by TheLastWonton | Mar 19, 2011 | Beef, Pork & Lamb, Breads & Sandwiches, Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dishes
Firm, ripe tomato slices, thick-sliced, peppered side bacon and perfectly poached eggs nesting on top of crispy toasted English muffins, swathed with a pinkish-hued Sriracha and Lime Hollandaise. Come to mama!
Bennies for dinner. (Woohooo!)
Please pass the Sriracha.
Sriracha, named one of Bon Appetit's 2010 ingredients of the year, is a tangy, slightly sweet, highly addictive Thai hot sauce that is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of central Thailand, where it was first produced for dishes served at local restaurants.
Heaps of thanks to all you traveling foodies, exporters, importers and whoever else helped get this hot sauce from the coasts of Thailand to our ever-lovin', heat-craving taste buds.
Sriracha is, without a doubt, one of our favorite ways to 'make hot'. We put this popular concoction of sun ripened chiles, distilled vinegar, garlic, salt and sugar on macaroni and cheese, chow mein, burgers, hot dogs, soup, ribs, steak, wings, stew, pizza and so many other dishes. Irresistible, spicy goodness.
Come to think of it Sriracha is so much a part of cooking and eating at our house that it has become a verb. "Before you pass them around, don't forget to Sriracha those dry garlic ribs."
But it is eggs that truly beg to be Sriracha-ed with all their beautiful, little golden hearts. And so it followed that one blustery Tuesday evening in March, my usually mild-mannered inner voice, excitedly squealed, 'Pssst, hey you! Sriracha some Bennies, right here, right now!'
Now, I had my attention! So with a wave of a whisk and the turn of a spoon, I slipped one perfectly poached egg gently onto a toasted English muffin stacked with a plump, fresh tomato slice and crispy fried, thick-sliced, peppered side bacon……. then swathed that tantalizing tower with velvety-rich, Sriracha blasted, lime tweeked hollandaise. Yum-O.
Makes you want to try your hand at Sriracha-ing, doesn't it? Well then, 'Psssst! Sometime soon slip into the kitchen and toast, fry, poach, slice, Sriracha, whisk, eat. Repeat.
TUESDAY EGGS BENNY
3 egg yolks
Juice of 1/2 lime
1-3 teaspoons Sriracha (how spicy do you like it?)
Pinch of sea or Kosher salt and a grind of black pepper
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons vinegar, a pinch of salt
4 slices thick-cut side bacon (I used President's Choice thick-cut, peppered side bacon)
2 English muffins, split
4 nice, thick slices of firm, ripe, fresh tomato
4 eggs
First make the hollandaise by putting the 3 yolks, lime juice, Sriracha, salt and pepper into a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until the mixture starts to get a little frothy, then slowly, drizzle in the melted butter while continuing to whisk. Continue to do this until the butter is used up and the hollandaise has become thickened and velvety soft. Remove from heat. Set aside.
Meanwhile cut each bacon slice in half and fry in non-stick skillet. Drain on paper towel.
While bacon is frying toast English muffins and bring a medium pot or skillet, with about 2-3 inches of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar, a pinch of salt and reduce heat so water is just lightly boiling. Working quickly, break each egg onto a separate saucer or custard cup and lower gently into the simmering water. Cook eggs for 3-5 minutes, to desired doneness, remove with slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towels.
Now pile, while everything is still warm…….English muffin half, tomato slice, 2 half slices bacon, poached egg, dollop of hollandaise. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Ta da! Eat!
by TheLastWonton | Mar 8, 2011 | Beef, Pork & Lamb, Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dishes, One-Pan & One-Pot, Pasta & Noodles, Sides
With a song in my heart I handcrafted an already scrumptious Marcella Hazan recipe into a luscious, creamy pasta concoction scattered with buried treasures disguised as tiny meatballs. Once again, Grazie Marcella!
To Marcella Hazan…….I can't even begin to count the ways that your recipes, techniques, culinary prowess and passion to bring us 'real Italian' have made my life more delicious. (I secretly pretend all the time that you are my very own Italian auntie.) With what follows, Marcella, I am truly apologetic. No recipe of yours needs betterment. But….. I AM CANADIAN. I love Cheddar cheese. For that, I make no apologies. Us Canadians, we're damn good at cheddar. Fantastic in fact. So when I saw your mouth-watering 'Baked Rigatoni with Tiny Meatballs', in the blink of an eye, my Canadian-ness went all happy and wham! bam!….I cheddared that recipe. ♪ ♫ ♫ Hallelejah! Hallelujah!! ♪ ♫ ♫
Just because I had it on hand, instead of rigatoni, I used loopy, fun, made-in-Italy, hollow-kind of fusili that boasts twists that are so strategically planned so as to hoarde happy little pockets of any sauce that they meet. And then there's the genius of perfectly seasoned, dreamily tender, Parmesan laced "raspberry-sized" meatballs. Oh Marcella!!! That's enough to make grown men whimper.
On top of all that, this lip-smacking version of macaroni and cheese turned out to be fun (I was singing old Dean Martin songs the whole time) to make. Bonus! And, I put it all together ahead of time and threw it in the oven to bake when my company arrived. Make-aheads make me very happy. Making Baked Fusili with Tiny Meatballs made me smile out loud. You know those recipes you make that just feel good? Well this is one of those. Mangia!
Heaps of heartfelt thanks out to Deb too of Smitten Kitchen who further inspired me to try my hand at this dish. Deb's blog is the 'one' that started it all for me……..my stars were aligned the day I stumbled on Smitten Kitchen and it remains my 'blog touchstone' to this very day.
BAKED FUSILI WITH TINY MEATBALLS
Serves 4-6 as a main and 8-10 as a side dish. (probably)
For the meatballs:
1/4 cup milk
1 slice good white bread trimmed of its crust
1/2 pound ground pork and 1/2 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
1/3 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano (Parmesan)
1 egg
Sea or Kosher salt
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup flour, spread on a plate
Vegetable oil for frying
For the bèchamel:
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
5 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound Old Cheddar cheese, grated or diced
To finish:
1 pound good Italian fusili or rigatoni
1 1/2 cups freshly grated black-skinned Asiago or parmigiano-reggiano (I used Asiago, oh my, my, my)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup milk or cream
Make the meatballs: Heat the milk, but don’t let it simmer. Tear pieces of the white bread into it and let it soak for 5 minutes, before picking it up with your hand, squeezing it of excess milk and putting it in a large mixing bowl.
Add the pork, beef, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Combine all the ingredients with a fork until they are evenly mixed (or “amalgamated”, as Hazan so charmingly says).
Pinch off a small lump of meat, about the size of a raspberry and roll the lump into a ball in the palm of your hands. When all the meatballs have been shaped (a process that took less time than I had expected, just the same), roll them in the flour, 15 to 20 at a time. Place the lightly floured meatballs in a strainer and shake it smartly to dispose of excess flour.
Put enough vegetable oil in a skillet to rise about 1/4-inch up the sides of the pan and turn on the heat to medium high. When the oil is hot, put as many meatballs in the skillet as will fit without overcrowding. Brown them until they form a nice crust all around. When one batch is done, transfer it with a slotted spoon to a platter covered with paper towels to drain and do the next batch until all are done.
Make the béchamel: In a large-ish saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, add the flour and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or flat whisk until combined. Gradually add the milk, a little at a time, whisking steadily and heartily to keep it smooth. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg and Worcestershire sauce and stir the sauce until it thickens. Add the Cheddar and stir until melted and incorporated into the smooth sauce.
Assemble the dish: Cook the fusili in a pot of well salted water. Drain when still just short of al dente, and combine immediately in bowl with two-thirds of the bèchamel and all the meatballs.
Preheat the oven to 400F. Heavily butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or 3.5 to 4 quart oval baking dish. Spread the fusili and meatball mixture in the pan, leveling it off with a spatula. Pour the milk or cream over the dish, then spread the rest of béchamel on top and sprinkle with the grated Asiago or Parmesan.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until a golden brown crust forms on top.
**If preparing ahead, make the meatballs, set aside. Make the cheesy bechamel, set aside to come to room temperature. Once sauce is cooled, cook fusili and rinse with cold water. Assemble, cover and bake when ready for 30-45 minutes until bubbly and has a gorgeous golden brown top crust.**
by TheLastWonton | Mar 8, 2011 | Beef, Pork & Lamb, Breads & Sandwiches, Italian, Main Dishes, Sauces, Dips & Condiments
Ever so slowly roasted, melt-in-your-mouth-tender beef dripping with deep, flavour-rich roasting juices, tucked into a soft, toasty roll with mildly kicky pepperoncini peppers and oozing broil-blasted, gorgeously-runny, buttery Havarti. Italian Drip Beef Sandwich ~ a thing of beauty.
I had you at 'Italian' didn't I?
Curious about Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches? So was I. Intrigued, in fact. Within a Chicago New York minute of finding Italian Drip Beef on the always engaging and renowned Pioneer Woman food blog I felt like I'd been missing out. Big time. And now I know for sure that once you have experienced Italian Drip Beef first hand, there's no turning back. I vehemently declare, "Italian Drip Beef, where have you been all my life?"
Origins are a bit sketchy, but those in the know tell us that Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches date back to the South Side of Chicago in the early 1900's. Savvy Italian immigrants, with near empty pockets and that innate passion for food, turned affordable, tough cuts of beef into this crowd-pleasing, hearty classic.
By the late, Depression-clad 1920's, Pasquale Scala, a 'Sout' Side butcher elevated Drip Beef 'Sangwitches' to whole new levels of popularity, and in The Chicago Tribune in 1954 a local restaurant touted, "Pizza, Spaghetti, Ravioli and Italian Beef Sandwiches".
Today, from the city to the suburbs, you can munch out on Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches all over Chicago. But, alas, beyond the windy city, finding these messy, lip-smacking sandwiches, well you might as well "fuhgeddaboudit."
ITALIAN DRIP BEEF SANDWICHES
Great for a family dinner or a crowd.
A perfect recipe to make one-day ahead and reheat stove-top.
1 beef chuck or boneless blade roast, 3-5 pounds
2 cups beef broth
2 heaping tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 Vidalila, Walla-Walla, Maui or other sweet onion, peeled and quartered
6 plump garlic cloves, squished just a little to let out the goodness
2 good pinches dried red chile flakes
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
20-25 pepperoncini peppers and at least 1/2 jar (16 ounces) of the juice
Bakery fresh Italian buns or deli rolls
Havarti, Mozzarella, Provolone, Monterey Jack or your favorite cheese
Combine all ingredients, except rolls and cheese, in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Stir lightly to combine seasoning with the liquid.
Cover and bake in a 275F degree oven for 5 to 6 hours (I baked my 5lb. boneless blade roast 6 hours), or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart. Don't even worry about checking it, just let the magic happen. **If meat is not yet tender, return to oven for 30 minute intervals till it’s tender!**
Remove from oven. Remove onion and garlic from roasting juices and discard. With two forks, completely shred all meat, leaving no large chunks behind. Serve immediately, or keep warm over a very low simmer on the stove, or in a 175F oven.
**May make the day before, then store in the refrigerator. In fact, I think that perhaps when all these simple, delicious flavours get to party in the fridge overnight the meat is even happier than doing it all in the same day. And we all love happy meat. Chilling also gives us the golden opportunity to remove the hardened fat from the top before reheating.**
Cut the rolls in half, butter and grill 'til toasty golden, in a non-stick skillet. Like Ree, the Pioneer Woman, earlier in the day I grilled my rolls and kept them covered with a kitchen towel until ready to roll (hahaha). When ready to serve, just heap some meat on the bottom half of the roll letting some of those deep, delicious roasting juices seep into the roll. Top with a couple of the pepperoncinis, some cheese slices and melt under the broiler, if desired. Serve with little bowls of the juice and ………badabing badaboom!
by TheLastWonton | Mar 3, 2011 | Baking & Desserts, Treats
Creamy, buttery, brown sugary, old-fashioned, stove-top, tastes-like-home pudding with a warm whisper of whiskey in every smooth mouthful.
I'm not sure if it's me or my soul that eats butterscotch pudding. Every luscious mouthful cures everything that ails me, in the moment. And sweeps me back, in an instant….way, way back, to 192 Hendon Drive in Calgary.
It was the 1960's, I had sidewalk scrapes on both knees from roller skating just about everywhere I went with those old steel-wheeled, key tightened, running-shoe-holding skates under me. I boasted a most enviable collection of Nancy Drew books and Archie comics. My little mauve, portable record player knew Itchycoo Park, Indian Lake, Sugar Town, Last Kiss and oodles of other 45's by heart. Mom was in the kitchen cooking up a storm, and on the right day, standing by the stove, apron-clad, lovingly stirring butterscotch pudding, just for me. Life was good. So was the pudding.
Butterscotch pudding is home sweet home. Always has been, always will be. And have I got a treat for me you. If he had only known how much I love this particular butterscotch pudding, cool-dude, renown pastry chef and one of my favorite foodie guys, David Lebovitz, would have surely dedicated this recipe to little ol' me. David has masterfully captured the very essence and nuance of every flavour and texture that ensures butterscotch pudding's timeless comfort. Or more succinctly, 'Damn! this is good pudding.
Thanks plenty David! I remain your most humble student.
OLD-FASHIONED BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING
4-6 servings
4 tablespoons (60g) butter, salted or unsalted
1 cup (180g) packed dark brown or cassonade sugar
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2½ (625ml) cups whole milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons whiskey (I use 2-3 tablespoons of scotch and skip the vanilla. And once I used Navan Vanilla Cognac…mmm)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the dark brown sugar and salt, then stir until the sugar is well-moistened. Remove from heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with about 1/4 cup (60ml) of the milk until smooth (there should be no visible pills of cornstarch), then whisk in the eggs.
3. Gradually pour the remaining milk into the melted brown sugar, whisking constantly, then whisk in the cornstarch mixture as well.
4. Return the pan to the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently. Once it begins to bubble, reduce the heat to a low simmer and continue to cook for one minute, whisking non-stop, until the pudding thickens to the consistency of hot fudge sauce.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the whiskey and vanilla. If slightly-curdled looking, blend with immersion blender or whisk, whisk, whisk like a crazy person. (I've never experienced 'curdle' with this recipe, but I guess some have)
6. Pour into 4-6 serving glasses or custard cups and chill thoroughly, at least four hours, before serving.
by TheLastWonton | Feb 28, 2011 | Breads & Sandwiches, Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dishes
Sweetly tender little circles of pan-cooked joy crowned with tangy dribbles of fresh squeezed lemon, lime or orange and helter skelter sprinkles of crunchy sugar.
I think I'm in love! (pitter, patter)
Don't even think twice. Just make these. Don't worry about spending the extra 3 or 4 minutes to whip up the egg whites. Whoopie do, so you have to use two bowls. Just do it.
Pull out a whisk or two and the 'main' bowl for the yolks and sugar. Plip plop the egg whites into a medium stainless bowl. Leave the 1 cup flour in the measuring cup. Have the milk in a 2-cup measure. Now, take a whisk in hand and get ready to make magic.
These babies are easy to make and even easier to eat. Perfectly light, little golden brown circles that are like a cross between a crepe and a pancake, only better than both. Softly sweet, delicately tender and simply delicious. We tried them hot from the pan with a good smear of butter then squeezes of lemon on some, lime on some and orange on some, all topped off with a happy sprinkling of sugar. We could barely wait to taste them. And when we did, we all threw our heads back and made soft noises of pleasure with those first telling mouthfuls.
After the first citrus-sugar crusted feed of pancakes Palmer and Tay wanted to try a few more with the old family stand-by, thick, shimmering-sweet golden syrup. (Golden syrup has got to be the BEST thing sugar can ever become!) I think it was about that point in time when it was unanimously decided that these Swedish Pancakes would be heavenly no matter what you topped them with.
Someone mentioned fresh pineapple at about the same time I was thinking raspberries, Cliff said the only way to go is to let knifefuls of creamy peanut butter melt over the hot-from-the-skillet panners, and of course some classic lingonberry jam would definitely love these breakfast lunch, dinner treats.
Dammit!! I guess I better make another batch soon, so we can try with all our might to see what really goes best with Swedish Pancakes. If you try your hand at these, be sure to let me know what your favorite topping turns out to be.
(I found the recipe for these scrumptious Swedish pancakes on the way fun to browse food blog –
www.LaFujiMama.com – Be sure to check it out. Tack så mycket Rachael!!)
SWEDISH PANNERS
with Lemon, Lime and Orange Sugar and Golden Syrup
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
Good pinch of Kosher or sea salt
3 egg whites
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
Bit of oil for pan
Lemon, lime, orange, extra sugar, butter, syrup, jam, berries (you pick!)
Plop egg yolks in medium bowl with sugar and salt, whisk until well combined and thickened slightly. Set aside for a momento. Put egg whites into medium stainless bowl and whisk like crazy until softly-stiff peaks form. Now back to the yolks, alternately whisk milk and flour into the yolks until blended. Gently fold beaten whites into yolk mixture. Brush vegetable oil on bottom of non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat. Using about 1/4 cup measure, pour batter into little disks of delight in hot skillet. Turn pancakes when they are slightly puffy and golden brown on the bottom. You may have to reduce heat so your panners don't brown too quickly. Serve with butter and your favorite toppings. Makes 4 servings.
