braised pears in a caramel apple cream sauce

I saw this made a week or so ago and have been struggling to find the time to try it on my own. The wife and kids ate the pears I was going to use earlier in the week so I had to get more and hope that they wouldn't touch them. I travel for work so I was taking a risk by leaving the pears unattended all week. I know, I live life one the edge. 

When I come home from being on the road sometimes the best I can hope to do on the weekends is maintain. I don't think I sat down for more than a half hour today and I feel like I didn't really get anything done. Clean, watch the kids, run an errand, clean some more, watch the kids, made my daughter this "special dessert", which she wouldn't try and put the kids to bed. For all of you know it alls that like to give advice on how to get picky kids to eat please reread that last run on sentence. I made caramel and couldn't get my 3 year old to try it. Now that I finally have 15 minutes to myself I just realized all I had to eat was a bologna sandwich and one of these pears. I hate that. I was fine a minute ago and now that I know I forgot to eat I'm probably going to die of starvation if I don't eat in the next few minutes.

In typical guy fashion I didn't leave well enough alone. The original recipe is from a world class chef that doesn't need any of my help, but I thought I would mess with it a little. Playing in the kitchen makes for a wild and crazy Saturday night and I was looking for a good time. Before I messed with it the recipe didn't call for adding any additional liquid unless the pears were not ripe. My pear were but I happened to be drinking a little homemade apple pie cocktail that my sister gave us as a gift and thought I'd add some. It was a good idea.

This guy had to go to bed but he seemed impressed. He's a pig too so he was made he didn't get any.

Here's how to do it. Peel, core and cut off the stem of the pears. Lay them flat in a baking dish and sprinkle coat the pears and the pan with the sugar. Stick them in the oven @ 425 for 30-40 minutes. If you have very ripe pears they will cook fast and fall apart so keep an eye out. If that's the case take the pears out to cool and finish making the caramel in a sauce pan. If the pears are not ripe they won't give up much juice so you may need to add a little liquid in the pan. Water will work, but apple juice or maybe a little spiced rum would add a little more complexity.  Poke the pears with a knife to check for doneness. They should be soft and the knife should go in without any resistance. When the pears are soft add the cream and bake for another 10-15 minutes and bast the pears every 5 minutes.

Bartlett pears

1/4 C sugar

1/2 C apple juice or liquid of your choice

1 C heavy cream

pistachios to garnish 

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Roasted red pepper dip

This post has been one of the most popular so far. With the Super Bowl coming up everyone is looking for appetizers to graze on and this recipe is only slightly different than the mushroom one. Plus, I'm gonna earn some brownie points with the boss for making this. She's asked a couple times in the last month for some more of this and has no idea this is waiting for her when she get home.

Start off by making a a Bechamel. Melt the butter in a saute pan on medium heat. Once the butter is melted stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes. Next, stir in the milk.

Bring the milk to a gentle boil and then take the pan off the heat, season with the cayenne and stir in the cheeses and pureed roasted red bell pepper. You can buy jarred peppers but get you own and stick them under the broiler for about 15 minutes to make your own. You just need to peel the skin off once the cool.

Put the mixture in an oven safe bowl and top with a little xtra cheese if you want. Cook until it starts to bubble and get a little brown on top.

1/4 C unsalted butter
1/4 C AP flour
2 C  whole milk
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded jack cheese
1 roasted red bell pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

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How to apply a spice rub

After posting the Carne Asada Rub recipe and thinking back on when I've shared rub recipes in the past I realized not everyone knows how to properly apply a rub or have even used one before. Yes, you can just sprinkle it on but there are some ins and outs to using rubs that will help. I'm sure some of you may have purchased rubs from the grocery store and used them with success. Some of those rubs are pretty good but most are bad. One thing to look for when buying them is to see if they contain salt. Most will and in general, I would stay away from them. I know it may sound crazy but it you pay attention you'll find that there are different qualities of salt and the premade rubs and spice mixes are normally loaded with it. Generally it's low quality salt that has sort of a metallic taste. Salt it cheap so they add it to add volume to their products. Adding cheap salt=adding less of the more expensive herbs and spices=more money for the manufacturer=the consumer getting screwed over.




salted and ready for rub



rubbed

You want to avoid adding salt to homemade rub recipes for two reasons. 1.) You want to have control over the salt in your food. Always taste your food and adjust the seasonings if you need to before serving. If you use a store bought rub that's full of salt you have no way of reducing the salt content. If you make your own salt free rub you can always add more later if you need to. 2.) Salt draws out moisture from whatever you put it on. In this case when you put salt on a skirt steak and let it sit for 15 minutes it will draw out moisture from the meat and that moisture is what your rub is going to stick to. When you get to this point just coat the meat in an even layer of rub and you're ready to cook.

I can already hear what some of you are thinking. "Won't drawing moisture out dry out the meat"? Unless you are packing your meat in salt and letting it sit for days, no, it won't. Fat and connective tissue in meat is what makes it moist after it's cooked, the water content plays a very small role in the outcome. I've become used to people not listening to me (I am married and have kids after all) so if you make this and are worried about it, do me a favor and wait a half hour after you rub the meat. If you do it my way and let it sit out a while longer after you apply the rub the meat will reabsorb that moisture and suck in a little of the rub with it. 



grilled



sliced and still juicy



Carne Asada Rub

You know those tacos you get at the mexican place? We've all had them. They usually taste better than the ground hamburger ones you make at home with that packet of taco seasoning. Don't get me wrong, I'm slowly turning into a food elitist but I still understand if that's the best you've had you may not know something better is out there. Or maybe it’s out of convenience or like most people it never crossed your mind that you could do it better. Whatever your reason stop wasting your money on the packet junk. It's gross and full of salt. Instead spend a few dollars up front and make a batch of this and you'll be making better Carne Asada tacos than that restaurant you get them from.

On a more personal note the boss told me that I shouldn't share this recipe. When I asked why she said if I ever become a rich and famous chef I need to keep a few recipes secret. Until that day comes I'm sharing. Funny thing is, she told me a minute later I should put this on my blog. Do you see the kind of crazy I deal with?

For all of you kids out there that are big on craft projects take a look. Remember when you were younger and you would put the colored sand or whatever in a glass jar and make layers? Same thing. Maybe if you like it and know someone that uses those packets you can make them a gift? With fancy ribbons and bows!! But not glitter.

My daughter's first photo bomb!



Checking it out.





aaaahhhhhhh!!!

Equal parts of the following:
white pepper
black pepper
ground cumin
dried oregano
chile powder
garlic powder
*chile blend*

I make mix of different chile's that I use. You can just use cayenne if you want to add heat. Cayenne adds heat but doesn't really have much flavor. If you want your rub on the milder side you don't need to add anything else but could use paprika just for some filler. Unless you get a high quality paprika its flavor doesn't stand up to heat so adding it in this will only make the rub go a little further. Below is what I usually make but I suggest playing around with different blends. Adding different chile's gives a more complex range of flavors.

chile blend:
1 tbsp ancho chile
1 tbsp gaujillo chile
1 tsp aleppo chile
1 tsp cascabel chile

Carne Asada Rub



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White wine glazed mushroom and cheese dip

I may do a post on making a Béchamel sauce eventually but for today I'll just give you a recipe for it, no pics to share yet. For those of you that don't know I think Béchamel is French for "fattening white sauce". I never said this blog was dedicated to healthy meals. We all get enough of the "eat healthy and exercise" business and you won't find any of that crap here. Take a walk every once in a while and your food won't kill you. Maybe eat a vegetable here and there.

Béchamel sauce
3 C whole milk
1/3 C unsalted butter
1/3 C flour
cayenne
salt

One 8 oz package white button mushrooms-quartered
One 8 oz package portabella mushrooms-sliced
1/2 C shredded Jack Cheese
1/2 C shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/4 white wine
4 tbsp unsalted butter-divided
parmigiano reggiano

In a sauté pan on medium heat melt the butter. Whisk the flour in gradually to make a roux. Be sure to keep the mixture moving so it doesn't burn. Basically what you are doing here is cooking the flour you added so it doesn't have a raw flour taste. It should take about minutes but when it starts to smell kind of nutty it's ready. Next slowly add the milk while whisking to keep lumps from forming. Keeping the milk cold will also help but don't worry if you have a few small lumps. Keep stirring until it comes to a boil and then take the pan off the heat. Congratulations! You just made a Béchamel sauce. Season with salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper and stir in both cheeses. We'll get back to this in a bit.

Sautee the button mushrooms in two tbsps butter until softened. After they're cooked you'll want to chop them as fine as you can get them. A food processor works well here but if you don't have one just use a knife. Stir them to the pan with the Béchamel sauce.

Next you'll want to brown the remaining butter in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Browning the butter adds a more intense, nutty flavor and will help caramelize the mushrooms. Just give the melted butter some time in the pan to darken a little. Add the portabellas and sauté until they are caramelized.  Once they start to caramelize add the wine and cook for a minute or until the wine has evaporated. Cooked mushrooms have a hard time absorbing liquid so they won't soak the wine up at all. The outside will be lightly glazed and the wine flavor will be somewhat subtle. You can skip this step if you want but sometimes I get fancy.

Put the Béchamel into an oven proof baking dish and top with the portabella mushrooms. Cook under the broiler until the top gets brown and bubbly.



It should look something like this

  Top it off with a little parmigiano reggiano and serve with bread or vegetables for dipping.

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Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée

It's french.

My sister recently asked for a french onion soup recipe. I've never made it and to be honest I can only remember having this soup once at a restaurant, in southwest MN. (where only the finest soups are served) Wasn't really a fan.  Turns out I am a fan I just didn't like the crappy soup the restaurant served me. I won't name names. From what I remember it was salty beef broth with very few onions and a layer of bland cheese on top. Sounds good right?  The more I cook and improve my skills in the kitchen the more I wonder why restaurants serve garbage when making it well takes little effort.

For this particular soup you need to let the onions caramelize. Not just get a little color; you want a deep rich brown color. The few onions I had in the bland soup I mentioned had little to no color on them. In most cooking color on your food means more flavor. Take your time and let the onions do their thing. Also, I apologize for this being kind of a pic heavy post. I was able to cook with no one home and had time to take some pics.

This soup is amazingly simple but is big on flavor without being overpowering. I'm often surprised how easy some food is to make. I always try to make things complicated when I should be trying to dumb things down. This recipe comes from a chef I know of that spends much of his free time helping other out that like to play chef at home but need help from time to time. Since this soup is kind of new to me I didn't really stray too far away from his recipe.

3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp olive oil
5 medium yellow onions
pinch of sugar
one sprig of fresh thyme

couple of bay leaves

1 tbps minced garlic
1 C dry white wine

3 C low sodium chicken stock

3 C low sodium beef stock
salt and  white pepper to taste

Per bowl:
toasted french or baguette bread-sliced about an inch thick
1/3 C good quality Swiss cheese such as Gruyère or Emmentaler. You can sub provolone too. You need enough to cover the bowl you're using so the quantity can very
1 tsp freshly grated Parmegiano Reggiano  per bowl

Slice the onions and heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion, sugar, thyme and bay leaves and a pinch of salt and toss to coat evenly. This next part will take a little time but it's worth it. Let the onions cook down for about an hour. You'll need to keep an eye on them so they don't burn so stir every so often. Also make sure the fond or "the stuff stuck on the bottom of the pot" doesn't burn.





Cook time will vary depending on the pot used, thickness and so on, but you will want them to cook for at least 40-45 minutes. To get mine where I wanted it took a closer to an hour. When you are satisfied with the onions push them to the side of the pot and add and stir the garlic for about a minute and then combine everything. Pour in the wine and raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. One the wine is boiling reduce to medium and at this point the thyme leaves will have come off so take the stem and bay leaves out and cook a few minutes to evaporate most of the wine. Be sure to scrape any of the fond off the bottom of the pot too.

Pour in the chicken and beef stock and raise the heat to high again to bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling reduce down to medium-low for a gentle simmer. Let it cook for a solid hour so the flavors can mingle. After an hour give it a taste and adjust for salt and add a little white pepper if you have it. If not black pepper will be fine.

Done

If you don't want to mess with the bread and cheese go ahead and eat. I may have had a small helping when I made it. Again, I was kind of shocked I liked it as much as I did. I am kind of a pig so I don't know why I'm ever surprised I like something. For those that want to go all the way add the soup to an oven safe bowl and top with the toasted bread and cheeses. Place it a few inches under the broiler but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

If you do some poking around you'll find recipes that call for red or white wine and some with sherry. When you come across recipes that can use either and don't know what to do, use what you like to drink and generally you can't go wrong. That usually will work.  When I drink wine, I prefer red but seem to prefer cooking with white so it isn't a fool proof plan. I like cooking with both but just like how white brightens flavors and in a dish like this I think red might be overpowering for my taste. No one can tell you the right answer so get some wine, try it out, experiment and eventually you'll start to figure out what you like best.

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Pizza Dough in 10 easy steps

This is one anyone that eats should learn. I've been trying for over 10 years to get my wife to learn how to make pizza dough. No dice. I think I got her to watch me do it once or twice but that's it. Pizza dough was probably the first "real" food I learned how to make. I could make frozen pizza and food from a box but this was my first real adventure in cooking. My first job when I was in high school was at a local pizza place so it was a natural first step. As I start to write out recipes I've come to realize that I don't do a very good job measuring anything which makes writing recipes somewhat of a challenge. For this crust I measure the water and the yeast but that's it. I've probably made this hundreds of times and after having a few dough disasters I started to go by touch instead of measurements. Try going by look and feel. If it's too sticky add some flour. Too dry? Add a splash of water. The flour measurements I have listed below will get you very close but you may need to make adjustments as needed.

Step One: combine the yeast, water and sugar.

Step Two: Go do something else for 15 minutes or so. You want to give the yeast some time to do its thing. When it starts to form bubbles on the surface of the water it's ready.

Step Three: Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt or any additional seasonings you want (herbs, garlic, etc.)

Step Four: Add Flour and stir until you have a ball formed

Step Five: Knead the dough. This recipe will make four personal sized pizzas, two larger or one extra thick crust pizza. Before you start to knead the dough it may be helpful to divide the dough up whichever way you plan on using it. When I knead I basically grab the dough and with both hands fold the dough under itself which will gently stretch it. It forms a ball that's easier to use later

I added a blend of Italian herbs to this batch. It's an easy way to sneak in more flavor.

Step Six: Now comes the hard part. Waiting. To be honest I've been known to skip this step and go to step seven. To play by the rules cover the dough and let it rise for an hour. This will allow the dough to rise or "proof" which makes for a more flavorful crust and a little easier to work with. I think letting it go longer at room temperature and then putting it in the fridge for a day is the way to go but again I don't usually have that kind of time and people in my house want to eat it not look at it.

Step Seven: Form the crust. This was the most intimidating part for me when I was learning how to make pizza. Probably because I thought pizza needed to be in the form of a perfect circle otherwise it was a failure. Turns out pizza doesn't care what shape it is. If this part makes you a little nervous go ahead and use a rolling pin. (one more thing to wash) Or pound it out with your hands to flatten it. For those of you that want to "toss" the dough in the air practice with a wet wash cloth first. It's really not as hard as you would think but you don't want to mess up the dough you've made. In one way or another form the dough into something that looks like it could be a pizza. Any way you choose be sure you're working on a floured surface.

Step Eight: Add the toppings. If you've been playing along you should have nice sauce to use...

You have two options on how to do this. If you have a pizza peel congratulations, you're a pizza nerd just like me. If not turn a baking sheet upside down and make your pizza on that. Be sure you put corn meal or bread crumbs either the peel or baking sheet before you put your dough on it. Once you're down topping slide it from the peel or baking sheet to the pizza stone

Step Nine: Cook on a preheated pizza stone as high as your oven will go. Cook time will vary depending on thickness of the crust, oven temp and toppings so you'll want to keep an eye on it. It will be in the neighborhood of 8-12 minutes though.

Step 10: Eat!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

1 1/2 C warm water

1/4 oz envelope dry active yeast

pinch of white sugar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

3-4 C AP flour start with 3 and add as needed.

Marinara Sauce

A couple things I've learned in the past couple days.
1.) If you have kids and try to do something like update a blog your kids will do everything in their power to stop you. These couple of sentences have taken me about 10 minutes and only one of two kids are awake.
2.) I need to figure out a way to take my pics during the day so I can use natural light. Again, kids running around make cooking during the day challenging. Normally I can't cook until it's close to their bed time.

I'll be posting several recipes in the future that use a red sauce. I thought before I do I'll post my go to marinara recipe. In the past I tried several complicated recipes and nothing impressed me. I finally went with an easy version a while back and I can't go back to a store bought sauce now that I found something I like.

Any tomatoes will work but these make the difference between a sauce that's just ok and a sauce that is great. These are the secret to a great red sauce. They're tomatoes that come from the San Marzano region in Italy. They are a meaty plum variety and have very few seeds. I can't stand that seedy slime you get in most tomatoes. As far as I know all of the bigger chain grocery stores carry them. If you’re looking they shouldn't be hard to find.

1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 C chopped onion
1/3 C white wine
1/4 C fresh Italian parsley-chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste

You may want to use a larger pot for this since the sauce can splatter a little. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Let them sweat a few minutes and add the chopped garlic. I wait until the garlic is just starting to brown but don't let it burn or it will get bitter and gross.

Add the remaining ingredients. The San Marzano tomatoes need some help getting broken up so smash them up with a spoon or lightly with a potato masher. To be truly authentic squish them with your hands. The sauce won’t be extremely smooth when finished so if that’s what you’re after you can blend it but you're going to let the sauce simmer uncovered for an hour or longer and that will also break down the tomatoes. If the sauce is getting thicker than you want just add a splash of water (or wine) otherwise simmer until it's the consistency you like.

This is a basic recipe that’s great on its own but add whatever sounds good. Often I use additional herbs, mushrooms, meat or red wine. This is hard to mess up so don’t be afraid to make it your own and try new things. Just taste as you make changes and you should be fine.

Chocolate Mousse

Kind of funny how I'm starting this blog with my two least favorite foods, seafood and now dessert. I probably get more pleasure out of watching other people eat dessert than on the rare occasion I have them. I assume it's from having too many sweets as a kid. In fact I probably like making them more than I like eating them. The best part is the look on people’s faces when they take those first few bites of a dessert they really enjoy. Priceless. You know that "I really shouldn't be eating this but don't you dare try to stop me" look? Their head goes down and dessert goes in.

I just got a new fancy camera so I'm still working on learning all the bells and whistles. Hopefully the camera/editing skills improve some in the near future.

One 11.5 oz bag of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate

1/2 C water-divided

4 egg yolks

3 tbsp unsalted butter

4 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream-whipped

In a double boiler, pour in the chocolate, butter and half the water. Heat until the chocolate and butter are melted. Let it cool in the fridge if you want but I think it's just as good warm too.

In a sauce pan whisk the egg yolks, sugar and the rest of your water over medium-low heat. Keep whisking or you'll end up with sweetened scrabbled eggs. You're supposed to heat the eggs to 160 to kill any bacteria and whatnot. Unless you get your eggs straight from the chicken I wouldn't worry too much. If you are worried a couple minutes should get you there.

Whisk the chocolate into your eggs. Once they are combined fold your whip cream in. I used to do this with a spatula but I recently learned doing it with a whisk works better. It takes a little longer and maybe it's in my head but I think it helps keep the mousse from getting "flat".

Beer Mussels and Chorizo

I'm not a huge fan of seafood. Wait, let me try that again. I think most seafood is gross. It's just not my thing but I'm trying. Weird thing is I seem to be adding seafood items to my cool book. Maybe I'm coming around? On a somewhat rare occasion a few weeks ago the wife and I were able to eat lunch together without kids. The Valley Tap House recently opened nearby and the boss had been waiting for months to go there. Reasonable prices, original food and a great beer selection. We'll be back.

The boss ordered mussels as an app. I reluctantly tried and enjoyed them! Thought I would give them a whirl at home. This one is a keeper folks. How could any dish be bad when it’s made with Belgian beer and sausages?

1 bottle Saison Dupont
1 lb. mussels scrubbed and debearded
2 links of Chorizo-sliced
1 shallot-minced
3 cloves of garlic-minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Ancho chile powder

Heat oil in a large dutch oven or a pot big enough to steam the mussels in. Sautee the shallot and garlic until soft.

Pour in the beer, sliced chorizo and Ancho powder and simmer for around 10 minutes or until the smell of alcohol has faded. For those of you afraid of chiles, please stop. If Jalapenos and Cayenne pepper is as far as you've pushed your culinary boundaries it’s time to push them a little further. Ancho has a very earthy, raison like flavor with a very subtle heat. You'll like it.

Dump your mussels in and steam until they start to open-shouldn’t take more than five minutes. If you have any stubborn mussels that don't want to open give them little whack and they should pop open. Serve with some crusty bread to mop up with. Enjoy!

The name says it all...

I need to start by saying I had nothing to do with naming this blog. I had no idea what to name this thing and a co-worker suggested this and it looks like it going to stick. I think it couldn't be more fitting. My wife doesn't cook much which really isn't a bad thing. Her lack of interest in cooking allows me to play around in the kitchen and she usually likes what comes out of it so it works for us.

Growing up with my grandparents there were times there was no food for me to eat. This is not a sob story. I complained one too many times about grandmas food so she decided she wasn't cooking for me anymore. I don't blame her. I survived off of Little Debbie’s and the like until I was able to move out and step it up to pizza delivery and McDonalds for a couple years. Eventually I got tired of eating junk and after watching the Food Network for months I decided I should probably learn how to make a few things. I haven't stopped learning yet.

I have no formal training and I consider myself at best a slightly better cook than the average person. My hope is to show people that it only takes a little extra effort to create dishes that they may have thought were too hard for them to do. Feel free to send me comments, questions, recipes for me to try or you'd like to see on here and I'll do my best.