Jalapeño-Roasted Potatoes, Zucchini Carpaccio with Homemade Ricotta Cheese

After two weeks off, I was excited to get back into the swing of things with the blog.  This was a pretty easy weekend.  Mr. Steele wanted to do a pork shoulder for Sunday dinner, so I made a few sides.

Jalapeño-Roasted Potatoes
Zucchini Carpaccio with Homemade Ricotta Cheese

The potatoes were from the April 2010 issue of Food & Wine and the Zucchini was from the the April 2010 issue of Bon Appétit.

Both dishes are very easy to make and really delicious.

The Jalapeño-Roasted Potatoes were really delicious, especially since the jalapeno's get nice and crispy, very addictive.  The key here is the high temperature and letting the potatoes get crispy by not turning them. 

The Zucchini Carpaccio with Homemade Ricotta Cheese takes all of 10 minutes to prepare.  This works best if you have a mandoline or another type of slicer that can give you really thin slices.  If you don't have one, pick one up.  You can spend $20 for a hand held or over $200 for a professional one.  I have an old school V-Slicer, which gives you thin and thick slices, and also has a julienne and a larger, french fries type, attachment.

This is a very refreshing salad.  I left off the fresh ricotta because I couldn't get it at the store.  I also used yellow and green squash for some color.  The dressing is so easy and is my go to for all my salads anyway, so it was a familiar flavor. 

So, of course, I've got to give some props to my honey for making another delicious pork shoulder.  Check out how delicious it looks!

See you next time!

A page from my "book" - Pico de Gallo w/Roasted Corn in Tostones Cups, Brown Rice and Red Beans, Lemony Baked Mahi Mahi

This week I decided to take a break from the mags and give you all a taste of what I can do on my own.  I went the tropical route since Mr. Steele was feening for some fish.  The menu included:

Pico de Gallo w/Roasted Corn in Tostones Cups
Brown Rice and Red Beans
Lemony Baked Mahi Mahi

Pico de Gallo w/Roasted Corn in Tostones Cups

Pico de Gallo is really simple to make and a refreshing dip or topping for fish.  I paired it with Tostones Cups.  I found a company online that sells these tostones makers, cubanfoodmarket.com, very cool!  This serves about 3-4 people, depending on how you plan on using this, dip vs. inside the tostones cups.

1 ear of fresh corn
4-5 medium, ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup sweet Maui onion, diced
1/3 cup red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons jalapeno, minced (add more or less depending on how hot you want it)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 of a lime
2 tsp salt to start, add more if needed

4 large green plantains, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
Canola oil, for frying
Iodized or Table Salt

Preheat oven to 375° F.. Place corn husks on the oven rack and roast for 20-30 minutes or until corn is soft. Let cool.  Peel the husks.  Use a sharp knife and cut corn from the cob into a bowl.  Set aside.

Place the rest of the ingredients up to the lime in a medium bowl and stir lightly.  Season with salt, taste to see if you need more.  Add corn, mix together and chill.


Preheat oil in deep pot or fry machine to 375° F.  Carefully place a few pieces into the oil and fry for 5 minutes or until they start turning light brown. Drain them on a paper-towel lined tray. Place a piece in the tostones maker and press.  This may take a few trials to get the right cup shape.  Once youve pressed a few, return them to the oil and fry again for 3-4 minutes or until they get golden brown. Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

Mound the salsa into the hot cups and serve immediatley!

Brown Rice and Red Beans

I gotta give it up to my girl Melissa Ortiz, she's the one who showed me the basics of some good Puerto Rican beans.  Now, my Mom also makes great beans, but for some reason, Mel's always stuck with me.  Over the years, I've added my own touches to the beans, more vegetables, no Goya Sazón or Adobo.  I try to keep the ingredients as natural as I can.  But hey, if you're in a bind, both Goya Sazón and Adobo can make your beans delicious.  I use the brown rice because it's got a hefty texture and it really holds up to the beans.  Of course, you can use white rice as well.

2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup brown rice


2 tsp olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 brown onion, minced
3 tbsp carrots, minced
3 tbsp green or red pepper, minced
1 tsp fresh oregano
1 can (15.5 oz) red kidney beans, drain only half the can
2 tsp salt
1 medium tomato, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup water
1 tsp white vinegar
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped


Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan, stir in rice.  Cover.  Reduce heat and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until broth is absorbed.  If you want drier rice, use 1/4 cup less broth.

In a medium sauce pan, on medium-high heat, heat the olive oil in the pan.  Add garlic, onions, carrots, peppers and saute until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the oregano, beans, salt, tomato, pepper flakes, bay leaf, water and vinegar.  Turn heat to low and simmer until flavors come together, about 15 minutes.  If you like your beans a bit thinner, add more water, thicker, add less.  Another trick, take a few beans at the end, crush them in a bowl, and return to the pot.  This will thicken the beans up.  Serve with rice.

Lemony Baked Mahi Mahi

The Ferry Building here in San Francisco has a great fish market, and we were able to pick up some fresh, sushi grade Mahi Mahi.  This is a really meaty fish, so normally you can grill and it's at it's best.  We baked it in the oven at 400° F, and it was just as good.



3 half lb filets, mahi mahi
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

Preheat oven to 400° F.  In shallow glass bowl or Ziploc bag, place fish, and last 4 ingredients.  Marinate for 15-20 minutes.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning over once.  Bake until the fish is cooked through and brown.  You can add some lemon slices and the corn salsa to the fish as topping.

I hope you guys enjoy these dishes.  I'll try to add some more of my favorites really soon.  I'm traveling next week, so I'll try my best to add a posting.  Let's see how things go.  Take care!

Side Dishes - Spring Vegetable Ragout, Spicy Cauliflower

This weekend it was about sides, healthy sides.  Mr. Steele planned on making pork ribs, so I wanted to offset the meat with some healthy sides.  The ribs were great...

I found these two recipes in Body + Soul from April 2010.

Spring Vegetable Ragout

Spicy Cauliflower

As always, the team at Martha Stewart Omnimedia have left these recipes off their website.  So here is the first one:

Spring Vegetable Ragout

• 3 medium leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half moons (about 2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 12 ounces  asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2.5 cups)
• 1 cup water
• 6 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1.5 cups)
• 8 radishes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs, such as chives and tarragon

1. Soak leeks in cold water 5 minutes; lift out and drain.  Repeat until no grit remains on bottom of bowl.  Set aside. 

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add leeks and salt and sauté until leeks are tender, about 2 minutes.  Stir in asparagus then water.  Simmer covered for 2 minutes.  Add snap peas and radishes, cover, and simmer for 2 minutes more.  

3. Stir in mustard until well combined, then swirl in butter and herbs.  Serve immediately

This is a really delicious, quick side dish.  I'm really into radishes now and their bitterness almost becomes sweet when you combine them with the leeks and snap peas.  I, of course, left out the butter and it was perfectly fine.  Although, I'm sure if you used butter, it would have added a creaminess to the dish.  All the produce was fresh and organic, and I think that's why it was so addictive and flavorful.

The next side was the cauliflower. AMAZING PEOPLE.  This one you have to try. 

Spicy Cauliflower

• 3 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 3/4 teaspoon whole cumin seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seed
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
• 1/4 cup finely shredded peeled ginger
• 5 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 medium head cauliflower, about 2 lbs., cut into large florets
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1-2 small red chiles, thinly sliced, seeds removed for less heat

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add spices and cook until fragrant and golden, 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Stir in the onion, 3 tablespoons ginger, 3 tablespoons garlic, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until onions are tender and golden at the edges, 4 to 6 minutes.  Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Wash and dry pan and return to medium high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon oil; heat until shimmering.  Add half the cauliflower and brown on one side, 3 to 5 minutes  Remove from pan, and repeat with remaining oil, cauliflower, ginger, and garlic.
3.  Combine batches of cauliflower in pan.  Add water and remaining salt.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in chickpeas and chiles; cook uncovered until chickpeas are heated through and liquid is gone, about 3 minutes.
4. Stir in onions and serve. 

Ok, a few things, you do not need 1/4 cup of ginger...it's overkill.  I only used about 3 tablespoons and it was perfect.  The flavors are really complex in this dish, I think you'll like it.


See you next week

Mussels in White Wine, Orecchiette with Rapini and Goat Cheese, Rum and Raisin Cookies, Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

On Sunday we had some guests dining with us, Ed (right) and Sam (left).  Ed and I have known each other for a while.  We met when I was living in Brooklyn about 8-9 years ago.  It's amazing where people end up.  Now he lives about 5 minutes from my place here in SF, and we work for the same company.  I met Ed's friend Sam for the first time last night...he's a sweetheart and very funny!

Anyway, we had a pretty light menu, but the mussels were a lot of work. Let's start there.

Mussels in White Wine from SAVEUR Issue #126

I bought the mussels on Saturday and prepped them for an overnight stay in the fridge.  As soon as you buy them, get them out of the plastic bag.  Mussels are really delicate, so prep them ASAP.  I placed them in a shallow bowl with cold salted water and a little bit of cornmeal.  Place some wet paper towel over the top. This keeps them fresh and the mussels eat the cornmeal and spit out any grit.  The next day, about 1 hour before cooking them, it was prep time.  Get yourself a good food brush and a small knife.  Check each mussel, make sure that it's closed and has no cracks.  Sometimes, if you find one that's open, just give it a light tap, give it a minute, if it closes, it's still good.  If the mussel is no good, throw it out.  Once you find a good one, make sure you brush them really well, get any growth off the shell and pull the "beard" out the side of the shell.  After you clean them, set them aside and start prepping the ingredients in the recipe.  It's really simple!!  The flavor is really delicious.  Make sure you toast some crusty bread because you'll want to soak up all the broth.

 

Mr. Steele graced us with his famous kale chips as a snack.  These are addictive and really easy to make.

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale, stems removed, chopped in half

kosher salt

olive oil

Heat oven to 350°.  Place the kale on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Spray or lightly coat the kale with olive oil and kosher salt.  Bake until ends are crispy and brown. 

My best friend Rona in Memphis requested a vegetarian meal for this week, so I picked a pasta dish.

Orecchiette with Rapini and Goat Cheese from SAVEUR Issue #126 

Rapini is another name for broccoli rabe.  It's got a bitter taste that compliments the tangy goat cheese and the tart lemon.  It's a really easy recipe and would be great as a quick weeknight dinner.  You could easily replace the rapini with spinach.  I added the juice of 1 lemon, used really good extra virgin olive oil and omitted the garlic.

COOKIES!!!!

I decided to keep dessert simple and made two cookie recipes.  

Rum and Raisin Cookie from donnahay.com

Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies from Cooking Light January/February 2010

Both are quite easy to make, although if you don't have a food processor, the Rum Raisin dough may be difficult to prepare.  Both cookie doughs were not your normal thick sticky consistency.  I used really high quality dried cherries from Michigan that were enormous.  Probably would have been easier if I chopped them a bit.  I also used Ghirardelli chocolate chips which are large.  This also made it hard to form the cookies on the tray.  All that being said, the cookies came out wonderfully.  They were chewy, not super sweet, and had a thick dense texture to them.  Be careful on the Cherry cookies, the bottoms burned easily.  I brought these to work and everyone loved them.

Rum and Raisin Cookies

 

Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

 

See you next week!

Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Potato "Risotto", Frisee-Apple Salad, Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream Frosting

Hey folks!  Sorry about going dark last week.  I was traveling and my plans to cook in Las Vegas at my Uncle's for his friends didn't work out.

This week, I decided to make the meal I planned for Vegas, which also happens to be Mr. Steele's favorite, meat and potatoes.  And of course, chocolate cake.

So I went back to my Bon Appétit from February 2010 and planned for:

Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Potato "Risotto"
Frisée-Apple Salad
Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream Frosting


Let's talk about beef tenderloin.  I thought that I would be able to find a small piece of beef tenderloin at my local supermarket and get moving on this meal.  Nope, not that easy.  What I did find is pre-packaged beef tenderloin in seasonings like cracked pepper and full of preservatives.  Not what I needed.  So, off I go to Whole Foods.  I head to the butcher who thankfully, has a tenderloin in the back that he can cut for me.  Pefect, right?!  After he cuts the meat, packaged and rang it up at the scale, he handed me...2lbs of beef tenderloin...that cost...$66.27!!  I almost lost it in the store.

 I couldn't believe how much money this thing cost.  I composed myself and decided that I need to suck it up and just learn from this mistake.

So I started with the Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream Frosting since it took the longest to prepare.  Now the recipe says "Top Tier", which is in reference to the size of the top tier of a wedding cake.  The recipe calls for two 5" cake pans, to bake the cake.  Not necessary at all.  If you want to keep the same "top tier" look and feel, double the recipe for the cake, use a basic 9" round and simply cut the cake in half and then cut into a small square or circle.  I also doubled the frosting as well, and it turned out to be the perfect amount.  This thing is YUMMY, and I'm not a big milk chocolate fan!  Really easy folks, try this one!

Next up is the Potato "Risotto" from the Beef Tenderloin recipe.  Now Mr. Steele can't eat cheese, so I cooked this up until I needed to add the cream and the cheese and set that aside for him.  I continued the recipe for my portion.  It was good, not mind blowing.  I probably could have concocted this one myself.  It's pretty easy, so for all my followers who've been asking for easy recipes, this is one.

My very expensive Beef Tenderloin Medallions were delicious.  The simplicity of the seasoning, fresh thyme, salt and pepper, was perfect for such a delicate piece of beef.

I seared the tenderloins in a pan with very hot olive oil.  The apartment got a bit smoky but it was worth it to get that wonderful crust on each side.  Just open a window and light a candle.  Once you take a bite, you won't care about how smokey your kitchen was.  It was delicious!!  The medallions are best served medium rare.  It only takes about 5 minutes on each side to cook these perfectly.  If you aren't confident about the timing, use a meat thermometer to test when the internal temperature is 130–140°F.

The last piece of the puzzle was the Frisée Apple Salad.  Frisée is really hard to find people!!  I went to three shops, nothing.  So I used a mixed musclen salad that had frisée in it.  This is a very easy, refreshing salad that went really well with the creaminess of the potatoes and the wonderfully tender beef.

I really recommend trying these recipes from this week.  If you can find beef tenderloin that's less than $22 per lb, go for it.  Or, if you're feeling like a treat, go for the full monty!


See you next week!  Please send comments, let me know if you've tried any of the recipes or if you have any suggestions!
   

Sunday Brunch in NY - Potato-Onion Frittata

This past weekend I went to New York to visit my folks for about 2 1/2 days.  On Sunday morning, I decided to make a quick and easy brunch dish before I had to head back to San Francisco at 3pm.

I didn't have much time so I wanted to make something that didn't require a trip to the supermarket for special ingredients.  I found the Potato-Onion Frittata recipe in the February 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living.  I generally like to provide a link to my recipes, but for some reason, MSL has not uploaded any recipes from 2010 onto their website.  There are a ton of recipes on the site for various frittata dishes, so I'll list the ingredients and you can follow these instructions:

Serves 8 to 12

• 1 pound small new potatoes
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small onions (about 1 pound), thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 ounce sharp white chedder, grated (1/2 cup)
• 10 large eggs, whisked
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Click INSTRUCTIONS for the basic step by step details on how to make the dish.

More or less it's the same process.  The only difference is at the end, you have to add the sour cream before you place in the oven  Just gently stir it in with the tip of a knife.

This is a really quick and easy recipe and actually very tasty.  I cut it in half because it was just three of us, but even then it was a lot!  I sprinkled a little Spanish paprika on the top before broiling because it ads a hint of flavor and color.  I personally do not like "brown", well done eggs, they just taste odd to me, too close to burnt.  I served it with some fresh fruit, but it would also be great with a little mesclun salad drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

There is so much room for embellishment here.  Adding fresh or even dried herbs would be great.  Fresh veggies like tomato, spinach, peppers and mushrooms.  Of course, various pork based items would be terrific as well (bacon, prosciutto, ham, sausage).  Hmmm, I may have to try some prosciutto next time.

My parents loved it and after some sad goodbyes, I was off to San Fran once again, leaving my hometown behind.  I'll have to make something a bit more elaborate when I come back to see them in March.

Apologies on the picture, didn't have my regular camera with me!

Menu for Sunday January 31st

This Sunday I invited my girlfriend Shannon over to not only have dinner with me, but also help out.  She's an amazing cook and really knowledgeable about food and nutrition.  She's a registered nutritionist and has her own website.  Make sure you check it out!

Dishin Nutrition

For tonight's meal, Mr. Steele picked the Pickle Brined Chicken from the February 2010 issue of Food & Wine (pg. 96).  We also made a really great snack that I'm hooked on, Crispy Chickpeas, also from the February 2010 issue of Food & Wine (pg. 102).  For dessert, we went with the Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso from the February 2010 issue of Bon Appétit (pg. 85).

Let's start with the Crispy Chickpeas.  This is super easy.  The combination of the cumin and coriander is really delicious.  I don't think you need all the flour, so just eyeball it.  Make sure when you fry them up, don't crowd them or they won't get nice and crispy.  Season when they come out the oil with some fine salt.  These are really addictive.

 












Let's talk about this Pickle Brined Chicken.  I don't think this is worth the time and effort.  The chicken gets brined in pickle juice overnight, ok not a big deal.  But the process you go through for the minuscule amount of dark meat it's served over is too complicated.  I would have rather stopped at that point and just made soup from the stock and the dark meat.  Anyway after the dark meat cooled down, I had Shannon pull the meat off the bone.  Meanwhile, I pulled the chicken out the brine.  The key here is to get the pan nice and hot and really get a nice crust on the skin.   Let it get really brown or you won't get the right flavor.  About 5 minutes before I took the chicken out the oven, I started the chard.  It was perfect timing, the chard came out great!

Flavor wise, it was good.  You could tell the chicken was in the pickle brine.  Wasn't the best chicken I ever made flavor wise, but it was decent.







To finish off the meal, we had the Milk Chocolate-Caramel Tart with Hazelnuts and Espresso.  Mr. Steele isn't a fan of hazelnuts, so we substituted with pecans.  I also couldn't find the cocoa nibs, although Shannon picked some up for me today, thanks girl!  I used more pecans to replace the nibs for the top of the tart.  There are 3 steps for the tart that require chilling in the fridge, so make sure you start early or the day before.  I did the crust and the caramel before Shannon came over. 

She then helped me with the chocolate topping.  It came out beautifully!  The buttery crust and the chewy caramel was such a great compliment with the chocolate.  I brought the rest to work today, I think everyone liked it.

So thanks to Shannon for all her help.  I'm sure this won't be the last time she's a part of The Foodie Trials.  See you next week, I'll be doing another Foodie Trial installment from Long Island, NY.