ethnic recipes

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS # 43 – Eggs & Eggs

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Chicken eggs and fish eggs – what an incredible combo. Super tasty, beautiful to look at, quick and easy to prepare.
Have a wonderful day ! With this dish, you’ll have a great start 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS # 43 – Eggs & Eggs

Eggs & Eggs

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Preparation :
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Naan

fry eggs in garlic oil, season with kosher salt

top naan with fried eggs, drizzle with sriracha

top with caviar of your choice (and wallet) :-)

top with caviar of your choice (and size of your wallet) 🙂

Sprinkle with fresh chives

Eggs & Eggs

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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS # 42 – Brandade

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While a traditional brandade is usually made with salted cod (bacalao) and olive oil, over time many different variations have evolved. Today I’ve had a version that has evolved in my own kitchen. When Maria was still alive, I prepared bacalao for her often, since it was one of her favorite food’s and many times she asked for it to be prepared as brandade.
I myself, on the other hand, am a stout hater of bacalao ever since I encountered klippfisk and lutefisk (bacalao) the first time while I was working in Sweden during the early 70’s. While FRESH bacalao /torsk / cod / kabeljau remains one of my favorite fish’ of all time, the salted / dried / lye’d versions are not something I’d eat voluntarily, although I have cooked thousands of portions over time for guests in restaurants around the world and mostly for fellow sailors during my time as crew cook on Royal Viking Sky. I became quite an expert in preparing it, making many a Swede, Norwegian, Spaniard, Portuguese and any other bacalao / klipfisk / lutefisk- lover happy 🙂
So, while I don’t like bacalao, I adore brandade, so at home I make different versions often. I’ll have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner and sometimes, if I cook too much (usually), for all three meals on one day, served with different sidings and condiments.
So there you have it – a not so traditional “Smoked Salmon & Spinach Brandade”
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Brandade

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Preparation :
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bake potatoes until soft, let cool, remove flesh

mix potaho with garlic paste, horseradish, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper,

add heavy cream

mix ingredients well

add blanched spinch and diced smoked salmon

add blanched spinach and diced smoked salmon

almost….

put mixture in buttered baking dish

sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated asiago cheese

bake until golden and crisp, sprinkle with chives

Brandade

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Spinach Linguine With Mushrooms In White Wine And Cream

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My favorite Asian market carries about 30 different types of fresh mushrooms at all times, not to mention a myriad of dried ones. Today I bought a nice selection of different fresh ones, the whole lot was less than $ 10.00. What a great bargain . The fresh spinach linguine ran about another $ 3.00, plus the cream, butter and seasoning, so the whole lot (which feeds 3 normal people easily) came to about $ 15.00, or $5.00 per person. Not a bad deal I’d say 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Spinach Linguini With Mushrooms In White Wine And Cream

Spinach Linguine With Mushrooms In White Wine And Cream

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Preparation :
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saute finely diced onions in garlic oil

add mushrooms according to their cooking time

add white wine and heavy cream, simmer one minute, remove from heat, season with kosher salt and white pepper

cook spinach linguini al dente, drain, toss with olive oil

cook spinach linguine al dente, drain, toss with butter, plate

top pasta with mushroom ragout, sprinkle with finely sliced scallions

Spinach Linguine With Mushrooms In White Wine And Cream

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Morcilla And Garbanzos

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Friday night I had my good friend Curtis over for dinner. I made a dish which one usually would not think of serving to friends for dinner, unless they are Latino, Swabian, Austrian (or in any other way weird) 🙂
But honestly, serving Morcilla (Blutwurst, Blood pudding, Blood Sausage, Boudin Noir) to guests requires that you either know their taste in food very well or that you are silly and take a great risk and probably end up ordering take-out pizza:-)
However, Curtis was happy with the dish and so were Bella and I. I actually thought it was wonderful and very special.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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For the 1907 Movie “La Course A La Saucisse”, click here
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Morcilla And Garbanzos

Morcilla
Image property of :
La Course à la Saucisse

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Preparation :
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saute dice onions in garlic oil, add morcilla, saute until sausages disolve, add garlic paste and heavy cream, simmer for one minute, add garbanzos, grape tomatoes, chilies and scallions, simmer until heted through, remove from heat, check / adjust seasoning (if necessary add some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

saute dice onions in garlic oil, add morcilla, saute until sausages dissolve, add garlic paste and heavy cream, simmer for one minute, add garbanzos, grape tomatoes, chilies and scallions, simmer until heated through, remove from heat, check / adjust seasoning (if necessary add some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

saute blanched small potatoes in olive oil, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

add two generous slices of avocado to hot serving plate

top with morcilla ragout

top with sauteed potatoes, top potatoes with crispy onions and scallions

top with sauteed potatoes, top potatoes with caramelized onions and sliced scallions

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Asian Style Glazed Pork Ribs With Fermented Black Bean Sauce

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This dish will suit everybody with a taste for Asian flavors but no great desire to spend a lot of time prepping food in the kitchen 🙂
Although this will take about 3 – 4 hours to cook, the actual prep-time is only about 10 minutes, the rest is waiting patiently for the ribs to become tender. You could blanch them in simmering salt water before roasting to save about two hours, but the texture and flavor would be very different.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Asian Style Glazed Pork Ribs With Fermented Bean Sauce

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Preparation :
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season ribs with kosher salt, cayenne pepper, granulated garlic and five spice powder, cook at 230 F on a rack above a wter filled baking pan until very tender, about three to four hours, depending on the size and quality of the ribs

season ribs with kosher salt, black pepper, granulated garlic and five spice powder, cook at 230 F on a rack above a water filled baking pan until very tender, about three to four hours, depending on the size and quality of the ribs

remove tender ribs from oven, heat oven to 420 F

meanwhile, make a basting sauce by whisking together fermented bean sauce, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil

basting sauce

baste ribs generously with the sauce on all sides, bake until starting to caramelize, baste again, caramelize again

when nicely caramelized, remove from oven, sprinkle with sesame seeds

to serve, sprinkle with finely sliced scallins

to serve, sprinkle with finely sliced scallions

Asian Style Glazed Pork Ribs With Fermented Bean Sauce

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Chinese Beef Tripe And Egg Noodle Soup With Bok Choy And Chili (Mondongo Chino) (Kuttelsuppe Mit Nudeln)

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I have taken to the habit of having Pho at “Pho 79” in Davie, while I wait for the nice Ladies at “Davie Coin Laundry” to take care of one of my lesser liked weekly chores. Both establishments are by far the best of their kind in this area (Ft Lauderdale to the Keys and across to Ft Meyers), so I am really lucky to have found both.
Now to the point :
While the Pho at Pho 79 far outshines any other Pho around here, if you eat like I do, you will pay the price. Mind you, this is in a strip mall, no decor, no service to speak of, very run down environment and I really only go there to enjoy the Pho, but if I want a decent portion my bill comes to a whopping $24.00 without tip . This includes a diet coke, a large Pho and one portion each of extra noodles, tendon and tripe. While this might sound like a lot, it really isn’t. Yes, there is a huge amount of broth, but inside is a VERY small amount of noodles, a minuscule quantity of paper thin (as it supposed to be sliced) brisket and a tiny (I guess maybe 0.5 oz of each tendon and tripe. The additional side orders are only slightly bigger. So, while all this leaves you full for about one hour, it is mostly broth you consume, excellent prepared food but at a hefty price.
Onward to the solution – making my own tripe and noodle soup, TWO large bowls of soup with LOT”S of noodles, tripe and greens for a total of about $ 8.00 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chinese Beef Tripe And Egg Noodle Soup With Bok Choy And Chili (Mondongo Chino) (Kuttelsuppe Mit Nudeln)

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Pho at PHO 79 :
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pho at PHO (great taste but as you can see, mostly broth and herbs)

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Preparation of Chinese Beef Tripe And Egg Noodle Soup :
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blanche tripe in saltwater 3 times

beautiful 🙂

cut into stripes, not too fine so when cooked soft they retain some texture, cook until almost tender, strain

finish cooking with chilies, kosher salt, grated ginger and garlic paste, strain, keep hot

chinese egg noodles

cook in saltwater for about two minutes, strain, toss with sesame oil

place noodles in serving bowl

top with blanched bok choy

beef stock, (for recipe, click here)
fortified with star anis, garlic paste, grated ginger and seasoned with salt, pepper and fish sauce

to serve, top noodles with broth, tripe and scallions, drizzle with chili oil

Chinese Beef Tripe And Egg Noodle Soup With Bok Choy And Chili (Mondongo Chino) (Kuttelsuppe Mit Nudeln)

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Easy does it # 19 – Cheese Sandwich (Paratha With Emmentaler, Tomato and Cucumber)

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I assume that 99 % of all adults (and many kids) have tried their hands on a cheese sandwich, some with more, some with less success 🙂 :-(.
Following is a nice cheese sandwich which can be prepared by anybody in a minimum of time, but the result will provide a maximum flavor and texture experience.
Might I add that the presentation is not too shabby either :-).
Yesterday evening was like most Friday evenings for me – end of work-week, tired, lazy, not interested in spending much time in the kitchen. Also, tomorrow, Saturday, is my day for shopping (and cleaning and laundry and bathing Bella and whatever else piles up during the week), so my fridge and cupboard were rather depleted today. What I found was the following:
Frozen paratha, emmentaler cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, pomegranate, honey and limes for the sandwich and it’s salad.
Throwing it all together resulted in a great looking, excellent tasting, quick and easy to prepare dinner.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Paratha With Emmentaler, Tomato and Cucumber

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Preparation :
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put paratha in a pan on low heat

top with emmentaler

top with sliced tomato, sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

top with pickled cucumber slices (salt, pepper, vinegar) and more emmentaler

cook slowly on both sides until cheese has melted

plate salad (romaine in honey/mustard dressing), sprinkle with pomegranate seeds

plate salad (romaine in honey/mustard dressing), sprinkle with passion fruit seeds

Paratha With Emmentaler, Tomato And Cucumber

Paratha With Emmentaler, Tomato and Cucumber

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Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic/Ginger Broth

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Usually we use this cut of the animal to make Osso Buco (originally done with veal shanks), but I love me a hearty soup more than anything else, so I decided to prepare this dish with some pork shanks my friend Curtis dropped off last time he came to visit. Great, simple dinner, bursting with flavor and texture 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic Ginger Broth

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Preparation :
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simmer pork shank’s in stock seasoned with star anis, cinnamon, garlic paste, black pepper, salt and grated ginger until tender but NOT falling apart

meanwhile, blanch green beans and cook lai fen pasta (rice flour bucatini)

add beans to soup

add diced peppers, onions and lap cheong (chinese sausage), check/adjust seasoning

add diced peppers, onions and lap cheong (chinese sausage), simmer two more minutes, check/adjust seasoning

add lai fen to serving bowl

to serve, top noodles with meat, vegetables and broth, sprinkle with chopped cilantro

Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic Ginger Broth

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Chicken & Scallion Dumplings “Foo Yong”

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Ravioli, Dumplings, Maultaschen, Pierogi or whatever you call your little pasta pockets filled with a savory filling – if there are leftovers, what will be the best way to make a meal out of them ? I say, saute them with eggs and voila ! – a whole new, different, beautiful dish which, when properly prepared, will be as good as the first incarnation of your little pockets of deliciousness 🙂
So, while I would usually make this dish with leftover dumplings, today I did not even wait to have leftovers. Instead, I sautéed them right after they came out of the boiling water with some eggs, chili oil, chili flakes and cilantro and bingo ! What a great dish – perfect texture, taste and presentation
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chicken & Scallion Dumplings “Foo Yong”

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Preparation :
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saute onions in garlic oil until translucent

add garlic confit paste, saute until garlic is fragrant

add lightly whisked whole eggs, seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

add freshly boiled, drained dumplings (if using leftovers, saute after onions before adding the garlic paste)

saute one minute until eggs are set

add chopped cilantro. to serve, drizzle with chili oil and sprinkle with chili flakes and more cilantro

Chicken & Scallion Dumplings “Foo Yong”

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Hickory Smoked, Panko Crusted Bone-In Ham Steak

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Here we have another dish which exemplifies home cooking at it’s most simple, most tasty, most satisfying goodness.
It goes to show that you don’t have to be rich or a professional chef in order to serve excellent food. Creativity and good, simple ingredients will get you pretty far.
While I love my lobster, caviar and foie gras, food made with simple ingredients should, in my opinion, alternate with the high-end stuff which most of us could not afford on a daily basis anyway. But even back in the day’s when I ran five star operations and could have had “the good stuff” for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I always liked to mix it up with some home style cooked dishes. After all, the beauty of good food lies, among other things, in variation.
Well, there you have it : Another ChefsOpinion 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

Hickory Smoked Panko Crusted Bone-In Ham Steak

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Preparation :
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mix 1/3 corn starch, 1/3 ap flour, 1/3 panko bread crumbs, season with cayenne pepper, english mustard powder and granulated garlic

dip ham steak on both sides into flour mixture, saute in butter until golden, remove ham and set aside, fry sunny side up eggs in same butter, season eggs with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper