Documenting Recipes

There are a number of typical Recipes that i do on a regular basis, but have never recorded them.
Given the oddity of my memory i have transcribed 2 here:
I served the first one tonight to the raves of all and realised i never wrote it down.
The socond has been a long work in progress and requires a smoker.
The tomato sauce is a medium thickness type of sauce and works well with linguine.  I choose the linguine because it is a "lighter" pasta.

Pork Chops

with vinegar peppers and black olives

 4 pork chops (thick cut is best)

1 can pureed tomatoes
1 cup wine (rose or white, cheap)
1 can Pepperoncini peppers
1 can pitted black olives (oil cured are best, but regular black olives work well)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 lbs linguine

Begin tomato sauce by heating garlic and oregano in olive oil.

When garlic just begins to brown, add tomato sauce.
Bring to a simmer and cover.
empty cans of olives, peppers, wine and crushed red pepper with all the liquid into a large baking dish.
Place pork chops on top of olive and pepper mixture and salt top of chops.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Turn chops and add half the liquid to the sauce.
Continue baking until brown and 165 F inside the chops.
Remove from the heat and let rest.
Bring pasta water to a boil, salt the water and add pasta to cook for 6 minutes.
Drain and add the remainder of the pork chop liquid to the drained pasta.
Serve the linguine with the tomato sauce and the pork chop with peppers and olives on the side of the linguine.

This second recipe has gone through a number of transformations, but this is the one i like the best.  It also contains learned methods for smoking fish (the salt cure) that i have learned.

Smoked Salmon

maple orange glaze

After learning some new tricks about smoking fish, this is what i came up with

All that is left

Salmon fillet - 2 to 4 pounds
salt
raw sugar
cumin
smoked paprika
maple syrup
orange juice
orange zest
Hickory wood soaked in water
Grill with aluminum foil or smoker
There are no true measurements - there are ratios

Blot the Fresh salmon with a towel or paper towel to remove excess moisture.  This needs to be cured over night in the fridge (at least, a full day is better) with a mixture of salt and raw sugar (equal parts), 1/8 part cumin and smoked paprika covering the fish.

Rinse excess salt off and blot dry.

mix 1 cup orange juice with 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon raw sugar, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 1 teaspoon cumin.

Place salmon meat side down into this mixture and refrigerate for 1 hour.
(This re hydrates the salmon a bit with this flavor)
Take liquid and reduce by 3/4 over low heat.
Soak hickory chips in water.
Start the grill and let the coals burn down to white.
Add fresh wood and the drained hickory chips.
Cover the bottom part of the grill to prevent direct heat and place salmon skin side down on a greased upper rack.
place a water pan below the meat and smoke for 1 our at ~ 180 F
remove the pan of water and the foil and let the fire increase to crisp the skin (5 to 10 minutes)
remove and cool down in the refrigerator.
Serve with sauce.

More thoughts on the Turkey cooking

Well a beautiful Day in CT and the week that was is over. I think i caused trouble today and it was busy most of the week, but it is over and now i have a weekend.
I have decide where I am going with my Thanksgiving tastes and it looks like we have a number of people over, so I can not cook too much, cause others will bring things as well.
I am going to center things around my own creation, pumpkin butter.
During grilling season, I used a "mint" butter for corn, which was a wonderful twist and so Pumpkin butter is a good variation.
The stuffing, partially cooked and hot before it goes into the bird (that is a health secret!) will be composed of celery, onion, salt and a sage seasoning (bell's) as the "savory" components. It will have cranberries, apples, orange zest and walnuts as a fruit and nut portion. Egg, toasted bread (croutons of an unknown type cause I still am thinking about it) and pumpkin butter will hold it together. Savory, sweet, fruity and nutty and those flavors do blend together.
The pumpkin butter?
Butter and pumpkin melted and blended together with at least nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar, then strained. I could add allspice, ginger and cinnamon (making it pumpkin pie spice) but I may hold off on those others because I do not know if I want all that flavor.
The turkey will have a sage and butter rub between the skin and the meat and the pumpkin butter on top (or visa versa, depending if I want the meat savory or sweet).
My mind and taste buds are getting excited.
I cook cranberry sauce tonight and prepare the pumpkin butter!

More tantalizing tidbits!

These are the vegetarian recipes!

Baked Zucchini

8” zucchinis sliced in half
Olive oil
Tomato sauce (puree, 1 large can)
Oregano
Minced garlic
Coarse chopped parsley
Shredded Mozzarella
Shredded Italian cheese (Parmesan, Romano, etc.)
Red or rose wine
Salt

· Coat a saucepan with olive oil and heat garlic.
· Before garlic browns, add tomato sauce and salt to taste, mix well
· Add oregano and wine and let cook on low heat for at least 1 hour.
· Coat a baking pan with olive oil.
· Cut criss-cross lines in the zucchini and Place in pan cut side up.
· Top with sauce, mozzarella cheese and then Parmesan cheese.
· Bake at 275 to 300 for 1 hour (cheese should be melted, may be tan, but not dark brown)
· Top with parsley and cut in half.


Burgundy wine mushrooms

Mushrooms
Butter
Scallions
Black pepper
Burgundy wine
Chopped parsley

· Melt butter in pan
· Add mushroom and just brown
· Add scallions, parsley and black pepper
· Add wine
· Bring to a boil and thicken with either a rue (flour and butter or corn starch)
· Reduce heat and serve.

Enchiladas

Whole wheat tortillas
Red chili tomato sauce
Monterrey Jack Cheese
whole green pepper (optional)
Course chopped cilantro
Cumin
Chili powder
Corn oil
· Add long rectangle of cheese and cilantro to tortillas and roll. (add the pepper if you want it here)
· Put corn oil and chili powder and cumin into a baking pan and mix.
· Turn the tortillas in the oil.
· Add red chili tomato sauce onto rolled tortillas and top with shredded cheese.
· bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.


Sesame rice

Jasmine rice
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Cumin seed
White wine
Chopped chives

· Heat oil and then add sesame and cumin seeds and heat for one minute.
· Add rice and coat with oil.
· Add wine and bring to a boil.
· add chicken stock and water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
· I serve with chopped chives.

Answers

My Eyes hurt today.
Of course I was working yesterday and If I figure right, I will continue to do so until January,. Sigh!
I go to a conference tomorrow and Wednesday I take off (and I will present something at the conference).
I will give a start to the answers to my puzzle, slowly of course!

Chili
Ground buffalo meat (2 #)
Ground chicken meat (1 #)
Lean ground beef (1#)
Chopped onions (2)
Butter
Diced hot peppers to taste
Diced red bell pepper
Diced tomatoes (canned is okay) about 1 16 oz can.
Chili powder (to taste)
Cumin (to taste)
1 beer (Dos Equis is preferred)
Special addition – one orange cut into pieces (include peel)
Burgundy wine
Course chopped cilantro
· Browning the meat and onions first is best.
· Place into crock-pot and turn on low.
· Add all spices and peppers, except Course chopped cilantro.
· When every thing is hot, add diced tomatoes.
· After 5 hours of cooking add 1 beer
· After 1 more hour add orange and wine
· Add Course chopped cilantro cook one more hour
· Serve with Course chopped cilantro on top.
This can be frozen until the day to be used.

Greek meatballs!
1 pound ground lamb
1 pound lean ground beef
2 course chopped onions
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup dry mint leaves
diced garlic (1 tablespoon)
olive oil
oregano
lemon juice
Mixed it all very well
add olive oil to just cover baking pan
make small (no more than 1 & 1/2 inch) rolled balls.
Sprinkle with oregano and lemon juice
Place then on the pan and bake at 350 until just brown.
sprinkle a small amount of salt.
This can be frozen until the day to be used.

boring!

I realize that the blogging of the drudgery of daily life as I try to get better must be incredibly boring to those to come by and read, just think how it must be to me, The change in my life is so incredible that it is very difficult for me to draft. I look forward to these blogging times because it keeps my mind active and there are many things that need to be done and I actually try to fill my day with them. I got to shovel snow today, that was a treat, tiring, but a bit of true physical exertion that was pleasant. Yes, I work out in the morning a minimum of 15 minutes, cycling and other things, but it is not enough and it does make me crazy. I cook, today is my famous chilli that I can actually do right, the right spices (you didn't think I was going to give that away, did you, but it does include a couple of my home grown dried peppers), sauteing that with chopped onions in butter (yes, butter and a whole stick), then Buffalo meat (essential), hamburger, veal and pork (meat loaf mix to you). Sometimes I add ground chicken, sometimes not. Then fire roasted diced peppers (Glen Muir is my favorite) and then a Dos equis. You let that go for 8 + hours and you have my chilli! And yes, it is always best the next day. Sometimes I add a dry red wine to the mix as well, but this is not much effort. By the way if you try this tell me what you think. Oh yea, I guess If have to give up the spices, chili powder ( a cheap brand is fine because you use 2 or 3 tablespoons, cumin (1 tablespoon), fresh cilantro ( to your taste, I use about a half a bunch), paprika for color and salt to taste ( the meat does absorb it so be careful). I serve with sour cream on the side because those peppers from my garden are hot and rice. Enjoy!