Reuben Burgers

Probably my all time favorite sandwich is the Reuben. A thick layer of corned beef or pastrami, Swiss cheese, mustard, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing on grilled rye. Perfect with a good stout. I was planning on making burgers the other night, and saw I had pastrami and Swiss cheese in the refrigerator, and was inspired.

I seasoned a pound of hamburger with two tablespoons of mushroom ketchup, half a teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.

I grilled the burgers, and when they were almost ready, I layered on some of the pastrami and the Swiss cheese, to let the cheese melt over it.  Unfortunately, hamburger buns don't come in rye, so I used whole wheat. I toasted the buns on the grill. I put a thin layer of spicy brown mustard on the bottom bun. I layered homemade thousand island dressing, and warm sauerkraut on top of the burger.

To go with the burger, I wilted red chard with balsamic vinegar.

 

 

 

Thousand Island Dressing

1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
3 tsp. ketchup

Whisk together all ingredients.

Happy Eating!

Grilled Salmon with Sweet Soy Glaze, Coconut Glutineous Rice, and Curried Cauliflower

Salmon  is one of my favorite fish. It has a unique flavor, and a meatier texture than a lot of fish. It is quite versatile; it can be poached, broiled, grilled, sauteed, heck, it's even good raw as sushi, sashimi, or ceviche. I love to grill it. A three ounce fillet cooks in no time on the grill, and takes to a variety of flavors.

This time, I decided to use more Asian flavors. The spouse had purchased a head of cauliflower, with the intent that I make it curried. I wanted to grill the salmon, and made a glaze with sweet soy sauce, regular soy sauce, fish sauce, and lemon grass. The salmon should go on the grill top side down, and at a 45 degree angle to the grill bars. After about three minutes, rotate the fillet 90 degrees. This will give you nice criss crossed grill marks. As soon as you flip it, brush it with the glaze. I brush it with a second coat, just as I pull it off the grill. It will set nicely while the salmon is resting.

The only rice I had was some glutinous rice, so I made that with coconut milk, shredded unsweetened coconut, and ginger. The rice actually went really well with the salmon. It was slightly sweet, but not excessively so, and matched well with the richness of the salmon.

For my curried cauliflower, I saute the cauliflower in a little butter, then add curry powder, a little hot curry paste, and salt. It's important to not overcook the cauliflower. It should be al dente, but not mushy.

Recipes

Sweet Soy Glaze

1/3 cup sweet soy sauce
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. dried lemon grass

Whisk together all ingredients. Let stand for 30 minutes before using.

Coconut Glutinous Rice

1 cup glutinous rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Place all ingredients into a rice cooker. Cook according to machine's instructions.

Curried Cauliflower

1/2 head of cauliflower, separated into small florets
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. hot curry paste
1 tsp. kosher salt

In a heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add cauliflower, saute until mostly done. Add curries and salt, toss to coat cauliflower evenly.

Happy Eating!

Culinary Class: Grilled Chicken with Spicy Compound Butter, and Marinated Grilled Vegetables

Last week we covered the wet cooking methods of boiling and simmering. This week we turned to a dry cooking method, grilling. Grilling is cooking by radiant heat from below the food. To illustrate the difference, we cooked over both a gas grill, and a charcoal grill.

We marinated and grilled some zucchini and carrots. We did not get to make the marinade ourselves, as it needed time for the flavors to blend. I liked the marinade. It was flavored primarily by vinegar and yellow mustard, with some garlic, Worcestershire sauce, jalapeno, and parsley. It also has a fair amount of oil.

He had us grill the vegetables five minutes on each side. This was perfect for the zucchini, a little too little for the carrots. I think the carrots could have used another minute or two on each side.

We  made a compound butter to go on both the vegetables and the chicken. We mashed together butter with onion, garlic, sambal chili paste, a Thai chili, lime juice, and parsley. It was very tasty, although I would have liked more heat, the chili was hardly noticeable to me.

Before grilling the chicken, we brined it for a while in a simple brine of water, salt, and pepper. I love brines, they definitely help make poultry moist and flavorful. I have posted a much more complex brine before.

We also dusted the chicken with a simple dry rub of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika. This was a good, solid, basic rub. We grilled the chicken for about ten minutes on a side. It took just a little bit more than that on the charcoal, they had the grill set a little high above the coals.

Once the chicken was removed from the grill, we smeared it with the compound butter.

The chicken cooked over charcoal had more smokey flavor. Charcoal does have that advantage. Gas, however, is easier, in that it does not take long to come up to temperature. Cleanup is also easier on a gas grill, since there are no hot coals to dispose of.

This was not a particularly challenging exercise for me, as I am no stranger to the grill. I have demonstrated that on numerous occasions.

All recipes courtesy Chef Joe Orate.

Recipes

Chef Joe's Marinade for Grilling

1 cup salad oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. salt and pepper (combined)
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 Tbsp. minced jalapeno

Whisk together all ingredients.

Chef Joe's Spice Rub

2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients.

Chef Joe's Chili - Lime Compound Butter

1/2 lb. butter, softened
1 oz. by wt. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. sambal chili paste
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1 Thai chili, minced
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste

Mash together all ingredients, until smooth.

Chicken Party Recipes Part 2

So this is the second set of recipes for the Chicken Party. The first four recipes are already up.

Ravioli with Hazelnut-Sage Chicken

1 9 oz. package fresh mini ravioli
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 + 3 tbsp. butter
12 fresh sage leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
salt and pepper to taste

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Drain when done, set aside.

While ravioli is cooking:

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat. Saute chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper. When browned, remove from pan. Add 3 tbsp. butter, sage, and lemon zest. Cook until sage is tender. Return chicken to pan, add ravioli. Toss, cook until everything is hot. Garnish with hazelnuts.

Maple-Pomegranate Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Skewers

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 4 inch pieces
6 green onions cut into 4 inch pieces
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. ginger

Soak bamboo or wooden skewers in water. Wrap chicken pieces in bacon, place on skewers with scallion pieces. Mix pomegranate molasses, maple syrup, and ginger. Grill skewers, brushing with glaze. Cook, turning frequently, until both chicken and bacon are done.

Sweet Pepper-Zucchini Slaw

3 medium zucchini, shredded
4 small sweet peppers, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 + 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pomegranate molasses
1/3 cup pomegranate flavored dried cranberries

Place shredded zucchini in a colander with 1 tsp. kosher salt. Let sit 10 minutes, then squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Mix  with peppers. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, and pomegranate molasses. Toss with peppers and zucchini. Chill. When served, garnish with dried cranberries.

Green Chili Chicken Stew

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
14 oz. chicken stock
1/4 cup corn meal
2 medium carrots, minced
2 ribs celery, minced
1 tbsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
6 4 inch diameter corn tortillas
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
canola oil to fry

Cut tortillas into thin strips. Place 1/2 inch oil in a frying pan. Heat to 370 degrees. Fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels, and set aside.

Place chicken, stock, and corn meal in a crock pot. Cook on high until chicken is done. Remove chicken, shred, and return to pot. Add cumin and carrots. Cook about an hour and a half. Add celery, cook until tender. Garnish with cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

Chicken Party

The spouse is mildly addicted to the House Party website. It's kind of a weird site, where commercial companies offer stuff if you host a party to promote their products. There are a limited number of each party, so you apply, and you might get chosen, or you might not. The spouse has won a few, including one from Werther's, where they sent us bags and bags of candy, and now one from Foster Farms.

Luckily, they didn't mail us chicken. Instead, they gave us two $25 coupons, fourteen reusable shopping bags, a cookbook, and a chef's jacket. Amazingly, the jacket fit me almost perfectly. So, I added a picture of me in it to the blog. To pay for all the swag, however, you have to hold, and document, an actual get together.

So, the plan by the spouse was to have people over, and do lots of little dishes. We ended up settling on eight courses. Now, we both have been enamored of the concept of a tasting party for some time. The little dishes are really cute, and the spouse found some on sale cheap. Seemed like a good thing to try. We did a few old favorites, a few from the recipe book they sent, and few made up on the fly by me.

My goddaughter did yeoman duty as sou chef all day. She was a joy to work with, and I couldn't have pulled it off without her help. The spouse chipped in, as well as doing the bulk of scullery work keeping the pans clean throughout the day.



 For the first course, we went with a favorite cold dish; chicken, dried cranberry, and hazelnut salad. It has a great blend of tastes and textures, with chicken, dried cranberries, celery, nuts, yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, and herbs. I've done variations on this many times, and it works well with walnuts or almonds. You can also add a little diced granny smith apple, instead of the celery, for a little more tang.

I garnished it with a little micro basil from our CSA.

For the second course, we made a cold Asian chicken noodle salad. The chicken is marinated in the dressing, which has fresh ground peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, chilies, garlic, and lime juice.  The chicken is then stir fried, and chilled. It's added to cold rice noodles along with fresh pea pods, and carrots. The noodles are dressed with the same sauce as the chicken was marinated in. It was garnished it with scallions, basil, and chopped peanuts.

For the third course, we made eggplant parmigiana with chicken Alfredo sauce. I had some beautiful white eggplant from my CSA. It was very firm, and quite mild. I breaded it with a mix of fine bread crumbs, shredded Parmesan, and Italian herbs. It was fried in very hot oil until brown and crisped, then placed in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. The goddaughter made the Alfredo sauce. It was a mix of butter, heavy cream, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and garlic with shredded grilled chicken. It was garnished with micro basil.

For the fourth course, we made pulled chicken in hoisin barbeque sauce with pickled cucumbers.and red onion. The chicken was cooked in a crockpot, then shredded. The BBQ sauce has hoisin sauce, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and soy sauce, The cucumber and onion are pickled in lemon juice and cider vinegar, flavored with clove, allspice, black pepper, and chili powder. It's served on a toasted Hawaiian sweet roll.

For the fifth course, we served hazelnut-sage chicken with ravioli.We used a mini ravioli. The chicken was sauteed with sage and lemon zest, and then tossed with the ravioli. It was garnished with chopped hazelnuts. The consensus among the cooks was that we should have used more zest, as the lemon just didn't come through.

For the sixth course, we made bacon wrapped chicken skewers with maple-pomegranate glaze with a pepper-zucchini slaw. Hard to go wrong with bacon, and the pomegranate molasses and maple syrup, with a hint of ginger, had a great sweet/sour thing going. The slaw, is a red wine vinaigrette, was garnished with pomegranate flavored dried cranberries. The acid in the slaw helped cut the fat of the bacon and the sweet of the glaze. I'm most proud of this one. I feel it was my most original of the day.

The seventh course was a miniature version of the lime marinated grilled chicken soft tacos I made earlier. We used mini corn tortillas here, and diced things smaller in proportion.

The final course was an old favorite, green chili chicken stew. A friend developed this recipe, and it is classic. Chicken, celery, carrots, and green chilies, with cumin just works beautifully. usually served over corn chips, I instead garnished it with fried tortilla strips. It was additionally garnished with shredded cheddar cheese.




Since this post is getting soooooo looong, I will end here, and post the recipes in a separate post.

Happy Eating!


Grilled Bourbon Marinated Skirt Steak with Garam Masala Potatoes

This September is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record in San Diego County, so we are still grilling pretty much every meal possible. Tonight I made bourbon marinated skirt steak with garam masala grilled potatoes and chili oil brushed grilled zucchini.

 

I marinated the skirt steak for about one half an hour.  The bourbon added a nice flavor to the steak. You want to grill it to just medium rare to medium, which with thin skirt steak doesn't take but a few minutes. Let it rest about five minutes, then slice thinly, across the grain.

 

The potatoes were sliced about one quarter inch thick, and tossed with olive oil, garam masala, and kosher salt. I grilled them first, getting them golden brown, then moved them to the upper rack of the grill to bake while I did everything else.

 

The zucchini were sliced about one half inch thick, and sprinkled with salt. I let them sit about ten minutes to release a little excess moisture, then brushed with chili oil. I grilled them to just tender.

 

Recipes

Bourbon Marinated Skirt Steak

1 1/4 lbs. skirt steak

1/2 cup bourbon

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cayenne powder

 

Place all ingredients in a sealable plastic bag, removing as much air as possible. Refrigerate for at least one half hour. Grill to medium rare to medium. Rest for five minutes, slice thinly across the grain.

 

Garam Masala Potato Slices

4 medium russet potatoes

1/3 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp. garam masala

2 tsp. kosher salt

 

Cut a thin slice of skin from either side of each potato, then cut potatoes into one quarter inch thick slices. In a large bowl, mix oil, garam masala, and salt. Toss potatoes slices in oil spice mixture until liberally coated. Grill on both sides until golden brown, then place on upper grill rack to back until tender.

 

Happy Eating!

 

 

Grilled Lime Chicken Soft Tacos and Mexican Rice

Our CSA has provided us with an abundance of peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos over the last few weeks, so I thought a good Mexican meal would help use up some of that. As well, a friend gave us a pile of limes from her tree as well. Some were what you expect limes to look like, small and green. A few, however, looked like lemons; large and yellow. Scratch them, and they smelled of lime.

The lime marinated chicken came out moist and tangy. I got a good sear, and great grill marks. Slicing it across the grain ensures that it will be tender. After turning of the gas to the grill, I used the residual heat to warm up the fresh corn tortillas from my local tortilleria.

I made salsa verde, which I love, with the tomatillos.  I had a pile of wonderful cherry tomatoes from the CSA, so diced those up. I had some mixed sweet peppers, no idea what varieties other than pale yellow, orange, and bright red. I grilled those, to get a nice char on the outside, and then sliced them in thin strips. I also included some chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, and a couple of lime wedges, just in case.

Instead of sour cream, I used fat free Greek yogurt. It works really well, having a great mouth feel and tang, and being healthier, to boot.

I am generally not a fan of Mexican rice, as served at most restaurants. I haven't worked out what they do, but there is always an off taste to me. So, I thought I'd try my own, see how it came out. I'd recently tried it in a rice cooker, and it was better flavor wise, but the texture was off.  I was determined to get it right.

My recipe is based on this one from the food.com website, which has an average rating of a smidge under 5 stars, with nearly 500 reviews. It deserves it! The method is flawless, most of my changes are out of frugality, the ingredients I had to hand, and preferred flavor profile. It produced the best Mexican rice I've ever had. Part of that may be ingredients.

For the tomato puree, I used a couple of largish yellow heirloom tomatoes, and 3 or 4 small red ones, all at the upper edge of usable ripeness. I used serranos instead of jalapenos, because that's what I had, but the flavor was great. I cut way back on the cilantro, as I didn't want it to be the dominant taste. Finally, I pureed the tomatoes and onion a little at a time to creep up to 2 cups, rather than make more than two cups and throw away the extra, as recommended in the original recipe. Just seemed wasteful to me. Rinsing the rice did seem to produce a wonderfully fluffy rice. I found that the aroma of the toasting rice was heavenly.

Recipes

Grilled Lime Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
zest of one large lime
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. dehydrated onion
1/2 tsp. dehydrated garlic
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cumin

Place all ingredients in a sealable storage bag. Remove as much air as possible. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove breasts from marinade, pat dry. Grill until done. Rest meat for 5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

1/2 lb. tomatillos, hulled and washed
1 serrano chili
1 shallot, diced
1 Tblsp. diced cilantro
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
juice of 1/2 a small lime

Cut tomatillos in half; place cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Place under a low broiler until soft, and slightly browned, about 3 - 5 minutes.  Let cool. Roast serrano chili over a burner until charred. Cool, remove skin, seeds, and inner membranes. 

Place tomatillos, chili, cilantro, salt, and lime juice in a blender.  Blend on low until smooth.

Mexican Rice

8 -12 oz. ripe tomatoes, cored
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 serrano chilies
2 cups long grain white rice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tblsp. minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tblsp. chopped cilantro

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a blender, process onion on, adding tomatoes a few at a time, until you have 2 cups puree.  Remove stems, seeds, and inner membranes from serrano chilies, then mince. Place rice in a strainer, and rinse until water runs clear, 1 - 2 minutes. In a large ceramic lined cast iron pot, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat for two minutes. And rice, fry about 8 minutes, until translucent and lightly toasted. Add garlic and serrano chilies, fry and addition couple of minutes. Turn heat down to medium low, and puree and stock. Just bring to a boil, then put on the lid, and place in oven. Bake about 25 minutes, until fully cooked.  Stir at the 15 minute mark to incorporate everything evenly.

Happy Eating!

Beer-steeped grilled sausages, zuchini, and cold noodle salad

Still using the grill for most of the cooking.  Tonight, we had beer-steeped grilled sausages, horseradish jelly-pomegranate molasses glazed grilled zuchini, and an ancho chili-tangerine cold noodle salad.

I used Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations Beef & Bacon and Chicken Apple with Gouda sausages.  I grilled them, then simmered them in a pot with a pint of Shock Top Belgian White Beer and an equal amount of water. I love the chicken sausages, which I also used on July 4th.  Sinmmering in beer ensures the sausages get fully cooked, while remaining plump and juicy.
For the zuchini, I mixed about 3 tablespoons of horseradish jelly with 2 teaspoons of pomegranate molasses and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.  I split the zuchini lengthwise, and grilled them cut side down, until they acquired good grill marks.  I turned them and brushed them with the glaze, then cooked them until tender. The pomegranate molasses added tangyness.

Ancho Chili-Tangerine Cold Noodle Salad

1 inch diameter bunch whole grain thin speghetti
3 dried ancho chilies
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/4 cup slivered almonds
8 ounces fresh snap peas
juice of 3 tangerines
zest of 2 tangerines
2 Tblsp. rice vinegar
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Remove stems and seeds from chilies. Place in bowl, cover with wine, let stand until rehydrated.

Boil speghetti in salted water until al dente, then shock in an ice water bath to stop cooking. Drain.

Toast almonds in a dry pan over medium heat.

Wash pea pods, and cut into 1 inch pieces.  Drain and dice chilies..

Whisk together juice, zest, oil, and salt.

Toss speghetti with pea pods, chilies, and almonds, and dress with juice mixture.  Chill until ready to serve.

I used dry mead for the wine, as I had an open bottle that needed to be used up. I was really happy with this salad.  The fresh pea pods and almonds added crunch, and the chilies I had were very mild and fruity.

Zatar marinated chicken kabobs with safron - cranberry rice

Summer in inland Southern California:  Grill season (not that it's ever really not grill season here, but July and August, I definitely do not want to heat up the kitchen).  Dinner tonight was a Middle Eastern inspired affair.  I made white wine and zatar marinated chicken kabobs with a cucumber yogurt sauce, safron - cranberry rice, and steamed spiced sweet corn.  I was really happy with this meal.  I got the skewers grilled just right, with the chicken completely cooked, but still moist.  I didn't have much in the way of fresh veggies to work with at the moment, so I used frozen corn.  I know, this results in a less than exciting color palette for the food, but my roommate won't eat green beans, which was the only other veggie that came easily to hand. I put the frozen corn in a Tupperware microwave steamer (an outdated model they don't sell anymore) with about a half teaspoon of kosher salt, and two teaspoons of Auntie Arwen's Shy Panda Kosher Oriental Stir Fry Blend, and microwaved for five minutes. 

Zatar is a Middle Eastern spice mix of thyme, sumac, salt, and white sesame seeds.

Grill Night!

Last weekend, finally cleaned off the back patio, so I can get to my grill again.  Summer in San Diego, most meals are on the grill, so I don't have to heat up the kitchen.  Monday was the first grill session, and was grilled top sirloin with berra berra - cumin butter, grilled sweet corn, and spicy grilled potato wedges. 

Grilled the steaks medium rare.  I grill the corn in the husks, it prevents them from getting too charred.  The compound butter was 1/2 stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon each cumin and berra berra (berra berra is a hot Ethiopian spice mix, you could substitute chilli powder), and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

Spicy Grilled Potato Wedges

3 medium russet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tblsp. each garlic powder, onion powder, paprika
1/2 Tblsp. kosher salt

Wash potatoes.  Cut in half, then into 1/4 inch wide slices.  Place in bowl with oil, spices, and salt.  Toss to evenly coat. Grill on both sides until brown and crisp.

This is one of my favorite replacements for french fries.

Happy eating!