Grab Bag

Creamed Spinach

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Like so much other comfort food, creamed spinach is hardly found on menus (or homes, for that matter) anymore, with the exception of steakhouses where it usually is one of the standard side dishes. I just love spinach, no matter how it is prepared, but the price goes without a doubt to creamed spinach. Following is the simple instruction how to prepare this great dish.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Creamed Spinach

blanch spinach in generously salted water.

shock in ice water ( screaming BOOOOO does not work )

saute onions and garlic in butter

add flour (ratio butter flour = one to one)

add half milk and half heavy cream, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for five minutes. sauce must be VERY thick, chopped spinach contains lot’s of water

chop blanched spinach to the texture you prefer

add to sauce. simmer for 5 minutes. check/adjust seasoning

add to sauce. Simmer for five minutes. check/adjust seasoning

Creamed Spinach

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Spicy Lamb Tortilla Wraps

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These lamb wraps are even tastier than they look.
Twice ground lamb, lots of seasoning and good salsa, a few squirts of lime and fresh guacamole made this a great, quick, economic ( we don’t say cheap 🙂 ) lunch.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

Guacamole Recipe

Salsa Mexicana Recipe
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serve with guacamole and salsa mexicana

Spicy Lamb Tortilla Wraps

: saute onion and garlic. Add ground lamb, saute while getting rid of all lumbs

: Add finely diced celery, peppers, chilies, five spice powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, tomato sauce

: add a bit of red wine, simmer until most liquid has evaporated. Check/adjust seasoning

: hot tortilla

: spread a good amount of meat

: add white cabbage and red onions

: sprinkle diced peppers and chilies

: add freshly grated extra sharp cheddar, top with sour cream

: roll into tight wrap

: serve with guacamole and salsa mexicana

: Spicy Lamb Tortilla Wraps

: Spicy Lamb Tortilla Wraps

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Crispy Fried Duck With Dirty Rice Sticks

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Some of you might remember the roasted ducks I have prepared in the past. This recipe for a fried duck gives you a completely different texture, just as good but very distinct from a roasted duck. The texture of the skin is much more like that of chicharrones, since it puffs up during the frying process. It was a recipe I have tried to teach my students countless times over the years, but very few have actually been able to prepare it during class.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

Link to Dirty Rice Sticks Recipe

Link to Whole Roast Duck Recipe # 1

Link to Whole Roast Duck Recipe # 2
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Crispy Fried Duck With Dirty Rice Sticks

put whole duck onto a upside down bowl, add water, cinnamon stick, five spice powder, chilies, star anise and sea salt

cover tight and steam for 2,5 hours

strain stock, reserve for suck soup. let duck dry for one hour

strain stock, reserve for duck soup. Let duck dry for one hour

fry whole duck at 390 F until very crisky

fry whole duck at 390 F until very crispy

Crispy Fried Duck

Crispy Fried Duck With Dirty Rice Sticks

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Mondongo A La Soupi (Ox Tripe & Chicken Gizzard My Way)

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If this recipe does not make you like ox tripe and gizzard, nothing will do the trick. This is on my list for one of the ten dishes I don’t want to live without 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Mondongo A La Soupi

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: saute onions and garlic in olive oil

: add sliced chicken gizzards

: saute until onions and garlic starting to caramelize

: add triple – blanched tripe, diced tomato, caraway seed, bay leave, demi glace, salt, pepper and morcilla

: deglaze with red wine and vinegar

: simmer until tripe is tender

: add beans, potatoes and chilies

: add dark beer

: simmer until potatoes are cooked. Check/adjust seasoning

: Sprinkle with young basil. Serve with bread or rice

: Mondongo A La Soupi

: Oxtripe & Gizzards My Way

: Ox Tripe & Gizzard Stew

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Gratinated Rib Eye With Straw Mushrooms & Great Northern Beans

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After two days of turkey, tonight’s dinner required something more beefy. Only a large rib eye with lot’s of other goodies would do, so this is how I rolled:
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Gratinated Beef Rib Eye With Straw Mushrooms & Great Northern Beans

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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: season rib eye with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill until done to your liking

: meanwhile, saute onion and garlic in butter

: add straw mushroom, saute until heated through

: add great northern beans, salt and sriracha, saute until heated through

: Remove rib eye from grill, place on a baking tray

: top steak with bean/mushroom mixture

: add spicy tomato salsa

: top with appenzeller cheese

: gratinate, sprinkle with scallions

: Gratinated Rib Eye With Straw Mushrooms & Great Northern Beans

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Grilled Pork Medallions, Chili/Herb Butter & Salad

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Fifteen minutes is all it takes to prepare this delightful meal. Just make sure you leave a wrapped stick of butter on the prep table in the kitchen when you leave the house in the morning so that you have pliable, soft butter when you start prepping in the afternoon.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Grilled Pork Medallions, Chili/Herb Butter & Salad

season tenderloin medallions with kosher salt, cayenne pepper and granulated garlic. Saute until medium well. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

mix soft butter, roasted garlic paste, salt, cayenne pepper, lime juice and chopped cilantro. Scoop out, top with chili flakes

season radishes and cucumbers with plenty of sea salt, marinate for 10 minutes

after 10 minutes, drain water, add eggs, ketchup, sriracha, chopped parsley, roasted garlic paste and olive oil, mix carefully so you don’t mush up the eggs

spicy salad of egg, cucumber and radish

Grilled Pork Medallions, Chili/Herb Butter & Salad

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Cajun Shrimp & Cheese Grits

Totally had a craving for Cajun shrimp on my way home, so I stopped at the whole food market to get two pounds of these beauties. Expensive but so worth the dough 🙂

Cajun Shrimp & Cheese Grits

: Cajun Shrimp & Cheese Grits

Ingredients Shrimp :

Shrimp, peeled and deveined
Clam juice,
Tomato Paste,
Paprika,
Thyme,
Oregano,
Garlic, paste
Oregano,
Cayenne pepper,
Kosher salt,
Butter,

Method :

Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Saute in butter until halfway done. Remove shrimp, reserve. Saute more garlic in butter, add thyme, oregano, cayenne. Add tomato paste, saute another minute. Add clam juice and simmer until slightly thickened. A the reserved shrimp and heat through. Adjust the heat to your liking, adding as much hot sauce as you can muster.

Ingredients Cheese Grits :

Chicken stock,
Milk, (about 1/3 the amount of the stock)
Corn meal, coarse ground
Sharp cheddar, grated
Kosher salt,
Scotch bonnet sauce, (substitute with tabasco if you can’t stand the heat)
Butter, (splurge)

Method :

Bring the milk and stock to a boil and gradually whisk in the corn meal. lower the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is creamy.
Remove from heat, add the hot sauce, cheese and butter, and whisk to combine.

To serve, top the grits with the shrimp and sprinkle with cilantro.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

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Paprikash is the national dish of Hungary. Which means that it has been prepared and eaten for many decades, by millions of people, in many restaurants and homes, in many different regions, with an infinite number of variations. So folks, relax, don’t call my house and say that this is not a real paprikash, because………….
Anyway, here is a version I prepared last week and, I might add, a pretty good and pretty pretty 🙂 version. >

Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

: Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

Ingredients :

Chicken, your favorite parts, I prefer legs
Sweet hungarian paprika,
Chilis, finely chopped, some left whole for garnish (optional)
Tomatoes, finely chopped
Garlic, paste
Onions, finely diced
Kosher salt,
AP flour,
Chicken stock,
Sour cream,

Method :

Saute chicken in fat until golden brown. Remove. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add paprika, chopped chilis and flour and saute for a short time. (Careful, paprika burns easily !) Add tomatoes, stock, whole chili’s and salt. Return chicken to pot, cover and braise slowly until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 162F. (Carry over heat will take it to a safe 165F). Remove chicken. At this point you have the option of straining the sauce or not. You also have the option of whisking in the sour cream or not. If you don’t whisk in the sour cream at this point, add a generous dollop when serving (See picture). Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, add chicken to serving dish, cover with sauce and whole chili’s. Serve with Spaetzle.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good ! >>
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Bucatini, Bologna, Tomato, Asiago & Egg ” Midnight Snack In Simpleland “

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Yesterday I had a very long workday without lunch or dinner. I finally came home at 9.00pm (I left the house at 5.00am, after two hours of walking Bella, breakfast, checking e-mail, etc) .
First thing’s first, so I poured myself a glass of merlot and sat down to relax a few minutes before I wanted to move on to do what needs to be done. However, I woke up three hours later at around midnight, because Bella brutally stubbed me with her nose, demanding to finally be taken on her walk. When we got back it was past 1.00am and I was famished. I wanted to have something quick, uncomplicated, substantial and tasty, but not too heavy or fatty. A quick inspection of the fridge and cup board revealed, amongst other goodies:
Bucatini, salted butter, bologna, aged asiago, greek yoghurt, eggs, tomatoes and scallions.
Usually and traditionally, one would saute the bologna and tomatoes in fat before adding the other ingredients.
But I wanted to have a different, “fresher” taste. So, here is how it went:
I cooked the pasta, drained it (reserved some of the cooking water). I chopped the tomatoes, sliced the scallions, grated the asiago, whisked the eggs with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Then I mixed all the ingredients over low heat including a bit of the cooking water and cooked it until the eggs set. The result was a revelation of how the addition or absence of one single cooking step (sauteing) can completely alter the taste and texture of a dish. This version is actually my new favorite when it comes to pasta with bologna. The freshness of the bologna (must be of very good quality) and the slight acidity of the yogurt and raw tomatoes make it a new, much appreciated dish in my arsenal of pasta dishes.
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Bon Appetit ! Long Live The Midnight Snack ! 🙂
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More Bucatini On ChefsOpinion 1

More Bucatini On ChefsOpinion 2

More Bologna On ChefsOpinion

” Bucatini, Bologna, Tomato, Asiago & Egg “

: ” Bucatini, Bologna, Tomato, Asiago & Egg ”

: ” Bucatini, Bologna, Tomato, Asiago & Egg ”

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Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

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Friday night’s dinner is one of these typical dishes that are only concocted when the hunger for a BIG dinner is already gnawing in our gut’s and nothing small and simple will satisfy the hunger disturbed imagination of what the next meal must be like. So here we go, a dinner that will satisfy even the biggest craving for hearty food 🙂
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Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

: Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

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Ingredient’s :

Skirt steak, marinated overnight in soy sauce, sriracha, & garlic paste
Naan, (substitute with bread of your choice)
Asparagus spears, (white or green, depending on availability and your preference), buttered and seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Tomatoes, sliced thick, seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Scallions, buttered and seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Asiago cheese, finely grated
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Kosher salt,
Peanut oil,

Method :

Season steak with kosher salt, dust with a mixture of ap flour, cornstarch, cayene and garlic powder , saute in oil until bloody rare (or your preference. (See note below). Place naan on a baking rack. Top with steak. Sprinkle with asiago. Top with tomato. Sprinkle with asiago . Top with asparagus. Top with gorgonzola. Top with scallions. Broil until gorgonzola is melted and get’s a few golden spots. Remove from broiler, sprinkle with chili flakes. Enjoy a great meal ! 🙂

Note :
Remember the carry-over heat and the step of gratinating. Both will further cook your steak. Since I like most of my beef and lamb steaks to be medium rare, I removed it at bloody rare. By the time it was gratinated and ready to eat, it was a perfect medium rare.

Bon Appetit Life is Good !
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