recipes

Roasted Red Snapper

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Many folks have asked me why I don’t feature more fresh fish on my blog, since I live right by the ocean.
Well, maybe you’ll understand when I tell you that the featured snapper below has actually cost $ 24.00, head, tail and guts included! I bought it at my favorite neighborhood Asian market where all seafood is extremely fresh and at the same time much cheaper than anywhere else around here, but still…..
So, there you have it, I love fresh seafood, but with the prices nowadays, I can’t afford it as often as I wish 😦
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Expensive !
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Roasted Red Snapper

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Preparation :
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gut and scale the snapper, season inside and out with lime juice, soy sauce, sriracha and kosher salt, bake at 430F until cooked through but still moist, approximately between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the size of the fish

gut and scale the snapper, cut off fin’s, season inside and out with garlic oil, lime juice, soy sauce, freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt, bake at 430F until cooked through but still moist, approximately between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the size of the fish

to serve, drizzle with lime juice and accompany with roasted tomato salsa

Roasted Red Snapper

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Steak Salad

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Usually, part of the enjoyment of eating steak is cutting into a nice chunk of glistening meat and seeing it slowly but surely disappearing from the plate.
But for yesterday’s dinner, I just wanted to have some nice “finger food” to pick of a plate and sharing with madame while reclining on my chaise lounge, watching a great movie (The Grand Budapest Hotel).

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Steak Salad

Steak Salad

Bella say’s:
“Time to eat ! “

Bella say’s:
“Maybe not enough for the two of us ?! “

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Preparation :
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cut cucumbers and radishes into bite-sized pieces, season with plenty kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, let marinade for 20 minutes, discard liquid, add garlic oil and cider vinegar to taste

meanwhile, season striploin steaks or other steaks of your choice with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, saute in garlic oil until done to your liking, set aside

let steaks rest at least 10 minutes before cutting

plate salad on vinaigrette dressed romaine

top with steak, drizzle with chimichurri

top with steaks, drizzle with chimichurri

Steak Salad

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Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic/Ginger Broth

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Usually we use this cut of the animal to make Osso Buco (originally done with veal shanks), but I love me a hearty soup more than anything else, so I decided to prepare this dish with some pork shanks my friend Curtis dropped off last time he came to visit. Great, simple dinner, bursting with flavor and texture 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic Ginger Broth

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Preparation :
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simmer pork shank’s in stock seasoned with star anis, cinnamon, garlic paste, black pepper, salt and grated ginger until tender but NOT falling apart

meanwhile, blanch green beans and cook lai fen pasta (rice flour bucatini)

add beans to soup

add diced peppers, onions and lap cheong (chinese sausage), check/adjust seasoning

add diced peppers, onions and lap cheong (chinese sausage), simmer two more minutes, check/adjust seasoning

add lai fen to serving bowl

to serve, top noodles with meat, vegetables and broth, sprinkle with chopped cilantro

Pork Shank’s & Lai Fen In Garlic Ginger Broth

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Cherry Tomato And Cheese “Crumble”

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The problem with cherry tomatoes is usually that their flavors do not match up with their pretty appearance. So, in order to have a satisfying cherry tomato dish, one must add a lot of flavor and texture. Here now is a recipe which does that and might just become your next tomato go-to recipe. It is easy, economic, looks great and packs a ton of flavor 🙂 It is equally suited as a side dish with a main course, (served here with a small rib eye steak with my home made buffalo sauce), or as a snack or appetizer, served cold or warm on bread (I used Wasa Light Rye Crisp Bread, which is a permanent ingredient in my cupboard)
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Cherry Tomato “Crumble”

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Preparation :
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saute onions, scallions, garlic paste (lot’s of it) and ham in olive oil (replace the ham with mushrooms for a vegetarian version)

add tomatoes, season liberally with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

add half diced swiss cheese and half diced brie cheese

add 50% diced swiss cheese and 50% diced brie cheese

add diced rustic, dry bread (I used 50% sour dough bread and 50% jalapeno/cheese bread)

mix all ingredients

sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and grated asiago cheese, bake at 390 F for 45 minutes or until top is golden and crispy

sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, grated asiago cheese and scallions, bake at 390 F for 45 minutes or until top is golden and crispy

Cherry Tomato “Crumble”

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Pasta With Smoked Salmon In Horseradish/Mustard Cream

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Rigatoni rigate, smoked salmon and a creamy velouté – nearly impossible not to like this combination ! 🙂
After we have learned how to make a velouté in my last post, (click here for recipe), and hopefully have a few small containers in the freezer to use at short notice (just defrost in the microwave), wonderful dishes like this one take only a few minutes from start to finish.
The reward for this relatively small effort is a dish which oozes flavor, presentation, elegance and class 🙂 All in a mere few minutes of preparation and cooking time.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Pasta With Smoked Salmon In Horseradish/Mustard Cream

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Preparation :
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Heat velouté (preferably fish velouté, but seafood velouté, chicken velouté or veal velouté will be just fine), add cooking liquid from pasta if too thick

add diced smoked salmon and grated horseraddish

add diced smoked salmon and grated horseradish

add dijon mustard

simmer for one minute

add freshly cooked, al dente pasta and sliced scallions

mix well, careful not to mash-up the salmon, check seasoning

to serve, sprinkle with more diced salmon and sliced scallions

Pasta With Smoked Salmon In Horseradish/Mustard Cream

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EASY DOES IT # 16 –Velouté (White Cream Sauce)

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How to pronounce Velouté – click here
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Here is a “Daughter” (added cream) version of one of the two white mother sauces (the other being Sauce Béchamel)
If you love to cook or just starting to learn, being able to prepare the mother sauces is a must.
The five french mother sauces are:
Sauce Béchamel, Sauce Espagnole, Sauce Hollandaise, Tomato Sauce, and Sauce Velouté.
Adding cream and lemon juice (and originally egg yolk) to a sauce made of stock, flour and butter will produce a “Sauce Allemande”
We have learned how to make tomato sauce in a previous “easy does it” blog, so let’s go straight to “Sauce Allemande”

Please note : This is beef (or veal) velouté (before adding the cream)
To make fish velouté, chicken velouté, seafood velouté, or fish velouté, replace beef (veal) with the appropriate protein.

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Sauce Velouté

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Preparation :
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beef and/or beef bones, root vegetables, water, bring to a simmer, cook until meat is tender (if you use bones, simmer for one hour), remove meat (bones), set meat aside (discard bones)

strain stock through a fine sieve, discard solids

skim fat from surface

make a white roux of half butter and half a/p flour, add stock, whisk to avoid lumps, simmer for 15 minutes, strain through a fine mesh strainer

add heavy cream, kosher salt and white pepper, check / adjust seasoning

add heavy cream, lemon juice, kosher salt and white pepper, check / adjust seasoning

voilà – sauce velouté (with added cream)

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Stew Of Cornish Hen In Merlot With Beans And Vegetables

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Cornish Hen has very tender meat and does not need to be stewed – it can be grilled, roasted , poached or sautéed.
However, once in a while I like to braise (stew) one because of the delicious sauce this cooking method will produce. So then, this is what I had for lunch today, accompanied by a tall glass of iced tea. (No more booze for me, at least for the moment 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Stew Of Cornish Hen In Merlot With Beans And Vegetables

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Preparation :
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season 8-cut chicken with salt, cayenne pepper and granulated garlic in olive oil until golden brown

add onions, saute until translucent

add chorizo, saute until starting to brown

add diced red peppers, garlic paste and scallions, saute one minute

deglaze with merlot, add small blanched potatoes, chopped tomatoes with their juices, cannelini beans and straw mushrooms

simmer until sauce sliightly thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes

simmer until sauce slightly thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes

add grated asiago cheese, check / adjust seasoning

to serve, sprinkle with chopped cilantro

Stew Of Cornish Hen In Merlot With Beans And Vegetables

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Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog,
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ChefsOpinion’s Sabbatical

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Dear Friend’s,

Due to personal circumstances I have to take a break from ChefsOpinion for the next four to six weeks.
This is mostly because next week I will move from the home I shared for fifteen years with my beloved wife Maria into a small (but very nice) apartment. During the move I will for some time be without internet access and it will also take me a while to set up my new kitchen. As you can imagine, there are many things involved with a life changing move like that, especially when one has to do it all by oneself.
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Anyway, I will try to get everything sorted out as soon as possible and hope to be back again during the middle or end of July 🙂
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In the meantime, you can go back to earlier post’s to get inspiration for your daily meals or to simply drool over some mouthwatering food pictures –
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simply click on this link :

ChefsOpinion Archive

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or simply click on this link :
:

ChefsOpinion Pictures

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I am hoping to see you all back soon on ChefsOpinion so we can continue our journey through real food and real opinions 🙂
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Ciao ! Life is Good !

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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While a genuine Thai, Indonesian, Indian or any other “genuine” coconut soup can be wonderful if properly prepared, sometimes it is impractical to go to the full length of dozens of ingredients just to have a quick, flavorful and economic soup. If you find yourself in such a situation, you might want to try this simple preparation, which can be enjoyed after no more than fifteen minutes from start to finish. Of course, I am all for authentic recipes and I believe we must make an effort to make sure that under normal circumstances and whenever practical, we don’t make unnecessary short cuts because we are lazy. But sometimes, if you want something tasty and can’t do the big production for whatever reason ………., well, I am sure you’ve got the point 🙂

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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Preparation :
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marinade diced chicken breast in soy sauce, lime juice, kosher salt, five spice powder, grated ginger and garlic paste, add corn starch, mix well

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cook pasta of your choice, drain, blanch snow peas, shock in ice water, drain, heat chicken stock seasoned with kosher salt, cayenne, garlic paste, grated ginger

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add coconut milk, simmer for three minutes

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after simmering snpw peas one minute, schock in ice water

after simmering snow peas one minute, shock in ice water

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add fresh shiitake mushrooms and chicken to simmering stock, simmer for three more minutes

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add drained pasta and snow peas to serving bowl

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ladle soup with chicken and shiitake on top of pasta and snow peas

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sprinkle with chili flakes and chopped cilantro

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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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Coconut Soup With Silkened Chicken & Snow Peas

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Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog,
please be so kind and click on the video below. Thank you 🙂
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THE ULTIMATE! Fried Chicken & Angry Potatoes (Papas Bravas)

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Let me warn you – if you don’t like spicy food………. ahhh, don’t worry, if you don’t like spicy, just replace all the cayenne pepper with mild smoked paprika and you’ll be fine.
But if you do like spicy, this recipe is addictive, especially if you combine the Papas Bravas (my own version of this Spanish classic) with the chicken as I have done here. It might take a bite or two to get used to the heat, but then……Heaven 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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The Ultimate Fried Chicken & Angry Potatoes (Papas Bravas)

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The Ultimate Fried Chicken & Angry Potatoes (Papas Bravas)

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juicy lucy…….

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Preparation :
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chicken tighs and breast

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add peeled, raw potatoes, season with kosher salt, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika and granulated garlic

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eggwash : whole eggs, greek yougurt, sriracha, cayenne pepper, granulated garlic

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whisk eggwash until smooth

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seasoned flour : a/p flour, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, kosher salt

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dredge chicken in seasoned flour

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coat floured chicken with eggwash

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dredge flour dredged, eggwash coated chicken once more in seasoned flour, shake off excess flour, fry at 325F for about 20 minutes, depending on size of chicken

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after 10 minutes frying the chicken, add the seasoned totatoes, fry until soft on the inside, crispy and golden on the outside Bout 15 more minutes, during the last 5 minutes, ingrease the temperature of the oil to 375F

after 10 minutes frying the chicken, add the seasoned totatoes, fry until soft on the inside, crispy and golden on the outside, about 15 more minutes; during the last 5 minutes, ingrease the temperature of the oil to 375F

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