ethnic recipes

Sauted Strip Steak , Cauliflower Tortilla & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

>
>
Sunday’s late lunch / early dinner (4.00pm)
After sleeping-in late (7.30am and enjoying a big breakfast of strawberry smoothies and goose liver pate stuffed croissants, I did not feel hungry at lunch time and held out until late afternoon.
But then I knew I would have to combine lunch and dinner, so it needed to be a substantial meal, otherwise the snack monster would haunt me early in the evening. This is the first time I made a Spanish Tortilla with cauliflower and tomatoes and it made me realize what a great dish I’ve been missing all my live. What a wonderful dish. It can stand on it’s own, as breakfast, snack, even a complete meal if accompanied by a small salad, served hot or at room temperature. You can of course use different vegetables, different cheeses, add protein such as sausage, bacon, shrimp, crab meat, add different herbs, etc. The possibilities are endless and only limited by your fantasy 🙂
If you ever want to reproduce this dish, just make sure the cauliflower / vegetables are blanched al dente, so that the tortilla has a bit of a bite to it. While I was cooking the tortilla, I also added grated parmesan cheese to the whisked eggs, (not featured in the mise en place picture). You can omit the cheese, but it definitely adds another level of depth to the dish.
>

Sauted Strip Steak , CauliflowerTortila & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

Sauted Strip Steak , Cauliflower Tortilla & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

: Sauted Strip Seak , CauliflowerTortila & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

>
Ingredients :

Tortilla :

Cauliflower rosettes, blanched al dente
Eggs, whole, whisked, seasoned with kosher salt, cayenne and grated parmesan
Grape tomatoes,
Butter,

Method :

Saute cauliflower and tomatoes briefly in butter, add egg mixture and cook covered on low heat until eggs have set but are not dry. Slide onto a dinner plate, top with the saute pan, invert and cook other side of tortilla until golden.
>
Steak :

Season teak with salt, granulated garlic and freshly ground black pepper and saute both sides until desired doneness. Remember the carry over heat will cook it one more level after you remove the steak from the pan! Let the steak rest for ten minutes before slicing !

Butter :

Mix softened butter with sriracha, roasted garlic paste, a bit of lime juice and kosher salt.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
>
>
>
>

Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Flour Dumpling’s ( A “Light” Saturday Lunch )

“

“
When I encountered Jamaican dumplings for the first time in the early seventies, I would never have imagined that I will ever like them, having been raised with southern german-style dumplings, which are very light and airy (if done correctly).
So when I saw these tough little dumplings, (resembling in shape Schwaebische Bubespitzle), I was skeptical, to say the least. But, while living in Jamaica in the eighties, I have come to love these Jamaican dumplings, but again – in order to be appreciated, they must be properly prepared, simmering for a long time in a flavorful stock, stew or soup .
“>
Irie, Mon 🙂
>

Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Dumplings

“

: Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Dumplings

“
Ingredients :

Stock of your preference, veal, chicken, beef, pork, vegetable
Black beans, soaked overnight
Onions, diced
Celery, diced
Bacon, diced (substitute with salt pork if preferred)
Garlic, paste
Spicy sausage, pork, veal or beef
Assorted chilis, select according to your preferred heat level
Tomatoes, diced
Cumin,
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground
Cilantro, coarsely chopped
Goose fat, rendered (use your favorite fat, canola oil, olive oil, butter, duck fat, goose fat, etc)

Method :

Saute bacon in fat until rendered, add onions, garlic, celery, chilis and sausage and saute until fragrant, add tomatoes, stock and beans. Season lightly with cumin, salt and pepper and simmer until the beans are “waxy”. Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, place soup into serving bowl, top with dumplings and sprinkle generously with cilantro .

Dumplings :

Mix flour, water and salt into a smooth dough, roll small pieces into finger shaped noodles and simmer in stock until cooked through. ( Usually like o cook them straight in the soup, but for a nicer presentation I cooked them separate this time for better pictures 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Irie !

“
“
“
“

Braised Oxtail & Potato Dumplings “Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknödel”

>
>
Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknödel / Braised Ox Tail & Potato Dumplings
>
I remember with nostalgia when you could get oxtail from your butcher for a buck and a half a pound. Those were the day’s. Obviously long gone, but not forgotten. Nowadays it’s gonna cost an average of $ 5.00 a pound. Considering a nice portion to be about 2.5 pounds, you might only want to prepare this for a dinner party with the best of friends 🙂
Anyway, since I only cook for Bella and myself nowadays, cost was not a concern. Time however is of the essence. You want to cook your oxtails REAL slow, so they get very tender without falling apart. This batch took about 3.5 hours to cook. Was it worth the trouble ? You bet your foot it was. Especially when you also prepare these great potato dumplings to soak up every last bit of the knock-out sauce you get by simmering the meat and vegetables for all that time.
>
Guten Appetit ! Das Leben ist Schön !
>
>

Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknoedel

: Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknoedel

: Braised Ox Tail & Potato Dumplings

<
Ingredients :

Oxtail, cut into single links
Bell peppers, medium diced
Onions, medium diced
Tomatoes, canned, diced
Garlic, paste
Peanut oil,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Hungarian paprika,
Veal stock, or substitute
Red wine,
Dark beer,

Method :

Saute oxtails in hot oil until nicely browned on all sides. Remove from pot, set aside. Saute onions and peppers until caramelized. Now it is time to saute the paprika for a minute. Then add salt and pepper.Make sure you dont over season at this point. Remember, the stock will reduce a great deal when simmering for long period of time. Add wine and beer to deglaze the pan. Return ox tail to pot, cover with veal juice (substitute with chicken stock, vegetable stock or even water if nothing else is available. Simmer until oxtail is tender. Remove oxtail with a slotted spoon into a clean pot. Adjust seasoning of sauce if necessary. Strain sauce through a fine mesh sieve over oxtail. Make sure you press all the vegetables through the sieve. This will thicken your sauce and give it more body and flavor.
Serve with your favorite pasta or dumplings.

Potato Dumpling Recipe

>
>
>
>

Pizza With Anchovies, Mascarpone, Tomato & Egg

I did not feel like having an elaborate meal tonight, so this quick and easy to prepare pizza was all I wanted for dinner. I actually had some pickled artichoke hearts in the fridge but I forgot to use them. Even without the artichokes, it was a very enjoyable, filling and satisfying dinner.
Looking forward though, to tomorrows braised oxtail with potato dumplings.
(Geschmorter ochsen schwanz mit kartoffel knoedeln) 🙂

Pizza With Anchovies, Mascarpone, Tomato & Egg

>
Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients :

Pizza dough,
Anchovy filets, canned
Eggs, whole
Tomato, sliced
Chili flakes,
Mascarpone cheese,
Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Scallions, sliced
Olive oil,

Method :

Pull pizza dough into a thin oval. Top with anchovies, tomatoes and mascarpone, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake at 500F until bubbling, add eggs and sprinkle with chili flakes, Return to oven and bake until dough is cooked, golden and crispy.
To serve, top with arugula in honey / mustard dressing.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
>>
>
>
>

Rum Laced Iced Berry Soup

<
>

What a gorgeous sunday afternoon by the lake. Perfect temperature outside, a good book to read (WHISKEY BEACH, by Nora Roberts), great rock in the background (Big 105.9) and this wonderful concoction of berries, yoghurt and rum, topped with a bit of whipped cream.
Ahhhhhhh 🙂

>
Life is Good ! Cheers !

Rum Laced Iced Berry Soup

>
>
>
>

” Ojinguh Bokkeum ” Korean Style Stir Fried Squid

>
>
Traditionally in Korea , one uses much larger squid and scores the surface in a criss cross pattern. I personally prefer the smaller squid I used here today, the texture is so much different and, dare I say, better. It is a simple stir fry preparation. Please make sure your pan is very hot and please don’t boil your squid. A few short seconds simmering in the sauce will suffice. I also suggest that you mix all the Ingredients for the sauce and check the taste before you add it to the pan so your squid get in and out of the pan as quickly as possible. >
>

” Ojinguh Bokkeum ” Korean Style Stir Fried Squid>

>
>

: ” Ojinguh Bokkeum ” Korean Style Stir Fried Squid

>
>
Ingredient’s :

Squid, cleaned, cut to size, including tentacles
Chilis, medium hot, sliced
Scallions, cut into one inch length
Onion, cut into paysanne
Garlic, paste
Ginger, grated
Oyster sauce,
Soy sauce,
Sesame oil,
Chili flakes,
Peanut oil,
Sesame seeds,
Sriracha,
Ketchup, (for color and a touch of sweetness)
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,

Method :

Season all vegetables and squid with salt and pepper. Saute onion , garlic and ginger until fragrant, add vegetables, saute for a few second, add squid, saute for a few seconds. Add sauce, bring to a simmer, remove from heat at once. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with rice, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good ! . . . .
>
>
>
>

Breakfast Of Champions # 22 “Pytt I Panna”

>
>
I have been introduced to this dish early in my career as a cook, when I was working at the “Hotel Kattegat” in Torekov, Sweden. At the time, I did not think of it as something special, maybe because we cooked it by he ton, since it is a staple of swedish cuisine. But, over the years, I have grown to love it in all it’s various incarnations. It is basically a dish made of leftover meat and potatoes. What particular meat you use is up to whatever leftovers you’ve got. However, when I make pytt i panna nowadays, I usually prepare everything from scratch, so I use my favorite pytt i panna meat, which is either salame or chorizo, whichever of the two happens to be in the house.
>

Pytt Y Panna

: Pytt Y Panna

>
Ingredients :
Potatoes, cooked,
diced Salame, diced, (substitute any meat/sausage you have available
Onion, diced
Egg, sunny side up
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground Butter,
Scallion, finely sliced (usually in Sweden we use dill leaves)
Ingredients for your favorite side salad:-)
.

Method : Saute potatoes in butte until golden, add meat and onions and saute until onions are translucent and meat starts to become slightly brown, Season with salt and pepper. To serve, place hash on serving dish, sprinkle with scallions, top with fried egg. Pair with a small salad.
>
>
Smaklig måltid ! Life is Good ! > >
>
>
>
>> >

Asian Style Chicken Wings in Oyster Sauce

>
>

Asian Style Chicken Wings

.
This is one of the dishes I could eat three times a week without getting tired of it anytime soon.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. Feed me anytime with this stuff and I’ll be happy 🙂
>
>

: Asian Style Chicken Wings

>
Ingredient’s :

Chicken wings,
Bok choy, cut into large pieces
Red peppers, cut into triangles, keep stems and leaf’s seperate
Dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water
Onions, large diced
Garlic, paste
Ginger, grated
Peanut oil,
Chicken stock,
Sherry wine,
Oyster sauce,
Hoisin sauce,
Soy sauce,
Sesame oil,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,

Method :

Saute seasoned wings in peanut oil until almost cooked trough. Remove from heat to absorbent paper. Saute onions, peppers, bok choy stems, garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add sauces and sesame oil, wings, shiitake, scallions and bok choy leaves. Mix well, serve with fan. (chinese steamed rice)

Recipe for “Fan”

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

>
>
>

Best Fish Taco

Well, at least for me they were the best in a very long line of disappointing restaurant and food truck fish tacos.
Most of the time, if you want to have the really good stuff, you’ve got to prepare it yourself 🙂
The secret here is the fish batter. You don’t want to have to prep something complicated or difficult for such a simple meal. So here I give you my “secret” easy and quick batter recipe:
.
A/P flour, crushed ice, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, granulated garlic, chilled sparkling water (I use syfo lemon-lime, the only bottled water for me).
Mix all ingredients lightly, don’t worry about a few lumps, they fry out in the hot oil and become crispy. See the prep pic to get an idea about the texture. Then dip the fish into the batter and fry at 375F until crispy and fish just done. Remove to absorbent paper. Build your tacos with your favorit ingredients / condiments.
Voila ! Best fish taco 🙂
.
Viva Mexico ! Viva Los Tacos ! Viva La Vida !
>

Best Fish Taco

: Best Fish Taco

>
>
>
>

Pork Ribs & Rice Noodles Soup

>
>
I was tempted to call this dish “Kluay Teaw Moo Toon”, but then I remembered that Mirandi of the “High Heel Gourmet is coming by at ChefsOpinion sometimes and how fierce she is about authentic Thai recipes. (I REALLY don’t want to get her mad 🙂
All jokes aside, this dish is definitely Thai inspired. Fragrant, light, bright, tasty. I hope that recipes like this will inspire my readers to understand the philosophy of cooking as I see it :
Take a look at good stuff, feel inspired by it, learn from it, do your own spin on it. Just make sure you call it “inspired by” or “in the style of”. But then again, if the shoe fit’s……
>

“Kluay Teaw Moo Toon”
( “Variation Of A Thai Pork Spareribs Noodle Soup” )

: Kluay Teaw Moo Toon ( “Variation Of A Thai Pork Spareribs Noodle Soup” )

>
Ingredients :

Pork ribs, blanched (for a clear stock)
Rice noodles, soaked
Bok choy, substitute with other green vegetable if you prefer, I used brocoli
Bean sprouts, (I prefer the crunch and tasteof raw onion julienne)
Cinnamon stick,
Star anise,
Coriander, crushed
Garlic paste,
Cilantro stems, Thais normally use cilantro root but I can’t get it around here
Cilantro leaf’s, coarsely chopped
Soy sauce,
Sugar,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Onion, peeled, quartered
Ginger, grated
Pork stock, substitute with vegetable stock if you prefer
Peanut oil,

Method :

Saute ribs in peanut oil until lightly browned. Add garlic, ginger , star anis , coriander and onion and saute until fragrant. Add stock and cilantro stems (roots if you can get hold of them) and simmer until ribs are tender but not falling apart, about 2 to 3 hours. Remove ribs and set aside. Adjust seasoning. Strain stock. To serve, place noodles, ribs and vegetables in a serving bowl. Top with boiling hot stock. Sprinkle with cilantro and onion julienne. Serve with soy sauce, chili sauce and fried shallots.
>

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

>
>
>
<