"The torch of love is lit in the kitchen." French Proverb

Cooking in American Regional Cuisine - Maple-Soy Ozark Trout & Brussels Sprout with Mushrooms

 Maple-Soy Ozark Trout &   

Brussels Sprout with Mushrooms

MAPLE-SOY GLAZED

OZARK TROUT

Yield: 6

INGREDIENTS:

            4 ea                  Pan-dressed trout

            ½ tsp               Salt

            ¼ tsp               Ground black pepper

            1/3 cup                        All-purpose flour

            1 ½ tsp                        Butter

            1 tblsp             Vegetable oil

            ¼ cup              Maple syrup

            4 tsp                Soy sauce

            4 tsp                Sesame seeds

METHOD:

1.      Rinse the trout well in cold water.

2.      Combine the salt, pepper, and flour in a shallow pan.  Dredge the trout in flour and shake off any excess.

3.      Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over high heat until very hot.  Add the trout and reduce to medium-high heat.  Sauté without moving on the first side for about 4 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown.  Turn the fish once and finish cooking on the second side for another 3-4 minutes.

4.      Remove the trout from the skillet and keep warm.  Add the maple syrup and soy sauce to the pan.  Increase the heat to high and reduce the mixture until thickened, about 2 minutes.

5.      Return the trout to the skillet and turn to coat evenly with maple-soy glaze.

6.      Serve trout sprinkled with sesame seeds.

BRUSSEL SPROUTS WITH MUSHROOMS

Yield: 6

INGREDIENTS:

            24 oz               Brussels sprouts

            2 oz                 Bacon, diced

            4 oz                 Butter

            4 oz                 Onion, cut into small dice

            1 tsp                Garlic, minced

            6 oz                 Mushroom, quartered

            To taste           Salt and black pepper

           

METHOD:

1. Trim the bottom of the Brussels sprouts and score an X into the bottom of each one with a pairing knife.
2. Cook the Brussels sprouts in boiling water until tender in the center.  Shock.
3. Sauté the bacon over medium-high heat in sauté pan until it is crisp.
4. Add the butter, onions, and garlic and sauté for approximately 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
5. Add the mushrooms and sauté for an additional 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked.
6. Cut the Brussels sprout in half and add to the onions and mushrooms.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sauté until thoroughly heated.

Cooking in Global Cuisine - Shrimp Risotto and Cheese Manicotti

Cooking in Global Cuisine

MANICOTTI WITH RICOTTA FILLING (Italy)

and SAFFRON RISOTTO WITH SHRIMP (Italy) 

SAFFRON RISOTTO WITH SHRIMP (Italy)

Yield:  4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

    

Garlic cloves, minced	2 ea.
Onions, minced	4 oz.
Butter	507;.
Stock, seasoned	2  1/2 pnts
Arborio rice	14 oz.
Bay leaves	2 ea.
Saffron threads, crushed	pinch
Parsley, chopped	3 tblsp.
Parmesan cheese, grated	2 oz.
Shrimp, P&D, tail off, sauteed	1 1/2 lb.
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste

Method:

1.                 Sauté garlic and onion in 3 ounces butter

2.                 Add rice; stir until grains are coated with butter.

3.                 Add one-third of the stock, stir until rice absorbs liquid.

4.                 Add bay leaves, saffron, and one-third of stock, continue to stir.

5.                 Add remaining stock, continue to stir.

6.                 When all liquid is absorbed, add parsley, Parmesan cheese, remaining butter, and sautéed                shrimp.

7.                 Stir rice only enough to mix ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.  

MANICOTTI WITH RICOTTA FILLING (Italy)

Yield: 4 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

            1 ½ cup           Ricotta

            ¼ cup              Parsley, chopped

            ½ tsp               Salt

            1 ea                  Egg, slightly beaten

            8 ea                  Manicotti shells

            1 cup               Marinara sauce

            ½ cup              Shredded mozzarella cheese

            ¼ cup              Grated parmesan cheese

METHOD

1. Combine ricotta, parsley, salt, and egg; refrigerate.
2. Boil manicotti according to package directions.
3. Drain and cool in cold water.
4. Pour half of marinara sauce into 9” x 9” baking dish.
5. Stuffed drained manicotti with filling and place on sauce on dish.
6. Top with remaining marinara sauce.
7. Scatter mozzarella on manicotti and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 30 minutes.

HAM TETRAZENEE

Graden Family Farm est. 1872

This is from my families cookbook that my mother put together many years ago...  

My Grandmother made this every family holiday by request as my mother, aunts, and many others tried to make it but it never seemed to be as good as Grandma's.  One year, she had me come over when I was a teen and showed me how to make it.  I think that I have come pretty close to Grandma's and have shared this recipe with a few people and they have all loved it.

So I share this family secret with you all, enjoy!

HAM TETRAZENEE

(Grandma Graden)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion      

1/2 cup melted butter     

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced

1/3 cup flour                  

2 cups milk 2 cups half n half 

2 T. cooking cherry (optional)

1/4 tsp. salt          

dash of garlic salt & pepper        

3/4 shredded Parmesan cheese

1 (7 oz.) pkg. spaghetti cooked         

2 cups small thinly sliced cooked ham pieces

Directions:

Sauté onion in butter until transparent.  

Add mushrooms and cook until tender.  

Blend in flour.  

Stir in milk and half n half slowly, so it doesn't lump.  

Continue stirring until mixture is smooth and thickened.  

Add sherry, salts, and pepper.  

Mix together 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, spaghetti in bottom of 2 qt. greased shallow baking dish.  

Cover with alternative layers of sauce and ham ending with sauce.  

Sprinkle with remaining cheese over top.  

Cover and bake in moderate oven (325 degrees) until bubbly around edges for 20-25 minutes.  

Makes 6 to 8 servings or more.

(When doubling use a 2 lb. box.)

I dug this up and posted it last night cause a friend of mine that lives down in the Gulf was looking for something to make with some ham she had and needed to use.  Today she posted a pic of what she ended up with and I am going to share it here.  She ended up adding Peas to it and thought it was really good.  I am looking at it like my Chef Instructor would and thought what is it missing?  Some red, right!  I think some Red Bell Peppers, roast and diced into small dice would compliment it and provide the red it needs...

Picture compliments of Lisianna Emmett

In the Kitchen with your Kindle or other E-Reader

Kindle Fire on Amazon

I love my Kindle and bought it at Christmas for myself at Christmas.  My laptop was not connecting to the WIFI at school and it was far cheaper than a new laptop.  But at almost $200, that is a lot of money for many people, me included.  

With my Kindle, I have more cookbooks than I would have had or been able to have using traditional books.  Do not get me wrong, I would love to have many different cookbooks.  But with the Internet and e-readers, there is no reason to have them unless they are really good, personal, or signed by the author.  Besides the cookbooks that I have downloaded, I also have a handful of apps to use for recipes which I may look for.

How do you use your Kindle as a tool for work-study or simply just to read?

I Was talking with a friend last week and they said they were afraid to use their Kindle in the Kitchen, and I found this suggestion in a book I got:

"Using your kindle in the kitchen while cooking is a recipe for disaster (in my household anyway). I now pop it into a clear zip lock bag or protect it with cellophane, having learned my lesson with boiling sugar dripping onto my first kindle. Let's just say the sugar won that one."
Canning, Katherine (2012-02-06). MORE THAN HUMMUS CLASSIC HUMMUS RECIPES AND SO MUCH MORE (Kindle Locations 323-325). . Kindle Edition.

Scandinavian Cuisine

Harrison Graden

Global Cuisine M/T

Chef Elkin

In all I read it seems Scandinavian Cuisine is in common that it has a commonality of primarily being smoked, dried, or pickled with a lot of it coming from the water, hunted, or grown in the ground and preserved or canned.

Scandinavian food is at its best in simplicity, with breakfast not seen as important and lunch being seen as a little more so, with dinner being the primary meal of the day and always served hot.  In the Scandinavian Peninsula they take tea as in England around 2-3pm with bread, biscuits, cookies, pastries, and coffee.  The primary beverages of the Scandinavian area are beer, snap (a strong alcoholic drink), or dry sherry.

The cuisines of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are held somewhat in common due to the common leadership of Queen of 1389 who ruled over all three countries at the same time.  While this is no longer the case, this influences their cuisine.  That and their pride in ancestry of the Vikings, who were fond of oysters and mussels, along with mutton, cheese, cabbage, apples, onions, berries and nuts, and all these continue to be staples of the Scandinavian diet. 

While Scandinavian Cuisine may be considered bland by some, it was what was needed to survive the long, hard, dark winters.  It has been called salty with the curing and smoking of the meats.  Modern day chefs have taken creative measures to improve the taste and texture of the traditional foods.  One common tradition is the special or holiday meals which are enjoyed by all, young and old.  With the simplicity of the foods, it is important to present foods in an attractive manner.

Simplicity by nature and necessity.

MORBRAD MED SVEDSKLER OG AEBLER (Denmark)

Pork Loin Stuffed with Prunes and Apples

Yield: 5 servings

Serving Size: 6 oz

Cooking Method: Bake

INGREDIENTS:

            2 ½ lb              Pork loin, center cut, boned, fat trimmed

            3 oz                 Prunes, pitted

            4 oz                 Apple, tart, peeled, cored, diced into 1-inch cubes

            As needed       Lemon juice

            1 tblsp             Butter

            1 tblsp             Oil

            3 oz                 Dry white wine

            3 oz                 Heavy cream

            1 oz                 Red currant jelly

            To taste           Salt

            To taste           Black pepper, ground

           

METHOD:

1. Place prunes in saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, let prunes soak in water for 30 minutes.  Drain well, cut prunes in half.
2. Sprinkle apple with a little lemon juice to prevent discoloring, mix apples with prunes.
3. With knife, make opening about ½- to 1- inch in diameter through center of pork.  Either make whole opening with knife or start with knife and then use sharpening steel to push through meat to form cavity.  Be careful not to break through meat.
4. Stuff fruits tightly into cavity.  If meat must be held together, tie pork with string at 1- inch intervals to keep shape while cooking.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Melt butter and oil over moderate heat in pan just large enough to hold pork.  Sauté pork until brown on all sides.  Remove pork until brown on all sides.  Remove pork from pan.
7. Remove fat from pan.  Deglaze with wine, then whisk in heavy cream, bring to simmer, then add pork.
8. Cover pan, cook in center of the oven for 1 to 1 ¼ hours, until meat is correct internal temperature with meat thermometer.

Food of the British Isles, a paper for class

Food of the British Isles

Harrison Graden

Global Cuisine M/T

Chef Elkin

The food of the British Isles can be described as earthy, local, fresh, economical and “unfussy”.  It seems that the foods consumed came from various influences: Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, French, Norse, Welch, Irish, Indian, and many other countries where the country of England dwelt.  Through their conquest and travels, there are many influences, where they brought home the best to be found.

British cooking has been called “unfussy” as from the Great Wars, there were food rationing measures in place and continued for many years due to economic needs following the wars.  It could be said that British Isle food used the best of what it had and stretched it.  But this was not a new trend seen during and after the great wars, this was something which over the years was to be seen time and time again.

The people of the British Isles have seen very little wealth and prosperity and at times have had to live through famines, wars and other civil disobedience.   In Ireland, there was the infamous potato blight, where many died or left Ireland altogether in search of a better life.  This does not include the many struggles against the crown where there was civil disobedience and wars waged.  During these wars, crops and livestock were destroyed, leaving many without food.  They were put out of their homes and properties, to wander the lands and byways in search of a place to lay and seeking the food of anyone who would share as beggars.

As I peruse the food of the British Isles I would call some of their food the best of comfort foods.  From Sunday Roast to Corned Beef and Cabbage.  Then there are the meat pies, haggis, scones, fish & chips, on and on….

In the recent history the British Isles have gone from a predominantly rural setting to a urbanized and industrialized area.  This has brought about a society which seeks to be a highly consumer orientated society.  So the modern British foods seem to draw influences not traditionally drawn on, to include: the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South, East, and South East Asia. Foods such as the Slow Food Movement have grown in influence and food safety is increasingly the norm.

Cornish Pasty & Yorkshire Pudding

CORNISH PASTY (England)

Beef, Onion, and Potato Turnover

Yield: 6 or 12

Serving Size: 1 or 2 per serving

Cooking Method: Bake

INGREDIENTS:

            PASTRY:

            10 oz               Flour, all purpose

            Pinch               Salt

            6 oz                 Butter or shortening cut into ¾ inch pieces

            3 to 4 oz          Water, cold

            FILLING:

            8 oz                 Beef, top round, trimmed, minced

            6 oz                 Potatoes, peeled, small diced

            4 oz                 Onion, medium dice

            To taste           Salt

            To taste           Pepper

            1/8 cup                        Parsley, fresh, minced

            ASSEMBLY:

            1 ea                  Egg, lightly beaten

PASTRY METHOD:

1. Place flour and salt in a bowl of food processor.  Pulse to mix.
2. Add butter, or shortening, pulse to mix until size of peas.
3. With machine running, add water through feed tube until dough comes together into ball.  Pulse if needed.
4. Wrap ball in film wrap, refrigerate until well chilled.

FILLING METHOD:

1. Combine all filling ingredients in bowl, mix well.
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. On slightly floured surface, roll pastry thin.
3. Cot 5  to 5 ½ inch circles, place 1 ½ oz filling just under center of dough.
4. Brush edges of dough with cold water, fold dough over filling until edges meet to form half circle, crimp edges to seal well.
5. Place on baking sheet, brush with egg.
6. Place in center of oven for 12 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees, bake another 45 minutes.
7. Serve immediately or slightly cooled.

           

           

METHOD:

1. Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor, pulse to mix.
2. With processor running, add eggs and milk through tube, pulse to mix well.
3. Remove butter to bowl, refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Place butter in ½ steam table pan.
6. Stir batter, pour batter into pan, and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until puffy, crisp, and golden.
8. Remove from oven, cut into squares, serve immediately.

YORKSHIRE PUDDING (England)

Yield: 8

Serving Size: 3 by 4 ½ inch piece

Cooking Method: Boil, bake

INGREDIENTS:

            1 cup               Flour, all-purpose

            ½ tsp               Salt

            2 ea                  Eggs

            1 cup               Milk

            2 tblsp             Butter

           

METHOD:

1. Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor, pulse to mix.
2. With processor running, add eggs and milk through tube, pulse to mix well.
3. Remove butter to bowl, refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Place butter in ½ steam table pan.
6. Stir batter, pour batter into pan, and bake for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until puffy, crisp, and golden.
8. Remove from oven, cut into squares, serve immediately.