kosher salt

Chicken Soup With Root Vegetables And Matzo Balls

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Last  night’s dinner was perfect for the crappy weather and I hope it helped me to defend myself from what feels like an oncoming nasty influenza.
And besides, matzo ball soup – anytime for me 🙂
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Click here for Matzo Ball recipe
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Chicken Soup With Root Vegetables And Matzo Balls

Chicken Soup With Root Vegetables And Matzo Balls

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Chinese Salt & Pepper Scallops With Egg Fried Rice

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This  was one of Maria’s favorite dishes. Whenever we went to have chinese food at a restaurant or when she wanted to have something special at home, she would ask for salt & pepper scallops or salt & pepper shrimp.
So, enjoying this meal tonight was a bittersweet affair. I really loved the food, but it is so damn tough to be reminded of a lost loved one all day long, by everything one see’s, hear’s and does, even by the food one eat’s. At least I had Bella next to me , sharing the food and giving me good company 🙂
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For the scallops, season with kosher saltfive spice powderwhite pepper,  ground szechuan peppercorn and granulated garlic. Mix egg white and rice flour into a thin batter, dredge scallops in it and saute in peanut oil until cooked almost through. Remove and rest on absorbent paper until serving.
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For the rice, saute garlic paste, finely diced onion and grated ginger in peanut oil until fragrant. Add day-old rice and fry until rice starts to puff. Make a well, add more peanut oil and scramble some whisked eggs in it until set. Add sliced scallion, kosher salt, white pepper and sesame oil. Stir fry until all ingredients are well mixed. Check seasoning. Adjust if necessary.
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To serve, top the rice with scallops and sprinkle with finely sliced scallions

Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !   (even when it’s sad sometimes)
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Chinese Salt & Pepper Scallops With Egg Fried Rice

Chinese Salt & Pepper Scallops With Egg Fried Rice

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Breakfast Of Champions # 28 – ”Steak & Eggs”

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This  morning I had my usual two bananas and a large pot of peppermint tea for breakfast.
One hour later I remembered a bone in rib eye in the fridge and although I tried to forget about it for the time being, I did not succeed. So at about 8.30 am I gave in to my craving for a proper breakfast and prepared this beauty :
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

Breakfast Of Champions # 28 – ” Steak & Eggs

Breakfast Of Champions # 28 – ” Steak & Eggs”

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Saute Potao, Grill, Steak

saute potatoes, grill steak

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Duck Fat Sauteed Potatoes

Duck Fat Sauteed Potatoes

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Top With Sliced ptomatoes

top with sliced ttomatoes

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Top With Medium Rare Steak

top with medium-rare steak

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Top With Soft Boiled Eggs

Top with soft-boiled eggs

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Drizzle With Chili Oil, Sprinkle With Freshly Ground Black Pepper & Scallions

Drizzle Egg’s With Chili Oil, Sprinkle With Freshly Ground Black Pepper, Kosher Salt & Scallion’s

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Top With Fresh Basil

Top With Fresh Basil

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Breakfast Of Champions # 28 – ” Steak & Eggs

Breakfast Of Champions # 28 – ” Steak & Eggs”

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Sauted Rib Eye with Mushrooms and Taleggio Ca De Ambros stuffed Twice Baked Potato

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The  steak : EXCELLENT !
The mushrooms : EXCELLENT !
The twice baked potato : OUT OF THIS WORLD !!!
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I have only recently discovered “Taleggio Cheese”, and I feel sorry for myself to have gone 62 years without enjoying this marvel of Italian cheese making. I only know of one shop around here that carries it. It is one of my least favorite stores because it tries to be everything to everybody, which just does not work.  But since a friend steered me to their cheese section, I have gone there at least once a week, just to get my fill of  “Taleggio Ca De Ambros”
For this dinner, I have sauteed the steak in peanut oil, sauteed the mushrooms with diced onions and garlic paste in butter. I baked the potato until cooked through, then I removed the potato flesh from the shell, added kosher salt, sriracha, butter, sliced scallions, garlic paste  and a generous amount of Taleggio. Then I put the mixture for half a minute into the microwave to soften the butter and cheese, mixed it all well and stuffed it back into the potato shell. Baked it in the oven for twenty minutes and – voilà – best twice baked potato ever 🙂

Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

Sauted Rib Eye with Mushrooms and Taleggio Ca De Ambros stuffed Twice Baked Potato

Sauted Rib Eye with Mushrooms and Taleggio Ca De Ambros stuffed Twice Baked Potato





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Penne Rigate In Merlot/Vodka/Yoghurt Sauce With Pepperoni & Fresh Basil

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Fresh Basil

Fresh Basil

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My neighborhood supermarket  charges $ 3.50 for a small twig of maybe 7 basil leaves.
They sell this beautiful basil plant for $ 4.50. Kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it 🙂

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Penne Rigate In Merlot/Vodka/Yoghurt  Sauce With Pepperoni & Fresh Basil

Penne Rigate In Merlot/Vodka/Yoghurt Sauce With Pepperoni & Fresh Basil

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Ingredients :

Penne rigate,   al dente, reserve some of the cooking liquid
Pepperoni sausage,   julienned
Grape tomatoes,   quartered
Greek yoghurt,
Olive oil,
Vodka,
Merlot,
Parmigiano reggiano,   grated
Garlic,   paste
Basil,   fresh
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper

Method :

Saute pepperoni until starting to change color, add garlic, saute until fragrant. Add merlot and vodka, simmer until most liquid has evaporated. Add  yoghurt, tomatoes, a bit of the grated cheese, salt, pepper and the pasta,  mix well. Adjust seasoning if necessary. If too thick, add some of the pasta cooking liquid. If too thin, ad some grated cheese.
To serve, sprinkle with more cheese and basil leaves.

Note :
I am aware that most cooks will chiffonade the basil. However, personally I don’t like the texture this will give me. It reminds me of hair in the food which is not very appealing to me 😦
Therefore I like to add whole leaves which become soft and tender immediately  as they touch the hot food and give you a much more pleasant texture / mouthfeel 🙂

Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

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T Bone Steak With Garlic & Scallion Butter, Potatoes, Brussel Spouts and Roma Tomatoes

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Where on earth can I find the perfect “one portion, high heat, electric indoor grill”  ?!
I had bought one a while ago but the darn thing just doesn’t get hot enough to grill a steak the proper way 😦
Although I love my meat sauted, I’d like to switch once in a while to a grilled piece of meat.
A good grill pan would be a great alternative, but even that seems to be hard to find around here.
So, here I was again, sauteing a great piece of meat with my favorite cooking method.
However, just for a change, tonight I would have liked to have changed it to a grilled steak if I had a proper indoor grill.
Hopefully I’ll find something soon. (I have been looking for some time now) >
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” T Bone Steak With Garlic & Scallion Butter, Potatoes, Brussel Spouts and Roma Potatoes ” >
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T Bone Steak With Garlic & Scallion Butter, Potatoes, Brussel Spouts and Roma Potatoes

T Bone Steak With Garlic & Scallion Butter, Potatoes, Brussel Spouts and Roma Potatoes

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Steak :
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T-bone steak,   seasoned with kosher salt & black pepper Peanut oil >
Saute steak until one almost done to your preferred doneness (carry-over heat will do the rest).  Remove from heat, let rest. > >
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Vegetables / starch : >

Discard oil from pan, add butter, saute cooked potatoes until lightly browned. Add blanched brussel sprouts, saute until heated through. Add tomatoes, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Saute one more minute. Remove from heat. >
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Scallion butter : >

Mix soft butter with finely chopped scallions, finely chopped scotch bonnets, and kosher salt.
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Breakfast Of Champions # 23 Scrambled Eggs & Caviar

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In this classic dish you should splurge  – use the best caviar you can afford !
(I used grey mullet caviar, which is pretty good, especially for this dish.
Beluga, Imperial, Ossetra, maybe next time 🙂
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Scrambled Eggs & Caviar

Scrambled Eggs & Caviar

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Ingredients :

Eggs,   Very fresh !
Heavy cream,
Caviar,   the best you can afford 🙂
Scallions,   finely sliced
Butter,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,

Method :

Whisk the eggs lightly with heavy cream, salt and pepper.
Heat a pan,
Add the butter to melt, add the eggs and cook until done to your likeness.
Pour into serving dish and top with caviar and scallions.  Enjoy !

Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Pigs Tail And Potato Curry, Naan & Cucumber Raita

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Some folks are probably scratching their head, going “WTF” (what he food 🙂 ) when reading this. But hey, I love pigs tail and curries of any style.

Pigs tails – not everybody’s cup of tea                                read about Pigs Tail
Real curries – everybody loves those                                  read about Real Curries
European style curries – if you grew up with them…….. read about “European Style” Curries

The good thing is that if you don’t love pig’s tails, you can replace them with any other protein or vegetables.
However, here is what went on in my kitchen for today’s lunch:
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Pigs Tail And Potato Curry, Naan & Cucumber Raita

Pigs Tail And Potato Curry, Naan & Cucumber Raita

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Curry :

Pigs tails,   cut into pieces
Potatoes,   peeled, cut into wedges
Bananas,   sliced,
Baby carrots,
Peppers,   diced,
Celery,   sliced
Tomato,   diced
Ginger,   grated
Garlic,   paste
Cilantro,   chopped
Vegetable stock,
Coconut milk,
Turmeric,
Curry powder,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Butter,

Saute pigs tails in butter until lightly browned, add vegetables, banana, garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant. Add curry and turmeric, saute for another minute. Add stock, salt and pepper and very slowly simmer until pigs tails are tender. Add coconut milk and potatoes and simmer until potatoes are done but still firm. Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, sprinkle curry with plenty of coarsely chopped cilantro.

Naan :

1/2 cup   water,
1 pck yeast
2.5 cup  a/p  flour,
1/4 cup vegetable oil,
1/3 cup greek yogurt,
1 lg egg
Salt

Combine yeast, sugar and water. Stir to dissolve, let sit for a few minutes or until it is frothy on top. At that point, stir in the oil, yogurt and egg until evenly combined.

In another bowl, combine the flour with the salt. Add the bowl of wet ingredients to the flour/salt mixture and stir until well mixed. Continue adding flour a half cup at a time until you can no longer stir it with a spoon (about 1 to 1.5 cups later).

Turn the ball of dough out onto a well floured counter top. Knead the ball of dough for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. The dough should be smooth and very soft but not sticky.

Loosely cover the dough and let it rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). After it rises, gently flatten the dough and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball by stretching the dough back under itself until the top is smooth and round.

Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and spray lightly with non-stick spray. Working with one ball at a time, roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick or approximately 6 inches in diameter. Place the rolled out dough onto the hot skillet and cook until the under side is golden brown and large bubbles have formed on the surface (see photos below). Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden brown as well. Serve plain or brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with herbs!
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For Raita Recipe, click here
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

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Sauted Strip Steak , Cauliflower Tortilla & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

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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.
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Sauted Strip Steak , CauliflowerTortila & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

Sauted Strip Steak , Cauliflower Tortilla & Sriracha/Garlic Butter

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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.
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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.

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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Breakfast Of Champions # 22 “Pytt I Panna”

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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.
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Pytt Y Panna

Pytt Y Panna

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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:-)
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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.
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Smaklig måltid !   Life is Good !
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