The Big Reveal

The Secret Dish was....

De-constructed Hoppin John!

Jut like regular Hoppin John, this dish features rice, black-eyed peas, sausage, green onions and hot sauce. I'll post the recipe later today so you can serve it on New Year's Day!

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

A Slab of Goodness

What did we do before the Flatiron Steak? I buy them by the half-dozen, keep em in the freezer and always have the ability to whip up a steak without much thought. When I can remember, I take a Flatiron out of the freezer and put it on a plate in the fridge (uncovered) about a week before I want to cook it. This alloys it to "dry age" a bit before you cook it. Doing this intensifies the flavor and makes it more...steaky (if that is a word). You can cook a Flatiron on the grill but tonight's recipe involves the stovetop and the broiler. Remember that a hot plate is imperative when serving steak. When I cook steaks in the broiler/oven, I put the plates in the oven when I remove the meat and turn off the oven. This way, the residual heat will warm the plates and the serving platter while you make the sauce.

Flatiron Steak with Brandy Pan Sauce

1 Flatiron Steak
3/4 cup beef stock
1/8 cup brandy
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch parsley
salt
pepper

Prep
If you have time, unwrap the steak and place it on a plate, uncovered, and put it on the bottom rack of the refirgerator for a couple of days before cooking. It will turn a dark red and not look to hot, but trust me...it is much better than right out of the package. Finely chop the parsley. Peel the garlic and rub the clove all over the meat. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Place the oven rack in the center position. Turn over broiler on high and allow it to heat up for at least fifteen minutes.

Cook
Heat a large black-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Add olive oil and butter to the hot skillet and when the butter is completely melted, add the steak and cook for one minute on each side. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove steak and place on a cutting board and allow to rest under foil while the sauce is prepared. Transfer the skillet to the stove top over medium heat. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of beef stock. When the liquid is reduced by one half, add brandy and continue reducing until the liquid just covers the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and add remaining stock and butter. Carve the steak into 1 inch slices and add any juice remaining on the cutting board to the sauce. Stir the sace to incorporate all liquids.

Plate
Add sliced steak to a warm plate and top with sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Making up for Fast Food

The pizza and the Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's were good, but two meals out of the kitchen is enough (or maybe one too many). To make up for my culinary shirking I decided to make a big 'ol pot of chili. Here is the recipe and a picture.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

2 lbs. chuck (cubed)

3 lbs. ground beef (round, sirloin or chuck)

8 cloves garlic

2 large yellow onions

1 large red onion

1 bunch green onions

1 jalapeño pepper

3 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper (add gradually to suit your taste)

3 Tbsp. ground cumin

3 Tbsp. paprika

3 dried ancho chili peppers (stems and seeds removed)

2 Tbsp. whole coriander

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bottle dark beer

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

Cilantro for garnish

Limes for garnish

1 cup sour cream

2 cups queso fresco (or shredded jack cheese)

Prep

Coarsely chop the red onions, yellow onions and garlic. Cut the chuck into ½ inch cubes. Remove the seeds and white membrane from jalapeño pepper and finely chop the remaining flesh. Finely chop the green onions and the ancho chili peppers. Slice the limes into wedges.

Cook

Place a stock pot over medium heat until it is very hot (3 minutes will do the trick) add the cubed beef and quickly brown on all sides. Add olive oil, garlic, red onions, yellow onions and jalapeño pepper and cook until onions are translucent. Add ground beef and brown completely. Add all herbs and dry ingredients, including ancho chilis. Add chocolate and stir until it is well mixed with the beef. Add ½ bottle of beer and tomatoes. Bring all to a simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.

Plate

Ladle chili into a large bowl and top with a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with cheese and green onions and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Laziness

I thought I was being lazy last night when I just slapped a chicken in the oven and forgot about it for an hour and an half. I trumped that tonight by munching on Domino's Pizza. I didn't even make the effort to call it in. Kitty handled that. I did however, get the plastic plates out of the cupboard and marshal the troops into cleaning off the coffee table so we wouldn't have to put the pizza boxes on the floor in the living room. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and accept the delivery of mediocrity (in thirty minutes or less).

Back Home Again

We returned home from our trip to Kitty's family's home in Cleveland, Mississippi today and the easiest thing I could think of to cook was a whole roasted chicken. I rubbed the bird down with the new Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning, trussed it up and popped it in a 400 degree oven for about 1.5 hours. I pured off most of the fat and deglazed the pan with some chicken broth and mounted the sauce with a pat of butter. After letting it rest, we served with some Italian Pole Beans and tall glass of diet coke. No fuss cooking that hit the spot.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Christmas Eve Memories and Recipes

Our Christmas meal spans a generation. When I was a little boy, my father commenced our custom of preparing a Standing Rib Roast with Yorkshire Pudding along with Mashed Potatoes and Butter-boiled Lady Peas. The whole thing was a production rivaling the best West-end dramas. Dad liked to cook the Yorkshire Pudding using the most traditional method...baking it in the pan with the roast. This required removing the roast from the oven when it was almost ready, pouring off most of the pan drippings, returning the roast to the pan (without the rack) and pouring the Yorkshire Pudding batter around the roast. When done properly, this is a sight to behold. The pudding bubbles up around the beef and browns along the bubble-tops and high spots. Despite its drama and beauty, this procedure has its drawbacks. First, the whole process is fraught with opportunities for mistakes as evidenced one year in our kitchen. I had gone back to the kitchen to refill my glass of water just as Dad was trying to remove the roast and tip the edge of the pan over towards a ridiculously small measuring cup. My presence startled him and the roast seemed to leap from the pan and onto the floor, where it landed with a splatty sound like a wet, fat man slipping and falling on a tile bathroom floor. Since he was still holding a scalding hot pan and trying to pour rendered beef fat into a tiny Pyrex vessel, he couldn’t immediately grab the beef, lying helplessly on the green slate floor. When the fat was poured off, he quickly turned his attention to the beef, reached down to retrieve it, and in his haste managed to kick it down the hall past the laundry room. I stood there watching this epic tragedy play out before me with my mouth agape and eyes open as wide as saucers. Just as Dad was picking the hot meat up with his hands and doing some form of the Hot Potato Jig, his Golden Retriever, Gumbo Roux brushed past me and began furiously licking the glistening, fatty trail left by the sliding roast. Dad gave me a look that let me know this was a matter to be kept between us. With the roast delivered back to its home in the roasting pan, Dad poured the Yorkshire pudding batter into the pan, around the roast and returned it to the oven. It puffed up beautifully and everyone oohed and ahhed as the finished product was brought into the dining room for all to see. No one was any the wiser, but I made sure to get a slice from the center of the roast.

My parents are gone now, but I still carry on the tradition of roasting a beautiful hunk of meat and preparing the finicky pudding, but I use muffin tins and cook the roast separately. Here are the recipes from our Christmas Feast.

Standing Rib Roast and Yorkshire Pudding

1 6 lb. rib roast (w/bone)

1 Tbsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. black pepper

2 cloves garlic

3 large eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup whole milk

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

1 stick butter

Prep-Roast

Allow roast to come to room temperature. Peel garlic and rub thoroughly onto entire roast. Rub salt and pepper onto all side of the roast with at least half going on the top layer of fat. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.

Prep-Pudding

Finely chop green onions and parsley. Melt butter in a large measuring cup. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and add the flour, salt and baking soda. Whisk the flour, salt and soda into the eggs and slowly add the milk. Add 1 Tbsp. of the parsley and 1 Tbsp of the green onions and whisk again. The mixture should be think, like pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours (overnight is best).

Cook-Roast

Place the roast on a rack in a deep roasting pan. Place in the center rack of the hot oven and cook for 12 minutes at 500 degrees. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and continue cooking for one hour and fifteen minutes. Remove the roast from the oven and check the temperature by inserting a thermometer into the center of the roast. For Medium-Rare, the thermometer should read 130 degrees. If the roast is not up to temp, just stick it back in the oven for ten minutes or so. You can keep doing this until the proper degree of doneness is reached. Remove the roast and allow it to rest while you prepare the Yorkshire Puddings. Carefully drain the pan drippings into the large measuring cup that holds the melted butter and mix thoroughly. Leave the oven turned on and heated to 375 degrees.

Cook-Pudding

Place a 12-muffin pan into the hot oven and allow it to heat for ten minutes. Remove the pudding batter from the refrigerator and whisk it briefly to re-blend all of the ingredients. Open the oven and slide out the rack that is holding the hot muffin tin. Spoon in about a tablespoon of the pan dripping/melted butter mixture and slide the rack back into the oven and heat for about five minutes or until it begins to smoke slightly. Open the oven and slide the rack out again. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 of the way to the top. The batter should sizzle as it is added. Close the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the pudding are puffed and golden brown. They should rise out of the tins, like popovers.

Plate

When the Yorkshire puddings are ready, carve the roast and serve with the hot puddings on a warmed plate. Garnish with the remaining parsley and green onions.

(Serves 6)

Christmas Feasting with the Family and Chane

Standing Rib Roast, Yorkshire Pudding, Butter-boiled Peas and Whipped White Vegetables. More details, recipes and stories to follow.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Bar Food and Leftover Ribs

No cooking tonight. I don't consider reheating in the mircowave to be cooking. Tonight was the "First Ink" party for my friend Jack Criss and the premiere issue of the Greater Jackson Business Journal. The event was at Sal & Mookie's and was well attended by contributors and advertisers. It was delightful catching up with some people I haven't seen in a while and meeting some new folks with common interests. Our food tonight was above-par bar nibbles. We had a paninni plate with several varieties of pressed sandwiches, some hot wings and fried ravioli. It all went well with cocktails. As bar food goes, Sal & Mookie's gets high marks.

When Kitty and I got home, we were still a bit hungry so I unwrapped the ribs from last night and nuked them a bit. They hit the spot. I would show a picture of the demolished bones, but it might be a little embarrassing for both me and the pig. Gnawed bones are rarely flattering.

Tomorrow is a big day. I'm cooking on Midday Mississippi (WLBT at noon) and cooking my favorite meal of the year, Standing Rib Roast and Yorkshire Pudding for the family before late church. I'll have plenty of pictures of that.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Communist Rocket Fuel

Our Communist friends to the South may have stumbled horribly with their attempt at a "Workers' Utopia," but the Cubans got two things VERY right...Cigars and Coffee!

My first introduction to Cafe Cubano was in (where else?) Little Havana, also knows as Calle Ocho, in Miami. I had read an article about some of the fantastic cigar shops tucked away in this classic neighborhood and wanted to explore them for myself. I hopped in a cab and simply asked the driver to take me to a place on Calle Ocho where I could get a great cigar. He dropped me on the corner of 8th and 11th, the epicenter of boutique cigar manufacturing. One one corner was the El Credito factory where they make La Gloria Cubana. Just down the street was El Rey de los Habanas, home of Don Pepin Garcia, a heralded master of the leaf and maker of Tatuaje cigars, perhaps my favorite stick, ever (you're welcome for the plug Pete). Across the street was a little garishly yellow building that looked as if it had been painted by a road crew with some spare center-line stripe paint. The sign read El Titan de Bronze. Never heard of 'em. Naturally, this is where I started my journey.

Inside, I was greeted by the proprietor, Don Carlos Cobas. He offered me a sample cigar, got one for himself and we sat at a little table in the corner of his shop to enjoy them together. His wife came out from the back room and offered to get us some coffee. What she came back with was incredibly strong and super sweet, with a hint of bitterness. I ended up buying several boxes of cigars from these people and developed a habit for great Cuban Coffee that is still with me as I write this article. Several years later, I even went into a business with Carlos' Grandson, Willy and we all remain friends to this day.

Making Cuban Coffee is a simple but precise process. You start by buying the right coffee. I suggest Cafe La llave, Cafe Bustelo, Cafe Pilon, Coffee Aroma or Cafe Oquendo. You can also use any espresso roast coffee  and grind it to the consistency of talcum powder. If it is not ground this fine, you won't get the intense flavor. Espresso grind is not fine enough. You have to keep going from there until your little grinder is begging for mercy. In a demitasse, mix three heaping spoonfuls of sugar with a small spoonful of old coffee and mix until you get a syrupy liquid with few visible coffee grains. Make the coffee as you would espresso with as much coffee as will fit in your machine and only enough water to make one demitasse of coffee. Pour the hot coffee into the sugar mixture and stir slightly. Drink quickly and hang on.

If you ever find yourself in Miami, take the time to venture down to Calle Ocho. Look for the yellow building on 8th and 11th and introduce yourself to the family at El Titan de Bronze. You'll be greeted like long lost friends and you'll see why these guys are the pride of the neighborhood. And if they offer you coffee, accept it!

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Great Ribs

Kitty (my beautiful wife) called me this morning to say that Kitty (my beautiful wife's aunt) had dropped by the office and left behind a bag filled with ribs. I dashed over to President Street to pick up the bag-o-ribs and get my Christmas honey-do list. I stopped by the house on my way to tackle the list and popped the two racks of ribs (wrapped tightly in foil) into a 185 degree oven.

After working on the list for the better part of the day, I returned to Devine Street and was greeted by the smell of pure deliciousness wafting from the kitchen. In our haste, we didn't get around to taking a picture of the ribs in the "before" configuration, so here's the "after."

We slathered them with Dreamland BBQ sauce and nearly wiped out both racks. When Kitty (the Aunt) called me this evening to let me know that she and Uncle Billy had tried my Coffee Rub, I asked her about the origin of the ribs. It turns out that there is a guy in Winona, Mississippi named Sid Vaughn who occasionally makes ribs and sells them by the slab to a select clientèle. It is now my mission to get on Sid's rib list. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Testing the New Poultry Rub

This week, I received a package in the mail from the company that blends our Ivy & Devine spices. In it was a sample of the new poultry and seafood blends. Last night I tried out the poultry mix on a whole chicken, cooked on the grill (indirect heat) with a pecan limb thrown in for some smokey flavor.

To truly test the blend, I used nothing on the chicken other than a healthy dose of the spice mix, so the recipe is very simple. Enjoy!

Spice Rubbed Chicken

2 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend
1 Whole chicken

Prep
Remove neck and organs from the cavity of the chicken. Pat dry with a paper towel, inside and out. Thoroughly rub the bird, inside and out, with Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend. Work the seasoning blend under the skin on the breast. Truss the bird to secure wings and legs. Light charcoal grill, gas grill or preheat oven to 400degrees. If cooking on a charcoal grill, make sure to put the hot coals only on one side, opposite the vent hole or stack. If using a gas grill, preheat only one side and leave the other in the off position.

Cook
Place the bird on the grill (indirect method) or in the hot oven. Cook until internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees and juices run clear. For a medium bird this could be from an hour and a half to an hour and forty five minutes. This may vay greatly depending on the heat of the grill and the size of the bird. I strongly suggest that you don't worry so much about the time and concentrate on the internal temp.

Plate
Carve chicken into quarters and serve on a warm plate.

Coffee Rub Fillet

From the emails I received, I think y'all want the recipes from last night. Well...here you go!


Coffee Rubbed Fillet 

4 thick cut fillet mignon (2”-2½”)

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 pats butter

Prep

Allow fillets to come to room temp, rub with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub and drizzle with olive oil. Preheat oven to 200° and heat plates while prepping and cooking.

Cook

Make sure that your grill surface is very hot. Cook steaks for about six or seven minutes to the side (for medium rare). Cover with foil and allow steaks to rest for five minutes after cooking.

Plate

Place a pat of butter on the hot plate and top with the steak.

White Vegetable Mash

2 Large Parsnips

1 Head Cauliflower

2 Medium Rutabaga

½ Stick Butter

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Chop all vegetables into 1” cubes.

Cook

Boil vegetables until fork tender. Pour off all but a small amount of the water. Whip* vegetables and slowly add cream until desired consistency is reached (all of the cream need not be used). Blend in butter and salt and pepper to taste.

*An immersion blender is the best way to achieve a whipped consistency.

Sautéed Mushrooms
1 box fresh button mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup good red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary
1 tsp. brown mustard
salt
pepper

Prep
Slice mushrooms and chop herbs and garlic.

Cook
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter and cook until it foams. Add garlic, mushrooms and herbs and cook until mushrooms begin to soften. Add wine, stock and mustard and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 of original volume.

Plate
Serve mushrooms and liquid from pan over steaks.

Results from the Souperbowl Contest

After church and before going on the radio today, I entered the annual Souperbowl Sunday contest at Saint Andrew's Cathedral in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. My entry was "Soup that Looks Like America" and with a name like that, I figured I was a cinch to take home the hardware. I must have underestimated my competition because I came in second place, behind a tie for first place split by Deaver Collins' "Roasted Leek and Potato Soup" and a "Stone Soup" concoction by Eula Stanley. Oh well...there's always next year!

Food on the Radio

This afternoon, I spent an hour on the radio with my friend, entertainer and radio host, Brad Franklin, better known as Kamikaze. We talked about food traditions, recipes, cooking tips and took calls from listeners with their own tales, comments and questions. For any of you who were listening and still have questions, just post them here or send an email.

Bon Appetit
~ Tom

Sometimes Only a Steak Will Do

Kitty said, "Let's order pizza and watch the Saints."

My reply was, "Nah...how about a steak?"

She grinned, licked her lips and I took off for McDades. I found a beautiful whole tenderloin on sale for $6.99/pound and jumped on that bad boy. I also picked up a little surprise for an appetizer

The final menu was: Shrimp and Scallions with Tarragon Ginger Citrus Sauce, Ultimate Wedge Salad, Coffee Rubbed Fillet Mignon with Sautéed Mushrooms, Lobster Cauliflower Mash and Steamed Broccoli.

It was all great and now I feel a food coma coming on. Recipes tomorrow when I regain consciousness.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

This recipe is only for those with patience

Soup that Looks Like America


(Making this soup is a multi-day process, so don't print out this recipe and try to make it on the same day you want to serve it.)

4 qt. ham stock

8 oz. dry black beans

8 oz. dry navy beans

8 oz. dry red beans

8 oz. dry pinto beans

4 stalks celery

2 yellow onions

6 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. thyme

1 tsp. rubbed sage

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 tsp. paprika

1 lb. smoked sausage

1 lb. ham (cooked or cured)

½ lb. bacon

1 bunch green onions

Salt

Black pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Prep

Soak beans in cool water (in separate containers) overnight. Drain, rinse and set aside. Chop celery, onions, garlic and green onions. Cut ham, sausage and bacon into ½” pieces.

Cook

In a large stock pot, cook bacon until browned and most fat is rendered. Add olive oil, onions, celery and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add ham and sausage and cook until slightly browned. Add thyme, sage, Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub and paprika. Stir until all herbs and seasonings are evenly distributed. Add beans and stir. Add enough ham stock to nearly fill pot. Set remainder aside. Cook over high heat until stock comes to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for three hours, adding stock if needed to maintain a liquid consistency. Roughly stir occasionally to break up some of the beans, but not all. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve when beans are soft.

Plate

Serve in a shallow bowl and top with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

*There are plenty of good commercially available ham stocks in the grocery store, but to make it from scratch just chop up two onions, one bunch of celery, one pod of garlic and add with a ham bone to a pot of boiling, salted water and cook for several hours. To me, the homemade stock makes all the difference between good and great.

Is it soup yet?

Oh yeah. It's soup. This one took all day. Actually, it took a couple of days since I started soaking the beans last night. As you may have read in the earlier post, I call this "Soup that Looks Like America" because of the white, black, brown and red beans. I'll let it rest in the fridge overnight and serve it after church on Sunday to the parishioners working to "green the cathedral." The Greening of the Cathedral has nothing to do with our carbon footprint, it is a great event where lots of folks help to hang the greenery for our big Christmas week services.

So if you are hungry for some hearty bean soup, made from ham stock cooked from scratch, come to Saint Andrew's Cathedral this Sunday. Dean Edward O'Connor will fill your soul and I'll fill your belly.

I'll post the recipe when I can grab some time to remember what I did and write it down.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Soup that Looks Like America

This Sunday, Saint Andrew's Cathedral in Downtown Jackson, Mississippi, is holding a cooking contest. Parishioners are asked to prepare their favorite soup recipe and bring it to the church to feed those who are participating in the "Greening of the Cathedral." Edward, the dean of our Cathedral, will judge the soups and declare a winner of  "Souper Bowl Sunday."

In keeping with the ethos of our Cathedral (inclusion, diversity, warmth etc.) I have come up with a new recipe that I call "Soup that Looks Like America." It is a hearty, slightly spicy, soup with black, white, brown and red beans. Some are large, some are small. Some are whole, some are broken. I'll post pictures and a recipe when it is done.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Tonight's Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 stalks celery
2 green bell peppers
1 large yellow onion
1 bunch green onions
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. Garam Masala powder
3 Tbsp. Madras curry powder
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1 cup Basmati rice
2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. butter

Prep
Roughly chop onions, bell peppers and celery. Cut chicken into 1" cubes. Finely chop green onions.

Cook
In a stock pot or large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat until it begins to smoke. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Add onions, celery, and bell peppers. Cook vegetables until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes, coconut milk, salt, spices and chicken stock and bring to simmer. Add peanut butter and sugar. Cook for 30 minutes until liquid is reduced by 1/4 of its original volume.

In a medium saucepan, combine rice and two cups of water and bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover and cook for 18 minutes.

Plate
Spoon rice into a shallow bowl and top with curry. Garnish with green onions and raisins (if desired).

Curry by Request

I asked my daughter what one dish she wanted on the occasion of her "welcome back from college" dinner. Her answer was a big 'ol pot of curry. The curry is on the stove and the house smells like a street fair in Pondicherry. I'll put a recipe and picture up later.

Request from a facebook friend

Here is a low-carb recipe requested from one of my facebook friends.


Bon Appetit!
~Tom


Low-Carb Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. Italian sausage

5 large bell peppers

1 large yellow onion

½ cup black olives

¼ cup capers

1 leek

4 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. fresh oregano

1 Tbsp. dried basil

1 large can tomato sauce

1 medium can chopped tomatoes

½ head cauliflower

salt

pepper

4 oz. Romano Cheese

Prep

Chop oregano, onions, one of the bell peppers, olives, leeks and garlic. Cut cauliflower into quarters and remove stalk and hard center. Shred most of the Romano Cheese, reserving some for garnish. Cut remaining bell peppers in half, lengthwise. Remove stems, seeds and pith.

Cook

Pre-heat oven to 375°. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring water to a boil in a second large saucepan. Add olive oil and heat for one minute. Add onions, chopped peppers, leeks and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent. Add meats and brown completely. While meat is browning, boil cauliflower until slightly softened to the consistency of rice. Drain cauliflower and lightly mash into pieces the size of rice. Add olives, capers, oregano and basil to the ground beef and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes ½ of Romano Cheese and crushed cauliflower. Cook for five minutes.

Place bell pepper halves into a deep baking dish. Stuff mixture into bell pepper halves and spread remaining mixture around and on top of the peppers. Top with remaining Romano cheese. And bake for 30 minutes.

Plate

Place the stuffed peppers in the center of the plate and top with shaved or grated Romano cheese.

(Serves 6)

Noodle Soup

No, not the kind in a can. I'm talking about steaming hot, meat on the side, in a bowl as big as your head, Vietnamese noodle soup from Saigon on Lakeland Drive.  That will be my next meal. I'm having lunch with a TV producer friend of mine to talk about the possibility of doing a pilot for a cooking/travel/entertaining/interview show. Stay tuned...stranger things have happened...undefeated Saints, early snow in Jackson, you just never know what could be around the corner!

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

A Day Filled with Cooking (or why just driving down Devine Street today will make you fat)

I was doing my monthly "big shopping" at the grocery store yesterday (as opposed to my daily "little shopping") and saw that pot roast was on sale. Dinner solved. After checking out with my basket that looked like I was feeding the crew of the USS Enterprise, I came home to discover that my freezer had no room for the frozen stuff. The culprit? Turkey and chicken bones dating back to Thanksgiving. So, I donned by black and whites and started a full day of cooking pot roast and chicken stock. I was so in the cooking spirit that I even made four dozen cookies, and I generally don't bake. 


Here is the recipe for Dark Beer Pot Roast, which was served over a cauliflower mash. This is one of those "hey look what I found in the fridge" recipes that came together as I was making it. I hope you enjoy!


Dark Beer Pot Roast

1 5 lb. pot roast

1 large yellow onion

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

2 turnips

8 mushrooms

6 cloves garlic

8 Pepperoncini Peppers (optional)

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. thyme

1 12 oz. bottle dark beer*

1 32 oz. container beef stock*

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Roughly chop onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms and garlic. Peel and roughly chop turnip. Season roast with salt and pepper.

Cook

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and continue heating until oil smokes. Add seasoned pot roast and brown on both sides. Add chopped vegetables (and peppers, if desired) and transfer to oven. With the oven open and the skillet on the middle rack, add beer, herbs and ½ tsp. black pepper. Add beef stock until liquid is almost to the rim of the skillet. Top loosely with foil and cook for 2 hours. Slide out the oven rack, turn the meat and stir the vegetables. Add more liquid to cover vegetables an cook for an additional 2 hours or until the meat tears apart with a fork.

Plate

Serve meat over some form of starch (toast, rice, mashed potatoes, or mashed cauliflower) and top with vegetables and some of the cooking liquid.

*Turbo Dog from Abita is my usual choice, but any good dark beer will do fine. I generally use the Kitchen Basics brand which comes in a 32 oz. waxed-cardboard container.

(Serves 8)

Welcome and Bon Appetit!

I communicate with food. Serving the right dish can say so much without a single word. With food, you can offer condolences, soothe hurt feelings, express adoration and ask for forgiveness. Food can be as basic as sustenance or elaborate to the point of wretched excess. In this blog I hope to explore all that I can about myself and the foods I encounter. I hope you will join me in this journey.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom