Ropa Vieja

Anyone who can speak Spanish knows what this means.  Yup, "Old Clothes".  Ropa Vieja originated in the Canary Islands, but it's the national dish of Cuba.  It was originally just a stew made from leftovers, but almost every Hispanic country has developed it's own version.  This version here comes from a little old Cuban lady named Maritza, who was my cafeteria cook in Mexico.  This recipe was so good and became so popular with the hotel Executives we had to put it on our banquet menu, and finagle a fine dining version to keep on the restaurant menu in the hotel where I was working.  

Ropa "Not Ganghnam Style" Vieja

3 lbs. flank steak, or skirt steak

2 tbsp. whole butter

1/2 c. tomato paste

1 medium onion, split and julienne

1 each green and red bell pepper julienne

1 c. beef stock, or beer ( I like to use Negra Modelo for this)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 ketchup

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with chipotle (or whatever diced tomatoes you like)

1/2 c rough chopped cilantro

1/4 rough chopped Epazote

1.  Start by melting your butter in a heavy pot.  Add the onions, garlic and peppers and sweat down for about 5 minutes.  We're not going to sweat these all the way out, but just get them started.  They should look like this:

2.  After about 5 minutes, add your tomato paste and stir that around for just under a minute.  Add your beer and diced tomatoes.

3.  Let this come up to a simmer, then add your meat.  I leave the meat whole, but you don't have to if you don't want to.  Cover this and let it simmer for about an hour.

4.  When an hour is up, add your herbs and ketchup.  Cover again and simmer for another 90 minutes, or until the meat is falling apart.  

5.  When the meat is nice and tender, pull it out, and let it cool down until you can handle it.  Keep the sauce simmering and let it reduce a bit, about  1/4.  

6.  Shred the beef by hand and add back to the sauce.  Stir until everything is combined evenly and serve.

Traditionally, this is served with rice and black beans.  We always served it with tortillas as well, but I'm pretty sure that was because we had some really great tortillas in the part of Mexico I was in.  I've seen it served with fried ripe plantains (maduros) and crispy unripe plantain chips as well.  In the Canary Islands, they're still serving this with potatoes, so you can see how versatile this is.  You got questions?  I've got the answer,  just let me know in the comments.

Happy Eating

-The Doctor

Classic Turkey Meat Balls

Why turkey meatballs?  Well, ground turkey was on sale at the grocery store, so that's why.  Besides, it's something you can make with your fresh pasta recipe that I gave you earlier this week.  You can do this recipe with any meat you want.  Traditionally, Italians do meatballs with a mix of beef, pork, and veal, but I've used, chicken, lamb, and venison as well.  I've found this recipe to be the most versatile, but I'll also be putting up different style meatball recipes through the blog.  I like to make these in big batches and freeze them to keep on hand.  You never now when a party's going to break out around here.  This makes about 40 1 oz. meatballs.

3 lb Ground turkey ( or whatever meat you like)

2 eggs

1/3 c diced white bread, toasted

1/3 c milk

1/4 c. parmesan

1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1.  The first step is to make a panada.  Toasting the bread removes more moisture allowing it to pick up more milk, and, therefore, more flavor.  Mix the diced bread and milk, and let it sit in the fridge for an hour.  

2.  After an hour, add the eggs, Parmesan and herbs to the panada and start smushing it all together with your hands.  (Yes, "smushing" is a word, look it up in the New Jersey Dictionary).  Make sure everything is mixed well, then go back into the fridge for another hour. 

3.  Now it's time to get all of this good stuff mixed together!!  Put the meat into a nice mixing bowl and mix in your panada by hand. Before you get all messy, season the meat with salt and pepper.  You can always go back and add more.  If you want to taste test these, all you need to do is heat up a pan with some oil, then fry up a small patty.  Don't be afraid to do this a few times until you get the seasoning right.  

4. When the mix is nice and homogeneous (big word right?), take a one ounce s ice cream/cookie scoop, and a bowl of warm water.  Dip the scoop in the warm water then scoop out 4 or five meatballs.  After that you'll see the meat start to stick to the scoop.   Just simply re-dip and clean.  Keep doing this until you've scooped all of the meat.

5.  Now get a saute pan hot with some oil.  When you see a slight bit of smoke in the pan, start searing your meat balls.  We're going to cook them all the way here, only because we're going to freeze them, and they're so small.  

So that's it, they're ready to freeze or serve.  If you want to make these bigger, go ahead,  just make sure you finish them off in the oven. These will keep in the freezer a good couple of months, if you wrap them correctly.  As always, if you have question, just ask below.

Happy Eating

-The Doctor

Back to the basics...Pasta Dough

"Here we go Doc, more simple stuff..."  YUP!!!!!  I'm giving you this recipe because I'm going to refer to it a lot.  We'll be doing some interesting lasagna's ravioli, agnolotti and other fun things with pasta that are just plain  better with fresh pasta. Besides, how much cooler would you look to your friends making this from scratch !?  The correct answer here is AWESOME!!!!  This is a generic pasta dough recipe I developed for AP flour.  I do prefer to use Semolina, but sometimes and in some parts of the country, it's just too hard to find (and this blog is all about making it easy).  I'm also going to give you two sets of instructions one for using a mixer, and the other by hand, so you can do whatever you like.  Here's what you need to make about a pound -

Finished dough, photo by randomcuisine.com

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, plus 1 for egg wash
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cornmeal, semolina, or more flour for dusting

To make the pasta dough In an electric mixer: 

1. For the love of all that is culinary, please make sure you have a dough hook.

2. Combine the flour and salt. Turn on the mixer.

3. Add the eggs,1 at a time, and continue to mix.

4.  Drizzle in 1 tablespoons of the olive oil and continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball.

5. When you have a nice ball, stop the mixer, and take the ball out.  Sprinkle some flour on work surface, knead and fold the dough until elastic and smooth, this should take about 10 minutes. Then brush the surface with some more olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Let this puppy rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

Alternatively if you don't have an electric mixer:

1. Combine the flour and salt on a flat work surface; shape into a mound and make a                  

 well in the center.

2. Add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the well and lightly beat with a fork.

3. Gradually draw in the flour from the inside wall of the well in a circular motion. Use 1 hand for mixing and the other to protect the outer wall. Continue to incorporate all the flour until it forms a ball. 

4.  Repeat Step 5 form above (yeah, I'm that lazy, you got a problem wit' dat?)

OK, so the pasta part was easy right?  You're ready to do anything with this, and it's good to have in your little black cookbook. I'm lucky and have my own little electric pasta machine.  If you have a mixer, there's usually an attachment you can buy for rolling out pasta. If you don't have either, you can go Old Skool and use a rolling pin like Nonna used to do.  As always, if you have questions,  just ask below.

Happy Eating

-The Doctor



  

Dirty DC Half-Smoke Mac and Cheese

Yes, this is as awesome as it sounds. When your'e  in Washington D.C., and you go to a place like Ben's Chili Bowl, or any vendor on the street, you're not going to order a hotdog, you're going to get a half-smoke.  Sure, you can get a hot dog, but what's the point?  It's just not D.C.  You remember the old saying about "When in Rome..." right?  A half-smoke, for the un-initiated is a half beef, half pork smoked sausage that you can get anywhere in the city, and it's a specialty of world famous Ben's Chili Bowl in the city.  I got the idea for this dish from what we used to call "Ghetto 'Sketti" during my time as a banquet chef.  It was usually left over hot dogs, pasta, and cheese whiz from kid's menu banquets (Oh like you never stole some from the kids table) - I just simply replaced the hot dog with something much better.  This recipe will make about 1 serving for me, 4-6 for the normal human.

1/2 lb uncooked weight pasta of your choice (I used Gemelli for this recipe) cooked and cooled

Yeah...nothing to say here, just look...

1/4 c. Cheez Whiz (don't cringe, it's a Philly classic)
1/4 c. whole milk
2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1/4 c. minced red onion
1 whole tomato, large diced, seeds rinsed
1 tsp. flour
1 tbsp whole butter
4 oz. GOOD American cheese (like the deli counter stuff, NOT the singles), cubed
1/2 sliced half smokes (if you can't find them use the Hillshire Farms smoked sausages, they're close enough)
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1. First things first, let's get the butter in a heavy bottom sauce pot, and preheat our oven to 350.  Let that butter melt a bit on high heat and add your sausages.  Cook these for  a minute of two, then add the Cajun seasoning, onions, and tomatoes.  Cook these down until the onions are translucent; if you need to add more butter, feel free, sometimes the Cajun seasoning can soak it up. We want just a little greasy goodness in the pot.

2.  When the onions are translucent, scoop out everything that's in the pot and pour out on a plate . Leave all of the grease/butter in the pot.  Add your flour and cook it, stirring constantly for about a minute.

3.  Now add your milk.  This is going to need to cook out for just a couple of minutes and get thick.  After about 5 minutes of simmering and stirring, add the American cheese and the Cheez Whiz.  Stir or whisk this until they melt.

4.  Now it gets good.  Add your sausage and veggies back to the pot, thenyou’re your pasta and mix evenly.  Transfer all of this to an oven safe dish and top with the shredded cheddar.

5.  Pop the whole thing in the oven until the cheddar melts, then serve. 

There's not much else to say about this.  It's simple and delicious.  As always feel free to experiment with other cheeses.  I know for a fact Blue Cheese, Gouda, and Mozzarella will really kick this off too. Dont' be afraid to try out other sausages and meats too.  Kielbasa, Andouille, and Tasso Ham all will work for this recipe too.

Happy Eating,

-The Doctor

Roasted Wings with Blue Cheese Tabasco butter

What another wing recipe???   Yup.  I can't have a football party with just one type of wing.  That's just plain wrong.  The technique we're using for the sauce here is a bit more advanced than what you've seen so far; but it's still a basic sauce, and a great technique to have in your arsenal.  We'll be doing a Buerre  Blanc, which literally mean White Butter which is wine with butter melted into it very slowly so it doesn't break.  It sounds complicated, but if you take your time, it comes out perfectly.  For 4 lbs. of wings you'll need:

New twist on classic flavors

1/2 c. white wine1/2 shallot, chopped

1/4 c. Heavy Cream

1 tbsp. hot sauce (Like Frank's Hot, Crystal, or Tabasco Buffalo.  These add a great pepper flavor)

2 tbsp. tabasco (more if you like it hottter)

4 oz. crumbled blue cheese

1/2 lb. butter, cut up into even pieces

1.  In a sauce pot, combine your shallots and wine.  Reduce them over medium high heat until the wine is almost dry like this:

Wine and shallots reduced to "dry" or "au sec"

2.  Add your cream and hot sauce and simmer for just 3-5 minutes.  You want them to reduce by about 1/4 or 1/3.  

3.  When this mixture has been reduced down, lower the heat and start adding your butter piece by piece.  Use a whisk to move the butter around.  Wait about 30 seconds between adding each piece of butter and don't stop whisking until all of the butter is melted.  

4.  When the butter is all melted, cut the flame and add the blue cheese.  Let it melt just a little by beating it up with your whisk, but not too much.  Add your Tabasco.  Put the sauce off the side somewhere warm.

Slowly whisking in your butter

For the wings:

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 450 or 500 hundred.  I say either or because some ovens can only go to 450, while some can hit 500.  Either is fine.  In some ovens a "Broil" may be more effective, so just make sure you know how your oven is calibrated

2.  Toss the wings in oil salt and pepper and spread out evenly on a baking tray like this:

Wings ready for the oven

3.  Place the wings on the lowest rack in the oven.  Let them go for about 20-25 minutes.  You should start to hear them sizzle.

4.  At this point turn them and finish them off on the other side, about another 20-25 minutes.  Drain off and SAVE and juice that may be in the pan. (Emergency chicken stock)

5.  When the wings are ready, grab a bowl and put a few in there.  Toss them in the sauce and get a good coat.  Repeat until all of the wings are coated, then serve.  I like to just sprinkle a bt more blue cheese on them and throw a couple dashes of Tabasco on top just for visual.

The cool part about this recipe is the sauce we're doing.  I’ll be putting up a more basic and traditional version of the recipe in a few weeks, but how nice is it to have your hot sauce and blue cheese in the same sauce?  About the wings, you can fry these or grill them too (grilling is my favorite).  Feel free to play with them as much as you like.

As always, if you have questions, leave them in the comments below.  

Happy Eating

-The Doctor