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October 07, 2005
VOTE HERE for FF4 Interpreted Recipe Submissions
(Photo of FF4 entries, my entry bottom right not eligible, of course.)
Update: VOTING CLOSED- The winner will be announced Monday morning.
The voting is still open for the best FF4- Interpreted recipe submitted, until this evening. Will Paul hold on to his lead??
Please take a few minutes to look at all the entries here before you vote, because the way the post was written should be important, too. I have to say, I get quite a kick out of seeing them all in one picture, great job all!
Again, unlike previous Food Fights, I've decided that anyone reading can vote. I set the poll up so you can vote once a day, but PLEASE, no stuffing the ballot box!!!! I'm not saying that I'm closely monitoring IP addresses, but...
Voting will be up until sometime Friday evening, October 7th. Good luck!!!
The ballot is below the fold.
BTW, I have no idea why there is such a large gap between the post and the poll. Anybody have a clue??
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:30 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
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September 13, 2005
Food Fight #4- Recipe "Assignments"
Okay, the recipes are in! As you may remember, the theme of this Food Fight is "Recipe Grab Bag", and the first phase of this is complete. Once this contest is over, everybody reading gets to vote on a winner of the best recipe/technique submitted and in the style that it was presented as well as on the interpreted dish. You might want to take a minute to follow the link above to read the original post, just to refresh your memory. Naturally, my submission and my interpreted dish aren't eligible.
To 'assign' recipes, I put them in a database in the order that they came in and arbitrarily picked a number to shift them down. Here's what I came up with:
Food Fight #4 Recipe 'Assignments'
Shauna- MC's "Northwest Salmon with a Twist"
Paul- Megan's "Su Dong Po Pork"
Ana- Shauna's "Grilled Cheese with Amaranth leaves and Blackberry Sauce"
Diana- Paul's "Puffy Corn Omelet"
TPC- Ana's "Salad with Homemade Falafel and Pita Bread"
Matt- Diana's "Everyman's Edible Slider w/homemade Chili Sauce"
MC- TPC's "Gumbo with chicken, sausage and shrimp"
Megan- Matt's "Melonhead's Venison Salad"
Have at it! If anyone has a problem with an ingredient, change it! Try to respect at least the spirit of the recipe but feel free to make it your own by adding your unique twist. Email me with your finished recipe and picture, and any questions on the recipe you've been given.
Can we have all the recipes in by Monday, the 26th? That gives us two full weekends to get our dishes done. Comments? Problems? Clarifications? Please let me know.
Remember, both winners will get a tin of Survival Spice™, a DIF T-shirt, and a bottle of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Vergine di Olive, the organic olive oil that was rated as one of the 7 best olive oils in the world by Taste magazine.
Go for it, and Good Luck!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:55 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
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September 12, 2005
Megan's Su Dong Po Pork
Our last entry to Food Fight #4 is a doozy! Meg from I heart bacon has entered a pork dish called Su Dong Po Pork. Featuring a terrific marinade and a double cooked technique, I'm really curious to try it. She served it with brown rice and sauteed long beans with chili peppers and pine nuts. Wow.
Her original post, along with pictures, is here. The recipe can also be found on her terrific recipe site here. I'd love to try it with a pork shoulder, or maybe use the pork belly and tea-smoke it for a while as well.
All of these entries have been terrific. You can find them all in the FF4- Original category.
Megan's Su Dong Po Pork
The original recipe calls for pork belly, but it can be a little rich. Pork shoulder makes a good substitute.
3 pound pork shoulder roast (OR fresh pork belly with rind on)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons dry sherry
6 tablespoons soy sauce
7 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 green onions, sliced into one inch lengths
4 thick slices of ginger, peeled
2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water
1. Rub pork all over with salt and refrigerate for two hours. Wipe pork clean of any liquid. (If using pork belly, it must first be boiled to remove 'scum'; place pork belly in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes, skimming constantly. Drain and rinse well.)
2. Place pork, fat or rind side up, in an ovenproof casserole dish. Mix together sherry, soy, water and sugar and pour over pork. Add green onions and ginger.
3. Slowly bring mixture to a boil then cover tightly, reduce heat and simmer very gently for two hours. At this stage, you can cool the pork and refrigerate overnight (very helpful if using fatty pork belly).
4. Skim off all fat and then place pork, skin/fat side down, in a heatproof bowl that will fit inside a steamer. Cover bowl tightly with foil and then place in steamer over simmering water. Steam for two to three hours, checking water occasionally so it doesn't boil dry.
5. The pork will be very soft, so gently turn it over and serve skin side up. Strain sauce into a saucepan (de-fat if necessary) and bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with water and add to the sauce, stirring briskly. Pour sauce over the pork and serve with lots of rice.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 12:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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MC's Northwest Salmon with a Twist
MC has sent in a cool combination of flavors, a great piece of Pacific salmon with a citrus-Creole seasoning, accompanied by some grilled sausages, corn and sauerkraut with some cool cantelope. Great, simple flavors well executed, which as you well know by now, I'm all over that. MC's entry is another example of how variations there are to grilling, as long as you follow the basic guidelines.
We do have to work on his choice of seasonings, though... :©)
Recipe and more pics in the extended entry.
MC's Northwest Salmon with a Twist
To honor back home Louisiana cookin', I offer grilled Northwest salmon - with a twist.
To start, invite some friends over. 'Cause this is going to be good eatin'.
Serves 4-5 (or 3 if you have my neighbor Pete and me at the same meal, that'd go for TPC and me too I think ... this recipe easily doubles or triples for a bigger party.)
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2 lbs Silver, Coho, or King Salmon filet (I'm talking fresh Northwest critters here - farm raised won't work - if you want to get the right stuff and you don't live in the NW, order it from Pike Place Fish. I've sent salmon all over the country from this place and it is first rate - you can probably get it for less (depending on shipping) from here than you'd pay at the high end market in town. Salmon freezes well but use fresh for this recipe.)
1 large lime
1 large lemon
1 Shaker, Konriko Creole Seasoning (Sorry Scott! I suspect that Survival Spice might work as well - but we gotta have the kick!) - this stuff has an unusual property: the first taste is like fire, but almost everyone gets immediately accustomed to it and the kick is not overpowering. [TPC adds: Anybody want to weigh in on the benefits of Survival Spice™ on salmon??]
5-6 Andouille sausages (or your favorite brat - most anything will work)
3-6 Ears of corn on the cob
At least 2 sticks of butter
1 large cantalope
Optional: Jar of Farhmans Sauer Kraut, with a pinch of rye and fennel seed.
Chilled filtered water (or San Pelligrino if you want to be more stylish. TPC will instantly know which wines would work well with this offering). [TPC adds: Hmmm, lots of ways to go with this- I'd try a Gerwurztraminer if you're thinking white or a Pinot Noir for a red, lots of good versions of both in your neck of the woods...)
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This is simple, but hearty fare. Start by placing the salmon filet skin side down in your favorite marinate dish - I use a glass 13 x 9 baking dish. If necessary cut the filet in two to fit. Cut the lemon and the lime in half and squeeze all of the juice from them onto the salmon. Liberally sprinkle (OK, I shake a pretty good amount) of the creole seasoning onto the salmon. Rest the lemon and lime halves on top of the salmon. Leave uncovered for 30-45 minutes. (The lemon and lime juice actually begins to cook the salmon - like ceviche - so you don't want a really long marinate time).
While the salmon marinates, take a strip of aluminum foil and place a shucked ear of corn in the strip. The aluminum foil should be a large enough piece to wrap the corn about 3 times. Inside the aluminum foil with the corn put at least a tablespoon of butter - 2 tablespoons isn't too much. And sprinkle liberally with the creole seasoning.
Cut the cantalope length-wise into eighths. Using a sharp fruit knife, trim the fruit from the rind - chill.
Get all your grilling gear together and take the corn, salmon, sausages and kraut out to the grill.
I preheat the grill to 350-400 degrees which is about medium-high on mine.
Put the corn around the edges of the rack to get it started.
On the side burner, using a large saucepan, I put in the kraut and a pinch of fennel seed and rye seed. Sprinkle the kraut with the creole seasoning (season lightly because the kraut is already salty.) Put on medium heat.
I use a 'fish grate' in my grill - it helps my manage 'skinning' the fish and generally helps me to keep the fish together so it doesn't break up and fall through the normal grates. It goes in the grill to get preheated also.
Throw the sausages on the grill around the grate.
The fish goes on the grate skin side down. I cook it for 5 or six minutes - long enough for the skin to get pretty crunchy and burned. You know it's right when you turn it over and the skin comes off in one nice crunchy piece - discard. I use a stainless spatula and after turning the fish will trim the filet a little more of the skin backing - the idea here is to infuse the lemon, lime, and spice as much as possible. After the turn, pour or ladle the juice from the marinate dish onto the skin side of the fish and sprinkle on some more of the creole seasoning.
Once the sausages have browned, throw them into the saucepan with the kraut. Turn the corn at regular intervals.
I usually turn the fish twice more - it will cook in about 10 minutes - maybe more than 15 if you are using a really oily dense salmon like King. I look for the fat to emerge from the meat - it's white and oily - when that happens you are about one minute from being done on the thin parts of the filet. At that point I will usually break up the thick part of the filet from the thin using the spatula and begin to transfer the thin parts to the serving platter.
For an added touch - kick it up a notch! - take two or three of the sausages and put them on top of the salmon at the last.
Ready to serve!
After you've cleared the fish and the grate from the grill, place the corn in the middle of the grill, close up the grill and crank it up to high. Finish off the corn in about one or two minutes - you may open up the grill and roll the corn around a bit if you'd like.
I like to get the edges of the corn a bit carmelized and the butter nicely broiled. Should look about like the picture.
Commence to eating!
You might wonder about the sausage addition. If you've had home cooking in Louisiana you know already that you get sausage with just about everything. If you're from the Northwest and you haven't tried it before, you will be amazed at how good salmon and sausage are together (and it's not too much of an adventure to try the spicy kraut as well). Some folks like to have a serving of fish and then a serving of sausage. The cantalope serves as a good palate cleanser in that case.
Enjoy!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:17 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
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September 09, 2005
Food Fight #4- Last call, and Matt's "Melonhead's Venison Salad"
I know a few of you that had indicated that you wanted to submit recipes haven't yet, so if you come up with something over the weekend, email it here. Monday I'll put the recipes in a hat, and we'll get cooking! The recipes submitted so far are here, in the FF4- Original category.
The latest entry comes from Matt, who sent in a really interesting venison dish. Sadly, no picture because it's not deer season yet. It's a venison tenderloin with an Oriental twist:
Slice Venison tenderloins into 1/4 thick medallions. Rub with olive oyl then sear. Add whatever variety of hot sauce or peppers suits your fancy. I prefer roasted jalapeno for the flavor. simmer a little then stir in a pinch of garlic, sesame seed and a couple huge spoons of peanut butter. When meat is done, serve over lettuce and garnish with mandarin oranges.
Wow, I've never done this kind of treatment with venison, I'd like to try it. No specific quantities of ingredients, but you get the idea, I hope.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 01:56 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
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Gumbo with chicken, sausage and shrimp
(Photo: Mary, of TPC's version of Matt and Jerry's Mississippi gumbo)
I'm submitting a recipe this time, not for judging, but as a tip of the hat to New Orleans and Mississippi, and I thought it would be fun for someone to make.
I love gumbo, and there at least as many ways to make it as there are cooks. This technique comes from my friends Matt and Jerry, both from the Biloxi/Ocean Springs part of Mississippi. Even they make it a million different ways, too, but this is my way of smashing their techniques together.
Every gumbo has a roux at its base, usually made from oil and flour. This roux is cooked together first, and the color can end up anywhere from a light golden to very nearly black. This acts as part of the thickener and is what differentiates a gumbo from a soup. Remember, a dark roux will not thicken as well as a light one, so you'll need more of it.
Gumbos also thicken by the addition of either okra or filé powder. I love okra, but left it out of this gumbo at the request of those who were going to eat it with me, sadly. Filé (feelay) powder is ground sassafras root and thickens a gumbo nicely, but used it properly. You add it at the very end of cooking, off the heat. Stir it in and wait 10 minutes. Warning: Don't add it to the pot if you're not going to eat it all in one sitting. If you boil filé, it can get stringy, you're better off just adding a bit to each bowl as you dish it up, stirring it in well.
In the spirit of Food Fight, I've made this with simple, inexpensive ingredients but this technique can be embellished with any type of seafood including fish, oysters, mussels, clams, crawfish and prawns. If you're making a seafood gumbo, I would substitute some of the chicken stock for fish stock or clam juice. Andouille sausage is great if you can find it.
Jerry and Matt serve this gumbo over rice with a scoop of potato salad in the bowl as well, which I'd never seen before.
The recipe is in the extended entry.
The Pragmatic Chef's Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo
(with a humble bow to Matt and Jerry)
1/2 to 3/4 C flour (depending on how dark of a roux you're planning to make, see above)
1/2 to 3/4 C oil (light olive, canola, corn, anything but extra virgin OO because of its low smoking point.)
1 whole chicken, roasted, meat pulled off the bone (you should make the stock with the carcass)
1 # Hot Smoked Sausage (I used Hillshire Farms this time) Smoked and cooked is important, spicy is good
1 # shrimp (raw 31 -40 count preferred, but use what you have)
1 Quart of good chicken stock* (homemade is of course, best)
2 bottles of beer, (one for you and one for the pot)
Water, as needed
Long grain rice, make seperately.
These veggies are for the finished gumbo only, if you're making stock, get more:
1 bell pepper, small dice, green is traditional, I like red myself.
1 large onion, medium dice
1 bunch of green onions, bias cut (keep about 1/3 of them for garnish)
3 or 4 ribs of celery, small dice
6 -8 cloves garlic, small dice
1 package of frozen okra, thawed (optional)
2 bay leaves
Dry thyme
Worcestershire sauce
Hot sauce
Ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper, TT (optional)
Filé powder (optional)
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Prep is important in making gumbo. Once you start your roux, you MUST have your veggies and sausage chopped, because you'll add these to the roux to stop the cooking process and keep it from burning.
Chop your veggies and slice the sausage into rounds about 1/4" thick.
In a heavy-bottom pot, cast iron is great but it's a bit hard to see how dark your roux is, get your oil heating up. Once it's hot, add your flour. Cook over medium to low heat, and take your time with the first one. Caution- this stuff will burn you badly, don't get crazy with it! You need to pay attention to your roux, stir it constantly with a wooden spoon, high temperature spatula, or a whisk. It will smell like butter cookies, then popcorn. When it starts to smell like overdone popcorn and turns golden brown, it's a matter of taste from there. Dark rouxs are fantastic, but an acquired taste for most.
Once your roux is cooked, turn the heat off. CAREFULLY add the sausage and veggies. The water from the veggies will tend to spatter when it hits the oil, so back off a bit. Stir it all in until you've got it under control, then turn the heat back on and sweat the veggies and render a bit of the fat out of the sausage.
Once your veggies are getting tender, add the chicken stock and a bottle of beer. Bring it up to the simmer, make sure the roux is well incorporated, then add the okra if you're using it. As the okra cooks, it will thicken the gumbo and lose the gummy quality a lot of people don't like about it.
Simmer this for 45 minutes or so, then add your cooked chicken. This is also a good time to get your rice going. Season your gumbo with the Worcestershire sauce, plenty o' hot sauce, some dry thyme and plenty of black pepper. Simmer another 20 minutes or half an hour, then add your shrimp and give it another 15 minutes.
If you're using filé powder, now's the time to add a few teaspoons of it, noting my caution above. Serve over rice with extra hot sauce and crusty bread on the side, garnishing with the reserved chopped green onions.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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*I'll just briefly touch on how I make the chicken stock for this. After roasting a chicken, I take the meat off the bone and stick the bones on a sheet pan in the oven to brown them WELL. Don't skip this step. After your bones are well-browned. cover them with cold water in a stock pot and add a carrot, onion, some celery, garlic, dry thyme, black pepper, parsley, and a few bay leaves. Simmer gently for 4 or 5 hours, don't boil the heck out of it! Strain well once it's done. Good to do the night before, if you can.
I do not recommend just boiling a chicken to make stock, because the chicken meat generally will have no flavor at the end of the process.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:36 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
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September 07, 2005
Diana's Everyman's Edible Slider w/homemade Chili Sauce
(Photo: Diana's Everyman's Edible Slider w/homemade Chili Sauce)
Wow, Major John should have been so lucky! Diana has submitted an over the top take on what could be an ordinary meal- a simple burger, but made with beef tenderloin, blue cheese, sauteéd onions, and to really gild the lily, a homemade chili sauce that I can't wait to make.
I've said this a lot, but the best home cooking is all about great, simple elements smashed together. Diana's terrific recipes are below the fold.
Diana's Everyman's Edible Slider (makes 6)
I'd give it a 1 for pretty easy.
12 oz. finely chopped beef tenderloin
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, finely chopped.
S & P to taste
Mix well ... makes 6 small beef patties. Grill not more than 1 minute each side.
1 white onion, thinly sliced
Sweat the onions with a pat of butter over low heat. Don't burn 'em!
1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese (divide in 6 portions)
6 small dinner rolls
Assemble meat pattie, onions, dollop of blue cheese in a bun.
And the coup de grace...
'Tis the season ...... this is #1 Easy (prep time about 1/2 hour, cooking - 15 minutes!)
Diana's 15 minute Chili Sauce (makes about 3 pints) [better than Heinz]
3 quarts ripe tomatoes (6 lbs.)
2 cups finely chopped onions
1/4 cup coarse pickling salt
2 cups white sugar
2 cups white or cider vinegar
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed (or 1 tablespoon powder) [I always use seed]
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (or, whatever)
Scald & peel tomatoes & chop finely; combine tomatoes, onions and salt; let stand 2 hours; drain off juice very thoroughly (may be used in soups or stews).
In a large saucepan, combine drained vegetables with remaining ingredients; bring to a boil & cook uncovered 15 minutes or to desired consistency. Pour into hot sterile jars & seal. [I just cool & put in freezable containers 'til needed]
Slide!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
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September 06, 2005
Ana's Salad with Homemade Falafel and Pita Bread
(Photo: Ana's Salad with Homemade Falafel and Pita Bread)
I've got more entries to post, with everything going on I'll keep the contest open until Friday, just let me know if you're working on something. Email your picture and recipe here.
Ana kicks ass. Her entry shows off her homemade falafel, and though there's no pita in the picture she sent, she's included her favorite pita bread recipe as a bonus. I guess if I was a runner like Ana, I could eat falafel and pita in the same meal, too!
Her recipes for falafel and pita bread are below the fold.
Ana's Falafel
150 grams (3/4 cup) dry garbanzo beans, soaked, cooked tender, mashed (this is about two cups of canned beans)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 C finely diced onion
2 t dried parsley
3/4 t kosher salt
1 clove garlic, pressed
1T AP flour
1/4-1/2 t ground cumin (depends on how much you like cumin)
ground pepper to taste
1/2 C AP flour for coating the falafel
oil for frying
Mix first nine ingredients. Put in the refrigerator for half an hour to allow the flour to take up the extra liquid and make a more cohesive mixture.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. You're actually just frying them, not submerging them so the oil should be about a centimeter deep.
Using your hands or a small cookie-dough scoop make small balls of falafel (about a heaping tablespoon) and dreadge them in flour. Work gently as they will fall apart. Place the falafel in the oil and pat them down gently so they are about the size of a small peppermint patty. Turn the patties after 2-3 minutes depending on how dark you want them. I like mine golden, not brown. Drain them on paper towels or brown paper. Salt as desired. (I tried just adding the salt to the recipe, but fried foods just have an affinity for salt on the outside.)
This makes about 15 little falafels. These are very tender and if you're used to boxed falafel, they are very fresh tasting.
They really are best with home-made pita bread which takes no effort whatsoever. And once you try it you'll never look back. Try. It. I like them with shredded carrot, cucumber rounds, baby greens, and a 50-50 plain yogurt-sour cream mixture. It would also be good with a little tahini.
Pita Bread (from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion)
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) AP flour
2 t instant yeast (if you use regular yeast, mix it with the water and sugar, let it melt and proof, then mix it with the other ingredients)
2 t sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 cup water
2 T (7/8 ounce) vegetable oil
Mix all ingredients, making a shaggy dough. Knead by hand until the dough is smooth (10 minutes). Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest for an hour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into eight pieces. Roll them into 6-inch circles. This is important. The circles should be a little less than a centimeter thick so they'll puff up. Too thin and they'll just burn. Place the circles (probably just two of them if you've got conventional sized cookie sheets) on a lightly greased baking sheet (also important) and let them rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees--important that it's fully preheated. Place the baking sheet in the lowest rack in the oven and bake the pitas until they puff up. Once they puff, transfer the baking sheet to the middle-to-top rack and bake for 2 minutes more. Remove them from the oven and wrap them in a clean dish towel. Repeat the process with the remaining dough circles.
Try to wait for the falafel to eat the pitas. Leftover pitas are great for breakfast sandwiches--scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon are my favorite. (Egg beaters, that skinny microwave bacon, and cheese are a less-rich but satisfying alternative.)
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:56 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
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August 31, 2005
Food Fight submission- Puffy Corn Omelet
(Photo:Gourmet Magazine- Puffy Corn Omelet)
Sorry to take so long to get this posted, but lots going on at Desert Island Foods™.com, and life in general.
Paul "Chile" Brown has submitted a recipe he found in Gourmet magazine called a Puffy Corn Omelet that I don't have a link for yet. Paul is also a recent runner up from Food Fight #3:
This recipe is from Gourmet Magazine. I liked it because the ingredients are few and simple. Right now corn is the bomb. I want to make this recipe with my Homemade bacon. I saw a recipe that you use this cure on Pork Butt for 10 days. You rinse and then smoke to 140 degrees. It is supposed to turn out like a cross between Canadian Bacon and country Ham. We will see. I should be smoking it next Tuesday.Peace, Paul
Paul's heading out on vacation soon, so we probably won't see his version before the contest ends, but you gotta like the idea of adding bacon to just about anything. Right? I have a few more entries to post yet. Keep em coming by emailing them here! See the posts below for rules and guidelines.
Chile's recipe is below the fold.
Paul's PUFFY CORN OMELET
3 Ears of Corn
4 1/2 TBLS Unsalted Butter
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp black pepper
4 Large Eggs (separated)
1 TBLS finely chopped fresh chives
1) Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Add corn to a 4-quart of boiling salted water. Then remove from heat and let stand,covered 10 minutes. Drain and cool enough to handle. Cut the kernels from the cobs with a sharp knife into a bowl. Then scrape cobs over bowl to extract milk.
3) Melt butter in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet. Remove from heat and transfer 3 TBLS melted butter to bowl with corn. (leaving remaining butter in skillet to cool). Toss corn and 1/8 tsp salt and pepper.
4) Whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/8 tsp of pepper and 1/8 tsp salt in a large bowl until combined. Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl using an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold stiff white peaks. Fold one third of whites into yolks to lighten. Then fold in remaining whites gently, but thoroughly. Gently fold in corn mixture.
5) Spoon mixture into skillet and bake until pale golden and set 10 to 12 minutes. Loosen omelet with a heat proof rubber spatula and slide onto a plate. Serve with sprinkled Chives.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
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August 30, 2005
Food Fight #4- The first recipe is in
(Photo: Shauna James, glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com)
Wow, Shauna. The Gluten Free Girl has set the bar high with her "grilled cheese with amaranth leaves and blackberry sauce". The entire post is so informative and entertaining I'd like us all to read it, in order to factor in Shauna's great writing when we vote on the original recipes.
So well done. Stunningly simple flavors smashed together. Wow.
I'm creating two new catagories in the side bar so we can all reference the original and the interpreted recipes easily- FF4- Original and FF4- Interpreted.
Shauna's recipe for the blackberry sauce and her sandwich notes are in the extended entry.
Shauna's "grilled cheese with amaranth leaves and blackberry sauce":
The Sauce:
1/2 pint of fresh blackberries
1/4 cup of water
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup of brown sugar/less of high-quality honey (like the chestnut
from Tuscany)
two teaspoons of cornstarch
pinch of cayenne pepper (for punch)
splash of fig balsamic vinegar
Cook the blackberries and water in a saucepan until the berries are soft and starting to fall apart. Take off the burner and put the blackberries into a sieve. Push through until you have extracted all the liquid. Put the liquid back into the saucepan and bring to heat.
Throw in the lemon juice, the cornstarch, the sweetener of your choice, the chili pepper, and the tiniest splash of balsamic vinegar. Heat until it's thickened, slightly, and you sense it's done.
Immediately spoon over sauteed salmon.
I'm sure it would be good over roasted chicken, or in any kind of sandwich. I even made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with it the day after I made it, and I was happy.
There you go. Try it, if you like. I'm pretty sure it would work with raspberries as well.
The Sandwich:
I toast the bread first, because GF bread can be a little hard to brown. (It's also denser than regular bread, and quite small, about half the size of a regular piece of bread, so this is a condensed sandwich.) I spread the thick blackberry sauce on one side, then piled little slices of gooey brie, some soft goat cheese with herbs made by a local cheese maker, and a half-goat, half-sheep's milk cheese that tastes a little like Havarti, made by the same local cheesemaker.
Add some Chinese spinach (this was quite the find yesterday at the market). Put the other piece of bread on. And then, I just rub a cube of butter over the bread. Because it's already toasted, I use less
butter that way. (Of course, this isn't a low-fat sandwich!)
And then I put it in the sautee pan on medium, and put a souffle dish on top of it to flatten it a bit. (Don't laugh. It was the closest heavy thing.) Eight minutes later, and i had to restrain myself from eating it, because I had to take a picture!
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:40 AM | Comments (5)