tasty

Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

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Friday night’s dinner is one of these typical dishes that are only concocted when the hunger for a BIG dinner is already gnawing in our gut’s and nothing small and simple will satisfy the hunger disturbed imagination of what the next meal must be like. So here we go, a dinner that will satisfy even the biggest craving for hearty food 🙂
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Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

: Gorgonzola Gratinated Skirt Steak, Tomato & Aparagus On Naan

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Ingredient’s :

Skirt steak, marinated overnight in soy sauce, sriracha, & garlic paste
Naan, (substitute with bread of your choice)
Asparagus spears, (white or green, depending on availability and your preference), buttered and seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Tomatoes, sliced thick, seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Scallions, buttered and seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Asiago cheese, finely grated
Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Kosher salt,
Peanut oil,

Method :

Season steak with kosher salt, dust with a mixture of ap flour, cornstarch, cayene and garlic powder , saute in oil until bloody rare (or your preference. (See note below). Place naan on a baking rack. Top with steak. Sprinkle with asiago. Top with tomato. Sprinkle with asiago . Top with asparagus. Top with gorgonzola. Top with scallions. Broil until gorgonzola is melted and get’s a few golden spots. Remove from broiler, sprinkle with chili flakes. Enjoy a great meal ! 🙂

Note :
Remember the carry-over heat and the step of gratinating. Both will further cook your steak. Since I like most of my beef and lamb steaks to be medium rare, I removed it at bloody rare. By the time it was gratinated and ready to eat, it was a perfect medium rare.

Bon Appetit Life is Good !
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End Of The Week Treat # 1

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Friday afternoon, enjoying ” Tiramisu and a good helping of Baileys Irish Cream “.
Ahhhh…..just putting up my feet after a long week of hard work, enjoying the moment, knowing that tomorrows work……
Wait a minute – no work tomorrow nor sunday, just sleep, walk the dog, cook, eat good food, , watching exciting movies, reading good books, hanging with friend’s.
Life is Good ! . . . . . . . 🙂

Have a great weekend y’all !
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Tiramisu & Baileys Irish Cream

: Tiramisu & Baileys Irish Cream

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Tiramisu Recipe By Giada De Laurentis At Food Network

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Saint Patrick’s Day “Breakfast Of Champions” # 19

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” Irish soda bread with raisins & caraway seeds,
topped with corned beef, asparagus, tomato and brie”
Great breakfast in honor of St Patrick.
(The brie might not be Irish, but it lift’s this dish to another dimension 🙂

Erin Go Bragh !

Recipe for Irish soda bread HERE
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Saint Patrick’s Day Breakfast Of Champions

: Saint Patrick’s Day Breakfast Of Champions

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Whole Roasted Duck

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Don’t get me wrong!
I do love a rare duck breast with crisp skin . But, that is definitely not the end of all great duck dishes. Of course it is so much easier to cut off the breast’s and saute them separate, leaving the center rare and declaring that a master piece and the fine art of cooking. Then cut off the legs and braise them until tender. Wow, how difficult is that ! I have enjoyed both these dishes often ( If ! properly done. More often than not, some “chef’s” are able to even screw that up) . But, in my humble opinion, nothing can beat a whole roast duck, legs and breast perfectly tender and juicy, full of flavor. Maybe it takes a bit more knowledge, experience and feeling to accomplish, but a successful result is certainly worth the extra effort.
This duck was beautifully tasty, juicy and tender, with a great skin, served with its own, red wine fortified jus. Any other preparation will surely come in second place, way behind this beauty 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Duck, whole, marinated for two days with merlot, soy sauce, sriracha, granulated garlic
Merlot, substitue with wine of your preference
Kosher salt,
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Method :

Turn duck in it’s marinade often, so as to evenly marinade on all sides, inside and out. After two day’s remove from marinade and pat dry. Season with kosher salt, inside and out. Set on a rack in a roasting pan above the remaning marinade and red wine. Cook for 30 min at 420F.Turn heat to 275 F and cook, loosely covered with aluminium foil, for 4,5 hours. Remove foil, turn heat back up to 400F and roast for another 30 min or until skin is crisp and golden. Strain the jus, serve apart. Accompany with starch and vegetables, or do as I did – eat the whole thing at once and just have some bread with it to dunk in the jus.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Whole Roast Duck

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Whole Roast Duck

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“Escargot Bourguignon” (Snails in Garlic–Herb Butter)

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I cannot recall when I have last seen this classic dish on a restaurant menu. What a shame, since this is such a delightful, easy to prepare dish. As for my dinner today, I do have the shells, forks and escargot tongs at home, but since this is just for myself and not a dinner party, I prefer to serve them as I’ve done here, in a ovenproof dish, accompanied by simple bread to soak up ALL the garlic butter.
Here are my two pet peeves about this dish when I eat it in a restaurant :

1) If the snails are too large !
2) If the butter is not seasoned properly nor has enough parsley !

1) At home, I cut the very large snails in half. Much more pleasant to eat.
Voilà ! Problem solved 🙂
2) I make sure I add plenty of garlic, freshly ground black pepper and lot’s of chopped parsley.
Voilà ! No problem to start with 🙂

Escargot Bourguignon

: Escargot Bourguignon

: The Beast Devours Escargot

Ingredient’s :

Snails, canned, rinsed
Butter, unsalted
Red wine, (I prefer merlot)
Shallots, finely diced (I used onion)
Garlic, paste
Flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Black pepper, freshly ground
Sea salt,

Method :

Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add red wine, simmer until almost evaporated. Add butter, season with salt and pepper. Heat butter until starting to brown in small spots. Add escargots, simmer until all liquid has evaporated again. Remove from heat, stir in most of the parsley. To serve, sprinkle with more parsley.

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Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

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Yesterday my friend George arrived from switzerland and as usual he brought a bunch of gift’s. One of them is my favorite cold cut in the world, “Bündner Fleisch” ( Bindenfleisch, or “Viande des Grisons” or “Air Dried Beef” ) The traditional way of eating bündner fleisch is to serve it very thinly sliced, cold, with fresh horseradish and rustic bread. However, George asked me to make something out of the ordinary with the bündner fleisch, so I came up with the following concoction which was a delightful and very unusual way of using this traditional ingredient. The extraordinary flavor of the bündner fleisch and the sharpness of the “Appenzeller Käse” (appenzeller cheese), another one of his gift’s, made this a truly special and delightful dish 🙂

Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

: Spaghetti “Graubündner Style”

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Ingredient’s :

Spaghetti, cooked al dente
Broccoli florets, blanched
Appenzeller cheese, finely grated
Grape tomatoes, whole
Onions, sliced
Garlic, paste
Milk, whole
Eggs, whole
Italian parsley, chopped
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground
Butter, to saute

Method :

Mix eggs, milk and cheese, add salt and pepper, whisk. Saute onions and garlic in butter, add bündner fleisch, spaghetti, broccoli and egg mixture. Cook until eggs have set to your preference ( I like mine well done).
To serve, sprinkle with more grated cheese and chopped parsley.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Guajillo Chile & Rum Spiced Pork Ribs

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Pork rib craving – gotto give in to it 🙂
However, you’ve got to plan this well, because when the craving start’s, it will take another 9 hours of slow cooking time before you can eat your rib’s.
And so it goes:
Make a paste of “Brugal” rum, kosher salt, guajillo chile, granulated garlic and freshly ground black pepper. Cover both sides of the ribs with a thick cover of the paste. Place rib’s on a rack which sit’s over a pan of water. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 180 F for 8 hours. (Replenish water if necessary). Remove foil and bake another hour until ribs are nicely colored.
The Verdict : Very tasty, very juicy, very tender, very easy to prepare. Rib’s rule !
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Guajillo Chile & Rum Spiced Pork Ribs

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Mafaldine, Striploin, Mushrooms & Chilis

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Dinner for two :
Sauteed strip loin, mafaldine, mushrooms, chilis and grape tomatoes with garlic and scallions.
Simplicity at it’s best 🙂

Mafaldine, Striploin, Mushrooms & Chilis

: Mafaldine, Striploin, Mushrooms & Chilis

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Steak Salad With Horseradish Dressing

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Healthy does not have to be boring or tasteless, as this wonderful salad shows:
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Salad:
Strip steak, arugula, mango, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, baby carrots, daikon,
red radish, lemon balm leaves, fresh horseradish.
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Dressing:
Horseradish, dijon mustard, lime juice, olive oil, maggi seasoning, sea salt, freshly
grated black pepper.
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Mix all ingredients with the dressing. To serve, grate more horseradish over salad.
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Bon Appetit ! Stay Healthy ! 🙂
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Steak Salad

: Steak Salad

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Arroz Con Pollo

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“Arroz con Pollo“
In my opinion this is one of the most widly and often prepared dishes in the whole world.
“Hans, have you gone nuts?”, you probably think when you read this statement.
But what I am talking about is the actual Concoction, not the dish named “Arroz con Pollo”.
“Arroz con Pollo” simply translates into “Rice with Chicken”. Now, it is my firm believe that anywhere in the world where you have rice, and where you also have chicken, sooner or later folks threw the two, plus another bunch of stuff, together and made it a one dish meal, calling it “Rice and Chicken” or, surprise surprise, “Chicken and Rice”.

I would like to ask my readers to please give us the name of your country’s or region’s dish containing chicken and rice and other stuff 🙂
Also, any other dish containing these ingredients, be it from your own country or region or any other you might be aware of. Descriptions or pictures even more welcome.
I am looking forward to your input in the comment section. Thank’s.
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Arroz Con Pollo

: Arroz Con Pollo

Ingredient’s :

Chicken, preferably dark meat
Rice, rinsed repeatedly to get rid of all excess starch
Chorizo, sliced
Peppers, diced
Chilis, diced, use your preferred heat level
Onions, diced
Garlic, paste
Saffran, or substitute with turmeric (I used both for a brighter color and taste)
Oregano, freeze dried or fresh
White wine, substitute with beer if preferred
Chicken stock, substitute with vegetable stock if preferred
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Olive oil, to saute

Method :

Saute chicken until golden, add onions and chorizo, saute until onions are translucent. Add garlic, peppers and chilis and saute until garlic is fragrant. Remove chicken, set aside. Remove 1/4 of the vegetables to use as brightly colored garnish. Add rice and saute until each corn of rice is covered with olive oil. Add wine (or beer, or both) and stock, season with salt and pepper. Return chicken, bake at 385F in center of oven until moisture has been absorbed by rice and rice is done. Sprinkle with reserved vegetables and chopped cilantro.
My meal yesterday had also a nice glass of chilled chardonnay (same as which went into the dish) and what I call “avocado cream” . (mashed avocado, seasoned with lime juice, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, roasted garlic paste and cilantro). Not quite guacamole, but even less prep and equally good 🙂
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Note : Some folks like their arroz con pollo very moist, others less so. If you like it more moist, simply add more liquid while cooking until the rice is done, giving you more of the texture of an “Asopao”.
Note : Some folks like their arroz con pollo more “heavy “, some like it more “light and fluffy”. This will depend on the amount of fat used in the dish.
I usually like my arroz con pollo dry but heavy, so I use less liquid and a bit more fat 🙂
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