Culinaria: recipes, memories ...

[Darb]

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe from Steve Raichlin’s “Grilling Bibleâ€

[Darb]

Ok, I've cleaned out the spam.

[Hunter B]

Hey Brad, congrats! The BTL marinade is now officially the favorite in the household.

Oh, have you ever fried some thin strips of steak in the marinade? I tried it today (I messed up butterflying the steak) and it was pretty good, and you get more of the flavor of the marinade (obviously).

[Darb]

Nice.

I do a lot of stir fry at home. Too bad flyboy was a fake, because I'd have loved to talk chinese cuisine with someone who actually knows it.

Anyway, here's a quick recipe for what I threw together last night (and yes this is original)

* Peanut oil
* Shallot, shredded
* Dried cayenne, crumbled
* Leftover skirt steak (sliced)
* Leftover pre-cooked vermicelli (re-warmed in the wave)
* Generous squeeze of fish sauce
* Splash of tamari
* Large fistful of freshly chopped parsley & basil (I have a garden)
* Splash of dark sesame oil
* leftover half lime (the other was used the day before for a mixed drink), squeezed

Directions

* Soften shallot in hot oil, with crumbled cayenne
* Add leftover steak and warmed leftover pasta
* Add fish sauce and tamari & toss well over high heat
* Add herbs & toss again until wilted
* garnish with sesame oil & lime, and serve

It looks complicated, but its essentially just refrigerator leftovers, thrown together for a quickie pan-asian faux mei fun.

Total time = 5-10 mins, off the cuff.

Works identically well with leftover chicken, or sliced fried eggs.

[Hunter B]

Ooh, looks nice. I think I'll try it tomorrow for lunch

[Darb]

It's not the type of recipe that you shop for ingredients in order to make it ... it's an on the fly recipe meant to use up leftovers with things you already have on hand.

My kitchen's well stocked, so all the sauces and oils, herbs and dried items are all things that are on hand already for me.

[Hunter B]

Yeah, I know, but I can't have it tonight or tomorrow for dinner, and I won't have time in the morning. So, that only leaves one option.

[Hunter B]

Yeah! Another triumph for the BTL marinade!

I made it at a dinner party over the weekend (17 lbs. of meat worth) and everyone LOVED it.

Thank you Brad for letting me have this recipe.


/me does an extra deep bow for Brad

[Darb]

I'm glad it's working out for ya. The beauty of the recipe is that it's fast and easy.

An alternate recipe that's similar (but slightly more labor intensive when done large scale) is doing something like a fajita bar ... grill up, cool (to luke warm) and slice a bunch of skirt steaks (slice them lengthwise across the grain, not crosswise), then put em out in a big tray next to a big stack of warmed wraps and an assortment of toppings, and have then have someone make wraps to order (or let people do it themselves if they know how).

Anyway, as long as you've got a fire going for all that steak, you could also try the cajun shrimp recipe I posted - it makes a good appetizer for someone to pass around while you do the steaks.

[Darb]

Mmmmm .. just tried a tasty sandwich combo I havent had before: hot pastrami & melted swiss on toasted garlic bread hoagie, panini style.

I've always done the usual rye bread & mustard (with pickles & slaw on the side), but garlic panini w/melted swiss is just as good.

[Darb]

HUNTER: I have a minor improvement to the BTL Flank Steak recipe ...

The latest issue of Cook's Illustrated (Jan 2005) includes a simple and convenient recipe for making your own Teriyaki Sauce ... which not only probably tastes better than store bought teriyaki sauce, but it also enables you to make the sauce if you're out of teriyaki - but still have soy.

Here's the version I entered into my recipe log:

Recipe: Teriyaki Sauce (Homemade)
Origin: Adapted from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated, Jan 2005.
Batch: Makes ¾ cup.

Ingredients:
2 tbs Mirin (or Sake if you lack the former, or semi-dry w.wine if you lack sake)
½ tsp Corn Starch
--------------
½ cup Soy Sauce (Japanese variety)
½ cup Sugar
1 tsp Garlic, finely mined or paste
½ tsp Ginger, freshly grated

Directions:
· Combine 1st two ingredients in small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
· Add all remaining ingredients and bring to brief boil ... whisking occasionally to prevent corn starch from scorching.
· Lower heat and simmer for 4 mins, or until glossy and reduced to ¾ cup.

[Hunter B]

HEy, thanks Brad!


I'm preparing the BTL steak again for a party on Saturday, and this'll be perfect!

[Hunter B]

Hmm, ok, well, maybe next time I make it for myself I'll do it.



Don't really want to experiment on 30-40 people

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Breton Fish Soup

Fisherman's soups are variable depending on the season and the catch. Monkfish has a texture like lobster, but tender cod is equally appealing.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Calories... 103
Protein... 5.2g
Carbohydrate... 6.6g
Sugars... 1.5g
Fat... 6.3g
Saturates... 3.8g

5 - 10 minutes to prepare. 40 minutes to cook.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
2 tsp. butter
1 large leek, thinly sliced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups hard cider
1/2 cup fish bouillon
9 oz./250g potatoes, diced
1 bay leaf
4 tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 oz./55g fresh sorrel leaves
12 oz./350g skinless monkfish or cod fillet, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm. pieces
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the leek and shallots and then cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they start to soften. Add the hard cider and bring to a boil.

Stir in the bouillon, potatoes, and bay leaf with a large pinch of salt, and bring back to boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook the soup gently for 10 minutes.

Put the flour in a small bowl and very slowly whisk in a few tablespoons of the milk to make a thick paste. Stir in more milk, if needed, to make a smooth liquid.

Adjust the heat so that the soup bubbles gently. Stir in the flour mixture and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the remaining milk and half the cream. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, unitl the potatoes are tender.

Finely chop the sorrel and combine with the remaining cream. (If using a food processor, add the sorrel and chop, then add the cream and process briefly.)

Stir the sorrel cream into the soup and add the fish. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until the monkfish stiffens or the cod just begins to flake. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Ladle into warm bowls and serve.

TIP
Be careful not to overcook the fish, otherwise tender fish, such as cod, breaks up into smaller and smaller flakes, and firm fish, such as monkfish, can become tough.

[Darb]

CC: That's a nice recipe, but what prompted you to post it ?

We generally prefer to discuss recipes rather than just post them, sans explanation. So - how/where did you come across it ? How often do you make it ? What do you like/dislike about it ?

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

I love seafood. I don't make it often. I am making it tonight (it's a good soup day here today). I saw the section on recipes and decided to add it.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Oh, and I came across it in a cookbook I purchased at a $1.00 store. You can usually find some great cookbooks in those stores at the impossibly low price of a dollah!

"I'll buy that for a dollar!"

[Darb]

Looks like a restaurant recipe, rather than a home recipe, because relatively few people keep fish stock and hard cider on hand. If you're working with monkfish and fresh sorrel, then that seems to indicate you take your cooking quite seriously. If so, pleased to make your acquaintance, because I do too.

So, what brand of hard cider to you use ? I love cider, I'm fairly well versed in them, and occasionally make my own.

As for the fish stock - I enjoy stock making, and do it frequently. What sort of mirepoix do you prefer for working with white-type fish ?

[Darb]

It's in a cookbook ? Cool. I'm always in the market for cookbooks - particularly seafood, since I live on an island and enjoy fishing. If you can give me the title, I'll enter it into our database, so that you can rate it, and perhaps even post a review.

I've already posted a number of reviews for various books on food and wine, if you're interested.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

I use that Woodpecker stuff. It's probably not what the author intended but it works. My father used to buy conventional apple cider and just leave it in a dark basement for a bit. That was pretty foul tasting stuff and it made the plastic jug swell.

Mirepoix? Sounds like something French to me. I have no idea what that is. I just follow the recipes in the book. If you read my profile, you know I'm a fry cook. In short, I work at a Checkers. If you start pulling terms like "mirepoix" on me, you will more than likely scare me away from this discussion.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

It's called Practical Fish & Seafood. There is no author listed. It's published by P3 Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE. Hope that helps you.

[Darb]

Sorry for the French term - it's reflex. Mirepoix is the vegetable blend you use as a base when making stocks and broths - without it, it's just water. An example of classic mirepoix for chicken stock is onion+celery+carrot, 2:1:1. I was wondering what you were using tonite for you fish broth, since you seem familiar with the recipe. That's all.

[Darb]

I wasn't able to locate the publisher in my initial search. This Pub is the closest I can find, which should be practically next door to them. I'll see if I can find an e-mail contact in order to get the publisher's latest contact info. Shouldn't be too hard.

Small publishers often carry the most interesting books, so I'll volunteer to add all their stuff into our database for you, if I can find em.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

The ISBN number is; 1-40543-275-6. Any book store should be able to help with that.

[Darb]

The ISBN doesn't seem functional. Odd.

As you can see, cookbooks are one of my favorite genres to read.

So, what are you doing for the fish broth ?