Pan seared lamb chops with roasted cauliflower puree and port reduced shitake mushrooms

I fell in love with lamb many years ago. If someone asks you to describe its flavor, you just can’t. It tastes like nothing else in the meat world. Succulent, earthy and medieval all come to mind, but you just have to dive in and find out for yourself. I can’t recall my first chance meeting with this heavenly gastronome but I do recall making it for the first time. It was the Christmas of 1993. That was the first year that I had assumed all of the duties for the family holiday meal. As I perused cookbooks looking for the perfect menu (back then I was a cookbook purist), I stumbled across a leg of lamb recipe. It sounded just perfect. While I don’t remember the exact preparation, it cooked slowly for hours with orzo bubbling away in the bottom of the pan studded with tomatoes and spices. It was a hit. That was the beginning.

As the years have passed, I have made lamb many different ways and enjoyed its unique flavor in many cultures around the world. Mutton (lamb over 2 years old), served in the UK has few spices, is slowly braised and has a headier more robust flavor while Mediterranean preparations are loaded with brilliant peppers and aromatics that sing on the palate. Spring lamb is an outdated term that used to refer to lamb born in the spring and harvested the following spring. Today, spring lamb means any lamb that is the right age and weight and can be found year round. Generally sweeter and milder, most of the animal is tender enough to be cooked directly over heat. In Anthony Bourdain’s book, A Cook’s Tour, he describes a trip to an Egyptian market in search for the freshest whole lamb. Not being slaughter day, he pays extra to have a fresh lamb prepared before his eyes. He then packs the animal on a camel and caravans to a Bedouin camp outside the city where the animal is slowly cooked over open fire. Eating and drinking late into the night, he enjoys the most coveted part of the animal in the region –the testicles. His description is vivid and compelling. Most of us will not trek to the Middle East to eat lamb balls, but his passion is noteworthy. I highly recommend this book for any foodie.

For reasons I don’t completely understand, lamb tends to stay out of most American kitchens. It seems to be reserved for special occasions and high end restaurants. I know there are folks other than me that eat it because my grocery store sells it –but I never hear any of my friends talking about the lamb they cooked last night. Personally, I buy lamb every 6 or 8 weeks in some form or fashion. Since I’m the only one in my house that will eat it, I just buy enough for myself and make it when no one else is around. I chose a recipe to share that is quite simple to prepare and stars one of the most popular cuts –the lamb chop. These small cuts hail from the sirloin of the animal and contain a cross section of the tenderloin. They are by far the tenderest bits of lamb. Before they are cut, they are the “rack” and tied into a circle they make the coveted crown roast. While I have explored different spices and marinades, I find the lamb chop requires little else than some salt and pepper. With it I cooked down some shitake mushrooms in a port wine sauce and served it over a roasted cauliflower puree with garlic and parmesan. I rarely know how my vision of a recipe will turn out but this was spectacular. The lamb was perfectly rich and sumpuous complimented by the sweet mushrooms and creamy puree. You can whip this recipe up any night of the week in about 35 minutes and the ingredients cost less than $30. You dinner guest(s) will be impressed.

Pan seared lamb chops with roasted cauliflower puree and port reduced shitake mushrooms

Head of cauliflower broken down to individual florets
5 cloves of garlic
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 oz (about 1/3 cup) dried shitake mushrooms
4 tbsp butter, divided
1 shallot, sliced
1 cup port wine (any wine will do –port makes the mushrooms quite sweet)
3-4 tbsp grated parmesan
1-2 tbsp fresh tarragon, roughly chopped
¼ cup chicken stock
2-3 tbsp heavy cream
8 lamb chops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay cauliflower and garlic out on sheet pan and drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil over the top. Season with salt and pepper and use your hands to mix around on the pan to evenly coat each piece. Ensure that the cauliflower and garlic are in a single layer. Place into the oven for 30 minutes or until fork tender.

While the cauliflower is roasting, add the dried mushrooms to a salted pot of lightly boiling water. Allow to boil for just a few minutes then remove from heat and let sit for about 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms have completely reconstituted. Drain and roughly chop. In a sauté pan over medium heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil and sauté the shallots until just fragrant –about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and sauté another 2-3 minutes. Add the port wine and reduce by half, about 10 minutes.

Generously season the lamb chops with salt and pepper. In a separate pan over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil and place the chops in. Do not move the meat. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side for medium rare (depending on the thickness of the lamb chops). Remove from heat and allow 5 minutes to rest.

Remove cauliflower and garlic from the oven and transfer to a food processor. Add cream (start with 2 tbsp but add more to get a creamy consistency), chicken stock, 2 tbsp butter, parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

To finish the port sauce, whisk in 2 tbsp butter till just melted as well as the tarragon.

To plate, place a scoop of the puree in the center of the plate, lay 2 lamb chops across the top and spoon a few mushrooms over that.

Serves 4.

A weekend in Canada -cooking

I think all clichés are born out of wisdom. In this case, “Be careful what you wish for” comes to mind. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew” is another. “Too stupid to know any better” is also applicable. I’m referring to being approached by some friends and asked if I’d take care of the cooking for a large party; a very large party. And what rolled off my tongue? “Of course. Sure. No problem. It’ll be fun.” And it was. Here’s the story.

Karen and Harold are my winter neighbors. They have a cute little place down here in Palm Harbor where they retreat to escape the evil winter weather of their home in Wynona, Ontario. Both former small business owners, they really are enjoying their retirement. Karen approached me back in January and, knowing my passion for all things food, suggested I cater Harold’s 70th birthday party in August which was to be held at their home in Canada. I accepted the challenge without hesitation and didn’t think about it again for months. Then around the end of May, Karen called and wanted to know if I was serious because the plans were well under way. There was a theme, color scheme, live music, dancing and of course, lot’s of food. “I’m in.” Now things were getting serious for me and my nerves were getting a bit jittery but I’d made the commitment. It was time to buckle down and figure out what to do.

I began with menu planning. Karen and I spoke pretty constantly about the details and we settled on finger foods. With a Caribbean theme, I was filled with ideas that needed to be narrowed down. Karen’s strong aversion to cilantro made it difficult initially because I don’t know many (if any) island style dished without cilantro but that was a fun part of the challenge. While I was quite concerned about execution, the creative aspect of dish creation has always been my forte. We came up with 7 items and there would be over 1200 individual servings. Yikes! What had I committed to? I was definitely getting nervous.

I landed in Buffalo, NY on a Friday afternoon. Harold’s daughter, Tammi, picked me up and we headed across the border and up the Qweensway. After a quick stop at the grocery for the last minute perisahbles, we pulled up to their home. Karen had already done most of the shopping from the list I’d sent her. What a marvelous home they have. Both spacious and charming, the place is the perfect party house. There’s a huge wrap around deck with an exceptionally large and well groomed back yard. But the one thing that stands out is the view. From their back porch, you walk about 30 yards and you are standing on a seawall that overlooks Lake Ontario. Directly across the Lake and about 30 miles as the crow flies you see the skyline of Toronto with the CN Tower being prominent. It was breathtaking, to say the least. My room was to be on the second floor with picture windows running the length of the room looking out over the lake. I had little time for sleep but this was a peaceful room.

After getting my bearings on where everything was located, I immediately went to work. I had taken the time to map out a day by day food prep plan. This would turn out to be invaluable. For Friday night, my biggest challenge was to get 12 chickens roasted for a homemade chicken salad with avocado. Using Karen’s and her neighbor’s ovens, I got that done in a few hours but now there was meat pullin’ to be done. This is where I began to realize what a daunting few days ahead. 12 steaming chicken’s sat before me and I realized that if it normally takes me 10 minutes to do one chicken, I was going to be at this a couple of hours. That’s when the first of what would be many volunteers stepped up and the wheels really began spinning. Karen’s neighbor, Donna, and other neighbor, 12-year-old Cailin, stepped in and between the 3 of us we were done in short order. This is where the bells when off that I’d need a lot more help than I thought.

The next morning I was up well before the sun and hard at work. The clock was ticking. I had about 30 hours to go. As morning wore on (and my 2 day back ache began), several of Karen’s friends began showing up and offering to pitch in. Thank god. Without Kaley, Lynda, Liz, Tammie, Erin, David, John, Lawrence, Pam, Elise, Cole,Kevin, Cailin, Donna, Deepika, Marie, Brenda, Kenn, and Alice I would never have been able to chop, dice, slice, cook, skewer, roast, bake or sauté any of the items by myself. The plan was simple but time consuming. I began at about 5 AM by thinly slicing and pickling the red onions for the roast beef and brie sandwiches (not really Caribbean, but a request from Harold). Then there were the pounds of scallops for the scallop cups (a vibrant scallop salad served in lettuce cups). I sautéed for what seemed like hours. And so it went, on an on, all day long. I made several fresh sauces (remoulade for Shrimp Po’ Boys, Horseradish for roast beef), relishes (pineapple jalapeño for skirt steak) and marinades (Meyer’s rum and OJ for skirt steak). All the while my troop of volunteers, continued to do all of the prep work. From my kitchen view over the lake, I watched the sun rise and set while we continued to work. With Saturday’s chores finally behind us –and my back screaming, we sat and drank. I’m not sure what time I went to bed but I remember thinking it was too late.

Now it’s Sunday. Party day. With my Saturday to-do list completed, I turned to the Sunday morning portion. Raspberry tarts with homemade vanilla whipped cream were the first order of business. While making this, the rest of my enlistees showed up and none too soon. It was assembly time. I realized that I had several crews working on specific tasks and my role was changing from cook to conductor. I demonstrated to each crew how I wanted each item put together; how to assemble the hundreds of different sandwiches, skewer the 200 caprese salad skewers, fill the 120 scallop cups, top the tarts, flour the hundreds of shrimp for the Po’ Boys and so on.




Next I set up my outside station. The plan was to grill the island skirt steak and make the fried shrimp at the point of service so that we had 2 fresh hot items on the line. As party time approached, the food began coming to the buffet tables outside. When the clock struck 1 PM, everything was in place and the guests began to arrive. Folks dug in. Steel drum and island music played. The sun was high in the sky with just enough occasional overcast to make the day perfectly comfortable.

I grilled the marinated steaks and handed them off to be sliced and plated with the salsa. I also fried the shrimp that had been soaked in soda water then coated with a seasoned flour and cornstarch mix. This provided a light and crispy crust on the shrimp that tasted as perfect as any Po’ Boy I’d had on my many visits to New Orleans.




After just a couple of hours, my service was complete and I was ready to just enjoy. My nerves had melted hours ago simply because I was too busy. Now I was just running on adrenalin and some wine was in order. I mingled stopping by each table to ask if all was OK and I didn’t hear a negative comment. In fact, humbling compliment was the order of the afternoon.

If I missed the mark on any of these dishes, no one shared it with me. I did make a couple of mistakes that didn’t translate to the taste of the food. Notably, we had a lot of food; too much. While I did stick to the small plate theme, each item was probably too big so folks filled up. We ended up sending lots of food home with guests. Whole trays of sandwiches were destined for office break rooms on Monday.
What a terrific experience this was for me. I had fun even though I didn’t leave a 100 yard radius for my 3 days in Canada. A wise person once said, “If you make a living doing what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Now, I don’t make a living doing this but, as hard and long as we worked for 3 days, it never felt like a chore. I can’t wait for Karen and Harold to get back to Florida so we can reminisce about that great weekend.

I visited a Top Chef contestant's restaurant

Note: Sorry for the absence. I’ve been running around a lot lately and I just haven’t had time to finish a post. Interesting that I’ve had several posts started but just haven’t completed anything. I’d like to get back to my weekly ranting this month. Also please excuse the photo quality. I used my iPhone. Olivia had her 1st day of Kindergarten while I was on this trip and I had to leave my camera at home. Now on with the writing:

After circling the globe a few times, there are a few constants about traveling that I have come to understand. Such as: never get behind mother with a stroller at the airport security line (you’ll be there forever) or, even if you don’t deserve it, always ask for a complimentary upgrade or never assume a familiar menu item on a foreign menu will even remotely resemble something you’ve had at home. There are so many silly little things like this that many books and guides have been written to help the occasional traveler navigate the gauntlet of uncertainty. One rule I found to also be true is that hotel food is horrible; usually real horrible. Of course there are exceptions at major resorts in the Caribbean, Las Vegas, the pacific islands and a few other rare gems –but in general, your average business traveler’s hotel food sucks. I’d swear that the salmon I had in a Marriott in downtown San Francisco came out of the same unseasoned vat of goo as one I tried in a Boston Hilton.

Imagine my surprise (actually giddiness is a better word) at walking into a hotel lobby last week and seeing a poster congratulating their executive chef for being a contestant on this season’s Top Chef on Bravo. Top Chef has become iconic for any true foodie. The façade of the Hollywood Beach Marriott in Hollywood, Florida is unassuming for a full service hotel. Built in art deco style, it was absent the charm of the South Beach art deco less than 20 miles to the south. If it hadn’t had the typical red lettered “Marriot” signage, I’d have thought it a wanna-be beach hotel. The exterior of peeling whitewash and lime green pastel accents are contrasted by a beautiful interior of dark woods, exquisite marbles and a charm reminiscent of an early 1900’s elegance that Teddy Roosevelt would enjoy. Management is not shy about their new celebrity chef either. A poster on an easel immediately greets you with a larger than life picture of Chef Ron Duprat. I didn’t even complete the check in process before asking to meet the chef. He’d already left for the day, I was told. I was crushed.
“What about tomorrow?” I asked.
“He’s usually here for breakfast. You can either see him in the main dining room or in the concierge lounge”, the exceptionally attractive young lady at the desk replied.
OK, fine. I’m here 2 nights, so certainly I’ll catch him tomorrow.

That night, I met my colleague for dinner at the pool bar. I couldn’t wait to eat hotel food this night. If Bravo selected this guy to be one of 17 contestants on a popular television show, he does something special in the kitchen. His menu seems a fusion from his French-Creole roots in Haiti combined with traditional south Florida fare. Simple preparations with clean flavors go a long way with me.

I decided to go with the “price fix” menu. Not a new concept, by any stretch, but it seems I’ve seen more restaurants offer this lately. Here, for $35, you get 4 courses with several choices for each course. If you eat out even just once in a while, you might recognize that this is a killer deal. My first course was a crab cake over a black bean and corn salsa with a remoulade drizzle and a few micro greens. As pretentious as this sounds, it wasn’t the slightest bit haughty.

It tasted exactly like a crab cake should: like crab. Void of heavy fillers, the sweet crab came through perfectly. I could have eaten 10 of these, seriously (they were small). Next was a curried green tomato gazpacho.

Slightly tart, a little sweet but perfectly curried, this was another hit. Next came the main course and my absolute favorite.

Atop some perfectly tender and bright green bok choy sat a magnificently seared miso crusted sea bass. This was a cross between fish and butter, heaven and perfection, Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie (I still can’t believe Brad had both). As if the miso needed more help to make this dish stellar, there was a ginger butter sauce that made me weep as if I were walking my little girl down the aisle.

Lastly, the desert course was a rum cake with candied ginger, mango and blueberries. I was taken off guard when I was presented with something that looked airy, like a mouse. I’ve had rum cakes and I expected something more cake-y.

One bite into this fluff and my vision narrowed only to see the beach, a single shade-producing palm tree, a blue and white striped beach chair next to a table with a coconut with a straw hanging out. The waves crashed rhythmically onto the shore. The sun was high. It was hot. OK, I might be a bit dramatic but this was good. Really good. Thrilled with dinner, I retreated to my room and called it a night.

The next morning, I looked for Chef before breakfast but he wasn’t in. Damn. I might miss this guy. After a long day at work, I returned just sure he wouldn’t be in and I was checking out the next morning early. Bellying up to the beach bar, I once again asked the bartender if Chef Duprat was in.
“Let me check.” She said as she walked off.
5 minutes later, Mr. Duprat emerged. He looks every bit the part of a Caribbean chef. I found his appearance commanding and his tone soft. He introduces himself with a smile that fills his entire face.
We spoke for about 10 minutes and he told me about his past. I asked him how he liked being on Top Chef and he made a bit of a scowl. I’m guessing he doesn’t go far on the show. Chef Duprat freely admits that he doesn’t know how to cook fast. He goes on to talk about his French training and his penchant for slow braising and long cooking times. I had to ask if Padma (show’s host) was as beautiful in person as she was on TV and he responded, “She’s even more beautiful in person.” (I was secretly hoping he was going to tell me she was a hag.)
“What’s Tom Colicchio (the other host) like? Mean? Nice?” I asked.
Being very gracious, Chef went on and on about how kind he was.

Ron Duprat is a pleasant fellow. He’s a joy to talk to and his passion for his art comes through in conversation. At first, I wanted to meet Ron Duprat because he was a Chef on Top Chef but after our conversation, I was glad I met him just because he’s a really nice guy; the kind of guy you want as a neighbor or drinking buddy. I’m headed back to Miami next week. Any guesses where I plan to have dinner?

A little eggs story then smoked soft boiled eggs with caviar

On a business trip to the Netherlands a few years ago, a colleague and I were having lunch in a small bistro on the outskirts of a northern town called Alkmaar. It was directly beneath the town’s historic and still functioning windmill. Damon was what I would call a non-eclectic eater at best. It has always bothered me to see folks who pick through their food with a fork and knife –inspecting every crumb and bit for that hint of some unappealing vermin that the chef snuck in during the cooking process. This is far different from the inspection of the gustatory enthusiast who often deconstructs his meal while lauding each component for its creative use. The difference can be seen in the face of the inspector. A scowl or grimace on the former and a look of reverence on the latter. Damon had that scowl for 2 solid weeks (except for our adventures into the red light district of Amsterdam which should be left for a completely different blog).

In the smaller towns of the Netherlands, English is scarce making reading menus difficult. Sometimes you just had to take your best guess and Damon was trying his best to survive this horrid dining experience. On this day, we recognized the word “Hamburger” and Damon felt safe ordering this. I feel enlightened knowing the word has Dutch origins. I was prepared for the disaster to come when the waitress struggled to convey through a combination of frustrated hand gestures, guttural utterances and less-than-adequate interpreter help from the neighboring table that bread was an option. If bread was not standard for a Dutch hamburger, there was going to be an unappealing twist to this story for Damon. With a bright smile, the lovely barkeep returned with our plates and set before Damon two hamburger patties that I’m guessing were boiled. To the side was a large piece of the optional crusty bread atop a fresh cut slice of tomato and a few lettuce leaves. The coup-de-gras, though were the two poached eggs nestled atop the beef –yolks pre-broken and running lazily through the valleys of the meat. After a lunch of bread and butter, tomato and lettuce, Damon rose from the table with that scowl fixed and I swore –just like mom used to warn us about childhood eye-crossing –this was permanent.

Eggs. C’mon. The first thing most of us learn to cook as kids are scrambled eggs, right? There’s something primal and comforting about cracking eggs. But I must admit, that first guy who saw that white orb squirt out of a chicken’s ass and decided, “Wow, I should eat that!” well –he’s my hero; an epicurean visionary of unrivaled proportion. Or maybe he was just that hungry. Either way, eggs are enjoyed on every corner of the inhabited world and for great reason. They can be raw, boiled, fried, baked, stuffed, simmered or steamed. They can be the star of your meal or be a subtle perfect ingredient. In the September issue of Bon Appétit, a particular egg dish caught my eye. Told in unique and captivating comic book style is the story of an egg appetizer served at Momofuku Ko in New York City. Chef David Chang has been toying with this dish for some time until arriving at his current sensation. He perfectly soft boils an egg for a very specified length of time (5 minutes, 10 seconds). It then goes into a ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once cool enough to handle, the egg is gently pealed taking extra care not to split the white apart. The first bit of creative magic that sets this apart from any pedestrian egg dish is that the peeled egg is now returned to a water bath infused with a touch of liquid smoke. An overnight stay in the refrigerator yields a smoked, soft boiled egg. Already sounding perfect to me, the egg is re-warmed (4 minutes in a hot water bath) and served split –its silky warm ribbons of yellow oozing out like a perfect sunset over the beach. Ah, but wait, this is where it really gets good. A bit of caviar is then gently placed at the split in the egg giving the impression that these briny, black bits of oceanic perfection followed the yolk onto the plate. I had to try this. There was more to the dish than just the egg. He serves this atop on onion soubise (slow braised onions) next to a few homemade chips and some greens. For me though, it was the egg that moved me.

Within hours of reading this article, I was at it. Before wasting my time and money at the store for liquid smoke and caviar, I had to see if I could make a soft boiled egg at all. It’s a good thing I started with 3 because only one egg ended up worthy. It takes some practice removing the shell from that silly thing without pulling the while apart and ruining the yolk. I found the tricky part to be at the poles of the egg while the equator seemed to go fairly smooth. Now to the store. Since I live in the burbs, so to speak, I wasn’t willing to travel the distance required to find a high quality caviar so I settled on what was readily available at the grocery store. I imagine that might appall any caviar aficionados out there but I don’t know any. There was a black lumpfish caviar that was $14 for a tiny jar so I chose that. It certainly looked regal enough although my next rendition will be with the good stuff.

I got home, followed the recipe with my improvised ingredients and ended up with a treat of epic proportion. This tasted like something you’d pay a fortune for in a restaurant and I can only imagine how wonderful it would be with the accompanying onions at Momofuku Ko. Certainly, my rendition may be a bit more crude than the celebrated chef’s version but I was quite pleased with my more pedestrian version and I can’t wait to make this again.

Mac and Cheese with Pork Jowl Bacon and Roasted Poblano Pepper

This post is really about Mac and Cheese but first I have to share a recent discovery about one of the ingredients that I just fell in love with. If you watch The Food Network even a little bit, you’ve heard talk about pork fat and how delicious it can make almost anything. I have found this to be quite true. Now I know it’s not horribly good for you but a little goes a long way. About a year ago, I began reserving my bacon drippings and keeping them in the refrigerator in a small plastic container. I’ll go to this frequently instead of butter and I use about half a teaspoon as the base for many dishes that may begin with, say, onions and garlic. It’s really awesome.

Some weeks ago I was looking through the section at my grocery store reserved for meats that most folks rarely cook with. Things like pig’s feet and beef heart which are placed at the far end of the meat cooler. I never see anyone perusing the stuff. Tucked behind a bit of intestine, I noticed a package of pork jowl bacon. I wasn’t really sure what that was but it looked like bacon. Into the shopping cart it went. It came in a big slab that I had to cut myself.


Its first use in my house was in some collard greens that I cooked in a pretty traditional southern style. Wow was that flavorful. Unsmoked and a bit less salty than regular bacon, this had a pure taste. It was unmistakably and exquisitely pork. I have since used it in several dishes where I thought bacon was called for. I must admit, I like it better.

Now on to the Mac and Cheese. While out of the box Mac and Cheese is a popular American tradition in most households, it could not be further from its home made cousin both in flavor and ease of preparation. From the box to the plate is about 10 minutes from the store-bought variety and everything can be done right from the same pot. While I don’t find this horribly tasty, it’ll do in a pinch. Homemade Mac and Cheese, though, is just heaven. A sea of bubbling cheese with crunchy brown bits of breadcrumbs nestled about is enough to put anyone in a good mood. Unfortunately though, you do have to work for it a bit. I would call the home made variety an intermediate dish. Not completely simple to prepare and a bit time consuming, I messed quite a few attempts up before stumbling upon the correct concoction. The recipe I offer here is my most recent and it took about 2 hrs and required 3 pans and a few kitchen gadgets. (I cheated and used a food processor attachment instead of a box grater for the cheese.) Every bite, though, was worth the effort. From scratch Mac and Cheese just tastes like someone loves you. Silky, creamy, cheesy and packed with such succulent decadence, I can’t contemplate a more heartwarming dish.

Here are a couple of tips. You can use the amounts that I give you below but they are an estimate of what I made. The real key to the cheese sauce isn’t so much the type of cheese but the consistency when added to the macaroni before baking. It should be a bit more watery that you might think because much of the liquid gets absorbed by the noodles in the oven. If it’s too thick from the start, your cheese will end up kinda gloppy in the final dish. I’ve done this before and while the taste is still wonderful, the texture is a bit off putting. For the macaroni, you want a version that acts as a vessel to hold the cheese to it. I used shells because they are these little cups with ridges and it worked perfectly. Macaroni has the hollow center that does a nice job and is much more traditional. Rigatoni would be great too. As far as the cheese goes, the sky’s the limit. Lisa often complains that I have so many different cheeses that they have their own dedicated spot in the fridge. That’s true, they do. In this dish I used 4: Monterey Jack, cheddar, smoked provolone (over the top good) and Swiss.

Why did I choose these? Because I had them and I thought they’d go well together. I was right but it was just a guess. Another tip is to add some new flavors to the dish. Just the cheesy version stands up all by itself but you can be as creative as you like. I used the aforementioned bacon and some roasted Poblano peppers. What I ended up with was a scrumptious meal that had small crunchy bacon-y bits (because I rendered the pork jowl bacon first) and the sweet heat of the roasted Poblanos. Shrimp or Lobster would be good. Maybe some diced tomato would too. Since most of my recipes are pretty off the cuff, your own creative style would suit this just fine. Here is my version and it was yummy.

Macaroni and Cheese with pork jowl bacon and roasted Poblano peppers

2-3 large Poblano peppers
½ cup of pork jowl bacon, cubed into ¼ inch pieces (regular bacon would be just fine too)
1 lb pasta shells or elbow macaroni
½ stick (4 tbsp) butter
3 cups half and half
½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
½ cup smoked provolone, grated
½ cup Swiss cheese, grated
1/3 cup bread crumbs (I make my own in a food processor with a bit of garlic powder and salt but Panko crumbs would be good too. Regular store bought would be OK but that’s always a very last resort, in my opinion)

Place the peppers in a 450 degree oven and cook until all of the skin is dark brown or black, about 30 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so the peppers can steam a bit. Allow to rest at least 30 minutes to cool. Take each pepper and remove the brown/black skin so that the green flesh is what you have left. Discard the seeds and rinse the pepper flesh clean then dry with paper towel. Dice peppers finely and set aside for later.

Place the cubed bacon in a skillet that is preheated to medium low. You want to avoid too much sizzle because we want these to render over 10-15 minutes and not cook like traditional bacon bits. If you are using regular bacon, you want it just a bit underdone. When done, move to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain the excess fat.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, add your shells. Turn heat down and cook for about 7 minutes until shells are al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the half and half. Bring to just a scald and add the cheese. Stir until all the cheese is melted. I use a whisk to determine the right consistency. If the sauce is right, it will fall away from the whisk as it is lifted out. Think tomato soup thick: a bit liquidy. If too thick, add a bit more half and half.

In a casserole dish, combine the bacon, Poblanos, shells and cheese sauce. Depending on the size of your casserole, you may or may not use all of your cheese sauce. Place in a 350 degree oven and cook for 30-45 minutes. Remove and sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Serves 8-10

Grilled Chicken, Sweet Corn and Barley Soup from Leftovers

Forgive me but I’m going to take some liberty in forming an opinion of you. You cook. You probably have a passion for it at times. You live a busy life. You have a fridge full of leftovers. If I am correct, let’s chat. It breaks my heart to go into the fridge and throw out something that just 2 nights ago was absolute heaven to eat. Unfortunately though, the flavors are never the same reheated or microwaved. I toss plenty. I hate it. Trying to create new recipes from those leftovers can be a challenge, to be sure, but there are a couple of simple tricks. One of my favorites is soup. Those victim meats that have completely lost their once brimming succulence can be revived with a simple slow simmer in a luscious broth. The Tupperware that contains 2 tablespoons of veggies because you just couldn’t bear to throw them away can also be put to use. Even though I’ll share a specific recipe with you below, that’s not what’s important here. It’s about using what you have, conserving on your grocery bill, and avoiding the lost-in-the-back-of-the-fridge syndrome. You certainly don’t want you refrigerator to double as a Petri dish.

It is not uncommon for me to make 2 completely different dishes; one for Lisa and one for me. I like experimenting with food and she is much less adventurous. So the other day, I had a few different items on the grill. At the end of dinner, I had a mountain of leftovers including 3 ears of grilled corn and several citrus marinated, grilled chicken breasts. These are prime items to morph into a fuzzy blue cocoon in a matter of weeks. Don’t lie. It’s happened to you too. Fast forward a couple of days and I’m doing my usual what-am-I gonna-make-next-? ice box inspection. I see these things and a few others and the lights go off. It’s time for a soup. This would be perfect for the rubbery raw carrots from last week and the last onion in the bag. Oh, and I have some homemade chicken and veggie broth in the freezer that should be good. A quick peek in the pantry produces some pearl barley. Great in soup. This plan is coming together nicely. I dice up the veggies and the chicken, thaw my broth, cut the corn from the cob and that’s pretty much it. Once combined and seasoned, I add a bit of barley and it’s simmer time. An hour later, I have a luscious, fresh tasting wonderful soup that even Lisa scarfed down. I topped it with some fresh basil from the garden, grated Parmesan cheese (because shoes taste good with Parmesan cheese) and a drizzle of olive oil. The basil helped enhance the fresh flavor from the very beginning and you’d never tell that one more day and the carrots might have been able to leave the fridge under their own power.

For me, this was leftover management at its finest. I still often fail and I’m constantly tossing things pretty much daily. In this case though, I was able to conserve just a bit and not only did it feed my family at home, I sent quite a bit over to my father. He loves my leftovers anyway. So if you too have some items wasting space in your fridge and they haven’t begun their smelly morphing phase, one idea would be a soup. Give it a shot. See what happens or try something completely different. Just think before you toss.

Grilled Chicken, Sweet Corn and Barley Soup

4 grilled chicken breasts, cubed into bite size pieces
10 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or a combo of both)
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
½ cup pearl barley
3 ears of sweet corn, grilled or roasted then cut from the cob (yes, you could certainly use a frozen)
Fresh basil for garnish
Parmesan cheese for grating atop
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

In a large pot, add the broth, chicken, onion, and carrots. Bring to a slight boil and add the barley. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 hour. Serve into individual bowls and top with a bit of basil, Parmesan and a slight drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 8

Rum and OJ infused Skirt Steak with Pineapple and Serrano Salsa -Ya Mon!!!

I love a challenge. I think most of us do. I especially like them when they are related to food. That’s why I had so much fun with this one. I was recently asked to cater a party for about 100 people. OK, I can handle that. It’s in Canada. I can handle that too. The theme is Caribbean. So far so good. The idea of fresh, clean island flavors begin swirling in my mind: citrus, seafood, sweet, spicy. Of course there has to be a twist. I was told that the folks hosting the party and the guest of honor do not like cilantro. This is a constraint that is difficult to overcome. When I think of the Caribbean, I think of rum drinks and foods with heavy doses of cilantro. Now if you enjoy a good salsa, it almost always has cilantro. The flavor is unmistakably bright and unique and screams of steel drum bands and sand in your toes. Leaving it out seems wrong on many levels to me, but hey, it’s not my party. Also, she wanted everything to be finger foods. No fussing with forks and sit down place settings; just small plates that guests could walk around and mingle with was the mandate. It didn’t take me long to draw up a rudimentary plan. The proteins were easy enough. A shrimp dish, a scallop dish, chicken, vegetarian, beef. I could use skewers, lettuce cups and bread as the vessels for these. As I thought of lime and rum and seafood, I was feeling a bit better. Things were coming together. Still, the absence of cilantro seemed problematic. I made a trip to the grocery store for a few ingredients to see what I could come up with. 8 courses plus a dessert later and I was all set. 1000 individual pieces. I’m pretty sure this will be a hit but I won’t be able to report back until early September because the party is at the end of August.

In particular, I was especially proud of the skirt steak skewers. Marinated in rum and orange juice then grilled, they’ll be served in a Bibb lettuce cup with a pineapple Serrano salsa. I decided to make a version of this for Lisa. She’s by far the pickiest adult eater I know. Difficult to take out to most restaurants much less cook for, she is a terrific critic. When she likes something I make, I am beyond thrilled. I wasn’t holding my breath on this one but I felt she might enjoy it. I just thought the flavors were consistent with what she likes. First I made the salsa. For me the key to salsas (or relishes, if you prefer that term) is flavor combinations and texture. While there is often a star in the condiment, no one flavor should be too overpowering. The tastes should marry and, in fact, be allowed some time in the refrigerator to meld. Getting the right texture comes from the size of the ingredients. A small dice is best. A good dose of lime juice and a splash of dark rum rounds out the salsa. I almost forgot about the cilantro.

With the pineapple concoction doing its magic in the fridge, it was time to turn my attention to the steak. Now skirt steak is a very interesting cut of beef. When deciding on which cut to use, I tried four different varieties. Sirloin, filet, strip and skirt all went into the marinade. After an overnight bath, my beef and I went to the grill. The sirloin dried out. It was beefy tasting but too little fat made it dry. The filet felt out of place because while it still had that beautiful buttery flavor, the salsa on it seemed distracting. Same with the NY strip. The skirt steak, though, was magnificent. Perfectly seared and exquisitely moist, the sweetness of the salsa contributed to humble nirvana. Skirt steak comes from the belly of the cow. It’s often considered a tougher cut of meat but I find it very easy to get around this by marinating it. Because of its texture, it’s the cut of choice for fajitas. Personally, I think it stands up beautifully on its own with very little effort and it’s well suited for the grill. Skirt steak also has just the perfect amount of fat to it. Not at all gristly but instead wonderfully moist and tender at medium rare, this should do well. Experimenting over. Let’s eat. I forewent the skewers and lettuce cups for Lisa’s home rendition. Instead I just removed the meat from the marinade and went straight to the grill. A few minutes on each side over the hot coals and I had a perfect medium rare steak.

After an appropriate resting time of about 10 minutes, I sliced it (against the grain completely eliminates toughness) and plated it topping it with the pineapple salsa. On the side I put some potato rounds roasted with garlic and bacon drippings and a salad. The verdict? Lisa ate every bite. She loved it. The heat of the Serrano chilies with the sweetness of the pineapple that topped the citrus and rum infused beef was enough to transport me to a far off island where Jimmy Buffet was holding a personal concert for me. The only thing missing was a coconut with a straw hanging out of it.

I’m really excited about sharing this with you because, honestly, this is one of the best original recipes I’ve created in a while. Even though the marinade and salsa require some forethought, the entire kitchen time is less than 30 minutes, maybe 40 if you count clean up. Give this a try and feel free to report back any twists of your own.

Island skirt steak with pineapple and Serrano chili salsa

Marinade
1 cup orange juice
1 cup Meyer’s (or other dark) rum
2 tsp grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
Salt and pepper to taste

2 lb skirt steak

Salsa
1 cup diced fresh pineapple, ¼ inch cubes
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1 Serrano chili, very thinly sliced
2 large green onions, very thinly sliced
Juice of 2 limes
Dash Orange juice
Dash of Meyer’s (or other dark) rum
Salt and pepper to taste

Lay the skirt steak on a cutting board and pierce throughout meat with a fork. This allows the marinade deeper penetration. Combine all of the marinade ingredients and place in a reseal able plastic bag along with the steak. Take as much air out of the bag as possible and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.

For the salsa, combine all of the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Grill the steak over high grill heat (depending on your grill) for 4-6 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice the meat against the grain and plate topping with the pineapple salsa.
Serves 4

As always, you can email me at louistjr@gmail.com or find me on Facebook. Screen name: louislovesfood.