Comments (3) I know, no updates in a while and no new recipes for well over a year or so. The past two years have been pretty hectic. Anyway, yesterday while watching the Pats game I decided to make some beef stew. Perfect for a crisp autumn day in New England. Recipe is HERE. Check it out!
Yankees suck.
I love great chili. I’ve never looked up ways to make my own chili seasonings, though. I never really cared since McCormick’s & Lawry’s packages do just fine for me. I always add some of my own stuff though. Give it a shot!
2 ½ pounds ground beef or a mix of 50% ground beef, 25% ground pork & 25% ground veal
1 15oz can diced Roma tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 15oz can black beans
1 can white shoe peg corn
2 ½ packages McCormick’s Original Chili Seasoning Mix
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, minced
½ cup red wine
1 teaspoon (or a little less, this stuff is potent) chicken base paste
Beef broth
Wondra Powder
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Add olive oil to a large, hot sauce pan or pot. Sautée garlic and shallots for a few minutes under medium-high heat and add chicken base paste and stir till paste has melted. Add beef, season generously with salt and pepper and stir well. Brown beef and crumble down to your liking. Add tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, black beans, corn, wine, McCormick’s seasoning mix and ½ cup of beef broth. Stir well, cover and heat to a slow boil. Stir well and lower heat to bring it down to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Take a quick taste. If it’s not spicy enough for you, add the last ½ package of chili seasoning mix and/or add a few dashes of ground cayenne pepper.
With chili, consistency is very important. Everyone has their own liking when it comes to consistency. Some people like it loose and soupy, some people like it thick and hearty. I’m a bit in between, but I make it different every time. This time around I made it thicker than usual and served it over garlic infused rice. If you like it soupier, add more beef broth. If you like it thicker, add less beef broth or add a few sprinkles of Wondra Powder, stir well and it will thicken up. When you add Wondra powder to anything, make sure what you’re adding it to is very hot. Stir well ass you sprinkle it in. Better yet, dissolve the Wondra Powder (or flour, or corn starch) with some water first, then add it in.
There are a million different ways you can take this. Add your own ingredients. Try black eyed peas instead of black beans. Add some freshly chopped jalapeño peppers. What I forgot to do this time is sprinkle freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley over the chili after it has been plated. I usually eat mine with saltine crackers and green onions on the side Namaste! Yankees suck!
beef & veal, food, rice, soups
So I finally had an evening to myself where I could be alone in the kitchen, drink some beer, pump some tunes, try something new and chronicle it. There are few things in the world better than a good steak. Add in pan roasted garlic-basil cherry tomatoes and you have a smash hit.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 steaks of your choice (I only made one this time)
1 pint vine-ripened red cherry tomatoes, washed and patted dried
1 Large clove garlic, minced
6-8 Fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pre-heat your oven to 475°. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle in olive oil. Season the steaks with salt & pepper and sear for about 3 minutes on each side, until well browned. Actually, just as you flip the steaks, add the minced garlic to the side of the pan and make sure it gets some of the olive oil. Sauté the garlic as you sear the second side of the steak. After the steak is browned on both sides and garlic is getting toasty, move the steaks aside and add the cherry tomatoes and basil to the garlic. Stir gently to coat and season with salt & pepper.
Place the skillet in the oven and roast until the steak is cooked to your liking and tomatoes begin to burst. I roasted mine for about ten minutes and it came out medium. A bit over cooked for my tastes, but it was awesome anyway. Serve with a side of pasta with the tomatoes spooned over the steaks. Try making it with fresh oregano instead of basil, or a mix. Have fun! Yankees suck!
So I’ve been pretty sick the past few days. I’ve been suffering from pertussis (whooping cough) since before Thanksgiving. My doctor calls it the 100-day cough. She totally wasn’t kidding. Last Wednesday a friend’s cats made my allergies go ape shit. Asthma was killing me, nose was blocked up, eyes were red, swollen, watery and itchy. Tons-o-fun! Allergies kept going through Friday. After work Friday I hung out with some friends, but I ducked out of that early and went home to chill out.
Since I wasn’t feeling well, a friend came by to keep me company. We chilled out, gossiped, played rummy, listened to music and drank hot-buttered rum. I’m totally going to write about that recipe soon. Flu-like symptoms all day Saturday. Draggin’ ass all day. I read, watched some movies and went to bed around 10pm. Woke up at 2pm Sunday. Overnight I was achy and had cold sweats. You know me though, I’m not one to complain.
Anywhoo … Sunday came and I needed some serious home cooked food. I’m big on southern food when I’m sick. I was feeling a lot better and decided on a nice southern meal. I whipped up some country fried steak, fresh green beans and whipped potatoes.
Now country fried steak is different than chicken fried steak. I posted a recipe for chicken fried steak here. Chicken fried steak comes from Texas and is typically a tenderized beef steak dredged through an egg wash and flour and then fried like, well, chicken, and topped with a white pepper gravy. On the other hand, country fried steak isn’t typically dredged through an egg wash, just dredged through flour. Instead of serving it topped with gravy, you cook it in with the gravy. I didn’t feel like making any gravy so I used a can of cream of mushroom soup. It worked! No pictures this time. Camera battery was dead and I left it’s charger at my office.
¼ cup vegetable oil, or more
½ medium white onion, sliced
4 top round beef steak, about 6 ounces each
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 10-oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water
I like to use my cast iron skillet for stuff like this. To tenderize the steaks, pound them out with a meat mallet. Combine flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in a mixing bowl. Over medium heat, add the oil to a hot skillet and sauté the onion until it’s slightly tender. Remove the onion and set aside. Dredge the meat through the seasoned flour. Pat in as much flour as you can. Fry each side of the steak in the oil for 4-5 minutes. If the skillet starts to get dry, ad a little more oil. When done, remove the steaks and drain them on paper towels. Mix the cream of mushroom soup and water in a bowl then add the mixture to the skillet. Cook over medium heat, whisking often.
Return the steaks to the skillet cover them with the gravy and place the onions on top. To finish it off, place the skillet in a 350° oven for 15-20 minutes.
I’m feeling much better. Peace out! Yankees suck!
Probably the most prominent dishes in German cuisine is the schnitzel. I lived in Germany for four years and I can tell you there isn’t much to choose from when it comes to good German cooking. However, what they do well, they do REAL well. I ate schnitzel every chance I got.
There are three basic varieties of schnitzel: Schnitzel is a thin pork cutlet, breaded and fried. Weinerschnitzel is a thin veal cutlet, breaded and fried. Jägerschnitzel a thin pork or veal cutlet smothered in a rich brown mushroom gravy.
When I was a kid, I wasn’t too fond of jagerschnitzel since I didn’t like mushrooms all that much. Luckily my taste buds grew up along with me. When my family and I went out to a German gasthaus (neighborhood restaurant) I would usually order a weinerschnitzel smothered with krauterbutter (a German garlic-herb butter) and a side of fries. Schnitzels were also often served with spaten (German noodle dumplings) or potato croquettes.
I’ve tried jägerschnitzel in several German restaurants in the US, but most places I’ve been to really suck. The only good German restaurant I’ve been to in the US is the Zum Rheingarten. It was just down the street from where I lived near MCB Quantico. It is a GREAT restaurant. Innovative menu, awesome selection of rare German beers & wines all housed in a quaint Bavarian-style building. I ordered the jägerschnitzel but it wasn’t breaded. Every restaurant I’ve ever been to in Germany breaded their jägerschnitzel. I’ve read up on it and “traditional” jägerschnitzel isn’t breaded. Culinary tradition is usually for the birds anyway.
Jägerschnitzel is German for the “hunter’s cutlet.” Served with potato pancakes, jägerschnitzel is the typical meal the hunter would have the night before an early morning hunting excursion. Of course it’s always good with a few swigs of Jägermeister!
Last year I was thinking how much I missed out on good jägerschnitzel while I was there. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to make. After several trials and errors, here is the recipe I’ve come up with:
4 boneless pork or veal cutlets
½ cup light olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 8oz packages fresh white mushrooms, stemmed & sliced
2 ½ cups beef broth
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
2 heaping tablespoons flour
¾ cup heavy cream
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 teaspoons liquid Maggi seasoning
Small handful flat leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 cup plain Progresso brand bread crumbs
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Heat oven to 200. Place the boneless cutlets in a large zip-up plastic bag and pound thin with a meat mallet. Mix the eggs and the milk in a wide, shallow bowl. Place the bread crumbs in another wide, shallow bowl. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Dredge the cutlets in the bread crumbs, then in the egg wash and then in the bread crumbs again. Place the coated cutlets in the hot oil and sauté for 5-7 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown. You may only be able to cook one or two cutlets at a time depending on how large of a pan you have. Add a little more oil if the pan gets too dry. As they are done, transfer them to the oven to keep warm.
When all the cutlets are done add the minced onion to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes then add the minced garlic, salt & pepper. Sauté for another five minutes or until the onions begin to appear translucent. Add 1 cup of the beef broth and turn the heat up to high. Let the broth boil down for about 10-12 minutes. Add the mushrooms, the other cup of beef broth, the cream and the Maggi seasoning. Let it boil down for a few minutes while stirring. Take the three teaspoons of flour and mix it with the last ½ cup of beef broth in a small bowl or measuring cup. Mix it well with a fork till it is all dissolved. Slowly stir in the flour/broth mixture while the pan is boiling. This will thicken the sauce up pretty good. Use your judgment on how thick you want it. It will continue to thicken for a minute or two after you stop pouring in the flour/broth mixture. Reduce heat to medium and cook slowly for five minutes while stirring.
Take the cutlets out of the oven and transfer to your serving plates. Smother them with the mushroom sauce. I typically make this with egg noodles & boiled carrots. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out! Yankees suck!
I love red wine. I love filet Mignon. I love filet Mignon in red wine. Makes sense doesn’t it? This recipe is as simple as it is delicious. Have a crack at it and let me know what you think.
1½ pounds of filet Mignon, about 1″ thick
1 oz salt pork, chopped fine
2 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced
¼ cup of sweet butter
Three tablespoons of red Burgundy
10 sprigs of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, leaves only, minced
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Combine salt pork, garlic and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic for about two or three minutes, do not burn. Add steaks and cook on each side for four minutes. Add salt, pepper and wine; cover and cook for two more minutes. Add the minced parsley and shake and swirl around in the skillet. Serve on warm plates and pour the sauce from the pan over them.
Since half of my heritage is southern, what better time to reminisce about home cooked southern food than on a cold day in New England?
It ain’t steak and it ain’t chicken. So what is it? Chicken fried steak is a slice of tenderized beef round that is dipped in egg and flour, then fried and smothered in a creamy, peppery pan gravy. Like grits, if it’s made right, it’s heaven. If it’s not, it’s awful. This is THE dish that cast iron skillets were invented for. No matter where my travels take me, I’m on a never ending quest for delicious chicken fried steak. Four out of five times I’ll order it somewhere, it’s not all that great. Three out of five, it’s downright awful. But that one in five, or sometimes, one in ten, it’s magical!!!
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons of flour
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 cup vegetable shortening
4 8-oz pieces trimmed beef top round, pounded to ¼ inch thickness
Pinch of ground cayenne pepper
Put 2 cups of flour into a wide, shallow dish and generously season with salt and pepper. Put eggs, cream and ½ cup of the milk into another wide, shallow dish and beat well.
Heat oven to 200°. Melt shortening in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot or about 360° on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, working with one piece of meat at a time, lightly season both sides with salt & pepper. Dredge beef in seasoned flour, shaking off excess, then dip each side into egg mixture, then dredge in flour again, shaking off excess. Fry meat, turning only once, until dark golden brown on each side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Repeat seasoning and cooking process with remaining meat and flour and egg mixtures, transferring meat to oven to keep warm.
Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of the oil from the skillet and heat over medium heat. Add remaining flour and cook, whisking constantly, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Season gravy with cayenne and ½ teaspoon of black pepper and cook, whisking constantly, until consistency is slightly thicker than that of heavy cream, about 1 minute. Season to your liking with salt. Divide chicken fried steak between four plates and spoon plenty of gravy over each.
Serve this with buttered corn, green beans, biscuits and mashed potatoes … wash it down with some lemonade or a Southern Cherry and you’ll be in heaven.
