tasty

Spinach, Potato, Sausage & Cheese Casserole

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This is such a versatile dish. Every ingredient can be replaced with a substitute without losing any of the complexity of texture and taste.

Spinach : Asparagus, cabbage, corn, broccoli, carrots, beets, etc.
Potato : Sweet potato, mashed potato, pasta, rice, etc.
Asiago : Gorgonzola, parmesan, cheddar, brie, pepper jack, stilton, etc.
Sausage : Bacon, chicken, seafood, beef, lamb, game, etc.

Saute onion, garlic and sausage in butter, add spinach, wilt. Add blanched potatoes, cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Bake at 375 F until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let set for 30 minute before serving.
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Spinach, Potato, Sausage & Cheese Casserole

: Spinach, Potato, Sausage & Cheese Casserole

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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My Kind Of ” Finger Food “

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Sunday night and monday evening was very cold here in Miami, so cold in fact I actually had to turn on the central heating system in order to be comfortable in the house. So, in order to help with the comforting process, I prepared two dishes which aided greatly in the warming of soul and belly :

Sunday afternoon :
“Smoked pig’s tail’s”
with fresh horse radish and potatoes fried in rendered duck fat “.

Monday afternoon :
“Spinach, Potato, Sausage & Cheese Casserole”
(I’ll post that in the next few day’s).
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: My kind of ” Finger Food “

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Simmer the smoked pigs’ tails in salted water with kosher salt, lot’s of garlic and cayenne pepper until very tender but not falling apart. Grate the horseradish very fine and mix with salt and lemon juice. Fry the potatoes in rendered duck fat, starting with cold fat and slowly increasing the temperature to 375 F. The potatoes will be creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Add the sliced chilis and onions for the last few seconds of frying. Remove to absorbent paper and sprinkle with sea salt.
Enjoy a great , simple meal; “Finger food” at it’s finest 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Keep Warm And Cozy 🙂

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Drunken Turkey Drum Stick

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Usually when I walk into a store to buy food, turkey does not stand in the forefront of my mind. Today I was looking for something like gizzards, trotters, necks, etc. But when I saw this beautiful piece of poultry, my mind was made up, decision made :
Braised Turkey 🙂

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Turkey drums stick, onion diced, garlic paste, tomato chopped, chilis chopped, basil, peppers chopped, celery chopped, red wine, beer, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, butter

Saute drum stick in butter until golden, remove. Saute vegetables, add wine and beer (no stock needed), return drum stick , season with salt and pepper, simmer until tender but not falling apart. Remove 1/3 rd of the vegetables and blend until smooth. Return to stock to lightly thicken. Serve with any starch, such as pasta, potatoes, rice. I used a nice italian white bread which I sautéed in butter with roasted garlic paste. The best way to soak up the sauce and scoop up the vegetables. Simple food at it’s best 🙂

Drunken Turkey Drum Stick

Drunken Turkey Drum Stick
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Link To Beer Braised Turkey Leg’s
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !
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Chicken / Noodle Soup

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Tonight we have lousy weather here in Miami, rainy, cold, windy. What better way to feel cozy and warm at home than to enjoy a good, rich, flavorful chicken noodle soup ! Chicken legs, gizzards, cabbage, bok choy, ginger, garlic, jalapenos, peppers, onions, carrots, celery, maggi and chinese egg noodles. Afterwards a good glass of merlot and early to bed – Bliss !
Tomorrow will be a good day 🙂
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” Chicken / Noodle Soup “

: ” Chicken / Noodle Soup “

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

Imperial Fried Rice

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Time to get excited about fried rice 🙂
No, not the cabbage and soy sauce laden one you get for two bucks at your corner chinese restaurant. No, I am talking about my treasure chest of a fried rice which has a whole bunch of goodies in it. Each one (shrimp,chicken, lap cheong, ham, eggs, vegetables), fried on it’s own with rice would make a good fried rice, but here the combination of all of this stuff together makes it a truly memorable dish.
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Imperial Fried Rice

: Imperial Fried Rice

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Ingredient’s :

Fan (飯),   day old chinese steamed rice (Recipe Here)
Chicken,   cubed
Shrimp,   peeled, tail on
Ham,   diced
Lap cheong, fresh, unsmoked
Scallion,   sliced
Bean sprouts,
Red/green bell peppers,   diced
Onions,   diced
Kernel corn,   blanched
Green peas,   blanched
Eggs,   whisked
Garlic,   paste
Ginger,   grated
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Sesame oil,
Peanut oil,   to stir fry

Method :

Season protein and vegetables with salt and cayenne pepper. Saute (stir fry) chicken in oil until medium, remove chicken. Saute shrimp, ham and sausage until shrimp are 3/4 cooked, remove. Saute vegetables, ginger and garlic until fragrant, add rice, fry until rice starts to puff a bit. Form a whole in the center, add more peanut oil, add the eggs. Styr fry until the eggs have set, return proteins to the rice and stir fry until rice starts to pop again. Add bean sprouts, season with sesame oil, salt and pepper. To serve, sprinkle with scallions and more bean sprouts.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Satay’s Meet Rib’s

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I wanted to prepare some chicken satay’s for some time now, but I just never got around to it. So on friday I bought chicken and other ingredients to finally get my satay fix. However, I also bought some pork rib’s, which got me thinking……. Peanut and pork is alway’s a great combination, so why not going that route. No reason not to ! So here we go, Pork ribs with an asian inspired peanut glace and peanut dipping sauce. Great success ! This will be one of my new standby’s for an informal dinner party 🙂
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Satay’s Meet Rib’s

: Satay’s Meet Rib’s

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Ingredient’s :

Pork rib’s,
Peanut butter,
Hoi sin sauce,
Oyster sauce,
Soy sauce,
Scotch bonnet sauce,
Ginger powder,
Garlic, granulated,
Coriander powder,
Turmeric,
Sour orange juice,
Lemon grass, dried, chopped
Brown sugar,

Method :

Heat peanut butter with all ingredients except ribs. Add water and whisk until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Simmer for a few minutes. Set aside most of it to marinade ribs for at least two days. Add some more water to the rest of the sauce to use as dipping sauce. Set aside. After two day’s, bake ribs on a water filled roasting tray, lightly covered with aluminum foil, at 180F for nine hours. Remove cover during the last hour to get a golden color.
(Best to put the rib’s in the oven in the morning, happily thinking about a great dinner to come during the whole day 🙂
The collagen will turn into gelatin, leaving the ribs tender and succulent. Add the juices from the roasting tray to the dipping sauce, simmer until the desired texture is reached. Strain. Serve with the dipping sauce, slices of raw onion, cucumber and tomato.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Spinach Pappardelle, Ham & Bell Pepper Ragout

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What a great meal a bit of ham, peppers, pasta
and a good amount of love for all things pasta can make.
( As you can see, Madam agrees 🙂

Sharing a meal with a loved should count as one of life’s most precious moment’s. Even if not all of them can be there physically, they are alway’s there in spirit.
All my loved ones love food, – coincidence ?
And not all are as big-bellied as I am, thankfully 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Spinach Pappardelle & Ham And Bell Pepper Ragout

: Spinach Pappardelle & Ham And Bell Pepper Ragout

Pasta. Basta !

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Pasta !
Sometimes, in our quest to create ever more complicated, fancy, elaborate, inventive, trendsetting dishes, we tend to forget why we fell in love with a food item in the first place. In most cases because in it’s true form and simplicity, it is perfect and can’t be much improved. It can be altered, changed, made more fancy, more colorful, spicier, fattier, more unrecognizable, deconstructed, more expensive (yep) or whatever, but in its original form, texture, and flavor it will alway’s be the star it has originally been. Without a doubt pasta is one of these food items. If properly prepared, it needs little or no embellishment to satisfy most senses. “Pasta Aglio E Olio” or, my personal favorite, Pasta Aglio E Burro” are the most basic dishes which, when prepared with love and knowledge, will produce the most satisfying meal or separate course in a meal. Here we have another basic, “Bucatini Pomodoro”

Cook pasta about 3/4 to doneness, drain, reserve some of the cooking water. Saute roasted garlic paste in butter or olive oil, add chopped peeled tomatoes, add a few sprigs of basil, simmer until tomatoes break down. Remove basil sprigs, blend tomatoes with a stick blender. Season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Add pasta, some of the cooking water, butter and finely grated pecorino and simmer until pasta is al dente. Add more water during the simmering if needed. To serve, sprinkle with more cheese.

Buon Appetito ! Life is Good !
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Pasta Pommodoro

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Pollo Al Mojo & Moros Y Cristianos

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” Cuban Style Mojo Chicken with rice and beans and lettuce /avocado salad in honey & lime vinaigrette ”
Here is a dish which is very popular in Cuba and because of that, it is popular here in Miami as well 🙂
It is prepared in many different variations, since each region, family and restaurant have their very own special recipe for “Mojo”

Pollo Al Mojo & Moros Y Cristianos

: Pollo Al Mojo & Moros Y Cristianos

Ingredient’s :

2 teaspoons cumin seed
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large serrano chili, stemmed, minced
3/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons sour orange juice
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6 chicken legs
kosher salt to taste

Method :

Stir cumin seeds in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat until seeds are fragrant and slightly darker in color, about 2 minutes. Transfer seeds to medium bowl. Add minced garlic, minced chili and salt to seeds; mash mixture with back of fork to form coarse paste. Heat olive oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Pour hot olive oil over garlic mixture; stir to blend. Let stand 15 minutes. Whisk in orange juice and lime juice. Add chicken to marinade; turn to coat. Cover chicken and refrigerate over night.
Put chicken on a baking rack an roast until internal temperature has reached 160 F, all the while basting with the marinade. When done, remove from oven, let rest for 15 minutes. Carry-over heat will take the temperature to a safe 165 F, while leaving the chicken very moist and tender. Serve with avocado and lettuce salad and “Moros & Cristianos“.
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Bon Provecho ! Life is Good !
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” Schweine Sülze “

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” Pork in Aspic “
While most folks have heard of head cheese ( Schweinskopf Sulze ), many are put off by the thought of eating pig’s head, although it contains without doubt the best parts of the pig, such as the snout, ears, tongue and, best of all, the cheeks. So here is the “tamer” version , “Schweine Sulze “, made entirely from the shoulder of the pig with no head or feet in sight. However, while the taste is the same, it lack’s some of the wonderful texture you get by using the head and / or feet. I did not omit the head because I don’t like it, but rather because for some strange reason I was not able to find a pig’s head in any shop around here for nearly six weeks. Not even pig’s feet, which make a great substitute for the head. Now they are available again in the neighborhood. Go figure.
Thank you Lord ! (And You, dear pigs 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Pork shoulder, excess fat removed, diced
Chicken stock,
Carrots, finely sliced
Banana peppers, pickled, sliced
Eggs, hard boiled, sliced
Scallions, sliced
Radishes, finely sliced
Dill pickles, cubed
Onion, sliced
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
White wine vinegar,
Garlic paste,
Gelatine, powdered

Method :

Simmer diced pork and carrots in seasoned chicken stock. Simmer until very tender, but not falling apart. Add vegetables, bring to a simmer and remove from heat at once. Take a bit of the hot stock to dissolve the gelatin. Return to the stock, add vinegar and adjust seasoning. Keep in mind that once the aspic has cooled and solidified, the seasoning will have nearly disappeared. So make sure that you “over season “a bit , especially with the vinegar, to compensate for this effect. Place meat into serving dish or mold, top with sliced eggs and ladle stock and vegetables to cover. Place into refrigerator and let set. When the top has solidified, add some more stock to completely cover the meat, eggs and vegetables. Let set overnight. Serve with sauce gribiche or a vinaigrette with lots of onions and sautéed potatoes or a rustic bread. Cold milk will not do as accompaniment to this beauty, I recommend a good beer (or two 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Prost !
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