Thursday, January 20, 2011

Matt's Cassoulet

I thought I would try my hand a making a cassoulet. I looked up several recipes and they all called for duck in some form or another. I went out and tried to buy duck legs or breast, but they were nowhere to be found. This is supposed to be peasant food, so the thought of buying a $30 duck to make it did not seem right. I decided to substitute fresh chicken thighs for the duck.  I purchased them from from my butcher along with some of his fresh made Italian sausage and the results were excellent. This is a fantastic winter dish and the smell of it cooking will knock you out. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

    2 lbs.            Chicken Thighs
    1 lbs.            Mild Italian Sausage
    1 1/4 lb.        Pork Chops, bone in
    1 lbs.            Dry White Beans (Navy or other)
    28 oz.           Can Diced Tomatoes
    1/4 c.            Diced Onion
    1/4 c.            Diced Shallots (optional, sub onion instead)
    1/2 c.            Diced Carrots
    1/2 c.            Diced Celery
    1/2 head       Garlic, minced
                        Low Sodium Chicken Broth
    Bunch           Fresh Parsley
    Bunch           Fresh Thyme
                        Bay Leaf
                        Salt, Pepper

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Prime Rib Roast with Cracked Pepper on the Grill

For my Mother's Birthday my Dad and I decided that we would cook a boneless prime rib roast on the grill. We picked one up at the grocery store that weighed in at about 10 lbs. It was well marbled and had a nice fat cap on it, not too thick. It was tied up into a compact shape.

INGREDIENTS
    5-10 llb Boneless Prime Rib Roast
    1/4 c. Black Whole Peppercorns
    1/8 c. White Whole Peppercorns
    3 Tbs. Whole Mustard Seeds
    Kosher Salt

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Scalloped Potatos

I recently made these for my Mom's birthday get together and they came out very well. As usual, I started with a great recipe from Allrecipes.com called "Scalloped Potatoes and Onions" and made some changes to improve the recipe. The nice part of this recipe is that it uses a velouté sauce instead of using a sauce based on milk or cream. This results in a much lighter tasting dish where the taste of the potatoes, onions and the topping can shine through.

INGREDIENTS
    5 large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
    3/4 c. finely chopped onion
    3 Tbs. butter or margarine
    1 Tbs. olive oil
    1/4 c. all-purpose flour
    1 3/4 c. chicken broth (low sodium)
    2 Tbs. mayonnaise
    3/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)
    1/8 tsp. pepper

Topping:
    1/2 c. plain bread crumbs
    1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese
    3 Tbs. Butter

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Temperature and the Art of Grilling Chicken

I am good at grilling chicken. That statement sounds simple, but for those of you who regularly grill food, you know what it means. It means that you have mastered the task of cooking chicken from raw to cooked over an open flame. It means that when the chicken hits the table it is cooked through, but still juicy. This is no small feat. The cards are stacked against you: the pieces are usually of different sizes and shapes, they sometimes start off at different temperatures, the fire in your grill may be uneven. This makes the job of getting each piece up the correct temperature, and not too far over, much more difficult. I liken it to hitting the bulls-eye; even an inexperienced griller can hit very near the bulls-eye occasionally, it is not impossible. The trick is consistency, can you hit the mark every time you take a shot?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Homemade "Dijon" Mustard

Dijon style mustard is one of my favorites. My Dad used to make sandwiches with a peppered ham, tomatoes and cucumber slices. He would add a little "Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Salt" and some hot Dijon style mustard. Those were very good sandwiches, especially when the cukes and tomatoes came from our garden! I found a recipe in my new favorite reference book "Paul Kirk's Championship Barbeque Sauces" for a Dijon style mustard. As usual, I put my own spin on it and the mustard came out amazing! Here is what I did: