Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

This week, we have Savory, with Fruit! (Heads-up, pugmama!)

I've never been a very fancy cook, though I do enjoy making food pretty and presentable and will go to some lengths for that. Otherwise, I'm into 'comfort' foods.

But I greatly enjoy having something very different and unusual from time to time; and some of my favorites have been dishes that are savory, but include a sweet element, usually fruit.

I once vacationed with friends who came from a restaurant background, and eating with them was always a great experience - always something unexpected and never before encountered.

About 25 years ago, at the beach, the lady accompanied her meat with a carrot recipe that I loved. She wrote it down for me, and I've made it ever since - but I've always been a little suspicious of the accuracy of the recipe because it used so many carrots! When I've made it, I use about half the carrots.

When I decided to post it here, I thought I'd look and see if it was online anywhere, and whether my recipe was accurate.

Lo and Behold, here it is, at a very interesting website; and Yes, it uses a whole 2-1/2 pounds of carrots. I should have just trusted a gal who grew up in her family's restaurants ;-)

Carrots Sauteed withToasted Walnuts and Figs: (Don't substitute any other kind of fig, in this recipe)

http://www.laurengroveman.com/recipes/vegetables/the-carrots-sauteed-with-toasted-walnuts-and-sliced-calimyrna-figs/

Second, is another one that I think I saw in the Washington Post almost 20 years ago; the raisin/caper sauce was a revelation, and this is still on the menu at Restaurant Jean-Georges in NYC:

Scallops with Cauliflower and Raisin/Caper sauce:

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/jeangeorges/raisin.html#axzz3UCJovrc2

And Lastly: Green Apple Gado Gado

I'm confused about the Indonesian dish Gado Gado. The first recipe that I encountered some years ago, and still make frequently, seems very different from what I now read about the dish, as it has become more popular. I guess you can make it many different ways; or many different dishes carry the name.

Here's the Wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gado-gado

And here's the one that I make, which doesn't seem at all like the Wiki description, but was called Gado Gado in the newspaper where I found it - and it's wonderful in Summer:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59917-2004Jun22.html

[doorgunner69]

My wife loves her figs off our tree (if she gets them before the birds do), but laughed when I told her of a recipe with carrots.......

[Jamestown1630]

I’d love to have a fig tree; I have a friend with one, but I’m not sure that it’s ever borne fruit, despite all her coddling. I don’t think they grow well where we are.

-JT

[doorgunner69]

Good stuff from back then, a year before I signed up. Old stuff is the best stuff.

[doorgunner69]

I am no fan of figs, but get a great kick out of the various Hawaiian birds that come in and filch. Javanese sparrow, Japanese White-eye, finches. etc.

Wife howls of course as I laugh, I do not care.

Never liked Fig-Newtons as a kid either.

[Stand Watch Listen]

Try post #29...post #19 omitted the taco seasoning

post #29

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Bobotie
http://www.daringgourmet.com/2013/08/09/bobotie-south-african-meatloaf-casserole/

Add currants or yellow raisins to the yellow rice before cooking it.

Sweet... Savory... Fruity... Spicy...

Delicious.

This is a pretty good recipe for it. My preference is all lamb, but I like the lamb “funk”. Some people don’t. Mrs Balls chutney is the preferred kind. You can find it at World Market if you have one close, but major grays works ok too.

[kalee]

That carrot recipe sounds good. Our fig trees don’t produce very well so I seldom have enough to make anything.

[JohnnyP]

Tournedos of beef with cooked banana slices.

We were in Sedona in the early ‘80’s, had dinner at a place called The Oak Creek Owl.

I ordered the tournedos, Mrs. JohnnyP ordered shrimp scampi. She regrets it to this day. She says after tasting my dinner, she should have had them box up the scampi to go and order tournedos for herself.

We visited a few years later, the restaurant was gone.

[Library Lady]

I do something a little like that. I bake a white cake in a 9 x 12 pan. While it is still hot I spread a pint of strawberry freezer jam on top. You can use an ice pick to make holes in the cake so it will absorb more of the jam. Let it cool and serve with whipped cream.

[pugmama]

I don’t buy from Penzey’s anymore because of their pushy liberalism. What is it with these CEOs? I also won’t go to Starbucks anymore.

I now buy from
http://www.myspicesage.com/spices-seasonings-herbs/whole-spices.html

Shipping is free, delivery is very quick and product is very good. Prices are also better than Penzey’s.

[pugmama]

Was so sad to leave my fig( and other fruit) trees when we fled CA and resettled in SC. We are planting figs in the back yard next month. They seem to do well here.

[pugmama]

Love fruit in everything. I am also a huge fan of Jean-Georges Vongerichten.I have all his cookbooks and always try to get to one of his restaurants. I made this dish often in the summer. It is fast and easy.

Chicken Breasts with Spicy Grapefruit and Miso Sauce

TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
SERVINGS: 4

Ingredients

2 grapefruits
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 Thai chiles, minced
1/2 cup crème fraîche
1 tablespoon red miso paste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Four 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded 1/4 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups lightly packed frisée lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

Directions

Using a sharp knife, peel the grapefruits, removing all of the bitter white pith. Working over a bowl, cut in between the membranes to release the grapefruit sections. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 1 of the chiles.
Light a grill or preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, whisk the crème fraîche with the remaining chile, the miso paste and lime juice.
Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over a hot fire or broil until lightly charred and just cooked, about 3 minutes per side.
Mound the frisée on plates. Set a chicken breast on top. Drizzle the crème fraîche–miso sauce over the chicken and around the plates, scatter the grapefruit sections next to the chicken and serve.

[pugmama]

Here are 2 other favorites.I love to add fruit to sandwiches. The chef also makes the teleggio cheese one with shredded braised short ribs. To die for! "The Champ", a Grilled Taleggio Sandwich With Apricots and Capers from chef Eric Greenspan. Serves 4. Ingredients: 15 dried apricots 1 tablespoon nonpareil capers 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 8 slices dark raisin bread 5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 4 small handfuls arugula 8 ounces taleggio cheese, rind removed, at room temperature 4 pinches fleur de sel 1. Place apricots in small saucepan and add water just to cover. Bring to full boil and immediately remove from heat. Mix in capers, mustard and olive oil. Pulse in blender to chunky consistency; set aside. 2. Spread one side of each bread slice evenly (to the edges) with 1/2 tablespoon butter. With buttered sides down, top four slices with 2 tablespoons of apricot mixture, handful of arugula and equal portions of cheese. Top with remaining slices, buttered side up. 3. Place large skillet over high heat, and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Reduce heat to low and add sandwiches. Cook until browned and crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. Transfer to a platter lined with paper towels, and sprinkle each with a pinch of fleur de sel. Cut in half and serve. Grilled cheese sandwich recipes from chef Eric Greenspan "Johnny Apple Cheese, a.k.a. Johnny Pastrami
. Serves 4. Ingredients:
 1/2 pound butter
 1/2 cup mustard seeds
 5 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced thin 
1 medium onion, sliced thin
 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
 2 tablespoons honey
 1/2 cup apple cider 1/2 cup cider vinegar
 8 slices of extra sour sourdough bread
 16 slices aged white Cheddar
1 pound pastrami, sliced thin 1. For the apple mustard chutney: In a pan over medium heat, heat two tablespoons of butter until it foams. Add the mustard seeds and toast in the pan for 1 minute, and then add most of the apples (reserve 8 slices) and onions and cook until tender. Add honey, cider, vinegar and Dijon mustard, and reduce until the liquid is absorbed. Take off heat and puree in a blender until mostly smooth. 2. In a large pan (cast iron is best) or griddle, melt half of the remaining butter and 4 slices of bread. Top each slice of bread with 2 slices of cheddar cheese and toast until golden brown. When the cheese is melted, add 1/4 of the pastrami to each slice, a dollop of chutney, and two thin slices of raw green apple. Cover with remaining bread. Add remaining butter, flip sandwich and grill until other side is equally golden brown. Cut each sandwich in half and serve hot, preferably with a frilly toothpick.

[llmc1]

Thanks! I’ll give them a try! : )

[pugmama]

Here are 2 other favorites.I love to add fruit to sandwiches. The chef also makes the teleggio cheese one with shredded braised short ribs. To die for! "The Champ", a Grilled Taleggio Sandwich With Apricots and Capers from chef Eric Greenspan. Serves 4. Ingredients: 15 dried apricots 1 tablespoon nonpareil capers 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 8 slices dark raisin bread 5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 4 small handfuls arugula 8 ounces taleggio cheese, rind removed, at room temperature 4 pinches fleur de sel 1. Place apricots in small saucepan and add water just to cover. Bring to full boil and immediately remove from heat. Mix in capers, mustard and olive oil. Pulse in blender to chunky consistency; set aside. 2. Spread one side of each bread slice evenly (to the edges) with 1/2 tablespoon butter. With buttered sides down, top four slices with 2 tablespoons of apricot mixture, handful of arugula and equal portions of cheese. Top with remaining slices, buttered side up. 3. Place large skillet over high heat, and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Reduce heat to low and add sandwiches. Cook until browned and crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. Transfer to a platter lined with paper towels, and sprinkle each with a pinch of fleur de sel. Cut in half and serve. Grilled cheese sandwich recipes from chef Eric Greenspan "Johnny Apple Cheese, a.k.a. Johnny Pastrami
. Serves 4. Ingredients:
 1/2 pound butter
 1/2 cup mustard seeds
 5 Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced thin 
1 medium onion, sliced thin
 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
 2 tablespoons honey
 1/2 cup apple cider 1/2 cup cider vinegar
 8 slices of extra sour sourdough bread
 16 slices aged white Cheddar
1 pound pastrami, sliced thin 1. For the apple mustard chutney: In a pan over medium heat, heat two tablespoons of butter until it foams. Add the mustard seeds and toast in the pan for 1 minute, and then add most of the apples (reserve 8 slices) and onions and cook until tender. Add honey, cider, vinegar and Dijon mustard, and reduce until the liquid is absorbed. Take off heat and puree in a blender until mostly smooth. 2. In a large pan (cast iron is best) or griddle, melt half of the remaining butter and 4 slices of bread. Top each slice of bread with 2 slices of cheddar cheese and toast until golden brown. When the cheese is melted, add 1/4 of the pastrami to each slice, a dollop of chutney, and two thin slices of raw green apple. Cover with remaining bread. Add remaining butter, flip sandwich and grill until other side is equally golden brown. Cut each sandwich in half and serve hot, preferably with a frilly toothpick.

[pugmama]

Sorry for the format issue and duplicate post!

[MomwithHope]

Nice thread today. I like meat with jam too, favorite is a charcoal grilled steak with my onion jam on top. Also like a good thick pork chop grilled with my applesauce on top. My favorite jam is orange marmalade would like to try making it someday. I saw a recipe once for a grilled steak with chimichurri sauce on it. The article said the steak tasted like “it was dragged through a garden”. That was the hook. So I made the sauce and tried it on a steak. Whoa - way too strong for me. Almost inedible. My favorite carrot recipe is a carrot pate recipe I got about 30 years ago out of a Gourmet magazine. What I added is serving it not with crackers, but raw pea pods, and if you put the pate on a dinner plate you can stick all the pea pods around it like a giant sunflower. Looks pretty and tastes great. We still had snow on the ground and dug out our grill on Pi day and had steaks. We’ve never had a gas grill and you could never give us one. Just wish I could stop hubby from buying pricey “cowboy charcoal”. We have 10 acres of hardwoods almost all oak and cherry and we could make our own for nothing. I guess I am rambling today but I am down with a bad cold. I just don’t cook the way I used to. Last August I started a new lifestyle and so far I has stuck. I call it Aim Small Cook Small. Have a great weekend everyone.

[MomwithHope]

My Dad was the cook in our family and I'd like to share a simple recipe he claimed to have invented. He made this a lot when we were growing up as pork was cheap and we always had kapusta (sauerkraut).
Take a few thicker pork chops (I prefer boneless and lean) and brown them in a skillet with a little oil. Take them out when they are still barely pink inside. If there is not much fat in the pan add a bit of oil. Take some rinsed and well drained sauerkraut and start browning it in the skillet. Add some sliced thin onions cut like the kraut. Add no salt but lots of fresh ground black pepper. Keep browning on low to medium heat. And keep stirring. The kraut will shrink, dryng out and be sure to vent the steam. When it's nice and browned, like carmelized onion color, add the chops back on top and turn off the heat and put on a lid and let it sit for about 20 minutes, and serve. Dad used to just fry the heck out of greasier chops with the bone, so I changed it a bit so the pork would still be moist and not too fatty. The kraut gets a sweeter taste and it's a delicious bite.

[MomwithHope]

That sounds good!

[MomwithHope]

Those sound good too, complicated but good. No capers for me though. Capers are evil.