Last Night I made the Beef Stroganoff recipe we were given at the cooking class on Monday night. To warn you in advance this recipe is all about taste, not so much on being healthy. It calls for quite a bit of heavy cream and sour cream. This dish is very rich and is perfect for a cold day. I’m a bit short on time so I will update this post and add the recipe next week. I’m away this weekend so there will not be any posts for the next few days.
My dad is in a beer of the month club, and yes it’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year. I used the Fordham Brewing Company’s Helles Lager as the base for a pan sauce to serve over chicken. To cook the chicken I seasoned it with salt and pepper, then cooked it until done in a pan. After the chicken was finished I sauteed shallots and garlic then deglazed the pan with the beer. I reduced it down by half then added the home made chicken stock. after reducing the mixture down to 3/4 I added whole grain mustard and heavy cream. The sauce was delicious and matched up well with the chicken. Aside from being great to cook with, the beers from Fordham brewing company are also great for drinking. You can find a link to their site below.
I had sticky toffee pudding the first time I went to England and it quickly became on of my favorite desserts. This recipe is a bit more advanced. The toffee sauce and the creme anglaise take a lot of attention while preparing them, but in the end it is all worth it. This dish is extremely rich and is great for a special occasion. Each part of this dessert can be made in advance and warmed up when ready to serve. The recipe for the sticky toffee pudding is below. I found the recipe for the vanilla creme anglaise in the book Modern Sauces, a cook book which I highly recommend picking up. Enjoy this one, after making it once it has instantly become a go to dish.
I went back and updated two of the recipes. I just wanted to improve a few things from the first time I made them. Most of the improvements are small but make a big difference in the finished product. Enjoy!
Continuing on with my homework assignment from the cooking classes, I took the chicken carcass from the other night and made a chicken stock. The recipe is very simple, the only difficult part of the recipe is that it takes 4-5 hours to make. You can use the stock as a soup or you can use it in sauces or other dishes you decide to cook. If you have the time I would recommend trying to make your own chicken stock.
After practicing breaking down the chicken I decided to make a spicy honey brushed chicken. This dish is very simple and can be prepared in a few different ways. First you can either only use chicken thighs, or you can mix it up with various chicken pieces. Then when it comes to cooking the chicken you can either use the grill, broiler, or oven. Whatever way you choose to cook it you can’t go wrong. Right before the chicken is finished cooking you brush it with a honey sauce that glazes over the chicken giving it a sweet taste that is then complimented by the slight spiciness of the rub. I hope you give this dish a try!
I saw a recipe very similar to this the other week and wanted to make it. However, it turns out Sichuan peppercorns are quite difficult to find and after visits to many supermarkets I came up with nothing. I wound up getting the peppercorns off of Amazon. They were well worth the purchase. They give of a tingly and numbing spiciness that I had never tasted before. This dish bring a lot of heat, but the sensation of the peppercorns makes the heat from the chilies tolerable. This dish is best served over rice noodles. If you want to try a new Chinese dish and you like spicy food I recommend giving this dish a shot.
After experimenting with the duck dish earlier in the week I wanted to make something that used the duck fat I had saved. In the end I decided to make a Normandy style pan sauce to put over pork chops. This sauce is very rich and packs a lot of flavor. It would go well over chicken and lamb as well so feel free to mix it up.
I’m continuing on with experimenting with new dishes on Tuesday. This is the first time I have ever attempted cooking duck. To start I scored the fatty side of the duck with a knif then seasoned it with kosher salt and black pepper. I then heated a pan over high heat until I could barely hold my hand 2 inches over the pan. I then reduced the heat to medium high and placed the duck, fatty side down, in the pan and cooked it for 7 min, turning the heat to medium low after 3 min. I then flipped the duck over and cooked for another 6-7 min. I suggest using a meat thermometer to make sure the duck gets to 145 degrees F before removing it from the pan. Once done place on a plate and cover with foil. Return the pan to medium heat and add 1/4 cup honey, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and salt to taste. Cook sauce down for 3-4 min then add duck again to coat. Take remaining sauce and drizzle on duck when serving. Hope you guys enjoy!
I will be posting a collection of easy yet impressive recipes tomorrow just in time for Valentines Day.
Hope everyone is doing well. I’ve been messing around with this recipe for a while now and have finally found the perfect balance between heat and flavor. While this soup is spicy it is in no way over powering. I have found that rib eye works best in this soup but skirt or flank steak can also be used. The most important part of making this soup is making sure it does not boil once the beef stock is added. If it boils the broth will become cloudy and the beef will be on the tougher side. If you make it I hope you enjoy it! Tomorrow is pancake day in England so stay tuned for an early morning post so you can make them tomorrow evening!
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