The 2010 Opening fishing season is now underway and the weekend was absolutely wonderful. The weather was amazing and we enjoyed some great food as well as catching some Walleyes.
Friday night we cooked some of our hand made Venison Italian Sausages and some store-bought Polish Sausage. My son-in-law Karl brought the buns; nice sesame buns for the large sausages. This is usually our Friday night fare and it was excellent.
Saturday morning was a later breakfast of Hormel Range Brand Bacon ( always a favorite), Scrambled eggs with cheese and Hash Brown Potatoes. After a day of fishing and some moderate success, we settled in for a Steak Dinner with Baked Potatoes, my Onion Rings and Brandied Mushroom Cream Sauce for the steaks. My good friend Steve Rudh made the sauce and I cooked the Onion Rings. Steve oversaw the steak grilling and it was a very nice dinner.
Mushroom Cream Sauce:
1 lb. Button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 Shallot, finely diced
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Brandy
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the mushrooms, Shallot, salt and pepper and saute until almost all the liquid is gone. Add the brandy off-heat and tilt the pan into the gas flame to ignite or light with a match if using electric burner. when the flames subside, Add the cream and boil down until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.Taste to see if the seasoning is right and adjust if necessary. Serve over the steaks immediately.
See my previous posts for the onion ring recipe.
Good Eating!
Tim
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Scallops!
Tonight I bought some U10 Sea Scallops for a belated Mother's day dinner for my lovely wife Teresa as she had to work on the actual day and I was playing some music at The Vineyard this past weekend.
Menu: for two
6 U10 Sea Scallops, thawed and dried
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
5 small Red Potatoes
1/3 cup whole milk
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Lb. Asparagus
Anyway, I pan-seared the scallops in a "screaming-hot" pan with a little Olive oil and some Kosher salt and fresh ground Black Pepper. The scallops were frozen so I thawed them in a Qt. ziplock bag in cold water and then dried them thoroughly on several layers of paper towel until as dry as I could make them.
First on the agenda was the Mashed Baby Red potatoes. I cut them in half and place them in cold water, then bring the heat up to boiling and add a few pinches of salt to the water. simmer for about 15 minutes until fork tender.
In the meantime, prep the Asparagus by trimming the woody parts by snapping one stalk and where it snaps naturally is where you cut the stalks to get rid of the tough parts ( save those for stock). Place them in a baking dish in one layer and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil then toss with Kosher Salt and Pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Next, prepare the mashed potatoes by placing the drained potatoes over moderate heat and allowing them to dry a bit. Add the milk and butter and mash with a good potato masher until fairly smooth. Cover and set aside, off-heat.
Next, prep the scallops by seasoning them with a generous sprinkle of Kosher Salt and fresh ground black pepper. Heat a 8-12" Stainless skillet on high until screaming hot. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and add the scallops, cooking for 2 minutes on the first side, then flipping and cooking for about 1 1/2 minutes on the second side. They should be nicely browned on both sides. serve the scallops with the mashed potatoes and 1/2 of the asparagus on a plate and pour a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc to accompany the whole deal.
Bon Appetit!
Tim
Menu: for two
6 U10 Sea Scallops, thawed and dried
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
5 small Red Potatoes
1/3 cup whole milk
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Lb. Asparagus
Anyway, I pan-seared the scallops in a "screaming-hot" pan with a little Olive oil and some Kosher salt and fresh ground Black Pepper. The scallops were frozen so I thawed them in a Qt. ziplock bag in cold water and then dried them thoroughly on several layers of paper towel until as dry as I could make them.
First on the agenda was the Mashed Baby Red potatoes. I cut them in half and place them in cold water, then bring the heat up to boiling and add a few pinches of salt to the water. simmer for about 15 minutes until fork tender.
In the meantime, prep the Asparagus by trimming the woody parts by snapping one stalk and where it snaps naturally is where you cut the stalks to get rid of the tough parts ( save those for stock). Place them in a baking dish in one layer and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil then toss with Kosher Salt and Pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Next, prepare the mashed potatoes by placing the drained potatoes over moderate heat and allowing them to dry a bit. Add the milk and butter and mash with a good potato masher until fairly smooth. Cover and set aside, off-heat.
Next, prep the scallops by seasoning them with a generous sprinkle of Kosher Salt and fresh ground black pepper. Heat a 8-12" Stainless skillet on high until screaming hot. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and add the scallops, cooking for 2 minutes on the first side, then flipping and cooking for about 1 1/2 minutes on the second side. They should be nicely browned on both sides. serve the scallops with the mashed potatoes and 1/2 of the asparagus on a plate and pour a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc to accompany the whole deal.
Bon Appetit!
Tim
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Getting the biscuits right
You may have read in a previous post that I am going to be doing some cooking demos on May 22 at The Vineyard Church in Duluth for a combined medical clinic and food shelf event. As part of that event, I am practicing making some practical recipes using the ingredients available from the food shelf. Tonight I have been tweaking a biscuit recipe using powdered non-fat dry milk to be served with a Bechamel-based traditional sausage gravy made with the same dry milk. The gravy has been made successfully and tonight the biscuits did very well. I modified the recipe printed on the bag of dry milk to make the biscuits rise a bit higher and try to eliminate the typically bitter taste that results from too much baking powder. I added a half teaspoon of baking soda, a tablespoon of sugar and more dry milk powder for the amount of water suggested in the dry milk recipe and replaced the shortening with real butter. Here is the resulting recipe if you are interested.
2/3 cup Non-fat dry milk powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 T sugar
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 T butter very cold butter cut into 1/4 " cubes
1 cup very cold water
Forming and finishing:
1/2 cup flour
1 T butter, melted
Preheat the oven with the rack in the middle to 500 degrees.
pray a 9" round baking pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter.
Spray the inside of a 1/4 cup measure with cooking spray.
Dough: in a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients and and mix thoroughly.
add the butter cubes and combine with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the butter and dry ingredients resemble a course corn meal texture. Don't overwork it.
Add the water and stir to combine. It will be fairly wet and sticky dough.
to form and bake:
distribute the 1/2 cup flour on a rimmed baking sheet and then using the 1/4 cup measure, scoop a 1/4 cup of the batter onto the baking sheet and roll the dough around in the flour to just bring it into a mound and place it in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough until you have about 10 to 12 mounds in the dish ( 9 around the rim and 2 or 3 in the center). Brush the mounds with the melted butter making sure not to flatten them.
Place it the preheated oven for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to 450 and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the dish to a rack and cool for 2 minutes, then invert it onto a kitchen towel and break apart the biscuits and allow to cool another 5 minutes. Serve right away with sausage gravy and fried eggs or with jam all by themselves.
Bon Appetit!
2/3 cup Non-fat dry milk powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 T sugar
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 T butter very cold butter cut into 1/4 " cubes
1 cup very cold water
Forming and finishing:
1/2 cup flour
1 T butter, melted
Preheat the oven with the rack in the middle to 500 degrees.
pray a 9" round baking pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter.
Spray the inside of a 1/4 cup measure with cooking spray.
Dough: in a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients and and mix thoroughly.
add the butter cubes and combine with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the butter and dry ingredients resemble a course corn meal texture. Don't overwork it.
Add the water and stir to combine. It will be fairly wet and sticky dough.
to form and bake:
distribute the 1/2 cup flour on a rimmed baking sheet and then using the 1/4 cup measure, scoop a 1/4 cup of the batter onto the baking sheet and roll the dough around in the flour to just bring it into a mound and place it in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough until you have about 10 to 12 mounds in the dish ( 9 around the rim and 2 or 3 in the center). Brush the mounds with the melted butter making sure not to flatten them.
Place it the preheated oven for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to 450 and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the dish to a rack and cool for 2 minutes, then invert it onto a kitchen towel and break apart the biscuits and allow to cool another 5 minutes. Serve right away with sausage gravy and fried eggs or with jam all by themselves.
Bon Appetit!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Another culinary adventure
Teresa and I recently went on another culinary adventure up the North Shore of Lake Superior. We have found a nice retreat in the off-season at Eagle Ridge Resort on Lutsen Mountain. They offer nice room packages during the slow times of the year, such as two nights for the price of one in a room with a gas fireplace on the slopes of Lutsen Mountain. We have taken advantage of this deal several times now and it is a great way to take a culinary adventure in the area with minimal expense.
Our first restaurant stop was at the Lemon Wolf in Beaver Bay, which I have reported on in a previous post. We enjoyed fresh Herring from Lake Superior and fresh bread. That is always a good stop. Chef Rick is very friendly and welcoming.
The next stop on Saturday morning, after a light breakfast in our room was the Coho Cafe in Tofte for a cup of good coffee and a cinnamon twist (puff pastry twists with a cinnamon sugar glaze). We stopped along the way at a couple of trails to hike and enjoy the spring weather and get a little exercise to work off our food intake. Our food destination for the day was Grand Marais to check out the restaurants we hadn't tried yet. We picked up a pamphlet with the area businesses and restaurants listed and spent some time reading the descriptions. After walking through the streets for awhile we stopped at two places to check out their menus. the first was the Gunflint Tavern on the main street near the water. We had eaten here before and knew it was a good spot. They have excellent soups like Gumbo, Wild Mushroom and a few others as well as good ethnic dishes but we decide to try someplace we hadn't been before. Just two blocks away is the Crooked Spoon. It is a small place, seating about 35 diners with a small bar serving nice wines and craft beers. We stopped outside the door to read their menu posted there and found some cool stuff there.
I ordered their Crooked Ale and a 1/2 lb Kobe Beef burger. Teresa ordered the Crooked BLT.
My friend, it was excellent! I had never tried Kobe Beef before but had read plenty about the quality and marbling of the meat. I am here to tell you the beef flavor was outstanding! the burger was topped with Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Mozzarella Cheese, a slice of tomato and lettuce; that's all! It didn't need mayo, ketchup, or anything else! It was served on a grilled Ciabatta roll and some Kettle chips alongside.
Teresa's BLT was amazing as well. It was served on toasted Caraway Rye with Honey Glazed Bacon with Black Pepper, fresh tomato and lettuce and a Curried Lemon Aioli; Wonderful! We shared each other's dishes so we could get a taste of each and it was the highlight of the day, culinarily. We headed back to the resort to hike around there and burn off some calories, a cocktail of Prosecco and Amaretto and then off to Lutsen Resort and their dining room for dinner. We enjoyed a very nice dinner there with good wine and the great view of the lake and good food as well. This was not the highlight of the day but very good. We also had our breakfast there the next morning because we had enjoyed dinner there. It was nice as well. I had a Stuffed French Toast with cream cheese and Lingonberries, dipped in rice crispies and fried. Really good!
We headed back down the shore to visit my dad at Silver Bay Veteran's Home and then back home. It was a very successful adventure and I highly recommend all of the places mentioned.
Go forth and eat!
Tim
Our first restaurant stop was at the Lemon Wolf in Beaver Bay, which I have reported on in a previous post. We enjoyed fresh Herring from Lake Superior and fresh bread. That is always a good stop. Chef Rick is very friendly and welcoming.
The next stop on Saturday morning, after a light breakfast in our room was the Coho Cafe in Tofte for a cup of good coffee and a cinnamon twist (puff pastry twists with a cinnamon sugar glaze). We stopped along the way at a couple of trails to hike and enjoy the spring weather and get a little exercise to work off our food intake. Our food destination for the day was Grand Marais to check out the restaurants we hadn't tried yet. We picked up a pamphlet with the area businesses and restaurants listed and spent some time reading the descriptions. After walking through the streets for awhile we stopped at two places to check out their menus. the first was the Gunflint Tavern on the main street near the water. We had eaten here before and knew it was a good spot. They have excellent soups like Gumbo, Wild Mushroom and a few others as well as good ethnic dishes but we decide to try someplace we hadn't been before. Just two blocks away is the Crooked Spoon. It is a small place, seating about 35 diners with a small bar serving nice wines and craft beers. We stopped outside the door to read their menu posted there and found some cool stuff there.
I ordered their Crooked Ale and a 1/2 lb Kobe Beef burger. Teresa ordered the Crooked BLT.
My friend, it was excellent! I had never tried Kobe Beef before but had read plenty about the quality and marbling of the meat. I am here to tell you the beef flavor was outstanding! the burger was topped with Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Mozzarella Cheese, a slice of tomato and lettuce; that's all! It didn't need mayo, ketchup, or anything else! It was served on a grilled Ciabatta roll and some Kettle chips alongside.
Teresa's BLT was amazing as well. It was served on toasted Caraway Rye with Honey Glazed Bacon with Black Pepper, fresh tomato and lettuce and a Curried Lemon Aioli; Wonderful! We shared each other's dishes so we could get a taste of each and it was the highlight of the day, culinarily. We headed back to the resort to hike around there and burn off some calories, a cocktail of Prosecco and Amaretto and then off to Lutsen Resort and their dining room for dinner. We enjoyed a very nice dinner there with good wine and the great view of the lake and good food as well. This was not the highlight of the day but very good. We also had our breakfast there the next morning because we had enjoyed dinner there. It was nice as well. I had a Stuffed French Toast with cream cheese and Lingonberries, dipped in rice crispies and fried. Really good!
We headed back down the shore to visit my dad at Silver Bay Veteran's Home and then back home. It was a very successful adventure and I highly recommend all of the places mentioned.
Go forth and eat!
Tim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
