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CAJUN CHICKEN BREASTS

Posted: March 13, 2016 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, frying, Recipes, spicy
Tags: breasts, Cajun, chicken, Fat Tuesday, food, Mardi Gras, recipes, tenders

I learned most of my Cajun dishes from the cookbooks of one of the masters: chef Paul Prudhomme. Sometimes, I’d use some of his great seasoning ideas in my own dishes. This was one of them. I would cook huge batches of these chicken breasts for my Mardi Gras parties and there would never be any leftovers! Don’t wait for Fat Tuesday to come around again to make these yourself.

Double-dipping in the seasoning mix is a messy step, but it makes them extra crunchy and flavorful.

Single-dipped breasts are at the top. The extra crunchy double-dipped are at the bottom.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon gumbo file (file powder), optional

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts
3 eggs
oil for frying (I like using avocado oil and some pork fat for flavor)

Cut the chicken breasts into manageable pieces. If they’re thick, slice them horizontally to make two thinner breasts. A thick piece of chicken won’t cook all the way through.

Combine the flour, salt, paprika, onion, garlic, basil, white pepper, cayenne, black pepper, thyme and gumbo file in a bowl. Mix well.

In another bowl, crack and scramble the eggs.

Single dip: Dip the chicken in the egg and then the flour mixture. Shake off an excess and place in a pan with oil that has been heated to 350 degrees on a thermometer. Fry until it’s cooked all the way through. Drain on paper towels.

Double-dip: Dip the chicken pieces in the egg, then the seasoning mix, then the egg, then back in the seasoning mix and place directly in a pan with oil heated to 350 degrees on a thermometer. Fry the chicken until it’s cooked all the way through and golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

If you need to feed a crowd, just double or triple the recipe. I used to make a 10x batch for my Mardi Gras parties!

This recipe is gluten-free if you substitute GF flour for the all-purpose flour.

MY ESPRESSO MARTINI

Posted: March 10, 2016 in Cocktails, drink recipes, espresso, MARTINI, mixology
Tags: cocktails, drinks, espresso, martini, mixology

Recently, studies have found that drinking as little as 2 more cups of coffee a day can reduce cirrhosis of the liver! So why not kill 2 birds with one stone and put coffee in your cocktail?

I love espresso martinis, and my favorite was one that I sampled a years ago at the Le Parker Meridien hotel in New York City. The secret ingredient was an Irish cream liqueur called Coole Swan. Here’s my version of that recipe…

3 oz. good quality vodka, like Belvedere
3 oz. freshly brewed espresso
1.5 oz. Kahlua
1.5 oz. Coole Swan

Chill your martini glasses. Pour all ingredients into a large shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Pour into chilled glasses. Makes 2 martinis.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Posted: March 9, 2016 in garden, Rhode Island, Southern New England
Tags: garden, raised beds, spring, vegetables

I’ve bested the old adage: “Plant your peas by St. Patrick’s Day” by a week! Today’s unusually warm weather got me out in the yard, and although this 32-foot square raised bed doesn’t look like much right now, underneath that soil lurks Sugar Snap peas, Arugula, Easter Egg radishes, Spinach, and a variety of Asian greens.

That fencing material on the ground will surround the bed to keep nosy bunnies from devouring the first tasty shoots that pop up out of the soil.

I’ll take pictures every few weeks so we can see the progress.

SMOKED WHITEFISH SALAD

Posted: March 6, 2016 in Food, New York City, Recipes, seafood, smoking
Tags: food, recipes, SALAD, smoked, whitefish

Most everything’s better when you do it yourself, and smoked whitefish salad is no exception. Sure, I can get whitefish salad at my favorite deli when I go home to New York, and it’s pretty good. But they treat the whitefish like they do tuna: they mash the fish to the point where you can’t recognize what you’re eating. And then they add a ton of mayonnaise as filler.

On a recent visit home, I bought a nice whole smoked whitefish from my favorite supermarket on steroids: Fairway (one of my stops in New York for fish, meat, coffee, and cheese.) I took extra care to really go through all the meat a couple of times to make sure there weren’t any sharp bones left in it. And I left the whitefish meat in small pieces, much like I would with crab meat.

Interestingly, I didn’t learn how to make whitefish salad from my Jewish New York neighbors. I learned it from my father-in-law in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where smoked whitefish is a favorite treat, caught right in the waters of the Great Lakes.

Buying whitefish at one of many smoke shacks at the foot of the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

1 whole 1-lb. smoked whitefish meat, carefully de-boned
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
2 teaspoons finely minced onion
pinch black pepper
tiny pinch sea salt

Real fish has real bones, so make sure you go through the meat a couple of times. Place the meat in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, but gently to keep the meat from breaking apart.

Spoon onto crackers and enjoy!

THAI GRILLED STEAK

Posted: March 1, 2016 in barbecue, beef, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, grilling, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags: beef, carnivore, food, marinade, recipes, steak, Thai

The original recipe called for skirt steak, but I didn’t have any in my freezer. I did have a fat rib eye, though, so once I thawed it, I sliced it lengthwise to get two large, thin steaks which would easily suck up the marinade I was going to make. And the rib eye was nicely marbled, so it stayed juicy and tender.

For the marinade:

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy to keep it gluten-free)
2 tablespoons each finely chopped ginger, garlic, cilantro and unsalted dry roasted peanuts
2 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon each of light brown sugar, lime juice and chile oil

2 lbs. beef rib eye
1/4 cup chicken stock

In a bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cilantro, peanuts, scallions, sugar, lime juice and chile oil. Transfer half to a shallow dish.
Add the steak to the dish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Refrigerate the remaining marinade.

The next day, light a grill. While it’s warming up, add the chicken stock to the reserved marinade. Heat it in a sauce pan and then let it cool. This will be the dipping sauce for the beef. (I like it at room temp.)
Bring the steak to room temp, season with salt and pepper, and grill over high heat until medium-rare, 5 minutes.

Too cold to light a grill? Heat a cast iron pan, add a few drops of avocado oil, and sear the beef on both sides before placing it in a pre-heated 375-degree oven to finish cooking.

LEAP YEAR COCKTAIL

Posted: February 26, 2016 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, MARTINI, mixology, Recipes
Tags: cocktails, drinks, food, leap year, martini, recipes

It’s a Leap Year! This weekend, have a sip of the infamous Leap Year Cocktail.

This special drink was created in 1928 by Harry Craddock, who worked at the American Bar in London at that time.

2 oz. gin (I use Hendrick’s)
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (I use Antica Formula)
1/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.

Cheers!

HONEY MUSTARD CITRUS LAMB CHOPS

Posted: February 24, 2016 in barbecue, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, grilling, lamb, mustard, Recipes
Tags: carnivore, food, grilling, lamb, meat, mustard, recipes

True: the inspiration behind this dish was a conversation I had with friends, talking about our early childhood days. Someone brought up the name Shari Lewis, and her famous puppet Lamb Chop. Next thing I knew, I was grilling the critter in my yard.

This is a great grilled lamb recipe that works best if you marinate it ahead of time, but it’s not absolutely necessary. Cook it indoors or outside on the grill. I used grapefruit zest and juice in the original recipe, but since I still had a Honeybell orange left in my stash, I used that this time around. Any citrus you like will work.

American lamb is different from lamb raised in New Zealand or Australia. If you like a milder flavor, go with the American lamb. Lamb from New Zealand and Australia is entirely grass-fed, making for a stronger “gamier” flavor but a healthier cut of meat, as all grass-fed meat products are.

6–8 small lamb chops
1/4 cup brown mustard (I like Gulden’s)
Zest of 1 Honeybell orange
1 tablespoon Honeybell juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

In a bowl, combine the mustard, Honeybell zest and juice, honey, garlic salt, pepper, and thyme. Mix well. At this point, you can marinate the lamb by pouring the mixture in a Ziploc bag and adding the lamb to it. Marinate at least 1 hour at room temperature, or longer in the fridge.

Pre-heat a hardwood charcoal grill…or if cooking indoors, pre-heat the oven to 350, and on the stove top, heat an oven-proof pan (cast iron is best) with a little pork fat or oil.

If you marinated the lamb, remove the meat from the bag and save the marinade to baste with while cooking. Don’t use the marinade uncooked, since it made contact with raw meat.

On the grill: Grill the lamb on all sides first, then start brushing the mixture on them, flipping them, brushing again, and grilling. Keep doing this until you’ve used up all the mixture and the lamb is cooked to proper doneness. Don’t overcook it!

In the pan: Sear the lamb on all sides, then brush all sides with the marinade. Place the lamb in the oven to finish cooking, making sure you don’t overcook it. Let it rest before serving.

THE SILHOUETTE

Posted: February 18, 2016 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Recipes, Rhode Island, Southern New England, Uncategorized
Tags: art, boulevardiere, cocktails, drinks, food, mixology, Negroni, providence, recipes, Silhouette

Tomorrow night I’ll be at the Providence Art Club for their annual Founder’s Day celebration, raising a glass in their honor.

A few years ago, I was asked by the Providence Art Club to come up with a cocktail for their first Founders Day celebration. One hundred glasses were raised to honor the founding fathers of the second oldest art club in the United States. (Founded in 1880.) The oldest art club is the Salmagundi Club in NYC, founded in 1871. However, the Providence Art Club holds the distinction of being the oldest art club in the United States that was founded by both men and women. (The Salmagundi Club started as an all-male club.)

Silhouettes of art club members long past line the walls of the Providence Art Club, and so, my wife came up with the name of the cocktail: The Silhouette. It’s a twist on the Boulevardier, which is a twist on the classic Negroni.

2 oz. Eagle Rare 10-year bourbon
1 oz. Antica Formula sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Campari
2 shakes Regan’s orange bitters

In a cocktail shaker with ice, stir the ingredients and then strain into a rocks glass with one large ice cube.

Garnish with an orange twist.

Cheers!

PASTA WITH LOBSTER SAUCE

Posted: February 14, 2016 in Food, lobster, pasta, Recipes, seafood, tomatoes, travel
Tags: food, lobster, pasta, recipes, Santorini, sauce

We’re really looking forward to returning to Santorini, Greece this summer. Besides that it’s one of the most magnificent places on earth, it’s where we first feasted on a beautiful lobster and pasta dish that we only dreamed about when we got home…until I got up the nads to give it a try. It’s one of those dishes that takes time to prepare…time consuming but so spectacular.

It’s absolutely important to make a good stock: the base for all the other flavors to follow.

For the stock…

2 1-1/2 lb. lobsters, slightly under-cooked
12 cups water
1/2 onion, chopped into quarters
3 celery stalks, chopped into quarters
1 carrot, chopped into quarters

Under-cook (steam or boil, whatever your favorite method) the lobsters, less than the usual 8 minutes. Remove the lobster meat from the shells and set aside.

Place the cleaned lobster shells, claws, tails, legs and bodies in a large pot. (You don’t want any of the internal organs or tommaley.) Crush the shells so they fit in the pot. Add the water, onion, celery and carrot. Set the heat on high. Cook until it is reduced by half.

Strain the stock, discarding the lobster shells and veggies. Bring the stock back to the heat and reduce it until all you have left is 1 cup of intense stock.

For the lobster sauce…

1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
pinch of Italian red pepper flakes
teaspoon parsley
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lobster stock
1/4 cup San Marzano tomato sauce (see below)
splash of white wine (I use Alice White Chardonnay)
salt and pepper

Final ingredients…

reserved lobster meat
1/2 lb. cooked pasta

Add some olive oil to a large pan and saute the onions until translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and cook for 10 seconds. Add the red pepper flakes and parsley.

Add 1/4 cup of the lobster stock and let it cook, reducing by half. Add the other 1/4 cup of lobster stock and the tomato sauce. Let it cook for a couple of minutes and add the white wine. Cook for a few minutes more.

Cook the pasta and drain it even before it reaches the al dente stage. Place the pasta in the pan with the sauce, heating and coating thoroughly. Add the reserved lobster pieces and warm them through, tossing in the sauce. Serve immediately.

For the San Marzano tomato sauce: I take a can of San Marzano tomatoes and place it in a food processor or Vita-Mix and blend. Pour into a pan and reduce over medium heat by half, until sauce has thickened.

TWO MOST EXCELLENT BARBECUE SAUCES

Posted: February 11, 2016 in barbecue, chicken, Food, Recipes, Uncategorized, wings
Tags: barbecue, chicken, food, Franklin's, pork, recipes, ribs, sauce, wings

I grill year-round. I’ll stand in 3 feet of snow to get smoked ribs just right, if I have to. 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 pork or 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, even Meyer lemon. But the Big Daddy of ’em all was 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!

ALZ GRAPEFRUIT BARBECUE SAUCE

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 20 minutes on low, until slightly thickened.

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? 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…

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.