Blog

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Today’s method is new method for me, air frying. I bought a small air fryer last year to see if I would like it. I use it but, not often. Do not expect this to be Outback Steakhouse coconut shrimp! The fryer makes everything taste like a little slice of heaven!

If I bread something I like to let it air dry a little while before I cook it. I dipped the shrimp into flour, then into a whisked egg, and then into a mixture of panko and sweetened coconut. I let them sit about 5 minutes. I put them in the air fryer basket and sprayed the top with cooking spray. Cook at 375 for 4 minutes, turn the shrimp over and spray this side with cooking spray and cook 4 more minutes. I made a dipping sauce out of marmalade, dijon, grand marnier and horseradish. The salad with pineapple and kiwi were a nice compliment. https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/avocado-mango-and-pineapple-salad-with-pistachios-and-pickled-shallots

My sweetheart had a club meeting tonight. I am feeling a little under the weather and decided to have a nosh. A typical pate board, cornichon, grainy mustard and bread. I also had some serrano ham and lomo from a Spanish cold cut pack. I rounded it off with a nice tallegio!

I wanted something sweet after dinner. I foraged around in the kitchen and found an apple. I thought apple and peanut butter. Then I thought that was not going to be sweet enough. I put chocolate chips in the microwave and melted them and stirred some peanut butter and made a nice dip for my apple. It hit the sweet spot!

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I love a gratin. Tonight i took a short cut on a low carb version. I used steam in the bag garlic cauliflower.

2- 10oz Bags of steam in the bag cauliflower

1/2 Onion thinly sliced

2 cups of grated smoked gruyere

1 Cup of Cream

3 Tbls of butter

1 Tbls of dijon mustard

Pre heat oven to 400. I cooked the cauliflower 1/2 of the time the bag calls for and put it in a strainer to leach off some of the liquid. Heat your cream and butter in a sauce pan until the butter is melted. Stir in some hot sauce and the dijon. I sprayed an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour your drained cauliflower in the dish, top with the onion and cheese. Pour the cream mixture evenly over the top. Cover your dish and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes more. I would usually top this with panko before the last 20 minutes, but I am making it a base and the bread would just get soggy.

Red wine Sauce

2 Tbls of olive oil

1 Tbsl of butter

1 Package of pre sliced mushrooms

1 Shallot diced

1 Cup of red wine

1 Cup of beef stock

2 Tbls of dijon

2 Tbsl of cold butter

Heat your oil and butter over medium high. Add your mushrooms and cook until brown and their liquid had evaporated. Add the shallot and cook until soft. Add the red wine and reduce by half. Add the stock and reduce by half. Whisk in the mustard and butter and cook 40 seconds. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I added 1 Tbls of butter for richness and added in my leftover Italian beef and reduced until thick.

I served the beef on top of the cauliflower. I got soo excited I did not take a picture of the 2 together. And this is after I served us.

Today will cover 2 methods. Blanching and Freezing. I had some collard in the garden that needed to be cut, but I did not want to cook them. So I decided to freeze them. I washed them and rolled them up to dry in a bath towel. I then chopped them and then blanched them in 2 batches in boiling water for 3 minutes each batch. I shocked them in an ice bath then drained them and squeezed the liquid out of them . I put them in a freezer bag and purged out all of the air and put them in the freezer. They are ready to go in a boiling pot when I want them.

I love this recipe I use a mixture of zucchini and yellow squash. It is like a vegetable packed cake. The baking mix makes it puff, the olive oil makes it rich and the vegetables keep it moist. Its good for breakfast or served with a light green salad for lunch or a light dinner. https://colavitarecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-pie-mozzarella-cheese/

I had some of the soft lady fingers left from my raspberry tiramisu so I decided to use them. I mixed leftover coffee and some amaretto together and dipped the lady fingers in quickly, they soak up alot fast and fall apart. I started with the lady fingers and topped that with some marscapone mixed with amaretto and whipped topping and dusted that with cocoa powder and repeated the 2 steps and topped it with crushed amaretti cookies.

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We recently traveled to IL and MI. The track in IL had a concession stand that had a daily special. One day I saw the special was an Italian beef sandwich. I thought to myself it has been years since I had that lets see how it goes. It was good considering, but not a Chicago Italian beef. So, tonight I pulled out all the stops! I browned a chuck roast heavily seasoned with salt and pepper and put that in the crock pot. I topped that with Italian seasoning and garlic powder. I sliced some banana peppers, red bell pepper and onion and added that. I put some beef soup base in some hot water to dissolve. I poured the soup base and enough water to cover the roast in the pot. I set it for 8 hours on low. I took the roast out of the pot and let it cool. I poured what was left in the pot through a fat separator with the straining top on it. I put the solids back in the crock pot. I shredded the cooled beef and put that in the pot and poured in about 1 cup of the separated juice and turned the pot on warm. I put the rest of the juice in a saucepan and seasoned with salt and pepper and set to warm. I use a french bread for sandwiches like this. I cut a piece of the loaf into the size I would like my sandwich and I cut out a rectangle and pull out some of the interior, making a deep well for the filling. I toast the bread to help it stand up to the filling. I put slices of taleggio in the bottom of the toasted bun, i added some of the beef and topped it with provolone. I broiled that until the provolone was melted. I added sliced pepperoncini on top and poured some of the beef juice in a dish for dunking!

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Well my fried chicken did not turn out as spectacular as I wished. It was crispy and full of asian flavor. I pulled out the vacuum sealer and made a marinate of gochujang, soy and buttermilk and vacuum sealed the chicken in the marinate and left it all day. I came home and used the sealer to make my pickled veg. I put carrots, cucumber, radish and a hot banana pepper from our garden with equal parts sugar and rice wine vinegar in a bag and vacuum sealed it to pickle for an hour. I poured the marinate in a dish and whisked in an egg, I made a mixture of 1 cup of flour and 3 tbls of rice flour ( I cant use cornstarch but you should instead) with some ginger powder,sesame seeds, and salt and pepper. I left the chicken in the marinate mixture, then dredged it in the flour and shallow fried it in a 350 degree oil until golden brown. I toasted a ciabatta bun in the oven just until it was a little crisp on the outside. I scooped out a little of the inner side of the top bun. I made a cilantro mayo and put that on the bottom bun medium to heavy and lightly on the top bun. I sliced the fried chicken and put that on the bottom bun, added some pickled veg and topped that with a fresh herb mixture of cilantro, mint and basil.

This is one of my most amazing creations! My sweetheart does not like eggplant because it is usually mushy. I make my eggplant parmesan crispy and slightly firm. I thought that he may not really accept an eggplant sandwich, so I came up with this amazing gem. I went to The Fresh Market to buy meatloaf mix which is what I use when I make meatballs. It is a blend of veal, pork and beef. Right inside the door they have dinners ready to take home and cook. What did my eyes behold? Uncooked, pre-made meatballs. I browned them in a saucepan and poured in a good jarred tomato sauce. I took my round eggplant from the farmers market and sliced it, salted it, and put it on a baking rack to leach out some liquid. I patted it dry and breaded it. First into flour, then into an egg wash, last but not least a mixture of panko, seasoned Italian breadcrumbs and parmesan. I shallow fried the eggplant until brown on both sides and placed it into a 400 degree oven about 8 minutes, topped it with a nice slice of provolone. I toasted a ciabatta roll in the hot oven. I placed a slice of provolone on the bottom roll and topped that with sliced meatballs and topped that with tomato sauce. I added the eggplant and a little more sauce and placed on the top of the roll. I put a little more sauce on the side for dipping. This is pure dumb luck!