The House of Black & White: Yuca & Steak

I'd like a, a petit filet mignon, very lean, not so lean that it lacks flavour, but not so fat that it leaves drippings on the plate. And I don't want it cooked - just lightly seared on either side, pink in the middle; not a true pink, but not a mauve either, something in between, bearing in mind the slightest error either way, and it's ruined. 

Niles, Frasier 

This was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment concoction, but it turned out to be amazing.  Stoney and I went to a Cuban restaurant in Pigeon Forge over 4th of July weekend, and had yuca fries for the very first time.  We were both blown away by how good they were.  They were sweeter and, in my opinion, had a better body than regular french fries, and they basically just melted in your mouth after you bit through the crusty outside.  I was enamored, so the following weekend, I bought yuca at the store and decided to make yuca chips.  As grass-fed filet mignon was on sale, it seemed like a no-brainer meal.

What you need for the Yuca Chips:

• 2 yuca roots
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp cilantro 

To begin, preheat the oven to 475, peel the yuca and then either spiralize into ribbons or slice very thinly.  Toss the chips in olive oil, lime juice and cilantro.  Spread chips onto a greased baking sheet in a single layer and then cook for 5 minutes, flip, and cook another 5 minutes.  If you have thicker slices, your cook time may be longer.  They were really good served with guacamole!

What you need for the steak marinade:

• 1 orange
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp garlic
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp cilantro

For the marinade, you want the juice from the orange, plus the pulp from one half of the orange (we grilled the pulp with the steaks and then ate it with them).  Mix all of the ingredients together, place the steaks in a large freezer bag, pour in the marinade, and then let sit for at least 4 hours.

Summer Isles: Mango and Peach Tilapia Zoodles

Sorry doesn't make the noodles!

Mr. Ping, Kung Fu Panda

Noodles are great.  Noodles made of zucchini (and other squash)?  Even better, because you get to eat a ton of them and not feel bad!  I recently got a vegetable spiralizer and discovered zoodles, so I decided to take advantage of my new toy and make a really good, summer-inspired dinner.  If you don't have a spiralizer, you can either julienne the squash, or peel them into ribbons.

What you need:

• 3 large yellow squash spiralized
• 2 large zucchini spiralized
• 1 lb tilapia filets
• 4 tbsp peach hot sauce
• 1 cup frozen mango slices
• 1 cup frozen peach slices
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 6 tbsp vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro

Be sure to let your frozen fruit thaw (at least mostly). Obviously you can just bypass this step by using fresh fruit.

Heat the spiraled vegetables in a skillet, just to get them warm.  Drain and place in a bowl.

Brush the tops of your tilapia filets with 1 tbsp of the peach hot sauce, place the filets on a greased baking sheet, and broil on high for 6 minutes on each side (12 minutes total), or until fish is cooked through and flaky.

While the fish cooks, combine broth, fruit, lime juice, and the remaining 3 tbsp of hot sauce in a blender and blend until you have a smooth and creamy sauce.

When fish is done, use a fork to flake the fish, and combine the zoodles, flaked fish, cilantro and sauce in a large bowl.  Stir well so the zoodles and fish are coated in the sauce and cilantro, and serve!

The recipe makes about 4 dinner servings or more appetizer servings. 

Martell Gazpacho

It's not blood, it's tomato juice!

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

When I was in Spain, my favorite thing to eat was gazpacho.  Even the grocery store gazpacho was delicious.  It is the perfect summer dish, in my mind.  After getting the vitamix, I vowed to make a delicious gazpacho once the weather turned nice, and I am happy to say I succeeded in my goal.  It's an incredibly simple recipe, and took all of 20 minutes to make (and that includes the time spent rough-chopping the vegetables).  And the best part?  The only clean-up required involved wiping down the cutting board and the vitamix.  Couldn't be simpler.  The recipe makes about 8 cups, so serve it as an appetizer for a summer dinner party, have it for lunch during the week, or let it be dinner for a couple of nights!

What you need:

• 2 lbs Tomatoes, stems removed and quartered
• 4 inch slice of French Baguette (and then you can eat the rest of the baguette with the soup!)
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1 small-medium yellow onion, quartered
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• Salt & Pepper to taste. 

Other than chopping your veggies, the only other prep you need to do is to soak the piece of bread in water, and once it is saturated, squeeze the water out as best you an and throw it in the blender with everything else.  Start by putting the tomatoes, poblano, and cucumber in the vitamix, and let it run just long enough to liquefy everything and give you some more room in the blender (assuming the veggies have filled it up!).  Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until it is smooth.  Don't let the soup get hot!  Pour the soup into a large serving bowl or pitcher and refrigerate for at least an hour, to be sure it is nicely chilled upon serving.

Sun and Stars Valentine's Day Feast

You are the moon of my life.

Game of Thrones

Card from my cat, Pangur.
She also apparently got Stoney to
buy me a bottle of wine from her.

So, a few days late, but it took me all of yesterday to recover from our feast.  I love excuses to eat fancy food, and since I was unwilling to let a restaurant rob Stoney and me for the privilege of eating at their establishment on Valentine's Day, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and make us a fancy dinner for the occasion.  I will admit, I was planning the menu back in January.  

It all started while watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.  The episode took place in Croatia, and Tony spent most of his time there raving about the exceptional quality of Croatian wines.  He was particularly taken with wines he was served at BibicH winery.  So naturally, I started hunting for places to buy a bottle of this allegedly fantastic wine.  This led me to Blue Danube Wine, an online seller of wines from Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Georgia, and Montenegro.  I purchased a bottle of the G6 Grenache, and after a little research, decided on a lamb pairing.  Of course, any fancy dinner should have multiple courses, so I settled on a Lobster Bisque and White Burgundy (Louis Jadot pouilly-fuissé) for our first course, with Lamb and Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts for the second.  For dessert, it was a simple plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a Nectarine wine from Mountain Valley Winery in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Course 1: Lobster Bisque

What you need:

• 4 lobster tails
• 1/3 cup Sherry
• A little over 1/3 cup White Burgundy (or chardonnay of your choice, I suggest using whatever you plan to drink with it)
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon Emeril Essence (this is an approximation, I just shook a little into the pot)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 5 oz. evaporated milk
• 1 1/3 cup half & half
• 1 cup chicken stock (I actually wanted seafood stock, but I didn't see any at the store, so I settled for chicken)

I ended up getting frozen lobster tails because they were on sale at Earth Fare, so if you do the same, make sure to put them in the fridge the night before to let them thaw.  When you finally have non-frozen lobster tails, grab your kitchen scissors and cut through the shell on the belly.  This makes it incredibly easy to peel the shell off.  Once you've gotten the meat out of the shell, cut it into chunks.  Next, place the meat in a bowl or shallot dish and cover with wine and sherry.  Cover the dish and set in the refrigerator to let it marinate for about an hour.  Once you've opened the wine, I'd recommend putting it in the refrigerator or a wine chiller to keep it cool and make sure it's ready to serve later.

Chop up all your veggies, and then melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.

Once the butter has melted, toss in the veggies, the Emeril Essence, and salt and pepper to taste, and sauté until the veggies start getting soft.  Make sure to keep stirring as you go.  

When your veggies have softened, add in the tomato paste.  Let it cook for about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, and then add in the flour, cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes and continuing to stir constantly.

Stir in your broth and lobster/wine mixture, and then stir in the evaporated milk and half & half.  Once you have the combined mixture bubbling, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Remove a small amount of the cooked lobster meat and set it aside for use as garnish later.  

Spoon your soup into a vitamin or blendtec blender and puree.  If you don't have a high-powered blender, an immersion blender would work just as well.  After pureeing the mixture, pour into a bowl, add in the lobster meat that you set aside, and serve immediately.

Course 2: Sautéed Lamb and Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts 

Course #2 was surprisingly easy to make, although I will admit that while I was searing the lamb, I generated enough smoke to make it look like the whole house was on fire.  I'm still not quite sure what went wrong there, because I seared the remaining lamb the following day without incident.  Just be prepared for the possibility.  If you have a fan or vent above the stove, this would probably be a non-issue.

What you need for the lamb:

• 4 lamb rib chops (I bought a rack of lamb and just cut four of the ribs off, reserving the remaining four chops for a lamb stew)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
• Salt & pepper to taste

Mix together 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic, Herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper to make a paste.  Rub the paste into both sides of each rib chop, cover ribs, and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

Heat remaining oil per medium-high heat in a sauté pan.  Sear rib chops about 3 minutes on each side (really anywhere from 2-4 minutes, depending on how thick your chops are).  Let chops rest for 5 minutes before serving.

The lamb really did pair well with the G6, so I would highly recommend a Grenache with it.

What you need for the Brussels Sprouts:

• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (you can probably add up to 3 tbsp without making them too sweet)
• Salt, to taste
• 1 lb Brussels Sprouts

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut the Brussels Sprouts in half.  Heat the coconut oil and mix with maple syrup and salt in a bowl large enough to hold your brussels sprouts.  Mix in the brussels bprouts.  My the time you are done mixing, the coconut oil will likely have become solid again, leaving you with brussels sprouts that look like this:

Spread out your sprouts on a baking sheet, cook for 30 minutes, and then serve.  I didn't bother to flip mine and they came out great, but if you feel so inclined, you could flip them halfway through to get a more even cook.  

Wildling Rice with Chestnuts and Cranberries

There is probably a smell of roasted chestnuts and other good comfortable things all the time, for we are telling Winter Stories-- Ghost Stories, or more shame for us-- round the Christmas fire; and we have never stirred, except to draw a little nearer to it.

Charles Dickens

This paired wonderfully with the Orange Dijon Pork Roast, and we even put it in an omelet!  It is easy to make, and yields about a truck ton worth of side dish.  

What you need:

• 2 cups Wild Rice
• 1 1/4 cups celery, diced
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 8oz. jar of whole, roasted chestnuts
• 1/2 cup parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp dried sage
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter

To start, preheat your oven to 400, get your cranberries soaking in some hot water, and chop your veggies.  When the oven has heated, place chestnuts (arranged on a greased baking sheet) in the oven for 15 minutes, let cool, and cut into quarters.

Combine the rice, broth, water, and salt in a saucepan, bring it to a boil, then partially cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the rice is tender (stir it occasionally).  

While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet and then add the veggies and cook for 15 minutes (or until your veggies are tender).

Next, stir the herbs in with your veggies and remove from heat.  

Add your herb and veggie mix, cranberries, chestnuts, and pepper to the rice once it has cooked.  Stir.  Enjoy.