Guess What! I broke my stove yesterday. Actually, it was a double oven with integral range top. But, really--I did break it. I was in the process of making some pickled asparagus and green beans using the two “large” electric eyes of the range and the whole shebang just shut down. The work light quit working and the vent fan quit venting and both “eyes” I was using at the time just quit.
I checked the electrical circuit breaker in the fuse box and tried again and nothing worked. Now what could I do. I already had a number of pounds of fresh asparagus "par boiled" and cooling in an ice water bath, several pounds of fresh green beans ready to "par boil," and four Ball mason jars and lids boiled and sterilized. The problem was that my pickling vinegar mix was still at room temperature.
Our downstairs condo neighbor, Mr. Harlan “Bucky” Strader, was kind enough to allow me to use his range to par boil my green beans and heat up a couple of batches of vinegar in order to save the day.
As of 7:30 AM this morning, the range still isn’t working, but it is paying a heavy price as I have unscrewed the control panel and opened up its “guts” and found the wiring diagram on the internet and I am confident that I will force it to work again this weekend or it will be forced to leave the premises. Consider this a threat...
Now--as to the Pickled Vegetables. Just like cucumbers and olives, asparagus and green beans can be preserved in a pickling solution and used as a side dish or a snack or a garnish for “adult beverages” like Bloody Mary’s and martinis. If you buy them in a restaurant or grocery store, the price can range upwards of $6 or $8 per jar. I like to make my own version of these delicacies when the vegetables are cheep and in season for half the cost.
Here is what you will need to make your own:
8 Ball one quart mason jars with new lids
fresh asparagus and/or fresh green beans
white vinegar
apple cider vinegar
pickling spice(s)
cloves
colored bell peppers (your choice)
garlic
hot peppers (your choice)
fresh thyme
black peppercorns
kosher salt
Notice that I don’t give any quantities with the ingredients. This is because everyone's (and every batch) will be different based on what you can buy in the grocery store and what you have on hand when you are doing your “pickling.”
Redneck Tip: There are a number of web sites on the Internet that outline the wherefores and whenceshalls of canning and pickling. The only thing I can add here is be careful because everything you do will be hot as heck and be clean, clean, clean or you could be dead, dead, dead. Also, Ball Jar company makes a set of tongs, a funnel, and a magnetic wand for retrieving your jars and lids and filling same that is indispensable.
The process is basically as follows:
Sort and rinse your vegetables under cool water. Place batches of the vegetables into a large boiler of water and parboil for three minutes. Drain and place the vegetables in an ice water bath to stop them from cooking further and to retain the color.
Your pickling mixture composition can vary quite a bit based on your personal tastes. I use 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part apple cider vinegar. I also add salt, black peppercorns, cloves, and dill weed to my mix. Make about 2/3 as much as the quantity of jars you expect to fill i.e. 4 quarts for 6 jars of vegetables pickled. Heat your mixture to a low boil on the stove and then turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, heat a large 12 or 16 quart boiler full of water to boiling. Place as many jars (and lids) as will fit in your boiler at one time into the water and boil for two or three minutes. Turn off the heat.
Empty the jars and remove them from the boiler, placing them on a clean dishtowel on the countertop adjacent to the stove.
Drain your vegetables and carefully load them into the hot jars. I take my time and make sure all of the asparagus and green beans are standing up vertical and parallel in the jars. When the jar is full, poke your peppers, fresh thyme sprig, and a few garlic cloves into the jar and pour enough of your pickling mixture into the jar to cover the vegetables. Put a lid ring and new disk and repeat until you run out of vegetables.
Redneck Tip: I make jars containing the same pickling liquid and different mixes of vegetables. Some are all asparagus, some all beans, then some are a mix of asparagus and beans. Also, I put more peppers and garlic in some jars so the old folks with no taste buds can have a good time and break a sweat too.
Sit your finished jars on the counter out of the way and wait for the lids to “pop” as the cooling liquid pulls a slight vacuum and seals everything nice and tight.
The finished product will keep on a shelf in a cool dark place in your kitchen for months. Please note that the “temperature” goes up the longer the veggies sit in the mixture, so watch your mouth when you take the first taste. I keep a jar in the refrigerator and pull a piece or two out as a snack every once in a while just for the heck of it...yum...
Regards Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Friday, December 31, 2004
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Welsh Rarebit
Twenty five or so years ago my good friend Beth Robinson introduced me to a cheese sauce called Welsh Rarebit. What a strange name for food.
As a kid, I remember seeing an episode of “Gomer Pyle-USMC” where Jim Neighbors visited a little restaurant to order “Welsh Rarebit” and as a result of his meal had some unpleasant side effect like nightmares or sleepwalking. Needless to say Welsh Rarebit was fairly low on my list of useful cuisines until Beth coaxed me into eating it in her home.
Using the Internet as my standard resource, last year I found a really good recipe for Welsh Rarebit sauce and having cooked it a dozen times or so, I think that I have it down pat. You can use the basic sauce over veggies like broccoli and cauliflower (cooked or raw) or just dip fancy water crackers in the sauce and munch away.
I use the Welsh Rarebit sauce as a topping for a brunch recipe similar to that which my friend Beth made up. The final format has been modified based on a variation of eggs benedict and the eggs Hussard dish served at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans. My recipe costs about $30 less than a single plate at Brennan’s.
The Welsh Rarebit Sauce ingredients include:
4 tbsp semi-sweet unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups of grated extra sharp, aged cheddar cheese
1 tsp English mustard powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 egg yolks
½ cup of warm, flat cheep beer or ale
The balance of the meal:
2 halved English muffins, lightly toasted
1 can of asparagus spears
4 slices of Canadian bacon
4 eggs
The Welsh Rarebit recipe is an exact copy of the one found on this web site. All I did was modify the quantity to make enough for servings for two people. You can adjust the amount for the numbers you are trying to serve.
I made the sauce several times without the beer, but I’m here to tell you that the beer makes the sauce.
Redneck Tip: If you don’t keep beer around for drinking, go next door to your neighbors and borrow one or run out to the local “gas and grab” and pick up one “wino” size bottle of cheep beer and let it warm up to room temperature before you start cooking. You can also take a few big slugs out of the bottle while no one is looking (it’s a shame to waste perfectly good beer—I call it alcohol abuse) and claim that you spilled it if you don’t want to be caught drinking at 9:30 AM Christmas morning.
In a small skillet, toss your Canadian bacon slices in to brown on medium low heat.
In another small skillet, heat the canned asparagus spears on low heat.
Split two English muffins in half and toast lightly in your toaster.
Heat 3 quarts of water in a four quart boiler over medium heat to get ready to poach your eggs. If you have an egg “Poacher” ignore the rest of my “egg poaching” instructions because you obviously already know what you are doing and don’t need any “Redneck Tips.” Gosh Darn it…….
Now, as to the Welsh Rarebit sauce. This sauce absolutely needs a double boiler. I’ve been meaning to mention this before, but if you don’t have a “real” double boiler (I don’t), you can make one by putting a 1 or 2 quart boiler inside a 3 or 4 quart boiler full of water. The key is to not overheat or boil the sauce.
In your double boiler (homemade or otherwise,) melt the butter over medium low heat. While the butter is melting, grate your cheese.
Redneck Tip: Please buy your own good quality sharp cheddar and grate it yourself. No self respecting Redneck Cook would buy that crappy prepackaged, pre-grated stuff they call cheese. The taste difference is amazing…
Once the butter has melted, start adding the cheese to the boiler a little at a time and stirring the mixture. Keep adding the cheese until it is all in the pot and melted.
In your measuring cup, pour in the ½ cup of warm beer and add the two egg yolks. Stir everything together.
Now add the mustard, cayenne, Worcestershire, and the beer/egg mixture to the cheese butter mixture. Keep stirring….I said KEEP STIRRING!
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
By now your egg poaching water should be nearly boiling. Adjust the heat to keep it that way--simmering, not boiling. Poach your eggs while you keep stirring your sauce.
Redneck Tip: For those not versed in poaching eggs or those that do not have an “Egg Poacher,” here is what you do. Crack your eggs one at a time into a coffee cup. Introduce the egg into the simmering water by slowly lowering the egg in the cup into the water and gently tilting the cup to allow the egg to lower onto the bottom of the boiler. If the egg spreads out a little, you can actually push it back together by using a fork or spoon to “prod” it back into shape. Don’t worry if you get little wisps of egg white flying around the water. Just go slow and if the loose egg wisps build up strain them out of the water with a slotted spoon. Just don’t let the water boil or you’ll have a real mess on your hands (and in your pot.) I find that four to six minutes of cooking does the job. You can place the eggs on a saucer in the oven to keep them warm while you get all four of them done.
Once the eggs are poached, the Canadian bacon and the asparagus is warm, and your sauce has thickened, place the English muffin halves on a cookie sheet, top each with a slice of Canadian bacon, three or four spears of Asparagus, and one poached egg.
Place the whole shebang in the oven for ten to twelve minutes to warm through.
Remove everything from the oven, place two of each stack on pre-warmed plates, and spoon the Welsh Rarebit sauce generously over the top.
Now watch your taste buds explode with the flavor of the red pepper aftertaste in the sauce. Ummm...Ummm. Toss the dishes in the dishwasher and jump on the sofa for a late morning nap...I did!
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
As a kid, I remember seeing an episode of “Gomer Pyle-USMC” where Jim Neighbors visited a little restaurant to order “Welsh Rarebit” and as a result of his meal had some unpleasant side effect like nightmares or sleepwalking. Needless to say Welsh Rarebit was fairly low on my list of useful cuisines until Beth coaxed me into eating it in her home.
Using the Internet as my standard resource, last year I found a really good recipe for Welsh Rarebit sauce and having cooked it a dozen times or so, I think that I have it down pat. You can use the basic sauce over veggies like broccoli and cauliflower (cooked or raw) or just dip fancy water crackers in the sauce and munch away.
I use the Welsh Rarebit sauce as a topping for a brunch recipe similar to that which my friend Beth made up. The final format has been modified based on a variation of eggs benedict and the eggs Hussard dish served at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans. My recipe costs about $30 less than a single plate at Brennan’s.
The Welsh Rarebit Sauce ingredients include:
4 tbsp semi-sweet unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups of grated extra sharp, aged cheddar cheese
1 tsp English mustard powder
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 egg yolks
½ cup of warm, flat cheep beer or ale
The balance of the meal:
2 halved English muffins, lightly toasted
1 can of asparagus spears
4 slices of Canadian bacon
4 eggs
The Welsh Rarebit recipe is an exact copy of the one found on this web site. All I did was modify the quantity to make enough for servings for two people. You can adjust the amount for the numbers you are trying to serve.
I made the sauce several times without the beer, but I’m here to tell you that the beer makes the sauce.
Redneck Tip: If you don’t keep beer around for drinking, go next door to your neighbors and borrow one or run out to the local “gas and grab” and pick up one “wino” size bottle of cheep beer and let it warm up to room temperature before you start cooking. You can also take a few big slugs out of the bottle while no one is looking (it’s a shame to waste perfectly good beer—I call it alcohol abuse) and claim that you spilled it if you don’t want to be caught drinking at 9:30 AM Christmas morning.
In a small skillet, toss your Canadian bacon slices in to brown on medium low heat.
In another small skillet, heat the canned asparagus spears on low heat.
Split two English muffins in half and toast lightly in your toaster.
Heat 3 quarts of water in a four quart boiler over medium heat to get ready to poach your eggs. If you have an egg “Poacher” ignore the rest of my “egg poaching” instructions because you obviously already know what you are doing and don’t need any “Redneck Tips.” Gosh Darn it…….
Now, as to the Welsh Rarebit sauce. This sauce absolutely needs a double boiler. I’ve been meaning to mention this before, but if you don’t have a “real” double boiler (I don’t), you can make one by putting a 1 or 2 quart boiler inside a 3 or 4 quart boiler full of water. The key is to not overheat or boil the sauce.
In your double boiler (homemade or otherwise,) melt the butter over medium low heat. While the butter is melting, grate your cheese.
Redneck Tip: Please buy your own good quality sharp cheddar and grate it yourself. No self respecting Redneck Cook would buy that crappy prepackaged, pre-grated stuff they call cheese. The taste difference is amazing…
Once the butter has melted, start adding the cheese to the boiler a little at a time and stirring the mixture. Keep adding the cheese until it is all in the pot and melted.
In your measuring cup, pour in the ½ cup of warm beer and add the two egg yolks. Stir everything together.
Now add the mustard, cayenne, Worcestershire, and the beer/egg mixture to the cheese butter mixture. Keep stirring….I said KEEP STIRRING!
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
By now your egg poaching water should be nearly boiling. Adjust the heat to keep it that way--simmering, not boiling. Poach your eggs while you keep stirring your sauce.
Redneck Tip: For those not versed in poaching eggs or those that do not have an “Egg Poacher,” here is what you do. Crack your eggs one at a time into a coffee cup. Introduce the egg into the simmering water by slowly lowering the egg in the cup into the water and gently tilting the cup to allow the egg to lower onto the bottom of the boiler. If the egg spreads out a little, you can actually push it back together by using a fork or spoon to “prod” it back into shape. Don’t worry if you get little wisps of egg white flying around the water. Just go slow and if the loose egg wisps build up strain them out of the water with a slotted spoon. Just don’t let the water boil or you’ll have a real mess on your hands (and in your pot.) I find that four to six minutes of cooking does the job. You can place the eggs on a saucer in the oven to keep them warm while you get all four of them done.
Once the eggs are poached, the Canadian bacon and the asparagus is warm, and your sauce has thickened, place the English muffin halves on a cookie sheet, top each with a slice of Canadian bacon, three or four spears of Asparagus, and one poached egg.
Place the whole shebang in the oven for ten to twelve minutes to warm through.
Remove everything from the oven, place two of each stack on pre-warmed plates, and spoon the Welsh Rarebit sauce generously over the top.
Now watch your taste buds explode with the flavor of the red pepper aftertaste in the sauce. Ummm...Ummm. Toss the dishes in the dishwasher and jump on the sofa for a late morning nap...I did!
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
It's Not Delivery, It's DiGiorno
(Tortilloni with Pink Vodka Sauce)
In my experience, all of the forms of stuffed pasta are very time consuming to make. I’ve done the larger ones like three cheese stuffed manicotti and spinach stuffed shells using pre-prepared pasta shells, but the small pastas like tortellini, tortilloni, and ravioli, require more patience and experience rolling out your own flat pasta dough, cutting it to size, and then stuffing and shaping them. I ask that you look for some future postings of the recipes for some these delicacies to cook when you have a couple of extra hours to spare working in the kitchen.
The title of tonight’s recipe might make you think that I’m proposing that you eat store bought frozen pizza for dinner. Wrong. What I am proposing is that you eat store bought, refrigerated tortilloni with a home made pink sauce. We did tonight, it only took thirty minutes to prepare, and it was surprisingly good.
The DiGiorno brand from Kraft foods produces a number of flavors of tortilloni including the one I purchased that was stuffed with portabella mushrooms. Unlike many of the recipes I’ve previously posted, this one doesn’t require a two extra trips to the grocery store and the use of every ingredient in your pantry and fridge. It's really very easy.
The ingredients:
One package of stuffed Tortilloni (or one box of bowtie, penne, or your other favorite pasta shell)
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
2/3 c. vodka
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 can (16 oz.) smashed or pureed tomatoes
3/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 c. half and half
Don’t use salt in the sauce, because the tortilloni is SALTY!
And now, the preparation:
In a four quart boiler, heat a couple of quarts of water to boiling.
In a large heavy skillet, melt your butter over medium heat. While the butter is heating, open the can of tomatoes and grate your parmesan cheese.
Redneck Tip: I use good Parmigiano reggiano cheese that costs a lot more than the pre-grated stuff sold in the little green cans by Kraft foods. It tastes infinitely better and is worth the extra cost.
Your water should be boiling by now, so add your pasta and reduce the heat to medium high.
Once the butter has melted in the skillet, stir in the vodka and red pepper flakes and simmer for a few minutes. Now add the tomatoes and keep stirring for a few more minutes. DO NOT BOIL.
Now add the cream or half and half and keep stirring DO NOT BOIL.
Redneck tip: Watch your pasta. Don’t let it boil over and don’t let it cook beyond six or seven minutes.
Put your pasta bowls in the oven to warm.
When the pasta has cooked done, drain it well in a colander. Add the pasta to the sauce in the skillet, reduce the heat to medium low, and stir in the parmesan cheese, reserving a few tablespoons for sprinkling on top. DO NOT BOIL.
Stir everything for a couple of more minutes. Take the pasta bowls out of the oven, place them on chargers, and spoon your pasta/sauce into the bowls. Garnish with fresh parsley and a sprinkle of parmesan.
Now sit down at the coffee table in front of the TV and watch Jeopardy while you eat.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
In my experience, all of the forms of stuffed pasta are very time consuming to make. I’ve done the larger ones like three cheese stuffed manicotti and spinach stuffed shells using pre-prepared pasta shells, but the small pastas like tortellini, tortilloni, and ravioli, require more patience and experience rolling out your own flat pasta dough, cutting it to size, and then stuffing and shaping them. I ask that you look for some future postings of the recipes for some these delicacies to cook when you have a couple of extra hours to spare working in the kitchen.
The title of tonight’s recipe might make you think that I’m proposing that you eat store bought frozen pizza for dinner. Wrong. What I am proposing is that you eat store bought, refrigerated tortilloni with a home made pink sauce. We did tonight, it only took thirty minutes to prepare, and it was surprisingly good.
The DiGiorno brand from Kraft foods produces a number of flavors of tortilloni including the one I purchased that was stuffed with portabella mushrooms. Unlike many of the recipes I’ve previously posted, this one doesn’t require a two extra trips to the grocery store and the use of every ingredient in your pantry and fridge. It's really very easy.
The ingredients:
One package of stuffed Tortilloni (or one box of bowtie, penne, or your other favorite pasta shell)
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
2/3 c. vodka
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 can (16 oz.) smashed or pureed tomatoes
3/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 c. half and half
Don’t use salt in the sauce, because the tortilloni is SALTY!
And now, the preparation:
In a four quart boiler, heat a couple of quarts of water to boiling.
In a large heavy skillet, melt your butter over medium heat. While the butter is heating, open the can of tomatoes and grate your parmesan cheese.
Redneck Tip: I use good Parmigiano reggiano cheese that costs a lot more than the pre-grated stuff sold in the little green cans by Kraft foods. It tastes infinitely better and is worth the extra cost.
Your water should be boiling by now, so add your pasta and reduce the heat to medium high.
Once the butter has melted in the skillet, stir in the vodka and red pepper flakes and simmer for a few minutes. Now add the tomatoes and keep stirring for a few more minutes. DO NOT BOIL.
Now add the cream or half and half and keep stirring DO NOT BOIL.
Redneck tip: Watch your pasta. Don’t let it boil over and don’t let it cook beyond six or seven minutes.
Put your pasta bowls in the oven to warm.
When the pasta has cooked done, drain it well in a colander. Add the pasta to the sauce in the skillet, reduce the heat to medium low, and stir in the parmesan cheese, reserving a few tablespoons for sprinkling on top. DO NOT BOIL.
Stir everything for a couple of more minutes. Take the pasta bowls out of the oven, place them on chargers, and spoon your pasta/sauce into the bowls. Garnish with fresh parsley and a sprinkle of parmesan.
Now sit down at the coffee table in front of the TV and watch Jeopardy while you eat.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Monday, December 13, 2004
Chewy Double Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Walnut Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
(More than a mouthful)
I hate bribery, but I have learned that it is generally a fact of life in the world we live in. I probably would have gone a lot farther in business if I had succumbed to employing a little “grease on the skids” of life.
There was this salesman, Gene Lorenz, who used to come by the office I worked in 20 years ago to drop off information on the steel fabrication company he represented. He never sold anything to my boss, but he would always leave a package containing a half dozen large cookies. The best darn cookies I ever had—you had to fight the secretary for a bite of one.
Years later, after I had started my own company and began a business relationship with Gene, he told me where he got the cookies. Harry’s Farmers Market in Atlanta was the place. I could eat a half dozen of those cookies in a single sitting.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a Harry’s market here on St. Simons, but when I wanted to bake some cookies for the holiday season, I did some research hoping to make my own version of my favorite cookies.
Here is what I came up with for ingredients:
2 sticks butter + 1/4 stick
2 eggs
1 cup white crystal sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Quaker oats
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnut pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate
According to my Betty Crocker Cookbook, there are a couple of details that ensure good cookies. I followed Mrs. Crocker’s instructions and my cookies came out perfect.
Betty Crocker Tip: First, let your butter soften at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before you use it. Second, if you don’t have flat cookie sheets (I didn’t,) turn your sheets upside down and cook your cookies on the back of the sheet.
Now, as to making great cookies. In a double boiler, combine ¼ stick of butter and three squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and heat over medium heat to melt, stirring occasionally.
While your chocolate is melting, in a large mixing bowl, combine the white crystal sugar, the brown sugar, the oats, and the cinnamon. Stir everything together to combine. Slice the butter into pieces and add it to the mixture and beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix some more. Now add your chocolate chips and nuts and mix some more.
Once the chocolate and butter mixture has melted, add it to the sugar/oats mixture and beat lightly with the electric mixer.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift and measure the cake flour, the whole wheat flour, the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix everything together with a spoon.
Now it is time to think again—you might not need all of your flour mixture so pay attention. Add half of your flour mix to the wet mix and beat it all together with the mixer. Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl to get the dry stuff off of the edges. Keep adding the flour mixture a little at a time and beating it with the mixer until you have a very stiff dough. As I said, you might not need all of the flour, depending on room temperature and your accuracy of measuring the ingredients. I said VERY stiff dough...it's important.
When you are satisfied with your dough, cover the bowl with Saran Wrap and sit it in the refrigerator for ten minutes to chill. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Open a beer or mix yourself a drink while you wait.
Redneck Tip: My Betty Crocker Cookbook had another idea I liked. Instead of cooking a whole batch of bad cookies, spoon out a little of your dough on to a cookie sheet and test-cook one cookie to see what you’ve got. If your cookie spreads out too much and is flat, add a little flour to your mix. If it is too dry and cooks like a golf ball, add a little more butter, a dash of milk, or another egg and try again. Mine worked great the first try. Also, allow your cookie sheets to cool off between batches so that your cookies don’t spread too much while cooking—remember, that’s why we chilled the dough in the first place…
Spoon out even globs of your cookie dough onto your cookie sheets. I wanted real thick, 2-1/2” cookies, so I used big portions. Cook for nine to twelve minutes, until you see the sides of the bottoms starting to get real dark.
Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then slide them off onto a cooling rack. Repeat until you run out of dough, or make some more dough and keep going. Makes about two dozen fat cookies.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
I hate bribery, but I have learned that it is generally a fact of life in the world we live in. I probably would have gone a lot farther in business if I had succumbed to employing a little “grease on the skids” of life.
There was this salesman, Gene Lorenz, who used to come by the office I worked in 20 years ago to drop off information on the steel fabrication company he represented. He never sold anything to my boss, but he would always leave a package containing a half dozen large cookies. The best darn cookies I ever had—you had to fight the secretary for a bite of one.
Years later, after I had started my own company and began a business relationship with Gene, he told me where he got the cookies. Harry’s Farmers Market in Atlanta was the place. I could eat a half dozen of those cookies in a single sitting.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a Harry’s market here on St. Simons, but when I wanted to bake some cookies for the holiday season, I did some research hoping to make my own version of my favorite cookies.
Here is what I came up with for ingredients:
2 sticks butter + 1/4 stick
2 eggs
1 cup white crystal sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Quaker oats
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnut pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate
According to my Betty Crocker Cookbook, there are a couple of details that ensure good cookies. I followed Mrs. Crocker’s instructions and my cookies came out perfect.
Betty Crocker Tip: First, let your butter soften at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before you use it. Second, if you don’t have flat cookie sheets (I didn’t,) turn your sheets upside down and cook your cookies on the back of the sheet.
Now, as to making great cookies. In a double boiler, combine ¼ stick of butter and three squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and heat over medium heat to melt, stirring occasionally.
While your chocolate is melting, in a large mixing bowl, combine the white crystal sugar, the brown sugar, the oats, and the cinnamon. Stir everything together to combine. Slice the butter into pieces and add it to the mixture and beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix some more. Now add your chocolate chips and nuts and mix some more.
Once the chocolate and butter mixture has melted, add it to the sugar/oats mixture and beat lightly with the electric mixer.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift and measure the cake flour, the whole wheat flour, the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix everything together with a spoon.
Now it is time to think again—you might not need all of your flour mixture so pay attention. Add half of your flour mix to the wet mix and beat it all together with the mixer. Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl to get the dry stuff off of the edges. Keep adding the flour mixture a little at a time and beating it with the mixer until you have a very stiff dough. As I said, you might not need all of the flour, depending on room temperature and your accuracy of measuring the ingredients. I said VERY stiff dough...it's important.
When you are satisfied with your dough, cover the bowl with Saran Wrap and sit it in the refrigerator for ten minutes to chill. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Open a beer or mix yourself a drink while you wait.
Redneck Tip: My Betty Crocker Cookbook had another idea I liked. Instead of cooking a whole batch of bad cookies, spoon out a little of your dough on to a cookie sheet and test-cook one cookie to see what you’ve got. If your cookie spreads out too much and is flat, add a little flour to your mix. If it is too dry and cooks like a golf ball, add a little more butter, a dash of milk, or another egg and try again. Mine worked great the first try. Also, allow your cookie sheets to cool off between batches so that your cookies don’t spread too much while cooking—remember, that’s why we chilled the dough in the first place…
Spoon out even globs of your cookie dough onto your cookie sheets. I wanted real thick, 2-1/2” cookies, so I used big portions. Cook for nine to twelve minutes, until you see the sides of the bottoms starting to get real dark.
Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then slide them off onto a cooling rack. Repeat until you run out of dough, or make some more dough and keep going. Makes about two dozen fat cookies.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
Monday, December 06, 2004
Chicken Soup for the Blogger Mind
Last weekend when I posted “Kicked Up Meatloaf-Emeril Style” I also wrote a confession about the failure of a recipe I had tried to cook. Well folks, this weekend I have another confession, except this one is about a surprise--sort of round-about success.
I’m usually not a big soup and chili guy when the weather is warm, so when the temperature took a dip last week I decided it was time to cook a whole chicken down for stock and to make some chicken soup with the results.
Canned store bought stock is a staple in my pantry, but I still like to make my own homemade seasoned stock a few times a year to keep in the freezer for use in “special” recipes. So here goes, you’ll need the following ingredients for the stock:
1 four to five pound chicken
6 to 8 quarts of water
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp thyme
3 or 4 stems of parsley
Remove and discard the fat from the tail end of the chicken and rinse the bird thoroughly.
Redneck Tip: Also remove the package containing the neck, gizzard, heart, liver, etc. from inside the bird. I once had a friend that cooked her Christmas turkey with all that stuff still in the plastic bag inside the bird…but that’s another story…
Put the bird and its inside parts into a 12 quart boiler and add the water to cover. Set it on the stove top over medium high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
Now crack your peppercorns (I use a mortar and pestle) and place the pieces on a 6” x 10” section of cheesecloth along with the bay leaves, the thyme, and the parsley stems. Fold the cheesecloth up to form an enclosed package and tie it closed with butcher’s twine. Add it to the pot.
Redneck Tip: You’ve just made what the French call a seasoning sachet. Impressed?
Bring the whole thing to a low simmer. Now you are going to have to spend a few minutes (15 or 20 or so) with your cooking bird. As it comes up to temperature, you will start to see a foam or “scum” rising to the top. Don’t worry; this is just the dissolved fat from under the chicken’s skin and some blood that is cooking out of the bird. Skim this off as it rises because it will make your stock look cloudy if it is allowed to cook with your stock.
Once you have “skimmed your scum,” put the cover on the pot, step away from the stove and let everything simmer for five hours, checking back every half hour or so to make sure that it is simmering, not boiling.
Redneck Tip: I try to start cooking stock very early in the morning. This batch started at 5:45 AM...yawn….
Once the stock has reduced by about 1/3 to 1/2 (your choice), turn off the heat, cock the lid, and let it all cool down for a few hours.
Now here is where things went awry. I usually allow my stock to cool all day. If I’m in a hurry, it will spend a few hours in the refrigerator to expedite cooling before I finish processing it. Bad news…We have a side-by side fridge here at the condo and, this being the first batch of stock I’ve made here, I didn’t realize that the stock pot would not fit inside the fridge.
Not to worry, I sat my stockpot out on the sun porch to cool while we went out for a few hours to do some shopping and to look for a Christmas tree. When we returned three hours later, I realized that I had left the lid firmly on the pot and as a result it was still so hot you couldn’t handle it with your bare hands. This is a problem because the idea is to allow the remaining grease to rise to the top and congeal so that you can spoon it off. You don’t want greasy stock.
After another two hours of cooling, the grease still hadn’t all floated and set on top. How was I going to make soup for dinner (it was now 7:45 PM)? Can you say store bought canned stock?
For the soup I used:
The meat from one chicken breast, one leg, and one wing.
2 cans low salt chicken stock
1 can beef stock
2 medium carrots, sliced
¼ medium onion, diced fine
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 head of escarole lettuce, rinsed and chopped
1/3 pound pastini pasta
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan reggiano cheese
Juice from1/2 lemon
Combine the chicken meat and stock in a 4 quart boiler over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, pastini, escarole, and pepper. Simmer for ten minutes.
Redneck Tip: I used one can of beef stock because I ran out of chicken stock. Remember, in this exercise I started out cooking HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK??!!
While the soup is simmering, in a small mixing bowl, lightly whisk the egg, then whisk in the parmesan cheese and lemon juice.
When the pastini is done, turn off the heat. “Temper” the egg/cheese mixture by slowly spooning some of the hot soup into it a little at a time so as to not “scramble” the egg.
Stir the tempered egg mixture into the soup, let things cool slightly, ladle into a bowl, and enjoy.
Using the canned stock, the soup took less than 45 minutes and saved dinner last evening.
Now back to the chicken stock…once it has FINALLY cooled down (I waited overnight,) spoon the grease off of the top and discard. Fish around in the pot with a slotted spoon and remove as much of the chicken meat and bones as you can and reserve on a plate. Separate the meat from the bones and reserve the meat for soup or gumbo.
Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer or a colander lined with cheesecloth into a large mixing bowl. You now have chicken stock.
Pick through the material caught in the strainer for any pieces of chicken that you might have missed earlier and discard the bones and vegetables. The stock can be strained once more if you like, then portioned up and frozen in sealed containers for later use.
Redneck Tip: You can freeze your stock in plastic ice trays to make small cubes which are easy to store and break out when you need just a little broth for seasoning.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
I’m usually not a big soup and chili guy when the weather is warm, so when the temperature took a dip last week I decided it was time to cook a whole chicken down for stock and to make some chicken soup with the results.
Canned store bought stock is a staple in my pantry, but I still like to make my own homemade seasoned stock a few times a year to keep in the freezer for use in “special” recipes. So here goes, you’ll need the following ingredients for the stock:
1 four to five pound chicken
6 to 8 quarts of water
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tsp thyme
3 or 4 stems of parsley
Remove and discard the fat from the tail end of the chicken and rinse the bird thoroughly.
Redneck Tip: Also remove the package containing the neck, gizzard, heart, liver, etc. from inside the bird. I once had a friend that cooked her Christmas turkey with all that stuff still in the plastic bag inside the bird…but that’s another story…
Put the bird and its inside parts into a 12 quart boiler and add the water to cover. Set it on the stove top over medium high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
Now crack your peppercorns (I use a mortar and pestle) and place the pieces on a 6” x 10” section of cheesecloth along with the bay leaves, the thyme, and the parsley stems. Fold the cheesecloth up to form an enclosed package and tie it closed with butcher’s twine. Add it to the pot.
Redneck Tip: You’ve just made what the French call a seasoning sachet. Impressed?
Bring the whole thing to a low simmer. Now you are going to have to spend a few minutes (15 or 20 or so) with your cooking bird. As it comes up to temperature, you will start to see a foam or “scum” rising to the top. Don’t worry; this is just the dissolved fat from under the chicken’s skin and some blood that is cooking out of the bird. Skim this off as it rises because it will make your stock look cloudy if it is allowed to cook with your stock.
Once you have “skimmed your scum,” put the cover on the pot, step away from the stove and let everything simmer for five hours, checking back every half hour or so to make sure that it is simmering, not boiling.
Redneck Tip: I try to start cooking stock very early in the morning. This batch started at 5:45 AM...yawn….
Once the stock has reduced by about 1/3 to 1/2 (your choice), turn off the heat, cock the lid, and let it all cool down for a few hours.
Now here is where things went awry. I usually allow my stock to cool all day. If I’m in a hurry, it will spend a few hours in the refrigerator to expedite cooling before I finish processing it. Bad news…We have a side-by side fridge here at the condo and, this being the first batch of stock I’ve made here, I didn’t realize that the stock pot would not fit inside the fridge.
Not to worry, I sat my stockpot out on the sun porch to cool while we went out for a few hours to do some shopping and to look for a Christmas tree. When we returned three hours later, I realized that I had left the lid firmly on the pot and as a result it was still so hot you couldn’t handle it with your bare hands. This is a problem because the idea is to allow the remaining grease to rise to the top and congeal so that you can spoon it off. You don’t want greasy stock.
After another two hours of cooling, the grease still hadn’t all floated and set on top. How was I going to make soup for dinner (it was now 7:45 PM)? Can you say store bought canned stock?
For the soup I used:
The meat from one chicken breast, one leg, and one wing.
2 cans low salt chicken stock
1 can beef stock
2 medium carrots, sliced
¼ medium onion, diced fine
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 head of escarole lettuce, rinsed and chopped
1/3 pound pastini pasta
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan reggiano cheese
Juice from1/2 lemon
Combine the chicken meat and stock in a 4 quart boiler over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, pastini, escarole, and pepper. Simmer for ten minutes.
Redneck Tip: I used one can of beef stock because I ran out of chicken stock. Remember, in this exercise I started out cooking HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK??!!
While the soup is simmering, in a small mixing bowl, lightly whisk the egg, then whisk in the parmesan cheese and lemon juice.
When the pastini is done, turn off the heat. “Temper” the egg/cheese mixture by slowly spooning some of the hot soup into it a little at a time so as to not “scramble” the egg.
Stir the tempered egg mixture into the soup, let things cool slightly, ladle into a bowl, and enjoy.
Using the canned stock, the soup took less than 45 minutes and saved dinner last evening.
Now back to the chicken stock…once it has FINALLY cooled down (I waited overnight,) spoon the grease off of the top and discard. Fish around in the pot with a slotted spoon and remove as much of the chicken meat and bones as you can and reserve on a plate. Separate the meat from the bones and reserve the meat for soup or gumbo.
Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer or a colander lined with cheesecloth into a large mixing bowl. You now have chicken stock.
Pick through the material caught in the strainer for any pieces of chicken that you might have missed earlier and discard the bones and vegetables. The stock can be strained once more if you like, then portioned up and frozen in sealed containers for later use.
Redneck Tip: You can freeze your stock in plastic ice trays to make small cubes which are easy to store and break out when you need just a little broth for seasoning.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Baked Stuffed Brie With Tarragon Chicken Shiitake Mushrooms
I’ve always been fascinated with Mediterranean dishes that used a pastry to encase some kind of savory meat and vegetable filling. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on them in restaurants over the past twenty five years and had no idea that making my own dish “en crue” or “in puff pastry” was so easy. And then there is that ambrosia, the nirvana of Greek desert, Baklava, made with Filo pastry—err…ummm--another day perhaps
This recipe has been a favorite in our kitchen for the past year. I cook it about once a month--every time the Brie is on sale at the local grocer. It started out based on this appetizer recipe from recipesource.com. A bit of modification to the recipe and experience gained cooking it a half dozen times has yielded a great entree for two served with asparagus on the side (or your favorite vegetable du jour) or as a rich appetizer with fancy water crackers for those small, intimate get-to-gathers.
You’ll need the following ingredients:
One small wheel of good Brie Cheese
¼ pound of Shiitake mushrooms
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
½ cup white wine (chill the rest of the wine to drink with dinner)
1 clove of garlic, diced very fine
½ tbsp tarragon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp un-salted, semi-sweet butter
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (or if you are into pain—a pile of filo dough sheets)
Now, in the words of Jackie Gleason, “and away we go…”
Toss the wheel of Brie and one sheet of puff pastry dough out of the Fridge onto a piece of wax paper on your counter top. Cover the puff pastry dough with a clean, damp dish towel and let it thaw while you do the following steps.
Rinse the chicken, pat dry, and slice the breast into 1” thick strips. Place the bird into a shallow bowl and pour the olive oil and sprinkle the dried tarragon over the chicken strips, turning to coat evenly.
Slice the mushrooms, dice the garlic clove, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Also preheat a large heavy skillet on the stove top over medium low heat in preparation of cooking the chicken/mushroom mixture.
Add the chicken strips and cook for a couple of minutes on each side. Then pour in the wine, the garlic, the mushrooms, and kick the heat up just a little until everything is simmering nicely.
Spray a little “Pam” olive oil based non-stick spray on the inside of a small, deep casserole dish. Remove the chicken strips to a cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice thinly. Add the butter and return the chicken to the mushroom wine mixture for another few minutes. Turn off the heat and let everything coast.
Slice the wheel of brie into two half thicknesses and place one half in the center of the thawed puff pastry dough. Spoon the cooled mushroom chicken mixture on top of the brie, then top with the other piece of brie.
Fold the corners of the pastry up and over the brie, flip the package over, and place it in the casserole dish tucking the pastry neatly underneath. Place it in the 350 degree oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for ten minutes, slice, and serve with your vegetable and a glass of the white wine.
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
This recipe has been a favorite in our kitchen for the past year. I cook it about once a month--every time the Brie is on sale at the local grocer. It started out based on this appetizer recipe from recipesource.com. A bit of modification to the recipe and experience gained cooking it a half dozen times has yielded a great entree for two served with asparagus on the side (or your favorite vegetable du jour) or as a rich appetizer with fancy water crackers for those small, intimate get-to-gathers.
You’ll need the following ingredients:
One small wheel of good Brie Cheese
¼ pound of Shiitake mushrooms
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
½ cup white wine (chill the rest of the wine to drink with dinner)
1 clove of garlic, diced very fine
½ tbsp tarragon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp un-salted, semi-sweet butter
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (or if you are into pain—a pile of filo dough sheets)
Now, in the words of Jackie Gleason, “and away we go…”
Toss the wheel of Brie and one sheet of puff pastry dough out of the Fridge onto a piece of wax paper on your counter top. Cover the puff pastry dough with a clean, damp dish towel and let it thaw while you do the following steps.
Rinse the chicken, pat dry, and slice the breast into 1” thick strips. Place the bird into a shallow bowl and pour the olive oil and sprinkle the dried tarragon over the chicken strips, turning to coat evenly.
Slice the mushrooms, dice the garlic clove, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Also preheat a large heavy skillet on the stove top over medium low heat in preparation of cooking the chicken/mushroom mixture.
Add the chicken strips and cook for a couple of minutes on each side. Then pour in the wine, the garlic, the mushrooms, and kick the heat up just a little until everything is simmering nicely.
Spray a little “Pam” olive oil based non-stick spray on the inside of a small, deep casserole dish. Remove the chicken strips to a cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice thinly. Add the butter and return the chicken to the mushroom wine mixture for another few minutes. Turn off the heat and let everything coast.
Slice the wheel of brie into two half thicknesses and place one half in the center of the thawed puff pastry dough. Spoon the cooled mushroom chicken mixture on top of the brie, then top with the other piece of brie.
Fold the corners of the pastry up and over the brie, flip the package over, and place it in the casserole dish tucking the pastry neatly underneath. Place it in the 350 degree oven and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool for ten minutes, slice, and serve with your vegetable and a glass of the white wine.
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Kicked Up Meatloaf--Emeril Style
First—a confession. I had a bit of a cooking disaster last weekend that resulted in me not posting my weekly recipe as it needs a bit more work. Crab and Shrimp Mornay was the dish, and the Mornay sauce did not work like I wanted because I started out with the wrong recipe as a basis. As a result, I wasted about $12 of fresh backfin crabmeat. I’ll do a little more research and have it figured out later this winter for publication.
Now, as to this evening’s dish--having spent the day after Thanksgiving avoiding the malls, I instead spent the afternoon working at the local theater on the set I’m building for Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap.” By five PM I was tired and didn’t want to face two or three hours prepping and cooking a dish. Pat suggested a nice meatloaf and a quick run by the local grocery on the way home from the theater yielded the fresh ground beef necessary for the dish.
A quick check of the Food Network website yielded Emeril’s “Most Kicked Up Meatloaf Ever.” I made some modifications based on having dried spices rather than fresh, and instead of using butter I cooked the vegetables in bacon drippings left over from brunch this morning. The modified ingredient listing, making enough for four to six people, looked like this:
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup ketchup, plus 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Heavy cream
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1-1/4 pound ground chuck (try 90% lean—I used 80% and it was too greasy)
1/3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Three or four medium potatoes, quartered
1 6oz jar green giant button mushrooms
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped or crushed
In a large heavy skillet, heat the bacon dripping over medium heat. Add all but about 4 tbsp of the chopped onion, the celery, and all but 2 tbsp of the bell pepper to the skillet and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes or so.
Add one tsp garlic, the thyme, rosemary, and the parsley and cook an additional 2 minutes. Set skillet aside to cool. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F.
Redneck Tip: Tilt your skillet slightly and spoon off any extra bacon grease that you can.
In a large mixing bowl, transfer the cooled vegetable mixture and add the eggs, the mustard, 1/3 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, the cream, and mix well. Then add the breadcrumbs, ground chuck, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is uniformly combined (no dry spots,) but don’t over mix.
Turn the whole blob out into a greased oval corningware casserole dish (I used an oval, 3” deep dish,) shape into a loaf with your hands, and place the potatoes in the gap between the sides of the loaf and the dish.
In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the onion, garlic, the red bell pepper, ¼ cup ketchup, the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and simmer for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Pour the mixture over the top of the meatloaf, sprinkle the button mushrooms on top of that, smooth out with a spoon, and toss the whole thing in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes.
Redneck Tip: At the hour mark, start checking every five minutes or so because you don’t want to burn the top of the loaf.
When you think it is done, turn off the oven and take the meatloaf out and set on a rack to cool for ten minutes or so. Put your plates in the oven for a minute to warm.
Since it is in season and cheep, I steamed some fresh asparagus in a double boiler while the meatloaf was cooling.
When the loaf has cooled a bit, put your warmed plates on chargers, slice the loaf, spoon out some of everything onto your plates, and serve with your asparagus or other vegetable on the side. No ketchup required!
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Update: November 28, 2004
This dish reheats in the oven very well and tastes even better the second time than the first night. I simply removed the leftover meatloaf from the refrigerator and let it set for a half hour at room temperature, preheated the oven to 300 deg F, poured a half can of beef broth over it, and reheated for twenty minutes. Yum.
Also, I used Russet potatoes which are better cooked whole as baking potatoes. Next time I'll use new red potatoes which would have been much better. There is a whole posting that I need to write on potatoes and other vegetables. Look for it in the future.
Now, as to this evening’s dish--having spent the day after Thanksgiving avoiding the malls, I instead spent the afternoon working at the local theater on the set I’m building for Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap.” By five PM I was tired and didn’t want to face two or three hours prepping and cooking a dish. Pat suggested a nice meatloaf and a quick run by the local grocery on the way home from the theater yielded the fresh ground beef necessary for the dish.
A quick check of the Food Network website yielded Emeril’s “Most Kicked Up Meatloaf Ever.” I made some modifications based on having dried spices rather than fresh, and instead of using butter I cooked the vegetables in bacon drippings left over from brunch this morning. The modified ingredient listing, making enough for four to six people, looked like this:
3 tablespoons bacon drippings
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup ketchup, plus 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Heavy cream
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1-1/4 pound ground chuck (try 90% lean—I used 80% and it was too greasy)
1/3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Three or four medium potatoes, quartered
1 6oz jar green giant button mushrooms
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup canned tomatoes, chopped or crushed
In a large heavy skillet, heat the bacon dripping over medium heat. Add all but about 4 tbsp of the chopped onion, the celery, and all but 2 tbsp of the bell pepper to the skillet and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes or so.
Add one tsp garlic, the thyme, rosemary, and the parsley and cook an additional 2 minutes. Set skillet aside to cool. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F.
Redneck Tip: Tilt your skillet slightly and spoon off any extra bacon grease that you can.
In a large mixing bowl, transfer the cooled vegetable mixture and add the eggs, the mustard, 1/3 cup of ketchup, the Worcestershire sauce, the cream, and mix well. Then add the breadcrumbs, ground chuck, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is uniformly combined (no dry spots,) but don’t over mix.
Turn the whole blob out into a greased oval corningware casserole dish (I used an oval, 3” deep dish,) shape into a loaf with your hands, and place the potatoes in the gap between the sides of the loaf and the dish.
In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the onion, garlic, the red bell pepper, ¼ cup ketchup, the red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and simmer for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Pour the mixture over the top of the meatloaf, sprinkle the button mushrooms on top of that, smooth out with a spoon, and toss the whole thing in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes.
Redneck Tip: At the hour mark, start checking every five minutes or so because you don’t want to burn the top of the loaf.
When you think it is done, turn off the oven and take the meatloaf out and set on a rack to cool for ten minutes or so. Put your plates in the oven for a minute to warm.
Since it is in season and cheep, I steamed some fresh asparagus in a double boiler while the meatloaf was cooling.
When the loaf has cooled a bit, put your warmed plates on chargers, slice the loaf, spoon out some of everything onto your plates, and serve with your asparagus or other vegetable on the side. No ketchup required!
Enjoy Ya’ll
The Redneck Gourmet
Update: November 28, 2004
This dish reheats in the oven very well and tastes even better the second time than the first night. I simply removed the leftover meatloaf from the refrigerator and let it set for a half hour at room temperature, preheated the oven to 300 deg F, poured a half can of beef broth over it, and reheated for twenty minutes. Yum.
Also, I used Russet potatoes which are better cooked whole as baking potatoes. Next time I'll use new red potatoes which would have been much better. There is a whole posting that I need to write on potatoes and other vegetables. Look for it in the future.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Chicken and Veal Piccata
Another Saturday night, and there’s another dinner to be prepared--what to do, what to do? Pat and I were too tired to dress and go out for dinner, so it was up to me to come up with something and I just wasn’t inspired.
We chatted about my “standard” list of chicken and pork dishes based on provisions we already had in our kitchen, then I mentioned the Veal Piccata I had enjoyed several weeks ago when Pat’s displeasure with her Greek dinner had inspired my Moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, and spinach pie adventures (see below.)
Pat, like many people out there, isn’t that fond of Veal dishes because of media coverage of inhumane farming techniques employed in some instances. Being a gun toting, card carrying country boy that grew up huntin’ and fishin’, I figure that since it is already dead and plastic wrapped on a foam tray in the butcher shop, I might as well eat it rather than letting it go to waste. I asked Pat to tell me the difference between the veal I wanted to cook and the lamb we ate last weekend? She capitulated, and off the grocery store I went.
In deference to her apprehensions, I decided that a compromise was in order. I would make a combination of veal AND chicken piccata. The dish is really simple, and Emeril on the Food Network has a very good basic recipe.
Here is my modified version producing servings for two people. You’ll need:
1/2 package of pasta (spaghetti, linguini, etc.)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 boneless, skinless, breast of chicken
2 veal scallops
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 clove of garlic, diced very fine
1/2 lemon, juiced
1-1/2 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped--plus a few sprigs for garnish
Heat a couple of quarts of water for your pasta in a 3 or 4 quart boiler, adding a little salt and olive oil if you like.
Put the flour, the bread crumbs, and the beaten egg in separate shallow bowls. Lightly season the flour and bread crumbs with salt and fresh ground pepper. Place the chicken and veal pieces between a couple of layers of plastic wrap and pound to a thickness of approximately 1/8”-to 1/4”.
Redneck Tip: Use a meat mallet to pound the meat, not your framing hammer or the heal of an old shoe.
One at a time, dredge the chicken and veal pieces in the flour to coat, then into the egg, then into the bread crumbs to get an even, light coating. Place the pieces to the side on a platter.
Your water should be boiling by now, so add the pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until it is almost smoking hot, then melt 1 tbsp of the butter and quickly place the breaded meat pieces in the skillet
Cook the meat until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Watch your pasta cooking…don’t let it boil over. Meanwhile, put your plates in the oven to warm.
Remove the browned meat and place on a platter to the side. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape the bottom with your spatula to deglaze. Bring to boil and cook the wine mixture for two or three minutes to reduce, then add the chicken stock, lemon juice, garlic, and capers.
Check your pasta and if it is done, pour off the water and set aside.
Redneck tip: Don’t be tossing your noodles against the kitchen wall to see if it is done—just pull out a piece with a fork every few minutes, let it cool slightly, and TASTE IT. Is it done? Also, to keep the pasta warm while you finish your sauce, pour the pasta through a colander to drain and toss with a little olive oil. Add about a ½” of water back to the boiler, set the colander containing the pasta on top, cover everything with a large lid, and set the whole shebang back on the stove on very low heat.
Cook your sauce another five minutes or so, stirring occasionally, then whisk in the final 2 tbsp of butter, salt to taste, and the chopped parsley. When the butter has melted, put the breaded chicken and veal back in the skillet and cook for another minute while you take your plates out of the oven.
Plating it all up…
Place a serving of pasta on each plate. Lift a piece of each meat out of the skillet and place adjacent to the pasta on each plate. Spoon the remaining sauce out of the skillet over the pasta and meat.
Serve with your favorite bread and wine…
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
We chatted about my “standard” list of chicken and pork dishes based on provisions we already had in our kitchen, then I mentioned the Veal Piccata I had enjoyed several weeks ago when Pat’s displeasure with her Greek dinner had inspired my Moussaka, stuffed grape leaves, and spinach pie adventures (see below.)
Pat, like many people out there, isn’t that fond of Veal dishes because of media coverage of inhumane farming techniques employed in some instances. Being a gun toting, card carrying country boy that grew up huntin’ and fishin’, I figure that since it is already dead and plastic wrapped on a foam tray in the butcher shop, I might as well eat it rather than letting it go to waste. I asked Pat to tell me the difference between the veal I wanted to cook and the lamb we ate last weekend? She capitulated, and off the grocery store I went.
In deference to her apprehensions, I decided that a compromise was in order. I would make a combination of veal AND chicken piccata. The dish is really simple, and Emeril on the Food Network has a very good basic recipe.
Here is my modified version producing servings for two people. You’ll need:
1/2 package of pasta (spaghetti, linguini, etc.)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 boneless, skinless, breast of chicken
2 veal scallops
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 clove of garlic, diced very fine
1/2 lemon, juiced
1-1/2 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped--plus a few sprigs for garnish
Heat a couple of quarts of water for your pasta in a 3 or 4 quart boiler, adding a little salt and olive oil if you like.
Put the flour, the bread crumbs, and the beaten egg in separate shallow bowls. Lightly season the flour and bread crumbs with salt and fresh ground pepper. Place the chicken and veal pieces between a couple of layers of plastic wrap and pound to a thickness of approximately 1/8”-to 1/4”.
Redneck Tip: Use a meat mallet to pound the meat, not your framing hammer or the heal of an old shoe.
One at a time, dredge the chicken and veal pieces in the flour to coat, then into the egg, then into the bread crumbs to get an even, light coating. Place the pieces to the side on a platter.
Your water should be boiling by now, so add the pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until it is almost smoking hot, then melt 1 tbsp of the butter and quickly place the breaded meat pieces in the skillet
Cook the meat until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Watch your pasta cooking…don’t let it boil over. Meanwhile, put your plates in the oven to warm.
Remove the browned meat and place on a platter to the side. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape the bottom with your spatula to deglaze. Bring to boil and cook the wine mixture for two or three minutes to reduce, then add the chicken stock, lemon juice, garlic, and capers.
Check your pasta and if it is done, pour off the water and set aside.
Redneck tip: Don’t be tossing your noodles against the kitchen wall to see if it is done—just pull out a piece with a fork every few minutes, let it cool slightly, and TASTE IT. Is it done? Also, to keep the pasta warm while you finish your sauce, pour the pasta through a colander to drain and toss with a little olive oil. Add about a ½” of water back to the boiler, set the colander containing the pasta on top, cover everything with a large lid, and set the whole shebang back on the stove on very low heat.
Cook your sauce another five minutes or so, stirring occasionally, then whisk in the final 2 tbsp of butter, salt to taste, and the chopped parsley. When the butter has melted, put the breaded chicken and veal back in the skillet and cook for another minute while you take your plates out of the oven.
Plating it all up…
Place a serving of pasta on each plate. Lift a piece of each meat out of the skillet and place adjacent to the pasta on each plate. Spoon the remaining sauce out of the skillet over the pasta and meat.
Serve with your favorite bread and wine…
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Baked Salmon for Bucky & I
(Baked Salmon with Citrus Vinegar Glaze)
My neighbor, Mr. Harlan “Bucky” Strader, the gentleman that lives in the condo downstairs from us, called me late yesterday afternoon asking that I come down for dinner. Mr. Bucky, a graduate of Dartmouth Class of 1942, has been a pleasure to know over the past nine months here on St. Simons Island. He’s a World War II veteran of the Corps of Engineers, a retired business executive, and now he spends his time alone here on the island since his wife passed away.
I try to make time to visit Bucky several times each week and I enjoy his company very much…Great stories! Since he’s a widower and my girl Pat spends half of her time traveling on business, we’ve decided to start pooling our resources to put together an occasional dinner every few weeks.
Last evening Bucky offered a Salmon fillet dinner, but Bucky has admitted in the past that he isn’t much of a cook—he told me he was going to microwave the fish. I immediately went down to his condo to see what he was up to. I went armed with a couple of fresh lemons, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and my best intentions augmented by a little research on the Food Network.
It turns out Bucky had purchased two very nice Salmon fillets from a local seafood house and, knowing that I like to cook, he was willing for me to take charge of their preparation. I gave him a quick lesson in baking fish so he could do it for himself in the future, and here is what I did:
The ingredients:
2 salmon steaks or fillets
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
Fresh ground black pepper
Place the fillets in a dish and squeeze the juice of one/half lemon over them, turning to coat evenly.
Redneck Tip: Take out the Lemon seeds...duuuh!
Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over each fillet and again turn them to coat. Let the fillets marinade for at least 30 minutes.
While the fillets were swimming, combine the wine, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and citrus juices in a small boiler and heat over medium high heat until boiling, reduce the heat, and simmer until the glaze is reduced by about two thirds. Reduce heat and keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and toss the fillets into a greased baking dish.
Redneck Tip: I love "Pam" cooking spray made from olive oil for pre-coating baking dishes.
Bake fillets for 7 to 10 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven, allow to rest for a minute, then serve with your favorite vegetable, fresh bread, and a glass of Merlot.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
My neighbor, Mr. Harlan “Bucky” Strader, the gentleman that lives in the condo downstairs from us, called me late yesterday afternoon asking that I come down for dinner. Mr. Bucky, a graduate of Dartmouth Class of 1942, has been a pleasure to know over the past nine months here on St. Simons Island. He’s a World War II veteran of the Corps of Engineers, a retired business executive, and now he spends his time alone here on the island since his wife passed away.
I try to make time to visit Bucky several times each week and I enjoy his company very much…Great stories! Since he’s a widower and my girl Pat spends half of her time traveling on business, we’ve decided to start pooling our resources to put together an occasional dinner every few weeks.
Last evening Bucky offered a Salmon fillet dinner, but Bucky has admitted in the past that he isn’t much of a cook—he told me he was going to microwave the fish. I immediately went down to his condo to see what he was up to. I went armed with a couple of fresh lemons, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and my best intentions augmented by a little research on the Food Network.
It turns out Bucky had purchased two very nice Salmon fillets from a local seafood house and, knowing that I like to cook, he was willing for me to take charge of their preparation. I gave him a quick lesson in baking fish so he could do it for himself in the future, and here is what I did:
The ingredients:
2 salmon steaks or fillets
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
Fresh ground black pepper
Place the fillets in a dish and squeeze the juice of one/half lemon over them, turning to coat evenly.
Redneck Tip: Take out the Lemon seeds...duuuh!
Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over each fillet and again turn them to coat. Let the fillets marinade for at least 30 minutes.
While the fillets were swimming, combine the wine, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and citrus juices in a small boiler and heat over medium high heat until boiling, reduce the heat, and simmer until the glaze is reduced by about two thirds. Reduce heat and keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and toss the fillets into a greased baking dish.
Redneck Tip: I love "Pam" cooking spray made from olive oil for pre-coating baking dishes.
Bake fillets for 7 to 10 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven, allow to rest for a minute, then serve with your favorite vegetable, fresh bread, and a glass of Merlot.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Arming Yourself For the Battle--Part I
Rather than posting another recipe, this morning I’m gonna take a minute to talk about cooking in general and share with you some of my observations about learning to cook and the things you need to do a good job.
I didn’t start cooking regularly, other than being the king of the charcoal grill, until the past ten years. I got really serious in the past five years, although I have no grand aspirations to do anything other than over-feed my own rapidly growing stomach and entertain guests in our home.
To those out there (particularly the gentlemen) that don’t cook regularly, I can remember the feeling of helplessness when faced with even something as simple as frying eggs and bacon and getting it all to the table moderately warm and properly done. Guys, our mothers and (ex)wives usually stepped up to the oven (or in my case, over me) and we just didn’t have the opportunity to cook much. Some women I know out there also have chosen the path of take-out and freezer-food fare. My heart goes out to you all.
News Flash--you have to cook regularly to be any good at it. Another News Flash—you often have to cook a given recipe more than once to get it right. I constantly piss myself off analyzing the food on my plate before my home cooked dinner is even over with. It’s a curse, I guess, and I have to be careful not to insult my hosts doing the same in other’s homes.
I know that the temptation is to run out and blow your entire equipment budget on all of the wrong stuff. Actually, a good kitchen is equipped over a period of years, not in one trip to the mall. Any way…forget those funky pots and pans sold on late night TV and about 90 percent of the gadgets sold in stores, I’m here to tell you a few things about outfitting a good working kitchen, and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Food processors are neat, but first you absolutely must have a couple of good knives and a good cutting board. For knives, you also don’t need to spend a bunch of cash on a giant wooden block radiating with 25 different stainless steel implements of torture. All you really need are three knives--a good 8” or 10” chef’s knife for dicing and chopping, a small pairing knife for de-boning, and a nice serrated knife for cutting bread. Buy the best you can, preferably Henkele, but even some store brands can be had for less that $50 for all three that will do a good job. Only cut food with the knives and only cut on the cutting board. Also, get yourself a sharpening steel, learn how to use it, and use it regularly. It’s easier to keep a knife sharp than it is to re-sharpen it after using it to work on your lawn mower or pick up truck carburetor.
For a cutting board, I like the synthetic boards that are immune to absorbing water and chicken guts while you are working. I also like hard maple boards, but only for vegetables. If you have a wooden board, splurge for a synthetic one too for use with meat. The more cutting area you have, the less dish washing you have to do because you can simply leave the ingredients in piles on the board rather than dirtying up bowls.
Next comes mixing bowls. Don’t spend a bunch of money on fancy heavy bowls at first, buy yourself two inexpensive sets of graduated sizes and get at least one set with matching plastic covers. It never fails that I have my largest bowl loaded with something and need it to hold something else. The second set saves a lot of dishwashing and you can store things in the fridge in the bowls with the plastic covers. While you’re at it, get a couple of sizes of plastic colanders for straining.
Regarding pots and pans, I absolutely hate Teflon. I have one medium Teflon boiler my girlfriend inherited and a small Teflon omelet pan. Teflon is a good crutch for making omelets, but solid stainless steel is the only way to go with everything else. Buy the heaviest stainless you can afford, and everything doesn’t have to match. You pay extra for matching sets that often include things you won’t use. Make sure the pans have metal handles so that they are oven proof.
You need, as a minimum, a 12" or 14" round, heavy, deep (3"-4") skillet for frying, several medium skillets, a four quart and an eight quart boiler, and a small sauce pan. I also have a large inexpensive stainless steel stockpot that holds 20 quarts that I use for canning and for boiling shrimp.
Another tool I like is a mortar and pestle. This ancient, simple tool is excellent for crushing together small quantities of foods like those used in sauces or for making pesto. As I said earlier, I try to avoid the food processor unless large quantities are involved.
I believe that all of the other stuff on the isles of the cooking and chain stores is useless if you don't make good decisions on the basics. It don't have to look fancy to cook good.
And there it is--Part I of “Arming yourself for the battle.” Look for part II later this week where I’ll cover kitchen gadgets and some other stuff I need to get off of my chest.
I didn’t start cooking regularly, other than being the king of the charcoal grill, until the past ten years. I got really serious in the past five years, although I have no grand aspirations to do anything other than over-feed my own rapidly growing stomach and entertain guests in our home.
To those out there (particularly the gentlemen) that don’t cook regularly, I can remember the feeling of helplessness when faced with even something as simple as frying eggs and bacon and getting it all to the table moderately warm and properly done. Guys, our mothers and (ex)wives usually stepped up to the oven (or in my case, over me) and we just didn’t have the opportunity to cook much. Some women I know out there also have chosen the path of take-out and freezer-food fare. My heart goes out to you all.
News Flash--you have to cook regularly to be any good at it. Another News Flash—you often have to cook a given recipe more than once to get it right. I constantly piss myself off analyzing the food on my plate before my home cooked dinner is even over with. It’s a curse, I guess, and I have to be careful not to insult my hosts doing the same in other’s homes.
I know that the temptation is to run out and blow your entire equipment budget on all of the wrong stuff. Actually, a good kitchen is equipped over a period of years, not in one trip to the mall. Any way…forget those funky pots and pans sold on late night TV and about 90 percent of the gadgets sold in stores, I’m here to tell you a few things about outfitting a good working kitchen, and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Food processors are neat, but first you absolutely must have a couple of good knives and a good cutting board. For knives, you also don’t need to spend a bunch of cash on a giant wooden block radiating with 25 different stainless steel implements of torture. All you really need are three knives--a good 8” or 10” chef’s knife for dicing and chopping, a small pairing knife for de-boning, and a nice serrated knife for cutting bread. Buy the best you can, preferably Henkele, but even some store brands can be had for less that $50 for all three that will do a good job. Only cut food with the knives and only cut on the cutting board. Also, get yourself a sharpening steel, learn how to use it, and use it regularly. It’s easier to keep a knife sharp than it is to re-sharpen it after using it to work on your lawn mower or pick up truck carburetor.
For a cutting board, I like the synthetic boards that are immune to absorbing water and chicken guts while you are working. I also like hard maple boards, but only for vegetables. If you have a wooden board, splurge for a synthetic one too for use with meat. The more cutting area you have, the less dish washing you have to do because you can simply leave the ingredients in piles on the board rather than dirtying up bowls.
Next comes mixing bowls. Don’t spend a bunch of money on fancy heavy bowls at first, buy yourself two inexpensive sets of graduated sizes and get at least one set with matching plastic covers. It never fails that I have my largest bowl loaded with something and need it to hold something else. The second set saves a lot of dishwashing and you can store things in the fridge in the bowls with the plastic covers. While you’re at it, get a couple of sizes of plastic colanders for straining.
Regarding pots and pans, I absolutely hate Teflon. I have one medium Teflon boiler my girlfriend inherited and a small Teflon omelet pan. Teflon is a good crutch for making omelets, but solid stainless steel is the only way to go with everything else. Buy the heaviest stainless you can afford, and everything doesn’t have to match. You pay extra for matching sets that often include things you won’t use. Make sure the pans have metal handles so that they are oven proof.
You need, as a minimum, a 12" or 14" round, heavy, deep (3"-4") skillet for frying, several medium skillets, a four quart and an eight quart boiler, and a small sauce pan. I also have a large inexpensive stainless steel stockpot that holds 20 quarts that I use for canning and for boiling shrimp.
Another tool I like is a mortar and pestle. This ancient, simple tool is excellent for crushing together small quantities of foods like those used in sauces or for making pesto. As I said earlier, I try to avoid the food processor unless large quantities are involved.
I believe that all of the other stuff on the isles of the cooking and chain stores is useless if you don't make good decisions on the basics. It don't have to look fancy to cook good.
And there it is--Part I of “Arming yourself for the battle.” Look for part II later this week where I’ll cover kitchen gadgets and some other stuff I need to get off of my chest.
Byzantine Dolmathes and Spanakapita--Say What?
(Stuffed Grape Leaves and Spinach Pie)
My Greek cooking (see my post on cooking Moussaka without the Mouse or the Moose below) last weekend left us wanting more Greek food again this weekend, but I wasn’t about to take the risk of dining out to get it. I’d have to cook it myself again, and I did.
On tonight’s menu are two Greek standards—Stuffed Grape Leaves and a big ole’ slice of Spinach Pie. I must admit that I’ve only had each dish a few times in the past and didn’t really have any idea what was involved in cooking them. After a little research on the Internet, I came up with several ideas based on these recipes for the Stuffed Grape Leaves and Spinach Pie.
It’s not rocket science, but each dish does require a good deal of work. The results were definitely worth it. I’m going to list the ingredients I used for each dish separately, but address the order of preparation and cooking together.
First, for the Stuffed Grape Leaves:
1 Jar grape leaves in brine (you only need 20 or so leaves)
1/8 pound ground beef
1/8 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup long grain rice
4 oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 8 oz can of beef or chicken broth
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4cup currants (small resins)
1/8 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup parsley chopped (reserve the stems)
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup red or port wine
1/8 TSP cinnamon
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Avgolemono sauce:
Juice of one small lemon, strained of seeds
One egg
And for the Spinach Pie:
Two bunches fresh spinach (about 2 pounds)
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 small bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 package frozen puff pastry dough
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Putting it all together:
In order to get both dishes prepared in less time than the three hours it took me and have them both hot on the plate at the same time, there are certain things that must be done in the correct order. (The preparation didn’t really take three hours of continuous work--I was distracted watching the end of the Georgia/Auburn football game on TV along with part of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” while I was doing my prep.)
First, open the jar of grape leaves and carefully remove them, reserving the brine. The leaves are rolled tightly like a big fat green cigar and must be unrolled carefully to avoid tearing them. Remove 20 leaves, roll up the balance, and place them back in the jar along with the brine for use another day. Top off the brine with fresh water to cover the ends of all of the leaves.
Redneck Tip: Twelve leaves need to be large and nearly perfect. The other eight leaves can be smaller and less than perfect because they only will be used to line the pan during cooking and for garnish on the plate.
Soak the grape leaves in fresh cold water for at least one hour. Change the water a few times in order to completely rinse the brine away.
While the grape leaves are soaking, rinse your spinach bunches under the sink faucet. Tear off the larger stems and place the rinsed leaves in a bowl of cold water. Again, change the water several times to remove all the dirt.
Remove the frozen puff pastry from the freezer, open the package and thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes covering with a damp dish towel.
Redneck Tip: Use a clean dish towel guys, not the one you wiped your hands on after cleaning a mess of fish yesterday.
While your greens are swimming and your dough is thawing, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Slowly sauté your diced onions until they are clear, then add one bunch of the diced green onions and two cloves of diced garlic. Don’t burn your garlic.
Next add the ground beef and lamb to the skillet and brown, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, the tomato sauce, some of the broth, the wine, the cinnamon, the parsley, the currants, the pine nuts, the mint, and stir it all up. Cover and simmer until the rice is done. Add some more stock or some water (I used both) to keep things moist until the rice cooks tender and all of the water is absorbed.
While the meat stuffing is cooking, in another large skillet, heat two table spoons of olive oil over medium low heat and sauté the thinly sliced onions, another bunch of chopped green onions, and garlic. Drain the spinach greens in a colander, and then pile the spinach greens and parsley on top of the onions and cover. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes to wilt the spinach, stirring occasionally.
In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat two eggs, then add the ricotta and feta cheese. Mix it all together with a spoon to blend. Once the spinach/onion mix is wilted, allow it to cool slightly, then add it to the egg cheese mixture and fold together.
Your puff pastry dough should be thawed by now. Carefully unfold the sheets and place one sheet in a 9”x9” greased dish. Spoon the spinach cheese mixture into the middle and fold the corners up and over the top. Add the second pastry sheet, rotated 45 degrees, over the top and carefully tuck the corners and edges down and under the pie. Brush the top with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and cover the pie with a damp dishtowel.
By now the meat stuffing should be done. Test the rice again, turn off the heat and place the mixture aside in a bowl to cool. Scrape the skillet pretty clean because you’re going to cook the stuffed leaves in it. Also hang in there with me, folks, we’re heading down the stretch now. Pour yourself another glass of wine and relax a minute while the meat mixture cools.
Once the meat mix has cooled enough to handle, lay out your rinsed grape leaves and pick the 12 best ones. Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet and lay out four of the irregular grape leaves in the bottom. Place a few dozen large parsley stems in a grid over the grape leaves to keep the stuffed leaves from sticking.
Carefully trim the woody stem off of each leaf. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center of each leaf, fold the left and right sides over, then fold the bottom of the leaf away from you and roll the whole thing up. Place the rolls in the skillet in a tight cluster, then cover with the other four grape leaves and place a plate or saucer on top to keep them from unrolling while cooking. Add a half cup of water and enough stock to cover the rolls about half way up.
Bring the stuffed leaves to a low boil in the skillet and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
Place the Spinach pie in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
While everything is cooking, make the avgolemono by beating one egg for 3 to five minutes until light yellow in color and thickened. In a small boiler, combine the beaten egg and the juice of one lemon and stir as you warm on low heat. Keep warm on low.
Put your plates (hopefully oven proof) in the oven briefly to warm them up.
Plating it all up:
When the pie is golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a cooling rack. Turn off the heat to the stuffed leaves and remove the weight. Scoop 1/2 cup of clean (no stems or chunks) broth out of the skillet and add to the egg/lemon sauce and stir well.
Place the warmed plates on chargers, lay a couple of the flat grape leaves on a section of each plate, and lay out six stuffed leaves on top. Slice the Spinach pie and add a piece to each plate. Drizzle the egg/lemon sauce over the grape leaves, pour a couple glasses of wine, and serve. Give yourself a nice round of applause.
There should be enough pie to serve four to six people and by offering three stuffed leaves per person, this is definitely a meal for four or makes a nice leftover for lunch the next day. You can reheat the stuffed leaves or serve at room temperature.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
My Greek cooking (see my post on cooking Moussaka without the Mouse or the Moose below) last weekend left us wanting more Greek food again this weekend, but I wasn’t about to take the risk of dining out to get it. I’d have to cook it myself again, and I did.
On tonight’s menu are two Greek standards—Stuffed Grape Leaves and a big ole’ slice of Spinach Pie. I must admit that I’ve only had each dish a few times in the past and didn’t really have any idea what was involved in cooking them. After a little research on the Internet, I came up with several ideas based on these recipes for the Stuffed Grape Leaves and Spinach Pie.
It’s not rocket science, but each dish does require a good deal of work. The results were definitely worth it. I’m going to list the ingredients I used for each dish separately, but address the order of preparation and cooking together.
First, for the Stuffed Grape Leaves:
1 Jar grape leaves in brine (you only need 20 or so leaves)
1/8 pound ground beef
1/8 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup long grain rice
4 oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 8 oz can of beef or chicken broth
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4cup currants (small resins)
1/8 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup parsley chopped (reserve the stems)
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup red or port wine
1/8 TSP cinnamon
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Avgolemono sauce:
Juice of one small lemon, strained of seeds
One egg
And for the Spinach Pie:
Two bunches fresh spinach (about 2 pounds)
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 small bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 package frozen puff pastry dough
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Putting it all together:
In order to get both dishes prepared in less time than the three hours it took me and have them both hot on the plate at the same time, there are certain things that must be done in the correct order. (The preparation didn’t really take three hours of continuous work--I was distracted watching the end of the Georgia/Auburn football game on TV along with part of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” while I was doing my prep.)
First, open the jar of grape leaves and carefully remove them, reserving the brine. The leaves are rolled tightly like a big fat green cigar and must be unrolled carefully to avoid tearing them. Remove 20 leaves, roll up the balance, and place them back in the jar along with the brine for use another day. Top off the brine with fresh water to cover the ends of all of the leaves.
Redneck Tip: Twelve leaves need to be large and nearly perfect. The other eight leaves can be smaller and less than perfect because they only will be used to line the pan during cooking and for garnish on the plate.
Soak the grape leaves in fresh cold water for at least one hour. Change the water a few times in order to completely rinse the brine away.
While the grape leaves are soaking, rinse your spinach bunches under the sink faucet. Tear off the larger stems and place the rinsed leaves in a bowl of cold water. Again, change the water several times to remove all the dirt.
Remove the frozen puff pastry from the freezer, open the package and thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes covering with a damp dish towel.
Redneck Tip: Use a clean dish towel guys, not the one you wiped your hands on after cleaning a mess of fish yesterday.
While your greens are swimming and your dough is thawing, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Slowly sauté your diced onions until they are clear, then add one bunch of the diced green onions and two cloves of diced garlic. Don’t burn your garlic.
Next add the ground beef and lamb to the skillet and brown, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, the tomato sauce, some of the broth, the wine, the cinnamon, the parsley, the currants, the pine nuts, the mint, and stir it all up. Cover and simmer until the rice is done. Add some more stock or some water (I used both) to keep things moist until the rice cooks tender and all of the water is absorbed.
While the meat stuffing is cooking, in another large skillet, heat two table spoons of olive oil over medium low heat and sauté the thinly sliced onions, another bunch of chopped green onions, and garlic. Drain the spinach greens in a colander, and then pile the spinach greens and parsley on top of the onions and cover. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes to wilt the spinach, stirring occasionally.
In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat two eggs, then add the ricotta and feta cheese. Mix it all together with a spoon to blend. Once the spinach/onion mix is wilted, allow it to cool slightly, then add it to the egg cheese mixture and fold together.
Your puff pastry dough should be thawed by now. Carefully unfold the sheets and place one sheet in a 9”x9” greased dish. Spoon the spinach cheese mixture into the middle and fold the corners up and over the top. Add the second pastry sheet, rotated 45 degrees, over the top and carefully tuck the corners and edges down and under the pie. Brush the top with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and cover the pie with a damp dishtowel.
By now the meat stuffing should be done. Test the rice again, turn off the heat and place the mixture aside in a bowl to cool. Scrape the skillet pretty clean because you’re going to cook the stuffed leaves in it. Also hang in there with me, folks, we’re heading down the stretch now. Pour yourself another glass of wine and relax a minute while the meat mixture cools.
Once the meat mix has cooled enough to handle, lay out your rinsed grape leaves and pick the 12 best ones. Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet and lay out four of the irregular grape leaves in the bottom. Place a few dozen large parsley stems in a grid over the grape leaves to keep the stuffed leaves from sticking.
Carefully trim the woody stem off of each leaf. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center of each leaf, fold the left and right sides over, then fold the bottom of the leaf away from you and roll the whole thing up. Place the rolls in the skillet in a tight cluster, then cover with the other four grape leaves and place a plate or saucer on top to keep them from unrolling while cooking. Add a half cup of water and enough stock to cover the rolls about half way up.
Bring the stuffed leaves to a low boil in the skillet and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
Place the Spinach pie in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
While everything is cooking, make the avgolemono by beating one egg for 3 to five minutes until light yellow in color and thickened. In a small boiler, combine the beaten egg and the juice of one lemon and stir as you warm on low heat. Keep warm on low.
Put your plates (hopefully oven proof) in the oven briefly to warm them up.
Plating it all up:
When the pie is golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a cooling rack. Turn off the heat to the stuffed leaves and remove the weight. Scoop 1/2 cup of clean (no stems or chunks) broth out of the skillet and add to the egg/lemon sauce and stir well.
Place the warmed plates on chargers, lay a couple of the flat grape leaves on a section of each plate, and lay out six stuffed leaves on top. Slice the Spinach pie and add a piece to each plate. Drizzle the egg/lemon sauce over the grape leaves, pour a couple glasses of wine, and serve. Give yourself a nice round of applause.
There should be enough pie to serve four to six people and by offering three stuffed leaves per person, this is definitely a meal for four or makes a nice leftover for lunch the next day. You can reheat the stuffed leaves or serve at room temperature.
Enjoy Ya’ll,
The Redneck Gourmet
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Huevos Rancheros For Two
Huevos Rancheros generally is taken to mean “Mexican Eggs.” I’ve always seen them on the menu at the many Mexican restaurants found every two hundred yards up and down the streets of the suburbs in Atlanta, Georgia. To quote Mark Twain, you can't "swing a cat" and not hit a Mexican restaurant in Atlanta. I never ordered a plate of them (com' on...mexican eggs, not cats, sheesh...) in the 27 years I lived there, however.
I was cruising the Internet a few months ago, looking for something “different” to cook for a weekend breakfast and this recipe for huevos rancheros caught my eye. As usual, I just couldn’t follow the recipe and, having cooked them a half dozen times now, I have a pretty good idea what works best.
Here’s the deal. Basically, you are cooking a tomato and chili pepper based sauce in a skillet, then poaching the eggs on top of the mixture just before you serve them. Any one of a number of variations can be accomplished by including additives like sausage, bacon, mushrooms, you name it. I generally just try to make it not taste too much like spaghetti sauce.
Spices are the key. Also, I've tried to keep the quantity of sauce down to an amount sufficient for a maximum of four eggs. If you have more people to feed, increase the size of the skillet and the quantities proportionally.
So here we go. You’ll need the following ingredients:
(1) 8 oz can of diced tomatoes
(1) 8 ounce can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies (use as hot a mix as you can stand)
(1) small can mushroom pieces and stems (optional)
¼ pound sausage or ground beef (optional)
chicken or beef broth
(2) tbsp olive oil
½ cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced fine
2 tsp cumin
a FEW chili pepper flakes to taste
salt to taste
Medium eggs at room temperature (one or two per person)
The cooking process:
Heat the olive oil in a 10” skillet over medium low heat. Add onion and sauté until clear. Add Garlic and cook lightly
Redneck Tip: don’t burn your garlic or you’ll have to start over.
If you are using sausage or ground beef, go ahead and brown it with the onions and garlic.
Redneck Tip: If you are a cheep SOB and you bought crappy ground beef or sausage, drain and spoon off the extra grease that has cooked out of the mixture. I use 95% fat free ground sirloin to help keep my girth and tonnage under control, such as it is.
Now add the diced tomatoes, Rotel mixture, and other ingredients you’re using like mushrooms or whatever.
Redneck Tip: You can pour off some of the juice of the Rotel tomatoes/chilies to keep the “heat” down to whatever your taste can stand. (You can also put the toilet paper in the freezer…err…um…never mind.)
Add the seasonings and a little broth and stir everything up. You want a little extra liquid so that you have something to cook down over the next 20 minutes or so. Cover the whole thing and simmer.
Check the consistency, but don’t stir the mixture once it starts reducing. You want it to sort of cook a “skin” on the top that you can float the eggs on when the time comes. After twenty to thirty minutes of cooking, it’s time to poach the eggs. Carefully crack them and gently lay them evenly spaced around on top the tomato mixture. Cook the eggs for four to six minutes until they are done like you like them.
Turn off the heat and let everything coast for a few minutes. Use a large spatula to cut and lift a generous portion of the mixture out along with each egg. Watch out because it will be hot, so don’t burn the roof of your mouth.
Redneck tip: Mix a fat screwdriver with lots of ice while your Huevos cool.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
I was cruising the Internet a few months ago, looking for something “different” to cook for a weekend breakfast and this recipe for huevos rancheros caught my eye. As usual, I just couldn’t follow the recipe and, having cooked them a half dozen times now, I have a pretty good idea what works best.
Here’s the deal. Basically, you are cooking a tomato and chili pepper based sauce in a skillet, then poaching the eggs on top of the mixture just before you serve them. Any one of a number of variations can be accomplished by including additives like sausage, bacon, mushrooms, you name it. I generally just try to make it not taste too much like spaghetti sauce.
Spices are the key. Also, I've tried to keep the quantity of sauce down to an amount sufficient for a maximum of four eggs. If you have more people to feed, increase the size of the skillet and the quantities proportionally.
So here we go. You’ll need the following ingredients:
(1) 8 oz can of diced tomatoes
(1) 8 ounce can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies (use as hot a mix as you can stand)
(1) small can mushroom pieces and stems (optional)
¼ pound sausage or ground beef (optional)
chicken or beef broth
(2) tbsp olive oil
½ cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced fine
2 tsp cumin
a FEW chili pepper flakes to taste
salt to taste
Medium eggs at room temperature (one or two per person)
The cooking process:
Heat the olive oil in a 10” skillet over medium low heat. Add onion and sauté until clear. Add Garlic and cook lightly
Redneck Tip: don’t burn your garlic or you’ll have to start over.
If you are using sausage or ground beef, go ahead and brown it with the onions and garlic.
Redneck Tip: If you are a cheep SOB and you bought crappy ground beef or sausage, drain and spoon off the extra grease that has cooked out of the mixture. I use 95% fat free ground sirloin to help keep my girth and tonnage under control, such as it is.
Now add the diced tomatoes, Rotel mixture, and other ingredients you’re using like mushrooms or whatever.
Redneck Tip: You can pour off some of the juice of the Rotel tomatoes/chilies to keep the “heat” down to whatever your taste can stand. (You can also put the toilet paper in the freezer…err…um…never mind.)
Add the seasonings and a little broth and stir everything up. You want a little extra liquid so that you have something to cook down over the next 20 minutes or so. Cover the whole thing and simmer.
Check the consistency, but don’t stir the mixture once it starts reducing. You want it to sort of cook a “skin” on the top that you can float the eggs on when the time comes. After twenty to thirty minutes of cooking, it’s time to poach the eggs. Carefully crack them and gently lay them evenly spaced around on top the tomato mixture. Cook the eggs for four to six minutes until they are done like you like them.
Turn off the heat and let everything coast for a few minutes. Use a large spatula to cut and lift a generous portion of the mixture out along with each egg. Watch out because it will be hot, so don’t burn the roof of your mouth.
Redneck tip: Mix a fat screwdriver with lots of ice while your Huevos cool.
Enjoy Y’all,
The Redneck Gourmet
Oven Puff Pancake
I can’t remember where I found this recipe, so excuse me if it goes unreferenced. It eats like a pancake, but as the title says, you cook it in the oven.
This means you can serve four people a hot slice (like a pizza) all at once. This is important for me since pancakes come off the stove one or two at a time and I end up having to eat after everyone else is fed.
Anyway, toss some bacon or sausage on the side with eggs and you have a meal for four, or serve two people two slices each, push back from the table, and go take a nap after breakfast.
The basic topping is sautéed apples and raisins, but I have combined pears and other fruits based on what are available at the grocery store seasonally. Now, on to the recipe….
Ingrediants:
The topping – One apple, pealed and sliced thin
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
The pancake-- 2 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup + 2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar
The topping is made in a medium skillet, beginning with melting the butter over medium low heat. Add the Apples, raisins, OJ, and begin sautéing and stiring. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the top and cook until the apples are soft.
The pancake batter is a no-brainer, but I wouldn’t recommend substituting Bisquick or other premix. I like doing things from scratch…remember, GOOD home cooking is not necessarily done quickly.
Redneck Tip: The most important thing about this recipe is to carefully sift and measure your flour. I said SIFT YOUR FLOUR. I tend to keep a lot of flour around my kitchen and it gets to sit in the humid island air in a paper bag or canister and even if it is “pre-sifted” it still needs sifting by the time I get around to using it.
The first three or four times I made this recipe I got different results until I understood how critical the consistency of the batter was to the outcome. SIFT and MEASURE your flour and the results will be beautiful. Your girl will love it.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl until foamy, then add the milk and sugar. Mix it all up a little, then add the flour a little at a time and beat 2 minutes longer until smooth.
Redneck Tip: Now go make a fresh Bloody Mary or Mimosa and let the apples finish cooking and the oven finish preheating. Turn the apples down real low to keep them warm.
Put a couple of tablespoons of butter in a large deep, oven proof skillet. I use a skillet like you fry chicken in. Whatever you use, it must have a flat bottom. Toss the skillet in the oven for about a minute to preheat.
Redneck Tip: I always hang a dishtowel on the oven door handle to remind me to not grab the skillet with my bare hand. I keep the towel wrapped around the handle once the skillet is out of the oven when I am done. It’s amazing how far you can throw a 10 pound metal skillet once it reaches 425 degrees.
Once the skillet is preheated, pour in the batter and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the skillet and spoon the apple topping into the center of the pancake. Bake an additional 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, slice into quarters and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
This means you can serve four people a hot slice (like a pizza) all at once. This is important for me since pancakes come off the stove one or two at a time and I end up having to eat after everyone else is fed.
Anyway, toss some bacon or sausage on the side with eggs and you have a meal for four, or serve two people two slices each, push back from the table, and go take a nap after breakfast.
The basic topping is sautéed apples and raisins, but I have combined pears and other fruits based on what are available at the grocery store seasonally. Now, on to the recipe….
Ingrediants:
The topping – One apple, pealed and sliced thin
2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
The pancake-- 2 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup + 2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar
The topping is made in a medium skillet, beginning with melting the butter over medium low heat. Add the Apples, raisins, OJ, and begin sautéing and stiring. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the top and cook until the apples are soft.
The pancake batter is a no-brainer, but I wouldn’t recommend substituting Bisquick or other premix. I like doing things from scratch…remember, GOOD home cooking is not necessarily done quickly.
Redneck Tip: The most important thing about this recipe is to carefully sift and measure your flour. I said SIFT YOUR FLOUR. I tend to keep a lot of flour around my kitchen and it gets to sit in the humid island air in a paper bag or canister and even if it is “pre-sifted” it still needs sifting by the time I get around to using it.
The first three or four times I made this recipe I got different results until I understood how critical the consistency of the batter was to the outcome. SIFT and MEASURE your flour and the results will be beautiful. Your girl will love it.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl until foamy, then add the milk and sugar. Mix it all up a little, then add the flour a little at a time and beat 2 minutes longer until smooth.
Redneck Tip: Now go make a fresh Bloody Mary or Mimosa and let the apples finish cooking and the oven finish preheating. Turn the apples down real low to keep them warm.
Put a couple of tablespoons of butter in a large deep, oven proof skillet. I use a skillet like you fry chicken in. Whatever you use, it must have a flat bottom. Toss the skillet in the oven for about a minute to preheat.
Redneck Tip: I always hang a dishtowel on the oven door handle to remind me to not grab the skillet with my bare hand. I keep the towel wrapped around the handle once the skillet is out of the oven when I am done. It’s amazing how far you can throw a 10 pound metal skillet once it reaches 425 degrees.
Once the skillet is preheated, pour in the batter and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the skillet and spoon the apple topping into the center of the pancake. Bake an additional 12 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, slice into quarters and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Enjoy Y'all
The Redneck Gourmet
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Moussaka (Without The Mouse or the Moose)
Recently, my girlfriend Pat and I broke our regular Friday night tradition and didn’t eat at our favorite restaurant, The Blackwater Grill—a sort of combination Cajun/low country place we’ve come to love over the past eight months we’ve lived here on St. Simons Island, Georgia. We dine there five out of every six Friday nights.
Instead, we ate at the Mediterranean restaurant across the street from Blackwater Grill. I won’t name the establishment's name out of deference to their public reputation, but our review was less than great. My Veal was “pretty good,” Pat’s stuffed grape leaves were “not great.” It was our second try at dining with them—we probably won’t be back for a while. We like the location and the atmosphere, but their food just doesn’t quite make it. Can you say “Bland Greek?” I didn’t know that there was such a thing as bland Greek food.
Neither of us is of Greek or Italian origin, nor have we ever even traveled to Europe in our lifetimes, but we have a pretty good idea of what the region and style of food should embody from our prior positive restaurant experiences.
This being the first recipe posting to my new food blog, The Redneck Gourmet, I have chosen the Greek eggplant standard—Moussaka—for my first topic. I cooked my first 9x13 casserole dish full tonight, and it was excellent, if I do say so myself.
First, the research. I give these sites credit for my recipe inspiration:
http://stigmes.gr/br/brpages/articles/recipes/mousaka.htm
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/gr_moussaka.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=88804
In my opinion, the key to this dish, in addition to good basic ingredients, is that you must get the spice mixture right to make it taste like “Greek” Moussaka. I don’t want a dish of Italian eggplant lasagna, I WANT GREEK MOUSSAKA!
So without further fanfare, on to the ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas (optional)
1 cup button mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
¼ pint sherry
½ LB Chopped Lamb
½ LB lean ground beef
1 can (8 oz) pureed tomatoes
1 can (8oz) diced tomatoes
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp red pepper
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp salt
1 cup un-seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup crumbled Feta Cheese
For the Béchamel Sauce Topping:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp flour
1-1/4 cup scalded milk
2 eggs
1/8 tsp red pepper
¼ tsp salt
And finally, the implementation:
Peal and slice the eggplant into ¼ pieces. Soak eggplant in cold salted water for at least one hour.
Redneck Tip: Weight the eggplant slices with a couple of saucers or plates (whatever will fit in your water bowl) to ensure that all of the slices stay submerged under the water.
Peal and cut carrot into thin slices. Blanch carrot slices and sugar snap beans for 2 minutes in boiling water. Drain in colander and set aside.
For the meat sauce, in a large deep skillet or sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add diced onion. Cook onion until clear, then add garlic, stirring regularly.
Redneck Tip: Don’t burn your garlic or you’ll have to start over.
Add the chopped lamb and ground beef and cook until browned.
Next add the tomato puree and diced tomatoes, carrots, sugar snaps, and mushrooms, along with the allspice, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and red pepper. Add the ¼ pint of sherry
Redneck Tip: Don’t attempt to do the rest of the ½ pint bottle of Sherry as a shot. You’ll end up dancing by yourself or watching TV and eating corn chips for dinner.
Bring the whole thing to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, back to that delicious eggplant. Pour off the water through a colander.
Redneck tip: Remove the weights first, duuh…
Turn all of the eggplant pieces up on edge in the colander and separate them as you can so that all of the water drains out. You don’t want soggy eggplant for the next step.
Redneck Tip: Guys, you might want to put on a shirt when you start frying the eggplant, particularly if it is wet, because it will pop a good deal and you risk burning your beer belly if you stand too close to the skillet (Ladies, I assume you were already wearing a shirt.)
Fry the eggplant slices in a skillet in about ¼” of vegetable oil over medium heat until tender. Drain the slices when they are cooked on lots of paper towels. Don’t skimp on the paper towels, you want to get as much grease out of the eggplant as is possible.
The Bechamel sauce is made as follows. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add flour a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. In another pot, scald the milk, and keep warm.
Redneck tip: For all of you Cajuns out there, we’re making a roux.
Keep adding the flour a little bit at a time until the roux is thick, but don’t cook it until it is brown. Add the warm milk a little at a time, again stirring constantly with a whisk. After the milk is added, bring the whole thing to a low boil and cook until it thickens to the consistency of a medium gravy. Turn off the heat and let cool.
In a separate bowl (or a coffee cup), beat the eggs until smooth. Slowly add a little of the cooled sauce to the eggs so as to not “scramble them.” Add the warmed egg/sauce mixture to the balance of the sauce, add red pepper, cinnamon, and salt to taste. Turn off heat and stir to blend.
Putting it all together:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of bread crumbs into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex dish. Layer one half of the eggplant on the bottom of the dish. Pour half of the meat sauce mixture on top of the eggplant and smooth out evenly.
Layer the rest of the eggplant slices and sprinkle with another couple of tablespoons of bread crumbs, half of the grated parmesan cheese and all of the Feta cheese. Add the balance of the meat sauce mixture and smooth out evenly. Sprinkle with the rest of the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Pour the Bechamel sauce over the top of the dish and smooth evenly.
Place in the 350 degree oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown on top.
Allow the Moussaka to cool and rest for 15 minutes, slice into squares, and serve with your favorite red wine and bread.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Instead, we ate at the Mediterranean restaurant across the street from Blackwater Grill. I won’t name the establishment's name out of deference to their public reputation, but our review was less than great. My Veal was “pretty good,” Pat’s stuffed grape leaves were “not great.” It was our second try at dining with them—we probably won’t be back for a while. We like the location and the atmosphere, but their food just doesn’t quite make it. Can you say “Bland Greek?” I didn’t know that there was such a thing as bland Greek food.
Neither of us is of Greek or Italian origin, nor have we ever even traveled to Europe in our lifetimes, but we have a pretty good idea of what the region and style of food should embody from our prior positive restaurant experiences.
This being the first recipe posting to my new food blog, The Redneck Gourmet, I have chosen the Greek eggplant standard—Moussaka—for my first topic. I cooked my first 9x13 casserole dish full tonight, and it was excellent, if I do say so myself.
First, the research. I give these sites credit for my recipe inspiration:
http://stigmes.gr/br/brpages/articles/recipes/mousaka.htm
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/gr_moussaka.html
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=88804
In my opinion, the key to this dish, in addition to good basic ingredients, is that you must get the spice mixture right to make it taste like “Greek” Moussaka. I don’t want a dish of Italian eggplant lasagna, I WANT GREEK MOUSSAKA!
So without further fanfare, on to the ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely sliced
1 cup sugar snap peas (optional)
1 cup button mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
¼ pint sherry
½ LB Chopped Lamb
½ LB lean ground beef
1 can (8 oz) pureed tomatoes
1 can (8oz) diced tomatoes
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp red pepper
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp salt
1 cup un-seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup crumbled Feta Cheese
For the Béchamel Sauce Topping:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp flour
1-1/4 cup scalded milk
2 eggs
1/8 tsp red pepper
¼ tsp salt
And finally, the implementation:
Peal and slice the eggplant into ¼ pieces. Soak eggplant in cold salted water for at least one hour.
Redneck Tip: Weight the eggplant slices with a couple of saucers or plates (whatever will fit in your water bowl) to ensure that all of the slices stay submerged under the water.
Peal and cut carrot into thin slices. Blanch carrot slices and sugar snap beans for 2 minutes in boiling water. Drain in colander and set aside.
For the meat sauce, in a large deep skillet or sauce pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add diced onion. Cook onion until clear, then add garlic, stirring regularly.
Redneck Tip: Don’t burn your garlic or you’ll have to start over.
Add the chopped lamb and ground beef and cook until browned.
Next add the tomato puree and diced tomatoes, carrots, sugar snaps, and mushrooms, along with the allspice, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and red pepper. Add the ¼ pint of sherry
Redneck Tip: Don’t attempt to do the rest of the ½ pint bottle of Sherry as a shot. You’ll end up dancing by yourself or watching TV and eating corn chips for dinner.
Bring the whole thing to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, back to that delicious eggplant. Pour off the water through a colander.
Redneck tip: Remove the weights first, duuh…
Turn all of the eggplant pieces up on edge in the colander and separate them as you can so that all of the water drains out. You don’t want soggy eggplant for the next step.
Redneck Tip: Guys, you might want to put on a shirt when you start frying the eggplant, particularly if it is wet, because it will pop a good deal and you risk burning your beer belly if you stand too close to the skillet (Ladies, I assume you were already wearing a shirt.)
Fry the eggplant slices in a skillet in about ¼” of vegetable oil over medium heat until tender. Drain the slices when they are cooked on lots of paper towels. Don’t skimp on the paper towels, you want to get as much grease out of the eggplant as is possible.
The Bechamel sauce is made as follows. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add flour a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. In another pot, scald the milk, and keep warm.
Redneck tip: For all of you Cajuns out there, we’re making a roux.
Keep adding the flour a little bit at a time until the roux is thick, but don’t cook it until it is brown. Add the warm milk a little at a time, again stirring constantly with a whisk. After the milk is added, bring the whole thing to a low boil and cook until it thickens to the consistency of a medium gravy. Turn off the heat and let cool.
In a separate bowl (or a coffee cup), beat the eggs until smooth. Slowly add a little of the cooled sauce to the eggs so as to not “scramble them.” Add the warmed egg/sauce mixture to the balance of the sauce, add red pepper, cinnamon, and salt to taste. Turn off heat and stir to blend.
Putting it all together:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of bread crumbs into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 Pyrex dish. Layer one half of the eggplant on the bottom of the dish. Pour half of the meat sauce mixture on top of the eggplant and smooth out evenly.
Layer the rest of the eggplant slices and sprinkle with another couple of tablespoons of bread crumbs, half of the grated parmesan cheese and all of the Feta cheese. Add the balance of the meat sauce mixture and smooth out evenly. Sprinkle with the rest of the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Pour the Bechamel sauce over the top of the dish and smooth evenly.
Place in the 350 degree oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown on top.
Allow the Moussaka to cool and rest for 15 minutes, slice into squares, and serve with your favorite red wine and bread.
Enjoy Y’all
The Redneck Gourmet
Why The Redneck Gourmet
I’m from southern Alabama. Some people like to call it “lower Alabama,” or LA for short. Call it what you will, it was home for me growing up. The older I get, the more attractive it becomes as a place to live, but it hasn’t always been that way.
You see, when you grow up living in LA, you tend to sort of take it for granted. The people, the lifestyle, the land, the food; by the time you are eighteen years old, you have had enough of the “simple life” and Atlanta, Georgia (or “anywhere else” in the USA) seems to beat the heck out of Ozark, Alabama.
The problem is, when you get to college in Atlanta and you’ve spent your first seventeen years in Ozark, you generally don’t have a clue about fine dining. There weren’t exactly a bunch of French, Italian, Greek, Japanese, or Thai restaurants in LA, and where I come from, Sushi is what we call fish bait. We could, however, fix you up with some deluxe fried chicken, country fried cube steak, fresh vegetables, biscuits & gravy, and we did a mean sirloin steak on the grill (charcoal, not gas…thank you very much.)
Fine dining just takes awhile to learn, and the one thing I learned very quickly was that throwing money at the problem definitely did not guarantee results. There was nothing more disappointing in 1979 than having the opportunity to dine with a member of the fairer sex, throwing $40 of hard earned summer job cash at food and wine, and going home hungry and disappointed (about the food, we’re not discussing women here, guys—get your minds out of the gutter.)
Fortunately, over the past twenty-five years I have learned a thing or two about fine dining and how to use raw fish as something other than fish bait. I’ve had the opportunity to dine in many of the well known restaurants in the major cities of the US. The Redneck Gourmet is not a restaurant review blog, however.
The Redneck Gourmet is about good home cooking, but not necessarily grits and cubed steak. Just like finding that throwing money at dining out doesn’t guarantee results, I have found that having just any old recipe for a given dish doesn’t ensure your home cooking efforts will yield the desired results—a perfect home cooked meal with authentic seasoning and flavors.
To this end, I’d like to share my interest and ability in cooking high quality food in my own kitchen, and telling you, my (soon to be) devoted reader, how to do the same. I realize that the internet is loaded with good cooking sites, places like Food Network, Epicurious, and others that I have to compete with, but competition is not my intention. I just love to cook and I love to write and The Redneck Gourmet allows me to combine both of these passions into one exercise…and on Blogger.com, it’s free.
I really hope that you enjoy my efforts.
Virgil R. Rogers, III
You see, when you grow up living in LA, you tend to sort of take it for granted. The people, the lifestyle, the land, the food; by the time you are eighteen years old, you have had enough of the “simple life” and Atlanta, Georgia (or “anywhere else” in the USA) seems to beat the heck out of Ozark, Alabama.
The problem is, when you get to college in Atlanta and you’ve spent your first seventeen years in Ozark, you generally don’t have a clue about fine dining. There weren’t exactly a bunch of French, Italian, Greek, Japanese, or Thai restaurants in LA, and where I come from, Sushi is what we call fish bait. We could, however, fix you up with some deluxe fried chicken, country fried cube steak, fresh vegetables, biscuits & gravy, and we did a mean sirloin steak on the grill (charcoal, not gas…thank you very much.)
Fine dining just takes awhile to learn, and the one thing I learned very quickly was that throwing money at the problem definitely did not guarantee results. There was nothing more disappointing in 1979 than having the opportunity to dine with a member of the fairer sex, throwing $40 of hard earned summer job cash at food and wine, and going home hungry and disappointed (about the food, we’re not discussing women here, guys—get your minds out of the gutter.)
Fortunately, over the past twenty-five years I have learned a thing or two about fine dining and how to use raw fish as something other than fish bait. I’ve had the opportunity to dine in many of the well known restaurants in the major cities of the US. The Redneck Gourmet is not a restaurant review blog, however.
The Redneck Gourmet is about good home cooking, but not necessarily grits and cubed steak. Just like finding that throwing money at dining out doesn’t guarantee results, I have found that having just any old recipe for a given dish doesn’t ensure your home cooking efforts will yield the desired results—a perfect home cooked meal with authentic seasoning and flavors.
To this end, I’d like to share my interest and ability in cooking high quality food in my own kitchen, and telling you, my (soon to be) devoted reader, how to do the same. I realize that the internet is loaded with good cooking sites, places like Food Network, Epicurious, and others that I have to compete with, but competition is not my intention. I just love to cook and I love to write and The Redneck Gourmet allows me to combine both of these passions into one exercise…and on Blogger.com, it’s free.
I really hope that you enjoy my efforts.
Virgil R. Rogers, III
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