Archive for the ‘Americano’ Category

Greetings from the beach!

Sunday, July 13th, 2008
greetings-from-the-beach

We’re down at the Outer Banks for the next two weeks.  Which means seafood.  LOTS of seafood. :-D  I will be reporting accordingly.

Tonight after the drive down, we hit Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar.  They’ve been around for years, but for whatever reason, last year was the first time I’d ever been there.

First, let me warn you – the mixed drinks are deadly.  I’ve watched the bartenders pour them and your liver had better be ready for it.  Me?  I stuck with Red Stripe.

AA’s is a basic steamer bar, and really good.  (Of course, you can’t be crappy and last around here.)  I had the crab & lobster bisque, which was awesome.  I had it last year as well and just couldn’t pass it up.  Knowing from experience how rich this stuff is, trying to figure out what to have with it was a little harder.  After much hemming and hawing, I settled on a half dozen clams casino.  I know this is a classic seafood app, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had it before.  Well, it was wonderful.  The clams were sweet and not at all chewy and well, anything with bacon on it is OK in my book.  Last year I had the crab bites – basically itty bitty crabcakes.  Those are great, too, but really rich.

My brother got the steamed shrimp & snow crab.  (OK, snow crab isn’t exactly local, but it’s yummy and it’s really not local anywhere on the east coast…)  His only issue was the shrimp may have stayed in the steamer a touch too long as they were a bit of a bear to peel.  But he perservered and managed to barely leave the pattern on the plate. :)

Definitely on tap this week, Meridian 42 and The Left Bank.

Well, we’ll know in a few hours.

Sunday, April 27th, 2008
well-well-know-in-a-few-hours

The pot roast is in the oven, but not without some minor worries.

The searing went OK, next time I need to use the larger skillet I have.

Rubbed it in S&P and some minced garlic before searing. Into the dutch oven, added the potatoes, carrots & onions.

Added about 1/2 bottle of beer (Guinness) and then equal parts chicken & beef stock, until the meat was about 1/2 covered. Could be too much liquid, we’ll know for sure later!

Into the oven at 250 degrees (yes, you’re reading that right.) Decided to go with low & slow. (I have a friend that does his at 200 degrees for most of the day with the veggies in from the start. However, given my relatively late start, I figured 250 would speed it up somewhat, but not make it too fast.) Mainly, I wanted to put all the veggies in now rather than trying to guess at when a good time would be to put them in.

The biggest problem is that I couldn’t get the meat thermometer to sit properly in the pot with the lid on… So, I’ll check the temp in an hour and then every 30 minutes. Given that it’s only a 2# roast, hopefully we’ll be eating before 8PM.

More than anything, I just want it to taste good and be as good as Mom made.

Rockfish for lunch…

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
rockfish-for-lunch

Camera is still MIA, but when I took the rockfish out of the pan, it broke in half anyway…  Been getting some good deals on seafood recently and have taken advantage of them.

Simple, easy, tasty.

Rub rockfish filet in some grapeseed oil and salt & pepper.

Toss in hot pan.

About halfway through, add a couple tablespoons of honey mustard sauce*.

Eat & enjoy.

2:1 Jack Daniels Mustard to Honey, and a good dose of cracked pepper.

Assuming 6 oz filet and 3 T of honey-mustard sauce – nutrition:
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 370 Calories; 18g Fat (42.6% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 60mg Cholesterol; 479mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 4 1/2 Lean Meat; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Still no damn camera. Just as well for the time being since I also really should get a book on food photography. :-D

Another from the cooking school weekend at the Sanderling Inn last spring. It’s a great little appetizer, easy as all get out to make.

– 8 oz cream cheese
– 2 T chives
– 1 T lemon juice
Salt & Pepper
– 1# smoked salmon
– Sliced cukes or crackers

Mix the cream cheese, chives, lemon juice and salt & pepper. (It occured to me you could probably also use the chive cream cheese that is available.) Spread the cream cheese mix on the salmon and roll up. Wrap tightly in cling film and put in the freezer for 1-4 hours to get firmed up. When ready to serve, slice and serve on the cucumbers or crackers. The freezing makes them very easy to slice up, and once sliced, they will be thawed in just a few minutes.

Couple mistakes I made: Accidentally bought pre-sliced smoked salmon rather than just a single filet. Had to frankenstein things together a bit and it made it a little more challenging getting the cream cheese spread out. Second, I sliced off too many… More than we could eat in one night. There is still another half in the freezer, I’ll just be slicing off only 3 or 4. They do freeze pretty well.

Assuming 16 pinwheels, 1 pinwheel = 1 serving
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 86 Calories; 6g Fat (65.0% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 22mg Cholesterol; 265mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.

Hot Crab Dip

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

A wonderfully decadent snack. (Jumbo lump crab meat was on sale this week.) Recipe from Christine Zambito, Exec Chef at the Sanderling Inn in OBX. Takes about 10 minutes to prep.

8 oz lump crab meat, picked through for shells.
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 small red pepper, small diced
1/2 small yellow peper, small diced
2 scallions, chopped
Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix cream cheese until smooth – beater or by hand.
Add everything except crab meat, mix until well blended.
Fold in crabmeat gently
Place in ovenproof container and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until browned on top and heated throughout.

I ended up cooking it for about 25 minutes (the baking dish I had was somewhat deep) and put a bit of cheddar and monterey jack cheese on top.  You can also make it a day or two ahead and store before baking.

16 1oz servings, with cheese:
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 78 Calories; 6g Fat (71.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 104mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat.

Maple Salmon

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
maple-salmon

Still no camera (I’m cleaning house – it should show up soon!), but I made maple salmon this evening and it was spectacular.  Couldn’t have been easier.

Maple Salmon

Mmmmmmmmm, Salmon

Friday, March 21st, 2008
mmmmmmmmm-salmon

Still can’t find my damn camera. It is in the house SOMEWHERE, and definitely near the kitchen I am sure. But exactly where is beyond me.

Last week I picked up some salmon on sale, whacked it into several pieces and froze it.  (I really don’t like freezing things that much at all, but I wasn’t going to either be able to use it immediately or even all at once for that matter.)

Well, the piece I pulled out this morning took a lot longer to defrost than I thought it would, so I skipped my original intention of the maple/soy glaze and just went with pan searing.   Made a quick butter/wine sauce with a couple shots of Worchestireshire shots to drizzle over it.

Couldn’t have been simpler, or more tasty.

There’s a reason the recipe has been around FOREVER…

Sunday, January 27th, 2008
theres-a-reason-the-recipe-has-been-around-forever

Cause Toll House Cookies are still wonderful. Yes, I am a touch behind on my holiday baking – these are for my buds at the pub who keep me in Guinness. My only variation is that I substituted 1/2 of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips.

Now, I am by no means a master baker, but here are a few little things I’ve learned over the years while making these.

– If they come out a little overdone on the bottom and not quite as done on the top – what you think is the center rack probably isn’t the center rack on your oven.

– Make sure the cookie sheets have returned to room temp before putting the next batch on them.

– If you splash some vanilla extract on your finger while getting things together, ignore any instinct to lick it off. You will smell and taste nothing else besides vanilla extract for the next 2 hours.

– When you ask your brother to test said cookies and he gets a funny look on his face and says, “These are terrible, you cannot give these to our friends” and then attempts to take 3 dozen of the cookies to his room to “protect the public,” this is actually a good sign. :)

– I do not think it is possible to get through a baking session without burning yourself somewhere.

Ooh, this looks good!

Saturday, January 26th, 2008
ooh-this-looks-good

Crabettes from Joyful Abode

Definitely have to give this a whirl at some point.

Link via Tastespotting.

Chicken Chili Soup

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
chicken-chili-soup

The original is over at Allrecipes.com, and below is my version. It’s more of a thick soup consistency to me, and great in the winter. Though I normally eat it “naked”, I’m betting it’s one of those soups that would be good with a dollop of sour cream on top. There is a nice heat to it, but not to the extent that you won’t be able to taste anything else for the rest of the evening. The jalepeno cornbread I snagged at the market worked well with it, but I think plain cornbread would be perfect for the next time.

Also, if chopping onions and garlic while standing next to open containers of crushed red pepper and cumin doesn’t clear your sinuses – you need to see a doctor.

It really hit the spot, and will be making a repeat appearance tomorrow evening. (It’s just as good, if not a touch better the next day!) A small container has been stashed in the freezer for future colds. ;)

Chicken Chili Soup

Full recipe and another pic after the jump.

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