Sea salt

Éirinn go Brách – Cál ceannann (Colcannon)………

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Colcannon, Corned Beef & Horseradish Sauce
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Cál ceannann (Colcannon) is, in the form presented here, without a doubt one of the most sumptuous and decadent potato dishes you’ll find in any home or restaurant. Far removed from its humble beginnings, this version is loaded with butter, cream, leeks and scallions, seasoned with sea salt and nutmeg and served with corned beef in horseradish cream. This combination far elevates the corned beef above its more common pairing with simple cabbage and onions.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Link to Horseradish Sauce Recipe
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Link to Corned Beef Recipe
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Colcannon, Corned Beef & Horseradish Sauce

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: getting started with the colcannon…..

: dice leeks into fine brunoise, thinly slice scallions

: simmer leeks in cream until soft

: peel and slice potatoes, simmer in salted water until soft

: drain potatoes

: add a stick of butter, cayenne pepper, grated nutmeg

: add cream with leeks

: add scallions

: blend all into smooth puree

: to serve, place a portion of potatoes on plate next to sliced corned beef, make an indention, place a generous knob of butter in indention

: ladle horseradish sauce over corned beef

: Colcannon, Corned Beef & Horseradish Sauce

: Colcannon, Corned Beef & Horseradish Sauce

: Colcannon, Corned Beef & Horseradish Sauce

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Sautéed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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This evening I tried a new type of fish which I never had before: Swai .
When I first saw the fish being sold for $ 4.00 a pound I was naturally very sceptical and went on a bit of research online. Much to my surprise, this seems to be a good choice, healthy and recommended by fish authorities.
So, with my suspicion nullified I went on to prepare the fish this evening and I must say, it was excellent. Sweet, flaky, white flesh, great taste 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Sauted Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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Sauteed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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Preparation :
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season fish with sea salt and cayenne pepper, dredge in a mixture of half corn starch, half panko bread crumbs

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saute filets in butter until golden on both sides and cooked through, reove from pan, reserve, keep butter on heat until starting to foam and brown

saute filets in butter until golden on both sides and cooked through, remove from pan, reserve, keep butter on heat until starting to foam and brown

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meanwhile, saute cooked ptatoes in garlic oil until golden, add diced peppers, saute another minute

meanwhile, saute cooked potatoes in garlic oil until golden, add diced peppers, saute another minute

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add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper

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transfer potatoes to serving dish

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top potatoes with fish filets

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top fish filets with peeled, sliced lemon

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add capers to hot brown butter, saute for a few seconds

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top lemon slices with chopped italian parsley, top wit brown caper butter

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Sauteed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

sautéed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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sautéed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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sautéed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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sautéed Swai Filet In Brown Caper Butter

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Easy Does It # 12 – Grill Or Griddle A Steak In Your Kitchen Without Making A Mess

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Here is a problem most folks face if they don’t live in a climate where they can grill every day ouside or if they simply don’t have the space for an outside grill and choose to grill or griddle inside:
Not only will the smell from grilling settle in the whole house/appertment, but soon all furniture and other surfaces will becovered with a sticky, smelly oil film.
To avoid this, prep your steaks in the following manner:
Pre-heat your oven broiler to the highest temperature. Pre-heat a cast iron grill pan or flat-bottomed cast iron pan until extremely hot. Season your steak liberally with sea salt. Brush lightly with peanut oil. Put the steak into the pan and very quickly put it under the broiler on the highest shelf close to the heating elements. Close the oven door and let the steak broil until your preferred doneness has been reached. All smells and fatty steam/smoke will be trapped inside the oven). Don’t flip or turn the steak from the moment it hit’s the pan until it is cooked. When done, remove steak to a plate at once (remember the carry over heat !), sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and let rest for a few minutes before you cut it. You will be happy with the result 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is good !
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Easy Does It # 11 – Perfect Steak Without A Mess

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Easy Does It # 11 – Perfect Steak Without A Mess

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Easy Does It # 11 – Perfect Steak Without A Mess

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Easy Does It # 11 – Perfect Steak Without A Mess

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please be so kind and click on the video on the bottom of this page. Thank you 🙂

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Easy Does It # 6 – Express Ramen

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Dear Friend’s
Although most of my followers are culinary professionals, there is also a large segment of followers who are just starting to enjoy cooking on a slightly higher than basic level. I have therefore decided to publish, under the moniker “Easy Does It“, from time to time some very basic recipe variations of dishes which otherwise might seem complicated to some folks. I will break them down to the easiest, most simple instructions, so that those of you who are intimidated by elaborate recipes will be able to prepare these dishes properly, adjusted to your taste and liking, right from the get-go.
Enjoy :-)
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In the foodie world everybody act’s as if ramen has been invented yesterday morning. In reality, it has been around forever, being a very special and revered dish in it’s original form. However, since the instant variety has been invented, it has been the stable of millions of students and other young folks around the world. It is simple to prepare, costs only pennies and is filling and tasty.
I have made many different types of ramen soups over the past few decades, starting out with the instant form as a young kid. Gradually I started adding “stuff” to my soups, roast pork, chicken, beef, any kind of seafood, herbs, vegetables, cooked eggs, whisked eggs, poached eggs, you name it, it has found its way into my ramen. But even when I make it from scratch, I still use store bought ramen noodles. Some Asian specialty shops have good quality ramen, so if you can, splurge a little on quality. In a pinch, angel hair pasta cooked al dente, with a bit of baking soda added to the water, is a reasonable fine substitute.
However, today I want to show you how to make a simple ramen from the instant variety. Discard the seasoning packages that comes in the packs. Use a good home made pork stock (substitute with chicken stock if you prefer), season with miso, grated ginger, garlic paste, sea salt, soy sauce, sesame oil and sake.

Bon Appetit ! どうぞめしあがれ (Douzo Meshiagare)
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to serve, add egg yolk to the soup (substitute with cooked egg if you prefer)

Express Ramen

: cook instant ramen noodles in boiling salt water for one minute, strain, coat with sesame oil

: heat chicken broth to a simmer, add noodles, garlic paste, miso, soy sauce, sake, sea salt and grated ginger

: add bok choy and cooked shrimp let everything heat through without simmering, check/adjust seasoning

: to serve, add egg yolk to the soup (substitute with cooked egg if you prefer)

: Express Ramen

: Express Ramen

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Steak Sandwich & Salad

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This is the perfect, lightning quick meal that is at once fast to prepare, needs minimum prep work and packs a real punch in the satisfy-department 🙂

Bon Appetit Life is Good !

Steak Sandwich

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spread a french roll with butter and garlic paste, saute until golden

saute onion slices in butter until caramelized, top each slice with two eggs, fry to sunny side up, season with sea salt and cayenne pepper

season 16 oz striploin steaks with sea salt and cayenne pepper, grill to desired doneness, top each bread with one steak, top with egg/onion, add banana peppers. Feeds two hungry guy’s (Darryl and I on this occasion 🙂

Steak Sandwich

frissee, arugula, onions, chilies and anchovies in dijon vinaigrette

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Roasted Piglet

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Once in a while I like to roast a whole pig. When Maria was still alive and we had once or twice a month a party at the house for 30 or 40 friend’s, I usually cooked two 45 pounder. Last night I only had one friend over for dinner at 9.30 pm and another one at 1.00 am, so 25 lbs seemed just fine.
I seasoned the pig with sea salt, sriracha and soy sauce on the inside, then stuffed the cavity with lots of garlic, cilantro, orange wedges, lemon wedges and onion wedges. The outside got sea salt, sriracha, granulated garlic and soy sauce. Roast for half an hour at 425F, then 4 hours at 275F, then the last half hour at 425 again. Basting the little darling every 15 minutes with beer is the secret to the beautiful skin and great taste. After removing the piglet from oven, let it sit for 30 minutes before carving. The result: Perfectly crisp on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside, extremely flavorful. Accompanied by sour dough bread, cornichons, horseradish, mustard and sea salt mixed with freshly ground black pepper. A couple of Stella Artois during the meal and a couple of shot’s of Chivas afterwards. Aaahhhhhhh…. 🙂
Bella and I had the last little bits and pieces for lunch today.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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: suckling pig

: roasted piglet

: roasted piglet

: roasted piglet

: roasted piglet

: roasted piglet

: freshly baked sour dough bread

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Entrecôte Au Poivre (Classic French Pepper Steak)

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When was the last time you have seen a classic steak au poivre on a restaurant menu outside of Europe?
The best you can usually find elsewhere is it’s poor cousin, a steak covered in green peppercorn sauce (Entrecote Au Poivre Vert).
While this can be excellent, it’s flavor and texture is far removed from a steak covered in freshly crushed black pepper and sauteed, then served in a sauce build from it’s very own pan drippings and some other goodies.
Last night I served this with my “special” fries. What makes them “special” is the fact that I fry them only once instead of the usual required two times. I start them in cold peanut oil ( or better yet, duck or goose fat if available) and let the temperature slowly rise to 385 F. By the time the oil is hot and the fries are golden brown, they will be creamy on the inside and very crisp on the outside. I season them with both fine salt and sea salt. The fine salt adheres better to the fries while the sea salt gives me the taste and crunchiness associated with sea salt.

Bon Appetit ! Life Is Good !
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Entrecôte Au Poivre

Hans’ “Special” Fries

: Rib Eye, Red Wine Jus, Cream, Whole Black Pepper CornSea Salt, Cognac

: 40 Oz Beauty

: Saute To Your Preferred Doneness

: Remove Steak, Set Aside. Deglaze With Cognac (Be Careful Of The Flare-Up !!!), Add cream And Reduce. Add Jus, Reduce To “Nape” Texture

: Pepper Steak

: Entrecôte Au Poivre

: Pepper Steak

: Hans’ “Special” Fries

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Pork Blade Steak Gratinated With White Asparagus, Spicy Asiago Yoghurt & Fresh Horse Radish

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Most folks I know would shun a blade steak as inferior cut, too lowly to use as a steak. But let me assure you, as far as pork steaks go, you will be hard pressed to find a better cut. The blade has a wonderful texture and taste, very juice, tender and yes, very economical (we don’t say cheap 🙂 )

Season steaks with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Season yoghurt with sea salt and cayenne pepper, mix with some grated asiago cheese. Season asparagus with sea salt and cayenne pepper. Grill steak until medium well. (It will continue cooking to well done while it gratinates). Place steak on baking dish, sprinkle with freshly grated horse radish. Top with asparagus. Brush asparagus tips with melted butter. Nape asparagus with yoghurt, sprinkle with asiago cheese and scallions. Gratinate until golden.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Pork Blade Steak Gratinated With White Asparagus, Spicy Asiago Yoghurt & Fresh Horse Radish

: Pork Blade Steak Gratinated With White Asparagus, Spicy Asiago Yoghurt & Fresh Horse Radish

Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog, please be so kind and click on the video on the bottom of this page. (You don’t have to watch it, just click once) Thank you 🙂
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Seafood In Whole Grain Mustard Cream

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After yesterday’s less then stellar lunch experience I needed to get something nice and satisfying for dinner. I still had some seafood from the day before, some button mushroom and small potatoes.
Now this was a dish worth paying for 🙂

Season raw seafood with sea salt and sriracha sauce and saute in whole butter until halfway cooked, add cooked seafood, saute until heated through, remove from pan, set aside. Add
Garlic paste, saute until fragrant. Deglaze pan with white wine, heavy cream and juices from the sautéed seafood. Simmer and reduce until a light sauce has formed. Remove from heat, add mustard and lemon juice, check seasoning and adjust if necessary. Return seafood to the pan, return to heat until heated through. Make sure you don’t let the sauce simmer anymore or your seafood will get tough and dry. Serve with basmati rice or sautéed potatoes. (I did place sautéed parsley potatoes and garlic mushroom on the bottom of the plate but forgot to take the picture before topping them with the seafood. If you look closely, you’ll see a potato peeking out under the crayfish in the last picture) 🙂 >
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Seafood In Whole Grain Mustard Cream

: Lobster, Crayfish, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Mussels, King Crab.

: Seafood In Whole Grain Mustard Cream

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Breakfast Of Champions # 25 – ” Ham & Egg ”

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What would sunday morning be without a special breakfast………
Sour dough bread sauted in garlic butter, boursin cheese,
coppa ham, fried egg, chili flakes, sea salt. Ahhhhhhh…… 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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