garlic

Braised Beef Ribs In Red Wine

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” Braised beef ribs in red wine with potato gnocchi and vegetables in curry cream ” >
I have prepared beef ribs in many different ways over the years, but , in my humble opinion, this preparation stands high above the rest. Just make sure you don’t skimp on the wine , both the quality and the quantity you use. Use lots of onion and garlic as well and stay away from thickening the sauce with flour ! Just press all the vegetables which you cook in the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, it’s the only thickener the sauce will need. The texture and flavor are just so much better this way. >
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Braised Beef Ribs In Red Wine

: Braised Beef Ribs In Red Wine

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Ingredient’s:

Beef ribs,
Merlot, (or red wine of your choice)
Tomatoes, chopped
Celery, diced
Onions, diced
Red pepper, diced
Garlic, paste
Scallion, finely sliced
Peanut oil,
Kosher salt,

Method :

Season ribs with salt and pepper. Saute ribs in oil until evenly browned on both sides. Remove, set aside. Saute carrots and onions until caramelized. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add back ribs. Add celery, tomatoes and wine. Simmer until ribs are very tender but not falling apart. Remove ribs, hold warm. Strain sauce through a fine mesh sieve, then pressing all the vegetables through with a bench scraper. Return sauce to simmer until it has the desired texture. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Return ribs to sauce to re-heat. To serve, place ribs on serving dish, nape generously with sauce and sprinkle with scallions. Serve with potato gnocchi and curried cauliflower/carrots. . >

Curry Cream Recipe

Potato Gnocchi Recipe > > > >

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good ! > >
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Simple Cooking – Perfect Meal

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Sauteed cowboy steak medium rare. Spinach sauteed in duck fat with freshly grated horseradish, bacon, garlic and onion. Very thick cut slice of sourdough bread to soak up all the juices. Scotch bonnet & garlic compound butter to give it a bit of a kick.
Do I need to write more about this dish?
Hell no, just look at the pictures and start drooling 🙂

Recipe for Scotch Bonnet & Garlic Compound Butter

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Cowboy Steak, Spinach & Chili Butter

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: Cowboy Steak, Spinach & Chili Butter

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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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Cream Of Broccoli “Bella”

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” Cream of broccoli and potato, with parmesan and fontina ”

Soup can be so many things.
– Boring. Unimportant. Uninspired 😦
– Good. Great. Warming. Satisfying. Amazing. Unforgettable. Pretty. Flavorful. Addictive. A Treat. Not to be missed 🙂
“Bella” means beautiful in Italian, therefore: Bella the soup. Bella the dog 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Cream of Broccoli and Potato, with Parmesan and Fontina “

: Bella

Ingredient’s :

Broccoli, cut into small florettes, blanched
Broccoli stock, reserved from blanching the broccoli
Potato,   small chopped
Onion,   julienned
Garlic,   paste
Heavy cream,
Parmesan,   finely grated
Fontina,   coarsly grated
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Chili flakes,
Butter,   to saute

Method :

Saute onion and garlic in butter until fragrant. Add potatoes, stock and seasoning. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Add broccoli, reserve some for garnish. Bring back to simmer. Remove from heat, add cream and parmesan. With a stick blender, blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning if neccessary. To serve, add a few broccoli florettes, sprinkle with fontina and chili flakes. Share with a loved one. (Bella adores this soup, I guess because of the cheese) 🙂
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Perciatelli, Tomato & Poached Egg

“Waiter ! One order of Perciatelli, Tomato & Poached Egg please !
I wish I could order food like that in a restaurant around here !
Everybody seems to serve the same old stuff, (grilled fish with mango salsa anyone?), desperately trying to be “innovative”, “modern”, “on the edge”. But sadly, what I mostly find is mediocre food that has been invented and created a long time ago, then suffered a long and steady decline in quality and substance at the hand of badly trained cooks and so called chefs . We now find the most outrageously crappy food for even more outrageous prices in a vast majority of restaurants. I fully acknowledge that there are lots’s of great chefs out there but unfortunately, they are the minority in a sea of mediocracy or worse. How about some more top quality, simple, tasty, beautiful “REAL FOOD” . I would not mind paying top $ for a plate like this if it were fresh, good tasting, clean and nicely presented. Unfortunately, most “hip” folk’s think food like that has no place in a restaurant and it would be beneath their advanced eating habits to consume . (In public, anyway). While I appreciate as much as the next person food that is prepared and presented in an artful, unexpected, unconventional way, on a day to day basis I prefer great food which is practical and economically sound. After all, most of us have to cook the stuff before we can eat it. While there are plenty folk’s out there who apparently can run up a dinner bill of a few hundred or even a few thousand bucks a few night’s a week, most of us are not that privileged but nevertheless deserve to eat good (and, many times, much better) on a reasonable budget.

Perciatelli, Tomato & Poached Egg

Any thoughts on that friends ?
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Ingredients :

Perciatelli, cooked al dente, some cooking liquid reserved
Eggs, poached
Tomato, chopped
Garlic, paste
Olive oil,
Basil, stems removed
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground
Parmigiano reggiano, grated

Method :

Saute garlic paste in olive oil until fragrant, add tomatoes and basil leaves and saute for three minutes. Remove basil, add salt and pepper and mix in blender until smooth. Poach eggs in lightly salted and vinegared water to your desired doneness. Toss perciatelli with olive oil, cheese and a bit of the cooking water until a thin film of sauce forms. To serve, drizzle tomato sauce over pasta, top with poached eggs. Sprinkle with cheese and garnish with fresh basil.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Gizzard Adobo

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Although I tremendously enjoy Philippine style adobo served the traditional way with steamed rice, I enjoy my adobo even more with pasta and creamed spinach. Served seperate, then all mixed together on the plate, what a great, simple, tasty meal 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Kainan na!

Chicken Gizzard Adobo

: Chicken Gizzard Adobo

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Ingredients :

Chicken Gizzards,
Onions,   large dice
Garlic,   paste
Bay leaves,
Chicken stock,
Fish sauce,  substitute with oystersauce if preferred
Soy sauce,
Sugar,
Beer,
Kosher salt,
Black Pepper,   freshly ground
Peanut oil,   to saute

Method :

Saute gizzards until nicely browned, add onions and garlic and saute until onions start to brown. Add all other ingredients and simmer until gizzards are tender. At this point, the sauce should be reduced so it covers the back of a spoon (nappe). Traditionally, adobo is served with steamed rice. However, in this version I served it with creamed spinach and pasta.

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Mabuhay ! Life is Good !
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Gratinated Onion Soup

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Today the weather channel announced that it will get cold in florida,
so why not prepare for it with this goodie :
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Gratinated Onion Soup

: Gratinated Onion Soup

Saute onion julienne until translucent. Add beer, beef stock, Kosher salt , freshly ground black pepper and maggi seasoning. Simmer until onions are soft but not mushy, about one hour. In the meantime, brush sliced bread on both sides with garlic butter. Toast on both sides until golden. Top with your favorite cheese (here I used asiago, sometimes I use cheddar, swiss, pepper jack or gorgonzola) and bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and set aside. When the onions are soft, adjust seasoning if necessary. Transfer the soup to a heat proof dish. Top with cheese bread and sprinkle the top generously with more cheese. Bake until a golden brown crust has formed. To serve, sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Bon Appetit ! Life is good!
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Pasta & Chicken

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One of my own personal junk food’s, pasta and chicken.
Any time of day, any which way, as long as it’s juicy and tasty 🙂
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Ingredients :

Lasagna pasta, broken into large pieces, cooked al dente
Chicken drumsticks,
Crimini mushrooms, cleaned
White cabbage, sliced
Red bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic, paste
Scallion, sliced
Parmigiano reggiano, thinly sliced
Parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Maggi seasoning,
Butter , to saute, substitute olive oil if you prefer

Method :

Saute seasoned chicken slowly in butter until golden, put on a rack and cook in oven until cooked through. Meanwhile, saute onion and mushroom in same butter until onions are translucent. Add cabbage, garlic and peppers and saute until garlic becomes fragrant. At this point your butter will be light brown. Add pasta and a bit of the pasta water, seasoning and the grated parmesan, mix until a fine film of cheese sauce coats pasta. Remove from heat, add chicken, scallions and parsley and mix. To serve, sprinkle with sliced parmesan and chopped parsley.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Sauted Shirloin Steak, Guacamole, Scotch Bonnet & Garlic Compound Butter

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A good bread to soak up the juices from a nice cut of meat.
Sadly, an old practice which seemingly got lost some time ago, maybe even never experienced by folk’s who don’t deem it to be fancy enough for their (sophisticated ?) eating habits 😦
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Guacamole Recipe : CLICK HERE

Scotch Bonnet & Garlic Compound Butter Recipe : CLICK HERE

Marinade steaks overnight in soy sauce, garlic powder, dijon mustard and cayenne pepper . Next day, wipe off excess marinade, season with kosher salt and saute in peanut oil to your preferred temperature. While steaks are cooking, spread butter and roasted garlic puree onto sourdough bread and toast until golden brown. To serve, top bread with steak and Scotch Bonnet & Garlic Compound Butter.
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !
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Guacamole

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Guacamole Ingredient’s :

Avocado, diced
Lime,   juiced
Fresh chilis,    diced
Cilantro,   coarsely chopped
Garlic,   paste
Salt,

Method :

Mix all ingredients until guacamole has the texture you desire.
The more you stir, the more the avocado breaks down and the
guacamole becomes smoother, less chunky.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Note: For a slightly different version, add diced totatoes.
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