Osso Buco with Creamy Polenta and Gremolata

Yes, yes, I know it has been forever since I posted anything (actually over a year).  I have been trying to follow the idea of less talking more doing. For the most part, this has been a very productive approach.  Now I am kind of swinging the other direction. More talking, more relaxing...

Dilly Beans

Fresh Dill Smells Amazing.

Ok. Clean and prep your green beans. This is about two pounds, ends clipped and cut to length.
You're going to want to leave at least a quarter of an inch of headspace in your jars, so none of your beans should be longer than that.

Here's a few seasonings.
I think the dried chiles are pretty bland, so I talked Miranda into letting me put a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper in as well for a touch of heat. The cayenne is variable. Just depends on how hot you like it.

Here's another shot of the prep. Each jar gets a clove of garlic, a pepper/cayenne, a head of dill, and beans.
Speaking of which, you can use either pints or quarts...
We're using quarts.

Pack the beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving the quarter inch of headspace.
Mix and bring to a boil 2.5 cups of vinegar, 2.5 cups water, and 1/4 cup canning/pickling salt. Pour mixture over beans, leaving a quarter inch headspace.
Remove any air bubbles and cap, then process ten minutes in a boiling water bath.

Cooling on the counter.

Lettuce Wraps ( Like Changs but way better)

Wash/dry lettuce. I like Butter.

Mix up a nice drizzle sauce. Soy, rice vinegar, fresh grated ginger etc.

Chop some Fungus and green onion.

Sear and chop chicken into small pieces.

Return to pan and saute with veg and fungus. Don't forget to add some Waterchestnuts for crunch and to throw in a nice stir fry sauce.

Serve with some sauces and some bean sprouts.

Very, very Tasty.

St Patricks Day Dinner

I know for many this may be considered sacrilige but this year there was no Corned Beef, Cabbage, Irish Cheddar or even Soda Bread at my house... This year I Grilled up some Steaks, Had Garlic Mash Potatoes, sauted Mushrooms & Onions and a fresh Jicama & Herb Salad with Cumin Lime dressing. Yum!

Sesame 5 Spice Tuna with Garlic Ginger Bok Choy

Toast some Sesame Seeds in a dry skillet to deepen flavor
(2 handfuls)

Mix Toasted Sesame with Chinese 5 spice (1 Tbsp)
a pinch of Kosher Salt and some fresh cracked Pepper


Coat Yellowfin Tuna Steaks lightly with oil then Sesame Seed Mixture


Two Cloves Garlic Minced

3 inch piece of fresh ginger cut into matchsticks

Baby Bok Choy quartered

Saute Crushed Red Peppr, Garlic and Ginger in oil briefly then add Bok Choy and 2 Tbsp low sodium Soy sauce. Saute until Bok Choy is bright green

Grill Tuna. 1-2 minutes a side. Tuna should be very rare.

Serve with a side of Jasmine Rice.

Emptiness can be beautiful...

Beefy Beef and Vegetable Soup

1 lb Tri-Tip steak cut into 1/2" cube
2 Tbsp Soy or Tamari Sauce
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Large Onion chopped
1 lb Mushroom chopped
2 clove Garlic minced
2 Tbsp Tomatoe paste
1/2 cup red wine (perhaps a nice Beaujolais Villages)
4 cup Beef broth
1 3/4 cup Chicken broth
2 Carrot chopped
2 Celery chopped
1 Bay leaf
1 Tbsp Gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

Bloom Gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water

Marinate Beef in Soy sauce

Chop Onions

Mushrooms

Carrots & Celery


Saute Onions & Mushrooms well in 1 tsp Olive Oil. (8-12 min) Remove from pot.


Sear Beef until well browned. (6 minutes ish)

Add in Minced Garlic, Tomatoe paste, Red Wine, Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Celery and Bay leaf as well as the Mushrooms & Onions. Bring to a light boil and simmer for 25 Minutes. When soup is ready remove from heat and stir in Gelatin until dissolved. This step is essential in creating that smooth mouth feel... Garnish with fresh chopped Parsley and serve.

Enjoy!

Bitter Pasta with Teriyaki Tofu

Start with some e.v.o.o. and a little cooks oil...


boil 4oz or so whole wheat pasta because you can't find soba noodles.


Fry some garlic in the e.v.o.o.


Add in some sliced red onion


Add in some sliced Belgian Endive

Add in some sliced Radicchio and some red wine vinegar

And some sliced Heart of Palm

Drain and press your extra firm Tofu under weight then marinate Tofu in Teriyaki sauce.
Fry quickly and top your pasta

Serve Bitter Endive Radicchio Pasta with Teriyaki Tofu and a side of sweet chili Sauce for some spicy sweetness.

Falafel

Tabbouleh


Fixins


Put it all together Butter Lettuce, Red Onion, Cucumbers, Fresh Dill and Falafel topped with a yogurt sauce (yogurt, Lemon Juice, minced Garlic, diced cucumbers, chopped fresh Dill) with the Tabbouleh on the side. Yumm Yumm.

Greek Style Steaks with misc. Grilled Veggies and Herbed Goat Cheese

Slice assorted summer veg into 1/4 inch thick slabs for the grill.

Baste with a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic using a sprig of fresh Rosemary as your brush, topping with a sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper as they cook.

Remove from grill and allow to cool.

Rub steaks with a mix of 1/3 cup Oregano, 2 tbsp Dill, 1/3 cup Salt, 1/3 cup cracked Pepper and 2 tbsp olive oil. this makes enough for 8-10 lbs meat. save what you dont use in a jar in the fridge.

Grill.

Allow meat to rest.

Slice Baguette.

Spread Goat Cheeseinside Baguette.

Stuff Baguette with misc. grilled summer veg.

Allow veg juices to soak into bread.

Squeeze fresh lemon on top.

Serve with Greek style steak

Goat Cheese and Lemon wedges.

Tacos de Lengua

So I went to Jr's Tacos with my Dad yesterday. While I was there in the barrio, I had an uncommon and foodborne flash of lucidity brought on by the eating of my tacos.

I do enjoy the barrio... I enjoy the culture... I enjoy the people...

but...

Why am I not making this on my own?

So after we were done eating, off we went to the Mexican Market. Heads of cabbage were 25¢, so I got one to make some coleslaw. Figured I'd need it to top my taco's too. I love the Mexican Market. The fresh tortilla's, the flan, the bags of mesquite, my Dad asking the ladies about the cheese... (He wanted to know if it was "goat" cheese, and they couldn't understand his english... and he's hard of hearing enough that he couldn't hear them when they responded back... so yeah, everybody smiles and acts polite, even tho nobody knows what's going on. But regardless, he's happy, they're happy, so I'm happy.)

Anyway, I bought myself a beef tongue. And since I didn't really know what I was doing, I kept it small. About 2.5 lbs of tongue.

Once home I googled all the Lengua recipes I could so I had something to work with. Here's what I came up with. :)

I washed the tongue and placed it in a large enough pot that water could cover. I added half a sliced onion, five pressed cloves of garlic, salt to taste, and a bay leaf.

I figured we might as well help flavor the meat a little. Any boiled meat that I've ever had was usually pretty tasteless.

The Tongue.

At this point I simmered the meat one hour for every pound. So, two and a half hours.

So what are you supposed to do for two and a half hours? This is just like smoking meat when you've got hours to spend while something slow cooks. I ended up going to the grocery and bought the other ingredients I figured I'd need that I couldn't dig out of the garden. Then I hit up Starbucks, and since I still had a lot of time... I made a couple loaves of zucchini bread.

Zucchini Makin's

Fresh Bread
(smells a little weird with the bread smells mixing with the tongue smells...)

After the tongue was done, I set it aside until I could handle it. Here's a few shots to gross people out.

Almost looks like dough rolled in Sesame Seeds.

Have you ever had the pleasure of being licked by a cow? I have. That's a story for a different time, I can't explain now... but anyway, their tongues feel like cat tongues. They're raspy. The shot above shows why.

Just try to get THAT image out of your mind.

K. So the tongue is cooled. I picked it up and peeled the skin leather off of it and trimmed off the gristle.

In the beginning, Chris peeled a tongue.

It may seem weird, but really... underneath... we're all just meat.

Once the tongue was peeled and trimmed I cut it up into chunks for eating. I've had several pieces at this point... it's good!

Next we have to turn our meat into Tacos! I'm not sure if I'd do this vege stuff again, but I'll tell you what I did, just so you know.

First, I went ahead and roasted a couple of Poblano Peppers.

Roasting

Peeled and Chopped.

While the peppers were roasting I went and dug some tomatoes and tomatillas out of the garden.

I chopped them up too.

Feeling whimsical I went ahead and started sautéing the other half of the onion I'd used earlier...
to that I added some garlic, several green onions, and a couple serranos for heat. Then I threw in the tomato and tomatillo...

Then I dropped in the meat.

While that sizzled away, I got my toppings ready. Fresh Cilantro, Fresh Lime, Fresh Onion, and the Fresh, Sliced, Cabbage.

This is starting to look up!

Looking pretty good. Spooned the mixture over white corn tortillas, topped it with fresh stuff, squeezed a lime over...
Oh WAIT!!!!

Can't have a taco without salsa!