Best of The Best

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Cast Iron Salmon – Searing Pleasure

There are many things I miss about the professional kitchen; the gambling, the inappropriate humor, the feats of strength – but none as much as the giant commercial exhaust fans. One reason is the salmon recipe you see here. Actually, I shouldnt really call it a recipe, its salt and salmon, but to do it correctly you have to sear the fish over very high heat to get a nice thin, crispy crust encasing a moist custardy center.

At home this is next to impossible – besides the huge, smoky, splattering mess, you really dont want to be "that neighbor." You know, the one whos place always smells like fried fish and steamed broccoli. This heavy metal backyard solution is as minimalist as it is effective. I love how a couple dozen hot coals under a thick cast iron pan turns simply salted salmon into something a little more remarkable.

Even if you dont get that perfect crust and moist center, at the very least your home wont smell like fish for a week. This is great to use for a seafood course after another protein has already been done on the grill. Just rake up the coals into a pile and get to searing. I served this with a dollop of tarragon aioli, which was fantastic. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

Egg Biryani with tangy twist

This is very simple and easy recipe, I made this for my hubbys lunch box. It is quick one pot meal. I love to have this any time. It is spicy and tangy biryani. Hope you will love it too!!!

Ingredients:
Eggs-2
Onions-chopped-1cup
Tomatos-chopped-1cup
Green peas-1/4cup
Green chilles 2
Mint leaves-1/4cup
Bay lef 1
cinnamon 1 inch stick
Cardamom 2 pods
chopped ciliantro 2t.s
Cumin seeds 1tbsp
Mustard seeds 1tbsp
Chana dal 1/4ts
Urad dal-1/4ts
Turmeric Pinch
Salt To taste
Chilli powder 1/2t.s
Coriander powder-1/2ts
Cumin powder-1/2ts
Garam masala-1/4ts (optional)
Red chilli 1tbsp
vegetable oil 2tbsp
Tamarind-lemon size

Method

Boil Eggs and remove shell, keep them aside.
Heat a thick bottom non stick pan and add 2ts of vegetable oil.
Add Cumin seeds + Mustard Seeds + Red chili + chana Dal + Urad dal and wait until they splutter.
Add cinnamon+cardamom+bayleaf+ onions + green chilies and saute until they get half cooked. Mean while soak tamarind in water.
Add tomatos and cook under medium flame until they get cooked completely.
Squeeze out tamarind water from the soaked tamarind and add this water to the cooking mixture.
Add all curry powders chili powder+salt+coriander powder+cumin powder+green peas+mint leaves and cook for 5min under medium flame.
Add water and bring to boil.
Add garam masala at the if you prefer it spicy.
Add rice and cook like a normal rice.
When the rice is about to cook take the boiled eggs and make slit with knife on the top and place them inside the rice and cook under low flame.
Finally garnish with cilantro.

Hope you like this onepot meal!!!!
cheers
DD

Saturday, April 5, 2014

SANDRA’S TROPICAL LIME JELLO SURPRISE

I grew up eating this delightful dessert following
my Moms delicious dinners, although I
always had to mix the whipped cream in with
the jello before eating it...

Servings: (6)
Prep: 5 Mins. |
Pre-Set: 1 Hr. |
Full-Set: 4 Additional Hrs.
--(or overnight is more flavorful)

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS:

1 (6 oz. pkg.) lime jello (or orange, or lemon)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups total: reserved juice from fruit (below) + cold water
1 (8 oz. can) pineapple chunks, drained (reserving juice), roughly chopped
1 (15 oz. can) tropical fruit chunks, drained (reserving juice), roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled, and shredded
1/2 tablespoon lime juice (or orange juice with orange jello, or lemon juice with lemon jello)
½ cup coconut, shredded

--Prepared whipped cream

METHOD:

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of water over high heat to boiling, remove from heat and add the lime jello, gently stirring until dissolved. Add the remaining 2 cups of cold liquid (reserved juice and cold water), and stir to combine. Pour into a 2 qt. square glass dish, and refrigerate to partially set for 1 hour (to prevent the additional ingredients from sinking later on).

Just before jello has partially set, grate the carrots and toss them in a small bowl with lime juice to prevent oxidation and enhance flavor. Remove the partially set jello from the refrigerator, and fold in the tropical fruit, carrots, and coconut. Return to refrigerator and let set completely, about 4 hours. Serve with whipped topping (I like to mix my whipped cream into the jello mixture ;). – Enjoy!

Be sure to store any leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tip: I wait until the very last minute to grate the carrots to retain their bright orange color and flavor, so I do so just before it is time to fold them into the partially-set jello. Also, I don’t use pre-shredded carrots or a food processor to shred them because they do not maintain the proper texture or flavor for this dessert, so I simply shred my own using a box grater ;)

Flatbread Pizza

Hi! Its been a couple of weeks and I have a good reason for not posting. Ive really been trying to cook healthier this month and nothing I made seemed to be blog worthy. Grilled chicken, brown rice, whole wheat blend pasta, pretty boring right? However, I think that this recipe for Flatbread Pizza is one worth sharing. In addition to all the wonderful cookbooks I got for Christmas, I won a cookbook from Bakespace. I didnt even realize that I entered a contest (it was that easy) and actually felt guilty about it since I won those tickets to see Julie and Julia along with Julia Childs cookbook, over the summer. Babette insisted that I won the book fair and square and sent it to me. ((By the way, Bakespace is having a cookbook a day giveaway this month on facebook. You should become a fan and check it out.) The cookbook is called "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great" by Pam Anderson. It was a perfect time for me to receive this "perfect" book so I started using it right away.

Ive never made bread before since I have this fear of yeast, so I was really excited when I saw how easy it was to make flatbread which has only four ingredients, none of which are yeast. They came together very quickly and easily. I am not very experienced at rolling out dough so mine werent exactly the 12 by 4 inch rectangle Ms. Anderson suggests but it was perfectly fine. We topped some with pizza sauce and part skim mozzarella, some with caramelized onions and prosciutto and added some sliced kalamata olives to both. I made this recipe twice (since it was so quick to make I could do that and when I realized that they were pretty small) so we were able to have different topping combos. My favorite was the caramelized onion and olives which were sweet and salty. These heated up very well in the oven the next day for lunch.

Quick Flatbread Dough

by Pam Anderson

Yield: 4 flatbreads

Ingredients:

1 cup bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup warm water, plus extra if necessary
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix flour and salt in a food processor. Mix water and oil and pour over flour mixture; process to form a soft dough ball. If dough is too stiff (hard-clay texture), process in another tablespoon of warm water. Continue to process until dough is well kneaded, about 15 seconds.

2. With floured hands, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll dough out to about a 12-by-4-inch rectangle, dusting with flour and turning as necesary to keep it from sticking.

3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Top with whatever toppings you like (Pams cookbook gives a lot of great suggestions)and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.

Click here for a printable recipe of Flatbread Pizza.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork with Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw and Chipotle Sauce

Lately, I have been so rushed come dinner time, that I have not been able to devote a sufficient amount of my time to making dinner that I would ideally like under more normal circumstances. A lot of my friends do not understand why I come home and actually cook dinner, as opposed to picking up carry-out or eating cereal, particularly when it is just for me. Who better for, I ask? To me, the perfect way to spend several hours in the evening is busy chopping, sauteing, stirring, roasting or frying. I love the way the kitchen feels, my favorite knives have been my nightly companions for almost 20 years, and the aromas remind of what was going on in my life all those times before when I made a particular dish. It is not a chore or a necessity, it is time when I feel the most comfortable, the most like myself. Lucky for me, I had the time and inspiration yesterday, a cold and rainy spring day, the perfect day to slow cook a pork picnic roast.

I seasoned a 4 1/2 pound pork picnic roast, or Boston butt with a mix of chili powders (ancho, pasilla and chipotle), cumin, coriander, oregano, garlic powder and salt and pepper and placed it in a shallow roasting pan. I also crushed 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and roughly chopped a sweet onion and placed them all in the pan with the pork roast. After adding about 1/2 inch of water to the pan to prevent it from scorching, I placed the pork in at 275 degree oven for 2 hours, uncovered. I checked on it every so often and added a touch of water, when needed, to the pan. After two hours, I covered the pan with aluminum foil to keep the pork from drying out and from burning on the the edges. I cooked it for an additional 2 1/2 hours for a total of 4 1/2 hours. I let it rest for 30 minutes, at which time, the bone slide easily from the roast. Using two forks, I shredded or pulled the tender, moist pork and discarded any unappetizing pieces of fat.

Traditionally, a pulled pork sandwich, which I actually served on a flour tortilla, includes a sweet and sour cole slaw, which, in my case, was no exception. I thinly sliced 1/2 head of savoy cabbage and combined it with some packaged broccoli slaw as well. The dressing was made from red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, cracked black pepper and canola oil. After tossing it well, I placed the slaw in the refrigerator for several hours before eating.

I prepared a simple chipotle sauce by placing 1/2 mayonnaise in a food processor with 1 chipotle chili in adobo, the zest of 1/2 lime and the juice of 1/2 lime and combing well until the chili is fully incorporated into the sauce.

As I said, I served my "sandwich" on a flour tortilla because it suits my taste, however, please feel free to use the more traditional hamburger bun for your sandwich, if you prefer. I slathered on a layer of chipotle sauce, followed by a healthy pile of pulled pork and a spoonful of slaw. A few firey pickled jalapenos were the perfect finishing touch. Looking forward to the leftovers for tonights dinner too!

Chicken twin pizza

Chicken twin pizza

Ingredients

Flour 300g
Egg 1
Granular yeast 2tbsp
Butter 3tbsp
Water as required
Salt as required

Ingredients for the stuffing (step one)

Boneless chicken 150g
Red chili powder 1tsp
Turmeric 1tsp
All spice powder 1tsp
Finely chopped coriander 2tbsp
Oil 2tbsp
Yogurt as required
Salt as required

Ingredients for stuffing(step 2)

Boneless chicken 150g
Honey 1tbsp
Tomato ketchup 1tbsp
Black pepper powder 1/2tsp
Soya sauce 2tbsp
Worcestershire sauce 2tbsp
Oil 2tbsp
Salt as required
For the sauce
Tomato paste 1/2cup
Finely chopped parsley 1/4bunch
Crushed chili powder 1tbsp
Garlic paste 1tbsp
Oregano 1/2tsp
Rosemary 1/2tsp
Oil 2tbsp
For the topping
Mozzarella cheese 1packet
Onion 1
Beaten egg ½
Butter 2tbsp

Method:-

To prepare the dough add 300g flour to a bowl along with 1 egg,2tbsp granular yeast, salt as required and 3tbsp butter. Add a little water and knead the dough.When a smooth dough is formed transfer it to a glass dish and cover with a plastic wrap.
Julienne cut the chicken and fry in 2tbsp of oil. When the color of the chicken changes lower the flame and add the yogurt. Now add 1tsp red chili powder, 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp all spice powder, salt as required and 2tbsp coriander. Fry the mixture until the water dries.
In a separate pan fry the julienne chicken in step two .Now add the black pepper powder, salt as required, 2tbsp honey and 1tbsp tomato ketchup. Cook the mixture for two minutes
In separate pan heat 2tbsp oil add the oregano, 1/2tsp rosemary, 1tbsp crushed red chili powder and 1tbsp garlic paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Now add ½ cup tomato paste,1/4 bunch of finely chopped parsley, cook for another2 minutes and turn the flame off.
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin .Spread a layer of the spicy chicken on half of the pizza and spread a layer of the plain chicken on the other half. Now add the finely chopped onions on the base followed by the grated mozzarella cheese.
Lay the pizza on a greased pizza tray, brush the edges with butter and egg white.Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 12-15 minutes until it turns light golden in color.

Vegetable cutlets

Tell me who dont love them, yummy crispy cutlets are every ones favorite. Once you start munching you cannot stop. I get water in mouth when i just spell its name/ hear its name. It is very simple, quick and partial healthy recipe ( I said partial becoz, water from the cooked vegges is squeezed out and healthy becoz they are much better than baked/deep fried snacks).

Ingredients:
Cabbage- shredded-4cups
Carrot- shredded-2cups
Green chili- finely chopped-1
Capsicum- shredded-1/2cup
Garlic- 1 inch finely chopped
Pepper powder-1/2ts
Salt to taste
turmeric- pinch
chat powder- optional
Corn flour/ all purpose flour-2ts
Oil- as required
Directions:
Semi-cook all the vegetables, so that their structure remain intact. Filter vegetables. Squeeze excess water out and add salt to taste, now it will give out more water squeeze them and add pepper powder to taste. (make sure that mixture remain dry). Add garlic,green chili and flour and mix well. Divide the dough in to equal parts of 1 lemon size each. Take 1 dough-let and make into sphere shape and flatten it. Heat little oil in a skillet and fry them on both sides just like pan cakes/ dosa. Now the cutlets are ready to serve.
Note: If you want spicy add chat masala to while making dough.

Hope you like my recipe.