Got the Monday Blues? Cheer Up…I’m Making Brussel Sprouts!

Why am I showing this classic fall/winter vegetable (that everyone hates, btw) in spring? Good question…It’s yet another clip that I just converted from the old blog and want archived here for your viewing pleasure. Besides, since it is Monday I thought I could slip this one in early before the “real” clip appears later. I’ll be posting a brand new spring Asparagus recipe that’s so simple and delicious it will make you forget all about Brussel Sprouts, and what you did, or did not do, this weekend.

All kidding aside, these are really delicious Brussel Sprouts…believe it or not. As you'll see, the secret is the super fast cooking time and the slicing method. Seriously, this could be your new favorite veggie. Like most people I hated Brussel Sprouts, until I had them prepared in the style you are about to watch in the video. This preparation is so different than any other recipe I’ve seen for these tiny green cabbages, that I really hope you’ll give it a try – when and if you get some Brussel Sprouts. Anyway, enjoy, and stay tuned for another “fresh” clip later.

Ingredients:
12 Brussel Sprouts, sliced very thin
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1/2 lemon,juiced
salt and pepper to taste

All Killer, No Filler…A Few Fun Foodie Clips to Hold You until Monday

It’s the weekend, and as you know by now I don’t post any original material on my “days off.” And by “day off” I mean 14 hours of answering emails, and comments, and questions like, “do you have a tasty Vegan recipe for Philly Cheese Steak??” But I do like to post some type of fun, food-related stuff I’ve found during the week. Here are two clips I think you’ll enjoy.

The first is a rather creative food themed “beat box” mix that I thought was well done. Now, even if you don’t like Hip Hop, who doesn’t enjoy seeing an Englishman in a really bad wig? What exactly is it with all the cross-dressing over there? The second clip is another interest of mine, magic tricks, especially ones using food. This is quite the trick and if you know how it was done PLEASE tell me!! By the way, the first clip is dedicated to my cousin Tony Q, and my sister-in-law Jennifer M, and the second clip is dedicated my nephew Alex M. They'll know why. Enjoy!

The Beat Box Chef


Magic Produce

Croque Monsieur… King of the open-face sandwich!

Easier to make than pronounce (croak-mon-sir), this is world’s most famous open-face sandwich. According to my French sandwich sources (Wikipedia) the name is based on the verb croquer, "to bite hungrily," and the word monsieur which means "mister." So, I guess this basically translates to “bite hungrily Mister!” And if you make this delicious open-faced delight you’ll know why. By the way, I’m sure it’s the same if you’re a Madame or Mademoiselle.

There are many versions, but mine is slices of the round, crusty French bread (pain au levain) topped with our cheesy,home-made thyme béchamel (left-over from our cheese soufflé recipe video), covered with ham, tomato and cheese, and then baked golden brown. How do you say “to die for” in French? I stole this version from a French bakery here in San Francisco called Tartine, which has lines of people out the door waiting for these beauties to come out of the oven. Bon Appetite!!

Ingredients:
4 thick slices of bread
1/2 cup of cheesy Bechamel
8 slices tomato
salt and pepper to taste
thinnly sliced smoked ham
grated cheese of your choice
olive oil

The Slanted Door’s Caramel Chicken

A loyal viewer of this blog informed me that this recipe still had not been converted from my old blog. This was one of the first clips I ever filmed and posted on YouTube, and probably the recipe I’ve received the most email regarding. People LOVE this dish, and while you may have to go out and hunt down some Asian Fish Sauce, it will be well worth the trouble. By the way, there is also a Basmati Rice demo posted in case you need a little help in that department.

The Slanted Door is a very popular Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. It’s always packed with locals, tourists and visiting celebrities. One of the most popular dishes there is called “Caramel Chicken.” This stunning dish is an amazing combination of sweet, spicy, and salty flavors all sticking to succulent pieces of chicken. My version adds peanuts for a little crunch, and I’ve simplified the technique so you can easily make this at home, right on the stove top. Their version is cooked in a clay pot, which most of us don’t have lying around.

By the way, it’s been reported that this is Mick Jagger’s favorite dish when visiting San Francisco. Mick once asked, “Brown sugar, how come you taste soooo good?” So it’s fitting that’s what we’ll use to caramelize the chicken as you’ll see in the video. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2.5 pounds chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, about 8-10 thighs)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbl grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 jalapeno peppers
1 bunch green onions
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
fresh cilantro to garnish

How to Make Perfect White Rice

Well, since you are going to be making that Caramel Chicken I recently posted, I thought I better post this rice clip also. Truly, one of life’s simple pleasures, it’s amazing how many requests I’ve received for a rice lesson. People are terrified of cooking rice for some reason, and claim that it never comes out right. They say it’s either a big gluey mess, or crunchy and under-cooked! Well, this method should fix all those problems.

Please try and find “Basmati” rice, which shouldn’t be too hard. Most large chain grocery stores do carry it now, and it’s a really flavorful product. By the way, this method should work with any long grain white rice. And save your, “you should buy a rice cooker” emails! Most people aren’t going to buy one, and it’s really not hard to make great rice using this method.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice (or any long grain white rice)

3 cups cold water

1 tsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

Cheese Soufflé – Rising to the Occasion

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Soufflés are easy. Yes, I said it…easy. Especially the cheese soufflé I demo in this video recipe clip. The soufflé is one of those recipes that Chefs like to think only they can do properly. The cliché of the housewife crying over the fallen soufflé has become part of our collective culinary consciousness. Granted, you do have to follow a couple steps properly (which you are about to see in the video), but anyone can do this soufflé; even the novice cook.

The base to this cheese soufflé is our classic Béchamel sauce that has been posted previously. PLEASE note: in this demo I start with a 2 cup batch of Béchamel to which I add my 4oz. of grated cheese. BUT, I only use 1 cup of the cheese-infused Béchamel for this recipe. I saved the rest for a batch of Croque Monsieur that I promise to show you soon (just in case you’ve never heard of a Croque Monsieur, it’s only the greatest open-faced sandwich ever!). Another recipe tip; make sure your eggs are cold. The cold yolks will help cool down the warm cheesy Béchamel, and cold egg whites will whip up much easier. Also, the cooking time given is just a guide. I was using 5 oz ramekins, which gave me 6 soufflés. If you use a different size, you’ll just have to keep an eye on them…and YES, it’s OK to peek in the oven, the soufflé is NOT going to fall from a quick peak. Visually, when they look fully puffed up, they are done. In fact, true soufflé connoisseurs don’t mind it if the center of the soufflé is still a bit runny.

As far as cheese choices, I went with a classic Cave-aged Gruyere (Swiss) cheese and some parmesan. Almost any cheese will work as long as it’s similar in texture to what I used. If you decide to use a softer cheese like Goat cheese, or Brie, then this recipe would have to be adjusted. Try These!! Enjoy.


For the Cheesy Bechamel Sauce Base:
2 cups hot prepared Bechamel sauce (see clip!)
4 oz grated Gruyere Cheese
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

NOTE: WE ARE ONLY USING A CUP OF THIS MIXTURE FOR OUR DEMO BELOW! Save the rest. You’ll be glad you did when you see our Croque Monsieur recipe.

To make the Soufflés:
1 cup of the Cheesy Bechamel Sauce Base described above
4 cold egg yolks
4 cold egg whites
butter to grease ramekins
Parmesan to dust ramekins and top of soufflés
Yeilds: Six Soufflés (5-oz ramekins)

Last note: Since my original Béchamel sauce was perfectly seasoned, I didn’t include any salt or pepper to this soufflé recipe. Of course, adjust to you own tastes.

Old Dutch International 4.5-qt. De La Cuisine Beating Bowl, Copper

12 Second Coleslaw… in 42 seconds!

OK, I’ll admit it, this doesn’t look like a very exciting recipe, but that’s the point. Sure, the photo is boring. I didn’t even bother to Photoshop in some colorful veggies! When most people think of coleslaw they think of that bowl of soggy shredded cabbage sitting at the end of the picnic table. This is a completely different approach. This is fresh shredded cabbage prepared as a fast (12 seconds to add the ingredients, and 30 seconds to mix), crisp, low-cal, low-carb, slightly spicy, and delicious side dish that you should be eating as part of your regular veggie side-dish rotation. Do yourself a favor and find a grocery store in your town that carries the “angel hair” finely shredded cabbage, ready-to-mix in the bag. My 12 second coleslaw in 42 seconds claim only counts if you use the pre-shredded bag. By the way, I have no problem taking an extra 5 minutes and shredding my own cabbage, but I rarely can use a whole head and so I don’t like to buy those giant heads unless I’m making this for a large group.

There are 2 keys to this super-slaw; the very small amount of highly-seasoned dressing (it really doesn’t look like enough but you’ll see that it is), and the fact that I don’t toss the cabbage and the dressing together until I’m ready to eat. As soon as any dressing hits shredded cabbage, water starts to be pulled out of the leaves, which causes most traditionally made coleslaws to go limp and soggy. By mixing just before you eat, you will experience the true essence of fresh coleslaw; sweet, crunchy and refreshing. I served this under a spicy Jerked Chicken (aka Jerky Chicken), and it was perfect!

Ingredients:
10 oz. bag of Angel Hair Shredded Cabbage
2 tbl Seasoned Rice Vinegar
2 tbl Thousand Island Dressing
1 tsp hot sauce of your choice
pinch of salt
*I didn’t because I only had 12 seconds, but you can certainly add ANY finely shredded raw vegetables to this coleslaw and yours won’t look as boring as mine.