The Food Thread

arunbg

Moonbear, don't worry there are plenty of other substitutes .
For ghee, you can use melted butter or vegetable oil to some extent although it's not the same thing . And in place of rose water, you can always use cardomom or other spices ( cinnamon perhaps, though I've never tried it) that you feel lends good flavour to the sugar syrup .
And let me tell you , it's worth all the effort you put in :)

Moonbear

Hey, now hush up about those substitutes! I was looking forward to an excuse to get crabcakes in D.C.!

Astronuc

Well, visiting Cyrus is a good enough excuse.

Tom Mattson

I fancy myself an amateur chef.

Here are some recipes that I came up with. My friends and family all think they're great.

Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings
You will need the following ingredients for 4 servings.

Chicken
3 chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp chicken base (I used "Better than Bouillon" by Superior Touch)
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1/2 cup white wine

Veggies
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth

Dumplings
1 cup flour
2 cups Bisquick
salt, pepper, thyme, basil, and nutmeg to taste
ice water

Bechamel Sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups heavy cream
1 small onion studded with 6 cloves
2 small bay leaves
salt, pepper, thyme, basil, and nutmeg to taste

Chicken and Veggies
In a large stock pot combine the chopped vegetables and the chicken broth over medium heat. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and brown in a hot frying pan. Remove the chicken from the pan, and remove the pan from heat (or just shut off the burner) and deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up all the browned bits with a spatula. Transfer the wine and pan residue to the stock pot with the vegetables, along with the chicken base and bay leaves. Once the vegetables are fork tender add the chicken and chicken base. Keep pot over medium heat until chicken is cooked through and broth has reduced. At this time you should also get another large pot of water and bring it to a boil. This will be for the dumplings.

Bechamel Sauce
I used the recipe found at this link, with the following alterations.

* Instead of milk, I used heavy cream.
* I used 6 cloves and 2 bay leaves for extra flavor.
* I added basil, again for extra flavor.

It helped matters to use the cloves to tack the bay leaves to the onion for easy retrieval and removal. I then chopped up the onion and put in in the stock pot with the other veggies. Waste not, want not, and all that.

Once the bechamel sauce is done, add it to the stockpot with the veggies and chicken, stirring to fold it all together. The bechamel sauce is very thick, and the chicken broth and wine are supposed to thin it out to be less of a paste and more of a sauce. If you want to remove the bay leaves from the final product then it would help to do it before adding the bechamel sauce, while the cooking liquid is still clear yellow.

Dumplings
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, Bisquick and herbs with a whisk. Add ice water gradually and stir constantly until the mixture forms a dough. Note that the both the flour and the Bisquick are needed. When I used only flour the dumplings were too dense. When I used the Bisquick they broke up in the boiling water. The 1:2 ratio made fluffy yet sturdy dumplings.

Tear off small pieces of dough (about 1 inch) and add them to the boiling water. Let the dumplings cook about 5 minutes in the boiling water, then transfer to the stockpot with the chicken and the vegetables and stir so that dumplings are distributed throughout the pot. Once the chicken is cooked, the vegetables are tender, and the dumplings are added, let the pot simmer for about 10 minutes so that the flavors can come together.

Tom Mattson

Seafood Pesto Risotto

This is my favorite dish, hands down.

Risotto
2 cups arborio rice (risotto)
3 cups chicken broth
2 cup white wine
6 scallions, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil

Seafood and Stuff
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped
1 8oz lobster tail, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms, finely chopped
salt and pepper as desired

Pesto
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley
4 cloves of garlic
6 oz of pine nuts
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

To make the pesto combine all of the dry ingredients (everything but the oil) in a food processor. Drizzle in the oil and pulse until a thick paste forms. The objective is to get the pesto to be the same consistency as the risotto.

Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a large saucepan.

In a seperate, well-oiled saucepan over medium heat add the rice and the scallions. Be sure to coat the rice with oil as you saute the scallions. Add 2 ladles of broth and stir continually, repeating as the broth is absorbed and the starch is released. Add wine regularly during this process. Continue until the broth and wine are used up, about 20 minutes.

In an oiled frying pan or wok over medium-high heat add the mushrooms and peas. Cook for about 15 minutes, then add the seafood. Continue cooking until the the meat is cooked.

When everything is finished cooking transfer the seafood-veggie mixture and the pesto to the risotto and combine thoroughly. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Evo

Mmmmm, I love chicken and dumplings, I need to try your version.

Tom Mattson

There's a bit of a story behind that recipe. I was looking for a great chicken and dumplings recipe, and I thought "Who's would be better than Paula Deen's?" She's the country lady on the Food Network. Anyway I printed out her recipe, and it wasn't all that great. The dumplings were like little lead belly bombs. And for the sauce she used a canned cream of celery soup. Yuck! Since then I've learned that anything you can do with Campbells^TM cream-of-puke soups, you can do a million times better with a bechamel sauce made from scratch.

Tom Mattson

Minestra

Nothing beats this on a cold night.

2 large heads escarole (spinach or chard suisse will do nicely also)
1/4 cup chicken broth (vegetable broth is fine too)
1 large can of cannellini beans
1/4 lb of prosciutto and/or pepperoni
6 scallions (1 small chopped onion is an OK substitute)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
extra virgin olive oil
grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

In a well-oiled stockpot saute the onion and garlic cloves over medium heat. Add all of the chicken broth and batches of the escarole leaves. Add greens as they cook down. When all the greens are wilted add the meat and beans. Toss thoroughly and allow the latter ingredients to become heated through and the broth to reduce, about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper as desired. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese and buttered bread. Add red pepper flakes for some heat, and a touch of white wine doesn't hurt either.

Tom Mattson

Shrimp Scampi

2 lbs large shrimp, peeled
extra virgin olive oil
1 stick of butter
1 garlic bulb (not clove, bulb--this ain't for wimps!), minced
chopped parsley
chopped basil
red pepper flakes
grape tomatoes
spaghetti (any pasta works)
2 lemons
white wine
parmigiano reggiano

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with extra virgin olive oil. Add the shrimp, 1 stick of butter, white wine, and the juice of 1 lemon to the hot oil. Once the shrimp are pink on both sides, add the herbs, red pepper, garlic, tomatoes. Salt and pepper as desired. Serve over your favorite pasta and top with parmigiano reggiano cheese. Garnish with parsley and lemon wedge. Setting the excess pan liquid in a bowl makes a nice dipping sauce, and avoids having a little puddle below the pasta. Try substituting your favorite risotto dish instead of pasta for a little variation.

Tom Mattson

Roasted Garlic Marinated Beef Tenderloin

2 beef tenderloins
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 head of garlic
4 sprigs of oregano
4 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 cup red wine (I like chianti)
4 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp of tobasco sauce
salt
ground black pepper
red pepper flakes

Cut the top off the head of garlic and place in a baking dish. Generously salt and pepper the garlic and drizzle on the olive oil. Roast the garlic in a 350 degree oven until the cloves are brown and pliable, about 1 hour. Once the garlic has cooled, peel the cloves and transfer them to a food processor along with the seasoned olive oil from the baking dish. Add the oregano, rosemary, and red pepper flakes to the processor and pulse until a paste forms. Spread the paste onto the tenderloins.

In a metal bowl combine the wine, Worcestershire, and tobasco and mix thoroughly. Add the tenderloins, cover, and refrigerate overnight. If the steaks aren't submerged then turn them over at the midpoint of the marinating process.

In a hot frying pan, sear off the steaks on both sides to seal in the juices. Rub the steaks with the garlic paste and then salt and pepper to taste. Place steaks on a hot grill and cook until desired level of doneness is reached.

Tom Mattson

Favorite Food Network Dishes:

Holiday Side Dishes, by Giada De Laurentiis
I regularly make the stuffing and the mushrooms.

The Definitive Mashed Potato with Roasted Garlic, by Michael Chiarello
I cut the butter to about 1/3 of what he uses and add a cup of grated parmesan.

I'll post more later. I've got lots more favorites by Giada, Michael, Mario, Paula, Ina,...

Just stay away from the "quickie" pseudo-chefs like Sandra Lee, Robin Miller, and Rachael Ray. They're the culinary equivalent of crackpots.

arunbg

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a cordon bleu chef in the making .
Tom Mattson, those recipes positively make my mouth water, especially the chicken and dumplings . Sadly I don't cook ( I plan to start someday :P) and some of the ingredients are beyond me .

Ok Moonbear, I won't say a word about substitutes till you get back from DC after having your crabcakes . I love crab and I love cakes, but what are crabcakes anyway ?

PS: Tom, do you have those recipes stored on your PC or something , as I gather from the posting times ?

Tom Mattson

He He Thanks!

Make that someday soon! Cooking is both fun and rewarding. It makes you a much better party host too. I would recommend starting by watching Michael Chiarello ("Easy Entertaining") and Giada De Laurentiis ("Everyday Italian"). Their dishes are really delicious, and really easy.

Check out the following thread, 2nd post down.

http://p212.ezboard.com/ffoodnetwork...opicID=8.topic

No, I post on cooking message boards. I just copied and pasted.

Cassandra Crossing (You have to be registered to view.)
Food Network Fans

brewnog

Thomas you've excelled yourself there. The Roasted Garlic Marinated Beef Tenderloin sounds divine, I will report back when I've eaten the lot.

Tom Mattson

How could I have forgotten dessert?

Baked Apples with Maple Syrup
Rome baking apples
maple syrup (The good stuff. If you use Mrs. Butterworth's and I find out about it, you will have a stalker on your hands. )
brown sugar
cinnamon

Core apples, taking care not to punch a hole through the bottom. Fill cavity with maple syrup. Blend equal parts brown sugar and cinnamon and cap off the hole in the apple with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake apples 30 min (or until tender) in a preheated 400 degree oven. Serve with ice cream.

It's simple to make, but it's delicious and my guests are always impressed with it. I serve them in a bowl with 3 small scoops of ice cream around the edges. When you first break that apple open the hot maple syrup runs out and melts the ice cream, and it's sooooooo good. Vanilla bean ice cream is strongly recommended.

Enjoy!

Astronuc

Great recipes, Tom!

I'm surprised the single ladies around here aren't hitting on you yet.

Tom Mattson

I'm sure they will once the smell wafts down the hall.

Back in November--for the very first time--I made the entire Thanksgiving dinner. The results are at the following thread.

My Italian Thanksgiving

My lasagne is much better than that one now. I used to make it with 2 thick cheese layers, but now I do 1 layer of cheese and 1 layer of sauce with well-seasoned ground beef. I've never written the recipe down though, I just kind of throw stuff in a pot and continually taste it with a chunk of bread. I've also added a 4th cheese to the mix: scamorza. On the next cool day I'll make a lasagne and report the amount of each ingredient.