the butcher.

Wash and Score your beef. This is to allow for the penetration of the flavors, and to break some connective tissue. Notice how tender dry-aging makes it? It's falling off the bone and we haven't even cooked it yet.

Boil your beef for ten minutes in just enough water to cover, or a minimum of 6 cups, whichever is less. Remove after ten minutes, skim the surface to remove the foam. This process is important because the crappy beef foam (which I joke about a lot) is really not very tasty and makes the finished dish feel bad in the mouth.

We are not searing this first to make use of the additional flavor compounds produced by the Maillard Reaction because after several trials, I discovered that the initial browning does not work well because we are scoring the meat before cooking and essential juices that should be in the sauce escape into the searing pot; and because the finished sauce is so deep and intense that the difference between a pre-seared piece of meat one that is not is barely noticable -- and the browning only adds to the time and difficulty of making this dish.

Also, the beef foam removal is generally more important in this case.

Reserve 6 cups of cooking liquid. I loved this measuring cup, it was huge. I think someone took it while I was passed out drunk one night back then, because wow cool, giant measuring cup.

Mix the sauce.

Wash the beef and wash the pot if you are going to reuse it. We do not want beef foam! Just say no to beef foam! >_<;;

Place beef back into a big pot, add the sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid only to the halfway point on the galbi -- no more. Add gingko nuts and jujuba (chinese dates). Bring to a boil, then drop to a SIMMER.

COVER tightly.

SIMMER for at least 90 minutes, checking to make sure there is always at least a little bit of liquid at the bottom of the pot.

It is very important when making dishes like these, to not let the braising liquid continue to boil -- a SIMMER is the key to producing good results here. A simmer is bubbles just breaking the surface. Keep the cover on, this is very very very very very important, as you cannot Jjim without a cover on tightly.

Add the "Add-on at end" ingredients. Pick and choose what you want. Authentic Galbi Jjim has the chestnuts. A famous Galbi Jjim restaurant in Bundang adds the rest as part of their signature dish. Cook for 20 more minutes.

Omnomnom.

* * * * *

Before I end this entry, I want to capitalize on a few key points in making a good Galbi Jjim. For details, read back into the entry.

1) You MUST braise the Galbi slow-and-low at a simmer for AT LEAST 90 minutes.

2) You MUST only add braising liquid halfway up the side of the Galbi, and add more cooking liquid to replace as it steams out. At the end, your sauce should be almost syrup-like.

3) You MUST cover your pot, and make sure you use a heavy stainless steel or cast iron pot.

Everything else is fluff. You may add extra vegetables at the end. I do, because I like making a meal out of this. If you just want to eat meat, that's fine too. What I like doing after the meat is done, is taking more vegetables and cooking them in the leftover sauce. This dish tastes even better in the days after. I could eat this all week. And if you want to keep making Galbi Jjim, freeze and keep the leftover sauce to use as a "mother" sauce for cooking more later.

* * * * *

Looking back over the years, it amazes me how much things have changed.

Some friends from back then are no longer friends today; and some who I didn't even know then are great friends of mine today. Incredibly, one of you who used to read me and lurk me then without saying anything to me has become somewhat of my best friend. Some of you found me after I stopped writing, and kept me subbed hoping I would come back some day (I thank you for sticking around) -- and to this day, some of you old readers are still trickling back in.

I purposely re-used my profile pic from Thousandthdish because of this... in hopes that some old readers may recognize me from it; and come back -- and many of you have found me again this way.

It was interesting, looking back through Thousandthdish, through the comments sections. A lot of you are using new xanga names now; and so I see all your feedback coming from your old xangas. I click on them, and it's like a journey into the past; reading entries from three years ago; when things were different.

In any case, welcome back old friends -- and welcome to our new home here, new friends.

Love and Aloha to you all, as always, from these islands of Hawai'i.

How long have you been on Xanga? What was your Xanga Name back in the old days? Are you an Old Reader or a New Reader? Do you remember how you first got here?

Also, do you have a favorite Stew?

The Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:33:36 GMT

The Science of Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to vary Techniques and Ingredients to bake your perfect cookie

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Thin & Crispy Cookies

This is the Seventh 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 Seventh Week, it's a Theme: Cookies

Today we'll be exploring how varying the Techniques and Ingredients in the Chocolate Chip Cookie making process can affect the end result of your cookie; and how you can use the variations in Techniques and Ingredients to custom-tailor your perfect cookie. We'll learn how these Ingredients function, some of the science behind Cookie Baking, and why do what you do when you make Chocolate Chip Cookies. We'll also cover tips, troubleshooting and address common errors.

By the time we are done today, you will have sufficient knowledge to begin crafting your own perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie; and be able to create your own recipe.

* * * * *

Most cookies and every Chocolate Chip Cookie can be broken down into a basic set of ingredients: Flour, Fat, Sugar, Leavener, Liquid, Flavorings, and Stuff.

Stuff refers to Chocolate Chips, nuts and any other additions that usually designate what a Chocolate Chip Cookie is. The problem with this is that while "White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookie" is informative in the way that it tells you what the Stuff is, it's completely un-informative as to what the vehicle cookie is. Is it Thin-and-Crispy? Thick and Chewy? Cakey? We don't know. And as cookie eaters tend to be polarized between these types, ending up with the wrong kind of vehicle cookie can be pretty upsetting.

We're going to solve that problem here, by examining the rest of the ingredients, and the techniques used to incorporate and prep them prior to baking. And then we're going to take what we learn here, and bake two kinds of cookies: Thin and Crispy, and Thick and Chewy.

Using these Ingredient Guidelines, you can adjust any recipe you have on hand to produce a more favorable result. These guidelines work for ALL cookies, not just Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Flour, protein content and its effects:

Usually when baking cookies, you use one of three kinds of flour: All Purpose (AP) Flour, Bread Flour or Cake Flour. Depending on what you want your end result to be, you can choose your Flour based on its protein content.

All Purpose (AP) Flour is the standard Flour used most often, and is a Medium Protein flour. Cake Flour is a Low Protein Flour. The low protein content soaks up less moisture than AP Flour, making more available for steam production. Steam rises the batter, producing a more cake-like batter. Bread Flour is High Protein. High Protein Flour is used when the desired result is chewiness, because the high protein content encourages more gluten formation. More moisture will also stay in the cookie because of its ability to hold more moisture.

AP (All Purpose) Flour - Medium Protein, Standard for Baking
Bread Flour - High Protein - Chewier because of Gluten formation
Cake Flour - Low Protein - Cakeier... Cakey-er. Whatever.

Liquid stuff (Eggs, Milk and their effects)

Generally speaking, when baking a cookie, you use some combination of Eggs and Milk to provide the majority of the liquids in a cookie batter. If you want a chewier cookie, you can replace whole eggs with equal amounts of Yolk only. Or if you want a crispier, drier cookie, you can do the same, except with Whites. If you want more spread, remove Eggs and use Milk. If you want less spread, remove Milk and use Eggs.

Whole Eggs - Standard (balanced)
Yolk Only - Chewier texture
White Only - Crispier, drier texture
Milk - Replacing Eggs with Milk promotes spreading of batter

Fats; Butter vs. Shortening and temperatures:

For cookie baking, most people use either Butter or Shortening. What most people don't realize is that the temperature and technique of integrating the fat into the dough has an effect on the end result.

Now here's the trade-off you have to decide on: Using Melted Butter, the moisture from the butter immediately combines with the flour in the dough, for better gluten formation, giving you a chewier cookie but also a cookie that spreads more. However, it doesn't incorporate as well using the Creaming Method; where in using Cold Butter, the butter is whipped with sugar and the sugar crystals cut the butter apart, allowing air bubbles to form in the mixture, and thus allowing superior incorporation and even distribution of the other ingredients into the dough -- also, this batter spreads LESS, because of the superior structure.

Butter also has a very sharp and relatively low melting point -- meaning, there's a very small difference in the temperature at which it's a liquid and which it's a solid. Shortening has a higher melting point, so using Shortening instead of butter will give your cookie more time to rise and set, resulting in a taller, thicker cookie.

Butter, Cold - Forms "bubbles" when air is whipped into it, superior incorporation
Butter, Melted - Better gluten formation, gluten = chewier; but spreads more
Butter Flavored Shortening - Higher melting temperature, taller, thicker cookie

Sugar; White and Brown and its effects:

The ratio of White Sugar to Brown Sugar used is directly related to how Crisp to how Chewy the end cookie is. It also is directly related to how "rich" the cookie tastes; as Brown sugar provides more of a Molasses/ Butterscotch flavor that is common to Chocolate Chip Cookie dough, and White Sugar provides more of the refined "sugary" flavor common to Sugar Cookie dough.

The higher the ratio of White Sugar to Brown Sugar, the crisper the cookie will be. However, using too little Brown sugar makes a cookie taste more like a Sugar Cookie. As a cookie cools, the sugars crystallize, and the cookie hardens. Brown sugar contains 35% more moisture (because of the Molasses) and is more hygroscopic, meaning it will attract that much more moisture from the air, allowing for chewier cookies even after cooling. Light Brown sugar, which is a good balance between White and Brown, contains half the molasses as Brown. You can also use a bit of Corn Syrup, which browns at a lower temperature than sugar. It gives surface of the cookie a shiny crackly texture.

White Granulated - Low in Molasses, Crisper, Purer in Sugary
Light Brown - Medium in Molasses, Chewy, Good Flavor
Dark Brown - High in Molasses, Chewiest, Richest, Tenderness
Corn Syrup - Browns at lower temperature, gives surface a shiny, crackly look

Leaveners; Baking Soda and Baking Powder, and what they do:

Baking Soda and Baking Powder are two ingredients commonly found in baked goods. Without it, you tend to get an end product that is very dense. This is because through chemical reactions, they produce carbon dioxide gas that give "rise" to dough. Baking Soda is Akaline, and produces these bubbles immediately when mixing. Baking soda also enhances browning reactions. Baking Powder is Baking Soda with a built-in acid like Cream of Tartar -- this makes it generally pH neutral. Baking Powder, however, can be Double-Action, however; and produce bubbles once during the mixing, and again later during the baking, giving for more "rise" in the dough, even during baking.

Baking soda reduces the acidity of the batter, raising the temperature at which the batter sets. Increasing the Baking Soda in a recipe makes for a flatter cookie. Akaline batter also sets slower, allowing for more spreading. Replacing Baking Soda with Baking powder increases the acidity of the dough. Acidic batter sets quicker, spreads less.

Baking Soda: Akaline, produces bubbles immediately, needs to be baked ASAP
Baking Powder: Single or double action, pH balanced, more rise

Flavorings; Extracts, Salt, and Others:

Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie dough usually contains Vanilla Extract and Salt. I cannot emphasize enough, do not forget the salt and do not purposely omit the salt thinking it's more healthy, or it's weird to have salt in a cookie. It is a necessary component of the cookie's flavor profile. Vanilla Extract is also; but if you're feeling adventurous, feel free to experiment with other extracts, especially when adding similar ingredients into your cookie.

Other things you can add to change flavor and texture are Crushed Oats, Ground Nuts, Spices like Nutmeg and Ginger, fruit rind like Orange, or Cocoa or Espresso Powder -- the possibilities are limitless, only bound by your own creativity.

The most important thing to remember when adding additional flavorings into your cookie is this: If adding significantly more wet flavoring, make sure you add more dry ingredients to compensate. If adding significantly more dry flavoring (like espresso or cocoa powder), make sure you add more liquid ingredients to compensate.

Don't forget your Salt and Vanilla, these are very important
When adding more Dry Flavorings, compensate by adding more Wet ingredients
When adding more Wet Flavorings, compensate by adding more Dry ingredients

With this knowledge of how these Ingredients work, you can take any Cookie recipe you have and custom-tailor it to your own specifications to produce a cookie that you feel is personally perfect for you. Because hey, screw that other guy's recipe -- if you can make a cookie and brand it with your name for all eternity, awesome.

Okay, now let's take what we learned about Ingredients, and apply them:

* * * * *

We'll only be making two versions today: Thin and Crispy; and Thick and Chewy.

This is because I don't actually like eating the Cakey ones, and I don't know anyone who does like eating them either. IMO, cookies are cookies, not cake.

Because I love Alton Brown, because you love Alton Brown, and because Alton Brown's three Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes demonstrate the above concepts well, we'll be using his recipes today.

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

Thin and Crispy:

2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Milk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
1 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Thick and Chewy:

2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
2 1/4 Cups Bread Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
2 Tbsp Milk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Cakey:

Click here for Cakey recipe (off-site to Foodnetwork.com)

P R O C E D U R E:

NOTE: I'm only photographing Thin & Crispy -- the procedure is pretty much the same for Thick & Chewy unless otherwise indicated.

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

Start by sifting together your Flour, Baking Soda and Salt. This makes distribution of ingredients more uniform. Combine your Wet ingredients (Egg, Extract, etc.)

If you are making THICK AND CHEWY, melt your butter.

Add your Butter and Sugar into the bowl of your Stand Mixer. If you're making Thin & Crispy, cube up your COLD Butter before adding. If you're making Thick & Chewy, pour your MELTED Butter in. If you don't have a Stand Mixer, get one. Until then, just use this as your arm workout. Start it on low, then increase speed.

Whip the mixture on high speed until it's creamed. It should look like this. The goal is to get as much air into the mixture as we can.

When the mixture is creamed, reduce speed and add your Liquids first; then your Dry Ingredients in two or three batches. This allows for the Dry Ingredients to incorporate more smoothly into the Wet ingredients. This also keeps Flour from exploding all over you and your countertop.

Then stir in your "Stuff": Dark Chocolate Chips and Macadamia Nuts in this case. I like doing this step by hand, for more control. If you want to make a single batch of cookies of multiple types, remove the dough here and mix in your ingredients separately in separate bowls.

This is the size of a #20 scoop of cookie dough next to a quarter, for size reference.

If you are making THICK AND CHEWY, chill your dough. Chilled dough spreads slower while baking.

Scoop your dough onto your Parchment sheets (see Tips below), making sure you leave room for spreading (the thin cookies will spread a lot); and bake for 13-15 minutes; but check every five minutes for browning -- you may need to rotate the pan to get even browning. Cookies are ready to come out when the edges start to brown -- if the center is browned and hard, the cookies are already burnt.

When done, remove the Parchment from the hot sheet pan (and the cookies on them) to cool on a cool surface.

Thin & Crispy

Thick & Chewy

* * * * *

Now for some tips:

Use Parchment instead of placing the dough balls directly onto the Pan. This is important for several reasons:

1) Parchment is non-stick. Cookies slide off easily.
2) Parchment keeps the bottom of the cookies from burning.
3) Parchment allows you to Pre-Stage your cookies before going onto a pan.
4) Parchment allows you to de-pan cookies faster, for faster cycling.

What I mean by Pre-Stage and Cycling is this: You can lay out multiple sheets of Parchment on the countertop, and scoop your dough onto that Parchment. When a pan of cookies comes out of the oven, you can de-Pan them by sliding the whole Parchment off, onto a cool surface; and cycle on a new Parchment loaded with cookie dough to go straight back into the oven.

This is important because if you leave cookies on a hot pan, they will overcook. Also, if you drop your uncooked cookie dough directly onto a hot pan, it takes a few minutes between the first cookies you drop and the last -- by then, the first cookies down are already melted and drooping (this is an important tip when making anything with Puff Pastry, btw).

When you scoop your dough onto the Parchment, use a uniform size. Large cookies will be undercooked, and small cookies will be burnt to a crisp if they're on the same pan. Alton Brown uses a #20 scooper for his cookies, I use this too but also use a #30 sometimes for smaller cookies (the number denotes a fractional amount of a quart in volume -- #20 = 1/20 quart). The smaller your scoop, the greater the height-to-width ratio. Chill your batter if you want a slower spreading dough.

Get an Oven Thermometer. The #1 culprit of baking gone bad is the oven that does not heat correctly. Your oven may run hotter than, or colder than your dial reads. My oven is psychotic, and runs 100-150°F hotter than the dial reads. Yes, when the dial reads 300°, it's really doing about 425° or so.

If you want to make multiple types of cookie from a single batch of dough, remove the base dough after mixing, and add ingredients by hand in multiple bowls. This way you can have a whole variety of cookies.

Give cookies room to spread. Check the cookies while baking, you may have to rotate pan for even browning. Cookies come out of oven before they look done - if centers appear hard and set, the cookies are already burnt. De-pan your cookies ASAP after removing from the oven.

If you live in a humid place, consider increasing the dry-to-wet ingredient ratio. I have to increase by 1/4 cup Flour to account for the tropical humidity. If you live in a hot place, or your kitchen is hot, chill your dough. Do this especially if your dough gets warm. My kitchen was reading 93°F and my dough warms quickly, causing wrecked cookies.

Remember, using what you learned about Ingredients and what they do, you can alter these recipes to suit your personal preferences!

* * * * *

Friends of CHOW, who contributed to this week's IReallyLikeFood Theme of the week:

Jacquie of Osmundaregalis brings us Milan Cookies with Pistachio-Mint Dark Chocolate. Look at that. What a great combination of textures and flavors too. I think I love this girl. D:

Jane of Just_the_average_jane brings us three cookies today; Almond-Orange Biscotti, Raspberry Shortbread, and Chocolate Chip Cookies. I would love Jane too, but she seems too much like my little sister, haha.

Great work! Let's keep it coming, guys :)

* * * * *

Let me tell you, there's no better way to make me feel loved than to bake me cookies.

There's something about the cookie that's deeply rooted in the last warm part of my heart and soul. Cookies make me remember a better time, before life took it's toll; before I became this cold, bitter man, jaded and cynical. Cookies make me remember innocent nights lying on the floor beside a friend, a plate of warm cookies between us and two half-full glasses of cold milk, slowly drifting to sleep together.

When somebody loves you enough to bake cookies for you, the simple mixture of flour, egg, milk, butter, and sugar takes on a magical quality.

I always say that my favorite flavor is Love -- that I can taste Love in dishes; which is why I prefer small mom-and-pop restaurants who prepare their food with love and care, over fancy restaurants with fancy food. I've had tens of thousands of Cookies over, of every variety, but I always prefer the Cookies from small bakeries run by someone who truly loves to bake -- or even better, the Cookies made from someone who loves me, who puts their love into their Cookies.

I take another sip of my Lagavulin 16, place the glass of walnut-colored scotch back down onto Brazilian Mahogany, and close my eyes.

It's been nearly twenty years since Katie baked me those Cookies.

Yet, with my eyes closed, I can still remember the warmth. I can still remember how cheerful her eyes were, her cheeks flushed with pink, tossing her honey colored hair over her back whenever it would fall forward as she stirred the wooden spoon around and around in the mixing bowl. I can still remember the smell of baking chocolate, and how impatient we were, trying to eat our cookies right off of the sheet pan, laughing as we'd dart our fingers on and off of the pan like we were so fast the heat couldn't hurt us.

We thought nothing could hurt us then.

I can still remember what it felt like; falling asleep on the floor with our backs touching, empty plate and glasses set off to the side, with half-eaten cookies in our hands, together.

Cookie Love, Forlorn thoughts and Scotch Whisky,

How do you like your Chocolate Chip Cookies? Thin & Crispy? Thick & Chewy? Cakey? What do you like in your Cookies?

(If you're on my cookie sending list, please let me know so I can send you the correct cookie type.)

Seared Diver Scallops in Pomegranate Beurre Rouge

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:36:31 GMT

Seared Diver Scallops in Pomegranate Beurre Rouge
With Ikura Caviar, Pickled Ginger and Radish Sprouts: A Hawaiian-Regional interpretation
of French-Japanese cuisine; a study in the making of classical French Beurre Blanc Sauce

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

This Sixth Week, it's: Battle Pomegranate.

We're keeping it simple this week with one dish only; focusing our study on the classical French sauce called Beurre Blanc (except since ours is red, we'll call it a Beurre Rouge). Beurre Blanc is one of the most common sauces for traditional French seafood dishes; and is a fairly easy and elegant sauce made with common household ingredients. I will be making the Rouge (red) version, but will provide ingredients for classic Beurre Blanc (white) also; as the procedures are the same.

We're doing a Hawaiian-Regional interpretation of French-Japanese fusion cuisine -- making our rich, wine-and-vinegar butter based emulsion Sauce today with an infusion of tangy-sweet Pomegranate; and serving with hot out of the pan seared Sea Scallops; crisp-fresh-bitter Radish Sprouts, pungent Japanese pickled ginger, and cold salty-popping Ikura salmon roe; for a pleasant, rich, and clean tasting dish full of flavor, temperature and texture contrasts with good mouthfeel.

I wouldn't say this is an "everyday eating" kind of dish, although it's easy enough to make as a weeknight meal -- but this would be a very good dish to serve to someone you're trying to impress (along with other dishes in a tapas-style meal); because it's easy to make, looks very good in a French-Japanese minimalist kind of way, and tastes good.

If you are replicating this dish, and you don't have access to these ingredients, you can omit the Ikura and replace the Radish sprouts with another crisp-fresh-bitter vegetable. This dish also works well with Uni. Otherwise, view this entry as an instruction in the making of the Beurre Blanc sauce, which can be used for almost any kind of Seafood.

At the very least, I would recommend trying to make the normal Beurre Blanc with Scallops or some kind of Seafood -- it's a simple sauce that's invaluable in a cook's repertoire.

* * * * *

Now, for our Star Ingredient for the Week: Pomegranate.

Something I always found interesting about the Pomegranate is it's relationship with the Grenade (geeking-out warning).

If you look inside a Pomegranate, and you know the construction and purpose of a Grenade, you can see many similarities. I often think that ancient military engineers used to look at a Pomegranate and think "Hmm... if I made this explosive, and with small, lethal projectiles instead of seeds, this would be a formidable weapon"; and perhaps the first grenades were named such because of their resemblance to Pomegranates (although I think the first "grenades" were used by Chinese siege engineers 'employed' by the Mongol army).

You see, the name "Pomegranate" derives from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). This has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages; many of which use the same word for "grenade". Grenades are "seeded" in the same way.

Even further, another theoretical widespread root for "Pomegranate" comes from the Ancient Egyptian rmn, from which penis derive the Hebrew rimmon, and Arabic rumman. In Hebrew, 'rimmon' is also the name of the weapon now called the grenade. So what is it? Granatus? Grenada? Grenade? Rimmon?

In any case, both the grenade and the Pomegranate provide an explosion. The Pomegranate of tart, sweet delicious flavor; and the grenade, of... not so delicious stuff.

Anyway.

Pomegranate may have existed since antiquity; but it is a fruit that I never really gave a chance until recent years.

It's intimidating for many people, opening up a Pomegranate and being faced with a fibrous interior filled with hundreds of tiny red fleshy seeds. "How are you supposed to eat this?" Most people wonder, the first time they are faced with a Pomegranate. "Suck on the seeds." Is usually the answer, to which the reply is "That's not very substantial, I don't know if it's worth it." And to be honest, being a person that doesn't like hard seeds mixed in with fleshy fruit substance, I tend to not eat Pomegranate as-is for this exact reason.

I do, however, really like the flavor of Pomegranate, and so when I discovered that 100% Pomegranate Juice was available in the form of POM, I was a very happy man. Up until then, I was extracting the juice by hand, which was a very tedious thing to do; so yay for POM. We'll be using POM in our recipe today, because POM is wonderful.

POM POM POM POM POM POM. It's wonderful.

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

What's in the photo:

Diver Scallops (large sea scallops)
Radish Sprouts
Ikura (salmon roe)
Pickled Ginger
Unsalted Butter, for cooking
Kosher Salt and White Pepper as needed

(Or frankly, use whatever the hell seafood you want to eat)

For our Pomegranate Beurre Rouge:

1 Tbsp Minced Shallots
4 Black Peppercorns, whole
1/2 Cup POM (100% Pomegranate Juice)
1/4 Cup Red Wine
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp White or Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream, reduced by half (optional)
3/4 Lb (12oz or 3 sticks) Unsalted Butter, cubed

For a regular Beurre Blanc:

1 Tbsp Minced Shallots
4 Black Peppercorns, whole
1/2 Cup White Wine
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream, reduced by half (optional)
3/4 Lb (12oz or 3 sticks) Unsalted Butter, cubed

P R O C E D U R E:

Mince your shallot. This means really really small dice, although if you're going to strain it, it doesn't matter as much. Add to pan. Add your Pomegranate Juice, Wine, Vinegar, Lemon Juice and Peppercorn to pan.

If you're making Beurre Blanc, you should be using White Wine and Vinegar instead of the Red versions, and NO Pomegranate Juice (obviously) -- everything else stays the same.

Simmer until it's reduced to almost a syrup.

A traditional French Chef would turn his nose up at the thought of using Cream in a Beurre Blanc. Even my beloved Anthony Bourdain says "There is no, I repeat, no, cream in a real beurre blanc." Personally, I think we should learn how to do it the Traditional way after we learn how to do it the Cream way. The Traditional way tastes better, and is more authentic, but is much more unstable.

As this is probably going to be your first time making Beurre Blanc, I recommend you use the training wheels and use cream. Cream acts as a stabilizer in this emulsion, so that the wine/vinegar reduction and the butter doesn't break as quickly or as easily.

Take your cream and in a separate pan, reduce it to about 1/2 the amount you put in.

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, add unsalted butter. Salt and White Pepper your Scallops. When the butter begins to change color, lay down your Scallops with some space between them. Make sure your Scallops are dry when you put them into the pan. Wet Scallops will not brown and sear properly.

We're going to sear the scallop to get a nice crust on one side; and once the seared side has a nice crust (after a few minutes), we're going to flip the scallops over, take it off the heat, and cover it. This will gently cook the other side. After another few minutes, take the Scallops out of the skillet and set aside for assembly.

If you are using any other seafood, just sear/ cook it in the butter.

When your Wine/ Vinegar reduction has reduced to a syrupy consistency, add the REDUCED, heated cream into it, stir and let the combined mixture reduce just a bit over a simmer for another minute or two.

REMOVE FROM HEAT. REMOVE FROM HEAT. REMOVE FROM HEAT.

Now, take your butter cubes, a little at a time, and whisk them into the mixture quickly. When the butter is absorbed, add more butter and continue whisking until all the butter is incorporated into a smooth, very creamy looking emulsion. If you need more heat, heat it gently, then remove from heat again and continue to whisk the butter in. The finished sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

If you're trying traditional Beurre Blanc technique without cream, and you've completed this without breaking the sauce, you are awesome. I shake your virtual hand.

Strain your sauce through a chinoise or a mesh strainer if you like. Some people like the bits in there, I don't. I believe a Beurre Blanc/ Rouge should be smooth and luxurious.

Sauce your plate by taking a spoonful, laying it down, and then spreading the sauce outwards in a circle with the back of the spoon.

The rest is just assembly: Lay down your stuff on top of the sauce. If you're making Beurre Blanc, feel free to spoon some of the sauce over your Seafood and sprinkle some chives over it as well. Because our Beurre Rouge sauce is so red and dark, it would obscure the seafood beneath.

Serve Immediately!! NOW!! POM POM POM!!

* * * * *

A lot of readers see these dishes I post and think "No way I can make that." or "I can't cook." I disagree. Anyone can cook.

Nothing I post is difficult to make. We just have to overcome our fear of trying. There is really nothing to fear here -- fear is the mind killer. Many times in life, not only with cooking, we find ourselves doubting ourselves, thinking "I can't do this, no way, that looks too difficult." when the truth is, we really CAN. It just requires us to take that step forward.

My whole purpose in writing CHOW is to share with you my love of cooking, and hope that it encourages you to try. Just to try. And maybe you'll like what you made; and maybe you'll make it for someone else, who will be happy that you made something for them. I want to teach you, I want to guide you, I want to inspire you, I want to fill you with passion.

Nothing makes me happier as the writer of CHOW than knowing you have been inspired in some way by this.

With that said, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce another cooking blog here on Xanga/ IRLF, Karmavore: A full, 100% Vegan Cooking Blog.

Vegan Pomegranate Brownies with Pomegranate Icing, Pomegranate Sorbet (Karmavore's entry for this week's IRLF challenge)

The author/ cook of Karmavore is a reader of mine and approaches her cooking blog in the same way as I do, with full photo instructions to accompany our recipes. She remarked to me that reading CHOW inspired her to start cooking again, and to start Karmavore. She writes:

...we have good Karma, and bad Karma, by doing something good, you are sending out a good energy so that good energies will be attracted back to you, when you put out bad energies, you attract bad energies back to you...

...I intend to use this blog to catalog some delicious recipes I whip up, all of which I will guarantee you are cruelty free and extra delicious in attempt to help people understand that there is literally NO sacrifice needed to become vegan (on the animals part or yours)! Also, I intend to throw in some information along the way to ensure you stay happy and healthy.

Personally, I think this is a good motivation. While I may not be Vegan, I want to support the creation of a Vegan cooking blog. For one, I want to learn Vegan cooking techniques and how Vegan cooks use their Analogues to replicate non-Vegan dishes according to Vegan standards.

I encourage you, if you are Vegan or Vegetarian, or even if you are an Omnivore like myself, to go and at least take a look and see if Karmavore is a blog you would like to follow; or at least learn from. I would love to see the start of a community of similar cooking bloggers on IRLF -- if this idea interests you, I encourage you to try it out!

My Love and Aloha as always, from these islands of Hawai'i.

I can fairly reliably cook most cuisines from around the world; but I'm happiest when I'm working with my own Hawaiian Regional interpretation of International cuisines, taking elements from different cultures and blending them. It's what I most naturally do.

Do you cook? What do you like to cook? (cuisines, foods?) If you could learn how to cook anything, what would you want to learn how to cook?

3 Dishes using Asian Peanut Sauce in different ways

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:57:01 GMT

* Made a few additions and changes due to Reader feedback, also trying to catch people who don't read on the weekends when I post. Thanks - MC.

The Versatile Asian Peanut Sauce
Three applications of One Peanut-Butter based Sauce: As a Marinade - Satay Pork, Chicken
& Shrimp Shish Kebab / As a Dip - Vietnamese Summer Rolls / As a Sauce - Szechuan
Cold Noodles with Fresh Crisp Vegetables

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

This Fifth Week, it's: Battle Peanut Butter.

Ubiquitous Peanut Butter. So versatile, with so many uses spanning International Food Culture. I had a difficult time deciding on what to make for this week's feature. I actually considered at one point to do a post titled "Eight uses of Peanut Butter" -- but then realized that the size of the post would not only be ridiculous, but it would probably take me forever to produce.

There was the Peanut Butter Cookie, which I have a wonderful, perfected recipe for. There was the Chili Colorado, and a Moroccan Chicken Tagine. There was my Peanut Butter, Banana and Chocolate Shake that I occasionally have instead of my healthier Fruit-based Post-Workout Smoothie. And my variation on PB&J, a PB & Honey Sandwich; as well as a semi-frozen ball of Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ganache, rolled in crushed Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal. I even considered just posting a photo of a spoon of Peanut Butter.

In the end, I decided to go with the Trio again; loosely based on the concept Michael Mina uses in his San Francisco Restaurant to design his menus.

Today we are taking one ingredient, Peanut Butter, and making a versatile Asian Peanut Sauce with it; and then using this one sauce in three different applications:

We will be using it as a Marinade, for our Satay Pork, Chicken and Shrimp Shish Kebabs; also as a Dip, for our Vietnamese Summer Rolls; and finally as a Sauce, for our Szechuan Cold Noodles with Fresh Crisp Vegetables -- all delicious Asian Street Foods.

Hopefully, except for those with Peanut Allergies, this Trio will have something to please all. The Szechuan Cold Noodle dish is Vegan; the Summer Rolls are Cheap, Light and Tasty (and can also be made Vegetarian/ Vegan by omitting the meat and replacing with Shiitake Mushrooms or other Analog); and Satay Shish Kebab? I don't think you can get more Caveman than Meat on a Stick over fire.

** NOTE: This sauce is a combination of three sauce types from Thailand, Vietnam and China. It's may not be the most traditional Satay, or the most traditional Vietnamese Peanut Sauce/Dip or the best way to make the Szechuan Cold Noodle sauce; but what this one sauce DOES do is it makes it possible to make a single sauce to be used for all three applications instead of making three sauces. With a few changes though, the actual sauces can be made also. The sauce can be made Vegetarian/ Vegan by the omission of the Fish Sauce.

* * * * *

Obligatory Peanut Butter Porn, obviously. I bet you want to stick your finger in that and lick it, don't you?

In fact, I bet you want to lick that little tip of the Peanut Butter with your tongue, face in the jar and all. You know you want to. I bet your tongue is rolling in your mouth right now, in fact.

Alright, enough Food Torture Porn. Let's get started.

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

For the Peanut Sauce:

2tsp Vegetable Oil
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Cup Low Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Broth (or water)
1/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
1Tbsp Fish Sauce
1tsp Sambal Oelek (Chili Garlic Sauce)
1/4 Cup Unsalted Roasted Peanuts, chopped

For the Satay Shish Kebabs:

Whatever you want to grill (Pork, Chicken, Beef, Shrimp, Veggies, etc.)
Peanut Sauce to Marinate
Wooden Skewers

For the Szechuan Cold Noodles:

8oz Chinese Egg Noodles
2 Cups Bean Sprouts (loose)
3 Green Onions, Julienned or sliced thin
1/2 Cup Cilantro, torn
1 Cucumber, Julienned or sliced thin
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Julienned or sliced thin
1tsp Salt
1/8tsp Ground White Pepper
1tsp Chili Oil (optional)
1 Cup Peanut Sauce
1/4 Cup Ground Peanuts mixed with 1tsp Sugar

For the Summer Rolls:

1 Package Rice Noodle Sheets
1 Package Rice Vermicelli
1 Small Head Red Lettuce, leaves washed
1 Bunch each Mint, Cilantro, Thai Basil; torn
1 Cucumber, sliced into thin sheets
1 Cup Bean Sprouts, loose
1/4 to 1/2 pound Pork, sliced thin (depends how much you want to use)
1/4 to 1/2 pound Shrimp (depends how many you want to use)

P R O C E D U R E:

First things first, we're making our Peanut Sauce because we can't start without it:

This is what goes into the Peanut Sauce. You can get Fish Sauce and Sambal Oelek (Chili-Garlic Sauce) in the International Aisle in most supermarkets. The Sambal Oelek we're using has a Green lid and has a Rooster on it. Just remember that. Uncooked Fish Sauce will be one of the most disgusting things you'll ever smell, but it's a necessity to many South Asian dishes; it cooks out and adds a lot to the dish.

Heat your Saucepan to Medium, Mince your Garlic, add Vegetable Oil to the Pan, and let Garlic flavor the oil, about 15 seconds. Then add in Chicken Stock, Hoisin Sauce, Sambal Oelek, Peanut Butter and mix. Stir and let simmer until thickened.

When it's thickened, it will have a consistency like this. It will have a strong taste; remember you're not eating this by the spoonful. If you want to thin it out, just add some water. If you want it sweeter, add some sugar. If you want more of a Peanut Butter flavor, obviously just add Peanut Butter.

At this point, this is the Peanut Sauce we use for the rest of our dishes here.

When used for a Dip for the Vietnamese Summer Rolls, garnish with ground Peanuts and thinly julienned carrots.

For our Satay Shish Kebabs, take your meat and shrimp, cut it up into rough blocks and put them into a Gallon size Ziploc bag. Take some of your Peanut Sauce, spoon it into the bag, squish things around so everything is coated well, press the air out of the bag and seal it.

Marinate for a few hours, or overnight.

Before grilling/ broiling, soak your Wooden Skewers in water for at least 30 minutes so they don't burst into flame when cooking.

If you have a Grill, use that. If you don't, use your Broiler and your Broiling Pan. Oil your grill surface with a Vegetable Oil soaked paper towel before you turn the heat on. We're using HIGH heat here -- I like letting the grill get up to around 500 degrees before I put the meat down.

Put the meat down. We're searing and then moving. Using long Grilling Tongs, move the meat from the hot part to the cool part of the grill once the meat is nicely seared. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the meat. During Cooking, occasionally glaze (brush down) the meat with a mixture of 1:1 ratio Peanut Sauce and Vegetable Oil.

When done, remove from heat onto a CLEAN pan and cover with foil.

De-skewer and reserve some of your meat and shrimp on the side to be used in the Vietnamese Summer Rolls. Try not to eat it all before you serve your meal.

Otherwise, Make Pretty and Serve.

If you have access to Fresh-Made Chinese Egg Noodles, go get some. I like using the thin, flat kind that I get from a Noodle Factory in Chinatown. This is what it looks like. Otherwise, just use the dried kind. You can also get this in the International Aisle in most supermarkets.

Cook BOTH your Egg Noodles for the Noodle Dish and your Rice Vermicelli for the Summer Rolls; in Separate Pots. Follow the supplied Cooking Directions on your packaging. The Egg Noodles should be soft and silky. The Rice Vermicelli should be easily bitten through. Be aware that Fresh Noodles cook very quickly.

Drain and RINSE well under cold water. The reason we are rinsing is because we are eating these noodles cold in both applications; and the starch on the surface of the noodles will cause the noodles to clump up.

Take your vegetables, put them in a big bowl. Add the Egg Noodles, and the Peanut Sauce. Mix until well incorporated.

Chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Garnish with Cilantro and a mix of Ground Peanut and Sugar.

This is what the packaging looks like for the Rice Paper Sheets and the Rice Vermicelli. You don't have to use these brands in particular; this is what I like to use though.

Put some water in a frying pan. Lay down a sheet of Rice Paper on it. Let it soak until it's pliable but still a little stiff.

I'm using the Pork and Shrimp we grilled for the Satay Shish Kebabs.

If you don't grill and only want to make the Summer Rolls, simply purchase thin-cut Pork (doesn't matter what part of the pig) and cook either by boiling, steaming or frying. It doesn't really matter. You can also just throw some shrimp in a pot of boiling water until they turn orange, then remove and they're ready to go.

I like eating Shrimp shell-on. I know a lot of people find this disgusting. Peel your Shrimp if you like, but I think there's more flavor shell-on. I use whole shrimp, and lots of it. If you need to stretch the dollar, slice the shrimp in half lengthwise.

I'm also using what some Koreans may recognize as Samgyupsal, or Pork Belly. You don't need to use this. I just happen to have some, and I like eating it. I slice mine thin and use this instead of the thin-sliced regular Pork.

This is what goes into the Summer Rolls. Meat and Shrimp can even be omitted, but I don't like doing this. If you want to make it Vegetarian (Vegan, even), feel free to omit the meat and replace with Shiitake mushrooms or Grilled Vegetables (yum). The interest in this dish comes from the contrast between crunchy and soft, umami, and natural vegetable sweetness, and all the aromatic herbs (Mint, Thai Basil, Cilantro) rolled inside.

Take your Rice Paper Sheet, lay it on a damp cutting board. Lay down the Lettuce, and then add the rest of your ingredients lengthwise in a strip as if you are making a burrito.

Fold up the two "edges" (left and right in the photo) onto the filling, and then roll up one "end" (bottom or top in photo) over the filling and continue rolling like a burrito.

** NOTE: When you lay down your ingredients, try to put ingredients that "shield" the skin from the more "pokey" ingredients. Putting bean sprouts on the outside, for example, tends to tear the skin.

When rolled, it will look something like this. If you want an easier time rolling, use two sheets instead of one. Slice this roll near the center, diagonally.

Plate and Serve.

Finis.

* * * * *

I love Street Food.

Whenever I travel to a foreign place, it's not the fine restaurants that I look forward to eating in -- it's the little booths here and there set up on the streets or in the night markets inside old plazas serving the food that the locals know and love.

Whether the rich, hearty Bus Station Kefta or Baghira sold on the streets of Morocco; or the sizzling Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki Balls of Japan; or the thin crispy Stroopwafels of Amsterdam; or the steaming Bao-zi dumplings and crisp You-Tiao crullers of Taiwan; refreshing Cold Noodles or infuriating Hou-Guo of Szechuan, China; or the Satay Shish Kebabs grilling over a fire in South Asia -- this is the food that I seek out when I travel. Not only because it's the most authentic of the local cuisine -- sold by people who would scoff at the word "cuisine" if they even understood what the word meant -- but also because Street Food is cheap.

This got me thinking.

Street Food is popular with Students in almost every country; specifically because they tend to be tasty and cheap at the same time. Being that I've been meaning to start a series on International Street Foods; and at the same time, preparing to start a series designed for College Students (cheap, fast, easy); I thought that I could combine the two ideas.

The dishes above are all easy to make, requiring only basic cooking skills. The sauce is basically "mix ingredients and simmer", and holds for a very long time refrigerated. The rest of the dishes have cooking instructions that go no further than "boil your noodles" and if thin-sliced meat and shrimp is desired, those can be boiled in the same water as well. Otherwise, these dishes are merely assembly-type dishes. Beyond this, all the ingredients in these dishes are very cheap and are affordable on a Student's Budget.

I hope you try this Trio. It's the most do-able of the three Trio's that I've done so far; and even use common ingredients -- you can make a three course meal out of these three; serving a dozen people at once, or you can make it just for yourself because as these are cold dishes, you can make them all at once and keep them in your refrigerator to eat later. The Summer Rolls transport well, and can be taken to School or Work for Lunch. The Cold Noodles taste good in subsequent days as well, and are especially tasty when combined with the Satay Shrimp, Chicken or Pork Shish Kebabs.

My Love and Aloha, from these islands of Hawai'i.

What's your favorite Street Food or Fair Food, and where do / did you have it?