PICTURE THIS: Foie Gras Bon Bon, Commonwealth, San Francisco

Yes, Foie Gras and Dark Chocolate. AMAZING!
Off the Chef's tasting menu at COMMONWEALTH, San Francisco

Recipe for Summertime Brown Rice Salad

A while ago, I blogged about how I was trying to be more organized and plan ahead by preparing some basics like beans, rice etc and keeping them in the fridge for meals during the week.  Here is a quick and easy (and adaptable to what you have on hand) salad using made ahead brown rice. It is light and delicious for summer as a side dish to pretty much anything. I served it along side my Ponzu Cardamom Marinated Tuna and it was perfect.

Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings (as side dish)


Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked brown rice, cold
• ½ cup finely diced green bell pepper
• ½ cup finely diced cucumber
• ¼ cup finely diced red onion
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Combine all ingredients.
• Serve slightly chilled.

The sweetness of the pineapple played nicely with the other veggies.  If you don't have fresh, I'd imagine canned would work fine or perhaps use some chopped apple or pear instead. And, I think quinoa would work well if you have that on hand instead of the brown rice.

Share your easy and quick summer side dishes with us in the comments.

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Black and White Wednesdays

Street Market Hong Kong

Submitted to Black and White Wednesdays

Recipe for "Sate" Roasted Chicken

This is one moist and delicious chicken, if I do say so myself, and I do!  Another experiment with some of the Penzey's spices I picked up on a recent trip to the mainland [and no, Penzey's isn't sponsoring these posts : -)]. This roasted chicken is slathered in a slurry of olive oil and Indonesian Sate seasoning (that's their spelling). I roasted it following my favorite "not just for special occasions" method.  It's foolproof.  The meat is so moist and the Sate seasoning was fantastic.


So, you might be wondering "what's in that Sate seasoning Susie Bee?"  Here is the list of ingredients:  
salt, brown sugar, garlic, onion, coriander, shallots, ginger, turmeric, sweet paprika, Ancho pepper, galangal, cayenne red pepper and lemon grass.  Now you know why it is so tasty!

Time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: 6 servings


Ingredients:

• 4.5 lb organic free range chicken
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP Penzey’s sate seasoning
• ½ large sweet onion, cut into chunks
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a Dutch oven on center rack.
• Remove gizzards and other parts from inside chicken.
• Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Tuck wings under body.
• Loosen skin over breast and legs (SEE OTHER POST).
• Combine olive oil and seasoning.
• Rub ½ of seasoning/oil mixture under skin.
• Salt and pepper inside of cavity and place onion inside.
• Rub remaining seasoning/oil mixture over outside of chicken.
• When oven is at temperature, carefully place chicken inside Dutch oven.
• Give Dutch oven a quick shake.
• Cook for 1 hour or until thigh temperature reaches 160 degrees, turning pan ½ way through and basting chicken with pan juices.
• Cover loosely with foil if skin gets too brown during cooking.
• Remove pan from oven and chicken from pan.
• Cover loosely and let rest for 15 minutes and then cut into pieces to serve.

Ready for the oven

Resting

Since I started following this method, I can't bring myself to buy a store cooked chicken.  Even with just a seasoning of salt and pepper, a chicken cooked this way is so much better than the best store cooked chicken I've ever had.  I'm not saying that in a pinch I wouldn't pick one up, but otherwise, home cooked for me!

I'm dreaming up other uses for this wonderful seasoning-any ideas?

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PICTURE THIS: Now that's a WINE TASTING!

From "Three Decades of Reserve Cabernets" at the Kapalua Food and Wine Festival.
BTW, what's that white paper cup for anyway?

Recipe for Sweet and Sour Grilling Glaze

Mr. ELEB chuckles sometimes when he sees me standing in front of an open pantry or refrigerator door.  I understand why…you can almost see the steam coming out of my ears as I’m looking at what’s in front of me and concocting possibilities in my head.  He also laughs because he knows that he might get something really yummy, occasionally something yucky.  Well, he lucked out on this most recent experiment!

It was burger night-I had defrosted some ground buffalo-and I was pondering what to do in front of the open fridge door.  I didn’t a want cheeseburger so I was trying to come up with ingredients to make the burgers interesting.    I had a bottle of white wine open (imagine that), some garlic, ginger, and I spied the bottle of ponzu tucked away in the door shelf.  I figured with some brown sugar and mustard, I could probably cook up a reasonably good glaze to add a nice layer of flavor to the meat.

Voilà!  Here’s my sweet and sour grilling glaze.

Time: 35 minutes plus grilling time

Yield: ½ cup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry white wine
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp finely minced garlic
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger
• 2 TBSP ponzu or soy sauce

Method:

• Whisk all ingredients together and bring to boil.
• Reduce to low boil and cook, stirring every 5 minutes, for 30 minutes or until reduced to ½ cup.

Top-fully reduced, bottom left-start, bottom right-half way reduced

Cook your burgers on the grill as you normally would, adding the glaze for the last 5 minutes.  The brown sugar will burn so watch the burgers carefully. 

I’ll be trying this out on other meats and maybe on grilled veggies and pineapple-will let you know how that goes!

Do you make your own grilling sauces?

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Black and White Wednesdays

Shaved Asparagus Salad

Check out the fun with black and white (and sepia) at Black and White Wednesday.

Recipe for Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb

Not everyone likes lamb.  I used to think I didn't like it, probably from having some gamey tasting mutton somewhere in England as a kid!  Today's New Zealand, Australian, or Colorado lamb is wonderful and, if you trim the fat well, it has none of the possible gamey flavors that turn some people off.  We even have lamb being raised on Maui now through the Maui Cattle Company.  I haven't tried any yet but can't wait.   This rack came from Australia via Costco.  I've found their Australian lamb to be very good and competitively priced.

Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 3 servings (1 1/2 lb. rack)


Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs Frenched lamb rack
• 1 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 TBSP finely minced garlic
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• ½ TBSP kosher salt
• ½ TBSP freshly ground pepper
• 2 TBSP canola oil

Method:

• Trim excess fat from lamb rack.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix together the rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Rub the rosemary mixture over lamb rack.
• Heat canola oil in oven proof skillet over med-high heat.
• Brown lamb rack in skillet, approximately 1 ½ minutes per side.
• Place skillet with lamb in oven and cook for 15 minutes.
• Remove lamb from oven and place on plate. 
• Rest lamb for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.

You could use your favorite meat rub instead of this rosemary and garlic rub; the recipe is very adaptable.  You can get this on the table in under an hour. If you're having company, you and your guests will enjoy an elegant meal with very little fuss.  

Are you eating things today that you wouldn't have touched a few years ago?

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PICTURE THIS: Smart Words

And if you really love them,  Healthy Tasty Food!
(Penzy's Sticker)

Black and White Wednesdays

Street Food Sweet Auburn Market Atlanta

I love black and white photographs and Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook has a brilliant idea for others who share this love with me.  Every Wednesday Susan will post submitted black and white photos as part of a Culinary Photography Event!  


So whether you have some awesome black and white photos to share or just want to gaze at some, check out the event every Wednesday at Black and White Wednesday.

Recipe for Quinoa Salad with Roasted Red Pepper, Feta, Mint, and Almonds

Even though it is warm/hot year around here in Maui, there is something about summer that just makes me want fresh, tasty salads.  This quinoa salad is great. Simple to make, yet complex in taste.  It is great as a side dish to grilled meats or alone as a meatless main course option.






Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 as a side dish


Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups water (or broth)
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp salt, plus more for serving
• 1 cup chopped roasted red peppers
• ½ cup chopped fresh mint
• ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ¾ cup chopped toasted marcona almonds

Method:

• Bring quinoa, water, garlic and salt to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes (or per package directions).
• Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
• Stir in red peppers, mint, feta and almonds.
• Taste for salt and add as needed.
• Serve at room temperature.

I used some of my homemade roasted red peppers but you could certainly use jarred. Don't skimp on the mint, feta or almonds!


What summer salads are you making?
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Welcome Baby E!

I'm happy to report the safe delivery of my first grandchild today!  E, Mom, and Dad (the older of my two sons) are all doing great.  She is 7 lbs. 10 oz and 21 inches, head full of hair, just like her daddy had when he was born.  Can't believe I'm a grandma!  Actually, I'll be known as Meme (pronounced mimi).
Aloha, what a blessing!

Book Review: "On A Stick" by Matt Armendariz (and recipe)

Photo by Matt Armendariz, used with permission

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to receive a free review copy of a new fun and quirky cookbook, “On a Stick!” by photographer and blogger Matt Armendariz, published by Quirk Books, May 2011.   Ha!  Quirky cookbook, published by Quirk books-unplanned, honestly!  OK, moving on.  I follow Matt’s blog (mattbites.com) so I was enthusiastic to see what in the world he had come up with for his “anything on a stick” cookbook.

Well, Matt did not disappoint!  Now, I’m not saying I’d make everything in this cookbook. However, there are plenty of fun appetizer or snack ideas that I would make and others that will inspire me to adapt the recipes to my ingredients/style. 

Any cookbook based on street food and country fair treats is bound to have its share of fried, and I mean deep fried, goodies.  Think pineapple funnels (spears of pineapple wrapped in funnel cake batter and deep fried), deep fried candy bars (no explanation needed!), suppli (fried risotto stuffed with cheese), and deep fried mac ‘n’ cheese (again, you can probably figure that one out). 

But what I really liked about the cookbook is that those jaw-dropping, fun to read about, heart attack inducing, oh so delicious recipes are interspersed between good for you ones like dak sanjuk (Korean marinated chicken and veggies), caprese sticks (as you’d imagine but with regular and sun-dried tomatoes), fresh mango with chili powder (just as described with a squeeze of lime and touch of salt), and fruit salad skewers (beautiful skewers, perfect for kids of all ages).

As you can imagine, Matt has produced a cookbook with a beautiful full page picture of each of the 80 completed recipes.  Ah, to be able to get those kinds of photos.  Oh, well, one can only dream!

I was on a Twitter chat where Matt was the featured guests and I asked him what was the inspiration for the Fudge Puppies on page 157 of the book.  “I really wanted something chilly, chocolatety, and messy in the book!”  Not one to pass up much in the way of chocolate myself, I thought I’d give them a try.

Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 wooden sticks
• 2 frozen Belgian waffles, toasted and cut down the middle
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

• Insert a wooden stick into each half waffle and freeze about 30 minutes.
• Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Dip frozen waffle sticks in melted chocolate, creating a thin, even layer.  Place on baking sheet and let chocolate set before serving.

Tip from Matt-Before chocolate sets completely you can dip Fudge Puppies in chopped peanuts, sprinkles, or homemade whipped cream.

I need to work on my dipping technique to get that "thin, even layer"!

Well done Matt!  Classic fair food at home.  Next, I think I should try the spam and pineapple skewers, don’t you think?  (Maybe with low salt turkey spam.)

Matt’s book is available on Amazon here. FYI, I am not compensated for reviewing or linking to Amazon.

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