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This simple dish is something I never get tired of.
I have made this in many different variations but
never straying far from the original, classic “bolognese”
Here are two more variations of the classic, the video tells
you the recipe and gives you additional information about
the dish and it’s background,
Bon Appetito ! Life is Good !
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Tonight I cooked dish two of my “Offal Series” :
– Braised beef heart with steamed chili potatoes and garlic broccoli rabe.
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Heart:
Marinate the meat for the the Braised Heart in cider vinegar for 8 hours,
strain and dry the meat. Season with Dijon, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder,
and pepper. Sautee on high heat until golden, add onions and garlic and saute
until garlic becomes fragrant. Deglaze with plenty of good merlot, add demi glace
and simmer until meat is tender, about one hour. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Potatoes :
Peel potatoes, cut into wedges and simmer in salted water until almost done.
Strain. Saute chili flakes in plenty of butter on low heat until fragrant, add potatoes
and salt, cover. Leave on very low heat until heated through and fully done.
Broccoli rabe :
Saute Garlic paste until fragrant, add blanched rabe , salt, cayenne and
maggi seasoning and saute until heated through.
Serve with a good sized glass (or two) of the same merlot you use in the sauce 🙂
Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Tonights quick and tasty dinner :
Rotelli, cepes, peppers and chorizo, giving non- offal lovers a break today .
( Offal will be back tomorrow, three dishes to go 🙂
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Rotelli, cooked al dente, strained, reserve some cooking water
Chorizo, sliced
Cepe mushroom, re-hydrated
Onions, julienned
Chili peppers, julienned
Garlic paste, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Olive oil, to saute
Cilantro, coarsley chopped
Manchego, finely grated
Butter, whole, not melted
Olive oil, to saute
Method :
Saute onions, garlic and cepes in olive oil, until fragrant,
add chilies, pasta and seasoning, toss well. remove from heat.
Add manchego cheese, butter and a bit of the cooking water from the pasta.
Toss again until the pasta is covered with a thin film of cheese sauce.
(Starch from the pasta, the butter, water and cheese will combine into
this delicious sauce). To serve, sprinkle with cilantro and more manchego cheese.
Bon Provecho ! Life is Good !
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Now that the sliced kidney’s have soaked long enough in milk
and have been marinated ample time, I finally got to eat the first
of my long awaited kidney dishes. So, tonight I had sauteed kidney
skewer’s with tomato / cucumber salad and creamy horseradish.
I… Just … Loved… It… 🙂
Bella gave her unreserved approval too. Hopefully, so will you.
P.S.
Many folks like their kidney’s grilled. If you prefer yours grilled,
please make sure you grill them on all sides, VERY slowly.
You’ll find the recipe on how to prepare the kidney’s on my previous
post, ” I Was In Need Of A Heart And A Kidney “
For the salad, simply mix cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and garlic with
the herb vinaigrette of your choice.
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !
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Luckily,
my Argentinian butcher was able to help me out 🙂
Every so often when I talk to some of my friend’s, special dishes pop up during
the conversation. Usually, we talk about stuff that is not alway’s available or
has fallen out of fashion with the ” in crowd “.
Such was the topic of our saturday conversation, Liver and Kidney.
As a child, “Saure Nierchen” (Sour Kidney’s) and “Geschmortes Rinderherz”
(Braised Beef Heart), were right up there with a few other “sunday’s at the
restaurant favorites” and since the supply from the butcher was plentiful,
this week I plan to cook these four dishes:
Nieren Spieschen (Shish Kebab)
Saure Nierchen (Sour Kidney’s)
Rinderherz Spieschen (Beef Heart Schaschlik)
Geschmortes Rinderherz (Braised Beef Heart)
Sunday I trimmed and cut the heart and kidneys. Today I will soak the meat
for theShashlik / Kebab in milk for 8 hours, then rinse and dry them and further
marinate them with soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and peanut
oil until ready to cook, up to three day’s.
(Add the salt just before cooking or the offal becomes hard)
I have also marinated the meat for the Sour Kidneys and the Braised Heart in
cider vinegar for 8 hours, strained and dried the meat and then marinated it with
soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and peanut oil until ready to cook,
up to three day’s.
My first dish today will be “Kidney Shish Kebab with Tomato / Cucumber Salad .
(Check it out on tomorrow’s post 🙂
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Beef Kidney
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Beef Heart
Heart & Kidney, trimmed and soaking in milk and vinegar
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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It was alway’s a mystery
to me why Americans call a pork shoulder a pork butt.
However, pork butt (shoulder) seems to be one of the most revered
cut’s of meat around the world, at least in cultures where religious
motives don’t forbid the consumption of pork. ( I wish there there would
be the same restriction on consumption of dog meat, in ANY religion).
Since I live alone with Bella for the time being, cooking a whole butt would
have been too much for one meal, even for Bella and I. 🙂
So, I had it on three consecutive evening’s and I id not get bored of the
repetition by the same main ingredient at all, even though I did not
transform the meat into different dishes, such as stir fry, salad, soup, etc.
The first night I enjoyed it straight from the oven, accompanied just by
apple sauce and sour dough bread. The meat was still slightly pink, although
the butt was in the oven for five hours. I usually don’t like pink pork meat
because of it’s texture and temperature, but these slices were piping hot and
the texture was great.
The second night I made potato dumplings to go with it, to mop up the unusual
jus I made from the drippings and served it with horseradish cream and chimichurri.
The third night I just could not resist but have pasta , again to mop up the jus
but also because after three day’s, serious pasta-withdrawal symtoms started to appear.
All in all, three day’s of great dinners with a minimum of effort but a maximum
of satisfaction. ( Chew on that, Mick Jagger 🙂
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First portion, day one
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Second portion, day two
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Third portion, day three
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Ingredient’s :
Pork butt, skin and fat scored,
(knuckle removed for another dish)
Kosher salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Onion powder, to taste
Method :
Rub butt on all sides generously with the seasoning,
roast at 425 for thirty minutes, turn down to 260 and
cook for four hours. Turn up heat to 425 and cook for
another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for
at least 30 minutes in a warm place before slicing.
If you like to cook your meat to a complete well done,
add another one to two hours at 260 degrees, depending
on the size of the butt.
Jus :
Deglaze roasting pan with white wine, strain and remove
to a small sauteuse. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, rasted garlic paste,
scotch bonnet hot sauce, maggi seasoning and apple sauce and simmer
until well combined.
Potato Dumplings :
Ingredient’s :
Potatoes, Boiled, riced, dried overnight
Egg, whole
Egg, yolk
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Nutmeg, to taste
AP flour, as needed
Method :
Mix all ingredients without overworking or the potatoes will get soft and gooey.
Form tennis ball sized balls, add to boiling salt water, return to a boil for one minute.
turn down heat and slowly simmer until dumplings are cooked through,
about 45 minutes.
You might want to remove one and cut in half to make sure they are done.
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Ingredients for potato dumplings
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Dear friend’s, here we have a typical example for the reason why I usually
don’t include measurements in my recipes . It is almost impossible to give the
EXACT proportions of the ingredient’s of the dumplings. There are too many
variables, such as the exact size of the eggs, the ratio of the yolk to the white,
the exact moisture content of the potatoes, the amount of starch in the particular
potatoes used, etc. Those variables are the reason why folk’s who rely on
following recipes to the dot will usually be blessed with very mixed results.
Remember, most recipes in savory cooking should be used as guidelines,
mixt with practice, practice practice. That’s one of the reason we have so
many young chef’s failing to do simple dishes to perfection, because without
practice and a thorough understanding of the influences of temperature,
moisture and many other factor’s, cooking great and near perfect dishes is mostly
a game of chances (as sadly proven around the world on a daily basis in a sea of
lousy restaurants) with food prepared by what I call recipe cook’s who, in most
cases, don’t understand the basics of our great profession.
So, there you have it, my opinion.
Sorry recipe cooks, you must add practice to your recipe’s. No way around it.
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Guten Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Today’s lunch 🙂
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Chicken, boneless, diced
Asparagus, blanched, halved
Potatoes, turned, blanched
Red peppers, cut into triangles
Onions, diced
Garlic, paste
Scallions, sliced
Peanut oil, to saute
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, freshly ground
Method :
Saute chicken until golden brown but still juicy.
Remove to absorbent paper, reserve. Saute potatoes
until lightly browned, add garlic, onions, peppers and
scallions and saute until garlic becomes fragrant.
Remove from heat, add chicken and seasoning, mix well.
To serve, sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Image Source : dachshundlove.blogspot.com
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I found this on Recyclebank.com and thought it merit’s a share.
Enjoy 🙂
I was inspired by the previous story I wrote, Fuel Starts Going Bananas, to read more about the reusability of bananas. Besides throwing the peels into my backyard composter, I didn’t really know any other things to do with the leftover banana waste.
So I did some research and discovered a bunch of eco-friendly ways to reuse bananas instead of just throwing them away. Here are a few of the most interesting alternatives:
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Image Source: Crazy Chefs
” Dave Arnold And Harold McGee Do Cool Stuff To Eggs At Harvard ”
By Lisa McLaughlin on September 12, 2012
The new school year has begun and with it comes the first lecture of the 2012 Food and Science Lecture Series at Harvard. The first installment featured Dave Arnold, the uber creative Director of Culinary Technology at the International Culinary Center and Dave Arnold and gastronomic guru Harold McGee talk about soft matter science, explosions, mayonnaise making, haute cuisine, make some dragon’s beard, and do some super cool stuff with eggs.
See the video HERE
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Tonight’s dinner reminds me of my childhood in Germany,
when this was a very special treat when my parents took me
to a restaurant and I found wiener back hendl on the menu.
Tonight I used cornish hen instead of the more traditional chicken,
but otherwise, this is the real deal. A simple dish of breaded , fried,
bone in chicken 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good
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ChefsOpinion 