Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘olive oil’

Grilled Chicken and Ratatouille

Posted in Home Cooking, poultry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Last night’s dinner is probably the easiest thing in the world to make, chicken thighs and vegetables grilled. That’s basically it. What better way to enjoy fresh ingredients?

I took some skin-on bone-in chicken thighs and rubbed some olive oil into the skin then salted and peppered them. I cut one Chinese eggplant in half lengthwise, same with a zucchini. I cut up one and half yellow bell peppers into 1/3 inch strips. I cut a red onion in half and then each half into eighths (this sounds like I’m doing something entirely different) keeping the root end intact to keep the wedges together. I also took two tomatoes and cut them in half. I drizzled all of the vegetables with olive oil.

Then I threw everything on the grill. I started the chicken skin-side down to get it nice and crispy. I let all of the vegetables cook until just before they started to char. Then I took everything off the grill.

While the chicken was resting I cut the vegetables down into chunks and threw them into a large bowl. In the bowl I poured in about 1.5 tablespoons of balsamic vinager (so it’s technically not a grilled ratatouille), a little more olive oil, a handful of thinly sliced fresh basil, salt, and pepper. I tossed it all around for an even coat. I plated it all with some white rice. Simple as that.

Read Full Post »

Baked Vegetables

Posted in Home Cooking, Meatless Monday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

So, last night’s Meatless Monday was an absolute disaster. I have no desire to fill you in on what I made. I’m just damn glad it wasn’t in front of my brother-in-law like last week cause I’d never hear the end of it. I still get shit for a failed attempt at Nudi Ravioli from he and my sister. Instead of writing about last night’s mess I want to tell you about a successful vegetarian endeavour from a few weeks ago.

Yuki and I were invited to a pot-luck, so I decided to make these baked vegetables in golden crust. It was cheap, simple, and absolutely delicious!

To start, I poured 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet and threw it in a 425 degree oven. I just wanted to get the oil hot to help give the veggies a better sear instead of them soaking up cold oil. Once the oil was hot, about 10 minutes or so in the oven, I added some sliced eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and red onion. I coated them in the hot oil and put back in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, I made the batter. I beat an egg and then gradually beat in 1 cup of flour. Then I beat in a quarter cup of soy milk to make a smooth, thick paste. After that I stirred in another full cup of soy milk, some rosemary, salt, and pepper.

After the 20 minutes were up I took the vegetables out of the oven and quickly poured the batter all over to cover the pan. Much like a Yorkshire Pudding, you need to pour the batter into really hot oil for it to puff up and be light. I put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes until crust was nice and golden and the vegetables were nicely roasted.

When we got to the party I garnished it with some fresh grated parmesan cheese and some fresh rosemary. Cut it up into squares and you have a great party dish. I think it would also go well next to some roasted chicken.

Read Full Post »

Kielbasa

Posted in Home Cooking, swine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I stopped by Andy’s Deli the other day, easily one of my favorite grocers in Chicago. While there, I really had no choice but to pick up some of their smoked kielbasa sausages. So friggin good! They have the best kielbasa in town. To serve with grilled kielbasa I made a carrot soup, some white rice, some chickpeas, and no kielbasa would be complete without a dollop of mustard. I used my favorite Boetjes.

For the carrot soup I chopped up three large carrots, half of an onion, 1 celery rib, and 3 cloves of garlic. I sautéed it all in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then I poured in about 1.75 cups of chicken stock, half a teaspoon of turmeric, half a teaspoon of cumin, half a teaspoon of paprika, and salt. I brought that to a boil, lowered the heat to medium, covered, and let simmer until the veggies were soft (about 15 minutes or so).

After letting the veggies cool down a bit I dumped them all into the blender and pureed it. While it was blending I poured about a half cup of olive oil in to make the soup silkier. I put it all back into the pot, tasted for seasoning, and added pepper. When it came time to serve I simply reheated it.

To make the chickpeas I started by sautéing a quarter of an onion small diced in butter and olive oil with 2 minced garlic cloves. I had a couple of purple potatoes left from the other night so I diced them up and added them. I didn’t stir too much because I wanted the potatoes to get a little crisp. Once they were I added about a quarter cup of chicken stock, salt, and pepper.

Once the stock had reduced by about half I added one can of drained chickpeas. I let that cook for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat. The chickpeas just needed to be heated through.

Once they were I threw a bunch of baby arugula in, turned off the heat, adjusted the seasoning, and let it sit until the kielbasa were cooked.

I threw the kielbasa on the grill. They were smoked so I only needed to char them for texture and to heat them through. Once they were ready dinner was served.

Read Full Post »

Skirt Steak

Posted in beef, Home Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Last night I made the dinner that my brother-in-law probably would have preferred over Meatless Monday, I grilled up some skirt steak!

I got a steak that weighed about 1.3 lbs. For it to fit in my largest dish to marinate, I had to cut it into thirds. I marinated it in a mix of 6 tbls of soy sauce, 4 tbls of sake, 2 tbls of mirin, 1 tbls of sesame oil, 5 minced garlic cloves, a bunch of chopped cilantro, black pepper, and nanami togarashi. I wrapped it and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour. I took it out about 30 minutes before grilling to bring it up to room temperature.

For vegetables I found these great little sweet onions at Stanleys. I halved them and set them on the upper rack of the grill so that they’d get real sweet but not burned. They also had some great little purple potatoes. I quartered them, drizzled them with olive oil, threw some salt and pepper on, then grilled them as well. They get a nice crisp skin and get real soft inside. I love grilled potatoes! I also cut a couple of red bell peppers into disks. I waited until everything was about 10 minutes from being finished on the grill. Since they were pretty thin, I didn’t want them to burn.

I served everything with some sliced avocado and halved cherry tomatoes. Some cilantro garnish, a beer, and we were set! Yuki had to have some white rice too, she has white rice with everything.

Read Full Post »

Mediterranean Stuffed Bell Peppers

Posted in Home Cooking, Meatless Monday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Last night for Meatless Monday I made these stuffed bell peppers. I do want to apologize to my brother-in-law. You see, he was in town and stopped by for dinner. My sister is a vegetarian (well, she will eat some seafood) which basically makes him one when he eats at home. In the past I would treat him to a big honking piece of meat since he doesn’t eat that at home. He just happened to be in during Meatless Monday. Sure, I could have made this week Meatless Tuesday, but that just doesn’t sound quite right. Sorry Dave. I did dig on that wine you brought over though.

To start, I made the stuffing. I took a medium onion and sliced it. That got sautéed in olive oil with three minced garlic cloves. After a few minutes I added a zucchini that I diced as well as a handful of sliced cremini mushrooms. I let that all cook for a few minutes and then added a 14oz can of crushed tomatoes. I let that all simmer at a low boil for about 15 minutes to thicken up the sauce, then I added a drained can of Italian brown beans as well as a bunch of chopped basil. I set all of that aside.

Meanwhile, I took 4 large yellow bell peppers and halved them. I scooped out the seeds and the white pith and then dropped them in boiling water for just a few minutes. I didn’t want to cook them, just get them slightly pliable.

Then I laid the peppers on a large baking sheet and stuffed them with the tomato sauce mixture. I covered it all with foil and cooked at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then I took them out and sprinkled some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano over the tops and put them back in, uncovered, for another 10 minutes just until the cheese and the edges of the peppers started to brown a little.

I served them with a mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes and shiitake vinaigrette as well as white rice. I sprinkled some fresh basil and more cheese on top. Dave brought over some kick ass white wines. It was a good Meatless Monday.

Read Full Post »

Sea Bass & Chorizo Kababs

Posted in Home Cooking, seafood, swine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 16, 2010| 2 Comments »

Well, last night was another beautiful night to fire up the grill, so fire up the grill I did. I still had a couple of the chorizo (the ones that taste more like andouille) in my fridge, so I decided to skewer them withe some white fish. At the Whole Foods, Sea Bass looked the freshest.

First, I cut the fish into chunks and marinated them in olive oil, a bunch of chopped parsley, a teaspoon of paprika, and some black pepper. I never salt marinades for fish because the salt will draw out the moisture. I want my fish moist and succulent! I covered the marinading fish with wrap and set it in the fridge for about an hour. Since I have bamboo skewers, I put a bunch in water to soak during that time.

I cut up the chorizo, an onion, and some zucchini into good-sized chunks. When I took the fish out of the fridge I alternated all of the ingredients so that there were two of each on every skewer. Then I took some large cherry tomatoes and skewered them on separate pieces of bamboo. I also picked up some Japanese Eggplants. I didn’t skewer or cut them, I grilled them whole. I drizzled the remaining marinade on the tomatoes and eggplants.

After I put everything on the grill I realized that I had forgotten to add salt. So, I salted everything on the grill.

It was pretty windy last night, I mean, I am in the windy city. I had to constantly move things around the grill because the wind was affecting my grill’s hotspots. I was able to control it pretty well though. Everything cooked perfectly.

I served the food with some white rice.

Read Full Post »

Cremini Burgers

Posted in beef, Home Cooking, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A common dish in our diets is a shiitake burger. When I was at the store cremini mushrooms were on sale for $1.49 per 8oz package as opposed to the normal $4.99. Shiitakes also typically cost about $4.99 per 8oz package. So, I decided to use creminis.

To make the patties I small diced a quarter of a medium-sized onion, two garlic cloves minced, about 5 or 6 oz’s of creminis diced, and about a pound of ground beef. To that, I mixed in a half teaspoon of mirin, 1 teaspoon of sake, 1.5 teaspoons of sake, and one egg all beaten together. I don’t typically like to put egg in my burgers, but I didn’t have any bread crumbs or any bread to make breadcrumbs and I was a little worried that the added liquids would make the meat too loose. Once everything was mixed up I let it rest for about fifteen minutes. Then, I made it into 4 patties and put them in the fridge, covered, until just before grilling time.

I made some soup to serve with the burgers. I put about 3 cups of water in a pan and turned the heat up. I added about 8 chopped green onions, one chopped carrot, the rest of the creminis sliced, and let that all boil for about 7 minutes. Then I added a tablespoon of instant dashi and about a quarter cup of soy sauce. Once that all mixed in I added some sliced aburage and a half block of silken tofu that I diced. I let that simmer a little and then covered it and turned the heat down to keep it warm while I grilled.

I first grilled some broccoli and orange bell pepper slices (both drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper) over direct heat on the top rack until the broccoli started to show some grill marks. Then I moved the broccoli to the other side of the grill off the direct heat so that it would continue to cook a little without burning. After the broccoli was moved I put the burgers on the lower rack and grilled them up. By the time the burgers were done on both sides the peppers were nice and roasted and the broccoli nice and al dente.

I served everything with white rice. I also drizzled a little ponzu on top of the burgers to add a little zing to them.

Read Full Post »

Lamb Stew

Posted in Home Cooking, lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Lamb, the prefered meat in Europe and a fantastic animal to stew up with veggies. With Spring in the air, but still a very chilly breeze shooting through Chicago, I thought that a simple Lamb Stew would be a great dinner. Not to mention I had a nice bottle of Syrah I wanted to drink, a nice match with lamb.

I first sautéed up a small onion that I diced up to medium-sized pieces with a chopped carrot, two stalks of celery chopped, and 4 cloves of minced garlic in some olive oil over medium-high heat. After a few minutes, when the veggies were turning translucent, I added a couple of large diced Yukon Gold potatoes. I didn’t want to add the potatoes too early because they fall apart when stewed for long periods of time. For long stews it’s usually best to use a denser potato like russet. But, I had a couple of Yukons that I needed to use up so I added them late to keep them together.

Only a couple of minutes after adding the potatoes I threw in about a pound of cut-up lamb leg meat. You want about 1 inch cubes. Anything smaller and the meat will get tough. I let the meat cook a little until the outsides were cooked but not the insides. Then I added a bunch of quartered cremini mushrooms and stirred that all around.

Once everything was coated with the olive oil and lamb fat I seasoned with a little salt (not too much), turmeric, cumin, dried basil, and a bay leaf. Then I added about a quarter cup of soy sauce and 2/3 cup of beef stock. Once the liquid came to a boil I put the lid on my pot and turned the heat down to medium. I let everything stew together for about an hour.

Once the stew was about ready I threw in a handful of freshly chopped parsley and turned off the heat. I served it up with some sliced bread. Well, I had it with sliced bread, Yuki had it with white rice. Whatever your pleasure, it’s all good.

Read Full Post »

Mushroom-Poblano Quesadillas

Posted in Home Cooking, Meatless Monday, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

For Meatless Monday last night I made some quesadillas with sautéed mushrooms and poblanos. I served them with some mashed black beans, simple salad, and some white rice.

The first thing I did was make the mushroom and poblano filling. I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and threw a sliced red onion in to saute for about 5 minutes. Then I added a couple of minced garlic cloves for about two more minutes. After that I added two sliced poblano chilis. I let that all cook down for another 5 minutes. I had sliced a bunch of shiitake, cremini, and button mushrooms (not sure how many of each, but a lot since they cook down) and threw them in to cook down. That took about 7 minutes or so. I seasoned with some salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin. Once all the flavors were mixed in I took it off the heat and let it all rest.

To make the quesadillas I had to do them one at a time since I don’t have a big griddle. So, I melted a little butter in my big saute pan and laid down a 10 inch flour tortilla. I topped half of it with some of the mushroom-poblano mix and then topped that with a little shredded jalapeno-jack cheese.

Then I carefully folded it over and let the tortilla crisp up for a couple of minutes on each side. To keep them warm I put a baking pan in the oven on warm and let them sit in the heat while I made up the rest. It’s that simple.

To make the mashed black beans I heated a tablespoon of vegetable oil and sautéed 5 minced garlic cloves for about 3 minutes. Then I dumped two cans, partially drained, of black beans. I let them heat through for a few minutes and then mashed them with a potato masher. I added some salt and pepper to taste and that was about it. If it got too thick I’d simply add a tablespoon of water at a time until the texture was right.

I dressed the salad with a shiitake vinaigrette. I garnished it with sliced tomato and avocado. I garnished the entire plate with some cilantro.

Read Full Post »

Soy-Cider Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Posted in Home Cooking, swine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Enough Koshar….I need some PIG!!! Last night was absolutely gorgeous out. A little windy, but otherwise Spring is here to stay. Combine the weather with two Passover Seders and I really had no choice but to grill up some sort of swine. I picked up some pork tenderloin for the occasion.

I marinated it in a mix of 5 tablespoons of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of sake, 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar, an inch of grated ginger, 4 grated garlic cloves, and 1 tablespoon of ground coriander seeds. I covered it and left it in the fridge for about 3 hours.

For vegetables I took two whole Japanese eggplants, 4 orange sweet peppers, a bunch of fat green onions, and a bunch of fresh shiitake mushrooms. I simply drizzled them all with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. You’ll see me do that a lot with the grill as I really don’t think you need to do anything when you have good fresh produce and a hot grill.

Before grilling everything I took the marinated pork out of the fridge and let it rest to room temperature for about a half hour.

I grilled it all up. After letting the pork rest for about 10 minutes I sliced it and served on top of some fresh baby spinach with the grilled veggies and some white rice.

When you have a good fresh tenderloin you shouldn’t cook it all the way through. I got this one at Whole Foods so I’m not overly concerned with getting sick or anything from it. Leave it a little pink and you’ll enjoy one of the greatest textures of flesh out there. You can’t beat a nice medium-medium rare pork tenderloin.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »