Some times, when dinner rolls around, we all experiment and try to put together something new. Other times, we resort to the classics, maybe not comfort food, but definitely something “established,” and this is one such dish: Beef Wellington.
I don’t think I ever had a Beef Wellington before this, but was well aware of it (how could you not be when its included on Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen season after season?). Like some other “classics”, I approached this with some hesitation as it seemed like it could be tasty in my mind, but it also just seemed kind of…stodgy and dated, if that makes any sense. But the more I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine how this dish would disappoint.
After eating this, I can easily see why this is a classic. This is timeless: a juicy, tender cut of filet mignon cooked inside a tight, buttery, flaky package of puff pastry. If you’re not familiar with this dish though, there’s
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Posted by mike on May 16th, 2008 in Beef, Main course
Who hasn’t had a stuffed pepper of some sort before? The most common stuffed pepper: a green bell stuffed with some mix of rice and ground beef. I wanted to revisit stuffed peppers but see if I could give it a zestier twist.
First, I started with red peppers–I just love the taste of a sweet red bell compared to the other colors (I wouldn’t miss green bells if I could never find them again). I also wanted a more flavorful meat than just ground beef, so I opted for something much more full-flavored: andouille sausage. With this ground up, I also took a trick I’d learned from Peter over a Kalofagas: instead of plain old rice, I cooked up a hearty risotto. Bring these together with some creamy cheese and a number of other flavors, and you’ve got something great.
I thought this tasted amazing. Very strong, southern/Creole sorts of flavors–the pepper and the sausage gave a sweet, spicy, and smokey
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Posted by mike on May 13th, 2008 in Main course, Pork
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.
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 fun-to-eat
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Posted by mike on May 4th, 2008 in Indian, Main course
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.
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 
) 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 ingest all of that
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Posted by mike on May 1st, 2008 in Main course, Mexican, Pork, Sauce
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 the name
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Posted by mike on April 28th, 2008 in Chicken, Main course, Mexican, Sauce
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!
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 together
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Posted by mike on April 22nd, 2008 in Barbeque, Lamb, Main course
