Grab Bag

Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Turkey Leg

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It’s getting cooler at night lately, so hot soup is again welcome, especially when eaten al fresco. This soup took about two and a half hours to cook from beginning to end, but the actual prep-time was only a few minutes, which makes it a perfect dish when you don’t feel like getting too involved with heavy prep-work, but still want to have a satisfying meal 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
If you want your lentils with more texture, cook the turkey leg first in lightly salted water, then cook the lentils with the resulting stock until just done.
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Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Turkey Leg

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Preparation :
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: saute garlic paste in butter until fragrant

: add julienned onions, saute until lightly caramelized

: add red lentils, maggi seasoning, bay leave, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, ground cumin and dried oregano

: add chicken or vegetable stock

: add the smoked turkey leg

: simmer until turkey leg is tender, about two hours

: almost……

: remove turkey, dice, check / adjust seasoning of lentils

: Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Turkey Leg

: Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Turkey Leg

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Hearts On Fire

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If you have followed ChefsOpinion for some time, you know that I am very fond of Offal.
I understand of course that not everybody shares this fondness, but for the most part, in most of the offal dishes that I blog about, the offal can be replaced with more run of the mill proteins, such as shrimp, chicken breast, sliced beef and even vegetables.
For the rest of us – offal rock! 🙂
In the past, when my wife and I used to go with friends to Brazilian Churrasqueiras, everybody thought I was mad when I stuffed myself with grilled chicken hearts, while Maria and our friends enjoyed their Picanha, Entrana, and other more popular cuts. But for me, the meat-course always started with a bunch of chicken hearts. I was only ever able to find them in Brazilian Churrasqueiras, so I always took advantage of the opportunity to indulge. Nowadays, I go out very seldom, so when the craving for chicken hearts hits me, I have to prepare them myself.
I prepare them in different ways, grilled, braised, fried or simmered in soup.
Last night I felt the need for something spicy, so I prepared the hearts as follows – I seasoned them with soy sauce and lots of garlic, coated them in corn starch and then fried them in pure chili oil. The result was truly “Hearts on Fire ” – they were hellishly spicy from the chili oil but the more subtle-seasoned bok choy toned it down a bit and when eaten together, the result was pure culinary bliss – very tasty,very spicy, very addictive 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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How to make Home Made Chile Oil
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Hearts on Fire

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Preparation :
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: blanch baby bok choy in salted water, shock in ice water, drain

: simmer one cup of chicken stock, season with 1 tblsp soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp grated ginger and a dash of salt, thicken with a bit of corn starch slurry

: add bok choy to sauce, simmer one minute until heated through

: arrange bok choy on serving platter, nape with sauce, cover, keep warm

: season hearts (or other protein) with kosher salt, soy sauce and granulated garlic

: dust with corn starch, mix well

: fry hearts at high heat until crisp on the outside but still juicy on the inside

: add scallions and whole pickled chilies

: serve hearts over bok choy

: Hearts on Fire

: Hearts on Fire

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Tortilla Dulce

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When I got out of bed this morning, visions of sweet crepes swirled around my head and after I walked Bella for an hour around the lake, we were ready for our sweet reward. As I gathered the ingredients from the fridge, I came across some leftover tortillas from last nights dinner. Now, as you probably know, flour tortillas are a very versatile ingredient and are perfectly suited for a sweet dish, especially when a lot of sauce and other moist ingredients, such as fruit, are involved. So that settled things, tortillas instead of crepes it was. Turns out that for my personal taste, the tortillas, because of their more sturdy texture, were actually better suited than crepes for this particular dish 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Tortilla Dulce

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Preparation :
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: cook sugar on low heat

: cook sugar until caramelized

: add heavy cream, simmer until lightly thickened

: creamy caramel sauce

: apple, pears & oranges

: cut the apple and pears around the core, peel the oranges

: cut apple and pears into cubes, filet the oranges

: saute in butter with a dash of sugar and a few drops of organic vanilla essence until heated but not mushy

: flour tortilla

: spread tortilla with raspberry marmalade

: spread Greek yogurt on top of marmalade

: top center-line with the sauteed fruits

: roll tortilla

: almost……..

: put tortillas on ovenproof dish, sprinkle with sugar

: gratinate tortillas under broiler until sugar caramelizes

: serve tortillas with caramel sauce

: Tortilla Dulce

: Tortilla Dulce

: Tortilla Dulce

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Wing Recipe # 1001

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Seems like everybody and their mother has THE BEST recipe for chicken wings, and, I have to admit, I myself have a few of them.
Now this one is definitely among the very best and I hope you will give it a shot.
Maybe you will even agree with me that these wings are among the very best, if not THE BEST OF THE BEST ? 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Wings Fly !
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More Wings on ChefsOpinion
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Wing Recipe # 1001

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Preparation :
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: mix julienned red onions with soy sauce, garlic paste, lime juice and sriracha

: mix olive oil, lime juice, chopped capers, chopped cilantro, kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: season wings with kosher salt, granulated garlic and sriracha, fry until crisp on the outside but not completely cooked through, remove from fat, blot dry, season with soy sauce, sriracha and garlic paste

: place on wire rack, bake at 375 until browned

: when top of wings are browned and crisp, remove from oven

: turn wings upside down

: spread onions on top of wings, bake at 375F until onions are caramelized

: remove wings from oven, dredge in the herb-lime seasoning

: plate wings on serving dish, douse with more of the herb-lime seasoning

: Wing Recipe # 1001

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Easy Does It # 29 – Home Made Chile Oil

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You might ask yourself what’s the point in making your own chile oil, since you can buy it everywhere? The simple answer is quality and heat-level, since you have control of the quality of the chiles you use as well as the quantity of seeds you incorporate, by buying your own Chinese Red Peppers. (Or Tianjin Pepper, sometimes you’ll also find them referenced as Tientsin Peppers, named after the province in China where they are native). They closely resemble Cayenne and Japones Chiles and come in at between 50,000 – 70,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units). There are approximately 50 to 60 chiles per ounce. As with all chiles, the seeds pack most of the heat and the seeds can quickly overpower the fruit’s flavor. You might want to remove some of the seeds from the fruit in order to tone down the heat a bit. If you use the chile oil as dipping oil, you might also want to add some cinnamon and star anise for extra flavor to steep in the oil before straining. I have added neither, since I mostly use my chile oil as cooking oil and add additional flavors to the individual dishes during preparation as required.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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remove stems from chiles

cook in peanut oil until starting to change color, remove from heat

put oil with chiles in blender, blend until chiles are finely ground

let steep overnight

strain through fine mesh sieve

Home Made Chile Oil

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Schwäbisches Rotkraut Mit Kasseler Rippenspeer Und Knoblauchkartoffeln

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Easy now with the German tongue breaker – it’s just red cabbage with smoked pork loin and garlic potatoes, jawohl 🙂
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The secret to a good red cabbage (as well as sauerkraut) is to cook it long enough and to bind the juices, two simple steps that most cooks ignore. Unlike some other recipes steeped in a long tradition, in my opinion, this one does NOT improve with modernisation or simplification. It is a very straightforward preparation which will be rewarded with a great dish, wonderful in taste, texture and presentation.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
Although this dish does not really need a sauce, I am a typical “Schwoab“, who loves sauce with everything.
So I made a sauce with the drippings from the kasseler, some finely chopped tomatoes and a shot of red wine 🙂
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Sauerkraut on ChefsOpinion
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Schwäbisches Rotkraut Mit Kasseler Rippenspeer Und Knoblauchkartoffeln

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Preparation :
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: saute sliced onions in a generous amount of duck or pork fat until translucent, add finely sliced cabbage

: to one pound of cabbage, add 1/2 cup red-wine-vinegar and 1 cup red wine

: add sugar, kosher salt, cayenne pepper,2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick

: grate 1 unpeeled apple into the cabbage, add two cups of water or stock and simmer until the cabbage is tender

: add a small amount of corn starch slurry, mix well

: simmer another minute, check/adjust taste

: turn heat to lowest setting, add sliced kasseler (smoked pork loin), let meat heat through, about 4 minutes, depending on thickness

: meanwhile, saute small cooked potatoes in garlic oil, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: Schwäbisches Rotkraut (Red Cabbage Swabian Style)

: Schwäbisches Rotkraut Mit Kasseler Rippenspeer Und Knoblauchkartoffeln

: Schwäbisches Rotkraut Mit Kasseler Rippenspeer Und Knoblauchkartoffeln

: Schwäbisches Rotkraut Mit Kasseler Rippenspeer Und Knoblauchkartoffeln

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Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

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My original intention for breakfast this morning was to just pile some smoked salmon on a slice of bread and wait for lunchtime to come around for a more substantial meal. But then I saw the pomegranate and bean sprouts in the fridge, as well as an open container with Greek yogurt. Needless to say, I couldn’t stop there and all of a sudden, breakfast started to morph into what became this great brunch.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

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Preparation :
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: bake potatoes at 375F until done, let cool slightly

: season sliced radishes with kosher salt, let stand for 15 minutes

: cut top off of the potatoes

: remove “flesh” from “skin”

: coarsely chop smoked salmon

: mix the potatoes, salmon, greek yogurt, scallion, garlic paste, kosher salt and cayenne pepper, fill back into potato skins

: dress romaine lettuce, fresh spinach, sliced salted radishes, bean sprouts and tomatoes with honey/mustard dressing and fresh ground black pepper

: select a pretty serving platter 🙂

: arrange salad, dragon fruit slices and baked potatoes nicely on platter, sprinkle with pomegranate-seeds

: Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

: Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

: Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

: Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

: Stuffed Baked Potato With Smoked Salmon, Dragon Fruit And Salad

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Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

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I bought these beauties to put them on the grill, but I had steak often lately so I changed my mind and prepared this tasty dish instead. I am glad I did, because it just hit the spot and left me happy with the choice I made.
Just goes to show – the first idea is not always the best 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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More Ribs on ChefsOpinion
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How to cook Fan (Chinese Steamed Rice)
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Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

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Preparation :
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: blanche asparagus in salted water, shock in ice water, drain

: mix together 1/3 hoi sin sauce, 1/3 soy sauce, 1/3 water with 1 tblsp corn starch and 1 tsp chili paste

: boneless beef ribs

: cut the ribs into smaller pieces

: marinade with soy sauce, chili paste, garlic paste and corn starch

: stir fry in VERY hot peanut oil until the ouside is nicely browned but the inside is still med/rare

: remove meat from oil, set aside

: add blanched asparagus and raw peppers to the remaining oil, saute until heated through

: add the mixed sauce, bring to a simmer, after one minute, remove from heat

: add the beef, check / adjust seasoning

: sprinkle beef with lightly toasted sesame seeds, serve with steamed rice (Fan)

: Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

: Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

: Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

: Stir Fried Boneless Beef Ribs And Asparagus In Hoi Sin Sauce

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Crispy Pata

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This super tasty and crispy dish is one of my all-time favorite Pinoy dishes. Usually it is made with a whole pork leg, but I also like it just the way I was introduced to it many years ago while living in the Philippines, with the cheapest cut of the leg, the feet.
The first time I had this dish was in Manila, when the maid I employed offered to share some of the food she cooked for herself and her husband that day. She was a bit shy to offer, since she thought the food might not be good enough for me, what with all the bones and stuff. She also used only the Feet, since she could not afford to buy the whole pork leg. I remember how happy and proud she was when I loved her cooking. After that, I had her cook for me this and other local specialties often, which we usually shared on the rooftop terrace which was a big deal for her and her husband. (This was in the early 80’s – a maid used to make $20-$30 a month, even less in the countryside. My maid’s husband was the caretaker at our apartment-building of 6 apartments, he made about the same salary. But, to their luck, they were allowed to sleep under the staircase on the ground floor, which they closed off with cardboard and a curtain and therefore considered them self fairly safe, comfortable and overall lucky with their living accommodations.)
Thankfully, times have changed, but there is still way too much poverty around the world and too many people must endure this kind of poverty or, sadly, worse 😦
But thinking about food should be a happy occasion, so back to the present and our Crispy Pata. While it is easy to prepare, you might want to do the frying outside if you can (think deep-fried turkey) In any case,be extremely careful when frying the feet or the whole leg in deep fat, because the moist meat tend’s to splatter a lot. A covered fryer will give some protection but still – use the utmost care !!!
Serve with atchara or avocado.
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Bon Appetit ! Kainan na !
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Click here for Atchara
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More Crispy Pata on ChefsOpinion
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More Pigs Feet on ChefsOpinion
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P.S.
Don’t even think about discarding the pork stock! It will make a very flavorful soup, as you can see below.
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Crispy Pata

Pork Soup With Pasta, Corn And Egg

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Preparation :
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: pigs feet

: score the skin

: simmer the feet with kosher salt, chili flakes, a dash of lime juice and lots of garlic paste

: meanwhile, mix chopped chilies, garlic paste, chopped onions and chopped cilantro with kosher salt and white vinegar

: chili-vinegar dipping sauce

: chili-vinegar dipping sauce

: skim the scum and most of the fat during simmering

: strain the stock, check / adjust the seasoning, add pasta, kernel corn, scallions and egg yolk to serve as an appetizer to the crispy pata

: when the feet are very ! tender but NOT falling apart, remove the feet from the stock, let dry for at least one hour

: fry in 375F oil until the skin is very crisp and the meat is still moist and juicy

: serve with atchara or avocado

: douse liberally with the chili-vinegar sauce

: Crispy Pata

: Crispy Pata

: Pork Soup With Pasta, Corn And Egg

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How To Turn Radiators Into A Delicious Dish…….

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“Radiatore with Salame and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Garlic-Confit Cream”
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Pasta, garlic, cream and other “stuff” 🙂 – always quick and easy to prepare, yet very rewarding with big flavors and a lovely texture.
This is the kind of food I prepare when I “don’t feel like cooking”. After all, the whole preparation takes only a few minutes and is easy enough to be handled by a novice in the kitchen, all one needs is a few good ingredients and a passion for food, the rest will fall into place all by itself 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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