This Month Makes 9 Years

My blog is 9 years old! Where did the time go? I have learned a lot about blogging and even more about myself in this little process and I have shared as much of it as I could. Thank you to everyone who has been reading since the very beginning and thank you to all the new readers. I thought I would leave you with one of my favorite lunches - the simple bean burrito.

Mini Bites Are A Total Delight

A one or two bite morsel can tickle and delight your senses more than a belly full of bacon. I often make tiny little nibbles since they both dazzle and impress while not taking up too much space. One such little bite I made recently was a no bake key lime pie. I made a custard, I colored it with parsley juice that I made from an extractor and I topped them with both Chantilly cream and a meringue that I used a caramelized sugar giving it a nice off golden color that toasted nicely with the torch.

No bake pie, sure thing. I made a lime curd that I added a bit of gellan and cornstarch as well as egg yolks on the double boiler - when it was nice and thick I put it in a piping bag to chill.

The crust is a simple butter, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt short bread dough that cut with a fluted mold and  I baked in a mini tin.

I piped the lime curd into the baked shells and served some with the cream and some with the meringue and they all got some zest and a little blackberry coulis to round it all out. The guests loved it, I loved it and this simple preparation I will most likely do again and again.

Grilled Scallops and Baby Octopus With Squid Ink Risotto and Asian Slaw

Check out my latest post for Char-Broil - fancy schmancy. Grilled Scallops and Baby Octopus with Squid Ink Risotto and Asian Slaw - Spring is almost here!

Don't let winter give you the blues - hit back and cook with color

I don't know about the rest of you but most of us are getting a little tired of winter and here in New York its been the snowiest winter in a long, long time.

Time to get yourself out of that funk and get on the grill. There are plenty of bright and colorful vegetables available this time of year and nothing will make you feel better than a colorful plate. I have been saying it forever and I will say it again - I cook with color! This is a big fat grilled pork chop with some winter vegetables. I have a potato mash, a parsnip mash a little cabbage, apple and carrot slaw along with a little red pepper and some squash. It made my eyes dance and my tummy happy. I think you will agree that when you cook with color everybody wins.

Creative Cooking Crew Challenge - RICE

Rice is one of those things that you either make all the time or you don't - I make rice in all its forms all the time.

Forbidden rice pudding - this has coconut milk and toasted peanuts.

Risotto of all kinds all the time - this is a summer risotto with squash blossoms and baby zucchini.

I also just make rice that we have with stir fry - one is my take on General Tso's chicken and the other is a mix of chicken and shrimp.

Indian food is a popular favorite around here and this is my version of Madras chicken. So you can clearly see that rice is my friend. For this months challenge I didn't get too far out of my comfort zone of using rice as a side dish. I made chicken and rice.

I took some seasoned chicken breasts and some seasoned venison and some asparagus tips and I rolled them together with a little transglutaminase and then I vacuum sealed them and let them "rest" in the bags for about 40 minutes to seal everything up nice and tight.

I then took these sealed pouches and immersed them in a hot water bath for about 10 minutes at about 150F to tighten everything up all nice and cozy. While all this was happening I sautéed up some kabocha squash and I sliced up a pear and a beet that I had boiled earlier and let cool. I also made a blackberry gastric because everybody likes a little acidity wouldn't you say. As odd as this might sound I tried to imagine what the venison and the poultry would be consuming in a free range world and tried to match up my flavors based on that.

 

I took the simmered chicken, venison and asparagus rolls and first browned them in a pan whole then I sliced them into medallions and browned the bottoms to add a nice little caramelization to an already tasty dish. All of this went on to a plate with some black Thai sticky rice, and while this rice is usually used for dessert I found its subtle sweet flavor and nuttiness a nice addition with some puffed rice for crunch and here you have it - chicken and rice.

Here is my chicken and rice - for the Creative Cooking Crew Challenge - Rice. Check out all the others HERE - thanks Laz for organizing this!