Tag Archives: cooking

Asian Beef Rolls

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I found a recipe similar to this in Cooking Light Magazine, I tweaked it a little but it still stays true to the original. This recipe is a bit tedious to prep but very simple to cook.

To put rolls together place 1 steak slice on a cutting board and place 3 pieces of green onion and 3 pieces of red pepper on steak then roll. Place completed beef rolls on baking sheet.

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Then coat grill pan with cooking spray then heat pan over medium-high heat. Place beef rolls in pan, seem side down and cook for 3 min. Then turn and cook for an additional 3 minutes. While beef rolls are cooking bring reserved marinade and remaining rice wine vinegar to a boil and reduce by about half. pour sauce over rolls then serve.

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This recipe is great to make for game day. They are bite size and offer an alternative to wings and a six foot hoagie. For full recipe see the link below, Enjoy!

Asian Beef Rolls

 

Poached Shrimp in Old Bay Butter

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This shrimp recipe is very simple and very quick to prepare and makes for a great appetizer. You can also use the Old Bay Butter to toss steamed crabs in before you serve them.

To Poach the shrimp you combine water, wine, pickling spice, garlic, and parsley in a pot then bring mixture to a boil. The measurements for each ingredient is going to depend on the size of the pot you are using. I just eyeballed everything until it looked right. Let the mixture boil for 4-5 mins to allow the flavors to develop. (see picture below)

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After mixture has boiled remove pot from heat and add shrimp. Poach the shrimp for ~ 5 min until the shrimp are pink and firm. Then remove the shrimp from the poaching liquid and set aside (See pictures below)

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Next melt butter in a small sauce pan. After butter melts add sherry and Old Bay. Simmer for 30 seconds to cook off alcohol in sherry. Add shrimp and coat with butter sauce then serve and enjoy. The shrimp should be lightly coated with the Old Bay Butter, not soaked in it. This dish is very quick and simple and a fun alternative to traditional steamed shrimp. To see a full list of ingredients and approximate measurement follow the link to the recipe page. Enjoy!

Poached Shrimp in Old Bay Butter

Chicken with Spicy Ginger Soy Reduction

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Asian chicken

I recently experimented with creating an Asian inspired sauce for chicken. I was surprised at how this sauce turned out, reducing the soy sauce brings develops a very savory flavor in this sauce and the addition of the garlic chili sauce lends a nice heat. The only downside to this sauce is that it is a bit thin, to fix this you need to add some flour to bring it to your desired consistency. You can serve this dish with Spicy Ginger Noodles and snow or snap peas.

Chicken with Spicy Ginger Soy Reduction

Spicy Ginger Noodles

Cooking Class Week 5: Shell Fish

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oysters

Tonight’s class focused on shellfish. I finally learned how to properly shuck an oyster. It took a few attempts but by the end I was able to pick up the technique. To shuck an oyster you hold it in a towel in your hand, cup of the oyster facing down. You then take the oyster knife and push it through the heel of the oyster. Once the knife gets through the heel you twist the knife to pop the shell. You then move the knife across the top shell to separate it from the oyster. Then after taking the top shell off you cut the oyster free from the bottom shell. I chose to cook Oysters Florentine tonight in order to practice the shucking technique.

The chef also taught us a few simple recipes for shrimp, clams, and crab that I will highlight in future posts

Guinness Reduction Part 2

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steak and shrimp

Inspired by St. Patrick’s Day I worked on perfecting the Guinness pan sauce that I made a few weeks ago. Before cooking the steaks I took 4 cups of beef stock, carrots, celery, garlic, and onions and placed them in a saucepan; I then reduced the broth by half to build more flavor in the stock. After fortifying the stock I cooked the steaks in the pan. I sauteed half a shallot then deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of Guinness. I reduced the Guinness by 2/3 then added the fortified beef broth. I simmered the sauce for ~2 min then added 1tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbs soy sauce, salt, and chopped fresh parsley. I let the sauce simmer for another 2 min then added 1 tbs unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp truffle butter. I then did a final taste to get the salt level right. I then served the sauce over the steak.

To cook the shrimp I took a cast iron skillet and cooked 4 pieces of bacon. I then added the shrimp, which I seasoned with Old Bay and cooked them in the bacon grease.

Guinness

Grilled Garlic Chili Snapper

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snapper

I have wanted to try this recipe for a while now but could not find banana leaves to wrap the fish in. I gave up on finding banana leaves last night and improvised by just wrapping the fish in tin foil, in the future I will make this dish with the banana leaves and upload new pictures becasue this picture does not do the dish justice. The ginger soy marinade on the fish gave a subtle flavor that carried throughout the dish and complimented the garlic chili oil that is poured over the fish at the very end. When picking a chili to use in the oil find one that is tolerable to eat. There are big pieces of pepper all over the place and you do not want to make it too spicy to eat. The recipe called to deseed the pepper but I left the seeds in one pepper and removed them from the second one to give it a bit more kick. I would recommend making this in the summer when it is warmer out, it has a great tropical feel to it.

Grilled Garlic Chili Snapper

Pan Cooked Chicken in Pale Ale Bacon Reduction Sauce

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Pale Ale chicken

Tonight I continued my series in cooking with beer. The beer featured in this recipe is the Blue Heron pale ale from the Mendocino Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs, NY. I chose their pale ale because I thought its flavor would work better with chicken. Their beer is also great for drinking. The pale ale very good but my favorite beer the have is the red tail ale.

The recipe for the sauce has the same proportions for many of the other pan sauces I have made. You can get creative and switch out different ingredients to build new flavors.  Their pale ale and the bacon in this sauce worked great with each other and built a very complex flavor into the sauce. You can also use this sauce with beef or pork. However if you are making it for beef substitute beef broth for the chicken broth. You can find the recipe below as well as a link to the Mendocino Brewing Company’s website.

Pan Cooked Chicken in Pale Ale Bacon Reduction Sauce

Mendocino Brewing Company

Salmon with Maple Bourbon Glaze

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salmon

This past weekend I went to my good friend Bill’s bachelor party. We went to a cabin in western PA and the weekend was full of good times,drinks, and food. While we were cooking dinner I decided to make a sauce using whatever I could find in the kitchen. I combined 1 cup bourbon, 1 3/4 cups maple syrup, 1/2 cup sugar then salt, pepper, and cinnamon to taste. I simmered the sauce for ~25 min for it to reduce then poured it over the salmon after it was finished cooking. I also have to give credit to John for cooking the salmon perfectly.

Beef Stroganoff

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Beef Stroganoff

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.

Recipe Updates

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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!

Chicken Stock

Sichuan Boiled Beef