Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

WHY MAKE CRAB CAKES WHEN YOU HAVE LOBSTER?

Posted: June 27, 2014 in Food, frying, lobster, mustard, Recipes, seafood
Tags: , , , ,
1

I had a pound of leftover lobster meat (I know, I know…how could you ever have leftover lobster?!) So I wrapped it tightly and kept it frozen. When I had a craving for crab cakes, I figured I’d try my recipe out with lobster instead. So good, I sprained my arm patting myself on the back!

lobstercake2

 

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked lobster meat (thawed, if frozen)

1 cup mayo (I like Hellman’s)

1/4 cup Dijon mustard (I like Maille)
3/4 cup saltine crackers or oyster crackers
1 teaspoon old Bay seasoning
Olive oil

In a bowl, combine mayo, mustard and Old Bay Seasoning.

Chop the lobster into small pieces and add it to the mayo/mustard mix.

Pulse the crackers in a food processor until it resembles oatmeal. Add it to the bowl and gently combine the ingredients.

Form small patties. I use either a small beef slider mold or the lid from a small mouth Mason jar. I won’t kid you: it gets messy, but it’s worth it! Place the patties on a sheet pan lined with Reynold’s non-stick aluminum foil.

Place the sheet pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes to stiffen up the patties.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Cook the patties on both sides until golden brown.

lobstercake1

LAMB: GREAT ON THE GRILL!

Posted: June 21, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, grilling, lamb, marinade, Recipes
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Many people are turned off by lamb because somewhere in their past, they had a horribly cooked piece of meat that ruined it for the rest of their lives. I’m here to tell you: don’t be sheepish! “Man up” and try lamb again!

If you think lamb is too “gamey,” buy American lamb over New Zealand or Australian lamb. Although the animals are mostly pasture-raised, most American lamb is larger and grain finished, which results in a milder flavor. Unfortunately, like with non grass-fed American beef, this also results in a larger, fattier animal, and a less healthy cut of meat.

I prefer 100% grass-fed lamb. You can find it from the US, but most often it comes from New Zealand. Having been to the country, I can tell you that the quality is unmatched and the grasslands in New Zealand are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. New Zealand lamb is smaller and is slaughtered at a younger age than American lamb, making it very tender. In New Zealand, as well as many other countries, only an animal under 12 months of age and without incisors can be called “lamb.” No such labeling is required in the United States.

I love the baby lamb chops that look like miniature porterhouse steaks. You can find them in any supermarket. a good marinade will get rid of any of those flavors you don’t want. Here’s an easy recipe that I served at a party in my home for 40 people, many of whom claimed they didn’t like lamb or never had it before. By the end of dinner, the chops were gone!

lamb LTL

 

Ingredients:

 

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, through a garlic press

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper

 

Place lamb meat in a plastic bag. Combine all ingredients for marinade and pour over lamb. Seal the bag and squish it around so that the marinade reaches every part of the chops. Place in refrigerator for a few hours…overnight is better. Pre-heat your barbecue grill. Grill lamb until done. That means cooked no more than medium. Don’t cook it to death! If you can’t get to a grill, place the lamb in an oven-proof pan and sear on all sides. Then place in a 350-degree oven to cook all the way through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PORK CHOPS AND APPLESAUCE REVISITED

Posted: June 15, 2014 in Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

Inspired by the classic “Pork Chops and Applesauce” Brady Bunch episode, I came up with a recipe for pork chops that uses applesauce in an herb-infused applesauce marinade that later cooks into the meat. I took it one step further this time, using a pork loin, and adding bread crumbs to the applesauce mix to add a crunchy crust to the pork.

Pork loin applesauce

 

Ingredients:

1 pastured pork loin, about 5 lbs.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

about 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

2 small tubs (8 oz) organic unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped

6 sprigs fresh thyme–leaves only–finely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 fresh cracked black pepper

 

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the pork chops, olive oil, and breadcrumbs.

Place pork loin on cutting board fat-side up, and make diamond-like slices into the fat. Place the pork loin in a non-reactive container and smear about a quarter of the applesauce and herb mixture all over the loin. Place the container in the fridge overnight. Cover the applesauce and herb mixture and place in fridge as well.

The next day, pre-heat the oven to 350.

Remove the applesauce and herb mixture from the fridge, and slowly add breadcrumbs to it until it reaches the consistency of wet sand.

Heat an oven-proof pan. Using a little olive oil, sear the pork loin on all sides until brown. The  turn loin with fat side up and smear the applesauce/breadcrumb mixture over the top to form a crust.

Cook until meat temperature reaches 160 and crust is crunchy and brown on top. Let the pork loin rest before slicing.

 

 

WHAT YOUR FOODIE FATHER WANTS FOR FATHER’S DAY

Posted: June 10, 2014 in barbecue, CHARCOAL, Cocktails, Drinks, Food, grilling, MARTINI, mixology, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

Skip the necktie. If your dad’s a foodie, he wants something cool this year! All of these ideas have been rigorously tested by our panel of experts (OK, just me), and get a big thumbs up.

Digital Smoker: I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to grilling. I refuse to use a gas grill because I think there’s no difference between that and my kitchen stove. I use real hardwood charcoal, with real smoke and real flavor. But when it comes to smoking meats, basic smokers require constant maintenance so that the temperatures don’t fluctuate. With a 7-year-old daughter to take care of, that’s something I don’t have time for, especially if I’m cooking something low and slow for about 12 hours. So I have a digital smoker. You plug it in, set the time and temperature, and then periodically add wood chips through a side drawer to smoke the meat. You can literally set it and forget it. I have it cook through the night, so I wake up to a beautifully smoked slab of meat in the morning. Masterbuilt Electric Digital Smokehouse.

Cognac! How can you go wrong with booze for Father’s Day? But if you’re looking for something really special to give Dad (or your favorite morning DJ with a food blog), may I suggest Kelt XO. What makes Kelt XO special is that before bottling, they place the barrels of cognac on board ships that sail the world for months at a time. During this time, the cognac gently rocks back and forth in the barrels, slowly acquiring a smoothness you can’t find in other spirits. Each bottle even comes with a tag that tells you exactly what ports around the world your cognac has been to. At most high-end liquor stores.

jack daniels

Jack Daniels smoking chips: Whether you have a smoker or not, these chips will make anything you cook taste better. Made from the old oak barrels that they use to age Jack Daniels, you get a serious hit of whiskey in every bag…and in your food. Simply toss a handful of chips you’ve soaked in water for about a half hour, and they will infuse the food on your grill with flavor. You can also use them dry, on charcoal or gas grills.

Cookbook favorites: “Jamie at Home,” by Jamie Oliver (a great combination gardening/cookbook), “Charcuterie,” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn (the best book on how to cure and smoke meats), “Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds,” by Jeanne Voltz (my absolute barbecue Bible!), and “Martin Yan’s Feast: The Best of Yan Can Cook” by Martin Yan (the authority on Asian cooking.)

BBQ timer: Even someone who has barbecued all their lives runs the risk of burning or undercooking a roast or a large bird. Opening the grill and jabbing the meat with a thermometer several times causes the juices from the meat to run out, leaving it dry…and every time you open the grill, you lose precious heat. This is the better solution: You stick the needle into the roast or bird and leave it in there the entire time it cooks, so no juices leak out. You plug it into the monitor which then calls you when the meat is ready (from as far as 100 feet away!) You set the time or temperature, and then get to join your guests for the party. Redi-Check Remote Cooking Thermometer.

Smoking Gun: This is a fun toy. There are times when you don’t need a full-on smoker. All you want to do is smoke a small piece of fish or a hunk of cheese.  You simply take some of the finely ground wood chip powder (comes with the gun) and place it in the pipe-like bowl. Light it, and the Smoking Gun will blow that smoke through a hose into the Ziploc bag where your piece of fish is waiting for its magical transformation to smoky deliciousness. (Thanks to chef Rizwan Ahmed of the Hourglass Brasserie in Bristol, RI, who introduced me to this very cool device.)

smoking gun

 

Mason jar cocktail shaker: A fun new way for Dad to make his martini. http://www.masonshaker.com

mason jar, baking steel

RIBS WITH ATTITUDE

Posted: June 5, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
3

Sometimes you take a couple of recipes you have in your file and you combine them to get delicious results. That’s what happened when I took my basic pork dry rub and then added my version of the Franklin barbecue sauce, as featured in a previous blog.

The ribs were intense, delicious, and did not require a smoker to reach fall-off-the-bone amazingness…

 

Intense ribs LTL

 

Alz Pork Rub

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

 

Combine ingredients and sprinkle liberally onto meat, rubbing it in well.

 

The Barbecue Sauce

 

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

6 tablespoons white vinegar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

 

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.

 

To cook the ribs…

 

Rub the ribs with the dry rub on all sides and wrap in aluminum foil. If you have a lot of ribs, it’s okay to stack them on each other for now. Place the wrapped ribs on a sheet pan and cook in a 250-degree oven for about 4 hours.

After 4 hours, unwrap the ribs and pour off any fat. Lay the ribs flat in one layer, uncovered, on the sheet pan and brush on all sides with the barbecue sauce. Cook for 1 hour more.

 

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND SAUSAGE

Posted: May 14, 2014 in asparagus, Carnivore!, cheese, Food, Italian, pork, Recipes, sausage
Tags: , , , , ,
1
asparagus pastaAsparagus season has arrived in my garden. This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy it.
Ingredients:
4 mild Italian sausages, sliced into pieces 1/2″ thick
1 lb penne pasta
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup chopped fresh trumpet mushrooms (white button mushrooms work, too)
2 cups fresh asparagus, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, passed through a garlic press
1 cup homemade chicken broth
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Have the pasta water boiling, and add pasta, cooking until just a bit more undercooked than al dente.
Heat a large pan, and drizzle in some olive oil. Sautee sausage pieces until browned and cooked through, but not over cooked. Remove sausages from the pan and place in a separate bowl. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat left behind in the pan.
Place pan back on stove and saute onions until translucent. Add garlic, and saute for 10 seconds. Add sage, and saute for 10 seconds, stirring. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for a few minutes, then add chicken broth, and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Pour contents of the pan into the bowl with the sausages.
Return pan to the stove, add a little more olive oil, and on medium heat, saute the asparagus pieces. Cook until they are al dente, not too soft. Once the asparagus has reached this stage, return all the contents of the sausage/mushroom bowl to the pan to heat through. Drain the pasta, and add it to the pan as well, combining all the ingredients. If it looks too dry, add a little pasta water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Make sure you serve this hot, with grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top, and drizzle lightly over the top with extra virgin olive oil.

 

LIKE BUTTAH

Posted: May 10, 2014 in Food, Recipes
Tags: , ,
0

Butter is like Play-Doh for foodies: you can mold it and mix it with whatever ingredients you like. Go to a fancy steakhouse, and you’ll get a slab of their “house butter” with your bread, or melted on top of your hunk of beef.

It’s incredibly easy to make your own at home…and there are no rules: add whatever you like and leave out what you don’t.

My buttah…

butter

 

Ingredients:

 

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon each: fresh rosemary, thyme, and oregano…finely chopped

pinch of granulated garlic and onion powder

 

Let the butter soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well with a fork.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it down on the counter. Smear the butter mixture onto the plastic with a spatula, forming a rough log. Roll the plastic wrap tightly lengthwise, tightening the log into a nice long round cylinder about 1 1/2″ thick. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap to remove any air bubbles.

Freeze and slice a piece off when you need it. When cooking a steak, simply let the warmth of the beef melt the slab of butter while you eat…

SLOPPY JOSE

Posted: May 6, 2014 in beef, burgers, Carnivore!, cheese, Food, Recipes, taco
Tags: , , , , ,
0

My name for a messy yet delicious taco on a bun. I had leftover taco meat and leftover barbecue sauce…recipes from two previous blogs. Putting them together with a sprinkling of Mexican cheese on a bun with lettuce and tomato made for one sloppy but delicious sandwich!

sloppy jose

How to make one…

For the barbecue sauce, I used the sauce inspired by Franklin’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, as featured in my last blog: http://wp.me/p1c1Nl-qX

For the seasoned taco meat…

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 Spanish onion, finely chopped

olive oil

2lbs. grass-fed ground beef

 

Combine all the spice ingredients in a bowl.

Saute the onions in a bit of olive oil until translucent. Add the beef and saute until cooked, mixing in the spice mixture a little at a time until you’ve used it all.

 

For the sandwich…

Take some of the taco meat and place it in a small non-stick pan and heat on medium. Squirt in as much of the barbecue sauce as you like, mixing thoroughly. Sprinkle some grated Mexican cheese on top, mixing thoroughly and letting it all melt together into one warm, gooey mess. Throw it on a bun. Add lettuce, tomato, avocado slices, whatever you like!

 

THE MINT JULEP: PERHAPS THE GREATEST BOURBON DRINK EVER

Posted: May 2, 2014 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,
0

The Mint Julep is such a perfect, classic and historic bourbon drink, it seems silly to wait until Derby day to have one. Of course, as any aficionado of spirits will tell you, there are as many right ways as wrong ways of making one. And I enjoy the taste of bourbon in my Manhattans so much that I don’t really get a craving for a Mint Julep as often as one might think.

The first step in my Mint Julep is making the simple syrup. I use the standard ratio of 1 cup of clean, filtered water to 1 cup of sugar, but I use an organic product like Woodstock Farms Organic Pure Cane Sugar. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until just boiling. I’ve found that it needs to reach this stage for the unbleached sugar to really dissolve. As soon as it starts to boil, remove the saucepan from the heat, and throw in a handful of freshly picked mint leaves. Stir to make sure the mint gets in there, and then leave the saucepan to cool to room temperature. Once it’s at room temp, strain the simple syrup into a bottle with a tight sealing lid, and place in the refrigerator to cool. It will keep for about a week.

The next step is the tough part: the battles of the bourbons! The recent explosion of choices on the bourbon market has made it all but impossible for the average imbiber to know which bourbon is best for their tastes. My suggestion for this is to go to a trusted bartender and explain that you’re new to the bourbon world, and could you have the tiniest of tastes and sniffs of what he’s got at his bar. Chances are, you’ll get a sampling of some of the better known brands: Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, perhaps Buffalo Trace or Bulleit, and the standard Jim Beam. This is a very good start. If you have deeper pockets, go to the manager of a trusted higher end liquor store and explain that you’ve had all the rest, now what does he think is the best? This is how I came across a fabulous 17-year-old bottle of Eagle Rare, my choice for my Mint Julep, though currently incredibly difficult to find. And of course, hinting to wife and friends that “I’m trying new bourbons” around your birthday or the holidays inevitably gets you a few bottles as well!

Other ingredients for my perfect Mint Julep include crushed ice from clean, filtered water. Don’t even think of using tap water for any cocktail much less this one. Why ruin an expensive bottle of bourbon by going cheap on the ice? I make my own ice cubes, then put them in a canvas ice bag and bash them to the perfect crushed size.

And a Mint Julep needs a metal–not glass– Julep cup. Made of pewter or aluminum, it frosts on the outside as you stir your drink, keeping your beverage ice-cold on even the hottest of days. You simply need to have one to make the perfect Mint Julep.

So many choices...

From left to right: the now hard-to-find Eagle Rare 17-yr-old, Bulleit, Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, and the now impossible to find Pappy Van Winkle 15-yr-old.

 

So here’s my recipe…

 

ALZ MINT JULEP

 

Ingredients:

3 oz bourbon (my go-to these days is Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel)

1 oz mint-infused simple syrup

crushed ice

Julep cup

Fresh mint for garnish

Crush the ice and pack it into the Julep cup, even letting it dome slightly over the top. Don’t worry…the alcohol will melt it.

I like to add 1 jigger of bourbon (1.5 oz), then the shot of simple syrup (1 oz), then another jigger of bourbon on top. Break off a few mint leaves from the stem and push into the ice. Using a long spoon, stir the drink well. A beautiful layer of frost will form on the outside of the cup. Add more ice, if necessary, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

 

TWO MOST EXCELLENT BARBECUE SAUCES

Posted: April 28, 2014 in barbecue, chicken, Food, Recipes, Uncategorized, wings
Tags: , , , ,
5

Through years of tireless experimentation, I’ve come up with a barbecue sauce that I can be proud of. I prefer a slightly sweet and tangy barbecue sauce,  and it works really well with chicken.

What makes this sauce special is the citrus. I originally used lemon juice for this recipe and it was good. Lime juice was better. Adding lime zest: even better than that. I tried orange juice and zest: a little too sweet. Meyer lemon: very good. But the Big Daddy of ’em all: grapefruit. I was craving my barbecue sauce one day and only had a grapefruit in the fridge. I thought: how bad could this be? Turned out to be the perfect foil to the sweetness of the brown sugar and ketchup.

Try this sauce on your next batch of chicken wings or even a whole bird. Cook the bird almost all the way through, brushing the sauce on for the last 20 minutes so that the sugars don’t burn. Then just try to stop eating it!

Chix BBQ

 

ALZ GRAPEFRUIT BARBECUE SAUCE

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Juice and zest of 1 grapefruit

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce, like Frank’s Red Hot

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

(no salt)

 

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes on low, or until slightly thickened.

saucey

How could a sauce that’s inspired by what most people claim to be the best barbecue joint in the USA, Franklin’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, be bad? If you’ve seen Chef Nobu standing in a long line, waiting for his barbecue in that American Express commercial, then you’ve seen Franklin’s. People line up early in the morning and wait as much as four hours for a slab of brisket from this place. I’ll get there one day. In the meantime, I have the sauce…

 

Ingredients:

 

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

6 tablespoons white vinegar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

 

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.

 

 

Older Entries
Newer Entries