Archive for the 'Mediterranean' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

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 | 27 Comments »

Herbed Rack of Lamb with Port Fig Sauce

Lamb is a wonderful meat that lends itself to many beautiful dishes, but a common theme across all of them is to keep it simple so that the delicious, gamey flavor of lamb can shine through. With the spring season comes the new lamb season, and so I have prepared a number of lamb dishes. Today’s dinner: an herbed rack of lamb with a sauce composed of a port reduction and dried figs.

Herbed Rack of Lamb with Port Fig Sauce

This was simply delicious. The ideal way to eat lamb is medium rare so that it is juicy, tender, and just bursting with a distinct flavor. One of my favorite preparations of rack of lamb is herb encrusted, but one thing that never quite sat right with me was the bread-crumby texture of the herb crust–it always bothered me, because when you go to eat it or cut the rack, so much of it crumbles off and is lost! So I tried to apply some of the…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on April 13th, 2008 under Fruit, Lamb, Main course, Mediterranean, Sauce | 27 Comments »

Caneton a`l’Orange (Roast Duck with Orange Sauce)

Poultry is always a crowd pleaser, but let’s face it, some times, chicken can get a little old. Every now and then, it pays to indulge in a more delectable bird, in this case duck. Duck has an amazing flavor and depending on where you live in the world, many mouth watering preparations might come to mind. I decided to go with a traditional French approach: roast duck with orange sauce.

Caneton a`l’Orange

This recipe comes from the great Julia Child: Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (which if you don’t already own, you really should). If you can get your hands on a fresh duckling, go for it, but if you can’t, you might have better luck finding a frozen duck at the grocery store (on my to do list: befriend a hunter! ;-) ). Either way, duck is simply a delicious bird, composed entirely of dark meat and one of the most mouth-watering fats out there, and when roasted…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on April 10th, 2008 under Fruit, Main course, Mediterranean, Sauce | 22 Comments »

Spaghetti & Fontina-Stuffed Veal Meatballs

Lately, my pasta dishes have kind of obviously been focused on comfort-food, and this is no different. Today, we have another classic dish, with a little twist to make it something special: spaghetti and fontina-stuffed veal meatballs.

Spaghetti & Fontina-Stuffed Veal Meatballs

I decided to make my own tomato sauce, but I struggled with it. When I say struggled, I don’t mean that making the sauce was hard–far from it! The real difficulty was resisting my temptation to over-complicate things and throw in all sorts of herbs and spices. I decided for once to give the classic Italian cooking mantras a chance and to let the tomatoes speak for themselves, hoping they wouldn’t let me down. As it turns out, the tomatoes heard my prayers and they came through! I didn’t have any great fresh tomatoes, but I did try a recommendation for a better brand of canned San Marzano tomatoes, which was certainly a bit pricier than other canned tomatoes I was used to, but…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on March 21st, 2008 under Italian, Main course, Mediterranean, Pasta, Sauce, Veal | 30 Comments »

Nutella Crêpes w/Strawberry & Banana

Crepes were always a rare but special treat for me as a kid. When we’d go on family vacations, there would be a few places that we absolutely had to go to for breakfast so we could have crepes. As simple as they are, something about them is just always a delight, and so for breakfast (or a dessert), today we have nutella and fruit (strawberry and banana) filled crêpes.

Crêpes — nutella & strawberry, nutella & banana

Given how special crepes were to me as a kid, when I was much younger, my brother and I had tried to make crepes for my mother on Mother’s Day (fancy schmancy breakfast in bed–what more could you ask for? :o ). Of course, having no real knowledge of cooking and a box of pancake mix did not spell success–along with the fact that we didn’t notice that the box was about two years past expiration. To make a long story short, those crepes were henceforth known as “craps,” and…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on March 15th, 2008 under Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Mediterranean, Snacks | 28 Comments »

Moroccan Beef Stew

After the last Moroccan dish I made, I simply had to have more. The approach to cooking the food is simple, the spices strong and seductive, and the end result is uniquely complex and delicious. Really, my first experience woke me up to a whole new genre of food that I had to explore. Today: a Moroccan Beef Stew.

Moroccan Beef Stew

Combining my new regional food interest with my newfound obsession with braising, this stew just made a lot of sense. Plus, this was an exciting opportunity for me to crack open the jar of preserved lemons that I had started so long ago–finally, after all of the suspense, I could discover what all the fuss was about. And you know what? They really are unlike anything else. Clearly lemons in appearance and flavor, but stronger, sweeter, and all grown up. Given how easy they are to make and how versatile they seem to be, I’d encourage everyone to start preserving a jar right away.…
  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mike on March 9th, 2008 under Beef, Main course, Mediterranean, Soup & Stew, Spices, dry rubs, and breadings | 23 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: