Scrumptious Eats

January 16, 2020–The spouse of my good friend KSR always has extra venison and duck from his hunting trips. I normally make meatballs with the ground venison but since it is winter I decided I would do a chili instead. Although it is 3 meats there were actually four since I also made a combined venison/ground beef mixture. This is your basic chili recipe: onions, peppers, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, and minced garlic.

The meats…ground venison, ground beef, and ground turkey,

I combined all of the dry ingredients and mixed half of the ground beef and venison.

• 

• 

In a separate bowl I combined fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies and some green chilis.

Sauté the onions, peppers, and spices until softened.

• 

• 

Everything goes pretty fast at this point so I set up my mise en place.

Once the vegetables were soft, I cooked the meats, breaking up the clumps with a spoon, until there was no pink. To the meat mixture I added drained kidney beans.

• 

• 

Next came the tomato mixture, tomato puree, and a couple of guajillo chilis that I had laying around. Bring everything to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes.

• 

• 

Remove the lid and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with your preferred toppings. I like cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions.

January 12, 2020–So I received a bottle of red wine that actually tasted more like grape juice. In my infancy of drinking I probably would have enjoyed this particular bottle but my palate has slightly increased. While looking for ideas of what to do with the wine I ran across a few recipes that used red wine in place of some of the water when cooking pasta. You basically cook the pasta in a 3 to 1 ratio of wine to water. Once the pasta is done, you drain it and reserve about a 1/4 cup of the liquid.

A few minutes before the pasta is done, you sauce some grated garlic and chili flakes. Once you smell the garlic, deglaze it with the reserved liquid and add the pasta.

Enjoy. There is also another variation from Bon Appétit that sounds tasty.

January 11, 2020–I said I was going to start eating healthier in the new year. As if a sign from the food gods I say this recipe on the Food & Wine website. All of the ingredients looked health. I never use all of the celery in a bunch so I did not add it to the dish. I also added some white mushrooms and peppers (not pictured) because I thought they would add some additional flavor and color.

In a large pot, add the farro, carrots, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the farro by 1 inch. Bring everything to a simmer over high heat, reduce the heat to moderate, and cook until the farro is tender but chewy. Drain, discard the solids, and spread the farro on a rimmed baking sheet to cool.

While the farro is cooling fry the cauliflower until it is crispy.

VCB received a Jamon Iberico de Bellota for Christmas so I decided to replace the prosciutto with some Jamon.

• 

• 

• 

Jamon Iberico de Bellota is traditionally sliced very thin but since I wanted some texture we sliced it on the thicker side.

After dicing the jamon I prepped the remainder of the ingredients.

In one bowl I combined the sautéed mushrooms and peppers. To the cooled farro, I added the cauliflower, jamon, olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs.

• 

• 

I thought it need some more crunch so I added some toasted, chopped pecans. Season with some salt and pepper. Bon Appetite!

December 2, 2019–I was starting to feel a nip in the air so knew it was time to return soup to my life. Having lived in warm environments for the past four years (GTMO and Miami) I missed out on the pleasures of a warm bowl of soup or bisque. I’ve made this soup before but for some reason never added it to the blog. As with most of my cooking I went to one of my trusty ATK cookbooks. This particular recipe is from their 2011-2015 TV Show Cookbook. Although there are a lot of steps, everyone adds a depth of flavor.

You first need to drain and deseed your tomatoes. Reserve the juice since you will use it later. Line a baking sheet with foil, spread the tomatoes on top, then sprinkle them with brown sugar. Roasting the tomatoes in the a 350 degree oven will evaporate the liquid and concentrate the flavor while the sugar will promote caramelization.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

While the tomatoes are roasting, dice your shallots. In a large Dutch oven melt the butter with the allspice. Once melted add the shallots and tomato paste. When the shallots are soft, add the flour, and cook until everything is well combined.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, the reserved tomato juice, and roasted tomatoes. Cover, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to low then cook for about 10 minutes.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Drain the mixture reserving the liquids. Add the solids to a blender with about a cup of the liquid. Puree until smooth.

• 

• 

• 

Return the pureed mixture and remaining liquid to the Dutch oven; stirring to combine.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Combine your brandy or dry sherry and heavy cream.

Gradually add this mixture to the soup, stirring to combine.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste. I normally make a pretty big batch because it freezes well and tastes awesome.

Enjoy alone or with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich!

November 15, 2019–“Timing is everything.” It is amazing how that phrase fits in so many different situations. I wanted to cook a meal for my birthday weekend in the Shenandoah Valley. It had to be something that could feed 12 people while also being hands-off. This preparation did not necessarily completely fit the hands-off criteria but it sounded amazing. The recipe was published in the November-December 2019 issue of Milk Street.

The part that took the longest was breaking down the boneless pork shoulder into 2-inch chunks. This process was further extended by cooking each chunk until all sides were browned. Although the recipe says that you only need to cook about three-quarters of the pork I cooked it all. I can say that the effort of cooking all of the pork definitely paid off.

• 

• 

• 

In the Dutch oven that you browned the meat in, you add the onions and cook until they are soft. I then deglazed the pot with the white wine until most of the wine has evaporated. Once this has occurred I added the rosemary, bay leaf, oregano, fennel seeds, and honey. Milk Street recommended that you use a “strong, dark honey, such as buckwheat” because it holds it own when combined with the other ingredients. If you can’t find buckwheat honey they recommended orange blossom honey as an alternative.

Once all of the ingredients are added you add the cooked pork back into the Dutch oven, including the juices; cover and cook in a 325 degree pre-heated oven until a skewer meets little resistance when inserted into a piece of meat.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Once the meat is done, you remove it to a large bowl and cover to keep warm. Skim off all of the fat then add the orange juice and remaining honey. Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce to medium, and cook until a spatula leaves a trail. Off the heat, add the remaining oregano, rosemary, and vinegar. Since I had the zest from the orange, I also added that for a little extra punch!

• 

• 

• 

I then added the meat back to the pot and stirred it to coat each piece with the sauce. When it is ready to serve, sprinkle some fresh parsley on top and enjoy it with an Orange and Herb Orzo or rice. Although it took some effort I will definitely be making this again!!!!

August 10, 2019–…and counting. I am unsure of where I found this Creamy Garlic Shrimp recipe or why I was looking for it but I decided to make it instead of the Shrimp Mozambique that is still very tasty! The ingredient list was pretty straight forward and I had everything except for the fresh parsley in the house.

First you generously season the shrimp with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat then fry the shrimp for 1-2 minutes on each side until they are cooked through and pink. Don’t overcook!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Although the above looks amazing, resist the temptation to eat the shrimp; of course you could try one, or two, for quality control. In the same skillet melt some butter then sauté minced garlic until fragrant–do not burn it or the flavor will be infused in your final dish. Once the garlic is fragrant, pour in the wine and deglaze the skillet with a wooden spoon. You want to incorporate all of those crispy bits into the sauce.

• 

• 

• 

Reduce heat to low, add the cream, and bring to a gentle simmer.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste and stir occasionally.

• 

• 

• 

Add the parmesan cheese and allow to simmer until the cheese melts and sauce thickens. I’ll have to make this again because for some reason my sauce didn’t thicken but that became a positive instead of a negative.

• 

• 

Add the shrimp back into the pan, sprinkle with parsley, taste sauce and adjust salt and pepper.

• 

• 

You can serve these shrimp over pretty much anything or you can just grab a spoon and eat them directly from a bowl :-o. I had some black squid ink pasta that was looking for a sauce so that is the first way I enjoyed it.

• 

• 

• 

The dish kept very well in the refrigerator so I conducted some additional experiments. When I put the remaining shrimp into my Tupperware bowl I had a lot of sauce remaining. As I mentioned above, this could have been a problem but VCB came up with a great idea. She recommended that I soak some grits in the sauce over night! The next day I brought some water to a boil, added the grit mixture, and cooked until they were creamy. Just before the grits were done I added some shrimp which not only heated them up but added some of the additional cream sauce to the mixture. This dish was A–MA-ZING! I think I ate some for breakfast the next morning.

Still having a lot of sauce I decided to ‘marinate’ some of the squid ink pasta in the same way I did the shrimp. Although tasty, didn’t work as well because the water I cooked the pasta in washed some of the flavor away.

Since I was running out of shrimp I decided to bake some chicken, dice it up, then warm it through in some of the sauce. I then added the shrimp and chicken mixture to some of the black pasta.

I finished off the shrimp and chicken but adding it to some orzo. As you can see, this particular dish is very versatile so if you make, do a double batch and refrigerate in separate serving-sized containers. I made the original dish on August the 10th and used the last of it on September the 2nd!

April 7, 2019–So what do you do if you have ground meat? You make meatloaf or meatballs! I know you’re looking at the picture below and thinking, “But you already have pre-formed hamburger patties!” While that may be true, what I did not have were the hamburger buns to place said hamburger patties on so I decided to make a meatloaf instead. Besides hamburgers can be boring and wanted something that I could nosh on thru the week. And who says you can’t put meatloaf on a hamburger bun? I bought some ground bison, because why not and the patties were from the Dutch Country Farmers Market in Laurel, MD. I used a combination of recipes but based it off of one found in 15th edition of The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook. You may or may not have these ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator:

Ground meat; I used ground bison and ground beef
Shredded and frozen Monterey Jack cheese (moisture, richness, and assists in binding)
Chopped Onion Flakes
Chicken Stock (neutralizes the flavor of the meat and provides moisture)
Teriyaki sauce
Salt
Pepper
Parsley flakes
Eggs
Sea salt crackers (texture)
Dijon mustard
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Tomato paste
Thyme
Celery Salt
Oregano
Powdered Gelatin (texture and “sliceability”)

For the sauce:
Ketchup
Cider vinegar
Light brown sugar
Hot sauce
Ground coriander

ATK want you to make a freeform loaf pan. This was pretty intensive because you had too poke individual holes in a 10″ x 6″ piece foil place on top of a cooling rack placed inside of a baking sheet. The holes ensured the meatloaf didn’t sit in owns liquid while it cooked. The oven is set to 375 degrees and the foil is sprayed with cooking spray.

• 

• 

• 

Since I used dried ingredients instead of fresh I did not have to sauté the onion, garlic, celery, thyme, and paprika. Instead, I simply whisked the chicken broth with the eggs. Added the gelatin followed by the crackers, parsley, teriyaki sauce, mustard, salt, pepper, and the above mentioned dry ingredients. I then crumbled the frozen cheese and added it to the mixture. Once everything was well combined I added the ground meats and mixed gently by hand. I transferred the mixture to the foil sheet then formed it into a rectangle shape. The entire thing was baked until it reaches 135 degrees; finally got to use my oven thermometer!

While the meat was cooking I made the sauce. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until thick. Once the meat is done spread half of the glaze on it and broil until it bubbles. Remove the meatloaf and spread the remaining glaze on it. Allow to cool before slicing.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I made some extra sauce to spread over individual slices. Yum!

March 9, 2019–This is another one of the recipes that I tried when I was doing the Keto diet. As with most of the recipes I don’t understand why I wasn’t eating kept before. The gist of the recipe came from the I Breathe, I’m Hungry website. You may have to buy a few items but most should be in your pantry.

• 2.5 – 3 lb boneless chuck roast
• 1/2 cup salsa verde
• 1/2 cup canned chopped green chilis
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup red and yellow peppers cut into strips
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Generously season the roast with salt and pepper. If your crock pot doesn’t have the ability to sear meat like my ALL-CLAD 7Qt. Gourmet Slow Cooker with In-Pot Browning function, you will need to sear the meat in a hot skillet until browned on all sides.

• 

• 

• 

Add the salsa verde, chilis, and tomatoes to the crock pot/skillet that you seared the meat in. Deglaze and bring to a boil. If you seared in your crock pot then put the meat in salsa mixture. If you seared in a skillet, put the meat in the crock pot then pour the salsa mixture over the meat in the crock pot.

Add the onion flakes, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, coriander, oregano, chili powder, black pepper, and apple cider vinegar and stir.

Cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low until the meat is tender. Shred the meat with two forks, incorporating it with the salsa. Serve with your choice of toppings – cilantro, guacamole, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc. It is a little too wet to put in a taco or burrito so I just put it in a big bowl with some toppings and eat it with tortilla chips. Sometimes I’m lazy so I just eat it with a spoon 🙂

February 3, 2019–Leave it to Ina Garten to take simple ingredients and make an amazing dish. The first time I made this dish was probably in 2006. YMDT and I were watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa. We both thought, “Hmm, that looks interesting,” especially when she added the nutmeg. I’ve easily made this dish over a dozen times. Every time someone new tries it they immediately want the recipe. Make sure you read all the directions before starting because you have to do multiple things at the same time in order for the dish to come together. The ingredients should be in your pantry:

• Kosher salt
• Good olive oil
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 4 cups whole milk
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg; I cheated with the bottle stuff this time 🙂
• 1 1/2 pounds Portobello mushrooms (about 18 large sliced mushrooms) (see comments in directions)
• 1 cup freshly ground Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Boil a large pot of water with enough salt so that it taste like the ocean. How does the ocean taste? Umm, I’m sure I’m not the only one that has accidentally taken in a mouth full of water while swimming?!?! Add the lasagna noodles (store bought, home made, or skip this step entirely if you’re using no cook noodles) and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

For the white sauce, bring the WHOLE milk to a simmer in a saucepan. I’ve tried using lower fat milk and it just doesn’t thicken up as well. Set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for about a minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring first with the wooden spoon and then with a whisk, until thick. Set aside off the heat.

The first time I made this I used the large portobello mushrooms. They required too much prep work so I have since switched to the pre-sliced baby bellas. On occasion, I’ve also added other types of mushrooms into the mix. If using un-prepared mushrooms you will need to separate the mushroom stems from the caps and discard the stems or use them in a soup/broth, or even in this dish. Slice the caps to a size that you prefer. The original recipe says 1/4-inch thick, but this was too thick for my liking which is another reason I went with the pre-cut baby bellas. Once the mushrooms are prepped, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large saute pan. When the butter melts, add half the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices. If they become too dry, add a little more oil. Toss occasionally to make sure the mushrooms cook evenly. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms and set all the mushrooms aside.

To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the white sauce in the bottom of an 8 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/2 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.

Repeat 2 more times, layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and Parmesan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake the lasagna until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly and hot.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and serve hot with some freshly grate Parmesan cheese and basil chiffonade .

January 20, 2019–Living in the hot weather climates of Miami and GTMO for the past 4 years ended my desire to make soups–this was quickly changed during my first winter in the MDV. This dish was recommended by an office mate when I told him that I was making Tom Kha Gai on the weekend. After a little research I found a recipe in an issue of one of my Bon Appétit magazines. For the Khao Soi Paste:

• 4 large dried New Mexico or guajillo chiles, stemmed, halved, seeded
• 2 medium shallots, halved
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 2″ piece ginger, peeled, sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro stems
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon curry powder

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 14-oz. cans unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, halved lengthwise
• 1 pound Chinese egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons (or more) fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 1 tablespoon (packed) palm sugar or light brown sugar
• Kosher salt
• Sliced red onion, bean sprouts, cilantro sprigs, crispy fried onions or shallots, chili oil, and lime wedges (for serving)

You first need to soften the chiles by soaking them boiling water for about 30 minutes. Once they are soft, remove them to a food processor (reserving soaking liquid) and purée with the shallots, garlic, ginger, cilantro stems, coriander, turmeric, curry powder, and 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid. Continue to add soaking liquid a little at a time until smooth. Once you have the correct consistency, heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add khao soi paste and stirring constantly, until slightly darkened, 4–6 minutes.

Add coconut milk and broth.

Bring to a boil then add the chicken. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is fork-tender, approximately 20–25 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Once cooled, use two forks to shred the meat. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package directions.
Add chicken, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, and sugar to soup. Season with salt or more fish sauce, if needed. Divide soup and noodles among bowls and serve with toppings.

Although this dish required more preparation than the Tom Kha Gai I have to say that it was delicious!! I’m already looking forward to next winter so that I can sit around the fireplace with a big bowl of Chicken Kho Soi and an ochoko, or two, of warm saki. Itadakimasu!