RogueChef
“It IS all about the TASTE”
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Chopped Salad – Mid-East Style
It is still hot enough to be the Mid-East, and I’m still fat enough to be an Arab Sheik. Time to get serious about loosing the spare tires.
Dinner tonight will be a salad, but I want crunchy, I want crisp, I want texture and I want taste. Really sounds like an Middle Eastern chopped salad. I’m thinking an Israeli salad, but I don’t like tomatoes that much, perhaps cut back on the tomato, and add a few other veggies.
Israeli salad is a chopped salad of finely diced tomato and cucumber. “Distinguished by the tiny diced tomatoes and cucumbers,” it is described as the “most well-known national dish of Israel.” It is usually dressed with fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Parsley and spring onions are sometimes added, but not lettuce. Generally, the cucumbers are not peeled. The key is using very fresh vegetables and chopping them as finely as possible. The ability to chop the tomatoes and cucumbers into the “finest, most perfect dice” is considered a mark of status among many kibbutz cooks.
Variations include salads made with the addition of diced red or green bell peppers, grated carrot, finely shredded cabbage, sliced radish, fennel, spring onions and chives, and other herbs such as mint, za’atar or sumac.
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Banana J*li*s
One of my all time favorite drinks. I just can not pass a stand that makes these without getting one. Lots of bold banana / orange taste, blisteringly cold, with just the right amount of sweetness and creamy, silky smoothness to make it all go down so fast, you want to go back for another..
With there now being too many days of hot sunshine, and too many days of 90 degree heat, this will make a great, refreshing, and cooling drink.
Background
Orange J*li*s, (Sorry, you never can tell when someone will want to get picky about trademarks) is a fruit drink, created by blending orange juice, crushed ice, and a optional mixture of powdered whole milk and egg whites. It has been available since the late 1920s. Now if we take this basic recipe and add banana for a nice taste combo, and add just a touch of really good bourbon for that rougechef twist.
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Meatless Monday – Gazpacho
It’s 90 today, and way to hot to fire up the stove, so I’m looking for a nice cool dish. If one looks at the more torrid climes, one can find all forms of inspiration. I seem to have a number of cucumbers, and some fresh tomatoes, this with some herbs, onions, and other miscellaneous sounds like a wonderful time to make gazpacho..
Background
Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalucía. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities.
The soup has ancient roots. There are a number of theories of its origin, including as an Arab soup of bread, olive oil, water and garlic that arrived in Spain with the Moors, or via the Romans with the addition of vinegar. Once in Spain became a part of Andalucian cuisine, particularly Seville, stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar. Tomato was added to the recipe after it was brought to Europe after the Columbian Exchange which began in 1492. The dish remained popular with field hands as a way to cool off during the summer, and to use available ingredients (fresh vegetables and stale bread).
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Planked Halibut
As spoken prior:
As I am upstate this week, cooking for the lady of Bad Wolf Manor, I’ll be posing a number of her favorites. It just so happens that today is rather mild but ware are looking for a bit of insane heat at the end of the week, plus it is father’s day shortly, and it is our 27th anniversary… So a very special grilling session is in order
Background
Halibut is a flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus from the family of the right-eye flounders (Pleuronectidae). Various other flatfish are also commonly called halibut. The name is derived from haly (holy) and butt (flat fish), for its alleged popularity on Catholic holy-days. Halibut live in both the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans and are highly regarded food fish.
The Pacific Northwest has long been famous for the technique of roasting fish and game on wood planks. Early explorers extolled the aroma and flavor of this technique.
Native Americans pioneered the art of roasting fish and game on wood planks. Early accounts praise the aroma and flavors imparted by this cookery. The early cooks utilized wood plank cooking over open flames to capture the essence of wood as a seasoning in fish and other meats. These people slow roasted their freshly caught fish and meats on wood planks above fire pits. This method of cooking infused the natural oils and moisture found in the woods into the foods producing a delicious unique flavor. This unusual method of cooking has been discovered and used worldwide to bring truly exceptional flavor to not only fish but also meats, poultry, vegetables, cheese, fruits and even pizza!
But more recently, as pre-cut boards have become widely available, chefs and home cooks around the country have been experimenting with cooking on planks. There are two methods of plank cooking; grilling (roasting) and oven (baking). Both methods offer the delicious flavor. Backyard get-togethers have become so trendy in recent years, that grill planks have become the most popular method of cooking.
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Light / Refresing Meals
Having just returned from an international operation, it made perfect sense to throw myself on the mercy of the medial profession for my annual physical and lube check.
In retrospect, I would have done better If I had staid out drinking all night the night before and went in so dunk they would not need anesthesia to put me out. I’ve not been this thrashed, in a very very, (~30 years), long time.
So now I am back in the land of the living and gradually restocking my digestive system with something other than sports drinks, iced tea and crackers. But I still need something other than the 1/2 a roast beast, with a full boat of sides and the accompanying drink.
Time for a lighter set of meals, one of the heavier meals would be the jacketed potatoes with cheese, and bacos, or a grilled cheese, perhaps a cole slaw.
As I’ve not posted recently, I needed to get some form of post up and let folks know that I am still alive, and yes I will be posting on a much more regular basis, in the days to come.
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Meatless Monday – Basic Marinara sauce
Think of a luscious, sensual, marinara sauce, slowly simmered, and ladled over a bed of al-denti pasta, perhaps with some mushrooms, bell peppers, and celery chunks to provide a taste and texture contrast. One may also go whole hog wild adding broccoli, zucchini chunks, minced carrots, and peas to make a Primavera sauce.
The bottom line is with a good tomato, garlic, and herb pasta sauce, the limits are in your imagination, not in the kitchen….
Wikipedia says:
Marinara sauce is an Italian red sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs (such as basil), and onion. However, there are many variations. Some of these include the addition of capers, olives and spices.
Traditional Italian cuisine utilizes this sauce to add flavor to pasta, rice and seafood. However, in recent years, Americans have found use for it as a dipping sauce for other foods as well. Italians refer to marinara only in association with other recipes. For instance, spaghetti alla marinara literally translates to mariner’s spaghetti.
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Meatless Monday – Spring Vegetable Risotto
Spring Vegetable Risotto is a great meatless recipe to make to welcome spring. Asparagus and baby peas add color, flavor, and texture to this easy recipe. Maybe we’ll add some chopped / sauteed onions, celery and mushrooms for taste and texture contrasts.
I have a bunch of fresh asparagus, and some freshly shelled baby green peas, as wall as a package of dried porcini, and I’ll steep them in just enough boiling water to cover for 20 minutes or until they’ve expanded. Drain them, reserving the liquid, and mince them. I’ll use the rehydrate as well, but will filter it (it may contain sand) and add it too — I’m looking for a lot of mushroom aroma, and the flesh will add that umami mouth feel/taste.
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Haluski
Crap! Three days of sun and 70′s, now rain and 50′s. My body aches from this hot/cold routine. The good thing is I get to try a dish mentioned to me by a friend. Even better I get to use a good bit of left overs from my bacon and colcannon post
A pan fry of bacon, onions, garlic, cabbage, and egg noodles. It can be served as a side dish or can include polish sausage and potato dumplings to make a full meal. I’ll add the sausage to this but will replace the potato dumplings with potatoes from the colcannon and use the last of the back bacon as well.
Do note, for a couple of friends, I did use beef sausage, turkey bacon and olive oil to produce a similar, kosher and quite tasty dish
The origin of this dish are quite cloudy, some people say Poland, some say Hungary, some say Germany, but it does appear to be a very tasty and substantial dish.
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