recipes

” Tilapia Meuniere & Sauteed Asparagus

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If prepared with love and passion,
what a wonderful fish Tilapia can be 🙂
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Heat a sauté pan over medium heat for a minute, then add a couple of tablespoons of clarified butter.
Season the fish fillet to taste with kosher salt and cayenne pepper.
Dredge the fish in flour and shake off any excess.
Sauté fish for 2 to 3 minutes or until there’s a nice golden-brown color, then carefully flip it over.
Cook for another couple of minutes or until this side is golden-brown, too.
Remove fish from pan and place it on a warm plate.
Add a chunk of whole butter to the pan and cook until it turns slightly brown.
Now top the fish with few tablespoons of lemon juice and some chopped parsley , pour the hot butter onto the fish and serve right away.
Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Rinderherz Spiesschen ” (Beef Heart Schaschlik)

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Cooking with Heart, part two.

” beef heart skewers with spicy bean salad and chimichurri.

I had expected a whole lot of negative comments on cooking with offal.
To my surprise, most comments were positive and encouraging.
Many readers welcomed the opportunity to see food which is hard to find
in other publications these days.
(Never mind the fact that one food critic called a group of seattle chefs :
” Innovative and daring for using the whole animal in their kitchen’s “) . Daaahhhh.
Real chef’s have never stopped doing that, just as real, experienced food lovers have
never stopped searching for it and enjoying it whenever available.

So here it is, Beef Heart Shashlik .
It may be an acquired taste, but once you do have acquired it, ……. 🙂
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: Image Source: Unknown ( can anybody help out ? )

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Ingredients :

Beef heart, diced, soaked in milk for at least 8 hours
Salt, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
Corn starch, to dredge
Onions, wedges
Olive oil, for sauteeing

Method :

Season meat and onions liberally with pepper and garic powder,
dredge skewers in corn starch, shake of excess corn starch and saute
(grill if you prefer) until crisp on the outside, still light pink in the center.
When almost done, add onions to the pan and saute until meat has
desired temperature and onions start to caramelize. Sprinkle heart with
kosher or sea salt, drizzle with lemon juice, remove to absorbent paper.
Season onions with salt, pepper and garlic powder, remove to absorbent paper.
Serve with any salad and condiment / sauce, such as chimichurri,
horse raddish, spicy salsa, mustard, etc.
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Image Source: Unknown (can anybody help out ?)

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” Geschmortes Rinder Herz ” (Braised Beef Heart)

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Tonight I cooked dish two of my “Offal Series” :
– Braised beef heart with steamed chili potatoes and garlic broccoli rabe.
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Heart:

Marinate the meat for the the Braised Heart in cider vinegar for 8 hours,
strain and dry the meat. Season with Dijon, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder,
and pepper. Sautee on high heat until golden, add onions and garlic and saute
until garlic becomes fragrant. Deglaze with plenty of good merlot, add demi glace
and simmer until meat is tender, about one hour. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Potatoes :

Peel potatoes, cut into wedges and simmer in salted water until almost done.
Strain. Saute chili flakes in plenty of butter on low heat until fragrant, add potatoes
and salt, cover. Leave on very low heat until heated through and fully done.

Broccoli rabe :

Saute Garlic paste until fragrant, add blanched rabe , salt, cayenne and
maggi seasoning and saute until heated through.

Serve with a good sized glass (or two) of the same merlot you use in the sauce 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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” Wiener Backhendl Im Nest “

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Tonight’s dinner reminds me of my childhood in Germany,
when this was a very special treat when my parents took me
to a restaurant and I found wiener back hendl on the menu.
Tonight I used cornish hen instead of the more traditional chicken,
but otherwise, this is the real deal. A simple dish of breaded , fried,
bone in chicken 🙂
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: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

: WIENER BACKHENDL IM NEST

Cut a whole chicken into eight pieces or a cornish hen into four pieces,
season with garlic paste, salt and pepper and fry at 375 degrees until golden.
Transfer to a wire rack and bake in a 375 oven until the internal
temperature reaches 162 degrees. Let rest for five minutes before serving.

Bon Appetit ! Live is Good
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” Asiago Crusted Pork Chop & Brussel Sprouts “

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Here I am tonight, thinking ” what can I do with those lovely brussel sprouts ? ”
Lovely brussel sprouts ??? !
I used to hate them with a passion, but boy oh boy, has that changed.
Now they are one of my favorite vegetables and I am glad I got some in the fridge
today, because they pair so nicely with my breaded pork chop.
Usually I saute my sprouts with bacon, but I felt I had enough pork on my plate today.
Great, tasty dish and the bone made bella happy 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Pork chop,
Asiago cheese, finely grated
Panko bread crumbs,
AP flour,
Egg, whisked
Cayenne , to taste
Salt,   to taste
Olive oil, for sauteing

Brussel Sprout‘s blanched, halved
Roasted garlic, paste
Salt,   to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Nutmeg, to taste
Butter,   for sauteing

Method :

Season pork chop with salt and cayenne.
Blend panko and flour 50% each.
Bread Chop by dusting in flour, then coating with egg
and finally with the panko / flour mix.
Sautee until center reaches 158 degrees, rest on absorbent paper.

Saute garlic in butter until fragrant, add brussel sprout’s and seasoning
and saute until heated through. To serve, top pork chop with fried parsley.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” About My Recipes “

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Dear Friend‘s,

Here is my answer to a question some of my new readers have once in a while :

I love the dish! But where is the recipe ?

To answer those questions :
The ingredient’s (except most standard seasonings) are usually pictured in the first (the Prep) picture..
The idea is to have you add as much / little of one ingredient as you like :
Don’t like much garlic? Add less! Love garlic? Add more.
In savory cooking, recipes are usually just guidelines, which you should interprete
according to your taste , preferences and availability. (Don’t like butter? Use olive oil !
Don’t like butter nor olive oil? Use Canola oil or peanut oil or whatever fat you like !
Prefer your soup / sauce thicker or thinner ? Add more or less thickener !
Don’t want fat in your food? Leave it out!
Most reader like this format, especially the once who have fallen on their butt
by following “EXACT” recipes to the dot, just to find out they don’t give you the pictured result : -(

And yes, many of my recipes have the approximate amounts printed 🙂

So please remember :
To truly learn a dish, one must understand what the temperature, moisture and time does to the ingredients. (Amongst many other things).

To quote Alton Brown:
“A home cook who relies too much on a recipe is sort of like a pilot who reads the plane’s instruction manual while flying.”
– Alton Brown

Cooking is a labor of love.
Do what makes you happy, as long as you understand the guidelines. :-)

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Potato, Cheddar & Bacon Soup ”

This soup hit all the right buttons when I was craving
a simple, quick, delicious meal on labor day evening.
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Ingredient’s:

Potatoes, diced, blanched
Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Bacon, julienned
Onion, diced
Garlic, paste
Green peas, blanched
Heavy cream,
Chicken stock,
AP Flour,
Butter,
Salt,
Cayenne pepper

Method :

Sautee bacon, rendering fat, until crisp. Remove onto absorbent paper, reserve.
Add butter to bacon fat, add onion, garlic and flour. Saute until onion and garlic
are translucent without darkening flour. Add stock, whisk to avoid lumps and
bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in cheese
and craem until texture is smooth. Add potatoes, green peas, salt and pepper
and, while carefully stirring, reheat until hot.
( You don’t want to mash up the potatoes and peas)

Bon Appetit ! 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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” Veal Broth With Matzoh Ball’s & Veal Rib’s “

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For many year’s I buy most of my beef, morcilla and chorizo from an Argentinian butcher in Hialeah who sometimes calls me for “specials”.
Usually those are offal and other cuts he has difficulty selling to his American customers, but which he knows I treasure. His older Latino and Haitian customers are also not afraid of that stuff, but the younger crowd usually prefers more mainstream cuts. Wednesday he called me because he had some “specials”. To my surprise, when I got there the specials were veal ribs. It is beyond me why he called me for these, because clearly everybody loves ribs. ( Maybe he was just trying to be nice, not usually one of his outstanding attributes 🙂 Anyway, for $4.50 a pound I did not complain and came home with 10 pound of them (Plus some other goodies)
So here we go :
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Soup:
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Simmer ribs with celery, carrots, onions, leek, garlic, ginger, star anise and chopped tomatoes until ribs are tender, about 2 hours.
Remove ribs, set aside. Strain broth, season with salt, cayenne pepper, lime juice and maggi seasoning.
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Matzo Balls Recipe:

1 cup matzo meal
3 eggs

3 tblsp oil or rendered chicken fat

1/4 cup seltzer (exact amount depends on the size of the eggs and the coarseness of the matzo meal)
3 tblsp finely chopped parsley (optional)
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Mix all wet ingredients together, then fold in matzo meal, salt and pepper and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Shape into golfball sized balls, drop into boiling water, cover, turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until fully cooked (cut one in half to check if it’s done).

To serve, combine ribs, broth and matzo balls , sprinkle with
chopped cilantro or sliced chives. Grated parmesan optional.
(Not kosher, but I use it anyway)
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Es gezunterheyt ! עס געזונטערהײט ! Life is Good !
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” Penne Rigate alla Contadino ”

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Last nights dinner, rigate alla contadino,
a rich concoction you might find at a poor farmers table.
Even at a simple farmers dinner table you can find pasta,
sausage, cheese, cream and vegetables.
With a little imagination and love for food, you can turn these
simple ingredients into a dish fit for a king 🙂
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Ingredients :

Penne Rigate, cooked al dente, strained, reserve some of the cooking liquid
Morcilla, thinly sliced
Chorizo, thinly sliced
Peppers, julienned
Onion, julienned
Garlic, paste
Tomato, wedges
Scallions, sliced
Parmesan, grated
Hot sauce, to taste
Salt, to taste
Cream,
Olive oil,

Method :

Saute onions and garlic until translucent, add chorizo and peppers and saute one more minute.
Add pasta,cream, cheese, morcilla and seasoning, simmer and mix well for another minute.
If texture becomes too thick, add some cooking liquid until you have the desired texture.
To serve, sprinkle with scallions and more parmesan.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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