ManCave Test Kitchen

This is my favorite time of year.  The time of year when summer and fall start to mesh and you get great mussels from up North and you still have fantastic summer produce.  This recipe comes straight from a little old Filipino lady that worked in one of my kitchens in Atlanta.  It was part of our “family meal”  every week, and eventually became part of a bar menu every late summer when the papayas were at their best.  I know deep down she wanted to use the unripe green papayas she had back home, but mature papayas are good enough for us.  This will hook up a pound of mussels:

• 1 lb mussels, cleaned and washed
• 2/3 c. coconut milk
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sweet rice vinegar or fruit vinegar (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. papaya medium dice
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp chopped lemongrass
• 1/2 c. rough chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. rough chopped basil
• 1/4 c. rough chopped mint

1. First up, we need to make our coconut base.  Take 1/3 of the papaya, and puree it into the coconut milk.  Set this off the the side for the time being.
2. Start up your sesame oil on a medium high flame.  Add you garlic, ginger, and lemongrass and sweat it out for just a little over a minute.
3. Add half of your herbs and sweat for another minute.
4. Add the vinegar and fish sauce.  Let that go for just a minute, then add your mussels.
5. Add your coconut milk mixture and cover the pot.  Let these steam for about 8-10 minutes.  Give them a good stir, then add the rest of the herbs and papaya.

Sweet and briney, just how I like ’em.  Mussels are incredibly versatile and lend themselves so well to the flavors in this recipe.  I’ll be putting up some more mussels recipe as the fall goes on.  You got requests?  Lemme know in the comments.

Happy Eating,

-The Doctor

Raise your hand if you’re into peaches!!!!  Raise the roof if you’re into PIG!!!!!!!  Crap, my roof just exploded…..

Here’s one from Atlanta.  The “country rib” is a cut from the very top of the loin.  It’s tough, but full of flavor and  perfect for braising. Georgia is, of course, famous for peaches, so when I was asked to come up with a knock out dish for a restaurant out there, well this is what happened.  This recipe can feed four.

4 x pork country ribs or short ribs (they’re usually cut 5-6 oz each)
1/2 c sliced shallots
3 clove garlic, sliced
2 whole white peaches, cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges
2 oz Bourbon
2 tbsp grain or creole mustard
1/4 c ketchup
2 tbsp. Brown sugar
1/2 c chicken stock

1. Start by getting a pan hot with about 2 tbsp of olive oil and preheat your oven to 350.  When the pan starts to smoke, sear your meat.  It should look like this when you turn it:

   

2. When the meat is nice and brown on all sides, take it out of the pan and add your peaches.  Let these sit for jut a minute, then toss them around.  Let them it just another minute, then add your brown sugar, garlic, and shallot.  Sweat these out for 5 minutes, stirring every 30 second or so.
3. For safety’ sake, turn off the flame, then add your bourbon.  Turn the flame back on and let this reduce for two minutes.  When you don’t smell anymore alcohol,  add your mustard, ketchup, and chicken stock.  At this point, I like to pull out 3 or 4 pieces of peach jut to have a nice colorful garnish at the end.
4. Now, transfer everything to a roasting pan and cover with foil.  Pop it in the over for 2 hours.  Yup.  Slow cookin’.
5. When your 2 hours is up, and the meat is falling off the bone,  Take jut the meat out of your braising liquid.  Now you’re going to take 3/4 of your braising liquid and puree it.  Add the rest of the liquid and pour if over the ribs on a platter or any other serving vessel.

So now what do you serve this with?  I say….’Tater Salad.  Not Ron White, just ‘Tater Salad, with lot of mayo, and crunchy vegetables.  You can do grilled corn, collared greens, or black-eyed peas too.  As for what you can do to play with the pork?  Well, keep it seasonal, when fall come around, replace the peaches with pomegranates.  Heck plums go nicely as well if your looking for something new.  Apple will do you wonders too.  Go ahead, play with it.

Happy Eating,

-The Doctor

Chances are, if you’ve been to culinary school, you know this one.  It’s very simple, some sauteed onions and peppers, some olives, a little wine and tomato, really nothing super fancy.  But i have YET to have it made for me properly, the way it’s actually made in Veracruz, Mexico.  While I can’t do it over an open flame in side the lab (well I can but my assistants would get scared an quit, I mean really it’s just a flamethrower….), I can get you close to it.  the key to this dish is really remembering to under season (yes I said under season) it and get GOOD green olives,  not the garbage you get packed in salty chemicals, but the really good Spanish olives with herbs packed in oil. You can’t slack on this dish.  This makes about four portions.

• 1 c. vidalia onion, julienne (you know strips)
• 1/2 cup each, julienne read and green pepper
• 2 cloves garlic sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 16 green olives, packed in oil (quartered)
• 1 whole tomato, diced
• 1/2 c. white wine
• 1/2 c. tomato juice
• 4 each 6 oz snapper filets (or whatever size you want) take the skin off
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp chopped oregano (or marjoram, whichever)

1. Set a saute pan on medium heat.  Add about 1 tbsp of olive oil, and about 1 tbsp of the oi from the green olives.  Let it come to a slight smoke.
2. Add your vegetables, all at once.  Toss or stir them right away.  You just want a quick sweat.
3. Add you tomato paste and toss again.
4. Now add the wine and your herbs and let this reduce by half.
5. Lower the heat to low and add your fish and cover.
6. Simmer the fish until it’s done, this can be anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on how thick the cuts are.  The rule of thumb is 10 minutes per inch.

   

I like to server this over quinoa or some other funky grain, but the traditional accompaniment for this dish is rice.  Black beans and pinto beans go well with this too.  You can also use pretty much and firm white fish you like.  Using something like sole is a little too delicate for this, but sub in anything you like.  I like to add a coupe of jalapenos or Serrano chiles  to this too for some heat.  Play with it a such as you like, just be careful not to season it too much.  there’s going to be a lot of salt coming out of those good olives.  Don’t forget to leave a comment.

Happy Eating,

-The Doctor.

“Doc, are you on a leek and corn kick?”  Yes…yes I am.  Why?  Well, guess what I got from my co-op this week…leeks and corn (well ramps, but we’ll use leeks today).  This dish is based on the traditional French technique “En Pappillote” or “in paper”.  The protein, vegetables and starch are all cooked together in parchment paper, leaving the food perfectly moist and the flavors beautifully melded.  Now not everyone has parchment paper lying around in the kitchen (although you should), so I decided to make this a little more home kitchen friendly.  This makes enough for two.

1 1/2 lbs leeks

¼ lb sliced mushrooms

¼ c frozen corn kernels                                                  .

1/2 cup white wine

¼ c. heavy cream

1 tbsp. Herbs de Provence  (dry..GASP..yes dry, they have their place)

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 4 oz. fish filets (I used salmon, you can use whatever you want)

1. You know the drill, turn that oven to 400 degrees.  While it’s heating up, lets do some knife work.
2. Trim about 1/2 –inch from the root ends of the leeks, then trim off and discard all of the tough green leaves.
3. Cut the rest in half lengthwise and chop; then wash well in a colander, being sure to rinse between all of the layers, just like so.
4. Mix the vegetables thoroughly with the wine cream mustard salt pepper and Herbs de Provence.
5. Top the vegetables with the fish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Top each piece of fish with a bit of the butter. Cover the pan and pop that bad boy in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the fish is a nice medium (or well done if you like saw dust).  A thin-bladed knife should meet little or no resistance when inserted into the thickest part of the fish.
6. Now, uncover and serve with the leeks and pan juices spooned over the fish.  You can serve this right in the cooking vessel, or make it all fancy and go into bowls.  Whatever you want

 Like I said earlier, you can do this with any fish you like.  Fish that are higher in fat work best though.  I would recommend trout, cod, and seabass.  Just remember to adjust the cooking time based on the size of the fish.

Happy Eating

-The Doctor

1.  This is pretty easy.  All you have to do is find a good blender or a small food processor and puree everything at once until it’s smooth.

Lamb and Easter go perfect together  but who wants that plain old leg all the time? There’s plenty of other lamb cuts that are way underutilized AND that you can find for a great price at your local butcher.  My favorite of these cuts is the shoulder chop.  On most animals, the should is very tough, but not lamb.  It’s tender flavorful meat that is great for grilling and broiling.  This is a variation on a recipe I used to use during one of my stints at a high class hotel in Philadelphia.  This roast lamb shoulder this recipe is based on was on every Easter buffet menu, and it was always the first item to go.  This recipe serves 4.

4 lamb shoulder chops

2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only

Juice and zest  of 1 lemon
1/2 c. plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp honey
Water as needed

WHAT!!!!!?????!?!?!?  Nothing else??  Nope.  Simple as can be.  I like to do the marinating a day before so the lamb gets even more tender than it already is3 cloves garlic, peeled

1.  Simply enough, take your lamb, honey, lemon juice, rosemary, and yogurt and stick it all in the blender.  Pulse until everything is smooth.  Some Greek yogurts can be pretty thick, so if you need to add a couple tablespoons of water to thin it out, go ahead.

2.  Drop you marinade into a ziplock bag and then add the meat.  Let this marinate for 8-24 hours.

3.  When your ready to cook, just turn on your broiler or grill and cook to medium rare (135 internal)

Even though this marinade is being used for lamb, it’s great for anything.  I used it on chicken, fish, pork, and in burgers well.  I like to serve these chops with some nice fresh arugula dressed with just touch of Olive Oil and black pepper.  If you want some starch, a nice soft polenta is a perfect match.  (Oh wait, I guess you guys will want that recipe too)  Don’t forget to subscribe, and leave comments below.  Yes, a basic polenta recipe is coming soon

Happy Eating,

The Doctor