Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Football Watchin': UGA vs. LSU

Given my love for Creole cuisine, you'd think I would have used this week to showcase some great recipe for Seafood Gumbo. I did work at THE BEST restaurant in town when I was a student here and I learned a lot about the region and its' food while there. I have eaten my way through New Orleans twice and am a huge fan of all things Creole or Cajun. However, I wasn't in the mood for that on Saturday! So, sorry, no Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce and definitely no Creme Brulee (even though I have new dishes to make them in!) I was in the mood for Japanese food. So I made something awesome, but it doesn't have anything to do with Louisiana. Oh well. We will surely meet again.

This dish is called Niku Tataki. I had it for the first time at our favorite restaurant in Greenville, SC, Irashai Sushi Restaurant. It happens to be the place we got engaged and we started off our meal with this delicious first course. I have served it here with sushi rolls and Unaki (BBQ Eel - my favorite). If you're not a sushi fan, the beef is so wonderful and you can serve it with any Asian-inspired meal. Whatever you do, I beg of you, eat this with chopsticks! Have a little fun!!

Niku Tataki

(or SAKE it to LSU)

(Cold Beef Tenderloin with Pongu Sauce)



To Prepare the Beef:

1/2 whole beef tenderloin

salt & pepper

Olive oil

-Heat a large skillet with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat
-Add the tenderloin and sear on all sides - if you're not sure how to do this, use a guide like
Joy of Cooking for a reference
-Remove beef from pan, wrap in foil and chill in the refrigerator overnight
-about 45 minutes prior to serving, place tenderloin in freezer to firm up the meat

Ponzu Sauce:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl:
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon ginger juice *
2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh chives

*ginger juice - finely grate 1 small piece of fresh ginger root into a small dish then pick up the lump of shavings and squeeze the juice into your measuring spoon

Final Step:
-Remove tenderloin from freezer and slice very thinly (almost shaved) with an electric carving knife
-Arrange beef in serving dish and pour sauce over the top





Sunday, October 19, 2008

Football Watchin: UGA vs. Vandy

Homecoming came and went without much pomp and circumstance for me this year. I guess when you live in Athens, homecoming isn't so important as it would be if you had to travel a great distance to attend. Homecoming makes me think of things homemade and one of my favorite discoveries has been homemade tacos. We love having taco night as a family and it's a regular meal around here. I avoid MSG at all cost. It gives me terrible headaches and stomach cramps. For a while, it was very difficult to find things that were MSG free - like canned chicken broth - which you can now get MSG free made by several different companies. Tacos were an issue because the traditional family taco night involves shaking a powdered, MSG riddled substance from an envelope and mixing it with your very high fat ground beef. Ugh. Not good for the tummy. When I found this recipe several years ago, it was a God-send. There may be more natural products on the market today; but this one is so easy and so incredibly delicious that I have no interest in them! Being married to an avid hunter, I have used ground venison exclusively in this recipe and everyone who has had these tacos loves them and can't believe they're made from venison. I highly recommend using venison in place of the beef because it is very healthy, lean red meat and also high in Omega-3s. It is closer in composition to salmon than beef. If you are not a fan of venison, or just not brave enough to try it, get the leanest ground beef you can find so your tacos don't turn out greasy and heavy. The filling is a recipe from Tom Perini's Texas Cowboy Cooking. This cookbook was a gift and it is wonderful! If you ever have the chance to pick up a copy, do yourself a favor and get one. His ranch dressing recipe is amazing!




Picadillo Carmela

(A filling for tacos, burritos, nacho topping or anything else you want to try it on!)

2 pounds lean ground beef or venison
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press or finely minced
1/2 cup sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbl flour
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup skinned potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1-2 whole jalapenos (optional)
Ligntly brown the meat, onion and garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. If meat is very lean, like most venison, first heat 2 tablespoons of oil or bacon drippings in the skillet before adding meat mixture. Add the chopped peppers, celery, carrots, salt and pepper. Add flour to 1 cup beef stock and mix well; add to meat along with remaining stock. Stock should barely cover meat mixture. Lower heat, cover and cook 10 minutes. Add the potatoes (and jalapenos, if you wish) cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Serves 6 to 8.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Football Watchin': UGA vs. Tennessee

What a hard couple of weeks for Georgia Football fans! I know this is a cooking blog and not a sports blog - but it has been difficult to keep up with my theme for my own anxiety over our standings. Anyway, we beat Tennessee soundly and it feels a little better now. Since it was a 3:30 game and we didn't tailgate, there wasn't really any food to speak of. Later, however, we had a great time at Anna's house as we celebrated my birthday and watched some more great college football games. There was a Mexican theme, inspired by a an obscure bottle of tequila which was apparently left in Anna and Lloyd's house by the previous owners. It cost 544 Pecos half-a-Century ago, has no English writing on it and it has an actual worm inside. Finally feeling brave enough to open it, Anna made us margaritas and we all brought a dish.

The Menu:
Homemade Salsa
Three-Layer Chili Dip
Spinach & Bean Dip
Tamal
Tortilla Chips & Pita Chips
Chocolate Ganache Cake
My dish, the tamal, wasn't as good as I had hoped. It is basically a large tamale pie. This was my second or third try at making one of Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen recipes and I'm not sold yet. I found it way too bready with not nearly enough meat filling. I like the concept though; so I may play with it a bit and report back if I hit on a better version of it.
Mindi's dish, the Spinach & Bean Dip, was very good. She adapted the filling for a lasagna roll recipe, adding spinach and adjusting the consistency, to make it into a dip. It tasted a little bit Italian and a little bit Mexican. I loved it.
Anna, of course, out-did herself as always. Her salsa recipe is outstanding as it blends traditional tomato salsa with tomatillos as well. She isn't one for taking short cuts and she always hand-chops everything. This ensures her salsa's wonderfully uniform consistency and beautiful color. I have never had her Three-Layer Chili Dip and it was wonderful. It looked easy to make and was completely gone at the end of the evening. The best food of the night award, however, goes to her Chocolate Ganache Cake. I have had it many times now and it is always perfect. While most cakes are delicate and light with a heavy chocolate-fudge type frosting; Anna's is just the opposite. The cake is moist but dense and the chocolate frosting is light and semi-sweet. The texture is perfect and I had no desire at all to ruin it with ice cream. Bravo.
It was a lovely evening, as always. Thanks everyone for helping me to celebrate my birthday! Hey Anna! You better bring the rest of that cake over for tea this week!!