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By J.Ho, December 5, 2007 6:16 pm

So it’s not actually a bisque. But I had to name it something. I have been sick lately. Yesterday I was laying around thinking about making some minestrone soup. I looked through my Italian cookbooks and really didn’t find anything that looked easy to make. No good soup is going to be easy, but I needed something less complicated.

Last week we had dinner at Casa de Luca in Beverly. It’s a great neighborhood Italian restaurant with generous portions and reasonable prices. The minestrone soup was to die for as were the fresh garlic bread sticks. I was inspired. I’ve only made a minestrone a few times before. I was never impressed with how they came out. So I figured I’d invent one of my own.

Traditionally, minestrone is a thick Italian soup made with vegetables, often including beans, pasta or rice. I wasn’t in the mood for a bean soup and I was really craving chicken. I went to the store and grabbed a bunch of things that seemed to go well in making an Italian chicken stew. Here’s what happened …

• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 quart water
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 whole rotisserie chicken (I used one that was already cooked at the store)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup Italian green beans (the flat kind), roughly chopped
• 1 large zucchini, roughly chopped
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chicken base paste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable base paste
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
• 2oz salt pork, finely diced
• 1½ cup Ditalini pasta
• Fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Let the oil heat through and add the diced salt pork. Slowly render the fat and flavor from the salt pork then add the chopped onion. Stir till the onion is well coated with oil. After few minutes add the shallot, chicken and vegetable base pastes, garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir often. After another few minutes add the carrots, celery, Italian green beans and chicken and vegetable base pastes. Stir well and cook for five minutes or so then add the canned crushed and diced tomatoes. Stir and cook for another five minutes then add the water and chicken broth.

Crank the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about half an hour. Carve up the rotisserie chicken. Remove as much meat as you can from the chicken leaving behind any fat and skin. Break up the meat with your hands and add to the stew. Simmer for another half hour or so. Stir often.

I like to get those rotisserie chickens quite often. They don’t cost much more than buying a raw whole chicken. Even if I don’t plan on eating them that day, I carve out the meat and set it aside in case I need to add it to any recipe in the near future. Sometimes I just sit on the couch, watch TV and chow down on crackers, cheese and cold shredded rotisserie chicken meat.

Anyway, add the chopped zucchini and cook for another five to ten minutes. Turn off heat and add the ditalini pasta. Cover and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Serve in wide flat bowls topped with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese and chopped fresh Italian parsley. Trust me, you’ll love it.

Mine came out a bit salty, but I like it that way. I used salt at first when I added the chopped onions. Judging by how salty it was, I omitted the salt from this posting. The soup will get plenty of salt from the chicken and vegetable base pastes. That stuff is potent, but I love it. I’ll never go back to dried bouillon again.

Zuppa-dupa!

Yankees suck! Oh, and the Ravens are bunch of cry babies.

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By J.Ho, December 3, 2007 7:25 pm

There is more info regarding this posting — see it here after you read this.

———————

First off, I’m with my lady friend and she’s evaluating some software for a project she’s working on for her company. She is seriously the biggest computer nerd that’s ever walked the earth. But she’s damn cute and one hell of a saleslady. Anyway, she’s making me use one of her project’s shitty laptops. How shitty can a laptop be you ask? It’s a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop with a French keyboard layout running Ubuntu Linux. That’s how shitty. What’s even weirder is I’m allowing her to make me use this thing. But seriously, what am I going to say. I’m weak to her species.

She doesn’t actually like Ubuntu software or the silly Japanese-Eurotrash hardware it’s wrapped in. She says Ubuntu Linux smells like ass and she’s actually going to prove it to a big group of other nerds who make decisions regarding multi-multi-multi-million dollar defense related technical solutions. She’s a former Sun chick and she feels Solaris could have saved the world if Sun wasn’t so freaking stupid. If she doesn’t like that hardware/software setup then why torture me? The reason is obvious: she probably enjoys it.

Anyhoo, this idea for a post just hit me. There are some great restaurants in Beverly, MA, the town just south of where I live. Beverly has a great bar, music and social scene too. Not that I’m a miserable, cynical prick or anything, but for some reason the worst of the worst appetizers in Beverly restaurants are stuck in my head. Just to show I’m a kind hearted guy and I’m not all about being negative as I have been against the Indigo Bar & Grill, I’ll also add info about a good appetizer at the restaurants. Deal? Good. Here we go…

Nothing can kill a dining experience faster than a lousy appetizer. Receiving a poor greeting when you arrive at a restaurant and bad service rank right up there too. But when an appetizer sucks, it will ruin a meal. No matter how good the next courses are. These are the top five appetizers in Beverly restaurants that must be removed from the earth as fast as freakin’ possible. The very thought of ever experiencing these apps again make my blood boil.

#5 – Cheese and Fruit – Brenden Crocker’s Wild Horse Cafe

• Three cheeses, grapes, apples, guava paste, toasted almonds, honey and crackers – $13.00

I swear to Jah. Cheese and fruit for $13. In Beverly. It’s not that cheese and fruit are bad or shouldn’t be on a appetizer menu, but come on peeps. $13? In Beverly? The last time I paid close to that for a cheese and fruit tray was at The View Lounge on the 39th floor of the Marriott in downtown San Francisco. I didn’t mind it then since we were getting more than just the food. This place has a freakin’ spectacular 360° view of San Francisco! Robin Williams was drunk off his ass and doing one-acts at the bar. And I think Keith Sweat was crooning with the house jazz band. The ambiance was worth the overpriced food and cocktails. All the ambiance you’ll get at the Wild Horse Cafe is seeing the snobby people you’d usually run into at SOMA.

One good appetizer at the Wild Horse Cafe is the huge plate of nachos, but with house-made potato chips instead of Doritos or something. Smothered in melted cheese, bacon, scallions and sour cream. I didn’t see it on the online menu, but I always get it. Believe it or not, nachos are an easy thing to screw up and the Wild Horse does them perfectly. The first time I had them the girl I was with asked for the bacon be placed on the side. She didn’t eat bacon. When I heard that all I could imagine in my head was a big red X over her face and a buzzing sound like on the Family Feud.

#4 – Crab Cakes – SOMA

SOMA was actually the first bar I went to when I moved out here from California. I had a mediocre overpriced martini and absolutely offensive crab cakes. They sucked. Plain and simple. I lived in the Washington DC area for some time and I had some pretty good Maryland crab cakes down there. The crab cakes at the Black Cow in Hamilton are tasty. However, the crab cakes at the Pacific Café in San Francisco are the best I’ve had in my entire life.

One decent appetizer at SOMA is the Caesar Salad. It’s probably good since it’s not too difficult to make.

#3 – Chile Con Queso – Acapulcos Mexican Restaurant

• Rich, spicy Mexican cheese dip in a bowl with tortilla chips

Imagine Velveeta with Tabasco Sauce. After living in California for so long, I’ve become a Mexican food snob. I can’t help it though. There is absolutely no decent Mexican food in the Northeast. I challenge anyone to steer me towards some. Please.

One decent appetizer there is the Camarones De Ajo – Shrimp sautéed with fresh mushrooms in butter, garlic and spices. Not great, but not that bad.

#2 – Sopa Cielito Lindo – Cielito Lindo Grill

• Black bean and corn soup garnished with onions and fresh cheese

Absolute shit. It seemed like it was made with canned black beans that were rinsed and then mixed with a broth made made of 100% hot tap water. I know how to make a black bean soup. Even though mine is the best in the world, it’s pretty easy to make. It isn’t magic.

One decent appetizer: TACOS! How hard are they to screw up? This restaurant also links their online menus to PDFs. Christ.

#1 – Grilled Portuguese Octopus – SOMA (yes, SOMA again)

• Served atop chick peas, baby tomatoes, roasted fennel, preserved lemon and mint. Tahini and homemade yogurt drizzle.

Seriously, I think that description should speak for itself. If aliens and terrorists teamed up and sent us an appetizer that would bring our nation to it’s knees, it might look something like this. They also spelled fennel and drizzle wrong on their online menu. See it here. But they did spell fennel correctly on another appetizer description. See. Inconsistent.

I seriously have to stop typing. I’m still using this French keyboard and it’s driving me batshit.

Les Yankees sucent! (Yankees suck!)

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By J.Ho, June 18, 2007 9:54 am

My trick for cooking rice in a rice cooker is to add one teaspoon of salt, one smashed garlic clove and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil per cup of rice to the water and rice in the cooker before cooking. Every now and then I use chicken broth instead of water for a nice flavor twist.

A good rice cooker should reside in the kitchen of every self-respecting cook. They make rice quick and easy. I use rice in at least half of my dinners. Below are a few links to some good rice cookers, varying in price. Yankees suck!

Comments (1)

By J.Ho, March 6, 2006 10:49 am

Often served as tapas, croquetas are most well known as a Spanish dish. This recipe comes from my Cuban influence. The best Cuban ham croquettes I’ve had on the west coast were at Felix Continental Cafe in downtown Orange, California. Dip these into a side of Cuban mojo and you’ll be in heaven.

Filling

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups room temperature milk
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
4 cups of smoked ground ham, about one pound
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Coating

2 eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 cup dry bread crumbs
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

In a large pan sauté the butter and onions until the onions are translucent. Slowly stir in the flour and make a roux. The roux needs to be very smooth with all the flour dissolved. Add more butter if necessary. Gradually whisk in the milk. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. The sauce needs to be very thick. Add the nutmeg, sherry, and parsley. Fold in the ham and bread crumbs. If you can’t find ground ham, you can finely mince it yourself or grind it in a food processor. Allow the mixture to simmer for five minutes on low heat. Taste the mix and season with salt and pepper if necessary. The ham has quite a bit of salt in it already, so be careful. Spoon the mixture into a baking pan and refrigerate at least one hour. The mixture needs to be firm enough to form into rolls. If your mixture is too soft or sticky, add some additional bread crumbs.

Shape the ham mixture into three inch long logs, ¾-inch thick. Make an egg wash by beating the eggs with water until frothy in a small bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, flour, salt and pepper in a second bowl. Dip the logs in the egg wash and roll the logs in the seasoned bread crumbs. Dip the rolls in the egg wash a second time and re-roll in bread crumbs. Cover logs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two to three hours. This is very important!

Sauté the croquettes in hot vegetable oil, a few at a time, for three to four minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. You can also deep fry them if you like. Serve immediately.

One variation of these croquettes is making them with chicken. You can easily substitute a pound of cooked chicken for the ham, white or dark meat, or a combination. Finely mince the chicken or grind it in a food processor. Add a dash of fresh lime juice to the chicken. You can also grind in a small handful of chopped cilantro instead of the parsley for a nice flavor twist.