Kitchen Guy

Video: Black Bean Soup

Posted by Chef Jim on April 28, 2009  |  Comments Off

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Black Bean Soup

2 cups dried black beans
1 small onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 small jalapeño peppers, minced
2 Tbsp. butter1 medium tomato, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup medium hot salsa

Pick through beans for stones and bad beans. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand undisturbed for at least 1 hour.

Sauté onions, bell peppers, carrots, celery, cilantro, and jalapeños in butter over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic and continue to cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes.

After beans have soaked, drain and place in large saucepan with sautéed vegetables, and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer uncovered until beans are tender. Stir occasionally and add water if needed. Let cool.

Drain beans and vegetables, reserving liquid. Puree beans and vegetables in batches along with a small amount of liquid in the food processor (if desired you can reserve some beans and vegetables for texture). Mix in enough of the reserved liquid to create a soup-like consistency; then add cumin and salsa to taste.

Video: Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

Posted by Chef Jim on April 22, 2009  |  Comments Off

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2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar, and the cheese. With a pastry blender or fork, cut in the shortening and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Add the milk all at once and stir with a fork until the dough forms a ball.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times. Pat out the dough until it is a half-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds. Place them in the cake pans touching each other and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Blog Topic: Duck!

Posted by Chef Jim on April 19, 2009  |  Comments Off

I have a very hard time not ordering duck breast when it’s offered on any restaurant menu.

The server can rattle off a hundred specials and describe everything else on the menu in excruciatingly delicious detail, but my focus never leaves the duck breast.

Unlike chicken and turkey, duck does not carry the same bacteria as those two and the breast can (and should) be cooked to medium rare – about 135 plus carryover. Your county health department may advise the restaurant kitchen otherwise, telling them to cook it to 170, but then it will be overcooked and dried out.

There’s something else about duck breast, too. There is a lot of fat under the skin and that in itself is something that gourmands and omnivores like me also treasure. Because if you haven’t had potatoes fried in rendered duck fat, then you haven’t lived a complete life. Trust me on that one.

The technique for cooking duck breast is rather straightforward, but in order to render the fat properly and ensure a juicy, rather than greasy, entrée, there are a few simple steps to take.
Score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern with a very sharp knife and season the duck all over with coarse salt and pepper.
Heat two tablespoons of water in a heavy ovenproof skillet over low heat until hot, and then add the duck, skin side down. Cook the duck, uncovered, over low heat, without turning, until most of the fat is rendered and the skin is golden brown. This could take up to 25 minutes. And it could be a little smoky, too, but the water should help keep the smoke to a minimum.
Fruit glazes and sauces suit duck breast perfectly, and the two most popular fruits to be used are oranges (you’ve no doubt heard of the classic duck a la orange) and cherries.
Transfer the duck to a plate and reserve all but a tablespoon of fat from the pan. Brush the skin side of the duck with your fruit glaze or sauce (more on this a little later) and roast the duck breast in the oven, skin side up, until your meat thermometer registers 135°, about 8 minutes for medium-rare.
Transfer the duck to a cutting board and set the pan aside. Let the duck stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes.
Duck breast is just about always served sliced on the diagonal. This presentation allows the diner to see the beautifully crisped skin and the pink meat, sitting in a pool of one of the aforementioned fruit sauces.

Here’s a version of a cherry sauce that goes perfectly with duck:
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook 1/2 cup diced onion, 3 smashed garlic cloves, and a small diced shallot, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 7 minutes.
Add teaspoon of tomato paste, black pepper, a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of diced red bell pepper and a diced Roma tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in 1/4 cup red wine, a tablespoon of cider vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar and simmer for a minute. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1 1/2 cups cherries, and another1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer.
Purée the mixture in a blender until very smooth, about a minute, using caution, because hot liquids splatter while the blender is doing its work. Strain the cherry sauce into a bowl and set aside a quarter cup of sauce for glazing the duck.
Then shallow fry diced potatoes in the duck fat. I’ll say no more.

Video: Seared Ahi / Crisp Greens

Posted by Chef Jim on April 14, 2009  |  Comments Off

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Blog Topic: Shrimp Redundancy

Posted by Chef Jim on April 10, 2009  |  Comments Off

I’m always amused to see the term, “Shrimp Scampi” on a menu because it’s actually a redundancy. Scampi, is the Italian word for shrimp (and that’s the plural form of the word — the singular is scampo). In any case, in this country, shrimp scampi usually means shrimp sautéed in garlic butter and served over rice.

Most people think they’re getting a classic Italian shrimp dish, but they’d be wrong. Scampo is certainly related to the shrimp, but it’s closer to a langoustine which is sort of like a miniature lobster.

Nevertheless, I love the versatility of shrimp. But if you’re buying pre-cooked shrimp in the supermarket, you’re missing out on the opportunity to create some fantastic food. Additionally, how do you know that the pre-cooked stuff has been cooked correctly?

I usually buy raw shrimp that’s been deveined, but still has the shell and tail on. The simplest method to cook the shrimp is to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, add a tablespoon of white vinegar and add the shrimp a couple at a time, so that you do not drop the temperature of the water too much. Depending upon the size of the shrimp, it only takes a couple of minutes and I remove the shrimp immediately to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

When I make any Cajun dish with shrimp, I usually peel the raw shrimp, save the peels (legs, tails and all) and simmer these in a couple quarts of water with aromatics to create a shrimp stock. The raw shrimp are cooked in the pan with butter and/or oil along with a Cajun spice mixture.

Please note that I remove the tail from shrimp always. It’s inedible and for the life of me, I do not understand why restaurants insist on serving shrimp with the tail on. Sure it’s a kind of “handle,” but there’s meat inside there and, more often than not, it goes to waste. I don’t like waste.

I always have raw shrimp in my freezer. It cooks quickly and I can whip up an appetizer in minutes, should unexpected company drop by. Using the boil method I described, I then heat a sauté pan with butter and a little oil, add minced garlic to flavor the fat, add the shrimp, cook for about 60 seconds on each side, just until they get a little color on them, then sprinkle on seasoned breadcrumbs to coat. Voila! Instant appetizer.

For something a little more substantial, here’s my recipe for Cajun Shrimp in Cayenne Butter Sauce:
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, peels reserved
1 cup of dark beer
1/2 cup shrimp stock or clam juice
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cornstarch, combined with 2 Tbsp. water
Combine the cayenne, black pepper, salt, red pepper, paprika, rosemary, and thyme in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large skillet, melt the butter, and add the seasonings. Cook until bubbly. Add the shrimp and coat with the butter mixture. Cook 1 minute. Add the beer and shrimp stock (or clam juice) and cook for 2 – 4 minutes depending on size of shrimp. Add the lemon juice and cornstarch-water mixture to thicken and cook for 1 minute more. Serve in bowls over rice.
To make shrimp stock, save the shells from the shrimp and place in two quarts of water in a saucepan, add a stick of celery, 7 or 8 black peppercorns, and a smashed clove of garlic. Bring it to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and continue cooking for about two hours until it is reduced by half.

You can find the video for this recipe on this site.

Video: Easy for Easter Leg of Lamb

Posted by Chef Jim on April 8, 2009  |  Comments Off

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Video: Easy Poppy Seed Torte

Posted by Chef Jim on April 1, 2009  |  Comments Off

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Here’s how to make it:

Preheat oven to 300. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper cut into a circle. Grease the paper.

Combine the poppy seed filling with the baking powder and set aside. Then in your mixer, mix the egg yolks until they are slightly thickened then slowly add the sugar. When it’s all incorporated, add the vanilla. Add the melted butter, then the poppy seed mixture.

Using a clean mixing bowl, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Carefully fold them into the batter (try not to deflate them) and pour into the spring-form pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for at least an hour; run a table knife around the edges before releasing the spring-form. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

*Baking powder is not kosher for Passover. You can leave it out, as the egg whites will provide enough lift for the cake.