Let me get this out of the way first just because I’ve been singing this song in my head for the last few days now.
Hahahaha, sorry. Serious post now.
Alouette sent me over their entire product line of cheese two days ago which overwhelmed/suprised the hell out of me. Usually when people say they’re going to send you something it’s one or two things not their entire lineup of products. I opened the box with 22 pounds of cheese and at first I thought, “what am I going to do with all of this”? So I called Mindy and said, “Tomorrow, wine and cheese party at the house”? She said, “sure”. That’s all I needed to hear!
Double Creme Baby Brie with a Reduced Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
Take 1.5 cups of balsamic and slowly reduce it to about 3 tablespoons then pour it over the cheese like so!
Sweet and Spicy Pepper Medley Cheese Dip with a Thai Infusion served with a French Boule
Ingredients:
1 container Alouette Sweet and Spicy Pepper Medley Cheese
5 cups water
1 lemongrass stalk, 1 inch slices
3 tbsp. Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tbsp. Mae Ploy Red Curry Paste
1/2 tbsp. Huy Fong Foods Garlic Chili Sauce
1 tsp. Sriracha Sauce
2 bay leaves
1/4 cornstarch slurry
Procedure:
Set aside cheese
Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan except for the cornstarch slurry
Reduce mixture by half then strain and slowly work in slurry
Place cheese in stand mixer along with liquid mixture then whisk together and serve!
Pancetta Wrapped Gorgonzola Stuffed Dates
They taste a lot better than they look. Slice date, stuff, wrap with pancetta, bake for 5-7 minutes, and enjoy!
Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup with Crumbled Goat Cheese Provencal
Ingredients:
Turkey broth…..made it myself!
2 Acorn Squash
1 Butternut Squash
Parsley
2 bay leaves
White Wine
Mirepoix (celery, carrots, onion)
Salt pork
Salt and pepper, tt
Smoked Paprika, tt
Alouette Crumbled Goat Cheese Provencal
Procedure:
Take salt pork and render fat
Remove pork bits and throw in mirepoix. THROW IT IN THERE!!!!
Deglaze with white wine and reduce then deglaze again. You don’t have to deglaze twice….I do because I’m awesome.
Add turkey broth, squash, parsley, bay leaves, smoked paprika, salt and pepper
Remove bay leaves then puree!
Adjust seasonings then serve with cheese crumbled on top
Spring Salad with Cucumber Vinaigrette and Alouette Crumbled Feta Mediterranean
Put cucumber in a food processor then strain it, take the liquid, add it to white wine vinegar, and a great olive oil then mix and add it over a salad. Throw in some cheese and you’re done!
Buffalo Turkey Leg with a hand mixed Alouette Blue Cheese Dressing (almost broke a sweat!)
Ingredients:
Turkey legs, brined in brown sugar and alderwood smoked salt
Smoked Paprika
Parsley infused salt
Pink and Black Pepper, ground
Mayo……1 cup canola oil….1 egg….whisked together!
Alouette Blue Cheese
2 tbsp. yogurt
Frank’s Hot Sauce
Clarified Butter
Procedure:
Rub turkey legs with smoked paprika, parsley infused salt, and peppers
Roast until done
In a small sauce pan heat up Frank’s Hot Sauce then add the clarified butter and simmer for 10 minutes
Mix together mayo, yogurt, and blue cheese
Pour Frank’s Sauce over turkey leg then serve with blue cheese dressing.
Stop looking at it funny and just grab the whole damn thing and eat it!
Boiled Artichoke with Alouette Spinach and Artichoke Spreadable Cheese
Prep the artichoke then boil it in salty water. Remove leaves then serve with cheese. Use the leaves as a scoop for the cheese! Are they leaves? I don’t know/care.
Lamb Gyro with Alouette Feta Cheese
Ingredients:
Lamb…..rubbed with salt and pepper
Olive oil
Cucumbers
Yogurt
Dill
Lemon Juice
Salt and pepper, tt
Alouette Feta Cheese
Procedure:
Make a tzatziki with the cucumbers, yogurt, dill, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil…..let cool in refrigerator. I would tell you my recipe but I’m keeping it for myself.
Heat up olive oil in a pan then cook lamb until you have reached desired doneness then let rest and dice
Serve lamb, tzatziki, and crumbled cheese on gyro bread.
I can be your gyro baby!
Thanks for sending me your products, Alouette! I had fun with them and so did these people.
The selt timer setting on the camera is awesome!
I’m ready for a much larger event in 2010 so make it happen Alouette!!
I wanted a little more oomph and color to this soup so I decided to make it again at home with some quality ingredients, spices, and control. When I’m in class we learn how to make something then we present and get a critique…..the first time……not the 2nd or third time just the first. The recipes I post while I’m in school are the standards but sometimes those “standards” aren’t hip with the times. I’m ok with that and it’s all part of the learning process but when I’m outside of school it’s my time to shine. Actually, let me rephrase that…..when I’m at my house it’s my time to shine!
Equipment:
Stock pot
Wooden Spoon
Ladle
Ingredients:
Lard (the Swinery)
Shallots, minced
Onions, medium dice
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
Celery, medium dice
Carrots, medium dice
Yellow bell pepper, medium dice
Chopped clams and juice
San Marzano Tomatoes
Crushed red pepper (blend of aji mirasol, ghost chili, and japones……….oomph indeed)
Tomato paste
Potatoes, medium dice
Chopped clams with juice reserved
Vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Parsley and basil, minced
Procedure:
Heat up lard then toast crushed red peppers, shallots, and garlic (all frenchified)
Then add the onions and sweat them until they turn translucent
Add the celery, carrots, bell peppers
Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and let simmer for 10 minutes uncovered
Add the reserved clam juice, vegetable stock, and potatoes then bring to a simmer again and cover
Season with salt, black pepper, parsley, and basil to taste
Add chopped clams
Remove from heat when the potatoes have cooked all the way
Heat the butter over medium heat and cook onion until translucent
Add celery
Add potato, tomatoes, corn, and chicken stock
Add seasonings and cook 25 minutes
Add crab meat and peas, simmer 10 minutes
Correct seasoning with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Serve with crab puffs.
Crab Puffs
Equipment:
Ingredients:
3 ounces crab meat
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp. green onion, minced
1/3 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1/3 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 400F
Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well.
Combine the water, butter, and salt over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and add the flour, beating until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
Thoroughly blend in crab mixture
Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350F, and bake 10 minutes longer.
I have a new class for this quarter and a new Chef. Our Chef is from the New England area so for our first visit around American Regional Cuisine we are visiting the New England Area. First up, New England Clam Chowder. This is the real deal. Chef gave us an entertaining talk about how frustrated he gets when he goes to a restaurant and sees someone calling clam chowder “New England Style” when it has corn, tabasco, or any other foreign ingredients. Keep it simple, this is the traditional recipe and just about everything you eat out at restaurants is just a chowder, not New England Clam Chowder….unless it’s this recipe. Oh, you also have to say it right, it’s not Chowder it’s Chowdaaaaaaahhhh!
Equipment:
Small stock pot
Ingredients:
2 cups clams
2 cups water or clam juice
1/4 salt pork, minced
1/2 cup onion, small dice
1/2 cup celery, small dice
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk, scalded
4 cups, potatoes, medium to large dice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. parsley
Salt and White pepper, to taste
Procedure:
Steam the whole clams in a covered pan using the 2cups water until they open.
Strain the broth through a filter or cheesecloth and reserve.
Remove from the shell, chop, and reserve clams.
Render the salt pork slowly
Add the onion and celery and cook slowly until translucent. Add the thyme; cook 1 minute.
Stir in the flour and cook to make a blond roux.
Add reserved broth or clam juice and milk gradually, and incorporate to a smooth consistency. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook until tender.
Add reserved clams and the cream; bring to a simmer.
Don’t ask about the stuff on the table…my wife is decorating for a bridal shower……..cute crap everywhere, ugh.
Soup! Would have been much better with chicken or shrimp but I’m trying to see how good I am at cooking like a vegetarian. Result? Pretty damn good. Ok, back to meat! I’ve been cooking like a vegetarian for about a week now and after I eat something I’m usually hungry about an hour later………..it’s like eating Chinese food but without the awesomeness of General Tsao and his fantastic chicken!
Equipment:
Stock pot
Strainer
Ingredients:
Vegetable Stock
Water
Mirepoix
Leeks
Chanterelle mushrooms
Tomatoes
Whatever other vegetables you have that are about to go bad….throw it all in there!
Bay leaf
Peppercorns
Thyme
Sofrito Soup
Leftover sofrito from the plantain cup recipe
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Rice
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
Procedure:
Vegetable Stock
Sweat mirepoix
Add water and bring to simmer
Add the rest of the ingredients then simmer for an hour
The weather is starting to change here so I’m here to help you out. A little black bean soup never hurt anyone unless you remember the Great Black Bean Wars of 1340……so many lost…..so many
Equipment:
Stock pot
Ingredients:
4 cups black beans
1 gallon chicken stock
2 tbsp. lard (The Swinery)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 white onion, medium diced
Celery, medium diced
1 yellow bell pepper
5 or 6 pimentos……….from my front yard…….that makes it hard for you to make……….oh well!
1 cup tomato sauce
Cilantro
Marjoram
Paprika
Cumin
Coriander
Thyme
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sour cream
Rum
Procedure:
In large stock pot heat up lard and sweat onions and garlic
Add celery, yellow bell pepper, and pimentos then sweat them too!
Deglaze with rum!
Add tomato sauce and spices then reduce mixture by 1/4 then add chicken stock
This is the soup that burned my arm. It was completely worth it because the taste of this soup is wonderful. I didn’t bother garnishing it at the end because it was a little late and I’m at home. If you plan on garnishing this then julienne some carrots then fry them in a little butter then place the fried carrots on top of the soup with a pinch of lavender.
One of the things I am learning about being a Chef is knowing what to do with the supply of food you have in your restaurant or in your home. The days of throwing stuff out are over! Everything gets used or I’m not doing my job correctly. I had a bag of carrots that weren’t going to get used for anything else so I created this soup.
Herbs De Provence is a traditional French combination of herbs that consists of thyme, basil, fennel, and lavender. My sister is always bugging me to use her organic lavender in recipes so I turned to a few different sources for the proper way to use lavender which lead me to Herbs De Provence.
This is a great soup to cook for an hour or two because the aromas will radiate through the house while you work on other things. It’s like having a million awesome smelling Glade Plug-ins going at the same time. This soup tastes great and I’ll definitely be using this recipe over and over.
Ingredients
2.5 lbs. carrots, peeled
1.5 quarts vegetable stock
.75 lbs. standard mirepoix (50% onions, 25% carrots, 25% celery)
Thyme, Basil, Fennel, and Lavender. You decide how much goes in.
Salt and crushed green peppercorn, to taste
Procedure
Sweat the mirepoix with grape seed oil in a medium stock pot
It’s 90 degrees outside right now so what better way to make yourself sweat even more than with a nice hot and sour soup!!! I learned how to make consomme in class this past week so the first thing I wanted to make with my new technique was hot and sour soup.
Mindy and I fell in love with this soup after going to a few Chinese restaurants in Seattle. This recipe isn’t traditional so don’t punch me in the face or yell at me if it’s not. This is an interpretation! I go for taste with everything that I do so if I can achieve something close to the same taste but with a little twist then that’s all I’m worried about. I’m not the type of person that freaks out when OMG I FORGOT THE SO AND SO INGREDIENT IN THAT ONE THING THAT I WAS FIXING….not me. When that happens it leads me to create something a little different. No worries!
Anyway, this is a great soup for those cool days, hot days, or whenever you want a great soup day……every day!
Hot and Sour Soup
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes(includes time to make consomme)
Equipment Needed:
Stock Pot
Strainer
Cheesecloth (optional, don’t tell my Chef)
Coffee Filter (optional, seriously don’t tell her)
Ingredients:
3 quarts chicken consomme (Click here for recipe) You will make a few substitutions for the consomme. Instead of regular pepper add Toasted Sichuan Pepper and Coriander. Use a chicken stock
Oyster Mushrooms
Bamboo Shoots
Firm Tofu, medium diced
Green onions, sliced thin
1 Chicken Thigh with skin removed and sliced thin
1 Jalapeno, minced
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
4 drops sesame oil
3 tbsp. cornstarch or 1 tbsp. gelatin
3 tbsp. rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
Procedure:
Place consomme in stock pot and heat up to 180-200F
Stir in mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu, chicken thigh, jalapeno, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 7 minutes
Stir in cornstarch or gelatin
Stir in sesame oil and rice vinegar
Strain the soup through strainer and coffee filter
Place a few mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu, and chicken thigh strips into bowl
Pour soup in bowl then garnish with green onions then serve
This recipe is from A Taste of Puerto Rico, Too! Everything You Need To Know About Puerto Rican Cooking By: Angela Spenceley
Equipment Needed:
Large Stock Pot
Ladle
Saute Pan
Ingredients:
1 lb. dried black beans, soaked, rinsed and picked over for small stones and broken beans
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 small ham bone, with meat on it
2 ounces diced salt pork
1/2 cup annatto oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3/4 cup minced onion
4 sweet chili pepper, seeded and minced (aji dulce)
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. black pepper, crushed
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
Procedure:
Place beans in a stock pot cover with stock. Add ham bone and salt pork. Cook for 45 minutes.
Remove one cup of black beans, draining liquid back into stock pot, reserve the beans. Bring to simmer, reduce heat, and cover.
In a large saute pan, heat annatto oil and saute garlic, onion, and chili pepper for 7 to 8 minutes. Add one cup of reserved black beans and mash into the skillet along with onion/garlic mixture.
Add skillet mixture to kettle, stirring in salt, oregano, bay leaf, cumin and black pepper. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes.
Stir in sherry and vinegar an simmer for another 3o minutes.
Remove cover and cool until soup thickens. Remove ham bone, adjust seasoning, and garnish with fresh minced onion.
Psychedelic carrot soup………I’m seeing things man!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! FREAKING!!!! OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
