Category: Recipe

Recipe File: Pan Seared Duck Breast with Ducky Hominy Grits

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Duck in any great quantity is bad for you.  But ever since The Fantastic Mr. Fox, combined with the Christmas dinner from A Christmas Story, I’ve been enamored with the bird in its various ways of preparation. Properly prepared, duck breast can be one of the most amazing experiences you’ve ever had with a red meat bird.  It’s like the anti-ostrich in terms of health benefits. The closest thing I can compare it to is prime steak, especially when it’s done leg confit or seared breast.

This recipe we’ll be doing pan seared breast, medium rare.

Ingredients:

4 six ounce Duck Breasts, fat and skin attached
1 tablespoon course sea salt
3 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup white onion, minced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine

Grits:

1 cup regular grits (not instant)
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups water
5 teaspoons Duck fat (Rendered from duck breasts above)

Using a serrated knife, score the fat side of the duck breasts deeply crossways.  When done there should be 2 or 3 deep cut X shapes on the fat side of the breasts.  Lightly dust the fat side in pepper and sea salt but leave at least half of each available.  Flip the breasts over and coat the other side in the remaining sea salt and pepper.

Bring the four cups water to a boil in a deep pan.  Add in slowly the one cup of grits.  Let boil/simmer for 30 minutes.

While that’s going, combine the onion, garlic and wine into a shallow frying pan.  Cook at medium heat until most of the wine has boiled off and the garlic and onion are soft.  At just the moment where the wine is still liquid in the pan and the other ingredients are soft, place the breasts in fat side down on medium heat still.  There should be immediate sizzle when the fat is placed.  Tend carefully for 6 minutes as the fat renders and shrinks.  The red side of the breast should become a deeper red and bloody, and the breasts should shrink noticeably in size.  That’s ok.  Carefully watch because as the fat renders it will deepen the oil in the pan and you have to be careful not to let it brown. While this is going on, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After six minutes, flip the breasts to the meat side and cook in the oil for 4 minutes.  Once done, remove the breasts and set in a roasting pan.

Take the rendered duck fat, should be roughly 5 teaspoons worth (discard the rest) and beat it slowly into the grits until they are done.

Put the duck breasts in the oven, fat side up, for six minutes.

Remove the duck breasts from the oven and slice into half inch thick slices with the fat attached.  Color should be that of medium rare steak.  Nice and juicy red in the center. Serve with a dollop of the duck fat grits on the side and a nice green salad.

Enjoy!

Recipe File: Fried Green Tomatillo

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I love making fried or stewed green tomatoes.  I grew up with them and have always had a huge love of their tangy, almost artichoke-like flavor.  Properly made fried green tomatoes are firm and the batter crunchy; tangy with a hint of salt in the batter.

Rochto and I just recently went local for all our food.  We bought a half a cow from a local farm, etc (I’ll post on that later). A good friend of ours hooked us up with a huge box of local produce.  Squash, herbs, spinach, broccoli, and some of the largest tomatillo I have ever seen. These were medium tomato sized. I’ve only ever used tomatillo in my restaurant cooking days for making a cream verde enchilada sauce. So I knew that they are extremely sour, the skin tends to be a bit thicker, and that I’d never seen one used in anything but a salsa or sauce. So I thought, I wonder if anyone’s tried to fry them? 

Come to find out several people had.  I combined several recipes then added one special touch at the end that I think really made the dish perfect. This recipe, by the way, works fine for green tomatoes but I would leave off the last step since they are far less tangy and I think don’t need a strong sugar flavor to offset it.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh tomatillo, tennis ball size if you can get them, bigger than a golf ball if not.
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Garlic Tabasco sauce
2 cups flour
1 shaker Cajun Choice Creole Seasoning
4 tablespoons light oil (for frying)
1 shaker full of Sugar in the Raw 

One thing about tomatillo is that they look like small tomatoes in a paper like husk.  When you remove the husk they are covered in a very sticky, hard to remove substance.  So, you have to get rid of the stems and husks and wash them to remove the sticky. Depending on the size of the tomatillo try and cut them 1/4 inches thick.

In a separate dish combine the milk, egg, lemon, and Tabasco.  Drop the slices of tomatillo into the mixture to soak for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a skillet, or if you want you can use a deep fryer. Try to use a neutral oil. In my opinion there’s enough flavor assertion here in all the ingredients that the oil shouldn’t impart any clear influence.  An Enova or vegetable oil is fine. Having said that, with what we’re loading up here if you want to use an incredibly thick olive oil go for it if that’s your style.

Dredge each tomatillo slice in the flour until completely covered in dried flour.  Set aside.  Over the plate of breaded tomatillo shake *heavily* the shaker of Creole seasoning.  Flip the slices then shake again.  Each side should now be completely reddish colored from the paprika and cayenne in the seasoning.

Now, fry!  Be very careful.  The first couple I did rendered mushy pretty fast.  You want the batter to brown but the slices to retain some bit of firmness.  I found deep frying worked better than pan frying.  When deep frying do roughly 90-120 seconds depending on the oil and temperature. Pan frying means you have to flip them to get even coverage and that resulted in overcooking without the batter firming up.

Once all the slices are fried place them on paper towels to soak up any excess oil and lightly pat dry.

And now for the last step, the step I think you might want to skip if you are doing regular fried green tomatoes and not tomatillo.  The tomatillo are *super* tangy.  So a bit of sweet to counteract the spice and salt of the batter is the right move.  You have two choices.  You can drizzle honey over the slices and run the risk of interfering with the crispiness of the batter, or dust both sides with a brown unrefined sugar like sugar in the raw.

The resultant slices are outstanding.  You get the tart, artichoke flavor of the tomatillo, some bite and salt from the creole seasoning, and the delicious sweetness overall from the sugar/honey.  I hope this turns out as good for you as it did for us.

Enjoy!

Recipe File: Baby Spinach Salad and Hot Bacon Dressing

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I made this a while ago and jotted the notes down on my iPhone then forgot about it.  Hooray for randomly opening the notes app to make a note of something and seeing it!

This is a very simple recipe that creates a nice side salad, or even a meal if you want to top it with some grilled chicken breast. I prefer to use baby spinach simply because I like the smaller leaves and you don’t have to spend a lot of time washing or pulling the veins off.  However the recipe works the same for normal spinach.

Lastly, this recipe uses Garlic Chives instead of normal onion chives for a light garlic flavor without having to manage a more potent garlic bulb or minced garlic. 

Ingredients:

1 bag baby spinach, washed and dried
2 slices thick cut bacon (any type, but the thick cut part is important)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons sliced Garlic Chives
3 teaspoons white vinegar
4-5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 large egg
a pinch of sea salt

Hard boil the egg via your preferred method.  While it’s boiling, combine the mushrooms and spinach into a large bowl and toss lightly to spread the mushrooms around.

Now the best part!  Cook the bacon on medium to low heat in a small frying pan until the bacon is crisp. Make it crispier than you would normally make bacon for use by itself so that the fat renders. This will take longer than normal bacon because we’re using thick cut bacon, but the benefit to using thicker slices is that more fat will render into oil to comprise the base of our dressing.  You have to manage the heat here because we don’t want the oil to brown and spatter. It’s time consuming, but important.

Once the bacon is nice and crisp, remove it and dice it up.  Then add the bacon back to the oil along with the vinegar, sugar, Garlic Chives, and the pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil/simmer for just a few minutes.  While that’s going, slice up that boiled egg crossways into big chunks.

Portion out the spinach to your liking, topping it with diced boiled egg. Lastly, add the dressing to taste while it’s hot.  You can alternatively leave the spinach in the big bowl and add the dressing and egg, tossing until the leaves are lightly coated and serve it that way.

You should end up with a nice, sweet/tangy/bacony dressing with just a hint of garlic.

Enjoy!

Recipe File: Roja Cheese Enchiladas

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This was an especially difficult recipe for me. My culinary training was in Southwestern grilled food, Italian, and BBQ. I say "training" because I was a line cook for restaurants that made all those types, and quite well I might add. But ever since I left the restaurant business and started cooking solely for myself and Rochto’s enjoyment I’ve always been terrified to cook Tex Mex dishes.

This is mainly because they are my favorite. To this day the first thing I order at a mexican restaurant are the cheese enchiladas. They are the baseline for which I usually end up judging all other dishes, provided the enchiladas are good enough to warrant a second visit.

The best cheese enchiladas I have ever had reside at Herbert’s Taco Hut in San Marcos, Texas. They were perfect. The cheese had the absolute precise amount of diced onion. The texture was a mixture of cheesy and creamy. The red sauce was distilled straight from the nipples of the chili enchilada sauce gods.

So when Rochelle brought home a bunch of stuff from the store and said "Let’s have enchiladas, I have a craving." I panicked.

You see, I can’t just make enchiladas. Like most of my all time favorite foods, I have to have my own way of doing it. And I’ve had too many horrible horrible enchiladas in my life (like when people just stuff flour tortillas with cheese and picante and bake it. *shudder*) that I knew if I was going to make enchiladas it was going to be a recipe I would want to keep and use. AND I was going to insist on making my own red sauce from scratch.

So, much to Rochelle’s consternation, since she just wanted something simple and NOW, I hit the Interhighway Superweb Tubes. I usually do this for my first try at a recipe, I find two or three that I like online then merge them or mix and match. I did so here, and 2 hours later Rochelle proclaimed the results to be outstanding.

I however was not satisfied completely, but at least I was not disappointed (I found there was too much salt in the final result). Couple nights later Rochelle brought home all new ingredients and I made some major modifications and the results, were awesome.

So without further ado, Roja Cheese Enchiladas with home made sauce.

Ingredients:

Roja Enchilada Sauce

1 Can all natural Low Sodium Chicken broth (Or 2 cups if you wish to make your own)

4 Tbs Chili Powder

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

2 tsp. Crushed Garlic (not garlic salt, not garlic powder, crushed garlic)

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Sugar

6 Tbs. cold water

3 Tbs. flour

Why low sodium chicken broth? Well this was a happy accident. The first batch I made used regular chicken broth and I found it way too salty. Rochelle brought the wrong kind home, but I thought it would be perfect and plunged ahead. I was more right than I knew. Since low sodium chicken broth brings out far more of the wonderful chicken flavor in the broth, I highly recommend using it instead, since we will add a touch of salt throughout the recipe.

On medium heat, combine the garlic and chicken broth in a pot, stirring to distribute the garlic particles around. Add in the chili powder, cumin, sea salt, cinnamon, and sugar while whisking the mixture vigorously. Increase heat to a boil and cook for three to four minutes, whisking all the while. Reduce heat and let simmer for three minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, combine the flour and water in a seperate bowl, making sure to add the flour in a tablespoon at a time and stir so there are no lumps. Once the mixture is complete three minutes should have passed for our simmer. Turn the heat up and slowly pour the flour mixture into the sauce, whisking like a madman to avoid lumps. This is every important, because if you get lumps at this stage it doesn’t ruin the sauce exactly but doesn’t really help thicken it, and you get chunks of cooked flour in your sauce which is never pleasent.

Turn the heat down now back to medium and, slowly stirring, let cook for another three minutes. Turn the heat to the lowest possible setting and let sit. The roja sauce is done for now.

Cheese Enchiladas:

1/3 cup grapeseed oil (Canola can be used in a pinch)

3/4 pound grated mixed cheese (Chedder/Jack)

1/3 cup chopped sweet yellow onion

Enchilada Sauce (see previous section)

8 Corn Tortillas

1 jar Queso sauce (or you can make your own)

Heat the grapeseed oil in a pan to medium heat. I like grapeseed oil because it’s light, healthy, has a relatively high smoke point, and imparts a barely detectable nutty flavor to the tortillas. Canola (or better yet, Enova) can be used in a pinch without impacting the flavor really at all.

Stack the tortillas in 4 groups of two. Using tongs, grab one stack of two and place in the oil for 20 seconds, then flip it for 20 seconds more then set aside.

Here’s how we make the enchiladas. The heating in the oil renders the tortillas nice and soft. If you overcook it no worries, just toss them and start over, or keep frying to make tasty chips. Ok now, seperate the tortillas oil side up. Gently spoon some enchilada sauce all over the tortilla. Then grab a handful of cheese and lay it slightly off center lengthways. Sprinkle some onion, and spoon just a touch of the queso sauce in the center.

Now for the rolling! Take the longest-from-the-cheese edge of the tortilla and pull it up and over, then tuck it under the cheese. Your tucking action should move the cheese more towards the center, then just roll the rest of the way until its done. Cap each end with your fingers and lift it into a baking dish. Repeat for the other tortilla. It takes practice, but after a bit you become a pro at it.

Now repeat: lightly cook the tortillas, spread sauce, add cheese, onion, and a touch of queso sauce, tuck and roll and back to the next one.

Once all eight tortillas are nestled in the dish, you should have some shredded cheese left over, some queso sauce, and a lot of enchilada sauce. Pour the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Gently spoon the rest of the queso sauce if you want on top of the sauce, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese. BE CAREFUL with the queso sauce. Most queso sauce is very salty. This is how I overdid my first batch I think, along with the high sodium broth. Feel free to skip putting any more on. It’s mostly a preference thing.

Now, with good enchiladas, heat is the key. We gotta get those suckers HOT. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the enchiladas uncovered for 20 minutes. By the time you are done the sauce should be deep brown at the edges and bubbling, and the enchiladas should have flattened out from the melting of the cheese and weight of the sauce on top.

Take out of the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then serve with traditional rice and beans on the side.

Enjoy!

Recipe File: Roasted Asparagus

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Continuing my effort to document how I cook stuff so I can remember how to make it consistently here is another recipe I’ve started doing regularly.

Rochto and I are asparagus fiends. I always did mine the tried and true awesome way of a couple tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper in a sauté dish and cook to where it’s al dente and a beautiful bright green. Recently I got creative.

Ingredients:

1 pound long stalk green asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fig or vanilla or lavender infused sweet balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

Not many people realize that you don’t cook the whole asparagus stalk. I mean, you can if you want. But the bud down to the natural breakpoint is the good part. Take each stalk and grasping at the base of the bud’s tip, and the other end, bend the stalk till it breaks. So do that for each stalk. If the stalks are super thin (my favorite actually) you can cheat and cut the top third or so off for cooking. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a shallow baking dish combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, and vinegar and asparagus. Toss everything so that the asparagus is evenly coated and laying relatively flat in the dish. Toss it in the oven for 12-15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, take it out and toss the asparagus again to recoat everything, then crank the oven to broil >500 degrees and blast the asparagus for 3-4 minutes. This is going to heat the olive oil to splatter level so be careful when you tend to it. At the end the tips and parts of the stalk should be very lightly blackened. Remove, set aside and let cool.

You end up with a lightly crunchy texture but the exterior has an awesome roasted/salty/tangy/sweet flavor that accentuates the natural flavor of the asparagus. It’s become my normal way to make it and it’s awesome+1. Enjoy!