texture

Mondongo

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Even if you never had mondongo (tripes, kutteln) before, this variation should help you overcome your resentment easily because it is eye-appealing, tastes mild and best of all, it smells great, which you can’t say of some recipes utilizing tripe. The secret here is to blanch the tripe 3 times in salted, vinegared water, so that the typical smell of tripe has disappeared and you have an odorless piece of offal which should please you with its great taste and unique texture 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Link to more Mondongo Recipes
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All about Tripe
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Mondongo

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Preparation :
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: blanch tripe in salted, vinegared water

: rinse, cut into strips

: blanche 2 more times, drain, rinse

: saute onions, garlic paste and bay leaves in olive oil

: add chicken stock, simmer for 10 minutes

: add heavy cream, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and tripe, simmer for 10 minutes

: add cooked potatoes, corn, chick peas, chives and white beans, simmer another 5 minutes

: add grape tomatoes, check / adjust seasoning

: Mondongo

: Mondongo

: Mondongo

: Mondongo

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Chili/Duck Rice Sticks

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The other day I roasted a whole duck to have for dinner but when it was almost done a friend called me to invite me for dinner, so I put the whole shamuckus in the fridge for the next day to be used. The following dish was the result and I must say – what an extraordinary satisfying result it was, both visual and taste-wise, which just goes to show (again) that sometimes leftovers are better than the original. (Mind you – not alway’s – but often enough)
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chili/Duck Rice Sticks

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Preparation :
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: soak rice sticks in water for five minutes, drain

: remove all bones from duck,, discard bones

: saute slivered garlic in peanut oil until crisp and golden, set aside

: saute sliced onions in peanut oil until caramelized but not crisp, set aside

: pure goodness………

: saute duck in very hot peanut oil until skin is crisp but meat still juicy

: add chilies and grated ginger, saute a few seconds until chilies blister

: add rice sticks, equal parts of hoi sin sauce, chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sweet thai chili sayce and ketchup )don’t scoff on the ketchup, it adds acidity and sweetness as well as richness to the dish

: mix all ingredients well, add a dash of sesame oil, check / adjust seasoning

: add bean sprouts and scallions

: almost there………..

: plate noodles on a deep plate or bowl

: sprinkle with more scallions

: add onions

: sprinkle with crispy garlic

: Chili/Duck Rice Sticks

: Chili/Duck Rice Sticks

: Chili/Duck Rice Sticks

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Chicken In A Nest

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Chicken Salad is probably one of the most abused dishes out there. Ever more complicated and pompous, it has lost its original appeal for me a long time ago in it’s present form which is more likely than not a bunch of mostly outer salad leaves (I call that rabbit food 😦 , some obscure bottled dressing and a few slices of tomato and cucumber – $ 17.50 please! – plus tip and a diet coke or water and you will leave the restaurant with a bill of at least $ 25.00 for a mediocre meal you could prepare at home for a fraction of the price, much faster and most of all – much more delicious, healthy and appetizing !
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chicken In A Nest

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: dress grape tomatoes, baby arugula, romaine hearts and mung bean sprouts in honey mustard vinaigrette

: arrange salad on serving platter

: slice half an avocado, reserve shell

: place avocado shell on salad nest

: saute chicken in very hot peanut oil, add scallions

: add chicken to avocado shell, sprinkle with black sesame seeds

: add avocado slices, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil

: Chicken In A Nest

: Chicken In A Nest

: Chicken In A Nest

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Corned Beef And Cabbage – Happy St Patrick’s Day

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After a week of corned beef almost daily, (I bought too much meat, as usual), I am happy that today St Paddy’s day is finally here, the mountain of corned beef is devoured and we can move on to other goodies. 🙂
However, today’s dish, Corned Beef and Cabbage, has been served in so many different versions that most of it has become just a shadow of its former glory. I hope that I can help resurrect people’s interest in this lovely dish. My version is a simple one, yet pretty to look at and most important, VERY tasty and sumptuous.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Click Here For Corned Beef Recipe
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Corned Beef And Cabbage

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: rainbow potatoes, onions, herb/garlic butter

: saute vegetables in herb/garlic butter

: add beef stock, simmer until potatoes are almost done

: add cabbage

: add corned beef, ladle butter/stock from the bottom of the pan over the meat and cabbage, cover, simmer until cabbage is done, about 15 to 25 minutes, depending on your preference of texture

: plate cabbage and potatoes

: top with beef, ladle stock / butter over the top, sprinkle with scallions

: Corned Beef And Cabbage

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Corned Beef – Getting Ready For St Patrick’s Day

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Here is the deal – you can of course buy corned beef ready-made :-(, – or you can make your own, which in most cases will leave you not only with a far superior product, but also with unbeatable bragging rights 🙂
Usually, you want to brine your brisket for about 10 days (depending on the size), but if you add the beef to a boiling brine, bring it back to a simmer for a few minutes, then cool it down in the brine, your beef should be ready after 4 – 6 day’s, again depending on the size of the brisket. (Cut it into smaller pieces if you are pressed on time, the brine will penetrate faster)
So, two weeks ago I bought 8 lbs of the finest brisket I could find – grass-fed, organic – no added hormones nor added antibiotics. At about $ 10.00 a lb, this was a sizable investment, but judging after the first test, well worth the Mula. Bella agreed, as you can see in the pic below 🙂 Then there was the waiting time for ten days until yesterday, when I cooked the meat for about 2,5 hours, (one more time – cooking time depends on the size of the brisket) and then, finally, corned beef wonderland !
Bella and I had some of it yesterday, the rest will be had for a variety of dishes for the next few days leading up to St Paddy’s day.
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Bon Appetit ! Life Is Good !

Click here for Corned Beef Brine

Please note that I omitted the Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) in the brine of the corned beef. Saltpeter will turn the meat into the bright- red colored corned beef we are normally used to. However, I am trying to stay away from the stuff since my doctor has given me the news that all the medicine I am forced to take has messed up my kidney’s, most notably Metformin. Saltpeter is therefore not an ingredient I should use in my food. On top of that, if you want to use the stock from cooking the corned beef for a soup, you sure don’t want that soup to be laced with saltpeter ! After the corned beef is cooked, you want to strain the stock and reserve for further use for soup and/ or sauce. I will make a Velouté with some of the stock to make a horseradish sauce for my “Corned Beef With Horseradish Sauce And Colcannon“. (Upcoming post).

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to serve, slice into 1’3 inch thick slices

Bella approves 🙂

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: After ten days, remove beef from marinade, discard brine, rinse meat well

: cover meat with cold water, add fresh ground black pepper and garlic paste, simmer until meat is tender but NOT ! falling apart

: meat can be stored in lightly salted water in refrigerator for up to seven days

: to serve, slice into 1’3 inch thick slices

: Bella loves it 🙂

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Red Beet Delight

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Link to : “Hans’ Lighter, Healthier Comfort Food”
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Like most kid’s, when I was little I used to hate vegetables. One of my favorites in the hate department were red beets. Mom used to make a salad with them, so that salad combined the TWO most hated food stuffs – beets and onions :-(.
My Mom used to bribe me sometimes (When my dad didn’t catch it) with 10 pfennig, or about a nickel, to eat the onions, which I otherwise sorted out and pushed to the side 🙂
Of course, things have changed, like so many other Issues ( I went from skinny to fat, from handsome to rugged?, from long-haired to bald and from a vegetable hater to a vegetable lover) 🙂
I have prepared red beet soup for many years, but as it is tradition, I usually included a (un)- healthy dose of heavy cream to lighten the color and to smoothen the texture. Not this time. This beauty is pure red beets, liquefied with vegetable stock and enriched with a topping of steamed broccoli and a bit of Greek yogurt.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Red Beet Delight

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: wash beets thoroughly, reserve leaves for sauteeing

: simmer beets in salted water until soft, drain, peel (reserve beet stock)

: blend with stock (add additional vegetable stock if too thick), season with cayenne pepper, kosher salt and a healthy dose of garlic paste

: pure goodness…….

: garnish soup with steamed broccoli florets and a dollop of greek yogurt

: Red Beet Delight

: Red Beet Delight

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Peperonata & Chicken Parisienne

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Click here to link to “Hans’ Lighter, Healthier Comfort Food”
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Wednesday Dinner – Week Two
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While peperonata (peperonate) is a classic, well established Italian dish, this version is adapted to my personal preference of taste and texture.
I used the traditional olive oil, garlic, onions, tomato paste and basil, but instead of the usual mixture of different-colored bell peppers, I used a variety of chilis with different colors and various levels of spiciness, from sweet to very hot. Also, instead of cooking everything down to a soft mash, I left the vegetables with a bit of a bite to make the texture more pleasant. All in all, a successful, different and modern take of a classical dish 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: blend a/p flour with cayenne pepper, granulated garlic and kosher salt, pat chicken brest dry, dredge in flour mixture

: dip chicken breast in whisked egg

: saute in vegetable oil until golden and crisp

: saute diced white onions, sliced scallions and garlic paste in olive oil, add capsicum of your choice (bell peppers, chilis or combination thereof), add tomato paste, a bit of chicken stock, kosher salt and cayenne pepper, simmer for three minutes,, add fresh basil, check / adjust seasoning

: plate peperonata

: top with chicken parisienne

: Peperonata & Chicken Parisienne

: Peperonata & Chicken Parisienne

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Week Two – Tuesday Dinner

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Grilled ~~Roman~~ Romaine Feast
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Who on earth would object to lighter, healthier food if it comes prepared and presented like this mouth-watering salad ? ! 🙂
The grilled romaine salad is a marvel of taste and texture, just make sure you don’t overcook it on the grill. The outside should have nice grill mark’s, while the heart should still be crispy, Use a strong dressing, so it will not be overpowered by the charred taste of the salad’s outer leaves. As for the other veggies, use whatever you have available and you think will be enhanced by grilling. If smoked salmon is not your thing, use any other protein, grilled, smoked or sautéed.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Grilled Romaine Feast

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: blanch asparagus and carrots in salted water, shock in ice water

: season all vegetables with kosher salt, cayenne pepper and garlic oil, grill until nicely marked and charred to your taste

: nicely going………..

: arrange grilled items on serving platter, drizzle with honey mustard vinaigrette

: drizzle all veggies generously with thai chili sauce, add guacamole and salsa mexicana for dipping

: add smoked salmon, drizzle with lime juice, sprinkle with capers and sliced scallions, top with grated horseradish

: Grilled Romaine Feast

: Grilled Romaine Feast

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Trottole Alla Fortunello

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Although this dish might not look very “light and healthy”, the small portion served makes it as promised – “Hans’ Lighter, Healthier Comfort Food”. (I share the portions pictured with one of my neighbors) 🙂
I have, contrary to classic cooking methods, omitted to saute the coppa ham, prosciutto ham and the salame. I rather love the taste and texture of the protein without sauteing them over piping hot pasta (make sure you slice the coppa, prosciutto and the salame paper-thin), but as usual, if you prefer to saute them, don’t hesitate to do so.

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Trottole Alla Fortunello

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: saute garlic paste in its own oil without browning

: add heavy cream, season with kosher salt, cayenne pepper and nutmeg

: simmer until thickened

: add blanched edamame and sweet corn, simmer one more minute

: add finely grated parmigiano reggiano

: plate pasta / vegetables

: top with paper-thin sliced salame

: add coppa ham, salame and prosciutto

: sprinkle with finely grated parmigiano reggiano and italian parsley

: Trottole Alla Fortunello

: Trottole Alla Fortunello

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Steamed Cod Filet With Red Beet Risotto And Sugar Peas

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Risotto is such a delicious, easy preparation of rice that I am amazed it does not show up more frequently in homes and restaurants. Maybe because it has a stigma of being difficult to prepare and labor intensive, which is far from being the truth. While it does take time to prep and simmer for ca 25 minutes while stirring constantly, it might be called tedious but hardly labor intensive. It also has the advantage of being the perfect dish for a dinner party if done by the “restaurant method” – cooking the risotto about 2/3’s and then cooling off, later finishing the cooking process for just a few more minutes right before service time. (That’s how you get your risotto served on time in restaurants, otherwise too much time would pass from the time you order to the time you get served). Just remember to have the texture of your risotto slightly more liquid when you remove it from the stove top then you actually prefer the risotto when eating it, since the rice will continue to cook and absorb liquid between the time you stop cooking and the time you’ll have your first spoonful.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Steamed Cod Filet With Red Beet Risotto And Peas

Bella say’s : Let’s dig in…

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Preparation :
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season cod with kosher salt and white pepper, steam covered very slowly in butter and white wine, when cooked about halfway, set aside on a warm plate to slowly cook through