Photoset
November 27, 2011

Everyone needs comfort.

It was cold, I was hungry, and I was in sweat pants. I guess that last bit isn’t very relevant, but I really wanted to pain the picture for you. It was a “homey” type of night.

I wanted something heavy and rich… any womans dream right? Tonight was gong to be my take on a Chicken Marsala. And since we are sticking with the heavy motife, I figured I would step up the classic caprese salad, to a decadent tomato burrata salad with home made basil vinaigrette.

Burrata Caprese: Burrata is very special, the type of thing that speaks for itself. The goal with burrata is not to mask its flavor and texture, but rather accent it and highlight how special it is. I think I did just that.

I sliced beefsteak tomatoes to accompany a bulb of beautiful burrata. I made the vinaigrette by making an emulsification of shallots, garlic, basil, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and aged balsamic vinegar. Becaue of the simplicity of this dish, it is very important to use a nice extra virgin and vinager. It makes a world of a difference and helps our friend burrata melt in your mouth. 

Chicken Marsala: primero, I got some chicken breasts which I tenderized by pounding them with a meat hammer…That sounds so vulgar and wrong, but it is what I did. I lightly coated them with flour, salt, and pepper and placed them into a hot pan with smoking olive oil, a pad of butter, and a clove of garlic that I cracked (not chopped) and left in the pan with its skin on for flavor. I cooked the chicken until golden brown and set aside. 

I added minced garlic garlic, shallots and mushrooms to the same pan until they cooked down in those complex chicken juices, and then I then deglazed the pan using (you guessed it) Marsala wine. The kitchen was beginning to smell nice. Vey nice. 

I added another pad of butter and a touch of heavy cream and let it simmer until it was nearing its maturity. Back in goes the chicken for its sauce blanket and onto the plate.  

A cold brew to accompany me made my TV dinner, quite the experience.

Text
January 31, 2011

myrnsta@aol.com

this is awesome.

Text
January 31, 2011

salmon

Hey Scott,  Just made your healthy salmon dinner.  So darn good.  Loved everything. You give great direction!!  I am going to make the pizza next.  Julie Gagnon

Photoset
January 31, 2011

Coming Back With a Bang - Kind of…

For those of you who are my avid followers (all five of you), and perhaps some of my mom’s friends, I apologize for my over-extended respite. Everyone takes breaks…bears hibernate all damn winter. Fortunately, I have not been hiding in cave for months in a metabolic depression; in fact, I have even been cooking. Unfortunately for the blog, some schmuck decided it was a good idea to steal my camera while I graciously hosted and cleaned up after him or her during a get together a few weeks back. I highly doubt I find this mystery bandit, but I am sure Karma has already taken hold… I mean really, come to my house and take my camera? I know i didn’t mis-place it, I keep my camera in the same place ALWAYS.

So now, I have decided to pickup where I left off, and cook the shit out of the kitchen. I had some left over photos of the last couple meals I cooked before the larceny took hold. I must warn you, I decided rather than upload the best dishes first, I would kick it off with the rather simple meals in order to further motivate myself to keep this sick blog alive.  So there you have it. Below is what is on the menu.

1.) The Most Refreshing Salad Ever: This salad is a giant mishmash of freshness that is simple and quite excellent, and I know you can do it, because it is literally just produce with a homemade dressing. Embedded in the heap of beauty is fresh endive, radicchio, arugula, pomegranate, grapefruit, cucumber, and tomato. I made the dressing with an emulsifcation of the juice of half of the grapefruit, pomegranite, mint, dijon mustard, extra virgine olive oil, rice-wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. To quote Larry David in his tone… Pretty Pretty Good.

2.) Seared Tender Loin Au Poivre with a Burbon cream sauce Flambe and homemade garlic mash potatoes: Sounds complicated…pretty easy. First I rubbed the loin in fresh cracked pepper corns (not ground pepper from a mill, you must hand crack them… it makes all the difference…Go big or go home). Get your stove top on a medium high with a light coat of oil on the bottom and a pad of butter. Using both oil and butter is important, butter for flavor - obviously, but since it has a lower burning point, you want to balance it out with some oil which smokes at higher temperatures. Now your ready to sear. Sear those steaks until rare on the inside and take them out of the pan to rest. Here comes the fun part. Mince some garlic, toss it in the pan, and turn OFF the heat (VERY IMPORTANT) because what your about to do will impress your guests-if you keep the heat on, there is a good chance your guests take you to the hospital. Take about a half cup of bourbon (or whisky or cognac or whatever cool liquor you got lying around) and add it to the pan (that is off the heat) and “don’t stand so close” - hey, Sting said it first. The alcohol will soon emurs in flames…flames are sexy. Scrape the bottom of the pan that has all the incredible remnants of the steak and pepper and congratulations, you just deglazed your first pan! Turn the heat back on, let the alcohol cook down and add about a half cup of heavy cream and a bit more butter - still scraping away. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and that sauce will blow your socks off. Put the steaks back in the pan coating them with the sauce. 

Everyone does mashed potatoes their own way. My friend Jacob (one of my 5 avid followers) made these and they were damn good, especially with the sauce. Pretty much, just boil potatoes, add a ton of butter, cream, garlic, parsley, and whatever else you think will go well. Then in order to make them into mashed potatoes, you mash them.

I’ll see you next time with the big bang! stay tuned, because I’m back.

Photo
November 23, 2010
A Meat & Potatoes Kind of Night What are the two best things about coming home from school aside from seeing the family? 1.)   Amazing water pressure in the shower. 2.)   Having a fully stocked fridge with your name on it. It is always a pleasure to open that fridge after not being home for months. Whether it’s the snacks, the leftover Chinese from the night before, the meat selection, or even the damn condiments, its all good. Oh and did I mention, there is always MILK! So what better way to christen the kitchen than a nice meal for the family with premium New York Steak marbled to perfection? I must say, it is a pleasure cooking in a kitchen that is not infested with remnants of your roommates or (perhaps my own) after-hour meals, a busted smoke detector that goes off twice a minute, an electric stove top, and no kitchen table…. But I guess there are other pros about college…My mom did a damn good job when she designed our kitchen, so I threw in a photo on the actual website directly below this post, that displays a time-series of how this meal was prepared. 

A Meat & Potatoes Kind of Night

What are the two best things about coming home from school aside from seeing the family?

1.)   Amazing water pressure in the shower.

2.)   Having a fully stocked fridge with your name on it.

It is always a pleasure to open that fridge after not being home for months. Whether it’s the snacks, the leftover Chinese from the night before, the meat selection, or even the damn condiments, its all good. Oh and did I mention, there is always MILK!

So what better way to christen the kitchen than a nice meal for the family with premium New York Steak marbled to perfection? I must say, it is a pleasure cooking in a kitchen that is not infested with remnants of your roommates or (perhaps my own) after-hour meals, a busted smoke detector that goes off twice a minute, an electric stove top, and no kitchen table…. But I guess there are other pros about college…My mom did a damn good job when she designed our kitchen, so I threw in a photo on the actual website directly below this post, that displays a time-series of how this meal was prepared. 

Photoset
November 23, 2010

Grilled prime New York, roasted rosemary potatoes, slow stewed caramelized onions, tomato/avocado/cucumber/arugula salad.

So nice to be home.

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November 07, 2010
Well, it just so happens I was listening to the song “Mambo Italiano” (my version - a rendition performed by Dean Martin), and I figured that tonight I would construct a pizza. Scratch that, not just one pizza, two pizzas. The two I chose to make: a simple Margherita pizza, and a fresh tomato and pesto pizza topped with pecorino and Parmigiano Reggianno. I am still a novice, but am determined to get the hang of “throwing the dough.” I mean after all, if you are fluent in dough throwing you get all the girls right? All kidding aside, throwing dough is extraordinarily complicated and requires months, often years to perfect. But for now, my apprentice-like training efforts will have to suffice. The pizza was a crowd pleaser…unless of course the five people I let try it were all just trying to boost my morale.  I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza however, and it has given me inspiration to create different styles and really get the hang of this dough throwing. I admit the dough that I used came from my local pizza joint. I’ll eventually make the dough and all, but it was getting late and I was starving. 

Well, it just so happens I was listening to the song “Mambo Italiano” (my version - a rendition performed by Dean Martin), and I figured that tonight I would construct a pizza. Scratch that, not just one pizza, two pizzas. The two I chose to make: a simple Margherita pizza, and a fresh tomato and pesto pizza topped with pecorino and Parmigiano Reggianno. I am still a novice, but am determined to get the hang of “throwing the dough.” I mean after all, if you are fluent in dough throwing you get all the girls right? All kidding aside, throwing dough is extraordinarily complicated and requires months, often years to perfect. But for now, my apprentice-like training efforts will have to suffice. The pizza was a crowd pleaser…unless of course the five people I let try it were all just trying to boost my morale.  I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza however, and it has given me inspiration to create different styles and really get the hang of this dough throwing. I admit the dough that I used came from my local pizza joint. I’ll eventually make the dough and all, but it was getting late and I was starving. 

Photoset
November 07, 2010

Margherita: 

Sauce: I blended canned San Marzano tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, a hint of lemon, garlic, and olive oil until a smooth puree. San Marzano canned tomatoes are some of the most favored tomatoes to cook with. 

Then I layered fresh mozzarella slices, and minced garlic on top. Put the pizza in the oven for about 20 minutes on 450-500 degrees F. Finish it off in the broiler. 

Tomato Pesto Pizza:

Take any good pesto (preferably home made) and dilute it with some extra virgin olive oil. Smother the dough with a layer of the pesto, place tomato slices all over the pizza. Cover with shaved pecorino and parmagianno. Drizzle with more of the pesto sauce and garlic. Love it, its damn good. 

Photo
November 04, 2010
Tonight: Salmon with sautéed asparagus, and quinoa: I must apologize for the extended days off. I have been engulfed with the deadlines and stresses of education… Like momma always said, “school comes first.” Well, my mom never really told me that. But yes, it was midterm week; I did well on one, its hard to say the same about the other. But I tried my best. Now I am back and here to attack this, “mise en place,” I call my kitchen.  To kick things off, I hesitantly decided to cook seafood. More specifically: salmon. Why salmon? And why hesitantly? Because I live in fricken Wisconsin. The nearest bodies of water to my kitchen aside from my bathtub are a bunch of lakes and left over cups on my porch filled with tequila and rainwater. I decided on the pink fish for two reasons: 1) The seafood guy at the market told me the stock just came in today. 2.) I had to avenge my thorough fiasco of cooking salmon in Madison two years ago. For the sake of limiting arguments with any of my friends reading this who happened to have tried the salmon of previous, I will equally blame the fish’s foul taste on my cooking performance and the ghastly rank quality of the imported fish. Tonight would have to be different, and it was. (the exact directions are listed below). I will say though, the slivers of butter that I put on the salmon prior to the broiling process is chief. As for the quinoa – I love quinoa. It is filled with protein, integrity, and is extraordinarily versatile (kind of like me HAHAH, I do a lot of pushups - hence the protein). You may be wondering what I was thinking when I accompanied the quinoa with a red wine sauce. Well, this is because, I made sure not to overpower the quinoa with the red wine. The combination actually worked quite well. The darkened quinoa is not the most photogenic of my foods, but it definitely was a crowd pleaser…and I like pleasing crowds.  

Tonight: Salmon with sautéed asparagus, and quinoa:

I must apologize for the extended days off. I have been engulfed with the deadlines and stresses of education… Like momma always said, “school comes first.” Well, my mom never really told me that. But yes, it was midterm week; I did well on one, its hard to say the same about the other. But I tried my best. Now I am back and here to attack this, “mise en place,” I call my kitchen.

 To kick things off, I hesitantly decided to cook seafood. More specifically: salmon. Why salmon? And why hesitantly? Because I live in fricken Wisconsin. The nearest bodies of water to my kitchen aside from my bathtub are a bunch of lakes and left over cups on my porch filled with tequila and rainwater. I decided on the pink fish for two reasons: 1) The seafood guy at the market told me the stock just came in today. 2.) I had to avenge my thorough fiasco of cooking salmon in Madison two years ago. For the sake of limiting arguments with any of my friends reading this who happened to have tried the salmon of previous, I will equally blame the fish’s foul taste on my cooking performance and the ghastly rank quality of the imported fish. Tonight would have to be different, and it was. (the exact directions are listed below). I will say though, the slivers of butter that I put on the salmon prior to the broiling process is chief. As for the quinoa – I love quinoa. It is filled with protein, integrity, and is extraordinarily versatile (kind of like me HAHAH, I do a lot of pushups - hence the protein). You may be wondering what I was thinking when I accompanied the quinoa with a red wine sauce. Well, this is because, I made sure not to overpower the quinoa with the red wine. The combination actually worked quite well. The darkened quinoa is not the most photogenic of my foods, but it definitely was a crowd pleaser…and I like pleasing crowds.  

Photoset
November 04, 2010

Salmon: Rub salmon with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice. The secret, a couple thin strips of butter over the top. Cook the salmon in the oven for about 12-15 minutes ata bout 375 F. After this, for about a minute or two, crank up the broiler (heat coming from top) to give the salmon a nice browning and crust (this is key!) Keep an eye on the salmon, the most important thing is that it is not over or under cooked. 

Asparagus: Saute Asparagus in a saute pan with olive oil, minced shallots, onions, salt,  and lemon juice. When the Asparagus is tender, take them out. Pipe up the heat, once the onions and shallots begin to start to burn, and there is heavenly goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan, add about a half cup of red wine and start scraping the bottom of the pan to remove the “heavenly goodness.” This process is called deglazing - sounds impressive huh? It really isn’t however it is extremely effective. Once this sauce reduces you will add it to the finished quinoa. 

Quinoa: The ratio of quinoa to water is 1.5:1  - boil the quinoa with minced onions and a bit of oil. The onions will get translucent. After about 12 minutes the water will be mostly evaporated. Next add garbanzo beans and fluff the quinoa with a fork while simultaneously adding the red wine reduction.