I don't care what anyone says, you can screw up how well something is cooked, but if you have a solid marinade, you can often recover from over cooking a perfectly good piece of meat-within reason.
FRUITY: for seafood, poultry, pork tenderloin:
-mango or apricot nectar
-orange juice
-rice wine vinegar (not seasoned)
-minimum 4 cloves garlic, crushed
-honey
-hint of cumin
-hint of cayenne
-soy sauce
Marinate four hours or overnight, then grill. Some of this marinade can be reserved (reserve a portion BEFORE marinating poultry, meat, or fish) and reduced for use as a sauce.
SAVORY: For beef, lamb, or pork
-red wine
-red wine vinegar
-unsweetened cherry or cranberry juice
-soy sauce
-worcestershire sauce
-sprigs of rosemary
-minimum 4 cloves garlic, crushed
-black pepper
-hint of cumin
SWEET AND RICH: For lamb
-unsweetened cherry or cranberry juice
-orange juice
-rice wine vinegar
-honey
-minimum 4 cloves garlic, crushed
-hint of cumin
-soy sauce
-coriander
SOUTHWESTERN: beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, lamb
-lime juice
-pineapple juice
-rice wine vinegar
-garlic
-cumin
-cinnamon
-ancho or chipotle chili powder (be careful, these are spicy)
-fresh cilantro, chopped
METRO INDIAN: chicken, lamb, pork, seafood
-greek yogurt
-major greys mango chutney
-curry powder
-honey
-garlic
-orange juice
-rice wine vinegar
-black pepper
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
RIDICULOUSLY GOOD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FROM THE GIRL WHO DOESN'T BAKE...
I don't bake. I just don't. Why ? Because I hate failure, and baking is about precision rather than intuition. Not that I don't try to be as precise as possible, it's just that baking leaves no room for interpretation, and I like interpretation. For example, I've seen the movie Jaws no less than 100 times, and I continue to reinterpret the scenes. Remember when Quint told that story about the USS Indianapo....never mind......That being said, these cookies rock. They say when you are trying to sell your home, make cookies before potential buyers come so the house smells like sugar and incites the buying mechanism. No idea if this works, but I do know that anyone who has looked at our place is still talking about these cookies...
5 oz. very high quality high cacao content chocolate chips/chunks/shards
4 oz. very high quality white chocolate-chopped in to chunks/shards
2 oz very high quality milk chocolate chunks/shards
2 oz Dulcey Blonde chocolate-chopped
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, soft (but not too soft)
1/2cup superfine sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2-2 tsp ground vanilla powder (available williams sonoma) or 1 tsp scraped vanilla seeds.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Stir flour with baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, preferably with a hand mixer (or the kitchen aid is fine too), cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Don't overwork.
Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate . Drop small spoonfuls of dough on uncooked cookie sheet.
Bake at 375ºF for a minimum of 9 minutes, max of 13. The lighter they are, the more likely they are to be soft (within reason-nine minutes produces a very soft cookie). Then again, it depends on your oven. See what I mean ? This is why I don't bake.
Let cool slightly then move to rack. Then hide from anyone who doesn't want to develop a very strong addiction to cookies.
5 oz. very high quality high cacao content chocolate chips/chunks/shards
4 oz. very high quality white chocolate-chopped in to chunks/shards
2 oz very high quality milk chocolate chunks/shards
2 oz Dulcey Blonde chocolate-chopped
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, soft (but not too soft)
1/2cup superfine sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2-2 tsp ground vanilla powder (available williams sonoma) or 1 tsp scraped vanilla seeds.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Stir flour with baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, preferably with a hand mixer (or the kitchen aid is fine too), cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Don't overwork.
Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate . Drop small spoonfuls of dough on uncooked cookie sheet.
Bake at 375ºF for a minimum of 9 minutes, max of 13. The lighter they are, the more likely they are to be soft (within reason-nine minutes produces a very soft cookie). Then again, it depends on your oven. See what I mean ? This is why I don't bake.
Let cool slightly then move to rack. Then hide from anyone who doesn't want to develop a very strong addiction to cookies.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
CHILI. MY WAY. (Sorry Jacques Pepin, I had to say it).
When it's raining, or it's cold, or it's raining and cold, sometimes you just want something warm, and simple, yet complex at the same time. This is one of our go to meals on such a day, like today, and can be easily adapted to your own personal tastes (more on this at the end of the post). This recipe makes a lot. It freezes well, or is great for a gathering....on a rainy, or cold, or cold and rainy day.....
-olive oil
-chile powder
-ancho chile powder
-chipotle chile powder
-cinnamon
-cumin
-garlic powder
-salt
-pepper
-1 package (2 pieces) pork tenderloin: trimmed, silver skin removed, cut in to 1/4 inch chunks or whatever size you like (long pieces, random pieces, etc).
-1 large or two small sweet onions, chopped (again, to your liking, I prefer 1/8 dice)
-10, yes 10, cloves of garlic, minced or sliced very thin (there's that Paul Sorvino Goodfellas thing showing up again)
-1 red pepper, again diced, sometimes I go 1/8 inch and sometimes I go 1/4.
-1 yellow pepper, repeat instructions from the red pepper
-6 small cans of diced green chiles. If you are ambitious and are roasting them yourself, I would just suggest you use a lot of green chiles.
-6 small zucchini, diced like the peppers.
-2 cans of diced tomatoes, juice slightly drained from can.
-1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
-1 can great northern white beans, rinsed and drained
-1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest plus squeeze of lemon juice
-1/4 tsp orange zest plus squeeze of orange juice
-1/4 tsp lime zest plus squeeze of lime
1. Coat a large pot with olive oil. Add onion, saute til opaque. Add peppers, saute. Add garlic, saute. Remove from heat.
2. In a large ziplock bag or bowl, add raw pork tenderloin, and seasonings. I would use at minimum 3-4 tbsp of chile powder, 1/2 tsp ancho, 1/2 tsp chipotle (watch out, they are hot, so they can be omitted or just waived over the pot), 1 tsp cinammon, 2 tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Shake.
3. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat a little extra virgin olive oil on high heat, add pork. Brown pork, add, along with any juice, to onion mixture.
4. Add green chiles, and tomatoes to pot. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add beans. Let simmer ten minutes.
6. Add tomato paste, let simmer five minutes.
7. Add citrus zest and juice. Remove from heat, add chopped zucchini, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.
Suggest to serve this with acoutrements of shredded really sharp cheddar, sour cream, and chopped chives. You can also include a mixture of chopped avocado, onion, and cilantro with a hint of lime zest. You can also edit this recipe to your taste. If you want to make a white chile with chicken, then omit the red and yellow pepper and use chicken breast, all white beans, and green chiles only, yellow tomatoes, and no tomato paste. If you don't like zucchini, don't use it. If you want more vegetables, spinach is a great addition. Feta works great instead of cheddar as a substitute for cotija cheese. Greek yogurt with some lime and salt is a great substitute for sour cream.
-olive oil
-chile powder
-ancho chile powder
-chipotle chile powder
-cinnamon
-cumin
-garlic powder
-salt
-pepper
-1 package (2 pieces) pork tenderloin: trimmed, silver skin removed, cut in to 1/4 inch chunks or whatever size you like (long pieces, random pieces, etc).
-1 large or two small sweet onions, chopped (again, to your liking, I prefer 1/8 dice)
-10, yes 10, cloves of garlic, minced or sliced very thin (there's that Paul Sorvino Goodfellas thing showing up again)
-1 red pepper, again diced, sometimes I go 1/8 inch and sometimes I go 1/4.
-1 yellow pepper, repeat instructions from the red pepper
-6 small cans of diced green chiles. If you are ambitious and are roasting them yourself, I would just suggest you use a lot of green chiles.
-6 small zucchini, diced like the peppers.
-2 cans of diced tomatoes, juice slightly drained from can.
-1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
-1 can great northern white beans, rinsed and drained
-1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 tsp lemon zest plus squeeze of lemon juice
-1/4 tsp orange zest plus squeeze of orange juice
-1/4 tsp lime zest plus squeeze of lime
1. Coat a large pot with olive oil. Add onion, saute til opaque. Add peppers, saute. Add garlic, saute. Remove from heat.
2. In a large ziplock bag or bowl, add raw pork tenderloin, and seasonings. I would use at minimum 3-4 tbsp of chile powder, 1/2 tsp ancho, 1/2 tsp chipotle (watch out, they are hot, so they can be omitted or just waived over the pot), 1 tsp cinammon, 2 tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Shake.
3. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat a little extra virgin olive oil on high heat, add pork. Brown pork, add, along with any juice, to onion mixture.
4. Add green chiles, and tomatoes to pot. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add beans. Let simmer ten minutes.
6. Add tomato paste, let simmer five minutes.
7. Add citrus zest and juice. Remove from heat, add chopped zucchini, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.
Suggest to serve this with acoutrements of shredded really sharp cheddar, sour cream, and chopped chives. You can also include a mixture of chopped avocado, onion, and cilantro with a hint of lime zest. You can also edit this recipe to your taste. If you want to make a white chile with chicken, then omit the red and yellow pepper and use chicken breast, all white beans, and green chiles only, yellow tomatoes, and no tomato paste. If you don't like zucchini, don't use it. If you want more vegetables, spinach is a great addition. Feta works great instead of cheddar as a substitute for cotija cheese. Greek yogurt with some lime and salt is a great substitute for sour cream.
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