Month: March 2013

Chicken & Tomato Stew With Orzo, Cabbage & Cauliflower

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Saturday lunch should be quick, light and delicious !
Well, here you go :
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Chicken & Tomato Stew With Orzo, Cabbage & Cauliflower

: Chicken & Tomato Stew With Orzo, Cabbage & Cauliflower

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Simmer chicken drumsticks in chicken broth seasoned with kosher salt, maggi, freshly ground black pepper, grated ginger and garlic paste until tender but not falling apart. Add blanched cauliflower florettes, diced white cabbage and diced green bell peppers. Bring back to simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat, add grape tomatoes. Adjust seasoning if required. Ladle over orzo (risoni) and sprinkle liberally with cilantro and finely grated parmigiano reggiano
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P.S.
If you ever wonder why I add grape tomatoes to so many of my dishes, here is why: First, I love the color accent it lend’s to many dishes. Second and even more important, I love the way they “pop” in the mouth and give you that instant tomato goodness. There you have it 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Have A Great Weekend !
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Death by Chocolate

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” Chocolate & Mascarpone Terrine “

This is my gift to anybody who is not a well versed pastry chef, but a diehard chocolate lover (or a lover of a diehard chocolate lover), who sometimes has to prepare his or her own chocolate fix on short notice without much fuss. I doubt that there are many chocolate desserts out there which are as easy to prepare, yet as rich in texture and pure chocolate goodness as this little gem. Even if you have two left hands, had a few too many drinks, are legally blind and have a case of the jitters, you should still be able to prepare this dish at a moments notice without any difficulty 🙂
You have a choice of the texture being ultra smooth, or, as I did here, studded with shards of chocolate for a more crunchy version. (I’ll explain below)
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Chocolate & Mascarpone Terrine

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Ingredient’s :

Mascarpone cheese,
Chocolate fudge brownies, (or substitute with your favorite brownies or cookies)
Dark rum, (or substitute with your favorite booze)
Dark bitter chocolate, (or substitute with your favorite chocolate
Mango, (or substitute with your favorite fruit)

Method :

1) Soak brownies in plenty of rum.
2) Crumble and whisk until smooth.
3) Whisk mascarpone until smooth.
4) Temper chopped chocolate until melted and smooth.
5) Mix cookies and mascarpone until well blended and smooth.
6) Slowly add chocolate to mascarpone while whisking vigorously.
7) Or, alternatively, in order to have a more crunchy texture, add a thin film of chocolate to top of mascarpone without stirring. Let set for a few seconds, then break up the set chocolate and mix into mascarpone. Continue to add remaining chocolate to mascarpone while whisking vigorously.
8) If desired, add sugar, vanilla and lemon juice to your liking. ( I usually don’t add anything, for me, the taste of the cheese, rum, chocolate and brownies is just perfect, nothing else needed.
9) Fill into mold of your choice, let set overnight.
10) To serve, slice terrine or scoop into spheres or quenelles. Decorate with fruit of your choice.
11) Eat, be very happy 🙂

Chocolate & Mascarpone Terrine

Life is Good !
Say hi to your sweet tooth from me 🙂
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Whole Roasted Duck

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Don’t get me wrong!
I do love a rare duck breast with crisp skin . But, that is definitely not the end of all great duck dishes. Of course it is so much easier to cut off the breast’s and saute them separate, leaving the center rare and declaring that a master piece and the fine art of cooking. Then cut off the legs and braise them until tender. Wow, how difficult is that ! I have enjoyed both these dishes often ( If ! properly done. More often than not, some “chef’s” are able to even screw that up) . But, in my humble opinion, nothing can beat a whole roast duck, legs and breast perfectly tender and juicy, full of flavor. Maybe it takes a bit more knowledge, experience and feeling to accomplish, but a successful result is certainly worth the extra effort.
This duck was beautifully tasty, juicy and tender, with a great skin, served with its own, red wine fortified jus. Any other preparation will surely come in second place, way behind this beauty 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Duck, whole, marinated for two days with merlot, soy sauce, sriracha, granulated garlic
Merlot, substitue with wine of your preference
Kosher salt,
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Method :

Turn duck in it’s marinade often, so as to evenly marinade on all sides, inside and out. After two day’s remove from marinade and pat dry. Season with kosher salt, inside and out. Set on a rack in a roasting pan above the remaning marinade and red wine. Cook for 30 min at 420F.Turn heat to 275 F and cook, loosely covered with aluminium foil, for 4,5 hours. Remove foil, turn heat back up to 400F and roast for another 30 min or until skin is crisp and golden. Strain the jus, serve apart. Accompany with starch and vegetables, or do as I did – eat the whole thing at once and just have some bread with it to dunk in the jus.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Whole Roast Duck

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Whole Roast Duck

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“Escargot Bourguignon” (Snails in Garlic–Herb Butter)

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I cannot recall when I have last seen this classic dish on a restaurant menu. What a shame, since this is such a delightful, easy to prepare dish. As for my dinner today, I do have the shells, forks and escargot tongs at home, but since this is just for myself and not a dinner party, I prefer to serve them as I’ve done here, in a ovenproof dish, accompanied by simple bread to soak up ALL the garlic butter.
Here are my two pet peeves about this dish when I eat it in a restaurant :

1) If the snails are too large !
2) If the butter is not seasoned properly nor has enough parsley !

1) At home, I cut the very large snails in half. Much more pleasant to eat.
Voilà ! Problem solved 🙂
2) I make sure I add plenty of garlic, freshly ground black pepper and lot’s of chopped parsley.
Voilà ! No problem to start with 🙂

Escargot Bourguignon

: Escargot Bourguignon

: The Beast Devours Escargot

Ingredient’s :

Snails, canned, rinsed
Butter, unsalted
Red wine, (I prefer merlot)
Shallots, finely diced (I used onion)
Garlic, paste
Flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Black pepper, freshly ground
Sea salt,

Method :

Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add red wine, simmer until almost evaporated. Add butter, season with salt and pepper. Heat butter until starting to brown in small spots. Add escargots, simmer until all liquid has evaporated again. Remove from heat, stir in most of the parsley. To serve, sprinkle with more parsley.

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100.000 Hits ! Thank You All !

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Dear Friend’s,

I am proud and happy to report that today ChefsOpinion has passed the 100.00 hits mark. This despite the fact that I am doing this in my spare time after work and that 99.9 % of all the food featured was cooked and photographed by myself at home. When I started this blog back in april of 2012 I never thought I would be able to find so many like minded folks out there who, like me, enjoy and appreciate ALL good food, but are down to earth and truthful enough to admit that on a daily basis, REAL food ( and real opinions) is what we crave the most.
So once again, thank you all for your loyalty and I hope I will see you hanging around ChefsOpinion for many years to come.

Best Regard’s,
Hans.

P.S.
Next goal : 1.000.000 Hits.
You can help me by subscribing and spreading the word 🙂
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Asparagus & Brie Pizza

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Pizza, beer and good company.
Great evening with friends, good music and (mostly) intelligent conversation 🙂
Life is Good !
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Asparagus & Brie Pizza

: Pizza

Ingredient’s :

Dough:

A/P flour, 2 cups (plus more for kneading)
Water, 3/4 cup, warm
Active dry yeast, 1 envelope
Sugar, 1 teaspoon
Olive oil, 3 table spoon
Kosher salt,

Pizza:

Italian sausage, spicy, sauteed
Asparagus, green, blanched
Grape tomatoes, whole
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Tomato puree, fresh
Roasted garlic puree,
Brie cheese, diced
Asiago cheese, finely grated
Oregano, fresh, chopped
Corn meal,

Method :

1.
Pour water into small bowl, mix in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil, knead until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth. Dust with flour as you work the dough. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with moist towel. Let dough rise until doubled in volume.Punch down dough. Pull dough until desired thickness and shape is achieved. If this is too difficult, roll the dough with a rolling pin. However, in my opinion, the pizza will turn out superior if the dough is pulled.
If you like your dough very thin and crispy, proceed with step 2.
If you like your crust a bit more thick and chewy, you might want to pre-bake your pizza dough for a few minutes.

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Sprinkle pizza pan or baking sheet with cornmeal, place pizza on it. Brush pizza with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with corn meal. Add tomato puree and roasted garlic puree, sprinkle with mozzarella and oregano. Add all other ingredient’s according to picture. Sprinkle with asiago and freshly ground black pepper. Bake at 500 F until dough is done and edge of pizza is crispy and golden.

Note : This recipe is works well in a home oven without a pizza stone.
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Hans’ Easy Amaretto & Chocolate Chip Cake

Amaretto & Chocolate Chip Sponge Cake

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Today when I came home from work was one of the rare occasions when the cake bug bit me, so I prepared this very simple beauty, which is not only easy to prepare, but also, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful, great tasting, easy to prepare cakes of all times, especially if you buy or pre-prep the sponge cake in advance.
Here I have used a comercial cake mix for the sponge cake. I usually make my own, but for me that was a bit too time consuming this evening, so I took this short cut 😦
I also baked two sponges because I like to do four layers for a more stunning presentation. This cake freezes very well, so after you take some of it to your friends next door, just freeze the rest in an airtight box until your sweet tooth comes calling again 🙂
Cut of the top and bottom of two sponge cake’s to make even surfaces. Cut each cake into two disc’s. Mix ricotta cheese with sugar, amaretto, a small amount of chocolate powder and mini chocolate chips. Soak all layers of the sponge cake liberally with amaretto. Spread some of the cheese and chocolate chip mixture evenly on all sponge cake layers, reserving some for the sides of the cake. Put all disc’s on top of each other. Spread the remaining cheese mixture on top and side of cake. Decorate with more chocolate chips. Chill for a few hours to set.
To serve, cut into big slices, over-eat 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

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Yesterday my friend George arrived from switzerland and as usual he brought a bunch of gift’s. One of them is my favorite cold cut in the world, “Bündner Fleisch” ( Bindenfleisch, or “Viande des Grisons” or “Air Dried Beef” ) The traditional way of eating bündner fleisch is to serve it very thinly sliced, cold, with fresh horseradish and rustic bread. However, George asked me to make something out of the ordinary with the bündner fleisch, so I came up with the following concoction which was a delightful and very unusual way of using this traditional ingredient. The extraordinary flavor of the bündner fleisch and the sharpness of the “Appenzeller Käse” (appenzeller cheese), another one of his gift’s, made this a truly special and delightful dish 🙂

Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

: Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

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Ingredient’s :

Spaghetti, cooked al dente
Broccoli florets, blanched
Appenzeller cheese, finely grated
Grape tomatoes, whole
Onions, sliced
Garlic, paste
Milk, whole
Eggs, whole
Italian parsley, chopped
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground
Butter, to saute

Method :

Mix eggs, milk and cheese, add salt and pepper, whisk. Saute onions and garlic in butter, add bündner fleisch, spaghetti, broccoli and egg mixture. Cook until eggs have set to your preference ( I like mine well done).
To serve, sprinkle with more grated cheese and chopped parsley.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Guajillo Chile & Rum Spiced Pork Ribs

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Pork rib craving – gotto give in to it 🙂
However, you’ve got to plan this well, because when the craving start’s, it will take another 9 hours of slow cooking time before you can eat your rib’s.
And so it goes:
Make a paste of “Brugal” rum, kosher salt, guajillo chile, granulated garlic and freshly ground black pepper. Cover both sides of the ribs with a thick cover of the paste. Place rib’s on a rack which sit’s over a pan of water. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 180 F for 8 hours. (Replenish water if necessary). Remove foil and bake another hour until ribs are nicely colored.
The Verdict : Very tasty, very juicy, very tender, very easy to prepare. Rib’s rule !
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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