Prog Chefs Unite!!!

Edited by markosherrera - August 11 2007 at 14:02

I bought a couple of nice ribeye steaks that I'm going to season and coat with olive oil. I'm going to allow them to get up to room temperature and then grill.

I'm also going to do this potato dish I saw on Tyler Florence's show yesterday. He basically took red new potatoes and roasted them at 400° for a half an hour. He let them cool, cut an 'x' in the top and squeezed them ever-so-gently so they bloom a bit. He then heated some vegetable oil and deep fried them to crisp them up. Think I'll give that a whirl and serve it along with an arugula salad.

E

Edited by E-Dub - August 05 2007 at 21:28

Ghost Rider wrote: I hope you'll all forgive me for being a bit pedantic... The name of that initial mixture is actually spelt 'roux'  (meaning 'red', 'reddish-brown' in French), and it is what is normally used to make white sauce, or, as we would say in Europe, béchamel.

So it is. I'd like to add though that the Cajun cuisine uses roux of different 'darkness'. Depending on the dish, they use 'white', light brown or dark brown ('red') roux.

E-Dub wrote: Sure, Angelo. I quickly browned a whole cut up chicken and set it aside. I then made a rue with about a half a cup of vegetable oil and a half a cup of all purpose flour and wisked them together. As Emeril says, this is an important step because you want the rue to get pretty brown (like peanut butter). Once I got it to where I wanted it I added diced onion, celery, and green pepper (I also added some red bell pepper) and cooked that for about 5 minutes. I then added about 4 minced garlic, 6 cups of chicken stock, a little thyme, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and some bay leaf. I put in a little creole seasoning, too. I then put the chicken back in, cut up some polish kelbasa (I didn't have any andouille sausage, which is what I REALLY wanted) and simmered if for about 3 hours. I served it over steamed basmati rice and made some cheddar cheese cornbread to go along with it. I hope that's everything. Let me know if you have questions. E

Eric, this recipe sounds outrageously good! I only recently understood how to make a rue...I've never used corn starch to thicken sauces ever since...

SoundsofSeasons wrote: Tomato soup and Grilled Cheese for lunch. Yep. I make a MEAN lunch .

hey nothin' wrong with that.. great combo. A good grilled cheese is one of my favorites, I think the key is a slow melt of the cheese so it gets runny, and a nice buttery toasting of the bread. Swiss is my fave (not the baby Swiss, too bland, a nice aged one)

Tomato soup and Grilled Cheese for lunch. Yep. I make a MEAN lunch .

Sometimes simple is best.  Just grilled some steaks with some vegetables from my father-in-law's garden.  I charred the outside of some red cubanelle peppers, then my wife peeled the skins and just put them in olive oil with some salt and pepper.  Absolutely outstanding.  Served with some fresh garden tomatoes.

Unfortunately, in Italy berries (with the sole exception of strawberries) are not easy to find, and they tend to be expensive. Frozen berries are a very good option for cakes or puddings, but of course they are not the best choice for putting on top of a cake as decoration (as in cheesecake). However, if you have access to fresh berries (though it works well with frozen too), here's a recipe for a delicious dessert - a cross between a trifle and a tiramisù.

Line a bowl with sliced sponge cake, or, even better, with ladyfingers, and moisten them with liqueur, sweet wine or fruit juice, or a mixture of the above. At home I have a variety of fruit liqueurs, which I use on their own or mixed with dessert wines (Marsala is great, as are sherry or port). Take care not to soak them completely, or they will end up dissolving. Then add a layer of berries, fresh or frozen - strawberries and raspberries are delicious, but any others will do. Finally, mix some cream cheese or mascarpone (I prefer the former) with sugar, a couple of eggs, grated lemon and orange rind, and possibly some of the liqueur or wine you have used to moisten the biscuits. Electric beaters give excellent results. Spread the mixture over the berries, and chill for several hours, or even overnight. If you wish, you can decorate with berries and whipped cream, or leave as it is. A clear glass bowl will allow you to see the layers, which look quite pretty.

A variation of the topping involves the use of creamy yogurt (vanilla-flavoured is great) and honey as an additional sweetener, and no eggs. In both cases, the results are delicious, and leftovers are quite unlikely!

darqdean wrote: mmm, like Dutch cakes too - we don't usually put fresh fruit into cakes in the UK

Well, you'd be surprised what we put in cakes... blueberries, red berries, currants and raisins, cannabis, .....

mmm, like Dutch cakes too - we don't usually put fresh fruit into cakes in the UK