Why Sirloin?

Why sirloin?
     I chose sirloin steak for Sundays meal for several reasons. The primary reason, of course, is the flavor. It just seems to have a lot more flavor than, say, tenderloin, New York, T-bone. That might just be my preference, but because I was able to get the sirloin for only $2.72 per #, there is certainly a little more incentive to explore it's possibilities.
     I bought a whole sirloin from Sam's club. Then, I took some time to break the whole piece of meat down into single muscle sections, which I then trimmed of all silver skin and fat  and gristle. At that point you have the option of cutting any size steaks you want. I cut very thick steaks, almost what would be called a baseball cut. The reason for that is that it's easier to cook a thick cut of meat to rare or medium rare, than a thinner piece of meat. Next, to avoid toughening the meat by charring the outside too much, I grill the meat over very high heat only enough to get the outside browned. Then, I finish the steaks in the oven. 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes. The result is a very tender and flavorful steak, from what otherwise might be considered a secondary cut of meat.
     Now, since not everyone has the time or skill to butcher their own steak, when you buy sirloin, buy a sirloin roast as opposed to thinner sirloin steaks. Then you can cut the roast into large individual pieces and cook the same way. Give it a try. I hope you enjoy the results.
     Ciao for now,   Garlichut

Good looking asparagus around

I've been seeing some good looking asparagus around. It brought to mind this pasta dish that I used to make.
  Penne with asparagus and mushrooms
     1/4 cup olive oil
     8 oz. white mushrooms
     5-6 cloves garlic finely chopped
     1 bunch asparagus, tough stems removed, blanched and cooled, and cut into 1 in. pieces
     1/2 pound penne pasta
     Juice of half of a lemon
     1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
      Romano cheese to taste
      Fresh ground black pepper to taste
   Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the penne and stir occasionally. Heat a medium sized  saute pan over med. high heat. Add olive oil and mushrooms and cook about 2-3 min.. Add the garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes. Put the asparagus in and heat through. Drain the pasta, put into a large serving bowl, add asparagus and mushroom mixture, the lemon juice, parsley, romano, and black pepper, Toss well and serve.
     Ciao for now,    Bob
  
   

Shrimp with mushrooms and spinach

At dinner last Sunday, we ran into difficulty publishing an entry on the blog.
    So, this was the main course.
       2-3 Lbs. shrimp coarsly chopped
       1/4 cup olive oil
       1/4 cup finely diced pancetta
       6-10 cloves garlic finely chopped
       12 oz. white mushrooms thinly sliced
       A bag of spinash washed and stemmed
       1 cup chicken stock
       Black pepper to taste
       1 cup + gratted romano cheese
   Saute shrimp in a pan till not quite cooked through and set aside.
   In a pan or pot large enough to hold all ingredients before the spinach gets wilted, heat olive oil and pancetta till the pancetta just starts to turn golden brown. Then add mushrooms and cook till soft, add garlic and cook for about another minute or two. Add the stock and spinach and cook covered, tossing occasionally till spinach is wilted. Add shrimp and heat through. Toss with a pound  cooked pasta, the romano cheese and black pepper.

Salad continued

Hi,
    Yesterday I tried to explain my reasoning for how I arrived at the combination of flavors that make up my balsamic vinaigrette. In my second blog I talked about stepping out of my comfort zone and coming up with new flavors. Mostly all I did was reduce my reliance on balsamic vinaigrette and used red wine vinegar, lemon, combinations of herbs, and other flavorful ingredients to produce some great flavor combinations,
     This was one of the salads,
    Boston lettuce, arugula, spinach, red leaf lettuce, blanched fennel, red onion, finely chopped parsley, chopped fresh basil, a little romano cheese, and a red wine vinegar vinaigrette.
     Then to offer up a slight variation, another day I made:
    Boston lettuce, red leaf lettuce, red onion, tomato, cucumber, sliced green Sicilian olives, capers, a little dried oregano, fresh copped parsley copped fresh basil, some grated cheese, and a red wine vinegar vinaigrette.
    I used all kinds of variations of ingredients to keep things interesting.
       Ciao for now,   Garlichut

Moving along,

Hey  Cyberspacers,
         In order to move along  with my earlier reference to salads taking center stage when I was in Co, . I've got to give you some background on my approach to salads.
          A previous refrence to a balsamic vinaigrette needs a little clarification. I'm not sure how it happened, but soon after I got out of culinary school, probably when I was working in a corporate office, I was full of ideas and decided that a straight balsamic vinaigrette, made with just balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil produced a vinaigrette that was very heavy. So my solution was this.
          Balsamic vinegar vinaigrette
            1 Tbls. dry mustard
            Dash of granulated garlic
            1/4tsp. each of salt and pepper
            1 1/2 oz. rice wine vinegar
            1/2 oz. red wine vinegar
            2  oz. balsamic vinegar
            4 oz.  olive oil
OK so why did I come to this observation? When I tasted balsamic vinaigrette, they were to heavy tasting. So I added rice wine vinegar for sweetness, a little rtd wine vinegar for tartness, and balsamic for the dominant flavor.  Also, I use only pure olive oil for my vinaigrette because virgin olive oil, to my mind comes across as very heavy for American tastes. The result is a refreshing and bright vinaigrette.

         I guess that's all for today. I' ve got more insights on salad for tomorrow.   Ciao for now  Bob
           

Something New

This weekend I'm going to try something new. I'll be at a friends house on Sunday cooking one of my favorite new dishes. I'm going to see if one of the guests attending will enter a post on the blog while the party is in progress. They'll be able to write anything they want, but hopefully you'll get the recipe of the main course. Beyond that, maybe we can also give you the whole menu, wines being consumed, and comments. That should be interesting. 
         Ciao for now,  Bob

Holy Cyberspace

OK OK, Last week All I was doing was writing recipes and putting them on my blog with no viewers. Now it seems that with the help of my brother, (The king of contacts) I might have some interested acquaintances. Since I consider myself technologically deficient, all viewers should realize that there are certainly a number of limitations.
     I went to a super bowl party and brought Homemade crocodile bread and breaded pieces of chicken tenders. I made a bbq sauce, chipotle mayo and had some hot sauce. (big hit) (Go giants)
    Since I had extra BBQ sauce, this week I made BBQ chicken. It was a little different version. I took a whole chicken and simmered it with some onion and garlic for about an hour and a quarter. Then cooled it, pulled the meat and shredded it and added BBQ sauce. Just like pulled pork, but in this case pulled ckicken. I was pretty happy with the results.
     BBQ Sauce
       1 cup sugar
       1/2 cup finely chopped onion
       3 cloves finely chopped garlic
       1cup red wine vinegar
       1 Tbls. dijon mustard
       15 oz. can tomato sauce
       1/2 cup worchestershire sauce
       1 tsp. black pepper
       1/3 cup molasses
   Heat sugar in 3 qt. saucepan over medium high heat, stirring frequently until sugar melts and turns light brown. Immediatly add the onion and garlic Stir for 10 to 15 seconds, then add vinegar and stir till mixture dissolves. Add the rest of ingredients and simmer to reduce and thicken.
   If you'd like to spice it up add 3 finely chopped  chipotle peppers.
         Ciao for now Bob

Szechwan Asparagus

I remember writing this recipe one day after looking at a bunch of asparagus and wanting a different flavor for it.
      1 bunch asparagus (blanched and cut in 1 in. pieces)
      1 Tbls. veg. oil
      1 Tbls. sesame oil
      1 Tbls.finely chopped garlic
      1 Tsp. finely chopped ginger
      2 Tbls. rice cooking wine
      1 Tsp. soy sauce
      1 Tsp. chili paste
      2 Tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
   In a saute pan, heat oils over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger. Heat   
   till garlic just starts to brown. About 1 min.. Add next three ingredients  and heat through. Add asparagus and heat through. Add cilantro, toss, remove from heat and serve.
    Ciao for now
 

Untitled request from my brother

For now this dish will be called ( Italian Chicken and Sausage Stew ). Need help on this one.
          2 Whole onions sliced
          4 Cloves garlic minced
          2 Cups + red wine
          3 Beef bullion cubes
          2 Tbls. dried rubbed sage
          1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
          4 Tbls. veg oil
          2 #s Sweet or Hot Italian sausage cut into 1 in. lengths
          2 #s chicken breasts cut into 1 in. cubes
          all purpose flour for dredging
          water to cover
   Saute onion and garlic till soft. Add red wine, bullion, sage, and pepper.       Brown sausage in 2 Tbls. oil. Add to onion mixture. Next, dredge chicken pieces in flour shake off excess. Brown pieces in remaining oil and add to other ingredients. Add enough water to just cover. Cover pot with lid and simmer for abput 2 hours or till very tender.

          Great dish with good crusty bread
              Ciao for now  R


  

Back in action, Maybe.

Well it's about time,
      After quite an absence, maybe I'm ready to consistently share insights and recipies. Last year served up some very interesting dishes and experiences, I spent a week in California, the summer in New Jersey, and to start this year, two weeks cooking for Larry in Colorado. Salads seem to have taken a staring roll. I've started to think beyond my comfort zone. The result was some great new flavors.
      This salad kind of kicked things off.
      French spinach salad,
          Spinach, avocado, feta cheese, artichoke hearts, red onion, sliced kalamata olives, a little romano cheese, a little dried oregano, and a balsamic vinaigrette.
      Try it. I hope you'll enjoy it.
                        Ciao for now  Bob