Category: Cooking

I don't often watch "food television", as much of it has become an extension of Reality TV, which doesn't relate to any "reality" I know of; could be because I don't get out much, or perhaps I'm not hip….but I have a problem watching shows that seem to reward bad and outrageous behavior…..much of what's on is either heavily character based; or competition television. For me, when I'm able to, which is not often enough, I'd rather turn on PBS during a lazy Saturday…..though some of those shows don't really inspire or keep my attention either. There are exceptions; like the one Sunday I flipped stations to PBS and watched a show called A Chef's Life. I'd never heard of this program, and even though I enjoyed the back story, it was the subject that I loved……collard greens. I called the Missus over and having some wonderful, fresh collards in the fridge, She was fascinated as well….especially the part on collard kraut. Then came the segment on making collard green dolmades and we were sold. Though not quite in the manner of the show, we were inspired to make something akin to Turkish Dolmars. Dolmar mean literally to "stuff"…..in fact, the tiny buses around Cappadocia are called "Dolmars", because of how you stuff folks into them. We teamed the stuffed collards with a tangy tomato based sauce, halfway between shakshuka and marinara.

You might find it interesting to note that our favorite way of eating collards is not the typical Southern style long simmered variety, but a hot saute of the greens with a nice, flavorful fat…..bacon or duck will do, though guess what we did with all that Grieben Schmalz? It's something we first had years ago at Jayne's, which I just didn't feel like posting on.

Anyway, all you need to make a batch of these are four or five large, fresh(still pliable), leaves. You remove the spine, blanch for a minute or so, remove to an ice bath, and then let dry. You then use the leaves to roll your meat mixture….you can make 4-6 with each leaf, depending on the size….of both the filling and the leaf.

Other things to take into consideration. I grate my onion on a box grater then squeeze out about half the liquid, this gives the filling a better flavor and texture. I grate my garlic on a ginger grater. I use full fat Greek Yogurt which I don't drain. You can adjust the salt based on your sauce, I'm not going to tell you what kind of sauce to use….I think you'll figure something out. The Smoked Spanish Paprika, which we get from Penzy's added a nice mild smoky flavor to the dish. As for the meat……go for it, but consider tenderness, moisture, and of course flavor. This will make at least 12-15 medium sized one's……

Stuffed Collard Greens:

5-6 Large, fresh, collard green leaves, blanched, iced, and drained

1/3 lb ground lamb

1/3 lb ground veal

1 1/2 Tb ground cumin

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 cup grated, then partially drained onion

2 Tb grated or finely minced garlic

1 Tb granulated garlic

1 Tb Turkish Oregano, rub to break apart and release the oil when adding to meat

1/2 tsp Thyme (see above)

1/2 tsp Smoked Spanish Paprika

1/4 tsp dried mustard

2 Tb full fat Greek yogurt

– Combine all ingredients except collard leaves.

– portion out into oblong meatballs as desired.

– Wrap in collard leaves.

– Steam for 10-15 minutes.

– Drain excess liquid and serve with sauce of your choice.

A pretty simple recipe, thanks to some inspiration from a show I'll try to watch when I can……

So you remember that Fermenting Crockpot from a previous post?

Well, we've finally put it to good use. The water seal on these works really well….except for the periodic "bloop" of gases escaping from what you're storing in the crock. After a couple of days it stops.

I gotta say, I had to block the Missus form actually opening this too soon to "to just have a peek" or to "make sure it isn't rotting". You just have to chill and let nature do its thing.

I could get all scientific on you, but lets just say this turned out real well.

As a whole 6 grams per kilo of kosher salt massaged into finely sliced cabbage. We packed it tightly into the crock. We used food service gloves for the task. We placed the stone weights on the well packed cabbage and pressed down firmly. The Missus didn't feel real comfortable with the amount of liquid. Luckily we had that covered. We had boiled up a liter of purified water with 6 grams of kosher salt which we then cooled in a sterilized container. We used this to top off the liquid, making sure to fully cover the cabbage. The temps seemed right the last couple of weeks.

10 days later I was sterilizing Ball Jars and packing tightly with cabbage……viola, sauerkraut. For some reason, the Missus loves this stuff…to the tune of a large jar a week! Me, well, I like it on something like the beer braised-seared bratwurst on a pretzel bun with whole grain mustard…..

The Missus? Well, She's keeping a tight reign on our inventory and is itching for our next fermentation project. This was a fun first project. What's next? Suan Cai perhaps?

Thanks for reading!

It seems like a pretty easy question….poke or some sashimi, right? But what if you're given a challenge, to make "something good for a change"?

I was faced with that on a recent evening…..granted, I've been really busy with work recently, so I really wanted something special for the Missus.

So I came up with this.

Bluefin three ways……

The cut of bluefin was very fresh, though not particularly outstanding. The perfect 20 minute challenge for me.

Here's the play-by-play…..

I decided on doing a very quick, hot smoke, so I got my trusty stovetop smoker going. I didn't want this to be a hot dish, but also wanted a fairly aggressive smoke flavor without cooking the fish. So I used mesquite and instead of starting high then turning low, I just turned the flame up high, seasoned the block of tuna with Maldon Smoked Salt and fresh ground pepper, covered the smoker briefly and when a good amount developed, placed the fish in the smoker, replaced thecover, and just let her rip!

I went into the garden to pick the veggies and herbs, washing then drying them on paper towels. Seven minutes had passed. I removed the tuna from the smoker, placed it on a plate and putting it in the freezer to quickly cool. I wanted to maintain the firmness of the fish.

At this point I decided on making three different items; for the first, I chopped the uneven part of the block, mixing it with some pretty good Maui onion and minced avocado……I then added a few drops of my roasted ghost pepper hot sauce and stuffed the avocado. Something I used to do when I helped a friend of mine cater a few dinners many years ago. A couple of slices of red serrano, sliced scallions, minced cilantro, and a touch of mint from the yard finished things. The Missus loved this combination of meaty-smoky-pungent-creamy-crunchy-mildly spicy. I was amazed that the ghost pepper hot sauce added just enough heat with a wonderful flowery fragrance.

The second item were just slices of the smoked tuna on lettuce from the yard. This I paired with some blanched, then grated garlic, grated ginger, yuzu kosho, and wasabi. I was so proud of the Missus, She never touched that wasabi from a tube. She loved placing tiny dabs of the salty, mildly spicy yuzu kosho on the smoky fish, never feeling a need to add soy sauce.

The third item was a play on a caprese, with tuna replacing the standard mozzarella. I placed the cuts of fish between slices of cherry tomato and basil, drizzling on some 0.3% acidity extra virgin olive oil. I also seeded a cherry tomato and filled it with olive oil creating a "shot" homage to our visit to Peza Union, where the tasting of each olive oil was presented in cups like a shot! The Missus enjoyed this the least.

This was only half of everything as there was a imrror plate also created. The Missus really enjoyed this…..which turned out pretty well. One of the most interesting responses I got from the Missus was when I had Her eat a slice of the Maui Onion with a touch of smoked salt…….I love good Maui onion with just some Hawaiian salt…this was the way I ate it growing up and the Missus enjoyed this as well.

The funny thing was….I was also finishing up Her main courses for dinner at the same time…….perhaps that's a future post…..

Still, like that surf and turf challenge, I lived to cook another day……

I had about 4-5 ounces of lamb and a some rice left after making my lamb loco moco. Not much really. I've been swamped at work and didn't want to make a special trip to the market, so what to do? I looked out into the garden and around the kitchen and decided to make some stuffed peppers….lamb, rice, herbs, onion….we had a bunch of red bell peppers lying around, why not?

It turned out pretty well……

I also made a Shakshuka like sauce which brought everything together for the dish, which is so easy it's criminal. The only thing was the wait which was 45 minutes in the oven, but gave me time to make the sauce.

I actually went ahead and measured everything out except the oil, salt, and pepper. This is for two, you can just multiply everything out for more peppers.

Red Peppers Stuffed with Lamb and Rice:

2 Red Bell Peppers
1/4 lb ground lamb
1 1/2 cup cooked jasmine rice
2 Tb minced mint
3 Tb minced cilantro
2 Tb thinly sliced scallions
2 Tb finely minced or grated garlic
1 tsp crumbled Turkish oregano
1 tsp Spanish paprika
1 Tb ground cumin
1 tsp ground chilies
1-2 Tb olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
water

– Preheat oven to 375
– Cut the tops off the peppers and level off the bottoms of the peppers. Remove the center, discard the seeds, and trim out the interior of the pepper.
– Combine the all the ingredients except the peppers and water in a bowl.
– Stuff the peppers
– Place the peppers in a pan, I used a small cast iron pan I have and add about 1/2 inch of water.
– Place tops back on the peppers and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
– After 30 minutes remove the tops of the peppers, these should already be pretty soft.
– Drizzle olive oil on the meat filling and put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

You may want to serve this with a salty tomato based sauce, or something similar….think of the flavor profile of lamb. This was fairly gamey and went real well with the sauce I made. I'll probably do this again soon.