Food Network 4 in 1 Grill

One of my favorite chefs is Chef Bobby Flay and I wanted to cook some of his recipes. Surprise... most of his recipes require a grill. I live in an apartment so a gigantic, awesome grill is out of the question. I thought about going with one of those small Weber grills, but they cost a small fortune. (They are pretty cool though).

Instead I decided to go with an electric indoor grill. I went looking around for the Sanyo one I read about but I couldn't find it anywhere. My last stop was Kohls and I saw Food Network has a line of cooking things there. I decided to get their 4 in 1 grill and at $60 off how could I go wrong? Next, what recipe? I had been sitting on this recipe for a while... Red Chile Turkey Breast with Succotash Salsa.

I was so wore out looking for my electric grill that I didn't get to the grocery store for the igredients. But I really wanted to use the new grill. Then it hit me... if I am going to call myself a hack chef... I might as well live up to the name. And so I hacked up the recipe.

First the salsa was out of the question. I had none of the produce for that. Instead my side would be couscous. Boring I know.

Tablespoons became teaspoons
1/4 cups became 2 tablespoons
Turkey became chicken
Light brown sugar became sugar and maple syrup
Peanut oil became vegetable oil
Seasame oil became tamari
Ground fennel became whole fennel mashed with a screwdriver handle
pureed canned chipotles became chipolte powder
ancho chile powder became spoked paprika

and...

voila!


And in case you want to hear that sizzle...


It was pretty good. Actually really good. I can't wait to make it the right way!

Yellow Tomato Sauce Over Cavatappi

I've decided to get away from the cold, methodical post format and take a more informal approach.

This dish I decided to do after asking Chef Alex Guarnaschelli on Twitter.com what I should make. Graciously she responded! She suggested the Yellow Tomato Sauce or the Oven "Fried" Pizza. The pasta dish really intrigued me so I went with that.

Of course as the budding wanna-be chef that I am, I have never made my own tomato sauce. After making this, it's hard to use pasta sauces from a jar. Not only do I feel it tastes better, but it's more rewarding.

Things went well and this was a very fun dish to make. I learned how to prepare yellow beefsteak tomatoes. I had no idea what I was doing so I left some of the core in. It really didn't turn out so bad though, it just made it harder to get the seeds out. I was also excited about getting to blanch something for the first time. I have no idea why blanching fascinates me.

The other mistake I made was due to leaving the bottom part of the instructions on my printer. Because of that I did a couple things wrong. First, I put the vinegar in while simmering the sauce. I was supposed to put it in at the puree stage. Second, I put the bay leaves into the simmering stage. When I realized my mistake, I removed them from the sauce. I think they only were in there 5 minutes or so. I was worried this ruined the leaves, so I just threw them in the garbage.

Other than that everything was perfect! I was worried about putting the hot sauce in the blender to puree. I've heard so many times to not blend hot liquids, but I've seen chefs on TV put a towel over the top and so I did the same. It worked fine and nothing exploded.

The finshed product looked and tasted amazing. The vinegar gave it a little tang, the tomatoes gave it a unique sweetness, and the red pepper gave it some spice. All those things together made for an amazing dish.

Click to zoom

Again great recipe Chef Alex!

Pan Seared Strip Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce and Salt-Baked Potatoes

Recipe:
Alex Guarnaschelli

What should it look like:
I'm not sure. But I assume amazing.

What did it look like:


What went well:
I cooked the steak perfectly this time thanks to a cooking thermometer I picked up.
The sauce was zomgamazing!

What went wrong:
I underdid the potatoes again. This is my oven's fault. I am calling the landlord tomorrow.
I burnt the butter in the sauce because the pan was too hot. Also, the pot I put into oven, was not meant to go in an oven. Yum... melted plastic handle.

What did I learn:

• Cooking thermometers are great until I get good at pressing the meat with my finger and figuring it out.
• Bay leaves are very aromatic and can add flavor to things through that aroma.
• Careful on putting butter into a pan that is too hot.
• Some things are not oven safe.

General Thoughts:
This was a very good recipe, and I improved on my multitasking. I was able to do the steak, sauce, and potatoes all in the 45 minutes the recipe suggested I needed.

I think the sauce was kind of a weird color probably because I burnt the butter. It still tasted great, but without a picture I am not sure if the sauce looks right.

I replaced the green peppercorns with white peppercorns because I couldn't find green ones, yet I still wanted it to be exotic. I'll try this again some day with the green ones to see if it tastes any better.

The taste of the suace was out of this world. Props to Chef Alex on this one!

Romano Risotto with Radishes

Recipe:
Epicurious.com

What should it look like:

(photo by: John Kernick)

What did it look like:


What went well:
The Risotto was amazing.

What went wrong:
The radishes were supposed to be julienned and the chives finely chopped. Both were butchered.

What did I learn:
Taking advice from Alton Brown and Jacob Burton , I cooked the shallots and garlic at a lower temperature than I normally would. This added about 5 to 10 minutes onto how long I usually make risotto, but this really brought out the flavor.

General Thoughts:
Despite my weak knife skills, this was the best tasting dish I have made so far. I would actually serve this to others with confidence, presentation aside.

Maple-Glazed Tuna with Pear-Potato Salad

Recipe:
Epicurious.com

What should it look like:

(photo by: Paul Brissman)

What did it look like:


What went well:
The Dijon/Maple Syrup/Olive Oil glaze was really good.

What went wrong:
I cut the potatoes and pears too big so they didn't cook through. I didn't sear the tuna long enough so it was cold in the middle. Also, I almost splashed hot oil all over myself because I cooked the tuna as a 12 oz fillet instead of cutting it in half.

What did I learn:
I learned I should cut things smaller so they cook more thoroughly. I need to sear the tuna longer and cut it into a 6 oz portion so I can handle it better.

General thoughts:
This was a disaster. I could only eat half of it before I swallowed my pride and threw it in the garbage. It looks nice I guess, but was gross. I will do this again some time and do it right.

Grilled Lime-Curry-Rubbed Hanger Steak with Fresh Melon-Cucumber Chutney

Recipe:
Epicurious.com

What should it look like:

(photo by: Romulo Yanes)

What did it look like:


What went well:
The chutney turned out really well.

What went wrong:
The steak was too rare for me. It was barely over room temperature in the middle.

What did I learn:
I learned how to make an uncooked chutney.

General Thoughts:
This is my first dish in my journey to become a hack chef. My knife skills are really bad, but at least I didn't cut a finger off. I hope to cook the steak better next time.