Friday, August 26, 2011

Herbs - my favorite ones for cooking

Herbs, Seasonings, Spices.
You will find them in the best of meals and recipes.
Dry or fresh herbs.
Dry herbs are often stronger. Fresh herbs provide good flavor to any meal.
Here are my favorites:

Basil
Great in pestos, pizzas, salads and sauces.

Rosemary
Add to light fish, tomato sauces, lamb, stews, and chicken.
Crushed rosemary enhances the flavor over roasted vegetables such  as
zucchini, potatoes, and squash.

Lemon Grass
Intensifies and adds aroma to salads, soups such as Thai or Vietnamese, and curries.

Bay Leaves
Works well in poaching fish or boiling potatoes.
Add to marinades, stocks, and chicken soup and my spaghetti sauce.
Always remove bay leaves before serving a meal!

Parsley
You will find it in my scrambled eggs. I use it to garnish mashed potatoes.
Its in my sauces and works well with veal cutlets and pork dishes.

Oregano
Always loved it. Brings back the memories of my dad cooking
in the kitchen.
Used in my sauces and taste great in meat pies and soups.

Thyme
Another one added to my sauces.
Love it in stuffing. Makes a roasted tomato even better!
Taste good in chowders.

Sage
Until recently, I was never a big fan of sage.
Browing butter with sage in a pan and the sauce is
fantastic over roasted chicken and potatoes.
Is a great flavor as a dry rub ingredient for pork tenderloin.

Dill
Never thought of it until recent but
mixed in soft butter, it makes a better butter spread.
Also good in breads, potato salad and soups.


For dry spices,herbs, and seasonings, McCormick is an easy find in any grocery store.
McCormick
http://www.mccormick.com/Products/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices-A-to-Z.aspx

New to the market are the frozen herbs in tubes:
Gourmet Garden
http://www.gourmetgarden.com/us/

and Dorot in frozen cubes:
http://www.mydorot.com/


So there you have it.
Some of my favorites.
Adding some spice to your life, 1 blog at a time.
Steven

For comments, suggestions, recipes or more:




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Leftovers - Quick Tailgating Item

Leftover fried chicken.

Leftover Spaghetti Sauce

Hot dog buns.

I made a huge pot of red sauce and froze 2 quarts. I still had 1 quart left.
I made double fried chicken from 8 chicken breasts.

Lots of leftovers. What to do?

Improvise. Food for the road. Tailgating at the ball game.

Here's my quick 1 minute fried chicken  in a roll with red sauce.
Sliced fried chicken (1 breast ) on a bias.
4 Tbsp. of your favorite spaghetti sauce. Mine is home made with red wine, carrots and onions.
2 Hot dog buns.
2 Tbsp. of cheese. I like parmesan and asiago.
1 tbsp. of freshly sliced basil

Microwaved until hot.


TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME !
I'm #1 and everyone knows it......
Steven

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Brown Bread

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Brown Bread: "Time to bake a traditional family recipe. Heaven forbid, I forgot the old recipe for Brown Bread. Every once in awhile, I will stop in a..."

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Brown Bread

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Brown Bread: "Time to bake a traditional family recipe. Heaven forbid, I forgot the old recipe for Brown Bread. Every once in awhile, I will stop in a..."

Brown Bread



Time to bake a traditional family recipe.
Heaven forbid, I forgot the old recipe for Brown Bread.
Every once in awhile, I will stop in at O'Reillys
for a slice of brown bread. Ficra, the proprietor, (hopefully I spelled his name right
or its the last time he will serve me an ice cold Guinness beer
and shot of Jameson whiskey;
serves up a nice slice of brown bread with my corn beef quesadillas and shepards pie.

Fortunately, my new friend at cooking class not only made the bread in class,
 but she shared the recipe I had forgotten.





Brown Bread
 
2 cups Whole wheat Flour
1 cup Bran flakes or All Bran
1/3 cup Quaker Oats
2/3 cup Wheat germ
2 Tbls Raw Brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups Buttermilk
Mix all dry ingredients and add buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Then reduce heat to 375 for 45 mins.

Here's a toast (brown bread and raise a glass) to Fiona !
Thanks for the recipe.

Enjoy,
Steven

Send your recipes, favorite libations and more to:

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Wine of the Week - Conn Creek Chardonnay

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Wine of the Week - Conn Creek Chardonnay: "Here is my Wine of the Week: Conn Creek Angels Baseball 50th Anniversary 1961 - 2011 2009 Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Now ..."

Wine of the Week - Conn Creek Chardonnay

Here is my Wine of the Week:

Conn Creek Angels Baseball 50th Anniversary 1961 - 2011
2009  Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley

Now I'm no Bay Area baseball fan. I like going to A's and Giants games.
I have been a Yankee fan since I was a kid.
So here's to Angels baseball.

Conn Creek comes out with a limited release chardonnay.

Conn Creek Angels Baseball 50th Anniversary 1961 - 2011
2009  Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley



Someone needs to tell Conn Creek this chardonnay is a HOME RUN !
Light, not too buttery, Not heavy on the oak, and not too fruity.
Just they way a chardonnay should be.
Can we produce more of this please...

This one is a World Series champ of white wines.

Cheers,
Steven

Send your comments, suggestions, recipes to:




Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Pickled

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Pickled: "Pickling is fun and easy. The most important process in pickling is keeping the vinegar in the EXACT measurement as it is in the recipe. V..."

Pickled

Pickling is fun and easy.
The most important process in pickling is keeping the vinegar in the EXACT measurement as it is in the recipe.
Vinegar keeps the vegetables from spoiling, destroys any bacteria or getting botulism.
Once completed, pickled vegetables can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 3 weeks until ready for use.
Ball jars are a great source for pickling.
http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx

You can find additional canning supplies at:

Canningsupply.com
http://www.canningsupply.com/

and Lehmans.com
http://www.lehmans.com

Red Onions
3 tbsp. of sugar
1 tbsp of salt
2lbs. of sliced red onions
2 cups of distilled white vinegar

Mix the water, sugar, vinegar and salt in a large bowl. Stir continuously until salt and sugar are dissolved.
Add the onions and toss mixture. Let the onions marinate for  1 hr.
Pack in sealed jars or bowls and refrigerate up to 3 weeks.

Peppers
3 cups of water
3 cups of white vinegar
4 garlic cloves
1  sliced medium yellow onion
2  sliced small yellow carrots
1/4 cup of olive oil
12 whole peppercorns
1 tbl. of salt
1 lb. of chile peppers

Cut off top of chiles and slice chiles in half.
Place oil in pan with chiles and saute.
Add onions and carrots. Saute together until mixture is softened.
Put the mixture in sterilized canning jars with garlic cloves, peppercorns and salt.
Leave room at the top of jar  about 1'' for air and space.
Boil water and vinegar in a separate pan.  Pour over pepper mixture.
Seal jars and and place them in a separate pan for a water bath for 15 minutes.
Let jars cool.
Peppers can be stored up to 4 weeks in a cool dark room.

Pickling is fun and saves you money.
I'm pickled out now.

Enjoy!

Steven






















Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: The Island of Maui

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: The Island of Maui: "Every year I get the opportunity to visit my favorite island: Maui. I have been to other exotic locations such as St. Maarten, Puerto Rico,..."

The Island of Maui

Every year I get the opportunity to visit my favorite island: Maui.
I have been to other exotic locations such as St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and Kauai but Maui is my favorite. Count it 11 trips so far.
Now the flight from Oakland, California  to Maui is roughly 4.5 to 5 hours, and I was hungry.
I made the error of purchasing 3 sandwiches at the airport from one of those coffee houses that are on every corner of every major city.
My mistake.

During the week on Maui, I found 2 new establishments that made up for my previous lack of judgement.
1st was Coconut's Fish Cafe.
http://coconutsfishcafe.com/
Probably the BEST fish tacos I have ever had eaten. Even better than Maui Taco.
http://www.mauitacos.com/
I love Maui Taco.
However, Coconut's Fish Cafe had a light white fish in a 2 corn tortillas. It included a mango salsa and a cole slaw on the side.
I found the fish tacos to be fresher and lighter than Maui Taco.
Sorry Maui Taco you have been 1 upped.
Coconut's Fish Cafe just recently was voted BEST TACOS on MAUI.

2nd. Can't say enough about Bev Gannon.
She maybe my favorite 4 STAR island executive chef.
First she had Joe's Simply Delicious Food Restaurant in Wailea in Maui.
http://www.restauranteur.com/joes/
Great wines, good fish and a nice menu for the kids.
I recommend the blackened ahi sashimi appetizer !
Also nice is the roasted beet and goat cheese tower.
A little pricey but the view is nice and the service is good. Close to the condos and you can watch professional tennis players  at the nearby courts while you eat.

Of course Bev comes up with another precious stone.
Hali imaile General Store
http://www.bevgannonrestaurants.com/haliimaile/
You walk into an old victorian building with collective dinnerware on the walls.
You are greeted by their friendly staff and enjoy maybe the best ribs on the planet.
Paniolo baby back  ribs with an asian slaw and mashed potatoes.
I have mine with a mango ice tea.
Enjoyable was the crab pizza, which she says " she won't tell what is in it."
Sorry Bev, I think I can make a hot crab pizza.
It was delightful.
And the chinese chicken salad with fried wonton strips and curried coconut.
Yum.

My 2nd encounter was at Bev Gannon's newest restaurant.
Gannon's.
A Pacific View Restaurant.
http://www.gannonsrestaurant.com/
She hit this one out of the ballpark or should I say off the tee and a hole in 1.
Located at the Wailea Gold Golf Course. It has a romantic setting off the golf course.
You walk past the Red Bar inside the restaurant.
http://www.gannonsrestaurant.com/the-red-bar
I had to have an Ocean Mist, one of their signature mixed coctails.
This one is a combo of vodka, club soda, guava and passion fruit with a squeeze of lime.
Nothing better than sitting back, staring at the Pacific and drinking this libation while the sun sets before you. " What me worry?"
I shared the 2009 Rombauer Chardonnay with my lovely wife.
http://www.rombauer.com/index.cfm?method=storeproducts.showList&productcategoryid=fee9aaf0-f2b5-e75f-eaaf-8b9c74d4d936
We call it "Liquid Gold."
And we had the best meal on vacation.
For the appetizer we shared the lobster, crab, tomato tower and the tempura ahi roll made with salmon, crab, pickled ginger and wasabi vinaigrette.
I finished with the Miso Glazed Walu. The best white fish ever. The sides were asian slaw and wasabi mashed potatoes.
Bev, no wonder you were picked Best Chef on Maui.
You're a genius.

I love vacations.
Enjoy spending quality time with family, friends and meeting strangers along the way.
On the way, make time to visit new places, like new cafes or restaurants.
Sample new menus, slow down, relax, and eat well.

Steven