Bolognese Sauce

This is a recipe from Chef Anne Burrell.

I made a big mess with this, but it was worth the big flavor!  This was my first try at a Chef Anne recipe.  The recipe was well written and spot on, unlike a lot of other recipes from Food Network chefs.  She really seems to care about the recipe and how it plays out as opposed to a lot of chefs that just jot it down on a whim from memory.  Nothing I hate more than following a recipe perfectly and having it turn out like crap. 

It made so much though.  I will have some tomorrow for lunch and I froze the rest.  Maybe next time I will cut the recipe in half.

Here's a little slide show I made of the process.

Poppy Seed Crusted Tuna With Red Wine Teriyaki Sauce

I'm trying to go off on my own and make my own dishes.  Nothing complex, but at least I can call them my own.

First the sauce.  I sweated some shallots and garlic in canola oil with some pepper and minced ginger.  I left out the salt, because after the shallots and garlic turned clear I added some teriyaki sauce.  After about a minute of that, I added in red wine.  I brought it to a boil and simmered a bit. Then I strained it through cheese cloth.  I reduced the sauce about half way but it wouldn't thicken like I hoped. 

I immediately went to Twitter to ask Chef Jacob what I could do to save it.  He suggested simple syrup or reduce to almost dry and mount with butter.  I decided to try the simple syrup route.  It thickened some, but not as much as I wanted.  I didn't want to make it super sweet, so I decided to try corn starch.  It worked!  It thickened to the consistancy I wanted, wasn't too sweet, and held on the plate.  Not to mention it tasted great!

The next step was to make some Jasmati rice.  I never used marjoram herbs before so I gave it a try and added to the rice.  It was very perfume like, and tasted as such.  It wasn't bad.   It made it taste exotic, but I think it will take me some time to get used to it.

Lastly, I decided to sear some ahi tuna with salt, pepper, and poppy seeds.  The last time I seared tuna was a disaster, but I did it right this time!

Here is what it looked like all plated...

Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra

The first thing I did was to make a coulis. This was done with roasted red peppers from a jar I had in my pantry. I pureed it then slowly added in EVOO, salt, and white pepper. My original plan was to do something red... like fire red... but I didn't come up with the idea until after I purchased my stuff at the store. The roasted peppers with EVOO ended up orange, but the color is still nice and fits into my overall vision.


Maybe next time I will try something else... fresh red peppers with no EVOO maybe? Beet reduction? I wonder what would give a good red color and still fit into the flavor of the dish.

The rest is pretty much inspired by a recipe from Food And Wine magazine.

I pan fried some okra with a mixture of turmeric, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, cinnamon, fennel, and coriander. Then I did an arugula and yogurt puree, leaving out the cucumbers because... well... I forgot to buy them. I then blended in the puree into some cooked lentils.

After placing the lentil salad in a bowl and placing that on the plate, I laid down the roasted pepper sauce. I then placed the okra on top of that. Lastly, I placed some edible orange flowers I found, in the bowl and on the plate to tie it all together.

Overall I think it looks beautiful. The okra with the red pepper sauce was great! The lentil salad was crappy. Maybe I added too much yogurt or maybe it needs cucumbers to work. I never cooked lentils before so maybe they weren't cooked long enough. Not sure.

Overall I am excited about my plating. I want to make sure I practice more than just the cooking part.

Trinity Chicken Stock

I made my first stock today. It made me feel like a real chef because it's as homemade as you can get. I guess I could have grown my own vegetables and butchered my own chicken, but short of that this is as scratch as it gets.

It definately tastes better than store bought stock. The flavor is richer and more complex. Not to mention it isn't loaded up with salt.

I got the technique from Chef Jacob at http://www.freeculinaryschool.com/.

The only thing I did different is I replaced the celery with green pepper which makes the mirapoix the cajun trinity of onion, carrots, and green pepper. The trinity is actually onion, celery, and green pepper of course, but messing up is all part of learning. I'll do it right next time!

The reason I used the green pepper instead, is because my girlfriend envisioned a jambalaya rissoto and I thought it would be interesting to try. I figured making the stock this way would add to the flavor. That shall be another post though.

Supreme Sauce Over Farfalle Pasta

This isn't so much a recipe as it is a technique. I decided to try my first mother sauce. This process comes from Chef Jacob at http://freeculinaryschool.com/. He shows how to clarify the butter, make the roux, turn it into the mother sauce, veloute, and finally the supreme sauce.

I started with a store bought stock, but other than that, everything was from scratch.

It tasted pretty good and I was happy with the result. I made a little video of the adventure. If there is anything wrong with how it looks or the technique, it's entirely my fault and not that of the instructor's. :)

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli's Macaroni and Cheese

I really like the idea of big flavor out of simple things. I'm always amazed how cooks and chefs can make such beautiful, complex dishes, but I am equally amazed when they can make flavorful, simple dishes.

This recipe was from Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and can be found here.

It was hard for me to mess this up, because it was so easy. I guess I wish the sauce was a little thicker. I think maybe I didn't put enough cheese in, or I didn't simmer long enough. The suace thickened over time anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

The flavor was amazing. How anyone can eat mac and cheese out of a box after eating something like this is beyond me.

My only regret is I didn't have a big enough stomach to eat it all. This is one time where I won't mind leftovers.

Scallops Over Linguine with Butter Herb Sauce

And umm... some arugula.

Recipe from Fine Cooking.

I have never eaten scallops or arugula. Both seem to be popular these days on the ole cooking shows, so I decided to give it a try.

I was really scared to cook these because of how much I see Gordan Ramsay throwing them around the place.

I probably over cooked a couple a bit, but over all not bad. I got good color on them which was exciting. I'm starting to realize how hard it is to cook things this delicate on electric burners, but there isn't much I can do.

I really like the arugula. I can see why it's so popular. I am not sure if it really goes with a dish like this, but hey... I'm a hack... I can do whatever I want.