Perfect Espresso!

Bought my first espresso machine. Superbly crafted, insurmountable performance, and technologically challenging even for a astrophysicist. That’s right, read the manual first. Drink espresso second. By the third espresso you too will be a pro. Nothing beats a fresh, homemade espresso or latte. No Starbucks! No Peets! And no, Tim Hooters or whatever that Canadian company’s name is. Tim Horton, that’s it! None of those beats a fresh brew. The best advice I can give you is spend extra time on finding the machine with the best pump. I chose the 15-bar pump Breville. It’s consistent and looks good in my kitchen. I use an illy, dark roasted, fine grind espresso coffee and 2% milk for my steamed milk and froth. Below are some pictures of my brew.

The Best Gumbo Recipe

If you have had inconsistent results with cooking gumbo or have not experienced authentic tasting gumbo then this recipe is for you. I found this recipe in my monthly subscription to Cook’s Illustrated. The article was written by Adam Ried who has taught cooking and food writing, written for local, national and international publications, and consulted for restaurants, kitchen equipment testing, and other food-related businesses. With a few Abitas, fluffy white rice, and fresh crunchy french bread from Balthazar you will think you are in the backyard of bayou farmhouse.

1 1/2 Pounds small shrimp, shelled, deveined, shelled reserved
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
3 1/2 cups of ice water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium onions (chopped fine)
1 medium red bell pepper (chopped fine)
1 medium celery rib (chopped fine)
6 medium garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 bay leaves
3/4 pound bulk sausage (adam likes smoked sausage like andouille or kielbasa)
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
4 medium scallions, white and green parts sliced thin
Ground black pepper

1. Bring reserved shrimp shells and 4 1/2 cups water to boil in stockpot or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low: simmer 20 minutes. Strain stock and add clam juice and ice water (you should have about 2 quarts of tepid stock, 100 to 110 degrees); discard shells. Set stock mixture aside.

2. Heat oil in Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until it registers 200 degrees; about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. I used a large Caphalon pot and it worked fine. Just do not use a non-stick pot or pan, you need the roux to brown! Reduce heat to medium and stir flour gradually with a wooden spoon or spatula, working out any small lumps. Continue stirring constantly. This is very important, keep you Abita near by because if you put your spoon down, the roux will burn. Keep it hot enough for little bubble to form in the roux will you stir. The roux will slowly start to change colors (from white, to yellow, brown, and then finally to dark brown). You will notice that the aroma is toasty and the color is reddish brown, about the color of a old copper penny, it takes about 20 minutes to get to this color. If it begins to smoke, remove from heat and stir constantly to cool slightly.

3. Add onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic, thyme, salt, and cayenne; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften, 8-10 minutes. Add 1 quart of reserved stock mixture in slow, steady stream, stirring vigorously. Stir in remaining quart mixture. Increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, skim off foam on surface, add bay leaves, and simmer uncovered, skimming foam as it rises to the surface, about 30 minutes.

4. Stir in sausage. I use bulk ground sausage that I get at a local pork center near Wallace N.C. I live in New York and will go to many lengths to get my sausage from North Carolina to New York City. Ask anyone who has had this sausage “is it worth it” and see what they say. Stir for about 30 minutes longer. Stir in shrimp; simmer for about 5 minutes or until shrimp turns color or cooked through. Discard bay leaves. Off heat, stir in parsley and scallions; adjust seasonings to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne; and serve.

Tangy Mango Chicken Wings

1 pound cut chicken wings
1 peeled, diced Mango
1 jar Whole Foods Citrus BBQ Sauce
several sprigs of chopped parsley

Brine the chicken wings for 1 hour. Mix mango and BBQ sauce and let marinate for 30-minutes. Marinate chicken wings in sauce at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. Baked wings at 400 degrees for 40-minutes.

Clay Pot Chicken

If you like roasted chicken, don’t miss out on this scrumptous and easy cooking-with-know-skills recipe. Soak your clay pot while you go out and pick up the ingredients. Pick up a chicken. nevermind the free-range or organic chicken. Just pick up a cheap $8.00 Purdue chicken, two potatoes, a couple of lemons, and a bottle of “big” cabernet. Rinse the chicken, pat dry, rub with butter, sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice, and dried thyme. Place the chicken in a clay pot, place in a cool oven at 400 degrees and roast for one hour. Serve with mashed potatoes and green bean cassarole. you will not be disappointed. Don’t forget the fire place!

Rainbow Grill

Last night was my companie’s Holiday Party. We considered a few other restuarants but decided on The Rainbow Grill on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City. The view was very nice and the food was excellant. They were out of the Veal Shank, my first choice, but the Veal Chop was a nice subsititute.

Today, The Spotted Pig. So join me tomorrow for my review.

Woody

Me and my guitar at Kure Beach, NC.

Next to cooking good food, I like to play guitar!.

Playing guitar and food go hand in hand. Where am I going with this you might ask. Well it’s like this; it takes a lot of practice to play guitar. You have to constantly work at it and over time you start to notice things coming together. The D chord becomes as easy to hit on the fifth fret as the open chord. Same with cooking, over time, with practice, you can roll-out ravioli easier than you could run down to the supermarket and buy them.

Cooking with a clay pot

First, get a clay pot!