About Us Here at Sensei Cooks I write about my adventures in the kitchen and sometimes in the dojo. I have a love for cooking and want to explore all the possible facets of it. Leave no stone unturned so to speak. Don't really know where I am going with this. I just love the process. Being in the moment. Sort of Zen and the Art of Cooking.
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Belle decided she would like chicken instead of the usual beef we have been eating way too much of lately. We borrowed a few cookbooks from the library and decided to give these a try. I found two I wanted to try, a Tandoori Chicken burger and a Fajita Chicken burger. I finally decided on the latter and wow, what a fantastic decision that was.
When I have the time I prefer to make my own curry powder, garam masala, creole spice mix, red curry paste etc. You get the idea. I have nothing better to do with my time then spend hours in the kitchen puttering away making dinner.
The inside and the outside of the house is screaming for attention – there is way too much work for one person to do – but for now I am making lists of what I need to do and then head back into the kitchen.
The Fajita burger called for guacamole, Fire-Roasted Four-Pepper Salsa and Salsa Verde. You could run out and by these already prepared and bottled but it is far more fun (and there is no comparison to the taste) to make your own. It is time-consuming but after eating them, I felt it was worth every minute, even if I did not get started on cleaning out the shed as I had seriously planned on doing that day.
I wish I could find a store that sells more Mexican produce. I can’t find fresh tomatillos (I use canned), poblano peppers, ancho peppers and serrano peppers to name only a few things. Anyone in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) who knows of a good Hispanic market or places to get these kind of items, please, please let me know.
Costco is selling this book right now so I plan on picking it up the next time we are out there.
Fajita Burger
adapted from Napoleon’s “Everyday Gourmet Burgers” by Ted Reader
Guacamole:
2 ripe avocados, seeded and flesh scooped out
2 tbsp organic lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 scallions, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Mash the avocado in a small bowl with a fork.
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Fire-Roasted Four-Pepper Salsa:
2 red bell peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 red onion, peeled and quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, puréed
2 tbsp garlic, pressed
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp organic lime juice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Preheat the BBQ to high, then reduce to medium.
- Lightly oil the grill and roast the peppers and red onion until charred on all sides (turning as required).
- Peel and remove the skin, remove the stem and scrape out most of the seeds.
- Dice the peppers and onions and place in a large bowl.
- Mix in the olive oil, puréed chipotle chilies, garlic, cilantro, lime juice.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Salsa Verde:
8 tomatillos, chopped
1 hot yellow pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed
4 scallions, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin, or more to taste
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients and season to taste with cumin, salt and pepper.
Lime Beer Basting Sauce:
1/2 bottle lager beer (he suggests Honey Lager but all I had was a Jamaican lager so I used that)
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp organic lime juice
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat until the butter is melted.
- Remove from heat and keep warm.
The Burger:
1 1/2 lb cold ground free-range chicken
2 tbsp Bone Dust™ BBQ Seasoning ***
3 tsp cumin, ground
3 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp organic lime juice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups corn tortilla chips, crushed
1 onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped
Non stick cooking spray
Tortilla shells
2 cups Romaine lettuce, shredded or sliced thin
2 cups pepper jack cheese, grated
2 cups sweet onion, peeled and sliced
1 cup sour cream
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cumin, chili powder, lime juice, vegetable oil, tortilla chips, onion, garlic and jalapeño.
- Add a 1/4 tsp+ of paprika, dried coriander, sugar, garlic powder, curry powder, dried basil, dried thyme and cayenne pepper.***
- Mix well and form into eight 4oz rectangular burgers about 1″ thick.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat the grill to medium high.
- Spray the burgers with non-stick cooking spray.
- Grill the burgers for 1-2 minutes on each side. Basting with the Lime Beer Basting Sauce
- Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 3-4 minutes more on each side. Basting with the Lime Beer Basting Sauce
- Warm the tortilla shells in a 250 degree F. oven.
Serve:
- Place a burger in the tortilla shell, add as much of the lettuce, cheese, onion, sour cream, the two salsas and guacamole, wrap up and enjoy.
*** He gives the recipe for the Bone Dust™ BBQ Seasoning in his book but it make 2 plus cups and I was not sure how this was going to turn out so I did not want to make that amount. I looked at his list of ingredients and added about 1/2 tsp – 1 tsp of each – See step #2 above. I am thrilled with how it turned out. I wish I had made 2 cups! Next time, maybe.
Around the clock Salsa Verde, Jack Cheese, Guacamole, Romaine lettuce, Fire-Roasted Four-Pepper Salsa, Sweet Onions and Sour Cream in the center.
The burger is buried under all that stuff, now wrap it up and enjoy!!
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Well Belle loved the Malaysian Flank Steak and the Tofu so much, she insisted I find something else from the “Planet Barbeque” book. I found one from Siem Reap. Cambodia. I substituted flank steak for the sirloin steak since I was going to marinate it for 4 hours anyway. Flank steak is truly a wonderful cut of meat as long as you marinate it for 2-4 hours. I cut the steak in half and then marinated it and after the 4 or more hours I barbequed it and then sliced it as opposed to slicing, marinating and grilling. I find this method works best when you are trying to achieve rare to medium-rare flank steak. The meal was great and even Hayley loved all the “salad” stuff and didn’t miss the meat or tofu etc. She did eat lots of the peanuts so she did get her protein.
Cambodian Steak with Salads and Condiments
adapted from “Planet Barbeque” by Steven Raichlen
Steak and Marinade:
5 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 piece of ginger (large thumb size), peeled and finely chopped
6 scallions, white part finely chopped (green part set aside for condiment tray)
4 red Thai chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup organic lemon juice
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, finely chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 flank steak, cut in half against the grain
Salad Platter:
1 large Boston Lettuce, all leaves separated and washed, spun dry
1 bunch watercress, torn
2 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh Basil leaves
1/2 lb green beans, topped and tailed and cut into 2″ pieces
3 carrots, peeled and cut 1/4″ thick on the bias
1 large English cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
Condiments:
Fish sauce
1/2 cup sugar
3 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped
4 Thai bird chilies, seeded and chopped
Green parts of the 6 scallions(white part used in the marinade), thinly sliced on the bias
2 organic limes cut into wedges for squeezing
Steak:
- Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a re-sealable plastic bag.
- Add the flank steak and mix it around to coat the steaks.
- Place in the fridge for 1-4 hours (the longer the better).
Salad:
- Just prior to grilling the steak prepare the salad.
- Arrange the salad ingredients on a serving platter in an attractive way.
- Since we will be using the Boston lettuce to hold the steak and salad, I place them on a separate plate.
Condiments:
- The idea is to make your own dipping sauce with the fish sauce as a base and add your own condiments to it.
- Place the fish sauce in individual small bowls.
- Place each of the condiment items in separate bowls with serving spoons.
- Also have salt and pepper available.
Grilling:
- Set up the grill for direct grilling and pre-heat to high.
- Remove the steaks from the marinade and discard the marinade.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and grill the steaks for 3-4 minutes per side.
- Check for doneness.
- Remove from the grill with tongs (not a fork) and let rest 3-4 minutes.
- Slice the steaks thinly across the grain. Plate them and serve with the salad tray and condiments.
Eating:
- First add whatever combination of the condiments to your fish sauce, taste and adjust the seasoning/flavour.
- Take a Boston lettuce leaf, add some steak and salad items.
- Roll up the lettuce leaf into a small package, dip in your sauce and enjoy.
- When you run out of lettuce leaves you can start eating off your plate and pour a little of the dipping sauce over your steak and salad.
I found it a little bit messy but fantastic. You could also use Romaine lettuce leaves instead / as well as they are bigger and would be easier to use. I forgot to take a picture of the Boston lettuce or any of our ‘packages’ . My fingers were too messy and busy eating to bother with the camera again!
We were having a Malaysian Flank-Steak and I needed something vegetarian for Hayley. In the same book (Planet Barbeque) I found a tofu dish, also from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a grilled tofu with a chile peanut sauce. Fantastic dish. I thought we would eat the steak and Hayley would eat the tofu, with lots left over for her to have tomorrow etc. Wrong! All the tofu went in a hurry. Everyone loved it. So easy to make and so delicious. I have made it several times since.
Grilled Tofu with Chile Peanut Sauce
adapted from “Planet Barbeque” by Steven Raichlen
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic pressed or minced
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 piece (thumb size) fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup Chinese chile paste
1/4 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded and cut into 1 1/2″ x 1/4″ matchsticks
1/2 can of sliced pineapple, cut into 1/4″ matchsticks
1 package extra firm, low fat tofu (350g or 12 oz), cut into 4 steaks
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic, shallots, ginger and cilantro and cook until golden brown (3-4 minutes).
- Add the chile paste and sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved (1-2 minutes).
- Add the hoisin sauce and 1/2 the peanuts and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add 2/3 cup of water and reduce the heat to medium and let simmer while stirring until thick and flavourful (5 minutes).
- Adjust the thickness with more water if required.
- Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Set up the grill for direct grilling, preheat to high, then reduce to medium.
- Oil the grill and brush the tofu steaks with some of the chile peanut sauce.
- Place the tofu steaks on the barbeque and grill for 4 minutes per side, brushing on more sauce before flipping the steaks.
- Transfer the steaks to plates, place some pineapple sticks and cucumber sticks on the side and serve with more chile peanut sauce.
Well he has done it again. Steven Raichlen’s “Planet Barbecue” is a must have if you love world flavours and love to barbecue. My first selection from this very informative and beautiful book was Nonya-Style Flank Steak from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Wow! Just amazing. Along with that we had corn on the cob (on the bbq with cilantro butter) and Grilled Tofu with Chile Peanut Sauce also from Kuala Lumpur. I also did a stir fry of broccoli with garlic and sea salt. The entire meal was really flavourful and will be made many times in our home.Hayley and her friend loved the tofu and broccoli while Belle and I loved it all.
Steven Raichlen mentions that Malaysians like their beef cooked all the way through. We are obviously not Malaysian. We all like our beef rare or medium rare and I think Sean (who missed out on this meal) would eat his right out of the fridge if you let him.
Nonya-Style Flank Steak
adapted from “Planet Barbecue” by Steven Raichlen
1 1/2 lb flank steak
3 tbsp vegetable oil
5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
Nonya Sauce (recipe follows)
Nonya Sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, pressed in a garlic press
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 red Thai chilies, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp sambal ulek
2 tbsp Asian fish sauce
2 tbsp organic lime juice
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
Flank Steak
Cut the flank in half (against the grain)
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the garlic and cook until golden brown (2 minutes).
Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Pour the oil into a bowl and let cool.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, turmeric and pepper to the oil in the bowl and mix.
Season with salt.
Place the flank steak in a large re-sealable bag, pour in the oil mixture.
Seal the bag, and shake the mixture around to coat the steak all over.
Open the bag, remove most of the air and re-seal. Place in fridge to marinate for 1-4 hours, turning occasionally.
Meanwhile you can make the Nonya Sauce (below).
Before preparing to cook the steaks, remove the steaks from the marinade (discard marinade) and allow the steaks to come to room temperature.
Heat the barbecue to high heat and after hot, clean the grill with an oiled paper towel (use tongs).
Reduce the heat to medium low and cook the steaks to desired doneness. We like ours rare and medium rare.
You are going to slice the steaks against the grain after cooking so to test you cut cut a little slice into the steak to see if it is done.
Remove steaks, let rest 2-3 minutes, then slice against the grain.
Sprinkle the fried garlic on top of the slices and serve with the dipping sauce.
Nonya Sauce
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the garlic, shallots and chile and cook until golden brown (3-4 minutes) while stirring.
Add the sambal ulek, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and pepper and cook until thick (4-6 minutes).
Pour in the coconut milk and simmer until thick but pourable.(3-5 minutes)
If too thick add more coconut milk and check taste for sweetness. (add more brown sugar if required to taste).
Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Transfer to individual dipping bowls and serve with steak.
Above is the Flank Steak, grilled Tofu with sliced cucumber and pineapple along with corn on the cob with cilantro butter.
I will try to post the Tofu dish soon – it was a big hit with everyone.
This was the dish to go with the Gonzales Meatloaf. I had a fear that Belle would not like the meatloaf so I wanted something for her. The chipotle remoulade is great, when I first made and tasted it I said “Wow, that is Hot!” and Belle heard me and was really worried about dinner. Also Sean does not like Chipotle so I was hesitant about this for him too, although I knew he would be content just eating meatloaf. After all was said and done, Sean Loved the Chipotle Remoulade with the Catfish cakes and so did Belle. I loved it with the catfish but I also loved it with the meatloaf. A great combination. Please give it a try and let me know how your family takes to it.
Catfish Cakes with Chipotle Remoulade
adapated from The Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears and June Naylor
1/2 cup butter
2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp paprika
2 lb catfish fillets
1/4 cup dijon mustard
3 free range eggs, beaten
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup peanut oil
1 cup chipotle remoulade (recipe follows)
Chipotle Remoulade
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
4 tbsp white vinegar
4 tbsp organic lime juice
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tbsp spicy mustard
2 canned chipotle chiles
1 1/2 tbsp chipotle sauce
Catfish cakes
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions, celery and red pepper until softened.
Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Let cool.
Dry the catfish fillets with paper towel.
Place the fillets in a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
Place in a large bowl and add the mustard, eggs and Worcestershire sauce.
Add the cooled vegetables and mayonnaise and mix well.
Add 1 cup of the bread crumbs and mix with your hands (add more bread crumbs as required).
Form 6-8 cakes (about the size of a hockey puck, but a little thinner).
Coat the cakes in more bread crumbs before frying.
In a deep skillet heat the peanut oil until very hot and fry the cakes for 2 minutes per side.
Add more oil as required, only fry 2 -3 cakes at one time so as not to reduce the oil temperature to much.
Serve with the Chipotle Remoulade (instructions follow)
Chipotle Remoulade
In a food processor combine all the ingredients until well blended.
If the mixture is very thick you can slowly and vegetable oil into the processor and process until smooth.
Pour into a small bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Sean loves meatloaf and I wanted to try something different. I found this meatloaf recipe in the Texas Cowboy Kitchen book (which I just love) and everyone loved it. Even Belle loved it and she is NOT a meatloaf kind of person. Give this a try, it is quick and easy and makes for wonderful leftovers. The whole kitchen smells great when we reheat the leftovers. I made this with Catfish cakes with Chipotle Remoulade in case Belle did not want the meatloaf. The Chipotle Remoulade goes GREAT with the meatloaf too!! This a great Meatloaf.
I did make another Strawberry Bread for Hayley and Belle this morning. Another big hit.
Gonzales Meatloaf
adapted from The Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears and June Naylor
2.5 lbs ground beef (you can use extra lean but lean or regular has much more flavour)
3 free-range eggs beaten
1 cup dried bread crumbs
6 cloves of garlic pressed
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, seeded and diced
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 tbsp hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Kosher salt
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Prepare a loaf pan by spraying with a vegetable non-stick spray (Pam).
- Put all the ingredients in the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes then increase the temperature to 425 degree F and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove and serve. (with the Chipotle Remoulade – see next post)
As you all know my daughter, Hayley is a vegetarian. I really enjoy reading vegetarian cookbooks and Vegan cookbooks. They are fascinating. The flavours etc they come up with make me wish the year I decided to be vegetarian it did not mean “I am giving up meat” but really meant I wanted to eat vegetables.
I know Belle wanted me to BBQ on the charcoal again and so I bought more strip-loin (1 1/2″ thick this time) but what if Hayley was home and what about our veggies and starch. I had lots of plans one of which was this pot pie. Belle said yes and Hayley loved it (so did I and Belle) so what could be better.
So this meal comes from a Vegetarian book with a beautiful 1 1/2” strip-loin steak grilled to perfection on charcoal (and no lighter fuel smell!!!)
Please feel free to leave out the steak or for you carnivores out there … don’t leave out the pot pie, just add some bacon to it.
Individual Vegetable Pot Pies
adapted from Gourmet Vegetarian by Jane Price
4 small Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/2 large Butternut Squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 ” pieces
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into quarters and then cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 tbsp peanut oil
3 1/2 tbsp butter
1 red onion, diced
7 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2″ pieces
8 white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 tbsp peanut oil
3 1/2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 egg yolks
Cayenne pepper, seal salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 sheet butter puff pastry
1 egg with a little water beaten
- Steam the potatoes over boiling water in a bamboo steamer for 8-10 minutes,
- Microwave the squash in a large bowl for 15 minutes on high heat.
- Microwave the carrot in a bowl for 10 minutes on high heat.
- Pre-heat the oven to 415 degrees F.
- Spray the 4 ramekins with non-stick vegetable oil spray (Pam).
- Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet and cook over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the onion, red bell peppers and mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes and add to the other veggies.
- Heat the butter and oil over medium heat and then reduce to medium low.
- Add the flour and whisk together and cook for a few minutes (3-4).
- Start adding the milk in small amounts and whisk until smooth, continue until all the milk is absorbed.
- Increase heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, increase to medium-high and cook for another minute, stirring the entire time.
- Remove from the heat, add the cheese and egg yolks and stir to combine.
- Season with cayenne pepper , sea salt and pepper.
- Add this sauce to the veggies and stir to combine.
- Divide the mixture amongst the 4 ramekins.
- Cut 4 circles out of the puff pastry to cover the ramekins (use the lids as a guide but make the circles bigger).
- Cover the ramekins with the puff pastry, brush with the egg and water mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Serve.
And Thank you Steve Kubienfor this lovely bowl / container. A first I said wow, that would be great for garlic (it looked a little like a garlic clove to me, but after a while I realized, there is NO WAY I could put even one weeks worth of garlic in that) but then I thought I need something for my Malden Salt.
So I am using this for my finishing salt – currently Malden. This was a Birthday present from Steve Kubien and I am sure if you visit his site you can get one of these along with salt and pepper mills for yourself. He might not “gift” them to you but at his current prices, they are a steal. Get one for yourself and one or two for some friends!!!
Belle got this one from someone she knows on-line. She said it sounded great but the comments on-line said it didn’t have enough strawberry flavour. I decided to make one loaf instead of two but keep the number of strawberries the same. Also reduce the cinnamon (belle is not a big fan of it) and omit the pecans (again Belle is not a nut person nor is she nutty either). I am not sure if Sean had any, although he did say he would love Cinnamon Bread. Belle and Hayley loved it, I didn’t try it – Cooked fruit is just sort of weird to me and of course Dylan would have nothing to do with anything that has “flavours” in it. To Dylan, flavours are any green, red, pink or yellow items that should not be in his food. He does in fact love taste, sesame oil, soya sauce, garlic and onion – just make sure it is puréed first. Anyway give this a try, the fruity people in your life will love it. In the summer when the strawberries are fresh this will be really good.
Strawberry Bread
adapted from Allrecipes.com by Ellen Rainey
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
9 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 free-range eggs, beaten
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan with non-stick vegetable spray.
- Place the strawberries in a medium bowl and sprinkle with sugar.
- Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Mix the eggs and vegetable oil in with the strawberries.
- Add the strawberry mixture to the flour mixture and mix well until there is no more dry flour.
- Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack in the pan.
- Turn the loaf out and let cool or serve it warm.
I have found myself starting to make recipes I have already blogged about. I need to break out of my safety zone and go crazy. Well actually we have been trying to work through our freezers and fridges so I end up making things that I know because we have the same ingredients. We have a fridge in the kitchen with a bottom freezer – you never know what is in these. Probably a mistake to buy unless you make a list of everything you put into it, otherwise you have to empty the whole thing just to see what you do or don’t have. We have our old fridge (with a top freezer) in the other room along with a stand-up freezer. Way to much space to fill up.
We shop a lot at Costco so when I buy fish, it is a large bag of frozen fish or a very large fresh salmon etc and we end up freezing half of it. Good, but if you don’t eat it it just ends up with freezer burn and you throw it out. Big waste of money. So I have been slowly working my way through all three appliances and have cut my shopping lists down to the essentials. Although that does mean cooking the same old, same old. Hey, but that’s what everyone likes so it is not a bad thing just doesn’t give me something new to blog about.
Last night I made Steven Raichlen’s (The Barbeque Bible) Shark and Bakes on my new little kettle charcoal BBQ, along with a strip-loin steak for Belle. The breads (Bakes) turned out great and the shark was delicious but the strip-loin smelled and tasted of BBQ lighter fuel. I did something wrong. I need to start the BBQ a lot earlier. I have not used charcoal in many, many years so this was a “new” experience. Sorry I spoiled a strip-loin steak though. I also made her fried mushrooms and we both had the Classic Thai Rice (“Seductions of Rice” by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid).
Bakes off the BBQ
Here is one Belle found on-line or was sent to her….
Dylan’s favourite, Mac Cheese.
Pasta and Cheddar Cheese Sauce
adapted from http://sculptingalife.blogspot.com
2 cups uncooked pasta (I used elbow macaroni)
salted water to cook the pasta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese for topping
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Boil the water , add the pasta when boiling and cook as per the instructions on the package.
(I usually ignore the package, set the timer for 7 minutes and then taste it , add another minute or two and taste etc until al dente)
- Now make your roux:
- Melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour(slowly) and whisk it until smooth and starting to colour.
- Add the milk, slowly and continue to whisk until completely smooth.
- Add the cheese, whisk until smooth then remove from the heat.
- Drain the pasta, and pour into a casserole dish.
- Pour in the Cheese sauce and mix it up until smooth.
- Add the 3/4 cup cheese on top and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove and serve.
- Yummy!!!
- This is a crowd pleaser, Sean, Hayley and Dylan love this and the leftovers can easily be nuked back to a soft, smooth meal.
Experiment with the type of cheese ( I can’t because Dylan would complain) but you can so try anything and everything. Also vary the type of pasta you use.
This is a new “Staple” in our house.
After those very salty buttermilk biscuits (see previous post) I had to find another recipe to make sure it wasn’t just our taste buds. I am convinced it was a typo or other error in Thomas Keller’s book “Ad Hoc at Home”. I went to America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book and found a buttermilk recipe with only 1 1/2 tsp of salt – big difference. These tasted much better and rose slightly higher. I may have over-worked the dough a tad (although I only did what they said) but they did not rise they way I wanted them too. I need to experiment with the ingredients to get a lighter and fluffier biscuit. But these were very good.
Best Buttermilk Biscuits
from “America’s Test Kitchen Home Baking Book”
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered buttermilk
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces and chilled
4 tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 1/14 whole milk
- Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F. with oven rack in the middle.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, buttermilk powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda (about 3 times).
- Scatter the butter and shortening evenly over the top and pulse about 15 times, until it looks like a course meal.
- Place the flour mixture in a large bowl, stir in the milk and mix until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface.
- With floured hands, knead the dough gently for 30 seconds.
- Roll the dough out into a 10″ round (about 1″ thick).
- Using a 2 1/2″ biscuit cutter ( a tuna fish can with both ends removed works well too.) cut out biscuits.
- Place them on the baking sheet 1 1/2″ apart.
- Gently bring the scraps together and continue to cut out biscuits.
- Bake for 5 minutes, rotate the sheet and reduce the temperature to 400 degrees F. and bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 3-5 minutes and serve warm.
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