Mark shows off his thermos

This thermos has come in handy lately.  First, at MasterChef and this week to keep the beurre blanc at temperature.  Mark and I love our thermos.  This is what we do for fun.  Take pictures of our food and kitchen equipment.  Maybe we need to get out more?  Nah. We have fun!

Beurre Blanc

Do you see that yellow puddle of goodness below the fish?  That is a lemon beurre blanc. My first one...ever!  This blog is so not about the fish or the roasted broccolli, which were very good, but not the star of last night's dinner.  It is all about the butter sauce flavored with lemon juice, lemon zest, white wine, shallots, heavy cream and BUTTER.  Did I mention beurre blanc is a butter sauce?  In order to convice myself it was ok to eat a butter sauce with 12 tablespoons of butter for dinner on a Wednesday I had to make sure the fish and broccolli were as healthy as possible.  Given that we had this for dinner last night...I'd say I was very convincing!  Yea me!  So I seared the fish in 1 tbls oil and 1/2 tbls of butter, then finished it in the oven.  Very healthy, right?  I drizzled the broccolli with lemon olive oil, chile flakes, salt and pepper and roasted in a 400 degree oven.  Very healthy...oh yah!  The recipe I used for my first ever beurre blanc is one of Alton Brown's from foodnetwork.com.  The recipe is called Raymond Beurre Blanc.  Not sure who Raymond is but he is a genious.  Alton suggests making the sauce and storing in a thermos until ready to use. That is exactly what I did...since I am now the proud owner of 5 thermos'.

The ingredients:
1 shallot, chopped fine
8 oz white wine
2 oz of lemon juice, zest of one lemon
1/2 cup heavy cream
12 tbsp of cold, unsalted butter, cubed (put in freezer for 5 minutes right before you need it)
salt and white pepper

The Method:
Combine the first three ingredients in a small non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat until reduces to about 2-3 tbsp.  Watch it at the end because it reduces quickly.  Add the cream to the reduction and bring to a boil.  Reduce for 3-4 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and add the butter, 1-2 cubes at a time.  Whisk continuosly first off the heat and then on the heat until butter fully melts.  Continue adding butter on and off the heat 1-2 cubes at a time until sauce is fully emulsified and a rich consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.  Strain into a thermos until ready to use.

The Real Deal Shepherds Pie

Yum, yum, yum!  This is comfort food to the max for me.  Why do I call this the real deal?  Because the recipe is from my Grandma and she came from Ireland. Ireland has lots of shepherds.  This is what they eat. I've seen many other recipes for Shepherds pie and I always thought "that's not right". So now I will set the record straight.  By the way, the shepherd's in the part of Ireland where my Grandma grew up lwatched over cows because this recipe uses ground beef, not lamb.  This recipe is great to use up leftover mashed potatoes. 

The Ingredients:
1 1/2 pds 80/20 ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce (apparently they had soy sauce in Ireland...wink)
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp flour
1/2 -3/4 cup of chicken or beef broth

3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt
pepper
3 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp butter melted (used to drizzle on casserole top)
1/2 cup milk
1 bag of white corn, thawed and dried in paper towels

The method:

First, place potatoes in cold water, bring to a boil and cook until softened, about 15-20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Next start the ground beef.  Brown the ground beef in saucepan.  Add the season salt and pepper. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.  In a small bowl, add the flour, broth (start with a 1/2 cup, add more if too thick), worcestershire and soy sauces,  Whisk until smooth.  Add the mixture to the ground beef.  You should have a thick gravy after 2-3 minutes.  If too thick, add a bit more broth.  You don't want it soupy or your casserole will be runny.  Cook for about 5 more minutes and then turn off heat. Adjust seasonings.

Mash potatoes and add butter, salt, pepper and milk.

Spray 9x12 casserole dish with cooking spray.  Layer the ground beef mixture on the bottom, top with all of the corn and then spread mashed potatoes on the top. Be careful not to "pull up" the corn while spreading the mashed potatoes.  Run a fork lightly across the top of the casserole to create little valleys.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes and then broil for 3-4 minutes until top is golden brown.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Apple Chutney. Oh my!

I may be dating myself but I'll always remember Peter Brady, from the Brady Bunch show, lisping Pork Chops and Apple sauce in his best Cagney impression.  When I think of pork chops that line goes through my head every time.  In fact, you can see Peter say this famous Brady Bunch line on youtube.com. 

So what does apple chutney have to do with applesauce?  Think of it as the grown up version of the stuff spooned out of a jar.  Apple Chutney pairs perfectly with pan seared pork chops and elevates a quick week night meat to new heights. Yum!

Ingredients:
3 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced
1/2 a red onion, chopped
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp jalapeno jelly (optional)
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

The Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the jalapeno and onion and saute until softened. Add the remaining ingredients and cover with a lid.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the apples are slighty soft but not mushy.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Master Chef Submission Picture

This Sunday I will attend an open casting call for a new show called Master Chef.  I'e decided to bring Teriyaki glazed Mahi-Mahi with ginger cream sauce and mango salsa.  Mark and I spent the weeked either testing the recipe or shopping for containers to keep the food warm for 4+hours.  Once you get called you only have 5 minutes to plate the dish...no time to reheat or cook.  We found different sizes of thermos food containers that claim to keep food hot for up to 7 hours.  We did a test and tried the cream sauce and rice after 4 hours and both were still hot.  Very cool.  Now, I just need to finish the 10 page application and pack everything up I'll need.  Sunday morning will be a challenge as I have to cook the dish, which included BBQ'ing the Mahi-Mahi before heading out to San Francisco around 9am.

Chicken and Brie Panini

Panini's are like grown up grilled cheese sandwiches.  Cheese is a main component of any panini but you can mix it up by using different varieties of cheese, meat and other yummy fillings.  Brie is one of my favorite cheeses but not often used in sandwiches, mostly cheese trays.  When brie is served on a cheese tray it's usually accompanied by something sweet. Think figs, dried apricots...etc.  Yesterday, when I was thinking about this sandwich my mind turned to carmelized onions to add the sweetness necessary to use Brie.  Round out the chicken, carmelized onions and brie with some peppery arugula and you have one hell of a panini!

The Ingredients:
Ciabatta (or other crusty bread), sliced lengthwise
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, roasted and sliced
1/4 wheel of brie, room temperature
mayonaisse
2 onions, sliced
bag of arugula
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
1 tbls butter
1 tsp sugar

The method:
Pre Heat the oven to 400
Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place chicken breasts on the sheet.  Drizzle well with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast until breasts are golden, juices run clear and internal temperature is 170 degrees.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
While the chicken is roasting add onions, butter and 1 tbsp olive oil to a saute pan.  Cook over medium heat until onions and wilted and starting to brown, about 15 minutes.  Add sugar and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.  To prepare the sandwich:  spread thin layer of mayo on both sides of the bread, spread brie on one side of bread, add a layer of chicken, arugula and finish with the camelized onions.  Place bread halves together and press down.  You can use a panini press or sandwich maker but if you don't have those items here is what I do:  Put half the sandwich in a saute pan, top with a sheet of foil and then add a heavy skillet.  I use my cast iron skillet.  Press down occasionally.  Cook over medium heat until bottom is golden, flip over and cook the other side the same way.  Slice and enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

Turkey Taquitos

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!  You won't even know this is the same thing you've eaten for the past 4 days. Trust me.  Oh yah, did I mention this turkey dinner is healthy?  These yummy, healthy taquitos can be served with a salad or some rice made with chicken stock and tomatoes.

Ingredients:
2 cups leftover turkey (or chicken), shredded
1/4 cup of store bought salsa
1 c pepper jack cheese, shredded
8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas
cooking spray

The method:
Pre-Heat oven to 425 degrees
Cover a cookie sheet with non-stick foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Combine turkey, salsa and cheese in a bowl and mix to combine.  Place approximately 3 tbls of the mixture on one end of the tortilla and roll up tightly.  Place seam side down on the cookie sheet and repeat with remaining tortillas.  Spray the tops of all the taquitos lightly with cooking spray and place in oven.  After about 10 minutes turn the taquitos over and continue baking for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.  Serve with salsa and light sour cream.

Before baking...

After baking. Yum!