For the Superbowl last weekend I made these pork dumplings. They are quite easy to put together and make a good party dish. I had to mess around with the dipping sauce a bit because the first attempt came out too vinegary. This is a good dish to make if you are having a few people over, it’s even better if they want to pitch in and help put the dumplings together! Enjoy!
These omelet bites are a great portable breakfast that can be made early in the week and enjoyed for the next few days. You can experiment with the fillings but stick to the measurements of eggs and egg whites. If you are going to add cheese sprinkle it on at the very end so it can melt over the top. Enjoy!
This sandwich is perfect for a football party. There is quite a bit of prep time, but most of that can be done the day before. The jus is quite sweet from the onion but also has good savory flavor and really makes the sandwich. The double baking of the bread makes the crust crispy but the inside of the roll soft. All of the ingredients in the sandwich compliment each other well and the jus compliments the sandwich perfectly. You can find the recipe below.
This past weekend I finally made beef wellington. This dish has been on my list of dishes to try ever since seeing it on MasterChef. I did a lot of preparation and research before making this dish so I could understand all the steps involved in making such a complex dish. I combined a few different recipes but this video was a big help in seeing how to execute some of the more technical aspects of this meal, beef wellington video. This recipe is for special occasions. It takes a lot of time to prep but in the end it turns out great. just make sure to take your time as you work through the recipe and trust your meat thermometer. For a nice medium rare pull the wellington out of the oven when the internal temperature reaches 125. As the roast rests it the temp will rise to 130-135. When cutting the wellington use a sharp chef’s knife to prevent the pastry from shredding and falling off. Enjoy.
Earlier this year I went down to Richmond, VA to visit my sister. While I was there we went to Edo’s Squid, a hole in the wall restaurant in Richmond. While we were there my sister got an amazing tuna dish and I asked the waitress how they made the sauce that was served with it. This was my attempt at their dish, and from what I can remember it came very close to the one I had in Richmond. To cook the tuna I used the Himalayan salt blocks and seared the tune for a little over a minute a side. To make the Tamari butter sauce I combined butter Tamari soy sauce, lemon juice, and black pepper; then I reduced the sauce and added a bit of flour to thicken it. This sauce is not as salty as soy sauce because the Tamari soy sauce adds a deeper richer flavor that regular soy sauce. I served the tuna over wild rice. Enjoy!
Tomorrow morning I am going to the open casting call for MasterChef in Philadelphia. I have been working on the dish that I will be presenting for a few weeks now and am finally happy with how it tastes and how it looks when plated. Coming up with this dish was a fun experience. It allowed me to work with blending and mixing flavors as well as helped me with plating creativity. I’m very excited for this opportunity and will write about my experience at the casting call in an upcoming blog post. For right now I’m keeping the dish I am submitting a secret but I will also write about the process I went through to create the dish in a future post.
I was in the grocery store the other day and saw they had lobsters on sale so I picked one up. This grilled lobster dish is a very quick and easy lobster recipe. Turn on or light your grill. Take a knife and kill the lobster then cut it in half. Grill lobster over medium heat for 4 minutes. Flip the lobster and baste with the Garlic Thyme butter (recipe below). Then move to indirect heat for three minutes and baste with butter again. It is a very simple dish to make and tastes incredible. The lobster I used weighed 1.5 lbs so if your lobster is larger the cooking time may vary. Enjoy!
Garlic Thyme Butter:
1 Stick Butter, melted
2 Cloves Garlic
Juice of Half a Lemon
2 Tbs Fresh Thyme or 1 Tbs Dried Thyme
Combine ingredients in small bowl.
Yesterday I tweaked the Cajun Shrimp recipe and served it over pasta. Like the original recipe I poached the shrimp in the water, wine, pickling spice mixture. I also sauteed up a bunch of veggies like peppers, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and spinach. You could add any other vegetables you want. To make the sauce I combined four tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup sherry, 2/3 cup shrimp stock, and 2 tablespoons Cajun spice; stirring until the butter melts and everything is incorporated. When you saute the vegetables use the Cajun sauce instead of butter or oil. Cook the shrimp, vegetables and pasta then mix together and pour sauce over. This was a last minute throw together dish last night that turned out surprisingly well. It’s relatively simple and allows for a lot of creativity, Enjoy!
Here is a quick and easy dinner to make on a weekday night.You will find the recipe for the honey beer sauce below. The ingredients are pretty common and because it is a pan sauce you can have some fun experimenting with other ingredients. This chicken goes well with sauteed spinach and wild rice especially if you put some whole grain mustard in with the sauteed spinach. Enjoy!
*Spoiler Alert
This post will be much different than my usual food posts. I started watching Breaking Bad early on and thought it was fantastic. I was happy to see how popular it became as the last half of season five premiered this summer and loved even more as its popularity grew from week to week. For the longest time I was 100% a supporter of The Wire as being the best television series I had ever watched. After yesterday, Breaking Bad now holds that top spot in my opinion. I loved every second of the finale. Vince Gilligan wrapped up every loose end imaginable, which was perfect for Breaking Bad. Walt was able to provide financially for his family with the help of Grey Matter. The best hit men West of the Mississippi moment was classic Walt using his wit to make sure his final wishes were completed. Walt finally admitting that he didn’t do all of this for his family but for himself was great. He finally stopped lying to himself and his family in that moment. My favorite aspect of the finale was how the story ended for Jesse. I think every Breaking Bad fan was happy that he was able to kill Todd for everything he put him through. Although it was predictable that scene was so fulfilling. Jesse finally standing up to Walt and not killing him I felt fortified Jesse as the only force of good in the dark world of Breaking Bad. He said he didn’t want anyone else to die and stuck too it. Although you are lying to yourself if you didn’t think he was going to run Walt down with his car a few times as he pulled away. All in all I was very pleased with how Breaking Bad was wrapped up, sad to know that the show is over but I enjoyed the ride. And Yes I made Blue Sky rock Candy.
And Yes I made Blue Sky rock Candy.
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