Category: WORKING

Stovetop Smoker

CLICK HERE FOR OPTIONS

To buy one from Amazon, use the link above.

Otherwise:

  • Use a cast iron wok and put about 1 C of Alderwood or Hickory chips into the bottom.

This is from a cooking show with Christoper Cross and Julia Child.
This is a flow while watching.  This needs to be debugged before you use it.

  • Cut all  fat off your beef loin – NY Strip Loin
  • Cut into 1 pound chunks
  • Put a grate over the chips, then put the meat onto the grate
  • Cover and cook on medium high for about 15 mintes
  • Sprinkle lightly with truffle oil or olive oil
  • Wrap and refrigerate 24 hours

 

Wheat Berries, Quinoa, Farecki

  • Separate to remove sticks, stones and chaff
  • Wash and rinse 2 C grain
  • Add 2 TBL EVOO
  • Add the grain
  • Toss to coat
  • Add chopped garlic
  • Add chopped scallops
  • Add another 2 TBL EVOO
  • Add 2 C warm chicken stock
  • Cover with paper round and simmer for 45 minutes
    • COOK HARISSA
  • Roasted peppers – till starts to blacken
  • Remove seeds, pit and veins
  • Put into blender with garlic and onion
  • Puree
  • Add EVOO to thin if necessary
    • SEASON GRAIN
  • ADD 2 TBL Harissa and some sale
  • Finish with chopped chives.
    • PREPARE SHALLOTS
  • Simmer in 1 C broth or stock for 30 minutes
  • Pour off most of liquid
  • Chop and put back into skillet with some thyme
  • Chop shallots
  • Add 2 TBL butter and some salt and pepper
    • 4-1-1 POTATOES
  • Food mill one large potato
  • 1 potato, 1 stick butter, 5 egg whites
  • salt and pepper
  • Put mixture into stencil, then flatten
  • season with thyme
  • Put into oven 350º till golden brown – about 10 minutes
    • COOK YOUR MEAT ON ALL SIDES
  • Salt and pepper your loins, then put into hot cast iron skillet
  • Add 1/4 C EVOO and put into hot pan
  • Sear all sides
  • Discard hot oil – carefully
  • Add garlic, shallots, and peppercorns
  • Deglaze with drinkable red wine – about 1 C
  • Pour every bit of fond into glaze
  • Drain through strainer
  •  
  • At the last minute add butter and thick cream

Let meat rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting

Plate grain, then thin slides of meat, a shallot with shallot sauce, and red wine sauce over the meat.

Top with your onions/shallots, and top with your potato petals.

 

 

 

Turkey Dinner Dog

  1. Brown onion, celery, Italian sausage, bacon
  2. Sage for seasoning
  3. Set aside
  4. Bread crumbs
  5. Roasted turkey
  6. Mashed potatoes with turkey gravy
  7. Corn
  8. Mix all together
  9. Toss with two white eggs as a binder
  10. Form into a ball, push onto a stick
  11. Free overnight
  12. Dip into cornmeal batter
  13. Fry till browned
  14. Serve with a side of Cranberry relish
  15.  

Maybe Breakfast Rolls

I found this in my files, but I hadn’t given it a title.  I think it is for spiral breakfast rolls

  • Combine
    • 1/2 C vegetable oil
    • 1/2 C sugar
    • 1 pint whole milk
  • Heat to near scalding – 190º
  • Add 4 C AP flour mixed with
  • 1 pkg (or 1 TBL active dry yeast)
    • Let rise 1 hour
  • Add 1/2 C flour mixed with
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • scant baking soda
  • scant salt
    • Roll flat
  • Combine
    • 4 TBL softened butter
    • 4 TBL sugar
    • 3 TBL CinnaSugar
  • Spread across the dough
  • Roll along the most narrow side creating a large log
  • Roll the log into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour
  • Slice into 3/4 inch medallions and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet, just barely touching
  • Allow to rise for 45-60 minutes
  • Bake at 375º for 15 minutes
  • Orange Buttercream Frosting for top:  Combine
    • Orange zest from one orange
    • 1 C powdered sugar
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla
    • 2 TBL softened butter
    • 1 drop orange food coloring

Generic Cookie

NOT YET TESTED
Try this and adjust

  • 1 C butter
  • 1 C confectioner sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
    • MIX
  • 3 C AP flour
    • Roll into a log in wrap, then chill 1-24 hours
    • Cut 1/4 inch cookie rounds and put on baking sheet
    • Bake 350º for 8-10 minutes

 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

  1. Prepare 2 C wide egg noodles, drain and set aside
  2. Preheat oven to 400º
  3. Lightly grease an 8×8 casserole dish
    –
  4. Heat 1 TBL butter in a pan – add 1 TBL EVOO
  5. Add
    • 1/2 C onion chopped,
    • 1 stalk chopped celery
  6. Cook until onion begins to become translucent
  7. Add a splash of sherry to deglaze
  8. Add
    • 2 TBL flour
    • 1 C whole milk,
    • 1/4 C frozen peas
    • 1 can mushroom soup
    • salt and pepper
  9. Thicken for about 4 minutes
  10. Add
    • 1 can tuna in water (drained)
    • chopped red bell pepper,
    • green chiles
    • 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
    • Cooked egg noodles
  11. Mix all and put into baking dish
  12. Prepare topping.  Combine the following
    • minced parsley
    • 1/4 C Panko bread crumbs
    • 2 TBL melted butter
    • 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
  13. Sprinkle topping mixture on top of tuna
  14. Bake 400º for 15-20 minutes

 

Misc Notes

Meat egg roll dip

  1. Saute onion, tomato paste, carrot, celery and garlic
  2. Add crushed tomato
  3. Reduce and puree in a blender

Shredded Carne Asada Breakfast Taco

  1. Prepare crema – recipe on GPC
  2. Put shredded meat in a skillet with 1 TBL butter
  3. Mix in 1 TBL mashed potatoes *
  4. Cook and continue mixing
  5. Add 1 egg mixed with 1 TBL crema
  6. Serve on a taco

* Jack Smashed Potatoes

  • Potatoes
  • Jack cheese
  • Onion
  • Green onion
  • Cotija cheese
  • Asadero cheese
  • Garlic
  1. Add 1-2 slices of provalone

Braise Chuck

  1. Saute onion, garlic and red chili powder over low heat
  2. Remove solids for later use
  3. Deglaze pan with beer
  4. Add 2 C chicken broth
  5. Put roast in, cover and cook at 350º for 4 hours
      • (Seems long to me)

Get buffalo from Arizona Buffalo Company in Eloy

Date Bacon Balls

  1. Lay a piece of bacon on a cutting board
  2. Remove the pit from a date – not halving the date though
  3. Stuff date with cooked chorizo – cooled and mixed with shredded cotijo or asadero cheese
  4. Alternatives are almonds, goat cheese or any non-melting cheese
  5. Wrap tightly and completely with the bacon
  6. Secure with a toothpick
  7. Bake at 350º for 7-9 minutes
  8. Turn the ball and cook for another 7-9 minutes
  9. If necessary turn one last time and cook until browned

Grandpa’s Notes # 20

Sides and Appetizers

[tv-note]

BBQ Sauce

  • While I like to MAKE MY OWN BBQ sauce, ATK or CC tested sauces.
  • Bulls Eye came out the winner, Stubbs was the runner up, and Kraft was the looser.

Mozzarella Cheese

  • Pre-shredded cheese is tossed in cellulose to keep it from sticking together
  • Plus it dries out, losing some of that incredible meltability
  • Do a taste test yourself
  • Low moisture is stretchier and is 45-52% moisture
  • Fresh is about 60% moisture
  • Your best bet is to buy your own block or ball of mozzarella and shred it yourself.

Sour Dough Oven Stuffing

  • 1 TBL salt
  • 1/2 C shredded carrot
  • 1 C chopped celery
  • 1 C diced pears
  • 1 C diced onion
  • 1/2 C fresh cranberries
  • Sauté above 2 minutes
  • Add 1 tsp each thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley
  • Add 1 TBL chopped pecans
  • Toss 6 C bread crumbs with 3/4 C EVOO
  • Combine all with 2 C chicken broth and 1 TBL balsamic reduction
  • Spread out in 9×12 baking dish
  • Bake covered for 1/2 hour
  • Finish bake uncovered for another 1/2 hour

Date and Gorgonzola Prosciutto Roll

  • Slice dates lengthwise and remove pit
  • Stuff with a piece of gorgonzola cheese
  • Wrap in prosciutto
  • Lay in pan
  • Brush all with garlic, olive and EVOO mixture
  • Bake 400º for 5-8 minutes

Truffle Notes

  • OK to wash truffle, then pack in rice to dessicate
  • Black truffle should be used to accent a more complex dish
    – $2,000 per pound
  • White truffle should be featured and be used in a simple dish
    – $6,000 per pound – $400 per ounce
    – October, Nov and Dec in Piedmont Italy
  • Black Périgord truffles cost $575 per pound from farmer’s markets and $2000 per pound from retail sellers.
  • Black summer truffles cost $670 per pound
    – Year round in Umbria Italy and Burgundy France
  • Pecan truffles cost $100 per pound
    – Australia, Oregon and Tennessee

Simple White Truffle Recipe

  • Egg, butter, cream – shave white truffles over the top

Puff Pastry Baskets

  • Puff Pastry squares 4″ each side
  • Put in center – turkey, mozzarella, pesto
  • Wrap up and tie in four or eigh sections
  • Bake 15 minutes at 400º
  • Remove string – top with rosemary sprig

Cranberry Salad

  • Jello and hot water
  • Lemon zest
  • Chopped raw cranberries
  • Orange
  • Grapes – light chop
  • Apple – diced

Refrigerate 4 hours

Grandpa’s Notes # 20

Equipment Notes

[tv-note]

Cooler Test

  • Before you go on a long vacation and risk your expensive food, test your cooler’s retention ability.  Put an 8 or 10 bag of crushed ice into each cooler and close the lid.
  • Open the lid for no more than 15 seconds starting at two hours

Paper Towels – ATK Test

Recommended is two-ply Bounty

Wood Chips

  • Soak Hickory, Oak or Mesquite chips in water for 15 minutes
  • Wrap in heavy foil – about the size and thickness of a paperback book
  • Poke holes in the top
  • Put right on the coals or on the bottom rack

ATK Equipment Review – Skillets

Winner: Oxo Good Grips Nonstick 12 inch open fry pan – $40

 

Grandpa’s Notes # 19

Treats and Just for Fun

[tv-note]

Black Muffins

A great idea for a Halloween party. – – – Just add 1 TBL activated charcoal for Black Muffins, or 1 TBL fine wood ash (untreated wood) for Gray Muffins

Candied Apples

Put 2  sugar into a heavy pot and add 1/4 C corn syrup.  The Chef on TV added 3/4 C water, but this is really unnecessary.  As long as a single teaspoon of water remains, the syrup will never get above 212º.  You need to bring it up to 300º for caramelization to happen.  The water is a shortcut to make the sugar melt, that actually makes the entire process take longer.  Skip the water.

Option:  For Black Apples, add 1 T activated charcoal when the temperature hits about 285º

Grandpa’s Notes # 18

Desserts

[tv-note]

Crumb Top Cake

Base

  • 2 1.4 C AP flour
  • 3/4 C milk
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp yeast
  • salt
  1. Add all but 1/2 C of the flour and beat two minutes on medium
  2. Add 6 TBL butter – one pad at a time until incorporated
  3. Optionally add raisins
  4. Add remainder of flour and stir till combined
  5. Beat 6 minutes on high
  6. Put into 9×12 greased cake pan
  7. Flatten sponge with fingers
  8. Cover and rise 1 hour
  9. If necessary, push dough back into any corners or sides

Crumb Topping

  • 18 TBL butter – melted and clarified
  • 3/4 C white sugar
  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Dissolve all ingredients together to make “Butter Mixture”
  • 4 C cake flour – sifted
  1. Mix cake flour and butter mixture
  2. Rest 10 minutes
  3. Sprinkle crumbs by hand across top of sponge
  4. Bake 350º for 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean
  5. Turn oven off and rest baked cake 3 hours in cooling oven
  6. Optionally dust with confectioner sugar

North Carolina Lemon Pie

This sounded great, but I am not going to retype the entire episode here.  CLICK HERE for Cooks Country recipe.  If they take down the recipe USE THIS LINK.

Crepe / Blintz

Use my recipe for crepes.  They should be UNDERDONE, and not browned.

  • For a blintz, make a large crepe using a 12″ pan
  • When ready to cook brush pan with butter
  • Heat to 350º
  • Add 1/3 C batter and tip to spread
  • Cook only to congeal.  Try not to brown too much.

Ricotta Filling

  • Fill with mixture of 11 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 C confectioner sugar
  • 2 TBL cream cheese
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Cover and refrigerate 2-36 hours

Topping – Raspberry Sauce

  • 10 oz raspberries
  • 1/4 C granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • Heat 8-12 minutes
  • Serve hot over freshly cooked blintz

To Finish the Blintz

  • Put 2 TBL filling in the center of a cooled crepe
  • Form into a 2×4 strip or log
  • Fold bottom in, then sides, then roll to make a packet
  • OK to refrigerate these overnight for the next morning
  • Cook in 2 TBL fresh unsalted butter
  • Fry 6 at a time, leaving a bit of space between them
  • 2 – 4 minutes per side at 350º till browned
  • If making more, wipe out pan and use new butter
  • Serve hot with topping

Optional simply use cream cheese with blended strawberry topping

 

Grandpa’s Notes # 17

Meals

[tv-note]

Quiche

  1. Cut bacon into pieces and crisp it in a hot pan.  Discard the grease.
  2. Cool the bacon and mix with (to taste) fresh chives, hand-shredded Gruyere, cooked chopped and drained spinach.  Mix well.
  3. Mix in 1.5 C Half and Half and 6 beaten eggs
  4. Optionally add cooked ham, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onion, chopped tomatoes, chives.
  5. Pour into pie crust or bare ramekins and bake 20-30 minutes at 300º
  6. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting

Pie Dough

  • Mix together butter, flour, freezing cold water, sugar and salt
  • Wrap and put back into fridge for 60 minutes before rolling flat
  • Dock the crust, then blind bake it for 10 minutes before using

Chuck – Flat Steak

  • This is a good flavorful cut of meat, but is cheap and tends to be tough
  • Pound it with your hammer.
  • Optionally marinate it overnight
  • Slow cook it to tenderize it or just sear it.

Pork Belly

  • Salt and sugar dry brine, then the fridge for 3 days
  • Smoker for 6 hours
  • Alt: oven at 250º with a pan full of wood chips in the bottom of the oven

Krab Roll

  • Krab, celery, salt, pepper, mayo, chives
  • Press into muffin ring
  • Chill before serving
  • Serve with Bahn Mi Pickles

Bahn Mi Pickles

  • Use a julienne stripper with UNPEELED carrot, zucchini, bell or jalapeño peppers, Daikon radish,  – whatever you want on your sandwich
  • Add 1/2 – 1 inch pieces of chive
  • Toss everything in about 1 TBL salt
  • Let rest for an hour, then mix with apple cider vinegar that is about 205º
  • Let cool in your counter for at least 4 hours
  • Ideally, let age in your refrigerator about a week

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

  • Use my recipe for pizza dough or just buy a ball of dough from your local pizza place
  • Flatten with your hands into a cast iron pan
  • First, add grated cheese on the bottom
  • Next add your sauce in spots
  • Add whatever other toppings you want
  • Start pizza on stove top till browned
  • Move to a 500º oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes

Another Pizza Recipe

  • Use a thin metal pie pan / cookie pan
  • Obtain your dough
  • Flatten into bottom of pan
  • Cover and let rise 2-3 hours
  • Add shred mozz cheese, brick cheese or Monterey Jack on top of dough
  • Add sauce in stripes
  • Bake 500º for 15 minutes
  • Wait 5 minutes before cutting

Lasagna

  • Bread and milk is called a Panade.
  • Make your own meat sauce with meat, onion, cloves and canned tomatoes
  • After cooking, let cool 10 minutes before you cut it

Tortillas

  • 2 C flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 5 TBL lard
  • 2/3 C ice water
  1. Mix first three ingredients
  2. Drizzle in very cold water
  3. Finish kneading on the counter
  4. Cut into 12 pieces and roll into balls
  5. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes
  6. Press balls flat, then roll them even flatter
  7. Put two disks together, spraying the inside lightly
  8. Roll even flatter
  9. Put onto parchment paper to keep from sticking
  10. Heat in not non-stick pan about 60 seconds per side

Tamales

  • 1 C dried chiles toasted in oil, diced onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt
    3 C chicken broth – simmer 10 minutes – blend until smooth
  • Pour back into pan and add chicken thighs – cover and simmer 25 minutes
  • Cool and shred
  • Add 1 TBL cider vinegar into sauce, salt, pepper, sugar
  • Add 1 C into chicken – reserve the rest for serving with the tamales
  • Soak corn husks in boiling water for 30 minutes
  • Coarse masa makes better tamales.
  • No coarse masa?  Use 1 C masa harina and 2 TBL cornmeal or grits
  • Pour 1.5 C boiling water over cornmeal and whisk – soak 10 minutes
  • Add masa, then cover and let rest 20 minutes
  • Put through food processor with 1 C fresh corn, 6 TBL lard, 6 TBL butter, 2 TBL baking powder and 1 tsp salt
  • Spread 1/4 C onto husks, add 2 TBL filling, wrap and steam 1 hour

Leftover Turkey Options

  • Quiche: Onion, spinach, eggs, cheese, cream, seasonings, turkey
  • Sandwiches: Bread, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard
  • Chowder:  Potatoes, cream, corn, onion, carrot, turkey
  • Casserole:  Turkey, veggies, cheese
  • Pot Pie: Peas, carrot, celery, mushrooms, onion, half/half
  • Enchilada: Green chiles, cheese, enchilada sauce, onion,
  • Tamale:  Masa, cheese, sauce

Pescado Frito

  • One very fresh fish

Sabaione (or Sabayon)

Also called Zabaione or Zabaglione to the Italians, who claim they invented it.  I call it Lemon Curd.

Sabayon

  1. 1/2 C granulated sugar
  2. 3 egg yolks – cream together eggs and sugar in a double boiler
  3. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1/2 vanilla bean – seeds removed – beans into sugar
  4. Add 2 TBL dry white wine plus 1/2 tsp vinegar.
  5. Continue to whisk until mixture starts to thicken.  (8-15 minutes)
  6. Take on and off as require to keep at a low temperature
    Watch out for eggs cooking against the sides of the bowl.
  7. This is your sabayon.  Set aside for later use.

Creme Fraiche Custard

  1. Make creme fraiche.
  2. Mix 1/2 C cold creme fraiche and 1/2 C cold heavy whipping cream.
  3. Beat in Kitchen Aid until it doubles or even triples in size.
  4. Fold together whipped creams and sabayon.
  5. Put into serving dishes and top with blueberries, peaches, plumbs or nectarines – in winter use pears or soaked dried frigs, apricots, strawberry, blueberry, grapes, prunes, etc

This must be made at the last minute, and served immediately, or it deflates and separates and becomes watery.

Serving idea:  Serve in same sized bowls, but each one a different shape.  Goodwill is a good source for this hodgepodge of serving dishes.

To create a Sabayon Topping

  1. Pick your liquid:  Can be practically anything based on what you are trying to accomplish.  White wine, chicken stock, grapefruit juice, coffee, ginger ale, etc.
  2. Measure your ingredients:  Generally the ratio is 1:1:1 egg yolk, sugar, liquid – figure one egg per person
  3. Mis-en-place:  which means have everything ready.  This will need to be constantly whisked, so you don’t have time to measure ingredients as you go.
  4. You will be whisking over a double boiler.  I always just make my own.  This is how.  You should NEVER let your water get to a full rolling boil.  Always just a simmer.
  5. Cream together egg yolk and sugar, when the color changes, drizzle in your liquid and start cooking over your double boiler.  Move the mixing bowl on and off the heat as needed.

Here are flavor combinations from Food52.com to try:

Savory:

  • egg yolk + champagne + lemon juice and zest + pinch cayenne
  • egg yolk + white wine + finely chopped rosemary
  • egg yolk + tequila + lime juice + pinch ancho chile powder
  • egg yolk + sake + yuzu + miso paste

Sweet:

  • egg yolk + rum + maple syrup + freshly grated nutmeg
  • egg yolk + whisky + orange zest + honey
  • egg yolk + sherry + sugar (fold in whipped egg whites at the end)
  • egg yolk + beer + sugar + black pepper

Sloppy Tony

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 LB hamburger
  • 1 LB ground sausage
  • 3 C marinara sauce
  • 1/2 C chicken broth

STEP BY STEP

  1. Brown meat and break it up
  2. Add about 3  C of sauce stir until all sauce is absorbed
  3. Add your chicken broth
  4. Cover and simmer 30 minutes
  5. Cut slices of Italian bread
  6. (optional) Butter your bread pieces and grill them for a few minutes
  7. Spoon your meat sauce
  8. Top with a thin slice of mozzarella or pepper Jack cheese
  9. Broil until cheese starts to brown
  10. Serve open-faced or as a sandich

 

 

Know 99 – EPISODE GUIDE

PROMOTIONAL

These are the recipes that I am hoping to demonstrate on Phoenix Channel 11 Know 99 local TV channel or YourLife A to Z

SEE ALSO AZ FAMILY – Your Life A to Z

Know 99 – Phoenix Local Cable TV
Know99@phoenix.gov
Chuck Emmret @ 602-534-5100

CoVid Cameras:  Pan Cam, Plate Cam, Chef Cam

Cooking when you don’t know how

  • Five Minute Meals
    • Scrambled Eggs and Toast
    • New Life for Left-over Burritos
    • Cheese Crisp
    • Egg Noodles with Butter
  • Crock Pot Cooking
    • Pot Roast and Vegetables
  • Instant Pot – Magic Cooking
    • Chicken breast w/ mashed potato
    • BBQ Ribs w/ baked potato
  • Kid Cooking
    • Hot Dogs
    • Muffin Pizza
    • Beanie Weenies
    • Spam and Pineapple
    • Meatloaf
    • Baked Apple with Raisins
    • Pigs in a Blanket (Puff Pastry)
  • Breakfasts
    • Breakfast Skillet
    • Scrambled Egg
    • Omelet
    • Pancakes
    • Bacon
    • Sausage
    • Grapefruit
    • Poached Egg on an English Muffin
    • Hollandaise Sauce – Eggs Benedict
  • Cinnamon and Nutmeg
    • Grandpa’s CinnaSugar®
    • Bread Pudding
    • Cinnamon Rolls
    • French Toast
  • From the Dairy Section
    • Make your own Yogurt
    • All about cheese
    • Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Breads
    • Bagel
    • Basic Bread
    • English Muffins
    • Corn Bread (2)
    • Dinner Rolls
    • Garlic Bread
    • Drop Biscuits
  • Desert Breads
    • Banana Bread
  • Side Salads
    • Tossed Salad
    • Three Bean Salad
    • Potato Salad
    • Cranberry Salad
    • Salad Plate
  • Side Dishes
    • Applesauce
    • Baked Beans
    • Cole Slaw
    • Sauteed Mushrooms
    • Carmelized Onions
  • Squashes
    • Acorn Squash
    • Spaghetti Squash
    • Butternut Squash
    • Pumpkin
  • A Pinch and a Dash
    • What is a pinch
    • … sprinkle
    • … dash
    • … little bit
    • … tad
  • Sweet as Can Be
    • Simple Syrup
    • Caramel Sauce
  • Desserts
    • Berry Trifle
    • Pumpkin Pie
    • Cheese Cake
    • Easy Cobbler
    • Strawberry Flowers
    • Mincemeat Pies
  • Foreign Cooking
    • Kim Chee
    • Won Ton Wrappers
    • Caçik
    • Kebaps (or Kebabs)
  • Beverages and Drinks
    • Iced Tea Ice
    • Arizona Sun Tea
    • Coffee
    • Smoothie
    • Egg Nog
    • Horchata
  • Potatos (Potatoes ?)
    • Potato Peels
    • Mashed Potatoes
    • Baked Potato
    • Twice Baked Potato
    • Fingerling Potatoes
    • Potato Medallions
  • Cooking in Boiling Water
    • Spaghetti
    • Hard Boiled Eggs
    • Deviled Eggs
    • Mashed Potatoes
    • Rice
  • Eating Your Veggies
    • Broccoli Parmesan
    • Cauliflower Parmesan
    • Baked Asparagus
    • Roasted Veggies
  • Sandwiches
    • Bologna Sandwiches
    • Baked Beans
    • PBJ
    • Grilled Cheese
    • Chicken Salad Sandwiches
    • BLT Sandwiches
  • South of the Border
    • Five Layer Bean Dip
    • Burrito
      • Sausage, sausage and cheese, SC & jalapeño, plain
    • Tacos
    • Guacamole
    • Bean Burrito
    • Cheese Crisps
    • Shopping Cart Salsa
    • Refried Beans
  • Pickled Again
    • Pickled Cucumber and Onion
    • Pickled Jalapeños
    • Refrigerator Pickles
  • Custards and Puddings
    • Basic Custard
    • Instant Pudding
    • Lemon Custard
  • Make Ahead Meals
    • Pulled Pork Sandwiches
    • Macaroni and Cheese
    • Pot Roast
  • Parts of Other Meals
    • Basic Stock
    • Gravy
    • Spaghetti Sauce
  • Sauces and Salsas
    • Jalapeño Sauce
    • Shopping Cart Salsa
    • BBQ Sauce
  • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Chip Dip
    • Celery and Peanut Butter
    • Cinnamon Toast
    • Buckeyes
    • Toffee
    • Rice Krispie Treats
  • Full Steam Ahead
    • Steamed Artichokes
    • Steamed Cauliflower
    • Steamed Broccoli
    • Corn on the Cob
  • Cold Weather Meals
    • Easy Chili
    • Corn Bread
    • Tomato Soup and Dumplings
  • Something is Fishy
    • Cooking Fish
    • Salmon and Crab Cakes
    • Fish Sticks
  • Mooooo and Oink
    • BBQ Ribs
    • Hamburgers
    • Meatballs
    • Meatloaf

The Five Mother Sauces

Types of Sauces

A sauce should fall into one of three categories
1. A roux – Four of the above five start out with a roux
2. An emulsification
3. A reduction

Roux

A Roux is made by cooking equal parts flour and butter – usually about 2 TBL each and 1 C of liquid

  • Put flour and cold butter into a skillet
  • Cook until they have cooked together and have just started to brown
  • Add 1/4 C of your other liquid and stir until smooth.
    If you add it all at once, you will get lumps (dumplings) that will never disappear.
  • Whisk continually adding more liquid, bits at a time until it reduces and thickens

These five sauces are the building blocks for most other sauces.

1.  Béchemel

– A white sauce – Above roux made with 1 C dairy – usually milk or cream

GREAT FOR

  • Homemade macaroni and cheese, classic croque madame, lasagna,
  • Mornay sauce – Béchemel plus grated Gruyére or Parmesan (optional w/ Cayenne)
  • Mustard sauce – Béchemel plus Dijon mustard
  • Soubise – Béchemel plus shallots or onion
  • Cheddar Sauce – Béchemel plus shredded Cheddar
  • Sawmill Gravy – Béchemel plus cooked sausage

Step by Step Bechemel

  1. In saucepan cook 2 TBL flour and 2 TBL butter over medium heat.
  2. Cook until the butter completely melts and the flour barely starts to color – about one minute.
  3. Slowly whisk in 1 C milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg – just a little at a time
  4. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
  5. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese until melted. Set aside.

2.  Velouté

– A white sauce – Above roux made with 1 C clear stock – usually chicken, vegetable or fish

Supreme Sauce

– A Supreme Sauce is a velouté made with 3/4 chicken stock, and then finished with 1/4 cream (mixed) butter and lemon.  It is a child sauce of Velouté

Allemande Sauce (German Sauce)

– Allemande Sauce is a velouté made with 3/4 C veal stock, and then finished with 1/4 C (mixed) egg yolks and heavy cream.

Poulette Sauce

– Poulett Sauce is made with Allemande Sauce as the base, and then finished with minced mushrooms, parsley and lemon

3.  Espagnole

– Espagnole is a roux made with a brown stock – veal or beef

4.  Tomato Sauce

– A Tomato Sauce is a roux plus tomatoes
– Italian style skips the roux and just reduces tomatoes

5.  Hollandaise

– At its most basic :: 4 egg yolks, 1 tsp Karo syrup, 1 bay leaf, plus 1 tsp acid – usually lemon or white wine – whisk continually with a whisk having lots of tines – halfway through the baking process, after it is very warm, add 1 tsp water mixed with 1 tsp corn starch and 12 TBL cold butter (one at a time)  – whisk continually until thickened.

Step by Step Hollandaise

  1. Bring double boiler water to a simmer
  2. Add in 3 egg yolks and 1 tsp of water and 1/4 tsp of sugar
  3. Whisk continually OFF the heat until it starts to turn light yellow
  4. Add 5 TBL of cold butter pieces
  5. Don’t stop whisking through the entire process
  6. Whisk until the butter melts and it starts to lighten
  7. Add another 3 TBL cold butter pieces
  8. Whisk until a ribbon forms
  9. Add teaspoons of water if it starts to thicken too much
  10. Remove from the heat and add 6 more TBL of cold butter one at a time
  11. Season with 2 tsp lemon juice and scant cayenne pepper and salt
  12. Store in a thermos or in a glass dispenser placed in a pan of hot water.
  13. If clumps have formed, you can strain it.

Bearnaise Sauce

Bearnaise is a child of Hollandaise.  Start with Hollandaise and add minced shallot, chervil, peppercorns and tarragon just after Step 4 of the Hollandaise Step by Step.

Strain or press through sieve to remove pieces and serve over steak, fish, vegetables, etc.

Maltaise Sauce

Another child of Hollandaise.  Start with Hollandaise, but at Step 10 rather than using lemon, add 1/4 C orange juice reduced down with a few peppercorns.  Add 1 TBL of the reduced liquid instead of lemon.

Pan Sauce from Fond

  • After you finishing browning or cooking a protein, the remainder is very tasty.
  • Use 3/4 C chicken, beef or vegetable broth to deglaze
    • Broth is from meat
    • Stock is from bones
  • Add broth to the pan and scrape off the bits of fond.
  • Reduce with 3 TBL Cognac or Brandy and 1 TBL green peppercorns to create a beef pan sauce, then add 3/4 C cream
  • Reduce to a thicker sauce (nappe) which is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Starches as Thickeners

Always introduce via a cold slurry – water, wine, cognac, tomato juice

    • Flour
      • Clumps worse than anything.
      • Must be brought to a full boil to work
      • Combines with fats to make a greasy sauce
      • Has protein in it which creates scum
    • Corn Starch
      • Used in many Asian dishes
      • Thickens at a lower temperature than flour
      • not much needed, but is not heat stable.  Overheating will destroy the bonds
    • Tapioca or Cassaba Starch
      • Good for pie fillings
      • Can be tricky to use in sauces
    • Potato Starch
      • Works a lot like corn starch
    • Arrowroot
      • More stable and versatile, but never use with dairy
      • In 1 quart of liquid, use 2 TBL  of Arrowroot
        approx 2 tsp of arrowroot per cup of liquid
      • Often use other starches and label it “Arrowroot”
    • Japanese Arrowroot
      • Made from Kudzu

More info BY CLICKING HERE, if you need it.

Cutting apart a whole chicken

… or more accurately (albeit brutally) called Butchering a Chicken or Spatchcocking a Chicken.

When you butcher your own chicken, you are assured of the freshest meat. It is not that difficult, and there are more reasons why you should do it, rather than reasons you should not.

STEP BY STEP

  1. Turn breast side down
  2. Pull wing down, cut along skin and joint
  3. Separate thigh from the carcass – cut right in the middle of flap of skin
  4. Continue to pull apart and cut skin
  5. When you get own to the bone, pull down so that you can cut into joint
  6. Move skin away and separate thigh from the leg

Back bend down to break to free the back

Cut back apart for stock

Upside down

Point of knife into cartilage

Halve breast bone, leave in for cooking – added flavor

  1. Pull apart thigh and cut along the joint to separate
  2. CUT ALOup side down,
  3. Crack breastbone w/ knife or scissors
  4. push down & lift out breastbone.
  5. Separate rib meat, follow down rib w/ sharp knife – remove ribs.
  6. Use bones for stock.

Egg Nog from Scratch

Egg Nog with Raw Eggs

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 eggs (PASTEURIZED and separated)
  • 3 oz Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
  • 1 CU heavy cream
  • 1 PT whole milk (not skim)
  • 1 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/3 CU sugar
  • 1 TBL sugar additional

STEP BY STEP

  1. Separate white from the yolks. Set whites aside.
  2. Beat egg yolks well
  3. Add sugar very slowly to combine – set aside
  4. In small pan, add nutmeg, cream and milk
  5. Mix to combine, and bring mixture slowly to a boil
  6. Remove mixture from heat
  7. TEMPER half of your heated mixture into your egg yolk mixture
  8. Slowly whisk egg yolk mixture back into the pot
  9. Add whiskey and combine, then chill for at least an hour
  10. During this time, leave egg whites on counter to come up to room temperature
  11. Beat egg whites to firm peaks
  12. Add 1 TBL sugar and combine
  13. Add cold mixture to egg whites and gently combine or fold together
  14.  Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top

EXTRA STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • Since you are using raw eggs, be sure that you get fresh eggs.
  • Don’t serve this to anyone that is pregnant because of the raw eggs.
  • Use a slotted spoon or your fingers to separate the egg yolk from the whites. Use a pinch pot to isolage each separated yolk and white before putting them into a larger container.  Don’t use the egg white if ANY yolk has broken into it. Use them for scrambled eggs tomorrow morning!
  • TEMPERING EGGS, means to mix three tablespoons of the heated mixture into the beaten egg yolks, one tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly, raising the temperature slightly and thinning the yolks. Add a second tablespoon, then a third, then you can add the eggs back into the heated pan, whisking constantly, without worrying about them cooking and becoming lumpy

Here is a video from Your Life A to Z about how to make “Tom’s Egg Nog”

 

Mollie’s Egg Nog for Two

  • Separate two eggs – set yolks aside
  • Whisk whites into soft peaks
  • Put into fridge to stay cold
  • Put yolks into mixer
  • Add  ¼ C  sugar
  • Mix to combine until thick and lighter in color
  • Add 2 C cream and 2 C  whole milk
  • Whisk on low to combine
  • Fold beaten whites into the mixture
  • Add ¼ C  brandy
  • Chill for one hour before serving
  • Pour into glass and garnish with nutmeg

Mollie’s Egg Nog for Six

  • Separate six eggs – set yolks aside
  • Whisk whites into soft peaks
  • Put into fridge to stay cold
  • Put yolks into mixer
  • Add ¾ C sugar
  • Mix to combine until thick and lighter in color
  • Add 6 C cream and 6 C whole milk
  • Whisk on low to combine
  • Fold beaten whites into the mixture
  • Add ½ C brandy
  • Chill for one hour before serving
  • Pour into glass and garnish with nutmeg

SINGLE SERVING Recipe for KTVK

  • 1 egg  (PASTEURIZED and separated)
  • 1 oz Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
  • 1/4 CU heavy cream
  • 1/2 C whole milk (not skim)
  • 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 2 TBL sugar

Step by Step

  1. Separate white from the yolks. Set whites aside.
  2. Beat egg yolks well
  3. Add sugar very slowly to combine – set aside
  4. In small glass bowl, add nutmeg, cream and milk
  5. Mix to combine
  6. Microwave for 60 seconds
  7. TEMPER half of your heated mixture into your egg yolk mixture
  8. Slowly whisk egg yolk mixture back into the pot
  9. Add whiskey and combine, then chill for at least an hour
  10. During this time, leave egg whites on counter to come up to room temperature
  11. Beat egg whites to firm peaks
  12. Add 1 TBL sugar and combine
  13. Add cold mixture to egg whites and gently combine or fold together
  14.  Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top

Shopping List Salsa

ADD MY VIDEO BACK IN LATER

This is perfect when you want about a quart of salsa.
Just buy the ingredients, process, and you are done!
The video above is Grandpa showing you just how easy this recipe is.

INGREDIENTS: Shopping List:

  • 2 Tomatoes
  • 1 Green chili pepper
  • 1 Jalapano pepper(optional)
  • 1 Serano chili pepper (optional)
  • 1 Sweet onion
  • 1 Orange bellpPepper
  • 1 Bunch cilantro
  • 2 Green onions
  • 3 Garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp salt

STEP BY STEP

  1. Remove skin from tomatoes (Optional) See below
  2. Pulse onion and garlic until chopped – about 5 x
  3. Add bell pepper pulse 3 x
  4. Add jalapeno and serrano peppers pulse 3 x
  5. Cut tomato into large pieces and ** process until blended but chunky
  6. Cut all other ingredients into pieces and *** pulse until chunky (not too small though)
  7. Add salt to taste
  8. Pour into mixing bowl, mix and store in refrigerator

NOTES

  • To remove skin from tomatoes, bring pot of water to boiling. Put a small X on the top of the tomato.  Put tomatoes in boiling water for about 60 seconds. Remove and put into cold water for another 60 seconds. The skin should easily peel off.
  • Process – means blender or food processor. If you have neither chop the heck out of it with a knife. Goodwill though, has blenders for just a couple of dollars.
  • Pulse – means run your processor in short bursts until the ingredients are “chopped” into small pieces.

Lots about Sushi: with VIDEO

Sushi Toolbox

  • Dark soy sauce
  • Rice wine vinegar
  • Short grain rice
  • Nori – small sealed packages
  • Rice Spatula
  • Rolling Mats
  • Wasabi paste or powder
  • Pickled Ginger (Gari) – white (homemade) or pink

Sushi Rice

      • 2 C short grain rice (meshi)
        • AKA Sushi Rice, Glutinous Rice or Pearl Rice
          Very starchy and sticky OR if you can’t find any, add 1 TBL cornstarch to your rice
        • Rinse three times
      • 2 C water
        MIX BELOW – Use this after the rice has finished cooking
      • 3 T rice vinegar or Sushi seasoning vinegar (heated in microwave)
      • 1 TBL mirin
      • 2 TBL sugar
      • 2 tsp salt

STEP BY STEP

      1. Measure your amount of rice while it is dry
      2. Wash rice in a bowl of cold water
      3. Strain
      4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until water runs clear (total three times is usually OK)
      5. Mix pre-measured amounts of rice and water and let set for 30 minutes
      6. Cook rice according to directions
        OR Put rice into boiling water, simmer 15 minutes
      7. Remove from heat, cover and let rest 10 minutes
      8. Meanwhile, mix vinegar, mirin, sugar and salt
      9. Poke holes/wells into your rice with a spoon
      10. Pour over a wooden paddle onto rice … drizzle
      11. GENTLY fold cooked rice into vinegar mixture
        Stir around, don’t beat (fan with paper plate to help it cool more quickly)
      12. Keep your hands wetted
      13. Cover with plastic and let cool about 30 minutes on the counter.  Do not refrigerate

Rolling Tips and Tricks

      • Nori (海苔) is the Japanese name for edible seaweed and is frequently used for sushi across the world.  It is usually just referred to as seaweed.
      • Seaweed . Smooth and shiny goes toward the outside.  Rough side goes to the inside against the rice.
      • Use plastic wrap as a covering for your sushi mat
      • Press rice flat onto plastic
      • Dress with slices of cucumber, avocado, shredded imitation krab meat
      • Do not overfill
      • Tuck and roll
      • Dip knife and hands in water
      • Cut in half three times for 8 pieces or half, then thirds for six pieces.

Sushi Filling Options

  • Salmon
  • Shrimp
  • Tuna (mahi mahi)
  • Red snapper
  • Spanish mackerel
  • Scallop
  • Mushrooms
  • Avocado
  • Scallion
  • Sesame Seed
  • Caviar
  • Un
  • Fennel Leaves
  • … and actually whatever you want to wrap into it

Types of Sushi

      • Chirashizushi: “scattered sushi” – Sushi plus other things over rice
      • Oshizushi: “pressed sushi”. Also known as hako-sushi which means “box sushi”
      • Nigirizushi: “hand-pressed sushi” – Frequently like a salmon roll (See Nigiri below)
      • Makizushi – meaning “rolled sushi” – What most Americans visualize when they hear sushi
        Generally wrapped in Nori (seaweed), but can occasionally be wrapped in a thin omelette, soy paper, cucumber, or shsiso (perilla) leaves.

        • Hosomaki: “thin roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside
        • Chumaki: “medium roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside
        • Futomaki: “thick roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside
        • Uramaki: “inside-out roll” – rice on outside, nori on the inside
        • Temaki: “hand roll” – cone-shaped roll
        • Tekkamaki:  Cut tuna into sticks, put nori on mat rough side up, put down rice then tuna

Nigiri

  1. Shape sushi rice into a bite-sized football, but don’t compress
  2. Schmear wasabi on fish, krab or shrimp
  3. Put wasabi against rice and squeeze only to merge all ingredients.  Do not over-compress

Westernized Sushi

        • Dragon Roll:  Eel, crab, cucumber with avocado on the outside
        • Tiger Roll:  Avocado, shrimp tempura, cucumber
        • California Roll:  Rice down on plastic covered mat, then nori, avocado, crab, cucumber. Roll wrap in rice sprinkled with sesame seeds
        • Rainbow Roll: An assortment of fish and avocado on top of a California Roll
        • Spider Roll: Soft-shell crab, cucumber, sprouts (or lettuce, roe, or avocado) and sometimes spicy mayo
        • Spicy Tuna Roll: Rice, tuna, mayo, and chili sauce wrapped in nori
        • Philadelphia Roll: Salmon, avocado, asparagus, and cream cheese wrapped in rice
        • Dynamite Roll: Yellowtail and/or prawn tempura, bean sprouts, carrots, avocado, cucumber, chili, and spicy mayonnaise
        • Teriyaki Roll: Nori, chicken, teriyaki sauce wrapped in rice
        • Boston Roll: Crab, salmon, and scallion wrapped in rice
        • Alaska Roll: Asparagus, and avocado wrapped in rice, topped with Smoked salmon
        • Scallop Volcano Roll: California roll topped with a baked scallop and mushrooms
        • Summer Roll: Sashimi and veggies inside wrapped in rice paper
        • Spicy Tataki Roll: Spicy tuna inside. Sashimi tuna and avocado outside.
        • Eel Avocado Roll: Rice, avocado, and eel wrapped in nori.  Topped with avocado
        • Seattle Roll: Cucumber, avocado, raw salmon, and smoked salmon wrapped in rice
        • Firecracker Roll:  Spicy scallop inside. Tuna and avocado outside
        • Yellowtail Roll: Yellowtail and scallion California roll.
        • Hawaiian Roll: Garlic and albacore inside. Wrapped in rice with avocado and albacore on top.
        • Mango Roll: Avocado, crab meat, tempura shrimp wrapped in rice, topped with mango slices, and creamy mango paste.
        • Classic Roll: Tuna, avocado, and cucumber wrapped in rice and nori
        • Futomaki Roll: Crab, egg, and vegetables wrapped in rice and nori

See www.Ranker.com for a list three times longer than the one above.

Extra Tips and Information

      • If you are going out for sushi, use these tips:
        • Smell should not be overly “fishy”
        • Weekends are when the fresh fish come in
        • Ask about source of their sushi
      • Japanese style sushi has the rice on inside
      • American style sushi has the rice in outside
      • Sashimi is considered by many to be a type of sushi made with raw high-quality fish or raw meat.  It is actually a completely different dish.
      • Sushi should be freshly but quickly killed, usually with a knife point to sever the brain stem
      • Bleeding fish in ice water immediately after killing keeps the meat clear
      • Wait several hours for rigor to start for a firmer flesh
      • Visit All About Sushi Guide for more information

Jacques Pepin Sushi Tray

      • Jacques Pepin made a sushi platter by putting down a layer of rice, and then cubes of salmon, cubes of tuna, small bay scallops, chopped black mushrooms, pieces of avocado (tossed in lemon juice to prevent browning), diced scallion, sesame seeds, caviar, uni, and fennel leaves.  He served wasabi and soy in a cup.  It was WAY easier than formal pieces of sushi and looked just beautiful.

Common Types of Sashimi

      • Salmon (Sake)
      • Squid (Ika)
      • Shrimp (Ebi)
      • Tuna (Maguro)
      • Mackeral (Saba)
      • Horse Mackeral (Aji)
      • Octopus (Tako) – Usually blanched or cooked
      • Whale Meat (Gei-niku)
      • Sea Urchin (Uni)
      • Scallop (Hotate-gai)
      • Puffer Fish (Fugu)
      • Yellowtail (Hamachi)
      • Fatty Tuna (Otoro)
      • You may also view my page for Dungeness Crab Cakes which was filmed at a class aboard the MS Rotterdam.
      • The below video was taken at the Phoenix Eats Trade Show, so has very little verbal description, but offers some very good video for rolling sushi.

Video from Kikoman

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