Crostini

Yesterday I made kind of a ciabatta bread. Love my kitchenaid mixer, it makes cooking easier especially when it comes to making doughs. Once the dough took hold I let it rest for about ten minutes. Then I started kneading the dough in the mixer. I added fresh cut parsley and basil to give it a nice herb flavor.

I finished kneading and shaping by hand then let the dough "proof" on the counter top. I brushed the top with a corn starch and water mixture then scored the top about 1/2 inch deep. Then I baked it for 60 minutes.

Since we were making fresh pasta ravioli for dinner, I used the bread for garlic bread.

Crostini means little toast, I think.

So for dinner, I sliced the bread thin and put a garlic infused butter on top with parmesan cheese, sun dried tomatoes and pesto. I came out delicious. the crust was good and the inside was perfect.

I love the smell of bread baking. I need to make it at home more often I think.

Like Twisted Sister said "I wanna Wok!"

I am a huge fan of Asian cuisine. I enjoy it all, chinese, thai, japanese etc. I make a lot of asian food at home. Everybody is always happy when I cook asian recipes. Rob loves the hot and sour soup, egg rolls, crab rangoon. Cale loves the fried rice and Colt loves the chicken tempura.

I try to be as authentic as I can be. So I bought a nice steel wok. You can get non-stick woks but I prefer the steel woks. One things you have to keep in mind is that you have to season steel wok like you do with cast iron.

When you buy a new steel wok you should wash it in warm soapy water to remove and chemicals or oils left from the manufacturing process.

You need to dry it thoroughly. I season mine on my turkey cooker burner. I highly recommend doing outside because of the fumes and smoke. There videos on youtube about seasoning a wok. Once it is seasoned properly it should be virtually non-stick.

When you are done cooking with your wok, you need to wash it out with hot water, "do not use soap." Dry it completely and apply a light coat of cooking oil. This will keep your wok from rusting.

Go ahead and whip up some shrimp fried rice. MMMMMMM

"Wok and Woll!"

My restaurant menu if I had a restaurant

Appetizers
shrimp scampi
ceasar salad
crostini with sun dried tomatoes and basil pesto and garlic


Entrees

Beef or pork wellington
chicken cordan bleu
grilled salmon
hand made spaghetti
steamed lobster tail

sides

herbed smashed potatoes
sauteed mushrooms and peppers
steamed vegetables i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, julienne carrots
rice pilaf

desserts

crepes suzette
canoli
lemon curd in phyllo cups
bananas foster maybe



This menu is just brainstorming and having fun. Any suggestions?

Sorry for the typo

I meant under vacuum. Duh my brain had a hiccup

Sous Vide cooking

Sous vide is French for "under pressure." If any of you watch Iron Chef then I am sure you have seen chefs vacuum seal food then drop it into an immersion heater. The food is cooked at low temperatures for an extended amout of time. The following is a definition from Wikipedia.


Sous-vide (pronounced /suːˈviːd/),[1] French for "under vacuum",[1] is a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures. Food is cooked for a long time, sometimes well over 24 hours. Unlike cooking in a slow cooker, sous-vide cooking uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below boiling point (usually around 60°C or 140°F).

Without the right equipment it would be difficult to do at home. You would have to constantly maintain the same temp throughout the cooking process. I don't think i will be trying this at home.

Make mine a chelada

A chelada is a special way of serving beer in Mexico. I love it. It's cold, it's refreshing and you won't get scurvy.

The tradional recipe calls for beer, salt and lime. What Prospero of the Barracuda bar served me was awesome for the summer heat and beach.

Here's the recipe he used

1.get a standard pilsner glass
2. wet and salt the rim
3. fill with ice
4. add a pinch of salt,
5. add a dash of lemon juice
6. squeeze out the juice of half of a lime slice and add lime slice to glass
7. add your favorite beer
8.stir and serve.

It's great on a hot day.

First Meal in Mexico This trip

Our flight left at 0645 so we had to be at the airport by about 0515. Because of that we didn't get the continental breakfast at the hotel. Luckily we thought ahead and packed a lot of snacks in our carry ons. They has a "deli box" on the plane for $7.00. We passed and ate our snacks.

We hit the hotel and were famished. So after dropping our bags off in the room, we headed out to forage for some grub. There were several restaurants at the resort and the first one we came across was called the "Worl Cafe." It was a buffet style meal as you will see in most all inclusive resorts.

We were starving so we dove right in and started grazing. I started with a salad and some orugi maki sushi. It had octopus and avacado in it, delicious. I finished off my lunch with a beef cutlet, pico de gallo and a few cabbage rolls. It was all good and there was plenty of it.

There are more mexico food posts to come. Hope you enjoy.

Rosati's Authentic Chicago Pizza since 1964

I recently returned from a trip to Huatulco, Mexico. I had plenty of great food but that will wait for a new post.

I flew out of chicago. After arriving late friday afternoon, we went back to the hotel and decided to order pizza for dinner. The clerk recommended two of her favorites so my wife brought back two menus that her and the boys looked at and decided to order from Rosati's.they decided that since we were in Chicago, we should have Chicago style pizza.

I have never been a big fan of Chicago style pizza. I prefer to eat my pizza with my hands not a shovel and and a pitch fork. they ordered a meat lovers pizza, breadsticks, garlic bread and had a coupon for a free small spaghetti. The food arrived about 45 minutes later.

Rosati's didn't scrimp on the food. The pizza was huge, and I guess weighed about 15 pounds. the menu said it would feed 4 people, Those four people must have been Chicago Bears football players. The free small spaghetti was a nice size casserole dish full. We had plenty of food to go around.

There were roasted tomatoes on the top in the sauce. I liked that, but that was the high light of the meal. there were burnt pieces of bacon on top. The bacon made the pizza pie way too salty for my taste. I like canadian bacon on my pizza but not regular bacon. The hamburger had a bit of a wang taste to it. I didn't set well with me.

Overall I wasn't impressed with the pizza and didn't even finish my first piece. Next I moved on to the spaghetti. Once again not impressed. there wasn't very much sauce and once again the food tasted too salty. The spaghetti was better than the pizza.

We had plenty of leftovers from the pizza and the spaghetti.

That was my experience with Rosati's of Chicago. Guess we should have wen't back to the Spaghetti Warehouse. LOL

Food Safari

While I am at the computer enjoying a steak fajita, I am looking forward to our vacation. We are traveling to an all inclusive resort in Huatulco, Mexico. I can't wait to taste the food and see the cooking techniques. Hopefully I can access the internet and update my blog about the food. I hope to take lots of pix and vids.

Enjoy

I have successfully made cheese in the kitchen

I have made cheese. So I guess now I'm a cheesehead. But I am not a Packers Fan!!!!! I started with 1 quart of milk, 1 cup of cultured buttermilk and 2 tsp of lemon juice. It came out with a texture like that of ricotta. I added fresh minced garlic and fresh basil. It is now chilling in the fridge to let it stiffen up and the flavors to meld.

If you want the recipe, let me know. The entire process took less than an hour.

Stalks stems and florets

I am a huge raw veggie fanatic. I snack all morning long on raw veggies. The usual suspects are cucumbers and tomatoes. But I don't stop there. I may have broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, even zuchini.

When it comes to broccoli and cauliflower, my favorite parts are the stems or stalks. They have a wonderful concentrated flavor. A lot of people that buy fresh veggies have a tendency to discard the stalks and stems. Not me. If I am cooking the veg then I include the stems.

I am also a big fan of cabbage hearts. Not much goes to waste around here. I use everything from the florets to the hearts. Celery is also another favorite, works great in Bloody Marys.

There is nothing like fresh veggies. So get out of the can and into produce aisle.