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I’m Thankful.

In Beer of the Month, Recipe's & How To, Seasonal on November 29, 2012 at 8:42 pm

Thanksgiving- the time of year where weight goes out the window with our own selfish worries. It’s the time when everyone has their “Grandma’s Famous Green Bean Casserole” or “Aunt So-and-So’s Sweet Potato Pie” and the competitions to see who can cook the juiciest turkey begin. 363 other days (we all know the same thing happens at Christmas) we all claim to be calamities in the kitchen. It’s nice to have that one day a year, where all the food seems to be excellent- and if not, it’s rude to say otherwise. I know none of this helps for Thanksgiving this year, but I’m a busy guy and you can use these for Christmas as well!

Last year was the first year I helped cook Thanksgiving Dinner, ever. Normally my mother, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins do all the work; but since I wasn’t home we made our own family thanksgiving in Georgia. You can check out our cheap holiday menu here. I understand the traditions of Thanksgiving meals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spruce things up a bit.

As a part of growing up (i.e. turning 21), I feel like each holiday or associated affair starts with a cocktail. Last year’s Apple Cider Smash was a hit, and this year the Schläger Cider Smash wasn’t too far behind. Keeping in tune with the seasons, cider is always a great base for a fall cocktail. What’s also nice about cocktails is that they can be kept simple and still be delicious. This one’s an awkward easy one.

Schläger Cider Smash
3 parts Woodchuck Cider
1 part Goldschläger
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon mix to garnish the rim

It’s a little spicy with the cinnamon hitting the back of the palate and a little sweet with the cider. I’ve always been a fan of sweet and spicy- just ask Erika Lipe. However, I couldn’t drink more than one or two because it’s still sweet.

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Starting the feast off, we first recreated Aunt Sarah’s Thanksgiving Dip. It’s a simple combination of layered cream cheese, apple butter (or pumpkin butter), bacon, and scallions. Check out how to make it! It’s a simple starter and something everyone will easily love. It also makes a great leftover snack.

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The hardest part of cooking a thanksgiving feast is the timeline. It’s planning when to prepare, cook, and reheat certain dishes so they’re all ready at the same time. My first prep started with cooking the Sausage and Cornbread Muffins. The first necessity is cooking the cornbread. For years I’ve made cornbread from scratch, but buying it is so much faster when you have a lot on your plate. I bought a brand that used real honey and it was just as good. Look at this awesome cornbread.

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Sausage and Cornbread Muffin Recipe
1 box, 4 cups cooked cornbread cut in 1″ x 1″ pieces
1 lb sweet ausage (I used maple pork sausage)
3/4 small red bell pepper, small to medium dice
4 scallions, thinly sliced
5 celery stalks, small to medium dice
1 red onion, small to medium dice
1 cup chicken broth (watch for too much salt here! Go with less sodium)
1/4 cup of milk
1 Lg Egg, beaten
2 tsp sage, freshly chopped
2 tsp poultry seasoning
3 tbsp butter

You can thank @TheChew for the majority of this recipe- I only threw in a few of my own tweaks and touches. Sausage and Cornbread Muffins should be the new Thanksgiving dressing. After cooking the cornbread, let it cool and cut it into 1×1 inch cubes. It’s supposed to be 4 cups, but one box from the store will do.

While you’re cooking the cornbread, go ahead and sear off the sausage. The recipe calls for half a pound of sweet Italian ground sausage. I used a full pound of maple sausage instead (because I like hearty side dishes) and they came out great. While the sausage cooks and the cornbread cools, start prepping your veggies. Cut and combine the scallions, red bell pepper, and celery all to the same size. If you’re doing small muffins, cut your veggies small dice. I did larger muffins so I left them a little bigger. You don’t want to lose the added color in your cornbread. The veggies give the color. Once they’re cut, use 3 tbs of butter in a saute pan and put it on medium heat. Once the butter is hot, add your veggies and sauté for about 5 minutes until slightly tender. If you partially caramelize your veggies, it will still keep that slight crunch for texture.

Since cooking is all about multitasking, cut your cornbread and put it in a large mixing bowl with your sausage. While the veggies finish, add your chicken broth, milk, egg, sage, and poultry seasoning to the cornbread bowl. The liquids here will act as a good binder for all the other ingredients. Once the veggies are done, add everything together and mix. It’s ok if it turns a little mushy- expect it to. Once it’s all mixed, grease down your muffin pan (even if it’s Teflon, I still don’t trust it) and pack the mixture down in each tin. Once they’re all packed, add the remaining on top of each one and lightly pat it down so they stick to the bottom layer. Throw them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes and then you’re done.

Before…

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…and After

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The next side dish to prepare was the Green Bean Casserole. The secret to a casserole is easy. Two cans of cream of mushroom soup, whatever veggie you want, a great cheese to accompany it, and something to give it texture.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mushrooms of your choice (I used baby button)
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans of French style green beans OR 4 cups fresh green beans
6 oz. French fried onion rings
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 red OR white onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp of butter

I used a white onion because I had it in the fridge, but using a red onion would add more color and a slightly sweeter flavor. I tend to use butter because I think the flavor is so much better, but you could save minimal calories by using oil.

First step- if you use fresh green beans, boil them in the chicken stock for ten minutes. This not only cooks the beans, but infuses them with that delicious chicken flavor. If you’re a vegetarian, use a vegetable stock. If the beans come from a can, soak them in the chicken stock for an hour and that will do the trick.

Slice the mushrooms and onion thin. Compared to dicing I think this adds texture and depth to the dish. Sautée them in the butter on medium heat for about 4 minutes. You don’t want to make the onions mushy! Don’t loose that texture by over cooking them. Next, in a large mixing bowl add the two cans of cream of mushroom soup, your sautéed veggies, 3 ounces of fried onion rings, and 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. Mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper. *Be careful with the salt because a lot of store bought broths tend to already have enough salt.

Grease a 9×13 baking dish and pour in the casserole mixture. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes then take out the casserole. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Once cool, sprinkle the rest of the fried onions and grated cheese on top. Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes and you’re set.

Before..

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…and after.

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The biggest part of the meal was the ham. I haven’t gotten the confidence to do a turkey yet. I’m just not at the stage in life where I’ve accepted that it’s my responsibility to cook the turkey. But the ham was awesome! It was about 10 lbs and I cooked it on 325 for about 3 1/2 hours. You should cook a ham at 20 minutes per pound. The best part of the ham is what I brushed on top while It baked.

Ingredients:
1 Lg ham
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup packed ground sugar
2 tsp ground mustard
10 whole garlic cloves

First, put the ham on a cooking rack (fat side up) that will catch all the juices underneath. Lightly cover in foil and bake for the appropriate amount of time. About 20 minutes before it’s ready, pull it out and score the back side of the ham. Push the cloves down in the cuts. In a small mixing bowl, mix together balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and ground mustard. Somehow, in the chemistry of cooking, the combination of vinegar and brown sugar become a liquid paste. Combine it with the drippings from the ham and pour over the scored ham. Return the ham to the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 20 minutes. When you take it out- you will smell the difference.

Before..

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..and after.

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It’s difficult to cut a ham with a bunch of fat on it, but it’s worth it. We didn’t do dessert this year, but we also didn’t need it. After all the appetizers (thanks to Amanda Poriss), the sweet potato casserole (thanks to Callie Gregg), and the nonstop laughs from Heather Hobbs and Alex’s Segway tour pictures- it was nice to call it a night. Cheers!

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Remember, any of these dishes can be prepared any time throughout the season. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Well fed,
Coleman

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Cathead Honeysuckle Melon Martini

In Recipe's & How To on September 6, 2012 at 5:02 pm

I know that I’ve been gone for a month or so..making the transition from southeast Georgia to AUSTIN, TX has taken a ton of energy, but I’m finally settling in. The apartment is almost all set up- except for a few things I need to hang. I’m working in downtown Austin, which means I’m about to have a plethora of places to discover and dig my nose into.

For instance, the other day before work I went to eat at Frank. Frank reminded me of a good friend Ray Byrne’s restaurant The Slaw Dogs (which has three locations in the greater Los Angeles area). Gourmet hot dogs. Now of course these places don’t solely serve hot dogs, but let’s just say my Notorious P.I.G. was topped with mac n’ cheese and barbecue sauce.. Pictures and possibly a review about Frank to come soon!

What I wanted to share today was a vodka from the place I love, Mississippi. Cathead vodka is Mississippi’s first liquor to be made in state and I’m proud of it. It hit the ground running as a top quality product, and then came out with a Cathead Honeysuckle – which was an instant hit. In the past month I’ve had an extended stay in Georgia, Oxford, Memphis, and now Austin- and it’s great to see their product in so many restaurants and on so many seasonal cocktail lists!

Now I know this recipe is more for a refreshing summer cocktail, but I’ve been a little busy since we added it to the Latitude 31 cocktail list. Keep in mind there are so many things you can do with Cathead Honeysuckle besides on the rocks or with sprite. Check out their website for more drink ideas.

Honeysuckle Melon Martini-
2 oz. CATHEAD Honeysuckle Vodka
1 oz Watermelon Pucker
2 fresh squeezed lime wedges
Shake and add a splash of sprite

Gentlemen- If your wife/girlfriend/fiancé/mistress-you-meet-for-happy-hour enjoys a slightly sweet, refreshing drink. She will love this. It’s great on a hot day, great with an appetizer, and even better with a dessert. It’s aromatic without having that stench you can sometimes get from alcohol.

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While ladies drink this, I’ll be having a whiskey.

Drink responsibly,
Coleman

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Summertime Shish Kabobs

In Recipe's & How To, Seasonal on July 5, 2012 at 5:15 pm

It’s that season for grilling out again. Actually, it’s been that season! I’ve just been a little preoccupied traveling between Mississippi and Georgia the past month to really have a good “Grill out night.” So, my last night in Oxford, MS we fired up the grill and decided to make Summertime Shish Kabobs. Such an easy concept. When cooking kabobs over an open flame the first thing to think about is the skewer. We used five long metal skewers that were perfect for kabobs. If you are using wooden skewers for smaller portions, make sure you soak them in water for at least 24 hours before preparing them and putting them over an open flame!

I’m also a sucker for big meals. For some people, a kabob full of meat veggies is enough food. Not for me. If I’m cooking for people or grilling out – I go to the max. So, along with the most beautiful kabobs you could imagine- we prepared twice baked potatoes and a salad.

The Produce List:

1 Bell Pepper (your choice of color)

1 Red Onion

2 Summer Squash

1 Zucchini

1 Pineapple (cubed)

1 box Large Button Mushrooms (about 13)

1 8-10 oz. Flat Iron Steak

3 Chicken Breasts

4 Green Onions

1 Romaine Head

1 pint Cherry Tomatoes

1 Cucumber

1 Carrot

6 Yukon Potatoes

The Grocery List:

1 pack thick cut bacon

Soy Sauce

Cider Vinegar

Black Pepper

Minced Garlic

Honey

Sour Cream

Marinate the Meat

I marinated the chicken and the steak (each with half the portion of mushrooms) in two separate bowls to avoid cross contamination. The marinade consists of-

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 tbsp miced garlic

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp honey

2 green onions, minced

1 bag shredded, mixed cheese (your choice)

While the meats and mushrooms marinated, I went ahead and cut up the rest of my vegetables I would use on the kabob- squash, zucchini, red onion, bell pepper, and pineapple.

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Let the meats and mushrooms marinate for about 2 hours (if you’re in a hurry it can only be 30 minutes but try for AT LEAST an hour), so after you cut up the vegetables you can get started on the Twice Baked Potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. To start baking the potatoes, give them a good scrub under running water. Remove any black or bad spots on the outside skin, if necessary. Use a fork and poke the potato about half way through 10 times. These holes will help steam the potato in the oven. Before wrapping them in aluminum foil, rub the outside with a salt/oil mixture. Wrap them in foil and pop ‘em in the oven for about an hour and a half.

After another hour, pull your meats and mis en place, and prepare the kabobs. For the chicken, I took strips of bacon and cut them in half. Each half a piece of bacon I wrapped around a piece of chicken and put on the kabob. On one kabob for both the chicken and the steak, I only used bell pepper instead of the marinated mushrooms and vice versa. I also alternated all my cut vegetables to be aesthetically pleasing. This is the pre-grilling photo.

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Combine your left over marinades (unless you have someone who is terrified of mixing the two juices, do the chicken and steak separately) and let it come to a boil. After it boils, you can reduce it down and make it a great basting liquid for when the kabobs are on the grill.

After you fire up your grill (if you’re using charcoal- the old school, cool way and true way of summertime grilling), go ahead and cut up the romaine for your salad. On my salad I also used sliced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced carrots, and shredded cheese.

When the coals on the grill are nice and frosty gray, throw the kabobs on and then get back to your potatoes. The chicken kabobs will take about 20 minutes (be sure to rotate and baste every 7 or 8 minutes to keep them tender and juicy), but the steak can take anywhere between 10 minutes to 25 minutes depending on your preferred steak temperature. Ours turned out beautifully medium rare in the middle and they were only on about 15 minutes.

While the kabobs are grilling, the potatoes should be ready for step two. Take them out of the oven and cut them in half to make sure they are almost all the way cooked in the middle. Remember, they dont have the be all the way cooked, since they’re going to be baked AGAIN. If they’re ready, carve out the middle and put into a mixing bowl. The next ingredient amounts are up to your personal preference, but the ingredients I used in the mixing bowl involved fresh cooked bacon bits, sour cream, a little ranch dressing, butter, minced green onions, salt and pepper. Thoroughly mix all your ingredients together and spoon the mixture back into the potatoes you carved them out of. Sprinkle the top with shredded cheese and put them back in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Everything should pretty much be ready at the same time!

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The aluminum foil pouch on the left, is the vegetarian option for kabobs. If you have someone that is not a meat eater, it’s simple to make a rectangle piece of aluminum foil and put vegetables with just salt, pepper, and brushed with olive oil in it, on the grill for about 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Not mushy! Mushy vegetables aren’t necessarily good for you or taste good. You want that tender-but-still-kind-of-crunchy texture.

Any summertime cook out pairs GREAT with any Lager or Light beer. If you want to pair wine with grilling out – stick with a Pinot Grigio if you want white (something cheap like Rex Goliath will work) or if you’re in the mood for a red, grab a Red Zinfandel. Red Zin’s have a good peppery taste that goes will with food fresh from the grill.

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Also- the amount of food I prepared was enough to feed between 8 and 10 people, or at least gave me a few days of leftovers.

It’s hot out there,

Coleman

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Redneck Crawfish Boil

In Freshliest Catch, Recipe's & How To, Seasonal on April 3, 2012 at 3:54 pm

There are a lot of things I miss from Mississippi, but one of the biggest things, is crawfish. Down in Georgia, these mudpuppies are just steamed. They’re nothing special.

So, we went all Mississippi on the live ones we got last night. We bought 8 lbs of crawfish from Altama Seafood- nice little fresh seafood market in the dirty Brunstank- and here’s how we boiled ‘em.

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First, you need to purge your crawfish. What does that mean? Clean ‘em out! It’s best done putting them in a cooler or a plastic box and circulating water through it. This helps get off all the dirt grained in their shells. If you do this and notice some floaters- yea, they’re dead. Will they hurt you? I’m still alive.

Some people also believe you should purge crawfish in saltwater. The saltwater is supposed to make them regurgitate, hence cleaning them out more- but everyone knows the flavor in the guts is the best part.

Now, if you boil them in salty water, I hate you. Don’t be dumb. Be smart and get Zatarain’s crab and shrimp boil or get fiesty and buy a bag of Swamp Dust (swamp dust is for the ones who want their lips to be raw from heat).

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If you have a big stockpot or a steam kettle, use it. If not, a small pot will work. Crawfish only take a couple of minutes to cook so you really don’t need a big pot. And, if you have a large plastic box that can be covered, letting them steam in their own heat afterward keeps them moist and tender.

Now, use half the bag of boil and guess what doesn’t hurt? Thanks, Paula Deen, it’s butter. Butter never hurts anything.

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Like I said, this was a redneck crawfish boil- it had to be done with sleeveless shirts and 24 oz can beers.

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Also, we had chorizo boiling in our crawfish water. I’d suggest adding cut up andouille sausage, red bliss potatoes and whole artichokes to your boil if you need some substance beside just the crawfish tails.

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Craw hard,
Coleman

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Blue Deviled Crabs

In Freshliest Catch, Recipe's & How To on March 26, 2012 at 10:39 pm

Monday’s are the best days to go crabbing. It always seems like the tide is high, the sun is out, and every Monday just keeps getting warmer, drawing the critters from the dense dirt. Since it’s early in season the crabs aren’t as big. When you are crabbing you HAVE to follow regulations and make sure the crabs you keep are big enough, or you’ll have a big fine waiting on you from the DNR. Depending if it’s male or female, it can be 5″ -from one horn tip to another! However, just to be safe DO NOT keep anything under 5 1/2″. You won’t get that much meat from a 5-incher anyway.

So instead of JUST doing a crab boil, I wanted to do something different with my Freshliest catch – Deviled Blue Crabs!

Ingredients: (just for the Deviled crabs, not accoutrements)
Lemon Zest -from one lemon
9 Blue Crabs- crab meat, already boiled and picked (boil with half yellow onion and seasoning)
2 scallions, smaller chopped on a bias
1 poblano, roasted and chopped
1 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 eggs, whole
1/2 yellow onion, smaller dice
1/2 cup bread crumbs, or crushed crackers (I used crushed crackers)
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated or fresh

Method:

Pick all crab meat out of all blue crabs, mix with all other ingredients. When picking meat from blue crabs, de-back the blue crab shells and set aside.

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Once all ingredients are mixed together, stuff back into the shells and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

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The accoutrements were provided by SaltwaterChef- Zatarain’s Caribbean Rice (directions on box) and braised Baby Bella mushrooms. The mushrooms were braised with Brussels Sprouts (not featured) in butter and dry vermouth. It was a delicious meal, caught fresh off the marshland Overlook Park Pier on Highway 17 in Brunswick, GA.

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For the crabs,
Coleman

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Mozzarella Caprese Pasta Salad

In Recipe's & How To on March 23, 2012 at 1:31 pm

Pasta Salad is not something I’m very used to cooking or eating. Being from the south, when I hear ‘pasta salad’ my immediate thoughts go to elbow macaroni, mayonnaise, and mush. It’s just that mental image from family reunions with cold mayonnaise being left in the sun for hours that disturbs me.

It wasn’t until I got in the restaurant business 7 years ago that I understood what an oil based pasta salad was like, but I didn’t have the palate to appreciate it at the time. So last friday night, we had some friends over to Alex’s condo and we were trying to think of something beside the typical sausage and cheese plate to have out for our friends to munch on. So we decided to do a Mozzarella Caprese Pasta Salad.

A Caprese salad “originated” from Capri (even though that hasn’t been proven), and consists of buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, tomato, and olive oil. This is my twist on a caprese and pasta salad.

What to get:
1 box Rotini pasta
1 small can diced olives (black or queen, I chose black)
1 pack mozzarella pearls
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
2-3 stems of fresh basil
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
2 lemons, juiced

Pasta salad is possibly the easiest appetizer to make. Cook the pasta thoroughly- since you’ll be serving it cold, cooking it to al dente is not what you want in this case. After it’s cooked, run it under cold water to cool it down or put it in the fridge. If you over cook the pasta, it will turn your salad mushy. This is something you don’t want.

Once your Rotini has cooled off, the rest of the steps are mixing. It’s so simple. Pour half the olive oil over the pasta and lightly mix to give a nice coat. Add the mozzarella pearls, half the can of diced olives, 3-4 tablespoons of balsamic reduction, lemon juice and the chopped garlic. Halve the cherry tomatoes and chiffonade your basil and mix. For those who don’t know how to chiffonade basil, click here.

Now how much more of the black olives and olive oil you choose to add to your pasta salad is really up to your personal preference. Be sure to season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and that’s it! I prefer to add a little more balsamic reduction on top for presentation purposes and I love that flavor. A lot. You can cover this and keep in your fridge for up to 5 days, if excess liquid appears on the bottom, feel free to drain that off.

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Off to the Hunger Games,
Coleman

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Lemon Cous Cous, Blackened Chicken

In Recipe's & How To on March 20, 2012 at 1:44 pm

My favorite thing about going back to Oxford is that I always get to cook for my friends, and since we all live broke the majority of the time- I have to find ways to do it fairly cheap. Since the New Year, I’ve been on this crazy health kick. I have almost completely cut out bread and pasta, and I don’t drink any coke products anymore. If I want more substance than just protein- I’ll make a salad, and if I’m craving a sandwich- I’ll make a wrap. Soda water and lime do just fine instead of syrup-stricken cokes.

While enjoying one of the most fun, Bloody Mary Sundays ever, we brainstormed some great ideas for dinner- keeping it healthy, light, delicious, and a little different.

Grocery List:
Hummus (pre-made IS that much cheaper if you aren’t going to make it all the time)
Pita Bread – 1 pack
Chicken Breasts – 3 (if you like dark meat more get some thighs, but I’m trying to somewhat stay healthy
Cous Cous – 1 box
Spinach – 1 bag
Olives – 1 can, sliced (a small can is only $0.58!!)
Lemons – 3 whole
Diced Tomato – 1/2 cup
Red Onion – 1/2 onion, small chopped
Feta Cheese – 8 ounces
Chicken Stock (optional)

First, you always want to have an appetizer or snack waiting if guests are coming over. If you do, it doesn’t leave them wondering when you are going to start cooking, and it’s a good ice breaker (so is alcohol- it’s the lubricant for social anxiety).

We started with a three olive hummus. What easier way to spruce up hummus than with a little drizzle of olive oil on top? Nothing is, and if you have it, a dash of cayenne wouldn’t hurt! Take your pita bread, cut it down the middle, then slice each side into either 3 or 4 individual pieces. Remember, less looks like more, and the less you have before dinner, the better dinner will be.

Put your pita on a cookie sheet and lightly drizzle olive oil on them. Bake at 350 until they’ve gotten slightly golden brown and they’re ready!

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When cooking for other people, there are two important things to remember: 1) make sure what you’re cooking smells out of this world and 2) don’t serve something cold that is supposed to be warm.

Any time I am cooking with chicken or beef, I always, always, always marinate it. The point of marinating something is to use the ingredients in the marinade to break down the protein to make it more tender and not so “tough.” Also, chicken and pork are very easy to dry out and a nice marinade keeps them juicier and holds more flavor in.

Some great, household, already-in-your-fridge products that can be used to make your own marinades at home are the following:
– any vinaigrette dressing (basalmic, Italian, citrus)
– oil
– salt, pepper, and any spice in your spice cabinet that follows your flavor genre
– soy sauce (GREAT substitute for salt!)
– jalapeño juice or pepperoncini juice
– hot sauce
– lemon or lime juice
One day I’ll write down different marinades I use for different proteins and separate them based on their ethnicity- Italian, Asian, Greek, New American, etc.

Marinate your chicken in juices and spices of your choice, and give them about 30-45 minutes in the fridge. While the chicken marinates, it’s time to get your mis en place in order. Mis en place means “putting in place” and it’s a word used in many kitchens to give their establishment a more professional atmosphere. Some people use it to sound over educated and it’s quite annoying, but it’s a phrase every foodie should know.

Set aside your 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup small diced red onions, spinach, olives, and feta. Get a sauté pan and put a few teaspoons of oil, or butter, and turn the heat to medium. When the butter melts or the oil is sliding loosely over the pan, throw in the red onions and turn down the heat to just above medium-low. Sautéing was not necessarily meant to be a speedy procedure. The longer and slower it cooks, with more patience, the more flavor is extracted and the better the onions caramelize.

While the onions cook down, pull your chicken from the marinade and place in an empty casserole dish. Now, as much as I’d love to write out how to make your own blackening seasoning- it’s cheaper to buy it- trust me. The two brands that I trust for blackening seasoning are Zatarain’s and Paul Prudhomme’s. They really are the best! So cover each side in blackening seasoning while another skillet is heating (on medium-high) a few teaspoons of oil. We aren’t looking to fully cook the chicken on this skillet; we just want to give it a nice blackened color! After a few minutes on each side, move the chicken to a casserole dish and put in the oven at 350 for about 13 minutes. Each piece of chicken will cook differently, so be sure to learn how it feels when it’s close to being done, and if you aren’t sure, cut it and find out!

When you throw the chicken in the oven, you should have plenty of time to cook your Cous Cous. (Meanwhile, don’t forget to be stirring and not burning your red onions!). 1 box of Cous Cous should be enough for 4-5 people. The box will call for maybe two cups of water. My suggestion- use chicken stock instead, and squeeze two lemons into the stock as well (the other lemon I used in my marinade). Bring the water to a boil and pour in the Cous Cous. Remove from the heat and cover for 5 minutes.

The onions should be nice and caramelized by now, so add the tomatoes and stir. Once the Cous Cous is finished, fluff it with a fork and add your tomato/red onion mix, olives, and the spinach. Spinach takes very little heat to wilt, so adding it to the Cous Cous while it’s hot, has enough heat to make it wilt. Re-cover your Cous Cous to make sure it stays warm, and pull your chicken from the oven.

The chicken should be ready. Take it out of the oven and slice it on a bias about 1/4″ thick. Plating and presentation is EASY. Scoop a pile of Cous Cous on your plate and arrange the sliced chicken on top. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top and serve. It will be delicious.

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You’re Welcome,
Coleman

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This Bloody Mary Sunday was made possible with the help of Alex Key McLelland, Juliette Lawrence, Allyson Cartwright, and Nick Keeling. If only it could happen every Sunday.

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Lettuce Wraps, Made Easy

In Recipe's & How To on October 25, 2011 at 6:05 pm

I’m not a fan of using recipes. I like to experiment, guess, and see what works out the best; but, I found my tastes were becoming narrow and generic. So I bought a cookbook. Buying a cookbook involves a lot of particulars for me – it needs a lot of recipes that I know I will cook and not just fillers to take up space. So I sit and flip through the entire thing before I make my decision. I will probably never buy a crockpot cookbook, if you know what I mean. I’m a huge fan of Asian food and in Culinary School I did really well in the class, so that narrowed my decision down easily, I got the Williams-Sonoma Asian Cookbook.

The Asian Cookbook, containing 40 vibrant recipes and photos, reminded me how many different ingredients and methods are used in Asian cooking. Sometimes I forget Asian isn’t only Japanese food or Chinese food but also Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian food, just to name a few.

I wanted to start out with something simple and delicious, seemingly healthy but not, and filling. So I turned to the recipe for Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups. I’ll give the list of ingredients they asked for, but I’m also including small changes or additions I made by noting them with an asterisk (*).

Ingredients:
1 head Iceberg
6 dried Chinese black mushrooms (I used 8-10 because I like them*)
2 Tbs Oyster Sauce
1 Tbs dark and light Soy Sauce
1 Tsp sesame oil
1/2 Tsp sugar (2 Tsp honey*)
1/2 Tsp cornstarch
1/8 Tsp ground white pepper
1 Lg Egg, beaten
2 Tbs Canola oil
1 Tbs ginger, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb chicken, minced
1/4 lb pork, minced
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced
6 water chestnuts, minced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 green onions (1 leek*)
2 Tbs pine nuts
1 Serrano chile, seeded and minced*
1/2 lemon, juiced*

I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, but they’re all small, and once purchased- you have plenty left over to cook with later. Think about it like you’re buying an Asian spice rack. It seems a little expensive at first, but this is how they flavor their food.

I went ahead and made the sauce first, since the grocery store was out of green onions, I bought a leek instead. Leeks are basically really big, layered green onions. If you’ve never cooked with leeks before, make sure you only you the part about 1/2 inch above the root, and an inch below where they start to petal out. It may seem like a lot of waste, but you have plenty to work with, I promise. Take your hoisin sauce and mix it with 2-3 tablespoons* of warm water. The recipe calls for 1 Tbs, but I thought the sauce was still to thick. Since I didn’t have green onions, I cut the leek in half and thinly sliced it and added them to the hoisin. Hoisin has a certain ting to it, it’s almost sharp, so I cut it down by adding juice from half of a lemon. The acidity in the lemon juice helped soften the leeks and balance out the flavor. Put the sauce in the fridge until it’s time to eat!

Put on a small pot of water, and go ahead and turn the heat on high so it’s boiling by the end of the next step. Cut out the core of the head of iceberg, using a spoon is easiest, going in a circle around and popping it out. Separate about 20 leaves and soak them in ice water in the fridge for about 30 minutes. They should be ready by the time you’re finished cooking.

Take your dried mushrooms, and throw them in the now boiling pot of water. Cut the heat down to low so it’s still simmering and cover with a lid, letting the mushrooms rehydrate for about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix oyster sauce, dark and light soy, sesame oil, honey*, cornstarch, white pepper, and egg until well mixed and set aside.

In a wok, or if you don’t have one a sauté pan will do, but Wok’s are awesome to cook with, heat the canola oil. Add the ginger and garlic and let it stir-fry for 15-20. Don’t let the garlic burn! You can’t reverse the flavor of burnt garlic! Next, add the minced chicken and pork and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Make sure any pink is gone and discard any juice that may have cooked out. You don’t want to over cook the meat because it will become chewy, so if it’s a little under – the rest of the cooking process will finish cooking your meat to stay moist. While the meat is cooking, trim the stems and mince the Chinese mushrooms.

After discarding any excess liquid, return the pan to heat and add the bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, Serrano, and mushrooms until the water from them is evaporated and they’ve softened up, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the oyster sauce mixture and stir fry until the sauce thickens (the egg doesn’t cook sepearelty, it acts as a catalyst for the thickening process), about 5 more minutes.

When you’re finished thickening the sauce, pull out your lettuce! If the process takes you longer than 30 minutes, drain the ice water off and leave them in the fridge to keep them crisp until you’re ready for them. Spoon a heaping amount of your chicken/pork mixture on the lettuce and drizzle the top with your hoisin sauce, and enjoy.

These are how mine turned out!

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Feed you soon,
Coleman

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The Best, Simple Crostini’s

In Recipe's & How To on October 16, 2011 at 4:56 pm

How to make the best, simple Crositini’s:

Ingredients:
1 loaf French Bread or Baguette
Olive Oil
Parsley, finely chopped, optional

Take your loaf of French bread or a Baguette (they are normally light and soft when fresh) and cut them on a bias (diagonally) about 1/4″ thick. Place your slices on a sheet pan – whatever you can put in the oven for a few minutes will work. Get some olive oil and lightly oil both sides of the bread – and if you want to fancy up presentation, some finely chopped parsley would look nice sprinkled on top. Put the oven on 425 degrees, and throw them in for about 5 minutes until they look crispy golden on the edges. Like things a little crispier? Just leave them in for a few more minutes.

Remember, cooking times do differ based on where you place your sheet pan. If it’s closer to the heating element, it won’t take as long to cook, the further away, the longer it will take. I know that’s very common sense to people, but it’s always good to remember the small stuff.

Food Tip: bread travels best wrapped in aluminum foil. It keeps it from getting cold and keeps them crisp. Soggy bread is a fiesta failure.

Keeping things crispy,
Coleman

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