Sides and Appetizers

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BBQ Sauce

• While I like to MAKE MY OWN BBQ sauce, ATK or CC tested sauces.
• Bulls Eye came out the winner, Stubbs was the runner up, and Kraft was the looser.

Mozzarella Cheese

• Pre-shredded cheese is tossed in cellulose to keep it from sticking together
• Plus it dries out, losing some of that incredible meltability
• Do a taste test yourself
• Low moisture is stretchier and is 45-52% moisture
• Fresh is about 60% moisture
• Your best bet is to buy your own block or ball of mozzarella and shred it yourself.

Sour Dough Oven Stuffing

• 1 TBL salt
• 1/2 C shredded carrot
• 1 C chopped celery
• 1 C diced pears
• 1 C diced onion
• 1/2 C fresh cranberries
• Sauté above 2 minutes
• Add 1 tsp each thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley
• Add 1 TBL chopped pecans
• Toss 6 C bread crumbs with 3/4 C EVOO
• Combine all with 2 C chicken broth and 1 TBL balsamic reduction
• Spread out in 9×12 baking dish
• Bake covered for 1/2 hour
• Finish bake uncovered for another 1/2 hour

Date and Gorgonzola Prosciutto Roll

• Slice dates lengthwise and remove pit
• Stuff with a piece of gorgonzola cheese
• Wrap in prosciutto
• Lay in pan
• Brush all with garlic, olive and EVOO mixture
• Bake 400º for 5-8 minutes

Truffle Notes

• OK to wash truffle, then pack in rice to dessicate
• Black truffle should be used to accent a more complex dish
  – $2,000 per pound
• White truffle should be featured and be used in a simple dish
  – $6,000 per pound – $400 per ounce
  – October, Nov and Dec in Piedmont Italy
• Black Périgord truffles cost $575 per pound from farmer’s markets and $2000 per pound from retail sellers.
• Black summer truffles cost $670 per pound
  – Year round in Umbria Italy and Burgundy France
• Pecan truffles cost $100 per pound
  – Australia, Oregon and Tennessee

Simple White Truffle Recipe

• Egg, butter, cream – shave white truffles over the top

Puff Pastry Baskets

• Puff Pastry squares 4″ each side
• Put in center – turkey, mozzarella, pesto
• Wrap up and tie in four or eigh sections
• Bake 15 minutes at 400º
• Remove string – top with rosemary sprig

Cranberry Salad

• Jello and hot water
• Lemon zest
• Chopped raw cranberries
• Orange
• Grapes – light chop
• Apple – diced

Refrigerate 4 hours

Equipment Notes

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Cooler Test

• Before you go on a long vacation and risk your expensive food, test your cooler’s retention ability.  Put an 8 or 10 bag of crushed ice into each cooler and close the lid.
• Open the lid for no more than 15 seconds starting at two hours

Paper Towels – ATK Test

Recommended is two-ply Bounty

Wood Chips

• Soak Hickory, Oak or Mesquite chips in water for 15 minutes
• Wrap in heavy foil – about the size and thickness of a paperback book
• Poke holes in the top
• Put right on the coals or on the bottom rack

ATK Equipment Review – Skillets

Winner: Oxo Good Grips Nonstick 12 inch open fry pan – $40

Treats and Just for Fun

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Black Muffins

A great idea for a Halloween party. – – – Just add 1 TBL activated charcoal for Black Muffins, or 1 TBL fine wood ash (untreated wood) for Gray Muffins

Candied Apples

Put 2  sugar into a heavy pot and add 1/4 C corn syrup.  The Chef on TV added 3/4 C water, but this is really unnecessary.  As long as a single teaspoon of water remains, the syrup will never get above 212º.  You need to bring it up to 300º for caramelization to happen.  The water is a shortcut to make the sugar melt, that actually makes the entire process take longer.  Skip the water.

Option:  For Black Apples, add 1 T activated charcoal when the temperature hits about 285º

Desserts

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Crumb Top Cake

Base

• 2 1.4 C AP flour
• 3/4 C milk
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp yeast
• salt

1. Add all but 1/2 C of the flour and beat two minutes on medium
2. Add 6 TBL butter – one pad at a time until incorporated
3. Optionally add raisins
4. Add remainder of flour and stir till combined
5. Beat 6 minutes on high
6. Put into 9×12 greased cake pan
7. Flatten sponge with fingers
8. Cover and rise 1 hour
9. If necessary, push dough back into any corners or sides

Crumb Topping

• 18 TBL butter – melted and clarified
• 3/4 C white sugar
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• Dissolve all ingredients together to make “Butter Mixture”
• 4 C cake flour – sifted

1. Mix cake flour and butter mixture
2. Rest 10 minutes
3. Sprinkle crumbs by hand across top of sponge
4. Bake 350º for 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean
5. Turn oven off and rest baked cake 3 hours in cooling oven
6. Optionally dust with confectioner sugar

North Carolina Lemon Pie

This sounded great, but I am not going to retype the entire episode here.  CLICK HERE for Cooks Country recipe.  If they take down the recipe USE THIS LINK.

Crepe / Blintz

Use my recipe for crepes.  They should be UNDERDONE, and not browned.

• For a blintz, make a large crepe using a 12″ pan
• When ready to cook brush pan with butter
• Heat to 350º
• Add 1/3 C batter and tip to spread
• Cook only to congeal.  Try not to brown too much.

Ricotta Filling

• Fill with mixture of 11 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 C confectioner sugar
• 2 TBL cream cheese
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cover and refrigerate 2-36 hours

Topping – Raspberry Sauce

• 10 oz raspberries
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Heat 8-12 minutes
• Serve hot over freshly cooked blintz

To Finish the Blintz

• Put 2 TBL filling in the center of a cooled crepe
• Form into a 2×4 strip or log
• Fold bottom in, then sides, then roll to make a packet
• OK to refrigerate these overnight for the next morning
• Cook in 2 TBL fresh unsalted butter
• Fry 6 at a time, leaving a bit of space between them
• 2 – 4 minutes per side at 350º till browned
• If making more, wipe out pan and use new butter
• Serve hot with topping

Optional simply use cream cheese with blended strawberry topping

Meals

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Quiche

1. Cut bacon into pieces and crisp it in a hot pan.  Discard the grease.
2. Cool the bacon and mix with (to taste) fresh chives, hand-shredded Gruyere, cooked chopped and drained spinach.  Mix well.
3. Mix in 1.5 C Half and Half and 6 beaten eggs
4. Optionally add cooked ham, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onion, chopped tomatoes, chives.
5. Pour into pie crust or bare ramekins and bake 20-30 minutes at 300º
6. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting

Pie Dough

• Mix together butter, flour, freezing cold water, sugar and salt
• Wrap and put back into fridge for 60 minutes before rolling flat
• Dock the crust, then blind bake it for 10 minutes before using

Chuck – Flat Steak

• This is a good flavorful cut of meat, but is cheap and tends to be tough
• Pound it with your hammer.
• Optionally marinate it overnight
• Slow cook it to tenderize it or just sear it.

Pork Belly

• Salt and sugar dry brine, then the fridge for 3 days
• Smoker for 6 hours
• Alt: oven at 250º with a pan full of wood chips in the bottom of the oven

Krab Roll

• Krab, celery, salt, pepper, mayo, chives
• Press into muffin ring
• Chill before serving
• Serve with Bahn Mi Pickles

Bahn Mi Pickles

• Use a julienne stripper with UNPEELED carrot, zucchini, bell or jalapeño peppers, Daikon radish,  – whatever you want on your sandwich
• Add 1/2 – 1 inch pieces of chive
• Toss everything in about 1 TBL salt
• Let rest for an hour, then mix with apple cider vinegar that is about 205º
• Let cool in your counter for at least 4 hours
• Ideally, let age in your refrigerator about a week

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

• Use my recipe for pizza dough or just buy a ball of dough from your local pizza place
• Flatten with your hands into a cast iron pan
• First, add grated cheese on the bottom
• Next add your sauce in spots
• Add whatever other toppings you want
• Start pizza on stove top till browned
• Move to a 500º oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes

Another Pizza Recipe

• Use a thin metal pie pan / cookie pan
• Obtain your dough
• Flatten into bottom of pan
• Cover and let rise 2-3 hours
• Add shred mozz cheese, brick cheese or Monterey Jack on top of dough
• Add sauce in stripes
• Bake 500º for 15 minutes
• Wait 5 minutes before cutting

Lasagna

• Bread and milk is called a Panade.
• Make your own meat sauce with meat, onion, cloves and canned tomatoes
• After cooking, let cool 10 minutes before you cut it

Tortillas

• 2 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 TBL lard
• 2/3 C ice water

1. Mix first three ingredients
2. Drizzle in very cold water
3. Finish kneading on the counter
4. Cut into 12 pieces and roll into balls
5. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes
6. Press balls flat, then roll them even flatter
7. Put two disks together, spraying the inside lightly
8. Roll even flatter
9. Put onto parchment paper to keep from sticking
10. Heat in not non-stick pan about 60 seconds per side

Tamales

• 1 C dried chiles toasted in oil, diced onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt
  3 C chicken broth – simmer 10 minutes – blend until smooth
• Pour back into pan and add chicken thighs – cover and simmer 25 minutes
• Cool and shred
• Add 1 TBL cider vinegar into sauce, salt, pepper, sugar
• Add 1 C into chicken – reserve the rest for serving with the tamales

• Soak corn husks in boiling water for 30 minutes
• Coarse masa makes better tamales.
• No coarse masa?  Use 1 C masa harina and 2 TBL cornmeal or grits
• Pour 1.5 C boiling water over cornmeal and whisk – soak 10 minutes
• Add masa, then cover and let rest 20 minutes
• Put through food processor with 1 C fresh corn, 6 TBL lard, 6 TBL butter, 2 TBL baking powder and 1 tsp salt
• Spread 1/4 C onto husks, add 2 TBL filling, wrap and steam 1 hour

Leftover Turkey Options

• Quiche: Onion, spinach, eggs, cheese, cream, seasonings, turkey
• Sandwiches: Bread, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard
• Chowder:  Potatoes, cream, corn, onion, carrot, turkey
• Casserole:  Turkey, veggies, cheese
• Pot Pie: Peas, carrot, celery, mushrooms, onion, half/half
• Enchilada: Green chiles, cheese, enchilada sauce, onion,
• Tamale:  Masa, cheese, sauce

Pescado Frito

• One very fresh fish