Drizzled lovingly with TIbvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva and baked in a convection oven. The potatoes were red potatos, it's the oil that gave them the beautiful yellow color, they almost look like Yukons, I think.
I roasted off a chicken to go with them. I actually have been cooking, but it's been the "same old stuff". Though it's awfully good stuff...
I've been fooling around a lot with Indian food lately, and out of all the curries I've dabbled with so far, this was my favorite. The base of this dish was a hot curry paste that's added to the skillet after the eggplant, onions and chicken were browned individually.
The paste sauteed until the the smell was driving me crazy, then I added a can of diced tomatoes and some water. I let it simmer for about 15 minutes, then added everything back in. It simmered for about half an hour while I made some basmati rice.
The plating was uber simple- just a good scoop of rice, the curry, and topped off with some cilantro and toasted sesame seeds.
Dang. I think there's leftovers.
This was the dish I alluded to in my "Wokking the Plank" post last week, using more of the ingredients I picked up at Lee Lee Oriental Market recently. I picked up some baby bok choy and some baby eggplant that looked good, and some larger scallions. I made some homemade teriyaki sauce, using only half the sugar to marinate the salmon.
Once the salmon was under the broiler I added the remaining sugar to the marinade and reduced it by about 30%. I stir fried the eggplant first in some peanut oil to get a good color on it, then put it aside while I did the bok choy. I added the eggplant back, tossed in the scallions, then added a bit of the sauce to give it a nice color.
I topped it with some toasted sesame seeds after I took the picture, and we feasted until we couldn't eat any more. Good, good stuff.
I don't take a lot of artsy type of pictures, but I thought this one was worth sharing. Julie called it 'walking the plank', and of course I had to make a pun out of it.
What's in the wok? Some Chinese veggies that were in a dish I made last night that I'll post next week.
Stay tuned!
I spent yesterday morning at the Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket that opened this year out in Peoria, AZ with some friends. There's also one down in Chandler across the street from the legendary C-Fu Gourmet dim sum restaurant we used to go to on Sunday mornings when I was in culinary school, but this is quite a bit closer.
It's a huge place, and I had a pantry that had been sorely depleted of Oriental staples, but holy crap! Long, long aisles- one each for Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese staples, plus a great selection of Asian produce, fresh and frozen fish, and meats. A few places to eat as well inside, but my friends and I were too busy gawking at all the merchandise to feel hungry.
I grabbed a bunch of stuff, and I was thrilled with being able to find the same brands of condiments I used to buy in L.A. when I used to make sushi every Sunday night with some equally fanatical friends. Good times, good times...
I made a few veggie sushi rolls and broiled some halibut with ponzu sauce, scallions and fresh ginger that I'll post tomorrow, but the rolls I made last night were every bit as good as anything I've ever had in a restaurant, and I'm a sushi snob from way back. Our su-meshi (sushi rice) came out perfectly, and it's not as easy as it might sound, especially since I've mangled more rice than I like to admit. The trick is, of course, is to leave it alone, which I have a hard time with. Once you add the sou (rice vinegar/sugar/salt) mixture, it's important to mix it carefully with a wet wooden spatula while fanning the rice, so that it has the right amount of stickiness, and to give it a beautiful shine.
I prepped lots of cucumber, avocado, scallions, toasted sesame seeds, and made some wasabi while the rice was cooling. It sounds like a lot of work, but the toughest thing is just keeping your pantry stocked.
I've got lots of other stuff to make this week, but so far so good!
I've really gotten to appreciate what grilling does for vegetables. I've been a big proponent of grilling meat for a long time, roasting lots of peppers and ears of corn, but being married to a vegetarian by preference, and a reluctant carnivore, it's broadened my repertoire of veggie dishes considerably.
We've been grilling sweet potatoes for a few years now, so this year in lieu of my beloved mashed potatoes and stuffing we opted for something healthier. I sliced a sweet potato, a butternut squash which I then peeled with a vegetable peeler. I also added half an onion and most of a head of garlic.
Once I had the first round of charcoal hot, I carmelized everything:
Unfortunately, my indirect setup for the turkey wasn't going to do the trick, so I placed the garlic on the fire, and brushed most of the coals directly underneath the veggies.
Once the had some great color and were starting to soften, I brought everything inside, chopped everything, added lots of toasted pine nuts, and finished it in the oven, adding a bit of butter and some chopped parsley.
It was a really great dish, and tasted just great with the Butterflied Smoked Turkey.
I'm a sucker for potatoes in just about any form, but Potatoes O'Brien is right up there for me. Take your time with them, and if you're in a hurry you can microwave the potatoes a bit before you add them to your skillet. I like to use our Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, with a mixture of baby yellow and red bell peppers and red onion. I seasoned them up with a bit of Survival Spice® and let them get nice and tender.
Great with just about anything, from eggs to steak! I could eat a bowl by themselves.
Here's the guacamole I made for the basa tacos we had recently. I know, everybody's got their own way of making guac, and everybody's technique is the 'traditional' way, but as long as you've got smashed up avocado and anything else, you've got guacamole.
I like a rustic presentation myself- diced in large enough pieces so you can see what you're getting. Avocados, small diced red onion, a concassed (box cut to eliminate the seeds and watery innards) tomato, though I don't bother to peel them; minced jalapeno, and lots of cilantro are my base. For quick flavoring I add some tomatillo salsa, otherwise I frequently reach for the Survival Spice®, which adds a ton of flavor, and is handy when you don't have a jalapeno handy or if you're making it at a friend's house when you don't feel like raiding their pantry. I would hope you would have given them a tin of Survival Spice®! Friends don't let friends eat boring food.
Cook something good over the weekend? Email me a few pictures!
In an ongoing effort to "take care of ourselves", whatever that means, we've been eating more vegetarian dishes lately. To most people who have tried tofu, most think of it as a large pencil eraser in terms of a flavor profile, but it certainly doesn't have to be that way.
My technique for our weekly tofu night is still evolving, but lately a few days before we're going to eat it I've been slicing a package of extra firm tofu in half, then gently pressing as much moisture as I can. I rub all sides generously with our Survival Spice® barbecue rub, then put it in the fridge for a day or so.
The morning I'm going to grill it I slap together a simple of marinade of soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, which to me gives a more 'meaty' flavor, and Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgine di Oliva; turning the tofu slices a few times to marinate them evenly.
Though it will never top some of the meat dishes I've featured here over the years I have to say, it tastes great!
Unfortunately these days, it would seem, on the rare evening that I get to cook anything at home, my focus is more on words like 'simple', 'easy', and 'quick' than my old goals of 'astounding' and 'unforgettable', but the news isn't all bad. Indeed, as I do everything I can to minimize prep time and shopping hassles I'm rediscovering how good simple meals can be.
For this no-hassle oven fried chicken I replaced a traditional breading station like the one at the link with a zip-loc bag. The basic steps were the same, but simpler- for a change I started with some organic chicken breasts and some Tabasco sauce in the bag, coated them, hit it with some more Tabasco, then added a mixture of flour and Survival Spice®, tossing it well to coat it fairly evenly. I didn't use bread crumbs because, well, I didn't have any on hand and easy was the point here, remember?
I prepped some red potatoes, tossing them with kosher salt, Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, cracked black pepper and some dried rosemary and put it all in to roast. While the chicken and potatoes were roasted, I trimmed up some asparagus, coating it with some more of the amazing olive oil, and with about 10 minutes to go I popped them in the same cast iron skillet with the potatoes and gave everything, including the chicken, a good squeeze of lemon juice, which really makes all the flavors pop.
Two cast iron skillets, one EZ-Hook®, and a one quart Ziploc® bag. Simple. And really, really good.
