GastronomeAZ

2012-06-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

One Pot Rustic Braised Rabbit

Well it's a half truth, I used two pots but only one when braising the rabbit. This isn't something we normally have but my 7 year old said she wanted rabbit for dinner. Imagine that! She liked it. But not totally. It wasn't the rabbit that she didn't like it was the fact that I squeezed some lemon juice in it while braising and marinating. So I guess that would be considered a success. The rabbit was tender, the sauce turned out rich and full of flavor. Try it and let me know what you think.

1 Rabbit
1 Head of Garlic
1 Medium Onion
3 Celery Stalks
1 Rosemary Sprig
1 Small Bag of Baby Carrots
3 Ears of Corn
1/2 Stick of Butter
2 Cans of Chicken Stock
1 Tbs fresh oregano
Peppercorns
Paprika

Braising Stock

I made this the night before so I can get more flavor out of the sauce.
First, quarter the rabbit, cutting out the backbone and rib bones. This is what you will use to make the stock. In a heavy stock pot heat oil, add onions, celery and a pinch of salt. Add some whole peppercorns and saute for 5 min. Add rosemary spring, bones, chicken stock and enough water to just cover everything. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium low and simmer until stock reduces to little over half. About 1 1/2 hour. During this time skim off the scum that rises. (I took out the rosemary after 30 min. I just wanted a hint of it.) When it's done strain the stock into a container, discard the solids, let cool and place stock in refrigerator.

It's Rabbit Time

Take the stock out and let it get to room temperature. Pre-heat oven to 325. Cut the head of garlic in half and take a couple of cloves and rub on the rabbit. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper. Marinate in olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. Cut ears of corn into 3 in. slices. Heat oil in a heavy dutch oven and char the corn. Remove corn. Dredge the rabbit in flour and brown all sides. Add the corn, garlic, carrots, marinating liquid and stock into pot, place in oven and let it braise slowly for 60-80 min. It should be fork tender.

Garlic Sauce

When done, remove rabbit, corn and carrots. Cover with foil to keep warm. There should be some liquid remaining which will be turned into a sauce if not you can add some dry white wine. Place the pot over medium heat. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the husks. Discard husks and with the back of a wooden spoon smash the garlic to incorporate it into the sauce. Stir in paprika. Cut the butter into pats and add one at a time into the sauce until it thickens and the sauce reduces. Pour over rabbit, serve and enjoy.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno

2012-05-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno

A hot party favor! Actually it isn't that spicy at all. This jalapeno stuffed with cheddar cheese, cream cheese and wrapped in bacon app. has always been a hit when we have a party. I think anything is a hit with bacon.

When selecting the jalapenos try to get them all the same size, also look for the medium to smaller ones. This makes it easier to stuff and wrap. I've tried it with the thick cut bacon and also the thin cut and find the thinner is better but it is totally up to you. There's nothing original about what I did here I just added and changed ingredients from other recipes that I found. Here's my take on this hot party favor.

12 Jalapenos peppers
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 oz cream cheese
1 package bacon
2 Tbs finely chopped cilantro (optional)
1 Tbs flour
Fresh ground pepper

Slice the jalapenos lengthwise, spoon out the seeds and soak in cold water for at least 30 min. this helps mellow the peppers and take some of the spice out. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Prepare the filling by combining the cream cheese, cheddar, cilantro and flour. The flour helps bind the cheese together so you don't lose too much cheese as it starts to bubble and ooze out. Add as much ground pepper as you like and any other spices you might want to try.

Drain the jalapenos and pat dry. With a spoon stuff the cheese filling into the peppers and smooth it so the cheese is level with slice. You don't want to over stuff because the cheese will just melt away. Once all the peppers are stuffed get some toothpicks ready, here comes the fun part. Try not to over wrap the peppers because the bacon layer underneath doesn't get as crisp. Cut the bacon in half and starting from the stem of the jalapeno wrap it diagonally and stretching the bacon and slightly overlapping it as you go. Break the toothpicks in half and pin the bacon ends to the pepper. This keeps the bacon from sliding off the pepper.

Place the peppers on a baking rake in a baking sheet and bake until the bacon looks crisp about 20-30 min. That's it! Simple right? I've also added green onions, ancho chili powder and a smoky cheddar and they were all good. This is a great base for you to try a combination of different ingredients. Let me know what your favorite it.

OXO Salad Spinner

2012-04-26T09:48:00.002-07:00

OXO Salad Spinner

It's a good product to have in your cabinet. I normally rinse my salad, dry it with the spinner and place in the refrigerator to crisp. I hate soggy salads and it dilutes the dressing. Yuck.

Caramel Apple Napoleon

2012-04-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

Caramel Apple Napoleon

A sweet treat. It's easy to prepare and just as easy to devour. You can call it a caramel, candy apple pie, napoleon or just YUM.

Amaretto Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup Amaretto or you could substitute with water
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs. butter
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla paste - I use Nielsen Massey pure vanilla bean paste. Once you do you'll never go back to vanilla extract.

Add the Amaretto, water and sugar to a large saucepan. Over low heat cook until the sugar dissolves. You can tell if the sugar is dissolved by dipping the back of the wooden spoon in the mixture and touch the spoon with your finger to feel if it is grainy. Be careful not to burn your self. Then increase the heat to medium high and boil uncovered until the sugar turns to an amber color, stirring occasionally. When it turns to a carmel color take saucepan off the heat and stir in the butter a teaspoon at a time until it melts. Stir in the vanilla paste. Place the saucepan back over low heat and stir in a cup of the heavy cream, a little at a time to mix well. Take off the heat and ad stir in the remaining heavy cream. If it's too thick add more cream until the desired consistency. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Mascarpone Cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 tsp. vanilla paste

Whip the sugar and cream until it forms soft peaks. Whip the mascarpone and vanilla until well blended. Fold the cream into the mascarpone and vanilla mixture. Mix well and place in refrigerator to chill.

Glazed Apples
6 large Ganny Smith apples
3 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tps. all spice
1 cinnamon stick
3 Tbs. Amaretto

Using a mandoline slice the peeled apples 3/8" thick. In a cast iron skillet, combine all the ingredients except the apples and cook over medium heat and stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Working in batches add the apples and cook each side 2-4 minutes or until tender. Place the cooked apples on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Do not stack the apples. When done place the apples in the refrigerator to chill.

The Assembly
All the ingredients should be chilled before assembly to keep the cream from melting. This is the easiest part. It's one apple slice, a small teaspoon of the mascarpone cream, apple slice, cream, apple slice, cream then drizzle the caramel sauce over and add some around the napoleon.

That's how I made it. And my toughest critic gave it a YUM! (It's because she has a sweet tooth) Try it, experiment, make it better and let me know what you think.

Green Chile Mac & Cheese

2012-04-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

Green Chile Mac & Cheese

Here's a recipe for mac & cheese lovers. I tasted this Robert McGrath's creation at the Roaring Fork and it was delicious. This dish makes a great main course or compliment to a thick cut rib eye steak. I found his recipe and started to make it at home. Of course my skills are no where near his. I've made it a few times and it turned out good (once I was experimenting and it was turned out awful). This last time I added a couple new ingredients and it was a success.

1 tablespoon corn oil
1/4 cup diced poblano chile
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni, al dente
1/2 cup roasted, peeled and pureed poblano chile
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated hot pepper Jack cheese
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

My additions
2 Tbs preserved black beans
Ground roasted Ancho chile powder to taste

Directions Heat the corn oil in a heavy pan over high heat add the preserved black beans and smash with the back of the spatula then saute the diced poblano chile, red bell pepper, red onion, and garlic until just tender. Add the corn kernels and saute quickly. Add the macaroni, poblano puree, cream, and cheese. Stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Season to taste and serve.

The preserved or fermented black beans are actually salted soybeans which turn black from the fermenting process. It has a sharp, pungent, spicy smell and has a salty, bitter, sweet taste. You have to rinse them before using or they could add too much salt to your dish. You can find it in an Asian market in a bag. The ones in the jar aren't as flavorful. Adding these two ingredients adds a smoky taste to an already amazing recipe.

Try the recipe and write a review

Tomato Jam Appetizer

2012-03-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Frankenstein I'm not, but I do like to experiment with combining different ideas. Here's the latest appetizer attempt. It's part pizza and bruschetta with a little bit of Asian mixed in. This appetizer looks like a pizza but when you take a bite your taste buds are going to be shocked and confused. That's not tomato sauce my friends, it's a savory tomato jam with tang and hint of sweetness. It was slowly cooked with peeled, seeded fresh roma tomatoes, red wine vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, shallots, brown sugar and honey.

Many of us has had grilled cheese sandwiches with our tomato soup so I thought a smokey cheddar cheese would made a good compliment to the tomato jam. It was a good choice. I love bruschettas because they're perfect finger foods for parties. So instead of bread I chose to put this on Naan. Naan has this wonderful chewiness which I would call it the taffy of breads (only 1/10th of the elasticity of taffy, in my opinion).

So, to put this all together I brushed the Naan with olive oil infused with garlic, a generous amount of cheddar cheese, chopped fresh basil and broiled it until the cheese melted. When that was done, I spooned on the tomato jam, topped it with more fresh basil, cut it up and devoured it. Then I made another one for the guests. Let me know what you think.

Spring Rolls At Noodles Ranch

2012-03-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year to get a fresh order of spring rolls from Noodles Ranch located at Scottsdale Road and Thomas. There are three plump spring rolls filled with shrimp, pork, lettuce, Thai basil and rice vermicelli noodles with a sweet peanut sauce that I garnish with Sriracha. Chef André makes everything fresh and tasty. I normally get Pho because it's comforting. I've tried them all except the sea food but I expect it to be wonderful too. Back to the spring rolls, it makes a perfect lunch because you don't over eat, it's healthy and none of the drowsy feeling you get after eating a burger and fries. It's fun finger food and the texture of the wrapper reminds me of gummy bears. One of the freshest, healthiest lunch you can have. I must admit I offset that healthiness with a double, iced Vietnamese coffee. Love it!

Chimichurri Eggs Benedict - Because I Am Sam

2012-03-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

The only green egg I can think of is the "Century Egg" and I didn't think it would be appealing to 99% of Americans. I've eaten it before because my mom told me it was good. I had a little with my congi and it was just fine.

To celebrate Dr Seuss's birthday I made chimichurri eggs benedict. The chimichuri really livens up the eggs benedict with a slight hint of spice from the jalapeno, the freshness from the parsley, oregano and garlic and the right balance of acidity from the red wine vinegar and limes. For my eggs benedict I had to get a special black forest ham from my favorite local deli the German Sausage Company. The ladies who have been working there for years are absolutely delightful. To accompany this brunch dish my sommelier friend suggested a Pisco Sour (a Peruvian grape brandy with a splash of lime juice, fresh egg whites and sugar). Let me know what you think.

A toast "Here's to you Dr Seuss, I will forever love green eggs and ham."

Chain Restaurants- Love to Hate Them

2012-02-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

Chain Restaurants >>

In my opinion chain restaurants are blah, blah, BLAH. I won't lie, I do go occasionally and I do generally like the food but I'm just bored with it. For instance, I love Mexican food but I don't excited to go to Macayo's or Garcia's, it's just generic, make a turd food. It's the same canned sauce with melted shredded cheese, canned bland beans and the important shredded mush meat.

I will tell you the gems are the local owned restaurants. Owners and chefs who make unique dishes of their own creations or recipes handed down from generations, yum. One comes to mind is San Carlos Bay Mariscos, 1901 E McDowell Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85006. Seafood in the middle of the desert? Yes! The Gulf of Mexico is only a few hours away. This is the place I go when I have a craving for octopus. It's wonderful. Tender, buttery, garlicy morsels of octopus over fries. What?! Fries?! Of course, what better vehicle to use to soak up all that yummy flavored butter. Another extraordinary dish is the shrimp culichi. The shrimp isn't the star of the dish, it's the freakin' sauce. It's spicy, gooey, cheesy and green. You need extra tortillas to not let the sauce go to waste. The shrimp is made nicely too. So forget about going to those cookie cutter restaurants, this place isn't a site to see but the food will make you feel right at home.

AZ 88 - Scottsdale, AZ - Notches Above Bar Food

2012-02-22T23:50:00.000-08:00

Many of you have been to AZ88 and have raved about the AZ88 Chicken sandwich, I am one of those long time ravers. For those of you who have never tried it let me try to express the yearning you will get after devouring one. It's a simple buffalo chicken breast sandwich oozing with a tangy heat sauce melded together with rich bleu cheese (drool). Simplicity at its finest. You may think, what is the big deal? Like I said words cannot describe how the chicken breast is seasoned perfectly peppery, the sauce is tangy, medium low heat buffalo sauce smothered in a soothing bleu cheese dressing. Topping off the sandwich, a few diced celery for crunch and of course the important bun which has been the same fresh and never stale bun they've had for years. Of course this comes with sidekicks: Waffle fries (great) and fruits (balanced diet). Since this is bar food you need to have a cocktail. I had mine with one (or was it two?) of their filled to the brim martinis. Either way it was a great night with friends and I may have forgotten a few details from that night but I will never forget the AZ88 Chicken sandwich.