Sweet “Faux” Gras Pâté on Pear Chips…wait, wtf? Chicken for dessert?

Jeff at Culinary Disaster posed a challenge among a few friends recently to make a dish using chicken. I think we’ve all made many a chicken dish before, and seeing how dessert is where I seem to have the most fun, I thought it would only be appropriate that I try to do something a little odd and make a chicken-based dessert since I thought (a) that has to stand out and (b) that sounds like a hell of a challenge. I know…dessert…and chicken? You didn’t misread, so let that one sink in and bear with me (have I ever steered you wrong, dear reader?). Trust me, this one has a happy ending!

Obviously, one has to tread carefully to get a dessert out of a chicken, and leaning too heavily on eggs seems like a crutch (given how obvious they are in dessert, anyways). So I thought I might be better off looking away from the usual breast/thighs and to the…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on May 7th, 2008 under Chicken, Dessert, Fruit, Mediterranean, Side dish, Snacks | 26 Comments »

Egg Curry

When you go to an Indian restaurant, the menus at most of them are pretty much the same and its unfortunate because this showcases such a narrow window of this amazing genre of food (honestly, why do so few restaurants focus on South Indian cuisine?). Don’t get me wrong, I love this narrow window as well, but it just means that if I want to satisfy my cravings for the kind of food I had when I was in India, that’s all on me. This is such an attempt to recreate a curry my wife and I both love: egg curry.

Egg Curry

Instead of the usual chicken or lamb, this curry’s protein is diced hard-boiled eggs. The gravy it tomato-based, slightly spicy, and both creamy and slightly sweet on account of the presence of coconut milk. I followed a similar technique in making this as I did when I made butter chicken. The eggs make for a different but somehow, more…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on May 4th, 2008 under Indian, Main course | 20 Comments »

Carnitas with Roasted Corn Salsa

Even if Mexican food isn’t your thing, you have to love carnitas. What are carnitas, you might ask? Think something akin to a Mexican twist on pulled pork–juicy, tender, but paradoxically crispy and crunchy at the same time, all served on a tortilla, in this case, with a freshly made roasted corn salsa.

Carnitas with Roasted Corn Salsa

There are many approaches to carnitas out there, but I think they can pretty much be divided into two categories: semi-healthy using braised pork, or, as is the case with this recipe, a more traditional, heart-stopping approach on account of slow-cooking the pork in roughly a pound-for-pound equal amount of lard (like a confit).

Your reaction to that statement will go one of two ways: (1) holy shit awesome! (I agree :o ) or (2) grossed out and almost off-handedly ruled out as insanely unhealthy. If you’re in the latter group, slow down now and hear me out! After all, its not like you’re ultimately going to…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on May 1st, 2008 under Main course, Mexican, Pork, Sauce | 26 Comments »

Chicken Burritos with Salsa Verde

I’ve had Mexican flavors on my mind lately, and with Cinco de Mayo approaching, it only seemed appropriate to make a distinctly Mexican-inspired burrito. These burritos include shredded chicken, freshly made salsa verde, a mild, Spanish goat cheese, and roasted poblano peppers, which all together, amounted to a new must-make-this-again-soon recipe.

I’d heard of tomatillos before, but had never actually tasted or seen one hands on. When I ran into them, I couldn’t help but just grab a ton of them without a clue as to what I would do with them. If you’ve also never worked with a tomatillo, they look kind of like small, green tomatoes with a papery wrapping (like a head of garlic). After a little thought, the most obvious thing struck me (another new thing for my tastebuds): salsa verde!

Now tomatillos are not tomatoes and salsa verde is a salsa that has no tomatoes (tomatillos are the star of the show), and in case…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on April 28th, 2008 under Chicken, Main course, Mexican, Sauce | 24 Comments »

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Seeing how I knew my steamy love affair with strawberries simply wouldn’t last forever, I decided that jam would be a fantastic way to prepare myself for strawberries and I going our separate ways for the season. So to commemorate the tapering off of the winter strawberry harvest in Florida and to indulge my newly discovered pension for rhubarb, I made Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

This was my first ever jam-session ( *rimshot* ), so I approached with just about as much irrational fear as my first preserving experience. Something about saving fresh produce for many months to come just has me worrying that I’ll screw something up and give myself botulism or some other happy malady. But if you’re reading this, I’m still here, alive and well, so phew! :-P

In addition to not wanting to let the strawberry season go, I also go through jars and jars of store-bought strawberry jam (I love peanut-butter and jelly bagels on the weekend),…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on April 25th, 2008 under Dessert, Fruit | 20 Comments »

Manchego-stuffed Lamb Burgers

So after finishing the last of those deliciously braised lamb shanks, I found myself with a good bit of leftover sherry blackberry sauce. To some, this would be a sad waste, but to me, this is yet another opportunity to try something new using leftovers. So in the ongoing love of all things lamb: lamb burgers!

Manchego-stuffed Lamb Burgers

The weather is warm here and it just screams for cooking outside. I had a craving for burgers, but I wanted to try something different from what I normally make. So to keep going with lamb and to not let any of that delicious sherry blackberry sauce go to waste, I picked up some ground lamb and decided to make a rich and tender burger. These are easy to prepare and some of the juiciest burgers I’ve ever had–you have the inherently flavorful lamb, the hearty, complex, darkness of the sauce, the uplifting flavor of mint, and the meaty, richness of kalmata olives all coming…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on April 22nd, 2008 under Barbeque, Lamb, Main course | 25 Comments »
« Previous Entries

Subscribe:

Don't miss a thing!





 

May 2008
S M T W T F S
« Apr    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Blogroll



Meta: