great taste

Breakfast Of Champions # 11 ” Millefanti In Brodo Di Carne “

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Usually I have peppermint tea and bananas for breakfast,
but today that did not tickle my fancy at all. So I took refuge
in another one of my favorite breakfast (and late night snack )
standby’s : An Italian variation of egg drop soup.
I fortified some great beef stock I had in the fridge by simmering
it for fifteen minutes with a good amount of garlic and ginger and seasoning
it with freshly grated nutmeg, kosher salt, cayenne and maggi seasoning.
The eggs I whisked with parmesan cheese, flat leave parsley, chives and nutmeg.
I fished out the sliced ginger and slivered garlic after simmering them for
15 minutes, then whisked in the eggs, immediately removing it from the heat
and drinking it as hot as possible.
Voilà ! Instant satisfaction 🙂
Remember, sometimes the simple things………

Have a great day ! Life is Good !
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” Sunday Lunch Made Easy ” Chicken & Veggie Soup

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Even if you dont like to spend much time in your kitchen on a sunday,
this soup is well worth the 5 minutes prep time and 30 minutes wait until it’s all simmered to perfection.
Happy Sunday 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Chicken drum sticks,
Cauliflower, florettes,
Carrots, sliced
Celery, sliced
Leek, sliced
Green peppers, diced
Scallion, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, whole
Cilantro, chopped
Lime, juiced for soup, sliced for deco
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Maggi seasoning, to taste

Method :

Simmer chicken in lightly salted water until cooked through but still firm.
(No falling of the bone here, that’s overcooked)
Add carrots, leek and celery and simmer until just done.
Remove from heat, add salt, cayenne, lime juice, cauliflower, peppers and tomatoes and let steep for another five minutes.
To serve, sprinkle with cilantro and garnish with lime slices.

All about MAGGI SEASONING

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Borscht “

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On a cold and / or rainy night, a hearty borscht will make you instantly
feel better and give you great visual as well as culinary satisfaction.
I have had borscht with all kinds of protein, fish, beef, pork, poultry,
and sometimes vegetables only. My favorite two are goose and veal.
No goose to be found at my butcher today, but veal ribs in abundance.
( I wonder how old that veal really was, seemed more like ribs from a
full grown cow to me 🙂

Here is my version of borscht. You will notice i did not use sour cream
nor dill this time, although I had both at home. The reason was that the
ribs gave such a strong and rich flavor to the soup that I did not want to
distract from it by adding to many other flavors.
Meat and vegetables, pure and unadulterated 🙂
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All you want to know about Borscht
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Ingredients :

Veal Ribs,
Red beets, peeled, diced, cooked, strained, cooking liquid reserved
Potatoes, diced
Cabbage, diced
Carrots, diced
Onions, diced
Green peppers, diced
Garlic, paste
Cilantro, chopped
salt, to taste
cayenne, to taste

Method :

Simmer ribs in salted water until tender. Add potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic and simmer until vegetables are tender but firm.
Add beets, peppers, cabbage and seasoning and simmer for five minutes. Remove all ribs and vegetables into serving dish.
Add reserved red beet cooking liquid to broth, adjust seasoning if necessary and ladle broth over ribs and vegetables.
Sprinkle with cilantro or herbs of your choice.
( Note: Traditionally the beets are cooked with the other vegetables together in the broth. However, it is my opinion that the presentation improves by cooking them separate )
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” Spaghetti Aglio e Olio “

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Tonight,
a simple, great, straightforward pasta dish is all I need.
I give you : Spaghetti aglio e olio 🙂
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Ingredients :

1 pound dried Spaghetti
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons roasted garlic
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt, to taste

Method :

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic is fragrant.
Drain pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Add to pan.
Season with salt.Mix well, adding some of the cooking liquid
if the pasta seems too dry.
To serve, sprinkle with chopped italian parsley.

Please note :
I have changed the basic, very traditional recipe by replacing
slivered garlic with roasted garlic and adding scallions
(for crunch) and Parmigiano Reggiano (for taste).

Buon Appetito ! Life is Good !
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” Breakfast Of Champions ” # 8 Tomato Flatbread & Chorizo

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Unfortunately, Bella does not understand the concept of sleeping in on a holiday.
So, even though I took her on our last walk at around 2.30am this morning, she had the urge
to wake me up at 5.30am again, indicating she had urgent business to take care of.
Turns out that business was chasing cat’s, nothing else, not even the smallest of “business”.
Well, sometimes love makes us suffer a bit and I figure in Bellas case it is an easy
trade off, all the love she gives me in return for getting up a bit early 🙂
Anyway, after the walk I felt it was time for a REAL breakfast.
So here it is, 6.30am, my “breakfast of champions” :
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Obviously this dish need’s no recipe. All of the items in the picture of the prep can be substituted and added upon, such as adding different cheeses, different sausages, flatbreads, veggies, change the spread from mustard to greek yoghurt, guacamole or salsa, etc, etc. The possibilities are endless, your imagination will be highly rewarded.

Bon Appetit ! Have A Great Day !
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” Salmon Parisienne, Bean & Mushroom Ragout “

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When I cooked this dish last knight I realized that I have not seen anything ” a la Parisienne ” on a menu for many years. What a shame that so many classic dishes and methods simply disappear from the repertoire of our younger chef’s. Granted, old fashioned and steeped in tradition might not be practical or popular on a daily basis. But I feel we should not completely stop to learn and enjoy the classics. How long before we all get sick and tired of the one hundred’st version of grilled fish with salsa ? Let’s mix it up a bit ! Mix the classics with the modern, the traditional with the new, the tried and proven with the daring 🙂 I vote for a greater repertoire for our younger food enthusiasts in order to keep the spirit of our culinary profession vibrant and alive !
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Ingredients :

Salmon filet, cleaned, skinless, marinated w.salt. pepper, lime juice
Whole egg, to dip fish
Flour, to dust fish
Butter, to saute fish

Baby portabellas, quartered
White beans, cooked
Red peppers, finely diced
Garlic, paste
Onion, diced
Scallion, sliced
Scallion , whole
Salt, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Butter, to saute vegetables

Method :

dredge seasoned fish in flour, coat with whisked egg, saute until
egg is tender and fish is cooked but still juicy. Remove to absorbent paper.

Saute onion and mushroom in butter until onions are translucent and
mushrooms start to brown.
Add Garlic paste, saute another minute. Add peppers, whole and sliced
scallions and seasoning.
To plate, put ragout on plate, top with salmon and garnish with whole scallion.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Mock Pappardelle, Chorizo, Asparagus, Carrots & Gorgonzola “

My dilemma is:
I love pappardelle, but I seldom make fresh pasta
at home and I have never seen pappardelle on a store shelf,
at least not here in South Florida. The solution?
Use lasagna sheets. Break them into irregular shapes before
you cook them. The result was very satisfying for me and I will
resort to this many times to come, if, for whatever reason, fresh
pappardelle are not available or impractical to make from scratch
at the time. ( For whatever reason ) .
Don’t knock it before you try it ! 🙂
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Ingredients :

Pappardelle, cooked al dente, strained (or substitute pasta)
Chorizo, thinly sliced
Asparagus, blanched
Carrots, blanched
Gorgonzola, coarsely crumbled
Garlic, paste
Black Pepper freshly ground, to taste
Salt, to taste
Olive oil

Method :

Saute garlic and chorizo in olive oil until garlic becomes translucent,
Add all other ingredients except gorgonzola, saute until all ingredient’s
are well combined. To serve, top with crumbled gorgonzola.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Whole Sauteed Fish & Guacamole “

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Last nights great dinner :

Whole sauteed fish & guacamole

Freshly caught fish, seasoned with salt, pepper and lime juice,
lightly dusted with a mix of AP flour and corn starch,
slowly sauteed in olive oil, some onions and garlic added towards the end.
I had some grape tomatoes laying around, so in the guacamole they went.
Three medium sized fish were just the right portion for Bella and I 🙂

Life is Good !
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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre packaged corn taco shells ???? Yeesh !!! “

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Dear Friend’s
In response to my post : ” Tacos Al Camaron ” ,
the following esteemed comment was posted by a young lady who obviously knows and loves her food and with whom I basically wholeheartedly agree :

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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh! “

Dear Friend’s
In response to my post : ” Tacos Al Camaron ” ,
the following esteemed comment was posted by a young lady who obviously knows and loves her food and with whom I basically wholeheartedly agree :
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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre-packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh! “

Whilst I agree with the reader that freshly made tacos are (usually) a tremendous improvement over ready-made products, my reply below should help to clarify a bit about how and why I enjoy food the way I do and most of all, how and why I choose the content I put on my Blog :

Dear disgusted reader of ChefsOpinion. First, let me assure you that I agree with you inasmuch that ” freshly made anything” is usually better than crappy ” store bought anything “.

Although I am in no way an expert on Mexican food, I’d like to tell you that I lived for a year in Mexico while I was married for the first time, back in the seventies.
Then In the early 2000’s, I went back to Mexico, where I was in charge of the food operation’s (at the same time) of three high-class boutique hotels, as well as one five-star Westin hotel and one four-star Sheraton hotel, all in the Yukatan, Mexico.
I am a huge fan of Mexican food and have certainly had my share of the good, the bad and the ugly.
I have had the finest tacos in the best restaurants and in the grimmest joints and at any place in between.
I have taught hundreds of cooks and thousands of culinary students about tacos, tortillas, flautas, burritos, you name it, I’ve done it.
However, when it comes to ChefsOpinion, I try to have a good time with like-minded folks who “GET IT”.
Good food is what we enjoy to eat; What is practical at the moment, what makes economic sense and what’s the best you can do whilst your time is extremely limited.
What I try to do on my blog is to share and discuss food and food-related issues with a broad range of folk’s, from culinary students to hobby cooks to perfectionists.
Also with old warrior’s like myself, who have seen it all and done it all, who are maybe just a bit more tolerant to situations where we must substitute with a lesser ingredient for some reason, or when we are just too damn exhausted to move another finger.
If I had a choice I would eat and drink only the best, freshest, most refined, most exquisite food and drinks available.
While I was privileged to live in that ideal world for most of my professional life, there were and there are situations when a sudden lust for a specific food or drink can sometimes require a quick fix just to take care of that overwhelming craving.
I have been immersed in this wonderful world of food service for 45 years. I have been in charge of meals for kings and queens, heads of states, the famous and not so famous. I am certainly aware of quality and perfection for which we should strife whenever possible. However, at this point in my life, I have just started a new job which keeps me away from my home for 11 hours. I live alone with my dear dog Bella, so before I take off for work at 5.00 am, there are already two solid hours of me getting ready for work, taking care of Bella for an hour, walking her, playing with her, trying to keep her from chasing the neighbors cat’s, etc.
When I come home at 5.00pm, my first priority is to take Bella for a long walk.
Then on to take care of the blog, usually for about three hours. Then cooking dinner, taking pic’s of the food for the next post, enjoying dinner, cleaning the kitchen, walking Bella for another hour. By the time I finally get to rest it is usually 12.30 am.

So then, please, forgive me for using pre-made tacos (They were actually very good, all things considered). The folks who will use the pre-made stuff will enjoy a quick and easy to follow food inspiration. The folks who are a bit more dedicated to only the best will no doubt spent the extra time and effort to produce awesome fresh tacos.
Hopefully, in the end, “Life is Good” for everybody. 🙂

So then :
Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre-packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh!

Because sometimes………

P.S.
Have you noted the store bought! mayo in the picture ? Yeesh! 🙂
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” Butterflied Breaded Pork Chop “

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Sometimes a very simple dish does very satisfying things to you.

Last night that’s exactly what happened to me when I had this dish of simple comfort food :
Instant happyness and warmt in the belly that said : Life is Good !
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Butterflied Breaded Pork Chop with Lettuce and crispy bacon in Dijon vinaigrette.
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