Tailgating at Home

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone...and not with the outcome we would've liked to have seen...at least not here in the Boston area! Nonetheless, it was an exciting game, and a great opportunity for some good food and great company! I decided to take the route of tailgating recipes. They were easy to make at home and set out for the night, but would be just as easy to bag up and bring to the parking lot of your favorite arena, as well!

I spent the afternoon cooking, and trying to keep the kitchen as clean as possible at the same time. I cooked one thing at a time, and finished up right as our friends arrived. The table was full of goodies, and I was free to enjoy, have a beer, and watch the game!

It wouldn't be a "tailgating" party without chili, so first up on the menu is a very straightforward chili, but what intrigued me about it was the molasses and balsamic vinegar I was asked to add at the end of the cooking process. It added a lot of depth to an otherwise normal chili. I served it in mugs, with some sour cream and grated sharp cheddar garnishes, and the spices were spot-on!

We needed to have some dips so I whipped up some guacamole and hummus to go with the delicate tortilla chips I bought from the gourmet section of the grocery store. I also cut up some veggies (fennel, radicchio, radishes, celery, carrots and broccoli) and paired them with a delicious and tangy Roquefort dip, which I'm enjoying the leftovers of as I write this, right now. Yum!!

While the chili was simmering away, I made some Mediterranean meatballs! Now, these aren't just any meatballs. The seasonings are distinctly Mediterranean, but on top of that, the recipe called for chopped currants and pine nuts to round out the mix. The flavors meshed so well together, and the meatballs had a really nice bite to them, because of the substance of each one. They were simmered in a simple tomato sauce after being browned on all sides in some oil! I'm so happy I've got leftovers of these too!

If you looked at the current menu, you'd see a line mentioning some mini tuna burgers on pita bread, but it's apparently very difficult to find tuna these days. I went to a few different stores, before deciding to scrap this menu item. Don't worry, I will definitely be making them in the future, because I was very much looking forward to trying them! So, all that was left was to make a few side dishes to round out the table. I made a green salad with a red wine-Dijon vinaigrette. I also made an orzo salad with caramelized onions, spinach and shiitake mushrooms. The soy sauce and sesame oil-based dressing gave this salad a nice Asian twist, but still went with the mainstream flavors of everything else on the table!

All in all, a successful spread, I'd say! I enjoyed having everything done in time for kickoff, so I could pick at all the goodies, just like all of my guests! The guests may leave at the end of the night, but we get to enjoy all the leftovers for days to come...and these leftovers, they're delicious!

A Successful Attempt at a Korean Favorite

Remember my recent post about all different types of Asian cuisine and their differences? Well, tonight I made an attempt at a Korean favorite of ours, Bibimbap. Traditionally, Bibimbap is a dish served in a warm clay pot, consisting of rice, vegetables, thinly sliced beef and a fried egg, topped with a Korean red chile paste. The recipe I decided to use is a part of The Professional Chef, a textbook from The Culinary Institute of America. I usually use this book as a reference guide, in order to master techniques, but I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, and I'm very glad I did!

From Flickr - by Eunmi Han

This particular version of Bibimbap called for some skirt steak to be marinated in some soy sauce, garlic, ginger, green onions, sesame oil, crushed sesame seeds and pepper. The marinade was really tasty and added some great flavor to the dish. Once I'd made the marinade, I put the vegetables together. The recipe called for daikon, radish, carrots and cucumbers all julienned. One of my cucumbers had gone bad in the refrigerator :( and I didn't have any daikon, but I used some jicama instead, and also added some julienned shiitake mushrooms as well. Even though the recipe called for raw vegetables, I threw them in the wok with some peanut oil for a few minutes, just to soften the carrots and take the chill off the rest of the veggies. Everytime I've ever had Bibimbap, the vegetables have been cooked so I altered that part a little bit. I threw them in a stainless steel bowl and topped it with a pot lid so that steam could continue to cook the veggies a little bit while I finished off the rest of the dish.

While my rice cooked in my wonderful rice cooker, I threw the marinated beef into the wok with a bit of vegetable oil. It didn't take more than a few minutes for the small pieces to cook through, and while that was happening, I fried two eggs in a skillet, keeping them "sunny-side up" so that they would be runny when the yolk was broken over the dish. My rice cooker clicked when it was finished and I spooned some sticky rice onto each plate. I topped the rice with my steaming carrots, jicama, radish and shiitake mushrooms. I sprinkled some chiffonade of iceberg lettuce on top of that, and as it started to wilt from the heat, I piled on some beef. Lastly, I laid the fried egg on top of all of this!

For the sauce, the recipe really just called for Korean Red Chile paste but I wanted to thin the paste a bit so I mixed in some fish sauce, some rice wine vinegar and a little bit of sweet rice wine. It did exactly what I wanted it to do, and thinned down to more of a sauce...which was great for dripping over the already delicious concoction.

Normally, this dish is served in a clay dish that stays warm for an extended period, and continues to cook the rice while you eat, making it crispy and crunchy on the sides of the bowl. It adds something special to the dish, but even without those clay dishes, I really think I nailed the authenticity. It was so delicious and reminiscent of our trips to Korean restaurants! It's always a good feeling when you know you can make something that you love to order out - less money spent, more confidence in my culinary achievements! Try making your favorite restaurant dish at home...and share your experiences with us! We're rooting for you!

Also, check out my new and improved Stock Your Kitchen page. I've renovated it so that you can automatically add my recommendations to your Amazon shopping cart, should you be interested in purchasing something that I've mentioned in any of my posts. Hopefully, this will be more convenient!

Joey's Scallops with Jasmine Rice Risotto

So, I've started cooking from my new menu, and the first meal I chose to make is Joey's Scallops with Jasmine Rice Risotto, from Top Chef: The Quickfire Cookbook. Joey was part of Season 3, and during Episode 4, he participated in a Quickfire Challenge that asked him to create an appetizer to pair with a Bombay Sapphire cocktail for Bombay Mixologist, Jamie Walker. The recipe included in the cookbook has been adapted for main course servings, and was reproduced here, as well.

Now this recipe doesn't call for that many ingredients, and while they are a bit more exotic than you may be used to, this dish is SUPER-easy, so don't get overwhelmed.

What you'll need:

1 cup jasmine rice

2 cups coconut milk

8 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint, plus more for garnishing

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil, plus more for garnishing

8 sea scallops

salt

cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon peanut oil, for frying

And of course, here's a look at my mise en place:

Did you take a look at those GORGEOUS scallops? So let's get going with the first step, shall we? In a medium dry saucepan over medium heat, lightly toast the rice. Add the coconut milk, stir, and cover. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the rice until creamy, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, then stir in the mushrooms, mango, the 1 tablespoon of mint, and the 1 tablespoon of basil.

I recommend waiting until the risotto is complete, before starting the scallops. They only take 2 minutes per side, and I will warn you, overcooked scallops are TERRIBLE, and you shouldn't eat them. You want to JUST cook them through, no more than that (and I will admit now that I threw away a LOT of scallops before perfecting it, but if you follow the times on the recipe, you should make out okay!)

Season the scallops with salt and cayenne pepper. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the peanut oil. Add the scallops and sear for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side.

To serve, place several spoonfuls of rice on each plate and top with scallops. Garnish with mint and basil.

Mmmm, this sure was delicious! And I know you guys can do it too! So, give it a try, and let me know how it goes...and if it doesn't go so great the first time, try again. Perfecting a cooked scallop takes some practice, but oh, it's SO worth it!