Kitchen Encounters

~ Island-Style Bejeweled Coconut & Black Bean Rice ~

In Jamaica, they make a dish called coconut rice and peas -- it's usually served as an accompaniment to Caribbean-style chicken- or shrimp- curry dishes and jerk-seasoned meats. This is sort of not it.  This is my twist on it.  In Jamaica, beans are called peas, more specifically, pigeon peas -- they’re a staple in Indian, African, Latin and Caribbean cooking and are sold canned, dried or fresh.  In the Caribbean islands, kidney beans are a common substitution, which is a good, because, up until recently, pigeon peas were not something I could find in my Central PA stores.  While I like kidney beans (a lot), I love black beans, so, I use them.  We cool so far?

Traditionally, the rice is cooked on the stovetop, rice-pilaf-style.  That means, the dish (liberally seasoned in the style of the cuisine being cooked) is simmered in a flavored liquid (like meat, poultry or vegetable stock), instead of plain water -- as the rice cooks it absorbs an array of flavors.  Prior to adding the liquid, the process often starts by briefly sautéing the rice and/or some vegetables (like onion and garlic) in some butter or oil.  "In the style of the cuisine being cooked" means:  use seasonings and add ingredients common to the country of origin.  In the case of Jamaican-style rice and peas, besides the rice and peas, those ingredients would be: onion, garlic, Scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, chicken stock and/or coconut milk.  We cool so far?

For convenience w/o compromise, try my rice steamer method:

Rice steamer vs. stovetop.  I love my rice cooker/steamer and I'm pretty certain everyone else who owns one does too.  These modern marvels take all the guesswork out of cooking rice on the stovetop.  I use mine for steaming broccoli and cauliflower too.  By using dried herbs and spices in place of fresh, which kept the flavor profile the same as the Jamaian-style stovetop version, trust me when I tell you, my rice steamer version compromises neither flavor nor texture. After learning that ginger and brown sugar are sometimes added to the stovetop version, I took it upon myself to bejewel my version, island-style, with bits of candied fruit common to the Caribbean:  ginger, mango, papaya and pineapple.  It's over-the-top great.  We cool so far? 

2  cups basmati rice

1  15 1/2-ounce can coconut milk + water to total 2 1/2  cups

1  teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2  teaspoon each: garlic powder, onion powder and salt

1/4  teaspoon Scotch bonnet pepper powder

1  15 1/2-ounce can black beans, well-drained and rinsed, or:  

1 15 1/2-ounce can well-drained green or black pigeon peas*, or, kidney beans

*A bit about pigeon peas:  About the same size as a black bean, with the same nutty taste and grainy texture of all beans (not at all the taste and texture associated with green peas), feel free to use them.  If you use a brand packed in coconut milk, feel free to use the coconut milk they're packed in too.

To bejewel Coconut & Black Bean Rice island-style:

2  tablespoons small-diced candied ginger

2  tablespoons small-diced candied mango

2  tablespoons small-diced candied papaya

2  tablespoons small-diced candied pineapple

~Step 1.  Using the measuring cup from the rice cooker, measure and place 2 level cups rice in steamer basket.  Using the measuring cup from the rice cooker, measure and add the coconut milk/water mixture to the steamer basket with the rice.  Rinse and drain the black beans.

~Step 2.  Add the dry spices (thyme leaves, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and Scotch bonnet pepper powder to the rice and coconut milk in the steamer basket and give the mixture a thorough stir. Add the black beans and do not stir.  Close lid on the rice cooker and turn it on.  When rice cooker shuts off, open lid and immediately rake through rice with a fork to separate the grains.

~Step 3.  To bejewel the rice, which adds sweet, tart and edgy zing, stir in the candied ginger, mango, papaya and ginger.  Rake the candied fruits into coconut and black bean rice and serve.

Bejewel: a verb meaning to ornament or encrust, as if with jewels.

Want Oven-Roasted Jamaican-Jerk-Chicken with this?

Island-Style Bejeweled Coconut & Black Bean Rice:  Recipe yields 5 1/2-6 cups.

Special Equipment List: electric rice cooker/steamer; measuring cup from rice cooker; small colander; spoon; cutting board; chef's knife

Cook's Note: Bananas and plantains -- they resemble each other, and they're related too.   I eat a banana every morning, but, I can't say the same for the plantain.  By accident or out of curiosity, if you've ever tasted a raw plantain, you knew you weren't eating a banana.  That said, when sautéed, the taste and texture of the yellow plantain is remarkable.  ~ Sweet & Caramelized Island-Spice Yellow Plantains ~ is another side-dish common to the fiery curry dishes and jerk-seasoned meats of the Caribbean islands.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Spice-is-Nice Oven-Roasted Jamaican-Jerk Chicken~

Leave it to the Jamaicans.  I can't think of another exotic-to-me cuisine that does a better job of making my life easier.  I mean, seriously, they've cornered the market on marketing high-quality, bold-flavored dry-spice blends and rubs, wet pastes and marinades, barbecue, steak and hot pepper sauces, etc. -- when it comes to cooking Jamaican fare at home, some of their store-bought time-savers make me ponder why anyone would want to concoct "it" from scratch.

That said, time spent in my kitchen is therapy -- it's my "don't worry, be happy" space.  It's the game-on place where movies and music play, all problems appear smaller and magic happens. Any reason to spend more time in the kitchen is a good reason.  Since cooking-from-scratch extends my stay in my playroom, the mouth-watering end result more than justifies the occasionally difficult means.  Jamaican-style jerk cooking does not fall into the category of difficult.

Charred & crispy skin w/moist, pull-apart pinky meat, jerk is... 

... nicely-spiced w/a warm heat that coats your throat...

... & a succulent sauce that'll make you smack your lips. 

In a (coco)nutshell, jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica.  It was developed by African slaves who escaped into the mountains of Jamaica after the British captured this island paradise from Spain in 1655.  Forced to adapt to their new surroundings, the Maroons (the name given to the escaped slaves) made use of the foods nature provided, by pulverizing the edibles they gathered into a fiery pasty rub.  By adding fruit and/or citrus juice, the fiery pasty rub became a spicy basting and dipping sauce.  When thinned down with a bit of drinking water or the milk from a coconut, the spicy sauce became a highly-flavored wet marinade -- over time, items from trades, like vinegar and/or rum were transitioned into the mixture.  Once rubbed and/or marinated, the meat or game they hunted was then slowly cooked over a smoking pimento-wood fire.

Originally used for pork, it's now common to "jerk" chicken, beef, fish & seafood too.

The "jerk" in jerk comes from the Spanish word via the Peruvian word "charqui", the noun for dried strips of meat now called "jerky".  Jerk seasoning was/is the dry spice blend used to season jerky, and Jamaican jerk seasoning, known for the flavors of allspice, thyme and pepper, is perhaps the most famous.  Throughout the Caribbean, islanders preserved/cured their spice-rubbed meats by drying them in the intense sun or over a slow fire -- this allowed the meat to be taken on long journeys and eaten as is or reconstituted in boiling water.  The word most likely transitioned to the verb, "jerking", in reference to the way the meat gets "jerked" around on the grill as it cooks.

Making my marinade & roasting the chickens:

As mentioned above, the Jamaicans have cornered the market on marketing high-quality, bold-flavored dry spice blends and rubs, wet pastes and marinades, barbecue, steak and hot pepper sauces.  In a pinch there's no shame and little compromise in using them.  When it comes to making my oven-roasted jerk chicken, I like to use a wet marinade (as opposed to a paste), and, when time is short, it's the Walkerswood brand that I reach for.

Note:  My recipe is my copycat of their recipe.  It makes  4 1/4 cups (36 ounces), which is about the equivalent of 2, 17-ounce bottles of their store-bought (34 ounces).  One cup of marinade is enough for 1 whole chicken that has been split in half to form two pieces.  I'm using half today, to marinate and roast 4 half chickens, and, I'm freezing the rest for a round of jerk on another day. 

Making marinade, roasting chickens & simmering sauce:

For the chickens, marinade and dipping/barbecue sauce:

4  4-5 pound frying chickens, as even in size as possible, split in half, backbones removed, to form 8 pieces total (Note:  I ask my local butcher to do this for me.)

8  ounces large-diced red onion (about 2 cups)

4  ounces diced green onion (about 1 cup)

2  ounces large-diced ginger root (about 1/3-1/2 cup)

1  ounce whole garlic cloves (about 6 large cloves)

4  Scotch bonnet peppers, with seeds, stems removed

1  cup lime juice, preferably fresh or high-quality organic, not from concentrate

1  cup malt vinegar

1/4  cup mild-flavored molasses

1/4  cup dark rum

2  tablespoons dried thyme leaves

6  teaspoons ground allspice

6  teaspoons ground cinnamon

2  teaspoons ground nutmeg

1  teaspoon ground cloves

4  teaspoons sea salt

4  teaspoons coarse-grind black pepper

1/4  cup vegetable oil

~Step 1.  Prep and place red onion, green onion, ginger, garlic and Scotch bonnets in the work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Using a series of 50-60 rapid on-off pulses, very-finely mince the ingredients.  Open the processor lid and use a spatula to scrape down sides of work bowl.  Add the lime juice, vinegar, molasses, rum and all dry spices.  Process again, using a series of 10-20 rapid on-off pulses.  With motor running, through feedtube, drizzle in the oil, then process with motor running 30-45 more seconds.  There will be a generous 4 cups marinade.

~Step 2.  Place each split chicken in a heavy-duty 2-gallon-sized food storage bag, positioning the two halves so the sharp bones face the inside once the bag is sealed.  Pour 1 cup of the marinade into each bag.  Gather the bag tightly up around the chicken and twist or zip closed. Using your hands, massage each bag, until each chicken is thoroughly coated in the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator 6-8 hours (minimum), overnight, or up to 48 hours (maximum) -- remove from refrigerator, to return to room temperature, 1 hour prior to roasting as follows:

~Step 3.  To roast, insert a wire rack in the bottom of a large 20" x 12" x 4" disposable aluminum roasting pan, then place a sheet of parchment paper on the rack.  Open each bag of chicken. One-at-a-time lift each half chicken up and out, allowing the excess marinade to drizzle back into the bag*, then arrange the halves, side-by-side on the rack in prepared pan.  Roast, uncovered on center rack of 350º oven, 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a tip of a knife.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 10-15 minute, prior to serving.

*Note:  Do not discard the marinade in bags.  It will be used to make the sauce (recipe below).

~Step 4.  Transfer all of the flavorful pan-drippings from the roasting pan to a fat/lean separator. Pour the lean portion into a small 1-1 1/2-quart saucepan and discard the fat portion.  Add the marinade remaining in the bag(s), about 1/2-3/4 cup per bag.  Place on the stovetop and bring to a simmer over medium- medium-high heat and continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes.  After roasting 2 chickens (4 pieces), there will be about 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce for dipping or drizzling.

Eat it w/your fingertips or fancy it up a bit served atop...

... my Island-Style Bejeweled Coconut & Black Bean Rice:

How about a Jerk-Chicken & Slaw on Coco Bread Sandwich?

Spice-is-Nice Oven-Roasted Jamaican-Jerk Chicken:  Recipe yields a generous 4 cups marinade/4-6 half chickens/4-6 servings/1 1/2-3 cups barbecue sauce for dipping or drizzling.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 1-cup measuring container; food processor; large rubber spatula; 1-4 2-gallon food storage bags; 1-2, 20" x 12" x 4" disposable aluminum roasting pan(s); 1-2 parchment sheets; fat/lean separator; 1-1 1/2-quart saucepan

Cook's Note:  I don't cook Caribbean food often, but when I do, it's island-style good.  Thanks to a couple of chef friends, I know just enough about this cuisine to be dangerous without straying from the core flavors. ~ Don't Worry, Be Happy: Jamaican-Style Beef Patties ~. 

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2018)

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Sweet & Hot Chili-Sauced Thai-Style Fried Chicken ~

Oh-My-Thai-style snacky-type appetizers.  Truth told, I could easily make a meal out of these, and, frankly so could every person I've ever served them to -- every sweet-heat-seeking man, woman and child (every last one of them).  Every now and then I get a hankering for fried-chicken -- the good old-fashioned batter-dipped and deep-fried kind -- crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside.  When the hankering hits, I've just gotta have it.  What could be better?  

Fried chicken with all the bold, bright flavors of Thailand.

Winner, winner Thai-style sweet & hot red chili sauce.

Simply irresistible indeed.  This is perhaps my favorite of all the Thai-style condiments I use for dipping and drizzling.  Next to spicy and slightly-salty peanut sauce, I could and do put it on and add it to almost anything Thai.  I got my first taste of sweet and hot Thai chili sauce (Mae Ploy) back in the 1990's and it rocked my food world.  That's why there's always sweet chili sauce in my refrigerator, and, I won't lie, it's often store-bought.  That said, sweet chili sauce is not hard to make.  If you're a purist, or simply curious, you should try making it at home at least at least once.

3/4  cup sugar

1/2  cup rice vinegar

1/4  cup water

1  tablespoon pressed garlic, about 4 large cloves run through a press, or 1 tablespoon store-bought garlic paste

1  tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1  tablespoon cornstarch, stirred together with:

1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce

1  tablespoon cold water

~Step 1.  In a 1-quart saucepan, stir together the sugar, vinegar and water.  Just stir long enough to combine, not to dissolve the sugar completely (that will come later).  Set aside.  Run the garlic through a press and set aside.  Stir together the cornstarch, fish sauce and cold water.  Set aside.

~Step 2.  Bring sugar mixture to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until  sugar is dissolved.  Add and stir in the pressed garlic and crushed red pepper.  Adjust heat (lower it a bit), to a steady simmer and cook, stirring constantly for 1 full minute.  Re-stir the cornstarch mixture.  Adjust heat to a gentle simmer (lower it more) and drizzle in the cornstarch slurry. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until nicely thickened, about 30-60 seconds.  Remove from heat, cover the saucepan, and set aside 15-30 minutes.

Note:  Homemade chili sauce made the way I'm making it today, using red pepper flakes, is not as red colored as the mass-produced, pasteurized, store-bought. That's because store-bought sweet chili sauce is made using loads of pulverized, bright-red, pickled, Thai bird chile peppers. Some recipes instruct to add Sriracha sauce to achieve the red color, but I find that product to vinegary for this culinary application.  For me, 4 drops of red food coloring works perfectly.

~ Step 3.  Transfer to a food storage container, cool to room temperature and store in refrigerator.

Winner, winner Thai-style marinated chicken tenderloins:

For the marinade:

2-4  pounds whole, boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, about 10-20 large tenderloins, each tenderloin sliced into 4-5 nugget-sized pieces.

1/4  cup each:  honey, lime juice, &, Thai seasoning soy sauce

2  tablespoons each: Thai fish sauce & sesame oil

1  tablespoon each:  garlic paste & ginger paste

1 teaspoon Sriracha seasoning blend

~Step 1.  Slice each chicken tenderloin into 4-5 nuggets, placing them in a 1-gallon food storage bag as you work.  Even size = even cooking time, so decide, up front, on 5 smaller or 4 larger sized nuggets and cut every tenderloin the same way.  Place ingredients for marinade in a 1-cup measuring container with a tight-fitting lid and a pourer top, then vigorously shake to combine. Pour all  marinade into bag of chicken.  Seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for about 4-6 hours, overnight or up to two days. Remove from refrigerator 1-1 1/2 hours prior to deep-frying. Clip a hole in the corner of the bag, then drain and discard all excess marinade out of the bag.

Winner, winner Thai-style batter-dipped, deep-fried chicken:

For the dry dredge, drizzly batter & crunchy coating:

1  cup pancake mix, for dredging

1 1/2 cup pancake mix, for batter

1  14-ounce can coconut milk

1/2  cups beer, your favorite brand (club soda may be substituted)

2-4  tablespoons Thai seasoning soy sauce, to taste

8 ounces panko breadcrumbs or sweetened flaked coconut, or a combination of both

all of the marinated chicken nuggets, from above recipe, drained of all excess marinade

Small bowl containing 1 cup dry pancake mix.

Medium bowl containing 1 1/2 cups pancake mix whisked with 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 cup beer and 2-4 tablespoons soy sauce, to taste.

An 8" x 8" x 2" dish containing 8-ounces panko or coconut or a combination of both.

Deep-fryer w/corn or peanut oil heated to 360º according to manufacturer's specifications.

Misc:  3-minute timer, fork, spoon, wire cooling rack, paper towels, sea salt grinder.

~ Step 1. To make the batter, whisk together the pancake mix, coconut milk, beer and soy sauce. Set aside for about 5 minutes before starting the frying process. This will give the batter time to thicken to a drizzly consistency.  If batter is too thick, or at any point the batter gets too thick, whisk in a little more beer to maintain a drizzly consistency.  If the batter seems too thin, whisk in 1-2-4 tablespoons pancake mix.

~Step 2.  Working in batches of 5-6 nuggets at a time, dredge each in the dry pancake mix to coat on all sides. Note:  I work and fry 5 at a time because that is what fits comfortably in the basket of my fryer without overcrowding it.  With the aid of a fork, move up the assembly line and dip each nugget into the batter. As you lift each one out of the batter, hold it over the bowl for a second or two, to allow the batter to drizzle back into the bowl.  After dipping each nugget, place it into the dish of panko or coconut or a combo of both.  With the aid of a spoon, coat nuggets in the panko/coconut/combo.

~Step 3.  Carefully place nuggets in fryer basket, then lower basket down into the hot, 360° oil. Close lid and fry at 360º for 5-6 minutes (5 minutes for smaller cut nuggets, 6 minutes for larger cut nuggets.  Lift  basket of golden nuggets out of fryer and allow a few seconds for excess oil to drip back into the fryer.  Invert the basket onto a wire rack that has been placed atop a few layers of paper towels -- using tongs is a mistake, as it's an easy way to damage their crust.  Season each batch of nuggets with a light grinding of sea salt the moment they are inverted onto the rack. Repeat the dredging, dipping and coating process until all fingers are deep fried.  Serve hot (almost immediately), warm (within 30 minutes), or at room temperature (within 1 hour).  There's more:  trust me when I tell you, nuggets will remain crunchy well past the six hour mark.

Winner, winner Thai-style golden-nuggets chicken dinner: 

Sweet & Hot Chili-Sauced Thai-Style Fried Chicken:  Recipe yields 1 cup sweet chili sauce.

Special Equipment List: garlic press; 1-quart saucepan w/lid; spoon; 1-cup food storage container w/tight fitting lid; cutting board; chef's knife; 1-gallon food storage bag;

Cook's Note:  Peanut sauce is common to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Africa.  The main ingredients are roasted peanuts or peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce and palm sugar. Pulverized spices (red chiles, coriander, cumin, garlic, galangal and/or lemongrass, are also added. Purchase it, but, it's so easy to make, I don't know why you would. Try my ~ Thai-Style Spicy Peanut Sauce for Poultry or Pork ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Crunchy Crabmeat Crostini w/Secret Seafood Sauce~

There's nothing like driving back from a trip to the Maryland shore with a few pounds of sweet blue crabmeat in a cooler in the back seat.  The mind races with all the mouthwatering options to enjoy after you pull in the driveway.  While fresh crab is best, happily, high-quality pasteurized crabmeat is available to us all all-year long, which makes my food world a kinder, gentler place. Beer-steaming live crabs and hand-cracking them to pick their meat, is, not a sport I partake in. Ugh.  I don't even enjoy sitting at a crab shack in front of a newspaper-covered tabletop waiting for them to dump a pile of steaming-hot Old-Bay-crusted crabs in front of me. Crabbing itself? Forget about it.  The crabmeat, sans the machinations to get to it, is all that interests me.

I make fantastic Maryland-style crab cake sandwiches, decadent crab Imperial, and, a divine crabmeat quiche.  My crabmeat stuffed omelette a la benedict is exquisite and my crabmeat topped chicken Oscar w/blender bernaise is a show stopper.  Amongst my snacky specialties, crab balls, crabmeat canapés, hot crab dip and crab rangoon, are all family favorites.  

Today I add my crabmeat crostini to KE's crabby selections:

For the crab mixture:

1  large egg, at room temperature

1-2  teaspoons Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce, to taste

1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2  cup mayonnaise, your favorite brand

1  teaspoon Colman's dry English mustard

1  teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1  tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1  teaspoon sugar

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

1  cup crushed saltine crackers, crushed not crumbs, about 24 saltines

1  pound jumbo lump crabmeat, preferably Maryland blue crab, the best available

For the secret sauce:

2  teaspoons each: Frank's RedHot, Worcestershire, Coleman's mustard and Old Bay

1  teaspoon sugar

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

1  tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 cup high-quality mayonnaise

~ Step 1. Whisk all ingredients and chill, 1-2 hours.

Note:  One morning while combining the wet ingredients for my crab cakes, it occurred to me that without the raw egg and bit more mayo, the sauces and spices, in combination with mayo, would be the perfect complementary condiment and/or sandwich topper for my crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches.  After a short period of experimentation and tweaking, this concoction is now affectionately referred to as Mel's Secret Sauce for Seafood and Seafood Sandwiches.

For the crostini:

1  12-ounce French batard, ends trimmed off, then sliced into 18-20 1/2"-thick slices

Note:  A French batard is first cousin to the baguette.  Batards are shorter than baguettes a bit plumper, and, contain fewer big air pockets, which gives my crostini the perfect surface area for any and all toppings.

~Step 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, RedHot and Worcestershire.  Whisk in the mayonnaise, followed by the mustard, Old Bay, parsley flakes, sugar and salt.  A creamy and tangy mayonnaise-based sauce will have formed.  FYI:  Skip the egg and incorporate 1/2 cup more mayo and you've got a stellar seafood-sandwich topper.

~Step 2.  Place  saltines in a food storage bag and seal.  Use your fingertips to break crackers into chunky pieces, then, using a rolling pin, process until crushed into small pieces. Fine crumbs aren't desirable, so don't process in a food processor or substitute dry breadcrumbs.

~Step 3.  Fold the crackers into the mayo mixture. Add and gently fold the crabmeat into the cracker mixture until thoroughly combined, doing your best not to mash the lumps out of the crabmeat.  Set crab mixture aside to rest,15-20 minutes.  This rest gives the crackers time to absorb moisture and soften.  You will have about 1 1/2 pounds.

~Step 4.  Get out 2, 12 1/2" x 8 8/4" disposable aluminum broiler pans, or, 2, 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pans, line them with with parchment and insert a wire rack on top of the parchment in each pan. Arrange the bread slices, 8-10 in each pan.  Slather tops of bread slices with a light coating of secret sauce.  Place 6" underneath preheated broiler until golden, about 3 minutes.

~Step 4.  Remove from oven, flip bread slices over and slather second sides with a light coating of secret sauce.  Top each slice with a scant 1 1/2 ounces, (almost 2 tablespoons) of the crab mixture. Return to broiler and cook until golden, about 4 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Once broiled as directed above, remove from oven:

Serve hot, warm or at room temp w/a drizzle of my secret sauce, garnished w/ parsley sprigs & lemon wedges:

Just me & my Maryland blue crabmeat crostini:

Crabmeat Crostini w/Secret Seafood Sauce:  Recipe yields 18-20 appetizers

Special Equipment List:  wire whisk; large rubber spatula; 1-gallon food storage bag; rolling pin; 1-2-cup food storage container w/tight-fitting lid; 2, 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" disposable aluminum broiler pans (the kind with a corrugated bottom, or, 2, 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pans and 2 wire cooling racks; kitchen scale (optional)

Cook's Note:  My crabmeat crostini recipe, along with the secret sauce, is a spin-off of my Maryland crab cake sandwich recipe.  As we cooks all know, it's not uncommon to turn one dish into two or three slightly different ones.  That said, if your looking for a crab cake sandwich, made the Maryland way, I suggest you try my recipe for ~ My Maryland Crabcake, Tomato & Mayo Sandwich ~.  Got your own favorite crab cake recipe?  By all means, use it to make crostini!

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Mel's Secret Sauce for Maryland-Style Crab Cakes ~

If you've ever traveled to the areas in and around the Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis and/or Baltimore, Maryland, or, the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area in general), even if you are not a foodie, you can't help but notice that from white-linen restaurants to roadside stands, crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches are everywhere -- more specifically, Maryland blue crab cakes and blue crab sandwiches.  There's more.  If you ask any of the locals where to find the best crab cake or crab cake sandwich, you'll find they are fiercely loyal to their favorite place (and be prepared to listen, because they are going to tell you why), and, you'll rarely get the same answer twice.  For those who live in Maryland, eating Chesapeake blue crab is practically a religion.

I've eaten many crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches in Maryland. I've never encountered one I didn't like.  While all are a bit different, it was their similarities that struck me:  lots and LOTS of sweet, jumbo lump crabmeat with little filler (crushed saltine crackers, not breadcrumbs), a bit of mayo, dry mustard, Worcestershire and Frank's RedHot pepper sauce, and, an egg or two to bind it all together. All contain parsley, none contain celery, onion or bell pepper -- zero.  Most are pan-fried, some are broiled, and they're served on everything from sliced white bread to brioche to chiabatta, with lettuce, tomato and any one of several mayonnaise-based sauces.

Sauces for seafood and shellfish in my repertoire include classic cocktail sauce, tangy tarter sauce and Cajun-Creole remoulade sauce.  I love them all, and, while they can't always be used interchangeably, they are appropriate for many appetizer, snack, and sandwich recipes containing crustaceans (crabmeat, shrimp, prawns and lobster) -- lesser so for the mollusks (clams, mussels, oysters and scallops).

All that said, one morning, while combining the wet ingredients for my Maryland blue-crab cakes, it occurred to me that without the raw egg and bit more mayo added to it, the sauces and spices used in combination with mayo would be the perfect (meaning:  100% perfect) complementary condiment and/or sandwich topper for my crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches.  After a short period of experimentation and tweaking, this concoction is now affectionately referred to as:

Mel's Secret Sauce for Seafood & Seafood Sandwiches.

2  teaspoons Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce, to taste

2  teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2  teaspoons Colman's dry English mustard

2  teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1  teaspoon sugar

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

1  tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 cup high-quality mayonnaise, your favorite brand

Note:  Please do not be inclined to add lemon juice to my sauce -- it muddles the flavors. Squeeze a fresh lemon wedge over the finished-dish at the very end to make the flavor "pop".

~Step 1.  In a small bowl, whisk together the RedHot, Worcestershire, Colman's, Old Bay, sugar and salt.  Add and whisk in parsley flakes and mayonnaise.  Transfer to a food storage container, cover and refrigerate until chilled and thickened, 2 hours or overnight.  Served chilled: for dipping, drizzling or slathering, or use as directed in specific recipe.

"The secret's always in the sauce."

It's perfect on my Crunchy Crabmeat Crostini too:

Mel's Secret Sauce for Maryland-Style Crab Cakes:  1 generous cup sauce.

Special Equipment List:  wire whisk; 1-2-cup food storage container w/tight-fitting lid

Cook's Note:  Cook's Note:  As a gal who loves deli-, tuna- and egg-salad sandwiches, I am never far from my mayo.  During the picnic and tailgate season, when side-dishes like macaroni salad, potato salad, cole slaw and deviled eggs reign supreme, I purchase big jars, in two-packs.  When our garden tomatoes are ripe, I could eat a freshly-picked sliced-tomato sandwich, on white bread, with a big slather of mayonnaise, every day. There's more.  I can't imagine my life without mayo-based tartar and remoulade sauces, or, oh my Thousand Islands salad dressing, and, I'm very proficient at making homemade mayonnaise.  I know my mayo: ~ Spreads go Bread to Bread:  Hellmann's vs Duke's ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ My Maryland Crabcake, Tomato & Mayo Sandwich ~

When I'm in Maine, you'll find me eating a lobster roll with potato chips.  When I'm in Florida, I'll be ordering a blackened mahi-mahi sammie topped with mango salsa.  When I'm at home here in Happy Valley, I'm feasting on Pennsylvania sweet corn, Jersey tomatoes and Maryland crab cakes.  When I enter my kitchen carrying a few fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes, the first thing I do is grab the Hellmann's, get out the Sunbeam and make a good old-fashioned tomato and mayo sandwich.  As much as I adore this down-home Summer indulgence, there is one thing I like more:  a tomato-and-mayo sandwich with a big, fat, freshly-fried Maryland-style crab cake on it. Serve it up with a cob of in-season Pennsylvania sweet corn -- baby, I'm in foodie heaven.

If you've ever traveled to the areas in and around the Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis and/or Baltimore, Maryland, or, the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area in general), even if you are not a foodie, you can't help but notice that from white-linen restaurants to roadside stands, crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches are everywhere -- more specifically, Maryland blue crab cakes and blue crab sandwiches.  There's more.  If you ask any of the locals where to find the best crab cake or crab cake sandwich, you'll find they are fiercely loyal to their favorite place (and be prepared to listen, because they are going to tell you why), and, you'll rarely get the same answer twice.  For those who live in Maryland, eating Chesapeake blue crab is practically a religion.

I've eaten many crab cakes and crab cake sandwiches in Maryland. I've never encountered one I didn't like.  While all are a bit different, it's their  similarities that struck me:  lots of sweet, jumbo lump crabmeat with little filler (saltine crackers, not breadcrumbs), a bit of mayo, dry mustard, Worcestershire and Frank's RedHot pepper sauce, and, an egg or two to bind it all together. All contain parsley, none contain celery, onion or bell pepper -- zero. Most are pan-fried, some are broiled, and they're served on everything from sliced white bread to brioche to chiabatta, with lettuce, tomato and a mayo-based sauce.

Faidley's is a seafood restaurant in Baltimore's Lexington Market.  This still-family run business was founded by John Faidley, Sr. in 1886, making it one of the oldest in the Chesapeake Bay region.  Via a tip from a local, Joe and I wandered in there in 1996.  I ordered the crab cake sandwich and it was love at first bite -- the best one I'd ever tasted.  Imagine my glee when I found out that if you ask, they'll give you a copy of the recipe (nowadays, it's on the internet).  It seems their crab cakes are so popular, to prevent copycats from sharing inferior versions, they simply hand out their real-deal recipe.

For four big, fat, freshly-fried Maryland-style crab cakes:

For the crab cakes:

1  large egg, at room temperature

1-2  teaspoons Frank's RedHot cayenne pepper sauce, to taste

1  teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2  cup mayonnaise, your favorite brand

1  teaspoon Colman's dry English mustard

1  teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1  tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1  teaspoon sugar

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

1  cup crushed saltine crackers, crushed not crumbs, about 24 saltines

1  pound jumbo lump crabmeat, preferably Maryland blue crab, the best available

corn or peanut oil oil, for frying crab cakes

~Step 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, RedHot and Worcestershire.  Whisk in the mayonnaise, followed by the mustard, Old Bay, parsley flakes, sugar and salt.  A creamy and tangy mayonnaise-based sauce will have formed.  FYI:  Skip the egg and incorporate 1/2 cup more mayo and you've got a stellar seafood-sandwich topper.

~Step 2.  Place  saltines in a food storage bag and seal.  Use your fingertips to break crackers into chunky pieces, then, using a rolling pin, process until crushed into small pieces. When making crab cakes, fine crumbs aren't desirable, so don't be inclined to use a food processor.

~Step 3.  Fold the crackers into the mayo mixture. Add and gently fold the crabmeat into the cracker mixture until thoroughly combined, doing your best not to mash the lumps out of the crabmeat.  Set crab cake mixture aside to rest,15-20 minutes.

Note:  This rest period gives the crackers time to absorb moisture and soften, which is "the glue" that holds the crab cakes together.  You will have about 1 1/2 pounds of total crab cake mixture.

~Step 4.  Line a 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pan with parchment. Divide crab mixture into four parts. Using a kitchen scale, they'll be 6-ounces each. Form crab cakes by hand, into 3/1/2-4"-round discs, by gently but firmly compressing them between palms of hands.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-4 hours or overnight.  Do not remove from refrigerator prior to frying.  Just prior to frying the crab cakes (as directed in the next step), prep the garnishes (as listed below).

~Step 5.  Place 1/8" of corn or peanut oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the crab cakes and fry, until golden brown on both sides, turning only once, about 3-3 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and rest, about 3-4 minutes prior to serving hot.

For four crab cake sandwiches & the assembly: 

For the crab cake sandwiches:

8  slices Wonder-type sandwich bread, super fresh, 2 per sandwich

8  large, soft Bibb lettuce leaves, 2 per sandwich

4-8  large, thick, slices of garden-fresh tomatoes, 1-2 per sandwich depending upon the size of the tomato

4  large, 3 1/2"-4"-round crab cakes, from above recipe, 1 per sandwich

mayonnaise, for drizzling, dolloping or slathering, your favorite brand

4  sprigs fresh parsley, for garnish

4  lemon wedges, for garnish and a spritz of lemon juice

sweet corn, for a highly-recommended accompaniment (optional)

~ Step 1.  In the order listed, assemble the sandwiches and serve accompanied by sweet corn.

Nothing fancy.  Just fantastic.

Here's lookin' at 'cha:

Try my Crunchy Crabmeat Crostini w/Secret Seafood Sauce too:

Mel's Crab Cake, Tomato & Mayonnaise Sandwich:  4 large Maryland-style crab cake sandwiches.

Special Equipment List:  wire whisk; large rubber spatula; 1-gallon food storage bag; rolling pin; 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pan; parchment paper; kitchen scale; plastic wrap; 12" nonstick skillet; spatula; paper towels; cutting board; serrated tomato knife

Cook's Note:  As a gal who loves deli-, tuna- and egg-salad sandwiches, I am never far from my mayo.  During the picnic and tailgate season, when side-dishes like macaroni salad, potato salad, cole slaw and deviled eggs reign supreme, I purchase big jars, in two-packs.  When our garden tomatoes are ripe, I could eat a freshly-picked sliced-tomato sandwich, on white bread, with a big slather of mayonnaise, every day. There's more.  I can't imagine my life without mayo-based tartar and remoulade sauces, or, oh my Thousand Islands salad dressing, and, I'm very proficient at making homemade mayonnaise.  I know my mayo: ~ Spreads go Bread to Bread:  Hellmann's vs Duke's ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Peanut Butter-Banana-Oat & Trail Mix Quick Bread ~

I'd love to tout this scrumptious breakfast treat as healthy -- I suppose in some oaty-grain fruit-and-nut-land sort of way it is, so, if that convinces you to give this recipe a try, I can live with that -- in the meantime, I'll just proclaim it to be a somewhat healthier option to most other sweets found in bakeries and coffeeshops (especially since my favorite way to indulge in a slice of this bread is toaster-oven-toasted and slathered with a touch of softened salted butter).  Just yum.

A bit about quick bread:  "Quick bread" is an American term that refers to bread that is quick to make because it doesn't require kneading or rising time.  It originated during the American civil war, when the demand for food and bread was high.  Innovative cooks began rapidly producing bread and baked goods that were leavened with baking soda rather than yeast.  Nowadays, the leavening agent is predominately double-acting baking powder, or, a combination of baking powder and baking soda.  In the case of baking powder, it is called "double acting" because the rising process starts the moment it makes contact with the liquids, and, gives a second burst of rising power when the bread enters the hot oven.  Typically, quick breads contain eggs, flour, salt and fat (butter, margarine, shortening or oil) and leavening.  That said, they can be sweet or savory and contain sugar, fruits, fruit purée, vegetables, vegetable purée and various liquids (milk, buttermilk, fruit juice or stock).  The wet and dry ingredients are mixed separately, in two different bowls, then briefly stirred together just prior to baking.  FYI:  Biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pancakes, scones, soda bread and waffles -- they all fall into the quick-bread category too.

Calling all lovers of peanut butter & bananas.

This bread is moist, chewy & chocked full of fruit & nut flavors.

1 1/2  cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1  cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1  teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

1/2  cup salted butter, at room temperature, very soft (1 stick)

1/2  cup granulated sugar

1/2  cup lightly-packed light-brown sugar

2  teaspoons each:  pure banana and vanilla extract

2  large, 7 1/2-8-ounce bananas, smashed with a fork, about 1 1/2 cups smashed bananas

1/2  cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice

2  cups tropical trail mix (dried coconut, mango, papaya and pineapple, raisins, banana chips, brazil nuts, cashews and peanuts), your favorite brand

~ Step 1.  Spray the insides of 4, 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2" mini, 2-cup capacity loaf pans with no-stick cooking spray.  Feel free to bake this quick bread in one (8-cup capacity) or two (4-cup capacity) larger loaves, just know the baking time will be affected -- it will take somewhat longer.  I bake small loaves so Joe and I can eat one and freeze three for other days.

~Step 2.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking powder and salt.  In a 2-cup measuring container, mash the bananas with a fork -- there will be about 1 1/2 cups.  Stir the extracts into the smashed bananas, then, add and stir in the peanut butter -- there will be about 2 cups banana-peanut butter mixture.  Set aside.

~Step 3.  In a large bowl, starting on low and working your way up to high speed of hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter, sugars and egg together, while scraping down the sides of bowl with a large rubber spatula.  Lower mixer speed and fold in the banana-peanut butter mixture.

~Step 4.  Remove the mixer.  Using the rubber spatula, alternating the dry flour-oat mixture with the trail mix, fold the two mixtures into the wet mixture, in two increments each (half then half).

~Step 5.  Divide and transfer mixture to prepared pans -- I use a soup ladle and a kitchen scale. Bake on center rack of preheated 350° oven, 30-35 minutes, or until lightly and nicely browned, puffed up through to the centers, and, a cake tester inserted into the thickest middle of each loaf comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool, in pan on a wire rack, for 5-6 minutes prior to inverting from pans to cool completely, 1-2 hours or overnight, prior to slicing and serving.

Cool completely, 1-2 hours, prior to slicing & serving.

Dare to be square -- same recipe different pan -- for lunch boxes: 

Peanut Butter-Banana-Oat & Trail Mix Quick Bread:  Recipe yields 4, 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2" mini-loaves/4 servings per loaf/2 slices per person.

Special Equipment List:  4, 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2" mini, 2-cup capacity loaf pans; spoon; 2-cup measuring container; fork; hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula; soup ladle; kitchen scale; wire cooling rack

Cook's Note:  I enjoy making muffins and quick breads using Summer fruits.  That said, I enjoy bananas all year long, I eat one each and every day, and, when it comes to Summer berries, strawberries are my favorite. In my recipe for ~ Summer Strawberry and Banana Breakfast Muffins ~, I combine the two, and, on occasion, for crunch, I throw a cup of tropical trail mix in them too.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Superbly-Seasoned Steakhouse-Style Steak-Fries ~

Would you like fries with that?  If your answer is yes, but you secretly, or not-so-secretly, want to taste more potato with a bit less crunch than you expect in an order of McD's-style shoestrings, or classic 1/2"-thick 3"-4"-long, square-tipped, box-cut, twice-fried French fries: the plump and planky, skin-on-or-off steakhouse-style steak-fry is for you.  Not to be confused with steak-frites, a French dish consisting of a pan-fried rib-eye steak served with classic French fries, steak fries are an all-American term referring to thick-cut fries -- more similar to Britain's wedge-cut chips.

When I was growing up, we adored my dad's round steak fries.

My dad thought outside the box.  If there was an easier way to do a task and still get the ideal end result, he'd find it.  Dad came up with his own time-saving version of steak fries for our family of four and we adored them.  He'd pop a few T-bone steaks in the oven under the broiler, and, while they sizzled away, he would peel and slice four Russet potatoes into 1/2"-thick discs -- FYI: potatoes can be peeled and disced in lots less time than it takes to peel and plank-cut potatoes.    

Into a 14" skillet of 1/2"-deep corn oil the potatoes went.  They fried until light-golden on both sides, 12-14 total minutes.  Once transferred to a paper-towel-lined plate, he seasoned them ASAP with a 1:1 mixture of garlic salt and onion salt.

If the end justifies the means, think outside the box.

The apple-of-my-dad's eye didn't fall far from his steak-fry tree.

Use your own or any seasoning blend -- steak fries play well with almost anything one can conjure up.  If you'd like to add some herby flavor to the oil too, simply place a few whole sprigs of fresh herbs in the oil as it is heating up on the stovetop, then remove the sprigs just before adding the potatoes.  That said, I wasn't lying when I said my steak fries were superbly-seasoned.  Garlic salt and onion salt are sublime -- they go with everything.  As for potatoes, over-time, I've decided Yukon gold potatoes, left unpeeled and cut into 1/2"-thick planks, deliver more flavor and a tenderer texture than the Russet.  My cooking method remains the same as my dad's:  the skillet.

Everybody into the skillet.  Deep-frying requires frying twice, &, oven-roasting takes too long for such a lack-luster result.

Into a 10" skillet of 1/2"-deep corn oil drop two, large, skin-on Gold potatoes, cut to a thickness of approximately 1/2".  Fry until light-golden on all sides, 10-12 minutes, turning/tossing frequently with a spatula and/or fork.  Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and lightly-season ASAP with a 1:1 mixture of garlic salt and onion salt.

Would you like steak sauce with your steak fries?

Superbly-Seasones Steakhouse-Style Steak Fries:  Recipe yields instructions to make two types steak-fries (round Russets or planked Yukons), in an appropriately-sized skillet/ 2-4 servings. 

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; appropriately-sized skillet (10" skillet = 2 potatoes, 2 servings.  14" skillet, 4 potatoes, 4 servings); fork and/or spatula; paper towels

Cook's Note: Great skillet-fried steak fries deserve a great steak -- preferably cooked in a grill-pan.  In my kitchen, that's ~ The Perfect 12-13-Minute, 2"-Thick Grill-Pan Filet ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ The Perfect 12-13-Minute, 2"-Thick, Grill-Pan Filet ~

Feel free to take your filet mignon into the great outdoors to cook it on the grill, but, I don't recommend it. Why? The filet, cut from the tenderloin and leanest, tenderest cut of beef, is the least likely to succeed over the dry, open flame of any seething-hot charcoal or gas grill grids. That said, indoors, on a grill pan, where it has a solid, steamy surface to sear itself above its own bubbling juices, the filet graduates at the head of its class -- with perfect, 4.0 grill marks too.

4, 8-9-ounce, 2"-thick USDA Choice Angus filet-mignon steaks.

To insure even cooking time & a pretty presentation...

... it's necessary to buck 'em up to hold their shape.

This is done by tightly-tying a rope-line around each waist.

Tie 'em even if you are foolish enough to put 'em on an outdoor grill.  You can thank me later for that small piece of advice.

~Step 1.  Spray the grids of a nonstick grill pan with no-stick cooking spray and place over medium-high heat for 1 minute.  Once pan is preheated, place steaks on the grill grids.  Season their tops with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend*.  Continue to cook 5 full minutes. Using a spatula (not a fork), flip steaks over,  season the second sides and cook 5 more minutes. Flip steaks over and immediately give each one a quarter-turn, to form the signature cross-hatch grill-grid marks (note the direction of the marks in photos 3 & 4), then, cook 1 more minute.

*Note:  Steak-seasoning may be substituted for freshly-ground sea salt and/or peppercorn blend.

~Step 2.  Flip steaks over one last time and cook 1 more minute.  Steaks will now have the signature cross-hatch marks on both sides.  Using the aid of a long-handled fork (without poking holes in meat), lift steaks onto their sides and use the sides of the grill pan for support as you work. Continue to cook steaks on their sides for another full minute, turning steaks methodically and constantly during this time, to brown all around their perimeters.  Remove steaks from pan.

Rest steaks 5-10 minutes prior to slicing & serving: 

Would you like Superbly-Seasoned Steak Fries with that?

The Perfect 12-13-Minute, 2"-Thick, Grill-Pan Fillet:  Recipe yields 4 servings.

Special Equipment List:  kitchen-safe twine; kitchen shears; grill pan; spatula; long-handled fork

Cook's Note:  A classic recipe to cook a filet indoors is ~ Steak au Poivre (Peppercorn-Crusted Filet Mignon) ~.  It gets cooked in a skillet and is served with a luscious sauce made from the pan juices -- one of my fancy-schmancy favorites.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Grilled Gem Wedges w/Blue Cheese, Bacon & Filet~

You can teach an old dog new tricks.  As a gal, who, for the most part, prefers her vegetables cooked in some manner to enhance their flavor and texture, grilling lettuce was a technique I learned just a few short weeks ago.  I haven't a clue why it eluded me for so long, except, in my own defense, I don't remember a chapter entitled The Art of Grilling Lettuce in my foodie manual. Grilling lettuce might not be for everyone.  After all, we eat with our eyes, and our eyes have been trained to seek bright green, crisp. lettuce leaves.  So, even though the concept may seem foreign, I'm here to report, there's a nutty deliciousness in this process that's hard to describe.

A grilled-lettuce salad is indeed a shabby-chic salad to look at.

A bit about the classic wedge salad:  Culinary reference books say iceberg lettuce (also known as crisphead or Simpson) was popular with Americans as far back as the 1920's, but, it places it "at the top of its game" in the 1950's and 60's. During this period, "the classic wedge salad" (a wedge of iceberg topped with blue cheese dressing, blue cheese, bacon, and sometimes, tomatoes) ruled the salad world much like the chicken Caesar does today.  It was a staple on every steakhouse menu. While this undeniably delicious salad has been deemed unhealthy by current-day food police, this is an unfair criticism.  Back in my day, Americans weren't eating via the drive-thru, take-out or delivery several nights a week. "The big cold wedge" was simply an occasional, pleasurable indulgence.

A bit about iceberg lettuce:  Prior to the 1920's, Americans relied primarily on seasonal leaf lettuces that were grown in their gardens or sold in their local markets for their salads -- salad eating in the colder regions was a seasonal pleasure. Then, along came the railroad.  It became possible for iceberg to be shipped year round, in traincars, from California to every corner of the USA.  Each crate of this round-headed super-crispy lettuce, which has a longer shelf life than all other leafy greens, was topped with ice to keep it cold during the long trip.  As the traincars pulled into depots for delivery and unpacking, the rail workers would shout, "here comes the icebergs", or, "the icebergs are coming".

Gem lettuce is a miniature, slightly-sweeter variety of romaine.

Described as the perfect cross between butterhead & romaine...

... these sexy little lettuce heads dress up any type of salad.

Originally native to France and Spain, this miniature variety of romaine has been around for a long time on the West coast of the USA.  Thankfully, its gain in popularity has finally resulted in my having easy access to it here on the East coast, more specifically, Central Pennsylvania.  Its scaled-down appearance is remarkably similar to its larger relative, having a green (sometimes reddish), oblong head with loose, crinkly leaves gathered around its crisp, more compact heart. Described as the perfect cross between butterhead (also known as butter, bibb or Boston bibb) and romaine, its crisp texture and compact size make it perfect for appetizer-size lettuce wraps and a great substitute for iceberg lettuce on any type of sandwich or wrap sandwich.

It's super-crispy, fork-friendly green leaves are often served in high-end restaurants, in a fancy-schmancy single-serving salad course.  Sliced in half or quarters and lightly painted with vinaigrette or olive oil, it holds up really well on the grids of a hot grill or grill pan too.   Like other leafy greens and lettuces, it won't hang around forever, but, if stored loosely wrapped in plastic in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator, I've found it easily lasts up to a full ten days.

Halved & brushed w/EVOO, it does great on the grill or grill pan.

Part 1:  Make the dressing, preferably in day in advance.

Blue cheese dressing is undoubtedly one of America's most popular salad dressings -- especially with men.  As the only girl in a sea of four men in my kitchen, this has been proven true.  In any steakhouse you'll be offered their house salad, many times a classic wedge salad, with the option of their in-house-made blue cheese dressing on top of it.  Order chicken wings anywhere, and unless you request them served otherwise, they will arrive with blue cheese dressing. 

My recipe will rival any blue cheese dressing, anywhere.  Chocked full of chunky blue cheese crumbles and the right balance of sweet and savory spice with a touch of heat, I'm reasonably certain it will become your favorite version.  My favorite blue cheese comes from Denmark, but, if you've got a favorite, as long as it can be crumbled, use it.  If you have the time, prepare the dressing a day before serving, to allow it ample time to thicken and give all the wonderful flavors time to marry.

For the salad dressing:

1/2  cup each:  buttermilk, mayonnaise and sour cream

1/2-3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce

1/2  teaspoon each:  lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce

3  tablespoons minced chives

1-1 1/2  cups crumbled blue cheese, 4-6 ounces

For the dried spice blend:

1/2  teaspoon each:  minced garlic, garlic powder, sugar and celery salt

1/4  teaspoon each:  minced onion, onion powder, celery seed, cracked black pepper, white pepper

1/8  teaspoon salt

~ Step 1.  In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the salad dressing ingredients, except for the blue cheese crumbles and chives.  In a small bowl, stir together the dried spice blend, add them to the bowl of wet ingredients and, once again, vigorously stir.  Fold in the blue cheese crumbles and chives.

Note:  Depending on how much blue cheese you added, you will have 2-2 1/2 cups of salad dressing.  Transfer to a food storage container, cover and refrigerate several hours to overnight.

Part 2:  Grill-pan a filet or four & let 'em rest 10-15+ minutes.

Feel free to take your filet mignon into the great outdoors to cook it on the grill, but, I don't recommend it. Why? The filet, cut from the tenderloin and leanest, tenderest cut of beef, is the least likely to succeed over the dry, open flame of any seething-hot charcoal or gas grill grids. That said, indoors, on a grill pan, where it has a solid, steamy surface to sear itself above its own bubbling juices, the filet graduates at the head of its class -- with perfect, 4.0 grill marks too.

~Step 1.  For even-cooking and a pretty presentation, tie a kitchen-twine rope-line around the waist of each of 4, 8-9-ounce, 2"-thick filet mignon.

~Step 1.  Spray the grids of a nonstick grill pan with no-stick cooking spray and place over medium-high heat for 1 minute.  Once pan is preheated, place steaks on the grill grids.  Season their tops with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend*.  Continue to cook 5 full minutes. Using a spatula (not a fork), flip steaks over,  season the second sides and cook 5 more minutes. Flip steaks over and immediately give each one a quarter-turn, to form the signature cross-hatch grill-grid marks (note the direction of the marks in photos 3 & 4), then, cook 1 more minute.

*Note:  Steak-seasoning may be substituted for freshly-ground sea salt and/or peppercorn blend.

~Step 2.  Flip steaks over one last time and cook 1 more minute.  Steaks will now have the signature cross-hatch marks on both sides.  Using the aid of a long-handled fork (without poking holes in meat), lift steaks onto their sides and use the sides of the grill pan for support as you work. Continue to cook steaks on their sides for another full minute, turning steaks methodically and constantly during this time, to brown all around their perimeters.  Transfer steaks from grill pan to a plate, loosely cover steaks with aluminum foil or plastic wrap (to keep moist), and, set aside to cool prior to slicing and serving slightly-warm or at room temperature.

Part 3:  For the salad, grilling the lettuce, &, the assembly:

Of course you can serve this salad without grilling the gem lettuce -- everyone loves a crisp and classic wedge salad.  That said, the slightly-sweet gem lettuce gets sweeter on the grill pan, and, because of its compact leaf structure it holds up really well.  Set your apprehension aside for a moment and try it once.  You just might like it, and, be surprised to find out your family does too.

16  gem lettuce heads, sliced in half, 4 gem lettuce heads per salad

1  tablespoon olive oil, for ever-so-lightly brushing on gem lettuce halves

4  grill-pan-grilled filet mignon, slightly-warm or at room temp, from above recipe

1 1/2-2  cups dressing, from above recipe

1  cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2-3/4  cup very-thinly-sliced red onion, cut into half-moons, half-moons cut into quarters

1/2-3/4  cup crisply-fried and small-diced bacon

freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend, for garnish

~Step 1.  Slice each lettuce head in half lengthwise.  Using a pastry brush, lightly paint the flat surfaces with olive oil. Spray grids of a nonstick grill pan with no-stick and place over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Once pan is heated, arrange gem lettuce halves, without crowding the pan, flat side down, on hot grill grids. Do this in two batches if necessary.  Grill lettuce, without turning, for 3-3/12 minutes. Turn heat off and remove lettuce from skillet.  Use ASAP to plate salads as directed below.

~Step 2.  To assemble the salads, on each of four salad/luncheon-sized plates, in the following order, decoratively arrange, sliced filet mignon, grilled lettuce halvess, red onion, blue cheese crumbles and bacon bits. Dollop a generous scoop of dressing in their centers, then, give each salad a light, even grinding of sea salt and peppercorn blend.

The beauty is in the eye of the grilled-lettuce beholder:

Pick up a knife & a fork and cut in to nutty deliciousness: 

Grilled Gem Wedges w/Blue Cheese, Bacon & Filet: 2-2 1/2 cups salad dressing & four, hearty main-course salads.

Special Equipment List: 2-cup food storage container w/tight fitting lid; cutting board; chef's knife; kitchen twine; kitchen shears; aluminum foil or plastic wrap; grill pan; pastry brush 

Cook's Note:  The perfect accompaniment to any wedge salad is a steak.  An extraordinary accompaniment to any wedge salad is ~ Steak au Poivre (Peppercorn-Crusted Filet Mignon) ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~A Little Thing Called Gem Lettuce: A Leafy Treasure~

Lettuce is not a subject people get excited about.  That said, everyone has a preference, nonchalantly placing their favorite variety in their shopping cart as they saunter through the produce department.  In our present day food world, it's understandable to take this humble, fragile and perishable vegetable for granted, but, prior to the 1920's, that was not the case. Americans relied primarily on seasonal leaf lettuces that were grown in their gardens or sold in their local markets for their salads -- salad eating in the colder regions was a seasonal pleasure. Out of season, the cook relied on rugged root vegetables like carrots, potatoes and cabbage.

Thankfully, along came the transcontinental railroad.

It became possible for iceberg to be shipped year round, in traincars, from California to every corner of the USA.  Each crate of this round-headed super-crispy lettuce, which has a longer shelf life than all other leafy greens, was topped with ice to keep it cold during the long trip.  As the traincars pulled into depots for delivery and unpacking, the rail workers would shout, "here comes the icebergs", or, "the icebergs are coming".  Then, along came refrigerated rail cars, trucks and airplanes.  The stage was set for the lettuce industry to boom, and boom it did.  Worldwide distribution of many varieties of lettuce, bagged lettuce mixes and micro greens was possible.  

Gem lettuce is a miniature, slightly-sweeter variety of romaine.

Described as the perfect cross between butterhead & romaine.

Originally native to France and Spain, this miniature variety of romaine has been around for a long time on the West coast of the USA.  Thankfully, its gain in popularity has finally resulted in my having easy access to it here on the East coast, more specifically, Central Pennsylvania.  Its scaled-down appearance is remarkably similar to its larger relative, having a green (sometimes reddish), oblong head with loose, crinkly leaves gathered around its crisp, more compact heart. Described as the perfect cross between butterhead (also known as butter, bibb or Boston bibb) and romaine, its crisp texture and compact size make it perfect for appetizer-size lettuce wraps and a great substitute for iceberg lettuce on any type of sandwich or wrap sandwich.

It's super-crispy, fork-friendly green leaves are often served in high-end restaurants, in a fancy-schmancy single-serving salad course.  Sliced in half or quarters and lightly painted with vinaigrette or olive oil, it holds up really well on the grids of a hot grill or grill pan too.  Like other leafy greens and lettuces, it won't hang around forever, but, if stored loosely wrapped in plastic in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator, I've found it easily lasts up to a full ten days.

These sexy little lettuce heads dress up any type of salad.

Try 'em halved, brushed w/EVOO & grilled to a nutty-golden brown...

... in my Grilled Gem Wedges w/Blue Cheese, Bacon & Filet salad:

Or "as is" in my Little Gems Caesar Salad w/Roasted Chicken: 

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Little Gems Caesar-Style Salad w/Roasted Chicken ~

Over the past four decades, the classic Caesar salad has:  #1)  Become America's most popular main-dish salad; #2) Altered the lettuce industry, as the demand for romaine has skyrocketed, and: #3) Turned the chicken-topped Caesar salad into the chicken item most frequently found on restaurant menus -- even more than wings and chicken fingers.  Now considered the all-American salad, it was in fact invented in Mexico in 1924 by an Italian-born immigrant to Mexico.

Now considered the all-American salad, the Caesar was invented on July 4th, 1924, by an Italian-Mexican chef & co-owner of a restaurant in Tijuana, who emigrated to & resided in America.

Caesar Cardini lived in San Diego, but worked as a co-owner in a Tijuana restaurant in order to avoid the restrictions of Prohibition. He concocted his now iconic salad late in the day on the Fourth of July, for some Hollywood celebrities, after the holiday crowd had depleted his kitchen of many ingredients.  He used romaine lettuce (which doesn't impress us today, but back then it was an uncommon ingredient) and tossed it with a dressing made from just six ingredients:  garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese.  In the original salad, he used whole lettuce leaves, which were meant to be picked up and eaten with the fingers.  The original salad dressing contained no anchovies, but got its slight anchovy flavor from the Worcestershire sauce (which contains anchovies).  Later, the salad was tossed and served at tableside, and posh restaurants in Hollywood and LA, who catered to the upper class, soon began offering it.

I've heard it said that a restaurant is only as good as its Caesar salad and a Caesar salad is only as good as its dressing.  A few decades ago, back in the 1970's, '80's and '90's, when people still had an appreciation for the snobbery of an elegant restaurant, that was true, and no one enjoyed the fanfare of watching a black-tied waiter prepare my Caesar salad, to my liking, at tableside, more than me.  If a Caesar salad was on a restaurant menu, I ordered it.  Nowadays -- not so much.  Fast forward.  In our present-day Olive Garden-, Carrabba's-type atmosphere, I'm betting most folks wouldn't know a good Caesar salad, or a good Caesar dressing from a bad one, even if they got hit on the head with an olive wood bowl.  I find this disheartening because the simple elegance of a well-prepared Caesar salad is indeed an extraordinary dining experience.

Cardini served his original salad arranged atop leaves of long, slender hearts-of-romaine.  Each leaf was intended too be picked up & eaten out-of-hand.  Cardini would have adored gem lettuce.

Gem lettuce is a miniature, slightly-sweeter variety of romaine.  

Described as the perfect cross between butterhead & romaine...

... these sexy gems will dress-up my July 4th Caesar salad.

Originally native to France and Spain, this miniature variety of romaine has been around for a long time on the West coast of the USA.  Thankfully, its gain in popularity has finally resulted in my having easy access to it here on the East coast, more specifically, Central Pennsylvania.  Its scaled-down appearance is remarkably similar to its larger relative, having a green (sometimes reddish), oblong head with loose, crinkly leaves gathered around its crisp, more compact heart. Described as the perfect cross between butterhead (also known as butter, bibb or Boston bibb) and romaine, its crisp texture and compact size make it perfect for appetizer-size lettuce wraps and a great substitute for iceberg lettuce on any type of sandwich or wrap sandwich.

It's super-crispy, fork-friendly green leaves are often served in high-end restaurants, in a fancy-schmancy single-serving salad course.  Sliced in half or quarters and lightly painted with vinaigrette or olive oil, it holds up really well on the grids of a hot grill or grill pan too.   Like other leafy greens and lettuces, it won't hang around forever, but, if stored loosely wrapped in plastic in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator, I've found it easily lasts up to a full ten days.

Part 1:  Caesar-Style Salad Dressing a la Melanie

The original dressing contained six ingredients:  garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire and Parmesan -- it did not contain anchovies, getting its slight anchovy flavor from the anchovies in the Worcestershire.  When it comes to making Caesar dressing, I play by the rules, bending them by adjusting the quantities to suit my own taste.  I want my dressing garlicy, peppery, and creamy, and, I want it to get creamy by using the traditional raw egg.  I want it slightly sweet and savory too, and, while I don't want to see anchovies, I want to taste their tang.  As for the Parmesan -- I omit it from the dressing, choosing instead to use a copious amount to garnish my salad.   

While store-bought dressing is a time saving ingredient, and, "hoaky-smokes Bullwinkle", there is a wide selection to choose from (and that includes the trademarked Cardini's brand, which is named after Caesar Cardini), when it comes to making this iconic salad, I don't take shortcuts -- and I'll put my dressing up against any of the bottle brands out there.  That said, I won't call the food police if you choose to use one, but, if you do, do not be afraid to "doctor it up a bit" to suit yourself.

1  2-ounce can anchovy fillets (preferably rolled w/capers), well-drained

1/4  cup Dijon mustard

2  tablespoons red wine vinegar

1  tablespoon each:  garlic paste, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, sugar

1/2  teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2  large eggs, at room temperature

1/2  cup extra-virgin olive oil

~Step 1.  Place all the ingredients, except olive oil, in work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Put the lid on, turn the motor on, and process for a full 30 seconds.  With the motor running, add the olive oil, in a thin, slow, steady stream, through the feed tube into the dressing. Transfer to a 1 1/2-2-cup size container, cover tightly and refrigerate one hour prior to using (to allow flavors time to marry), and, keep it stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Part Two:  Caesar-Style Croutons a la Melanie

Not too big, not to small, not too hard, not to soft, buttery-rich and bold-flavored from plenty of black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning, I make my croutons from scratch, and, I make 'em using homemade bread, which I make in my bread machine.  Why?  Because, just like store-bought dressings, I take Ceasar salad-making seriously, and, that means: no short cuts.

1  pound loaf, 1/2"-cubed, bread-machine herbed-pizza-dough loaf

2  sticks salted butter

1/2  teaspoon garlic powder

For the dough:

3/4  cup warm water

1  tablespoon olive oil

2 1/4  cups all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon sea salt

1  teaspoon sugar

1/2  teaspoon each:  garlic powder, Italian seasoning blend and coarse-grind black pepper

1  teaspoon granulated dry yeast

~ Step 1.  Place all ingredients, in order listed, in bread machine.

Follow the instructions in your machine's manual for baking a 1-pound loaf of white bread.  Got questions?  Click on the the link provided above to get my directions and step-by-step photos.

~Step 1.  In a 12" skillet, melt the garlic powder into the butter over medium-low heat.  Adjust heat to medium-high and add the bread cubes.  Using two large, slotted spoons, tossing constantly until butter is all absorbed and almost constantly thereafter, brown and crisp the bread, about 15-18 minutes, lowering the heat as necessary toward the end of the cooking process.  Remove the skillet from heat and allow the bread to cool in the skillet for about 1 hour, where it will continue to crisp up.  Use one of the slotted spoons to transfer croutons to a shallow bowl that has been lined with paper towels, then remove and reserve the smaller crouton bread bits for plate garnish.  

Part Three:  Caesar-Style Gem Salad a la Melanie

It's been said that a restaurant is only as good as its Caesar salad. As a lover of Caesar salad, if a restaurant offers one, I'm ordering it. That said, with or w/o the chicken option, I ask that my Caesar contain three on-hand additions to the usual suspects: onion, tomato and hard-cooked egg. One last item of note, I roast two chickens almost every week.  I do it because I love having it on-hand for a quick salad or sandwich all week long.  Feel free to use poached- or grilled-, salt-and-pepper-seasoned- chicken.

When it comes to salad making, it is not an exact science.  I have estimated the quantities below to the best of my ability, based upon my preferences -- I encourage you to do the same.

For four, main-dish, gem-lettuce Caesar-style salads w/roasted chicken (in order of assembly):

10-12 Little Gem lettuce hearts, separated (a generous 2 1/2 hearts per salad)

1-1 1/2  cups red onion, peeled, quartered and very-thinly-sliced, shaved (a generous 1/4 cup per salad)

2 1/2  cups bite-sized, pulled- or diced, chicken breast (a generous 1/2 cup per salad)

4-6  hard-cooked eggs, peeled & wedged, wedges cut in half (1+ egg per salad)

1 1/2  cups grape tomatoes, halved (about 1/3 cup per salad) 

Caesar-style dressing, from above recipe

1/2-1  cup finely-shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese (a generous tablespoon per salad -- I shredded 5-6 ounces and will refrigerate what I do not use)

Caesar-style croutons, from above recipe 

freshly-ground black pepper, for garnishing salad

~Step 1.  To assemble four hearty, individual-sized salads (or one large salad on a large platter), divide, layer and arrange the ingredients, in the the following order:  gem romaine leaves, red onion, chicken breast, hard-cooked egg, grape tomatoes, a drizzle of dressing, a sprinkling of cheese, crunchy croutons and, a generous grinding of black pepper.  Serve immediately.

Once assembled, serve salad(s) ASAP...

... & enjoy w/a fork, or, out-of-hand a la Caesar Cardini: 

Little Gems Caesar-Style Salad w/Roasted Chicken:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups dressing and 4 large, main-dish serving.

Special Equipment List:  food processor; 1 1/2 cup food storage container w/tight-fitting lid; cutting board; serrated bread knife; chef's knife; 12" nonstick skillet; 2 large slotted spoons; paper towels; microplane grater

Cook's Note:  Looking for the perfect accompaniment to a Ceasar salad? ~ My Traditional Gazpacho: Fresh from our Garden ~ is it.  Just like steaming hot tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich go hand-in-hand in the Winter, so goes gazpacho and the Caesar salad.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Creamy, Garlicy & Peppery Caesar-Style Dressing ~

I've heard it said that a restaurant is only as good as its Caesar salad and a Caesar salad is only as good as its dressing.  A few decades ago, back in the 1970's, '80's and '90's, when people still had an appreciation for the snobbery of an elegant restaurant, that was true, and no one enjoyed the fanfare of watching a black-tied waiter prepare my Caesar salad, to my liking, at tableside, more than me.  If a Caesar salad was on a restaurant menu, I ordered it.  Nowadays -- not so much.  In our present-day Olive Garden, Carrabba's atmosphere, I'm betting most folks wouldn't know a good Caesar salad from a bad one if they got hit on the head with an olive wood bowl.

The Caesar salad, was invented on July 4th, 1924, by Caesar Cardini, an Italian-born Mexican immigrant & co-owner of a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, who resided in San Diego. 

Cardini concocted his now iconic salad late in the day on the Fourth of July, for some Hollywood celebrities, after the holiday crowd had depleted his kitchen of many ingredients.  The original and easy-to-make dressing contained just six ingredients:  garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire and Parmesan -- it did not contain anchovies, getting its slight anchovy flavor from the anchovies in the Worcestershire.  When it comes to making Caesar dressing, I play by the rules, bending them by adjusting the quantities to suit my own taste.  I want my dressing garlicy, peppery, and creamy, and, I want it to get creamy by using the traditional raw egg.  I want it slightly sweet and savory too, and, while I don't want to see anchovies, I want to taste their tang.  As for the Parmesan -- I omit it from the dressing, choosing instead to use a copious amount to garnish my salad.

While store-bought dressing is a time saving ingredient, and, "hoaky-smokes Bullwinkle", there is a wide selection to choose from (and that includes the trademarked Cardini's brand, which is named after Caesar Cardini), when it comes to making this iconic salad, I don't take shortcuts -- and I'll put my dressing up against any of the bottle brands out there.  That said, I won't call the food police if you choose to use one, but, if you do, do not be afraid to "doctor it up a bit" to suit yourself.

1  2-ounce can anchovy fillets (preferably rolled w/capers), well-drained

1/4  cup Dijon mustard

2  tablespoons red wine vinegar

1  tablespoon each:  garlic paste, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, sugar

1/2  teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2  large eggs, at room temperature

1/2  cup extra-virgin olive oil

~Step 1.  Place all the ingredients, except olive oil, in work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Put the lid on, turn the motor on, and process for a full 30 seconds.  With the motor running, add the olive oil, in a thin, slow, steady stream, through the feed tube into the dressing. Transfer to a 1 1/2-2-cup size container, cover tightly and refrigerate one hour prior to using (to allow flavors time to marry), and, keep it stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Try my Italian-seasoned Caesar-style croutons w/my dressing:

Use them both on my house-special gem Ceasar-style-salad:

Creamy, Galicky & Peppery Caesar-Style Dressing:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups.

Special Equipment List:  food processor; 2-cup food-storage container w/tight fitting lid

Cook's Note:  Similar to the Caesar salad in that it is only as good as its dressing,  ~ My Big Fat Greek Lemon-y-Garlic Salad ~, is one of my favorite salad combinations.  Full of briny olives and feta, it's particularly good with grilled or poached seafood (crabmeat, lobster, shrimp and/or scallops) added to it.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Summer Strawberry and Banana Breakfast Muffins ~

I rarely drink coffee, but when I do, a muffin is involved.  The humbly-crumbly and not-too-sweet muffin is the perfect accompaniment to my steaming hot cup of caffeine laced with cream.  In my muffin world, muffins are to be consumed for breakfast or brunch, bigger does not equate to better, mini-muffins miss the entire touchy-feely point, and, muffins containing chunks of fresh or dried fruit and/or toasted nuts are amongst my favorites -- even the most magnificent Chocolate-Chip Muffin top can't woo me away from an Apple, Raisin & Pecan Streusel Muffin.  As a gal who considers a banana a great breakfast all-by-its-lonesome-self and Special K without strawberries a crime, pairing the two in a muffin recipe didn't require me to wear my thinking cap.

No frosting on these muffins please, save it for your cupcakes.  

A cupcake is a cup-sized cake with a light, soft texture, and, a muffin is a cup-sized loaf of "quick-bread" (a quick-to-mix-together bread leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda rather than yeast) with a denser, crumbier texture.  A cupcake is sweeter than a muffin and a muffin is sweeter than a traditional loaf of bread with one caveat:  a muffin can be savory too, a cupcake cannot.  Cupcakes are usually piped or slathered with frosting, while muffins get nothing at all, a sprinkling of sparkling, coarse-textured sugar, and/or, a crumbly streusel sprinkled on their tops -- sometimes they have a thin glaze too, but, that's not my cup-of-tea.  Cupcakes are, in fact: dessert.  Muffins can be dessert, but, they are generally considered a breakfast or brunch treat.  

To proclaim that muffins are inherently healthier than a fully-frosted cupcake is a misconception -- the muffins at any local bakery, coffeeshop or Starbucks can contain as many as 600+ calories.

When baking banana bread or banana muffins:  If the bananas can't be easily mashed w/a fork, they are not ripe enough.

I eat a pretty yellow banana almost every morning -- I've been doing it all my life.  Pretty yellow: that is my favorite stage of ripeness for eating this fruit and it's one of my favorite ways to start a busy day.  I only buy bananas 2-3 at a time because I won't eat them past pretty yellow.

That said, when I know I'm going to be baking banana muffins or bread, I purchase my bananas about week a week in advance. The bananas in this photo took a full 8 days to get to perfect banana-muffin ripeness. Over-ripe bananas, are incredibly fragrant, sweet and flavorful -- a lot more than the pretty yellow ones.

When adding strawberries to quick bread or muffins:  Use firm, ever-so-slightly-underripe to ripe, at-their-prime berries.  

firm strawberries + soft bananas = marvelous muffins 

1/2  cup salted butter, at room temperature, very soft (1 stick)

1  cup granulated sugar

2  large eggs, preferably at room temperature

1  teaspoon each: pure banana, strawberry and vanilla extract

1 1/2  cups mashed bananas (12 ounces banana after peeling, about 3 large bananas)

2  cups unbleached, all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup additional flour, for prepping strawberries as directed in ~ Step 5.

1  teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2  cups 1/2" diced strawberries (8-10 ounces diced strawberries)

no-stick cooking spray, for preparing muffin tins

~Step 1.  In a large bowl, place softened butter.  Microwave for 10-12 seconds, long enough to melt, without turning greasy.  Using a large rubber spatula add and stir the sugar into the butter.

~Step 2.  In a small bowl, use a fork to vigorously whisk the eggs.  Add and use the spatula to fold the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture.  Add and thoroughly fold in the three flavor-boosting extracts (banana, strawberry and vanilla).

~ Step 3.  In a 2-cup measuring container, use the fork to mash the fruit from three bananas, stopping when you've reached 2 1/2 cups of mashed bananas.  Got more than 2 1/2 cups?  Use it at your own risk.

~ Step 4.  Add and fold the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and ground cinnamon) into the chunky banana mixture, until all ingredients are just moistened -- some lumps and clumps are just fine.

~Step 5.  In a medium bowl, take a moment to fold the diced strawberries into the flour.  This will keep the strawberries from sticking together when stirred into the batter, and, prevent them from sinking to the bottom as the muffins bake.  Add and fold coated strawberries into banana batter.

~ Step 6.  Using a 2 1/2" ice-cream scoop as a measure, distribute batter into each of 12 muffin cups whose tins have been lightly sprayed with no-stick cooking spray.  There will be some batter left in the bowl.  Use a tablespoon to distribute and dollop/mound a bit of additional batter into the center of each cup.

~ Step 7.  Bake muffins, all at once, on center rack of preheated 350° oven, until puffed up, golden, and, a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes.  Remove from oven to cool, in pans, on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  To remove muffins from tins, use a sharp paring knife to carefully and gently loosen the edges, invert the pan and give it a gentle shake.  Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Muffin(s) going into oven to bake in 350° oven, 25-28 minutes:

Muffin(s) out of oven, cooling in pans, 30 minutes:

Muffin(s) out of pans & on a rack to cool completely:

Pick one up, pull it apart & have a great start to your day:

Summer Strawberry and Banana Breakfast Muffins:  Recipe yields 1 dozen standard-sized muffins.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; large rubber spatula; fork; 2-cup measuring container; standard-size muffin tins, enough for 2 dozen muffins; 2 1/2" ice-cream scoop; cake tester or toothpick; wire cooling rack; sharp paring knife

Cook's Note:  I enjoy a lot of treats unembellished  -- cake doughnuts, cream cakes,  crumb cakes and coffeecakes -- even plain cheesecake.   That said, for those who prefer their muffins chocked-full of goodies, having a basic muffin batter recipe in your back pocket takes the guess and stress out of making all sorts of muffins exactly the way you like them by adding a cup or two of this or that and a pinch of spice and other things nice. Here's ~ A Plain, All-Purpose, No-Nonsense Muffin Recipe ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Two Basic Marinades/Sauces for Chinese Stir-Fry ~

The definition of a stir-fry is straightforward:  To fry small morsels of meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and/or vegetables rapidly, in a wok or skillet, over a high heat, in a small amount of oil or fat, while stirring constantly.  The concept is an easy one to grasp.  Stir-fries were invented by the Chinese, but, it was Chinese Cantonese chefs, who specialized in stir-frying, that were amongst the first to immigrate to other Asian and European countries, our USA, then countries all around the world, where, over a relatively short period of time, they put the word stir-fry in the global vocabulary.

Chinese stirred-eggs or tomato-eggs is one of the earliest stir-fries of record.  Asian food came to the USA in the mid-1800's when the Cantonese immigrants began settling in CA, but, was consumed primarily in their communities.  In the 1920's, it became trendy with young cosmopolitan-types, who considered it exotic.  It wasn't until after World War II (at least as early as 1948), when soldiers returned from the war with a taste for the foods they had eaten abroad, that American housewives got involved. During the 1960's tiki bars and Polynesian restaurants were all the rage, and, by the 1970's, when I was a young bride, mainstream American cooks all owned a wok and a hibachi, and, Asian-fusion cooking began.

In the beginning, almost all Chinese restaurants here in the west were Cantonese.  Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and, to this day, for most American home cooks with a desire to dabble in stir-frying, it is these familiar flavors we crave in and associate with our stir-fries.  That said, for every ten Chinese cookbooks, I'll show you, at conservatively three per book, thirty different recipes for stir-fry sauces, some requiring one or two hard-to-find ingredients.  For the novice cook this is disheartently confusing, and, can lead to fear of stir-frying, with the conclusion being:

Every stir-fry requires its own specific sauce.  Not so.

I'm not here to tell anyone to screw the recipes in all those books.  I am here to tell everyone who just wants some stir-fry sanity in their life, with two basic stir-fry sauce recipes in your repertoire, you can start turning out quick-to-make, full-flavored "all-the-right-stuff" stir-fries using a handful of easy-to-find inexpensive pantry staples, and, a few time-saving, convenient-condiments too.

Feel free to mince garlic cloves and grate ginger root, but, high-quality garlic and ginger paste make weeknight stir-fries a breeze.  Chili-garlic paste, which adds heat, is a favorite of my heat-seeking family. I'm not one to purchase pre-sliced, pre-portioned meats, poultry and/or veggies labeled "stir-fry", but, those are available too, and, if it means skipping the take-out and cooking at home, by all means do it.

Note:  A common misconception is:  to marinate is to tenderize.  It doesn't work that way.  In the food world, marinades for proteins act as flavorizers, not as tenderizers, meaning:  the longer you marinate, the more flavor will be infused into the protein.  If you are pressed for time, even 15-minutes will go a long way to flavoring the finished dish.  Moral of the story:  The tenderness of the protein being cooked is dependent entirely upon knowing the proper cooking method.

For 2 pounds thin-sliced or bite-size diced chicken or seafood:

Five ingredients.  Light and bright with just enough soy sauce to flavor without overpowering the delicate flavors of chicken or seafood.  Stir 1  tablespoon garlic paste, 2 tablespoons ginger paste and an optional 1-3 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce, to taste, into finished stir-fry sauce.

For the stir-fry sauce:

1/2  cup high-quality unsalted vegetable stock

6  tablespoons soy sauce

2  tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar

2  tablespoons  Chinese rice wine

2  tablespoons sugar

2  tablespoons firmly-packed cornstarch

In a small bowl, using a fork, whisk ingredients thoroughly.

Place the chicken or seafood in a 1-gallon food storage bag.  Stir the garlic paste, ginger paste and optional chili-garlic sauce into the sauce.  Give the stir-fry sauce a thorough stir and add 1/2 cup of it to the bag.  Seal the bag and squish the chicken or shrimp around until thoroughly coated in the sauce.  Set aside to marinate, 30-60 minutes at room temperature, or, 8-12 hours/overnight in the refrigerator.  Heat 1-2 tablespoons sesame or specified oil in a wok or a skillet, add the marinated chicken or seafood and proceed to stir-fry it (and the vegetables), timed as directed in specific recipe, adding remaining stir-fry sauce during last 30-45 seconds of cooking.

 For 2 pounds thin-sliced or bite-size diced beef or pork:

Six ingredients.  Dark brown sugar and ketchup contribute to a deeper, bolder flavor with a tangy edge that's just perfect for beef or pork.  Stir 1  tablespoon garlic paste, 2 tablespoons ginger paste and an optional 1-3 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce, to taste, into finished stir-fry sauce.  

For the tomatoey-stir-fry sauce:

1/2  cup high-quality unsalted vegetable stock (Note:  beef stock may be substituted, but vegetable complements tomato flavors better.)

6  tablespoons soy sauce

4  tablespoons ketchup

2  tablespoons  Chinese rice wine

2  tablespoons brown sugar

2  tablespoons firmly-packed cornstarch

In a 1-cup measuring container, stir all ingredients.

Place the beef or pork in a 1-gallon food storage bag.  Stir the garlic paste, ginger paste and optional chili-garlic sauce into the sauce. Give the stir-fry sauce a thorough stir and add 1/2 cup of it to the bag.  Seal the bag and squish the meat around until thoroughly coated in the sauce. Set aside to marinate, 30-60 minutes at room temperature, or, 8-12 hours/overnight in the refrigerator. Heat 1-2 tablespoons sesame or specified oil in a wok or a skillet, add the marinated beef or pork and proceed to stir-fry it (and the vegetables), timed as directed in specific recipe, adding remaining stir-fry sauce during last 30-45 seconds of cooking.

Two all-purpose marinades/sauces = stir-frying sanity.

Two Basic Marinades/Sauces for Chinese Stir-Fry:  Recipe yields 1-cup stir-fry sauce each recipe, enough for 2 pounds chicken or seafood, or, 2 pounds beef or pork.

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; 1-gallon food storage bag

Cook's Note: ~ Chinese-American Restaurant-Style Pepper Steak ~, and, ~ Chinese-American Cantonese-Style Tomato-Beef ~ are two classic, very similar yet different, examples of how these two all-purpose marinades get used in an everyday stir-fry in my kitchen.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Have a Blackberry-Cobbler Ice-Cream Kind of Day ~

Newsflash.  Blue Bell, the Texas-based ice cream company, announced on Twitter, that its Southern Blackberry-Cobbler Ice Cream will be available in stores, for a limited time only, starting Monday, June 4th.  This popular seasonal flavor consists of a creamy, blackberry-flavored vanilla ice cream with flaky pie crust pieces and blackberry sauce swirled throughout.  Being a worshiper of the blackberry, under normal circumstances, this news would have caused me to race around town in an attempt to hoard as much of it as I could stuff into my freezer.  It didn't.  Why?

Homemade blackberry-cobbler frozen custard + tips on adding fruit to ice-cream:

I decided to make my own version of blackberry-cobbler ice-cream (frozen blackberry-cobbler custard, to be more specific), by adding some of my own homemade blackberry cobbler to a batch of my frozen vanilla-custard ice-cream base, as it churned away in my ice-cream making machine.  This wasn't an experiment for me -- I just wish I had thought of this flavor-concept sooner.  I knew it would work perfectly.  You see, had I long ago learned:  

In order to keep fresh fruit (most commonly strawberries), which is mostly water, from turning into fruity bits and clumps of rock-hard ice cubes, before adding it to the churning ice-cream base, it needs to be cooked in a manner that removes some of its water content and its concentrates flavor -- this is achieved by briefly simmering on the stovetop, or sometimes roasting in the oven (which conveniently happens as fruit and berries bake away in cobblers, crisps, etc.).

Occasionally, a recipe will instruct to macerate the fruit in alcohol, meaning sweetened, fruit-flavored brandies and fruit-flavored schnapps.  The food science behind this:  Alcohol has a lower freezing point than water, so, once added to the churning ice cream or custard, the fruit won't turn into fruity ice cubes.  I'm here to tell you this does not work perfectly.  You see, I long ago learned: While the maceration of fruit renders it soft and tender, most of its flavor gets leached into the liquid, leaving semi-flavorless and soggy fruit to add to the ice cream or frozen custard.  

The difference between ice cream & frozen custard:

During June, July and August, we'll all most-likely eat more ice cream than we did during the past nine months.  In my kitchen, I'll be making more during the next three months than I did during the past nine too.  That said, while everyone (myself included) will generically refer to it as ice cream, what I'll technically be making is frozen custard, and, if you make homemade ice cream, I'm betting you're making old-fashioned frozen custard (or a version of it), too.  Here's why:

Store-bought ice cream is made from milk or skim milk, or, milk or skim milk and cream, corn syrup or sugar, and flavorings.  Egg yolks are sometimes added, but not required. Ice cream is made in a machine that pumps lots of air into it as it churns, yielding a light mouthfeel.  It is federally defined as:  a frozen dessert containing 10% milk fat. That said, the simplicity of making old-fashioned ice cream has been so convoluted by high-tech machinery (to insure consistent, signature, hand-scoop-able texture), and additives, preservatives and stabilizers (for a long and palatable shelf life), one couldn't reproduce it adequately in the home kitchen, even if one was inclined to try.

Frozen custard is made from whole milk, or a combination of milk and cream, egg yolks, sugar and flavorings.  Egg-yolks are a requirement, and regulations require 1.4% egg yolks by weight.  The higher fat content (from milk and/or cream) gives it a rich, luxurious taste.  Whether made in a hand-crank or commercial machine, frozen custard is churned at a slow pace, to incorporate little air, giving it its dense texture.  Because it melts almost on contact with the lips (similar to soft serve ice cream), it is best served immediately, directly from the machine it was made in.

Frozen-custard and ice-cream  recipes are not created equal.  Sometimes the consistency is too soft, sometimes its too dense, or worse, sometimes it's full of nasty ice crystals.  Some recipes are cloyingly sweet, and other times, there's simply not enough flavoring added.  Frozen custard and ice-cream are both emulsions with two components (fat and water) that need lots of encouragement to meld, by adding components that absorb water (sugar, starch and protein).

A little bit of rich & creamy frozen custard history:

Frozen custard was invented on Coney Island, NY, in 1919.  Two ice-cream venders, Archie and Elton Kohr, discovered that when they added egg yolks to their home-made ice-cream base, they produced a richer, creamier, smoother ice cream.  On the first weekend they sold 18,460 cones. They had invented the precursor to our present-day soft-serve ice cream, with one exception: little air was pumped into their product.  As described above, true frozen custard is quite dense.  The mixture enters a refrigerated tube, and, as it freezes, blades scrape the frozen product from the sides of the barrel walls.  Unlike hand-scooped ice cream, the mixture stays in the machine, being discharged directly into cones or cups, on an as-needed basis, to be served immediately.

For my easy-to-make, foolproof vanilla-flavored custard-base:

2  cups heavy cream

2  cups whole milk

2  tablespoons pure vanilla extract*

2  tablespoons firmly-packed cornstarch

8  large egg yolks

1 1/4  cups granulated sugar

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

*Note:  Because my blackberry cobbler is doubly-flavored, with blackberry brandy and pure blackberry extract, there is no reason to add either to my vanilla-flavored custard base.

~ Step 1.  Place cream, 1 1/2 cups of the milk and vanilla extract in a 4-quart saucepan on the stovetop. In a 2-cup measuring container, using a fork, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch.  Set aside.

~Step 2.  In a medium bowl, use the fork to whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt. Add the egg yolk mixture to the 2-cup container with the milk/cornstarch mixture.  Use the fork to vigorously combine the two mixtures.  Set aside.

~Step 3.  Heat the saucepan of milk mixture on the stovetop over medium heat.  Heat the mixture until almost steaming (not full-steaming, simmering or boiling), whisking occasionally, about 2-3 minutes.  Adjust heat to low.  While whisking constantly, gradually and in a slow steady stream, whisk the egg yolk/sugar/milk/cornstarch mixture into the almost-steaming milk mixture.  Increase heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.  In the beginning, mixture will be foamy on top.  As foam subsides and when mixture begins to thicken, switch from whisk to a large spoon to stir.  Continue to cook gently until custard base is simmering gently, nicely-thickened, silky-smooth and ribbon like, about 3-4 minutes.

~ Step 4.  Remove saucepan from heat and immediately transfer custard base to a 2-quart food storage container.  Cover the surface of the custard base with a layer of plastic wrap, meaning: don't cover the container, lay the plastic directly on the surface of the custard (to prevent a rubbery skin from forming on the top).  Cool for 1-2 hours prior to putting the lid on the container and refrigerating for several hours to overnight.

~Step 5.  From here forward, for the rest of this recipe, follow the directions that came with your ice-cream maker.  Because mine has a built-in freezing system, I pour all of the cold custard base into the stainless steel work bowl (which has been pre-chilled by the machine for me).  The lid goes on the work bowl and the machine gets turned on to churn for 1 hour - 1 hour, 10 minutes. The frozen vanilla-custard is ready to be served.  It's done.  To add the blackberry cobbler:

~Step 6.  While custard is churning, portion 1-pound of my blackberry cobbler recipe -- use another at your own risk -- which has been chilled in the refrigerator for several hours.  Use a teaspoon to cobble it up into blackberry-sized pieces.  Return plate of cobbler pieces to refrigerator until custard has churned for 1 hour.

~Step 7.  Open lid of the ice-cream machine.  As  custard churns, begin dropping cobbler pieces from plate into work bowl, a few at time, until all have been individually churned into the custard. Return lid to machine and churn another 20-30 minutes, until desired consistency is reached.

Scoop atop a bowl full of cobbler or into an ice-cream cone...

... atop a bowl full of blackberry cobbler is da bomb...

... & enjoy your journey back to a kinder, gentler time. 

Have a Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream Kind of Day:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 quarts blackberry cobbler ice cream.

Special Equipment List:  2-cup measuring container; fork; 4-quart saucepan; whisk; large spoon; 2-quart food storage container w/tight-fitting lid; plastic wrap; ice-cream maker; ice-cream scoop

Cook's Note:  For another type of frozen treat, one that's perfectly-portioned and more kid-friendly than blackberry cobbler, check out my recipe for ~ Decidedly-Decandent Frozen-Hot-Chocolate Pops ~. 

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Have a Very-Berry Blackberry-Cobbler Kind of Day ~

Here today, gone today.  That's the lifespan of blackberries entering my kitchen.  I've been told their dark color makes them really good for me -- even more antioxidants than blueberries.  Rah-rah-sis-boom-bah, I'd eat them even if they were on on the not-so-good-for-me foods short list.   When I buy a box of blackberries, I eat a box of blackberries.  When I pick blackberries, they disappear on the walk to my kitchen door.  I do not share blackberries -- well, maybe, probably I would, but, I've yet to be tested on this point.  That said, because blackberries require no special treatment (peeling, chopping, slicing, dicing, etc.), if I buy an extra box, and I work very quickly, I can affectively manage to get the requisite four cups of berries into a cobbler while I eat the rest.

This cobbler goes together faster than I can eat berries!  

A bit about cobbler:  Cobbler is almost always associated with a baked, deep-dish fruit or berry dessert that emerges from the oven with a semi-crispy top that has been made with a batter, a biscuit dough or a pastry.  There is no right or wrong topping for a cobbler -- it depends on your preference, where you live, and/or who taught you how to make cobbler.  Cobbler recipes have been printed in European cookbooks since the 19th century and were originally main-dish, protein-based meals. Cobblers in the US originated in the Colonies because the English settlers were unable to make their traditional suet puddings for lack of ingredients and proper equipment. The name is said to derive from the finished product looking like a rough cobblestone street.

4  cups blackberries (24-ounces)

4  ounces salted butter (1 stick)

1  cup pancake mix

1  cup sugar

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4  teaspoon ground nutmeg

1  cup milk

1  tablespoon blackberry brandy and/or 1 teaspoon blackberry extract

Sugar 'n Cinnamon

~ Step 1. Place the butter in an 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish/2-quart casserole -- I like clear glass because I can keep an eye on the baking process.  Melt the butter in the microwave. Tilt the dish to evenly coat the entire bottom with the melted butter.

~Step 2.  In a large bowl, stir together the pancake mix, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  In a 1-cup measuring container, stir together the milk and brandy and/or extract.  Add the milk mixture to the pancake mix mixture.  Using a large rubber spatula, stir until a thin, semi-lumpy batter forms.

~Step 3.  Pour all of the batter into the baking dish right on top of the butter. Do not stir the batter into the butter.  Using a slotted spoon, spoon/distribute the blackberries evenly over the batter. Generously sprinkle the top of the berries with Sugar 'n Cinnamon.  Bake on center rack of preheated 350º oven 35-40 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Note:  While the cobbler is baking, the blackberries (or any fruit) are going to sink to the bottom of the baking dish.  At the same time, the batter is going to bubble and bake up to the surface in random spots across the surface.  The cobbler will be golden brown and will spring back slightly when touched in the center.  Walk away.  Cool at least 20-30 minutes prior to serving.

Serve steamy-hot, slightly-warm or at room temperature...

... w/homemade blackberry-cobbler ice-cream: 

Have a Very-Berry Blackberry-Cobbler Kind of Day:  Recipe yields 8-12 servings. 

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 4-cup measuring container; 1-cup measuring container; large rubber spatula; 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish/2-quart casserole, preferably clear glass

Cook's Note:  My dad loves peaches the way I love blackberries, meaning:  they are his favorite fruit. This luscious peach cobbler, which can be made without compromise using home-canned or store-bought canned peaches (in place of fresh peaches), is my way of keeping his favorite fruit-dessert world a peachy-keen place to be even when peaches are out of season: ~ Alices's Super-Simple Georgia Peach-Pie Cobbler ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Love is Blueberry Oatmeal-Crumble Cookie Squares~

Blueberries are a fruit best served cooked.  Simmer down and read on.  When it comes to eating fresh, perfectly-ripe, high-quality, locally-grown berries hand-to-mouth, there are three seedier-types I enjoy more -- blackberries, strawberries and raspberries (in that order).  I love blueberries, but, it's my opinion that the blueberry is enhanced by cooking. Given a choice, I'll choose the blueberry jam, blueberry pie or blueberry bread pudding over the bowl of fresh blueberries any day of the week -- they even taste better after the little bit of cooking they get in pancakes.

Dare to be a buttery-rich & delicately-crumbly kind of square: 

Blueberries are only one of seven native North American food plants grown on a large scale and cultivated commercially.

Before I go any further, I probably should mention the other six:  Concord grapes, cranberries, strawberries, corn, beans and squash.  This means, these plants were in existence before any of our immigrant ancestors arrived in this new world and the Native Americans were eating them and creating their own recipes/uses for them long before they introduced them to the original Colonists.  That said, beloved blueberries were domesticated entirely in the 20th century and it did not take long for this "very American berry" to gain the unconditional love of the world. 

Three types of blueberries supply over 90% of the market:  lowbush, highbush and rabbiteye.

Lowbush varieties (marketed as "wild blueberries" or "huckleberries") are very small, are harvested by machine and are sold almost exclusively to processing plants who make and sell blueberry products like "wild blueberry pie filling" or "wild blueberry preserves". While this sounds like they'd be at the top of the blueberry class, their flavor is actually disappointingly bland.

Highbush blueberries are the result of the hybridization of wild native plants. They are picked by hand and are sold fresh, representing over two-thirds of the total blueberries sold in our markets everywhere.  

Rabbiteyes, which are native to the Southeastern United States were/are called rabbiteyes because the berries turn pink before they turn blue -- the eye color of a white rabbit. They are very similar to highbush blueberries, which are native to northeastern North America. Rabbiteye bushes get quite high, up to 20 feet, and, they bloom earlier in the year than the highbush, which sadly, makes them susceptible to Spring frosts.  Highbush are smaller than rabbiteyes and were called highbush simply because they were/are taller than low bush varieties.

Highbush blueberries are what my husband Joe grows in our Central PA backyard.  The berries are larger and plumper than rabbiteyes and the fruit is juicier with a thinner skin. Their quality is compromised very little by freezing them (which is great for me because, every year, I have a lot to freeze), while the rabbiteye berry skin tends to get tough when frozen.  Rabbiteyes, eaten out-of-hand are a bit sweeter, but in my opinion: highbush berries are truly the best variety for the best price.

When selecting blueberries, it is noteworthy that size is not an indication of flavor, shrinkage is. Always choose blueberries that are plump and look like they are ready to burst. Berries that have begun to shrink and wrinkle, while usable, will be less flavorful.  AND, no matter what variety you choose to use, be generous -- cooked blueberry anything should be bursting with berries.

Part One:  The 5-Minute Oatmeal-Crumble Cookie Base

For the oatmeal-crumble cookie base:

1  cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

3/4  cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant oats)

1/2  cup granulated sugar

1/4  cup firmly-packed light brown sugar

3/4  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

1/2  cup salted butter (1 stick)

1  large egg yolk

no-stick cooking spray, for preparing pan

~ Step 1.  To prepare the baking pan, spray the inside of an 8" x 8" x 2" baking pan with no-stick spray, line the bottom with an 8" x 8" x 2" square of parchment paper, then spray the top of the parchment paper.  I use a baking pan with a removable bottom, which makes it easy to remove and slice the cookies squares after baking.

~Step 2.  In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir together the dry ingredients:  the flour, oats, both sugars, cinnamon and salt.  Melt the butter in the microwave and allow it to cool slightly, about 2-3 minutes.  Lightly beat the egg yolk.  Stir the melted butter and the egg yolk into the dry ingredients.  A crumbly but cohesive mixture will have formed. Remove and reserve a scant 1-cup of the crumble mixture (this will be used as topping).  

~Step 3.  Transfer the remainder of the the mixture into prepared pan.  Use the fork to evenly distribute the mixture in the bottom, then use a tart tamper to press the mixture together.

Part Two:  The 5-Minute Blueberry Layer, Topping & Baking

For the blueberry layer:

2  pints fresh blueberries

2  tablespoons lemon juice, fresh or high-quality bottled not from concentrate

2  teaspoons pure blueberry extract

1/4  cup granulated sugar

1  tablespoon firmly-packed cornstarch

Sugar 'n Cinnamon, for sprinkling on top just prior to baking

~Step 1.  In a medium bowl using a rubber spatula, gently but thoroughly stir together the blueberries, lemon juice, blueberry extract, sugar and cornstarch, making sure the cornstarch is incorporated throughout.  Scoop and evenly distribute the berry mixture atop the cookie base. Sprinkle and evenly distribute the reserved 1-cup of cookie crumbles atop the berries.

~Step 2.  Generously sprinkle Sugar 'n Cinnamon evenly over the top and bake on center rack of preheated 350° oven, 40-45 minutes.  The crumble topping will be light golden and berries will be bubbling mostly around the sides of the pan.  Remove from oven and cool completely, in pan on a wire rack, 3-4 hours.  Refrigerate, slice cold, and, store in refrigerator.  

Refrigerate 1-2 hours prior to slicing into squares:

Pour the milk, pick one up & dare to be square:

Love is Blueberry Oatmeal-Crumble Cookie Squares:  Recipe yields 16, 2" blueberry squares.

Special Equipment List: 8" x 8" x 2" square baking pan w/removable bottom; parchment paper; fork; 1-cup measuring container; tart tamper; wire cooling rack; large chef's knife; small spatula

Cook's Note:  Looking for a perfect companion to blueberry squares?  ~ Pucker up for:  Triple-Lemon Bars/Squares ~.  I am a lover of all things tart and citrusy, and, I consider the lemon the diva of all citrus.  Just call me a sourpuss.  

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2018)

~ Spring Chicken w/Garlic-Butter Pasta & Asparagus ~

This winner of a weeknight chicken dinner is taken straight from pages of my working parents' playbook.  Before heading out the door in the morning, my mom would put four chicken breasts, doused with store-bought Italian dressing, in a bowl, and, at the end of the work day, dad would dredge the breasts in bread crumbs and sauté them in a skillet, while mom cooked a box of kid-friendly pasta and readied some fresh green beans.  It was simple and straightforward, nothing fancy, but, it was a dinner we all liked, right down to the vegetable.  If we four could look back and critique our dinner menus, all of us would agree:  we were not an easy family to feed.

A family that sits down to dinner together, stays together.

A quirky family?  To say the least.  Dad loved Italian dressing -- it was suitable for anything.  My brother detested tomatoes and tomato sauces -- but loved ketchup.  I disliked macaroni and cheese -- but loved pasta and all cheeses.  Mom disliked heavily-breaded chicken, pork or veal cutlets -- but loved batter-dipped, deep-fried fish and seafood.  We all liked green beans and peas (cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes and mushrooms too) -- we ate green beans and peas a lot.  We all hated squash.  That said, we ate well, rarely argued, and, mom and dad cooked dinner together every night.  My job was to set the table.  My little brother was in charge of harassment.

Fast forward to present day.  Trying to get four people to agree on anything, let alone what to eat, how to eat it, when to eat it, and, who's going to cook it and/or clean up after it, is:  rocket science. Throw in an occasional vegan or self-imposed gluten-free nut job, well, enough said. That said, if you're courageous enough to give it a try, you have a lot more options available to you now than my mom and dad did back in the 1950's and '60's.  Fresh asparagus is a prime example.  

Asparagus, which came to America in the 1850's, wasn't available outside of its immediate growing areas until refrigerated trucks started rolling across our highways, and, even then, it was sold mostly to restaurant chefs because home cooks had no idea what to do with it. Click here to watch Julia Child, in a 1966 episode of the French Chef, Asparagus From Tip to Butt, show us how to properly prepare it.

Spring forward:  Eat more fresh asparagus.

Interestingly, I enjoyed this family meal so much when I was growing up, forty-five cooking years later, I've not changed it in any way, except for the green vegetable -- asparagus, broccoli, green beans or peas, depending on what's in season.  I kept my dad's favorite skip-the-eggs no-need-to-make-a-heavy-breading method for the chicken cutlets the same (for the traditional Italian-style method and recipe, check out ~ A Flash-in-the-Pan Dinner:  Chicken alla Milanese~), and, I make it in my electric skillet like he did too -- dad sautéed the chicken in the skillet on the countertop while mom simmered the pasta at the stovetop and the two components cooked in about the same amount of time.  Quirky?  Yes.  Yummy?  Yes.  The Italian dressing (along with its herbs and spices), is a great substitute for lemon juice -- a common pairing with asparagus.

8-10  chicken tenderloins, lightly-pounded (2-2 1/2 pounds)

3/4 cup Wish-Bone light Italian dressing, for marinating chicken

1/2-3/4 cup French- or Panko-styee breadcrumbs, for coating chicken 

1  pound trimmed asparagus, from 2  pounds medium-thickness asparagus, trimmed as directed below, to yield 1 pound trimmed asparagus

1  pound fork-friendly, non-tubular pasta like rotini or bow ties

1  tablespoon sea salt, for seasoning water to cook pasta

1/2  cup butter (1 stick)

1/4  cup additional Wish-Bone light Italian dressing

1  teaspoon garlic powder

1/2  teaspoon red pepper flakes

~Step 1.  Arrange the chicken tenders inside a 2-gallon food storage bag.  Using a flat-sided meat mallet, lightly-pound the chicken tenders to flatten them out a bit.  Do not smash them to smithereens.  Add the Italian dressing to bag and seal to close.  Using your fingertips, gently squish the chicken around in the bag to thoroughly coat the tenderloins in dressing.  Place in the refrigerator to marinate 1-2+ hours or overnight.  If you've got the time, overnight is best.

~ Step 2.  Trim the tip ends of the asparagus to a length of 2-2 1/2 inches, then trim the stalk ends into 1" lengths, stopping when the sweet, tender part of the stalks meets the bitter, woody end stalks.  There will be 1-pound trimmed asparagus.

~Step 3.  In a 16" electric skillet, heat a little less than 1/4" of oil, about 1/2 cup.  Remove the chicken tenderloins from the marinade, allowing excess marinade to drain back into the bag, transferring the tenders to a 13" x 9" casserole as you work, arranging them in a single layer in the bottom.  Sprinkle a generous amount of breadcrumbs over their tops, patting the crumbs in with fingertips and let rest about 2 minutes.  Using a fork, flip the tenders over and do the same on their second sides.  

~Step 4.  Add the bread-crumb-coated chicken tenders to the skillet, all ten will fit, just look at the photo.  Give them a light sprinkling of freshly-ground sea salt.  Adjust heat to sauté, 240°-250°, until nicely-browned and cooked through, turning once and salting the second sides too, about 6 minutes per side.  Using a fork &/or a spatula (not tongs), gently transfer tenders, so as not to disturb the delicate crumb coating, to a wire rack that's been placed atop a layer of paper towels.

~Step 5.  Add the asparagus to the perfectly-seasoned drippings in skillet.  Sauté, using a spatula to keep them moving around constantly, until just cooked through and crunch-tender, about 3-4 minutes.  Do not overcook the asparagus.

~Step 6.  Meanwhile, back at the stovetop, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil over high heat and add 1 tablespoon sea salt.  Add the pasta, give the water a stir, and cook pasta as package directs, until al dente, 10-11 minutes. Drain pasta into a colander and immediately return it to the hot stockpot on the still warm stovetop.  Add the butter, Italian dressing, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.  Stir until butter melts and spices are incorporated throughout this tangy make-shift garlicy-butter-sauce.

~ Step 7.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the freshly-sautéd asparagus to the pasta, then give the mixture a gentle stir. Portion into 4-6 pasta bowls and serve with 1 or 2 sliced chicken tenderloins atop each portion.

Portion 1-2 sliced chicken tenderloins atop pasta & eat ASAP:

Garlic-butter pasta & asparagus -- a fantastic side-dish too:

Spring Chicken w/Garlic-Butter Pasta & Asparagus:  Recipe yields 4-6 servings.

Special Equipment List:  2-gallon food storage bag; flat-sided meat mallet; 1-cup measuring container; cutting board; chef's knife; 16" electric skillet; 13" x 9" x 2" casserole; fork; slotted spatula; wire cooling rack; paper towels; 8-quart stockpot; colander

Cook's Note:  The first time I ate classic Oscar was in 1983 in The Big Easy.  We were sitting in a fancy New Orleans French-Quarter restaurant, Arnoud's, listening to a jazz band.  My meal arrived and it was wonderful:  a lightly-pounded, gently-sauteed, fork-tender veal paillard, heaped with Louisiana crayfish, drizzled with buttery bearnaise and garnished with asparagus tips.  Click here to get my recipe for ~ All that Jazz Chicken Oscar w/Blender Bernaise ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024

~Creamy, Cheesy & E-Z Chile-Lime Refried Bean Dip~

I love a starry night.  Sitting outside in the warm Summer air, watching the sun set and listening to my next-door neighbors, the dairy cows, lowing in the pasture -- it's peaceful.  That said, on some Summer nights, Thursdays during June, July and August, a band plays "up on the mountain" (the ski slope to the other side of the cow pasture).  Weather permitting, on those toe-tapping evenings, if you stop by, you'll find a snack or three on the table next to the cooler of Corona.

My neighbors, music on the mountain, &, bean dip.

This easy bean dip is one of my favorite Summer appetizers and it's also one of the easiest to make -- a handful of ingredients that I always have on-hand.  Served alongside some homemade or high-quality spicy pico de gallo, citrusy guacamole and crispy tortilla chips, these four small-bowl Texican snacks, in place of one big dinner, are just fine by me.  There's more.  Bean dip is filling.  A little goes a long way.  That's why I make it in two smaller two-cup-size crocks rather than one bigger casserole -- one for tonight and a spare (to bake and serve over the weekend).

Summer nights are right for a simple snack like bean dip.

1  16-ounce can refried beans

1  4 1/2-ounce can diced green chiles (undrained)

2  tablespoons salsa verde (green salsa), hot or mild

2  teaspoons lime juice

4  tablespoons Mexican crema (or sour cream)

1-1 1/2  teaspoons ground cumin

1/2-3/4  teaspoon each: garlic powder and onion powder

8  ounces shredded pepper Jack cheese, about 2 cups (Note:  Monterey Jack cheese is a great melting cheese.  If hot peppers in your cheese is not your thing, substitute plain Jack, but, refrain from block cheddars as they won't melt to the creamy consistency that Jack does.)

Mexican-style hot sauce, your favorite brand, for accompaniment

lime wedges, for garnish

Basic refried beans or frijoles refritos = well-fried beans.

Refried beans, or frijoles refritos, are a traditional Mexican side-dish made with twice-cooked beans.  The beans (pinto or kidney) are boiled, thoroughly drained, mashed or smashed while they're still warm, then cooked a second time.  Much like making mashed potatoes, basic spices are added, to taste, while mashing or smashing to the desired smooth to slightly-lumpy state. Once blended, the mixture is placed in a skillet containing melted lard, shortening or vegetable oil. The amount of fat added controls their thick-and-creamy to slightly-soupy texture.  Store-bought refried beans are mashed and ready-to-eat, use as directed in any recipe, or, reheat in a skillet to serve as a side-dish.  A common misconception is that refried beans are vegetarian -- not so, unless the can is clearly labeled "vegetarian".  Why?  Many store-bought brands do contain lard.

~ Step 1.  In a medium bowl, place and stir together the beans, chiles, salsa, lime juice, crema and spices.  There will be 3 cups bean dip.  Divide the mixture between two 2-cup crocks or place into a shallow 1-quart shallow casserole.  Set aside about 15-30 minutes, to give the flavors a bit of  time to marry.

~Step 2.  Use a hand-held box grater to grate the Jack cheese and preheat oven or toaster oven to 325°.  If you are baking one crock of bean dip, top it with 3/4 cup of cheese, meaning: don't top the second crock with the shredded cheese until just prior to baking it.*  If baking the 1-quart casserole, distribute all the cheese, the full two cups evenly over the top of it.

*Note:  Store remaining crock and bowl of cheese, covered, in refrigerator for 1-3 days.  Return dip to room temperature, 30-45 minutes prior to topping with cheese and baking as directed.

~ Step 3. Place both crocks on center rack of 325º oven or toaster oven and bake until cheese is melted and crock/casserole is bubbling and browning around the edges and heated through, 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven, top with a splash of hot sauce and a few squirts of fresh lime juice.  Serve immediately, accompanied by lots of tortilla chips.  Gently reheat any leftovers in the microwave. 

A handful of ingredients, mixed in one bowl, come together to make this scrumptious Mexican-restaurant-style bean dip.

Creamy, Cheesy & E-Z Chile-Lime Refried Bean Dip:  Recipe yields 4 cups.

Special Equipment List:  hand-held box grater; large spoon; 2, 2-cup size crocks or ramekins or a shallow 1-quart casserole

Cook's Note:  In its earliest form, Monterey Jack was made by the Mexican Fanciscan friars of Monterey, Alta California during the 18th century.  California businessman David Jack sold their cheese locally, and, before long, this semi-hard, 1-2-month aged, mild, white, creamy cow's milk cheese came to be known as "Jack's cheese".  Eventually other ranchers began mass-producing "Monterey Jack".  A common misspelling is Monterrey Jack, in confusion with the Mexican city of  Monterrey.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Mexican-Style Adobo Rice (Meatless Spanish Rice) ~

Mexican rice became a staple on our family's table back in the 1980's.  Whenever we ate in a Mexican restaurant, remarkably, our three kids would eat the side-dishes:  the muli-colored veggie-bejeweled rice, the murky-earthy slightly-soupy refried beans, and, the bright-green garlic-laced guacamole.  Without complaint or prodding, they'd slather and scoop 'em onto and into tacos, fajitas, carnitas (or whatever else they were eating), along with red or green salsa and the bottled hot-sauce du jour.  Go figure, and, "shut my mouth wide open."  I started stocking my pantry with whatever Texican-type ingredients I could find in our Central, PA grocery stores. 

The biggest difference between Mexican rice and Spanish rice (as per me) is akin to the difference between a side-salad and a chef's salad.  Both contain similar ingredients, but, the first gets eaten alongside the main course, while the latter is the main course. If anyone has a better description, I'm all ears, but, the bottom line:  both are Spanish.  When I think "Mexican rice", I think "tawny-red-tinged, onion-and-garlic laced, side-dish riddled with bits of vegetables (beans, corn and/or tomatoes, or peas and carrots)".  When I think "Spanish rice", I think "protein-packed Mexican rice, chocked full of chards or chunks of meat, poultry or shellfish as a main-dish".     

Kid-tested mother-approved Mexican rice (arroz Mexicano):

If anyone's got qualms with my definition of basic Spanish-type rice, simmer down. I'm not of Spanish heritage or related to anyone who is.  I am, however, savvy enough to know there are differences between Mexican- and Spanish- rice recipes.  While the word Mexican refers to one Spanish-speaking country, Spanish encompasses many countries, islands and territories on several continents, not to mention several states and cities right here in the USA.  That means, when you come across an authentic recipe for a specific dish follow the recipe as written.

2  tablespoons achiote vegetable oil, or any plain (clear) ordinary vegetable oil

1  cup diced sweet onion

2  cups extra-long-grain or long-grain white rice

1  teaspoon each:  garlic powder and sea salt

1/2  teaspoon each:  ground cumin and jalapeño pepper

3  cups vegetable stock* 

1  14 1/2-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4  teaspoon Goya adobo all-purpose seasoning with pepper

1-1/4  cups cooked corn kernels

*Note:  I use high-quality unsalted vegetable stock to make Spanish rice -- it allows the flavors of the spices to take center stage.  Feel free to substitute beef or chicken or seafood stock, to complement the dish/meal being served, but, if the stock is salted, adjust my recipe, "to taste".

~Step 1.  Heat oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium- medium-high.  Stir in the garlic powder, cumin  jalapeño pepper and salt.  Add the onion. Adjust heat to sauté, stirring constantly, until onion is softened, 4-5 minutes.  Add rice and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until grains are coated in oil and mixture is steaming, about 3 minutes.

~Step 2.  Stir in the diced tomatoes, followed by the vegetable stock and the adobo seasoning. Stir thoroughly and bring mixture to a boil over high heat.  When mixture comes to a boil, adjust heat to a slow, steady simmer, cover the pot and continue to simmer gently until rice has absorbed the liquid, about 20-22 minutes.  Do not lift the lid during the simmering process.  

Tip from Mel:  When I cook rice I like to use a saucepan with a glass lid. This makes it easy to keep an eye on the progress without allowing the steam to escape -- and it works perfectly.

~ Step 3.  Turn the heat off and allow rice to sit, covered on the stovetop for 2-3 additional minutes. Uncover the saucepan. Using a fork, gently rake through the rice with a fork to gradually separate the grains, starting at the top and working down to the bottom of the saucepan.  Add the corn kernels and gently rake them into the rice.  The residual heat from the rice will heat the corn kernels through.  

Serve ASAP w/beef, chicken, pork, fish or shellfish:  

Mexican-Style Adobo Rice (Meatless Spanish Rice):  Recipe yields 8 cups rice/8, 1-cup servings.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 1-quart measuring container; 4-quart saucepan w/lid (preferably a glass lid); large spoon

Cook's Note: The 1905 chef's salad. Never heard of it?  Read on.  The Columbia Restaurant, a chain of six or seven restaurants in The Sunshine State, is a 4th-generation family-owned business specializing in Spanish food.  To say it's a tourist attraction is true, we ate there and as tourists on the recommendation of a native Floridian.  Now, if I'm in Florida and there's a Columbia within striking distance, I'm going there just for the ~ 1905:  It was a very good year for a salad. ~

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Spicy Mexican Ahogada-Style Grilled Shrimp Tacos ~

If you're like me, an American cook with a fondness for Mexican fare, you most likely have a recipe-or-six for tacos (American-style ground beef tacos, grilled-beef tacos al carbon, shredded-pork carnitas tacos, shredded-pork tacos al pastor, chicken tacos, fish tacos, etc.).   Today I'm adding another one, and, the inspiration for my creation came from the signature sandwich of Guadalajara:  the Torta Ahogada (in Mexico, "torta" means "sandwich" and "ahogada" means "drenched", "drowned" or "drunken").  After eating these famous tortas for our Cinco de Mayo celebration, it occurred to me that making these shrimp tacos tonight might be a fine use for the leftover Mexican marinade and ahogada sauce.  I was, spot-on, right.

To glibly dismiss Cinco de Mayo as an all-American drinking-holiday: is a display of unresearched ignorance.  Read on:   

"Cinco de Mayo" (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a celebration held on May 5.  While it is celebrated nationwide in the United States, celebrations are also held in parts of Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, England, France, and South Africa.  In Mexico, "El Día de la Batalla de Puebla" ("The Day of the Battle of Puebla"), considered a military holiday, is primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla.  The date has been observed in the United States since 1863, as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, and, to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War.  In Mexico, while it is not a National holiday (banks and schools stay open), in the state of Puebla, the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. Contrary to widespread popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day, the most important and patriotic National holiday in Mexico (September 16).  

The degree to which Mexico celebrates this holiday varies from community-to-community, which is no different than the degree to which we Americans celebrate some of our lesser holidays (example:  May Day).  Furthermore, to state (to me) that Mexicans in Mexico do not know what Cinco de Mayo is, is: stupid.  Those are the facts kiddies.  Got 'em in your head?  Let's cook.

Part One:  Making a crunchy Southwestern slaw.

For the Southwestern slaw:

4  cups store-bought coleslaw mix, a mixture of green & red cabbage & matchstick carrots

3/4  cup each: thinly-sliced green onions, white and light green part only, and, minced cilantro

2-3  tablespoons finely-diced jalapeño pepper, 2-3 tablespoons after removing seeds and ribs

3  tablespoons each: fresh lime juice and honey

1/2  teaspoon sea salt

~Step 1.  In a large bowl, whisk the lime juice, honey and salt.  Using a rubber spatula, stir in the scallions, cilantro and jalapeños.  Fold in the slaw mix.  When mixture is thoroughly combined, refrigerate 4-6 hours, or overnight, stopping to stir every now and then, until serving chilled.

Part Two:  Marinating & sautéing/grill-panning the shrimp.

2  pounds jumbo shrimp (16/20 count), peeled, deveined, tails off (Note:  To learn more, read my post, ~ Purchase Shrimp by their "Count" not their "Size" ~.)

1/2-3/4  cup my recipe for ~ A Basic Mexican Marinade for Beef, Pork or Poultry -- Great for Shellfish too. ~, which takes about 5 minutes to whisk together  

~Step 1.  Prepare the marinade as directed in recipe.  Peel, devein and remove the tails from the shrimp, placing the shrimp in a medium bowl as you work.  Add 1/2-3/4 cup of the marinade and thoroughly stir.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to marinate, 2-4 hours or up to 6-8 hours, restirring the shrimp a few times during the process.  Remove shrimp from refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to sautéing/grill-panning, according to the following instructions:

~Step 2.  Place a 12" nonstick grill-pan over medium-high heat.  Don't have a grill pan?  Use a 12" skillet.  Using a large slotted spoon transfer the shrimp from the marinade to the grill pan. Discard the remaining marinade.  Grill-pan the the shrimp over medium-high heat, using a nonstick spatula to flip and turn them, for 6 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Use a slotting spoon to transfer shrimp from the grill-pan to a bowl or a plate.  Discard any juices remaining in grill-pan.   

Part Three:  Making ahogada-crema & assembling the tacos.

8  taco shells, preferably freshly deep-fried using high-quality store-bought fresh corn tortillas

all of the Southwestern slaw, from above recipe

all of the marinated and cooked shrimp, from above recipe

1/2  cup  recipe for ~ Ahogada Sauce for Mexican Drowned Sandwiches ~, stirred together w/1/2  cup Mexican crema (or sour cream)

~Step 1.  Arrange deep-fried taco shells on individual plates or all of them on a platter.  Scoop some chilled Southwestern slaw into each shell, top the slaw with 6-8 still-warm and juicy shrimp, then, drizzle ahogada crema generously over all.  Garnish with a sprig of cilantro and enjoy.

Assemble as follows:  taco shell, a scoop of Southwestern slaw, 6-8 shrimp, & a generous drizzle of ahogada crema:

Celebrate a nicely-spiced ahogoda-shrimp-taco holiday:

Spicy Mexican Ahogada-Style Grilled Shrimp Tacos:  Recipe yields 8 large, hearty tacos.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 1-cup measuring container; whisk; plastic wrap; large slotted spoon; 12" round or square nonstick grill pan; nonstick spatula

Cook's Note: When it comes to fish tacos made with grilled or pan-fried fish fillets, you can make them with the fish you like best -- almost any type of fresh fish can be added to a fish taco.  That will not work for the batter-dipped, deep-fried fish taco -- thin filets and/or delicate fish will not hold up to the rigors of deep-fat-frying. For me, cod is hands-down my favorite.  You only live once, so, I suggest you these divine ~ Beer-Batter-Dipped, Deep-Fried, Cod-Fish Tacos ~.  Cinco de Mayo!

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Sink or Swim: Mexican Drowned-Beef Sandwiches ~

Tacos and tortas -- two staples of Mexican cuisine.  They are to Mexico's culture what pizza and hamburgers are to America's -- you can't pass through a city or a town where you can't find either. If you're an American cook with a fondness for Mexican fare, like me, you most likely have a recipe-or-six for tacos (American-style ground beef tacos, grilled-beef tacos al carbon, shredded-pork carnitas tacos, shredded-pork tacos al pastor, chicken tacos, fish tacos, etc.).  That said, how many Mexican torta recipes do you have in your repertoire?  I'm guessing not too many, or none.  Sink or swim:  there is no time like the present to add one.

Torta ahogada.  Culinarily, "torta" can mean several things: in Spain it refers to a "pancake", in Latin America it's a "cake", in Central America it's an "omelette", and, in Mexico it's a "sandwich" -- the kind that, unlike the taco, fits the culinary definition of anything edible placed between two slices of bread.  Generally speaking, in Spanish "ahogada" means "drowned", "drenched" or "drunk". Putting two and two together, today's recipe is:  a Mexican sandwich, drowned or drenched in a spicy sauce, with a reputation for being a sure-fire cure for the common hangover.

Savory marinade + spicy sauce + the proper roll + protein of choice. All the components for Mexican-style sandwich perfection.

The drowned sandwich (torta ahogada) was invented in Guadalajara in the early 1900's.  It was literally a mistake, a "slip-of-the-hand", so to speak.  Don Ignacio "Nacho" Saldaña, was a thirty year old who just started working for one of the city's largest vendors, Luis De La Torre, at his central plaza location, which was managed by De La Torre's father. As per Saldaña, a customer requested extra sauce on his pork sandwich, and, senior De La Torre accidentally dropped the sandwich in the container.  "It's drowned", the customer cried, but, after eating it and declaring how good it was, the son began selling torta ahogadas in all of his eateries. Saldaña eventually saved enough money to open his own restaurant at the corner of Madero and Indepence Streets, where, now, five decades later and well into his 80's, he's still selling the iconic sandwiches.

By simple word-of-mouth this humble, mess-of-a-pork and lightly-grilled- or raw-onion sandwich quickly grew in popularity.  Before long, vendors all across the city were touting their versions, by tweaking the recipes for the Mexican-style marinade for the protein and/or the firey, tawny-red ahogada sauce -- not a lot, just enough to claim them their own. Variations on the presentation followed, with some serving the sauce in a bowl to the side, while others began slathering the all-important semi-firm textured bolillo roll with condiments like refried beans or guacamole prior to drowning.  Still others took it one step further, by offering beef, chicken or shrimp options as a substitute for pork.  The proper way to eat a drenched sandwich, served in a bowl (in a restaurant) or in a bag (on the street) is with the hands -- in Mexico, it often comes to you along with a pair of plastic gloves.  

Today, I'm making mine using beef.   Flavorful, juicy, tender and perfectly-cooked flank steak. 

For 4 hearty sandwiches:

1  2-pound flank steak

1/2  cup my recipe for A Basic Mexican Marinade for Beef, Pork or Poultry

1 1/2  cups my recipe for Ahogada Sauce for Mexican Drowned Sandwiches

1  very large sweet onion (12-14-ounces), cut into 1/4"-thick rings

2  tablespoons achiote vegetable oil, or any plain (clear) ordinary vegetable oil*

4  bolillo, ciabatta or other crusty, 6" long sandwich-rolls, halved, and if desired, lightly-toasted or grilled

guacamole and tortilla chips, for accompaniment

*Note:  Achiote oil, which is readily available everywhere, has annatto added to it, which is what gives it its signature pretty orange color, and, ever-so-slight hint of earthy, musty, peppery flavor. Annatto is the seed of the achiote tree, which is indigenous to Central and South America.  The seeds are usually ground to a powder or steeped in oil prior to adding to all sorts of Spanish-style fare.  If you don't do a lot of this type of cooking, don't buy it, or, if you don't want the orange color added to the dish you are serving, simply substitute vegetable oil without compromise.

~Step 1.  Prepare the marinade as directed in recipe.  Place the flank steak in a 1-gallon food storage bag and add 1/2 cup of the marinade. Seal the bag.  Using your fingertips, squish the bag a bit, to push the steak and the marinade around enough to thoroughly coat the steak in marinade.  Refrigerate for 6-12 hours or overnight -- overnight is best.

~ Step 2.  Prepare the ahogada sauce as directed in recipe.  It's easy to make, and, it freezes well too, so, make the whole batch and freeze the leftovers to have on hand for two more meals.

~Step 3.  Position oven rack about 8" underneath heating element and preheat broiler.  Remove the room temperature flank steak from the marinade and place on an 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom).  Place flank steak under the broiler and cook 8-9 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and flip steak over.  Return to broiler and cook 8-9 more minutes, using an instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness after 8 minutes. Remove steak from oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 130°-134°.  Allow steak to rest 10-15 minutes.

~Step 4.  While steak is resting, peel and slice onion into 1/4" thick rings.  Heat oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and lightly season them with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend, about 15 grinds salt and 25 grinds pepper.  Continue to cook until onions are soft but not mushy, 4-5 minutes, gently flipping them in the skillet with a fork or two forks during the process.  Remove from heat and set aside.

~ Step 5.  Slice the rested-but-warm steak in half lengthwise, then thinly-slice each half across the grain while holding the knife at a 30° angle, into (1/8"-1/4"-thick) strips. Yield: enough to amply fill (stuff) four, hearty, 6"-long sandwiches.

Note:  Broiling steak just before assembling the sandwiches is best, but, if it must be made ahead, reheat uncut steak gently in microwave 60-90 seconds.

~Step 6.  To assemble the sandwiches, slice the rolls in half, then place the bottom half of each in a wide, shallow bowl.  Divide and heap the meat evenly atop the four "bun bottoms", followed by an even layer of onions (reserve a few onions for garnish at the end).  I like to add the guacamole and tortilla chips to my "bowls" at this time.  Before placing the top on each sandwich, pull a bit of the soft bread from their centers with your fingertips -- this forms a dome which helps keep the meat and onions in place while eating these sandwiches (see photo below).  Using a small ladle, drizzle a scant 1/2 cup warm sauce over each sandwich, garnish with a few of the reserved onions and serve ASAP.

Drizzle w/sauce, garnish w/onions, &, serve ASAP:

Try the traditional Torta Ahogada Drowned Pork Sandwich too:

Sink or Swim:  Mexican Drowned-Beef Sandwiches:  Recipe yields 4 large, hearty sandwiches.

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; 1-gallon food storage bag; cutting board; chef's knife; 10" nonstick skillet; 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4" disposable aluminum broiler pan w/corrugated bottom; instant-read meat thermometer (optional); serrated bread knife; small ladle

Cook's Note:  A well done flank steak is not well done at all.  Flank steak, while it lends its succulent flavorful self to indoor cooking beautifully, if the lean and sexy flank steak is not quickly-cooked and served rare- medium-rare it is not worth eating. While I occasionally pan-sear it, my favorite method is to cook it under the broiler.  My foolproof method takes all the guesswork out of it too:  ~ Melanie's Perfectly-Cooked 18-Minute Flank Steak ~.  You're gonna love it.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Mexico's Torta Ahogada Drowned-Pork Sandwich ~

Torta ahogada.  Culinarily, torta can mean several things: in Spain it refers to a pancake, in Latin America it's a cake, in Central America it's an omelette, and, in Mexico it's a sandwich -- the kind that, unlike the taco, fits the culinary definition of anything edible placed between two slices of bread.  Generally speaking, in Spanish ahogada means drowned, drenched or drunk. Putting two and two together, today's recipe is:  a Mexican sandwich, drowned or drenched in sauce.  A traditional torta ahogada is a fried-pork and onion sandwich drenched in a spicy red sauce, and, this Mexican working-man's lunch has a reputation for being a sure-fire cure for a hangover.

Tacos and tortas -- two staples of Mexican cuisine.  They are to Mexico's culture what pizza and hamburgers are to America's -- you can't pass through a city or a town where you can't find either. If you're an American cook with a fondness for Mexican fare, like me, you most likely have a recipe-or-six for tacos (American-style ground beef tacos, grilled-beef tacos al carbon, shredded-pork carnitas tacos, shredded-pork tacos al pastor, chicken tacos, fish tacos, etc.).  That said, how many Mexican torta recipes do you have in your repertoire?  I'm guessing not too many, or none.  Sink or swim:  there is no time like the present to add one.

The drowned sandwich (torta ahogada) was invented in Guadalajara in the early 1900's.  It was literally a mistake, a "slip-of-the-hand", so to speak.  Don Ignacio "Nacho" Saldaña, was a thirty year old who just started working for one of the city's largest vendors, Luis De La Torre, at his central plaza location, which was managed by De La Torre's father. As per Saldaña, a customer requested extra sauce on his pork sandwich, and, senior De La Torre accidentally dropped the sandwich in the container.  "It's drowned", the customer cried, but, after eating it and declaring how good it was, the son began selling torta ahogadas in all of his eateries. Saldaña eventually saved enough money to open his own restaurant at the corner of Madero and Indepence Streets, where, now, five decades later and well into his 80's, he's still selling the iconic sandwiches.

By simple word-of-mouth this  humble, mess-of-a-pork and lightly-grilled- or raw-onion sandwich quickly grew in popularity.  Before long, vendors all across the city were touting their versions, by tweaking the recipes for the Mexican-style marinade for the protein and/or the firey, tawny-red ahogada sauce -- not a lot, just enough to claim them their own. Variations on the presentation followed, with some serving the sauce to the side, while others began slathering the all-important semi-firm textured bolillo roll with condiments like refried beans or guacamole prior to drowning.  Still others took it one step further, by offering beef, chicken or shrimp options as a substitute for pork.  The proper way to eat a drenched sandwich, served in a bowl (in a restaurant) or in a bag (on the street) is with the hands -- in Mexico, it often comes to you along with a pair of plastic gloves.

Two days ago I posted my recipe for ~ Sink or Swim:  Mexican Drowned-Beef Sandwiches ~ using flavorful, juicy, tender and perfectly-cooked flank steak (pictured above).  Today, I'm make the traditional torta ahogada, using pork blade steaks -- a pork butt (shoulder) cut into steaks.

Steaks cut from the pork shoulder are marbled with lots of fat and rich with collagen, which, like the roast, makes them extremely flavorful.  

Because overcooking renders them dry and tough, this quick-cooking cut is perfect for the grill, sauté pan or broiler.  Choose pinkish-gray steaks that are generally the same size and thickness (3/4"-1" thick is ideal), and, have been trimmed of excessive fat from the fat-cap-side.

Note:  These 4 steaks, weighing a total of 6.48 pounds, cost $10.87.  That's a whole lot of economical porcine wonderfulness -- especially if you've got a big family with big appetites.

Because overcooking renders them tough, this quick-cooking pork steak is perfect for the grill, grill pan, sauté pan or broiler.

For 6 hearty sandwiches:

2  3/4"-1"-thick, bone-in pork butt blade steaks, about 1 1/2-1 3/4-pounds each

1/2  cup my recipe for A Basic Mexican Marinade for Beef, Pork or Poultry

2  cups my recipe for Ahogada Sauce for Mexican Drowned Sandwiches

1  very large sweet onion (12-14-ounces), cut into 1/4"-thick rings

2  tablespoons achiote vegetable oil, or any plain (clear) ordinary vegetable oil*

6  bolillo, ciabatta or other crusty, semi-firm, 6" long sandwich-rolls, halved, and if desired, lightly-toasted or grilled

additional achiote oil, for the diced-pork-and-onion sauté at assembly time

guacamole and tortilla chips, for accompaniment

*Note:  Achiote oil, which is readily available everywhere, has annatto added to it, which is what gives it its signature pretty orange color, and, ever-so-slight hint of earthy, musty, peppery flavor. Annatto is the seed of the achiote tree, which is indigenous to Central and South America.  The seeds are usually ground to a powder or steeped in oil prior to adding to all sorts of Spanish-style fare.  If you don't do a lot of this type of cooking, don't buy it, or, if you don't want the orange color added to the dish you are serving, simply substitute vegetable oil without compromise.

~Step 1.  Prepare the marinade as directed in recipe.  Place the blade steaks in a 1-gallon food storage bag and add all of the marinade. Seal the bag.  Using your fingertips, squish the bag a bit, to push the steaks and the marinade around enough to thoroughly coat the steaks in marinade.  Refrigerate for 6-12 hours or overnight -- overnight is best.

~ Step 2.  Prepare the ahogada sauce as directed in recipe.  It's easy to make, and, it freezes well too, so, make the whole batch and freeze the leftovers to have on hand for two more meals.

~Step 3.  Remove steaks from refrigerator and return to room temperature, 30-45 minutes. Position oven rack 7 1/2"-8" under heating element and preheat broiler.  Remove room temp blade steaks from marinade and place on an 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom).  Place steaks under broiler and cook 11 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Remove from oven and flip steaks over.  Return to broiler and cook 11 more minutes, using an instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness at 10 minutes. Remove steaks from oven when they reach an internal temperature of 140°-145°.  Allow steaks to rest 10-15 minutes.

~Step 4.  While steaks ares resting, peel and slice onion into 1/4" thick rings.  Heat oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and lightly season them with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend, about 15 grinds salt and 25 grinds pepper.  Continue to cook until onions are soft but not mushy, 4-5 minutes, gently flipping them in the skillet with a fork or two forks during the process.  Remove from heat and set aside.

~Step 5.  Slice each rested-but-warm blade steak, on a diagonal, in half lengthwise -- half bone-in, the other boneless. Thinly-slice the boneless half across the grain while holding the knife at a 30° angle, into (1/8"-1/4"-thick) strips, then dice the strips.  Carve the meat away from the bone on the second half, then slice and dice that meat too.  Place the diced meat in a bowl and repeat process with the second steak. Each steak, depending upon the size of the bone (large or small), will yield 2 1/2-3 cups diced pork, enough to amply fill (stuff) six, hearty, 6"-long sandwiches.

Note:  To this point, all the components for these unique sandwiches (the sauce, the onions and the pork) can be prepared several hours to one day ahead of assembling and serving.

~Step 7.  To prepare the spicy fried-pork-and-onion filling, in an appropriately-sized skillet (8", 10" or 12", depending on how many sandwiches you plan to assemble at one time), heat 1-2-3 tablespoons achiote oil over medium-high heat.  Add 1 cup diced pork per sandwich and sauté until meat is heated through and fat is crisping up, 1 1/2-2 minutes.  Stir in 2 tablespoons of the ahogada sauce per cup of meat.  When steaming, fold in 1/3 cup (5-6 tablespoons) sautéd onions per cup of meat.  Remove from heat.  

~Step 8.  To assemble each sandwich, choose a bowl, slice a roll in half, then place the bottom in the bowl.  Using your fingertips, pull a bit of the soft bread from the center of the top of the roll and set aside -- this forms a dome that helps keep the filling in place while eating (see photo below).  Slather the "bun bottom" with guacamole.  Heap the warm meat mixture evenly atop the guacamole.  I like to add extra guacamole to the bowl at this time.  Place the top on the sandwich.  Using a small ladle, drizzle a scant 1/2 cup warm sauce over the top, garnish with a few leftover onions, add some tortilla chips to the dish and eat.

Drizzle generously w/warmed sauce, garnish w/onions...

... &, serve, ASAP w/more guacamole & tortilla chips:

Mexico's Torta Ahogada Drowned-Pork Sandwichs:  Recipe yields 6 large, hearty sandwiches.

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; 1-gallon food storage bag; cutting board; chef's knife; 10" nonstick skillet; 2, 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4" disposable aluminum broiler pans w/corrugated bottom; instant-read meat thermometer (optional); appropriately-sized skillet

Cook's Note: The Portuguese people eat these pork sandwiches like we Americans eat burgers -- anytime and anywhere.  The bifana is so popular, McDonald's even launched the McBifana in Portugal. Never heard of the bifana? There's no shame in that -- we Americans don't always have access to authentic Spanish-style recipes. Click here to get my recipe for ~ The Bifana:  A Perfect Portuguese Pork Sandwich ~, and, here for the ~ Papos Secos: Portuguese Dinner/Sandwich Rolls ~ recipe.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Mexican-Style Shrimp Cocktail (a Salad in a Glass) ~

Cóctel de camarónes.  That's Spanish for cocktail of shrimp.  If you're a fan of Southwestern spice, but never tasted a shrimp cocktail prepared Mexican-style, I recommend giving this Southwestern perfect-for-Summer twist on the classic a try -- plenty of plump, tender, poached (sometimes lightly-grilled) shrimp, swimming around in a citrusy, tomato, cilantro and spicy-hot sauce, containing pieces of diced avocado, cucumber, onion and jalapeño.  It's a snazzy fork-friendly salad in a glass, not to be confused with its cousin, ceviche, which contains raw, cooked-via-marination fish and/or shellfish mixed with spices, citrus juice, vegetables and/or peppers. 

Traditional shrimp cocktail, as we know it today, originated in the early 20th century, with oysters, not shrimp, being the original "cocktail hour" shellfish.  They were typically served in tiny cups as appetizers. The oysters were topped with a spicy ketchup-based sauce containing horseradish and Tabasco, which paired great with martinis and a handful of other pre-dinner cocktails.  Then, along came the 1920's:  the decade of Prohibition.  Bars and restaurants all across America were faced with a lot of idle stemware, until, a savvy bartender or restaurant owner somewhere got the idea to serve his/her shellfish appetizers in the cocktail glasses that were once used to serve alcoholic beverages.  The transition from oysters to whole shrimp did not happen in order to put the "tail" in "cocktail appetizer".  It came about to please the ladies.  The whole shrimp, complete with the pretty little red tail, served as a handle which enabled women to daintily pick-up, dip and eat.

The first mass produced shrimp cocktail was introduced to the American marketplace in December of 1948.  Sau Sea brand Shrimp Cocktail was invented in New York City by two entrepreneurs by the names of Abraham Kaplan and Ernest Schoenbrun.  The pair borrowed $1,500 dollars from relatives to start retailing individual, 5-ounce portions of ready-to-eat shrimp cocktail, packed in reusable, glass jars, for about 50 cents a piece.  It was just after WWII and frozen/pre-packaged foods and meals were just beginning to gain popularity.  Their timing could not have been better.   Their risky decision to try to take a restaurant delicacy and make it available to the masses paid off big time.

My experiences & my recipe for Mexican-Style shrimp cocktail:

I won't lie, I've only ever eaten Mexican-style shrimp cocktail in the Southwest three times, in this order: Tempe, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, and, San Antonio, TX.  Without being at all critical, because I know recipes vary from region to region, I least liked the Texican version.  The shrimp, lightly-grilled, were a bit dry, and, the sauce was ketchupy, meaning a tad too thick and sweet, not like what I'd experienced prior.  It wasn't bad, it was different, but, did result in my cutting back on the ketchup, then switching to chili sauce in my own version.  I simply preferred the sauces with a fresher-edge -- in the style of Mexican Pico de Gallo (Salsa Fresca/Fresh Salsa). 

For the shrimp:

2  pounds extra-large shrimp (21/25 count) thawed if frozen, peeled, deveined tails left on  

(Note: I buy both fresh and frozen shrimp, but I always try to purchase tail-on, shell-on, deveined shrimp. To thaw frozen shrimp safely, place them in a bowl of very cold water and in about an hour they'll be completely thawed.)

3  cups water

2  cups white wine

1  large, juicy lemon, cut in half

4  medium-sized bay leaves

~Step 1.  Place the wine and water in a 3 1/2-quart chef's pan.  Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pan, then throw in the rinds too.  Add the bay leaves.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add the shrimp.  When the water returns to a boil, cook for exactly 1 minute.  Do not overcook.

~ Step 2.  Drain the shrimp into a colander and rinse under very cold water until shrimp are cool to the touch but still warm warm in their centers, about 1 1/2-2 minutes.  Transfer shrimp to a 6-cup food storage container. Squeeze whatever liquid is left in the lemon rinds over the shrimp, then place the rinds and the bay leaves in the bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until well-chilled, several hours or overnight.

Note:  This cook-and-chill method is my secret to succulent, perfectly-cooked flavorful shrimp.

For the Mexican cocktail sauce:

1  15-ounce can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained

1/4  cup Heinz chili sauce

1-2  tablespoons Mexican-style hot sauce, your favorite brand

1-2  tablespoons lime juice, preferably fresh

2  large garlic cloves, run through a press

1  jalapeño pepper, seeds and white ribs removed, finely-diced

3/4  cup thinly-sliced scallions, white and light green parts only

3/4  cup diced sweet onion

1/2  cup minced cilantro leaves, mostly leaves, some stems ok

~Step 1.  In a medium bowl, stir together the tomatoes and chili sauce.  Add the hot sauce and lime juice, 1 tablespoon each.  Stir, take a taste, then, add more of one, the other, or both, to taste.  Add the garlic, jalapeños, scallions, onion and cilantro.  Stir, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, to allow flavors to marry.  There will be about 3 cups thick, chunky Mexican cocktail sauce.

For the add-ins and garnishes:

3  cups cooked and chopped shrimp, from above recipe

1  cup peeled, seeded and diced English cucumber 

2  ripe, Hass avocados, diced (add to bowl ofshrimp cocktail or each portion of shrimp cocktail at serving time)

1/4  cup minced cilantro leaves and lime wedges, for garnish

~Step 1.  Remove the chilled shrimp from the refrigerator.  Sort through them, and, depending upon how many portions of shrimp cocktail you plan to serve, reserve a few of the prettiest ones, 2 per portion, and set them aside, to use as garnish.  Remove the tails from the rest and chop them into 2-3 bite-sized pieces each, placing them in the bowl of chilled cocktail sauce as you work.  Add the diced cucumbers.  Stir, cover and return the shrimp cocktail to the refrigerator again, to allow the flavors to marry, about 1 hour.  There will be 6 cups shrimp cocktail.

Just prior to serving, top w/fresh-diced avocado:

Serve garnished w/cilantro, lime wedge & whole shrimp: 

Mexican-Style Shrimp Cocktail (a Salad in a Glass):  Recipe yields 6 cups shrimp cocktail prior to adding the chopped avocado and garnishes/6-8 start-to-a-meal-sized 1-ish cup servings or 4 larger 2-ish cup luncheon-sized servings.

Special Equipment List:  3 1/2-quart chef's pan w/straight, deep sides; colander; 1-gallon food storage bag;  cutting board; chef's knife; vegetable peeler

Cook's Note: Shrimp cocktail is not just an American delicacy.  The British refer to it as "prawn cocktail" and have been serving it as long as we have, but there it's served with a creamy cocktail sauce called Marie Rose sauce, or, Mary Rose sauce. My version of ~ The Prawn/Shrimp Cocktail w/Marie Rose Sauce ~ is fashioned after the one I fell in love with at Browns restaurant while in London in 1983. Give this "across the pond" recipe a try.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024

~ Strawberry, Steak, Blue-Cheese and Arugula Salad ~

Strawberries aren't just for dessert, and, if the Northeast ever gets a break in the weather, the local strawberry season will be just around the corner.  That said, the California-grown Driscoll's strawberries I found in the grocery store yesterday are plump and sweet, and, one of the man-sized flank steaks my husband picked up at Sam's Club today are going to team up for a hearty, sweet-and-savory, main-dish salad for a delightfully-carnivorous Sunday dinner this evening.

Strawberries are no stranger to salads -- spinach and strawberry salads with poppyseed dressing were trendy on restaurant menus back in the 1970's.  Because of those spinach salads, I began experimenting with strawberries, when appropriate, in place of tomatoes, in select recipes.  There's more.  When it's a main-dish salad I'm wanting, unlike many, who pair salads containing strawberries with mild-flavored proteins like chicken or shrimp, as a card-carrying carnivore, trust me when I tell you, the strawberry holds it own next to bold-flavored meats like beef and lamb.

Something sweet, savory, salty & super-crunchy too:

For the salad:

1  2-2 1/2-pound flank steak, broiled and rested as directed in my recipe for Melanie's Perfectly-Cooked 18-Minute Flank Steak

3-4 whole heads hearts-of-romaine, the "hearts" being the inner leaves from the typical bushy head (about 12-16 ounces total weight), leaves torn into small, bite-sized pieces or cut chiffonade-style (into 1/2" strips or ribbons), washed, dried (preferably through a salad spinner) and chilled until very crisp

2-3  cups baby arugula leaves

1-1 1/2  cups very thinly-sliced (shaved) red onion, cut into half-moon shapes, half-moons cut in halves or thirds

2-2 1/2  cups ripe, hulled strawberries, sliced 1/4"-thick

1-1 1/2  cups blue cheese crumbles

1-1 1/2  cups (about 8-ounces) store-bought or homemade candied pecans

~Step 1.  Place a 2-pound flank steak on a disposable aluminum broiler pan and season with sea saltand peppercorn blend.  Place 5 1/2"-6" under preheated broiler for exactly 9 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip steak over (there's no need to season the second side), return to broiler and cook 9 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 9 minutes.  Holding a chef's knife at a 30º angle, slice steak into thin, 1/8"-1/4" thick strips. Note:  This is enough meat for one large or six individual, main-dish salads.  To make it ahead, wrap cooked, rested and unsliced flank steak in plastic and refrigerate overnight.  Return to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then warm it (warm not hot) in microwave, about 90 seconds.

~ Step 2.  Slice flank steak in half lengthwise, then, while holding the knife at a 30º oven, thinly-slice each half into thin (1/8"-1/4"-thick) strips. Roll each strip up roulade-style*. *Note: A roulade (roo-LAHD) is a fancy French term for a thin slice of raw or cooked meat rolled around a filling then secured with some kitchen twine or a toothpick.  If the meat is raw, the roulade is cooked after rolling, if the meat is cooked, the roulade is ready for serving.

~Step 3.  To assemble one large or six individual-sized salads, on one large platter or six salad plates, layer and arrange the ingredients, in the following order:  The greens (romaine and arugula that have been briefly tossed together), red onion, strawberries, beef roulades, blue cheese and candied pecans. Drizzle with strawberry vinaigrette (recipe below) and serve with additional dressing at tableside:

All dressed up in a tangy & sweet, very-berry vinaigrette:

For the strawberry vinaigrette:

8-10  ounces fresh strawberries, cut into quarters (8-10 ounces after removing leafy green tops)

10  tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1/4  cup honey

1/4  cup strawberry jam or strawberry preserves

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2-3/4  teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper

6  tablespoons vegetable oil

~Step 1.  Place the strawberries in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Using a series of 15-20 rapid on-off pulses followed by the motor running for 15-20 seconds, puree the strawberries.  Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the vegetable oil.  With motor running, process until thoroughly combined and smooth.  With motor running, through the feed tube and in a slow, steady stream, drizzle in the vegetable oil.  Dressing will be smooth and emulsified, and, there will be a generous 2 1/2 cups.  Leftovers (if there is leftover vinaigrette) store great in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Tied-together in every delightfully-colorful Springtime bite:

Strawberry, Steak, Blue-Chees and Arugula Salad:  Recipe yields 2 1/2 cups dressing and 6-8 large, main-dish servings of salad.

Special Equipment List: 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom); cutting board; chef's knife; food processor

Cook's Note:  Want a super-easy super-strawberry Spring-Summer dessert to serve after your salad? Nothing could be finer than my super-special recipe for ~ Creamy-Dreamy No-Bake Strawberry Key-Lime Pie ~.  Think Spring.  Sigh.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Tangy-Sweet Strawberry White-Balsamic Vinaigrette~

Strawberries are no stranger to salads -- spinach and strawberry salads with poppyseed dressing were trendy on restaurant menus in the 1970's.  Those salads caused me to experiment with strawberries, when appropriate, in place of tomatoes, in salad recipes using a variety of other greens and proteins too.  It was only natural that I would experiment with sweet and savory salad dressings containing strawberries too.  This vinaigrette recipe is the one that captured my strawberry loving heart.  My Strawberry, Steak, Blue-Cheese and Arugula Salad (pictured in the background), is not only perfect for Spring, it's dazzling dressed with this vinaigrette:

For my strawberry vinaigrette:

8-10  ounces fresh strawberries, cut into quarters (8-10 ounces after removing leafy green tops)

10  tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1/4  cup honey

1/4  cup strawberry jam or strawberry preserves

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2-3/4  teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper

6  tablespoons vegetable oil

~Step 1.  Place the strawberries in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Using a series of 15-20 rapid on-off pulses followed by the motor running for 15-20 seconds, puree the strawberries.  Add all the remaining ingredients, except for the vegetable oil.  With motor running, process until thoroughly combined and smooth.  With motor running, through the feed tube and in a slow, steady stream, drizzle in the vegetable oil.  Dressing will be smooth and emulsified, and, there will be a generous 2 1/2 cups.  Leftovers (if there is leftover vinaigrette) store great in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

For drizzling or dipping, even on an all-strawberry salad:

Tangy-Sweet Strawberry White-Balsamic Vinaigrette:  Recipe yields 2 1/2 cups strawberry-balsamic vinaigrette.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; food processor; appropriately-sized food-storage containers with tight-fitting lids.

Cook's Note:  I have no idea who prepared the first salad.  Whoever it was, I'm guessing it was an accident, and likely a result of hunger.  Gathered from fields, around streams and in wooded areas, greens, an herb or two, mushrooms, flowers and berries and/or seeds would stave off hunger.  As time passed, a pinch of salt, later, a squirt of citrus, next a splash of vinegar, last: oil.  To learn what I know about vinaigrette, read:  ~ In the Beginning:  Demystifying Basic Vinaigrettes ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ The Japanese Take on Salisbury Steak: Hambagu ~

Japanese hamburger steak.  If it doesn't sound very Japanese, it's because its origin is not.  It's an all-American-inspired dish that's been culinarily Japanized and popularized by Japanese home cooks and yoshoku chefs (restaurants that serve Japanese versions of American- and European-style food).  It's a spin-off of our American bunless hamburger steak (aka the plump mini-meatloaf-esque knife-and-fork salisbury steak smothered in savory gravy).  It's so popular with both children and adults, it has earned a spot in classic bento-boxed lunches throughout Japan. 

Make no mistake though, hambagu is Japanese cuisine, so, substitutions like American Worcestershire in place of Japanese Worcestershire, or American pepper in place of Japanese pepper, are simply not going to render an authentic hambagu experience.  Mind your "ga's" and "gu's" too -- a "hambaga" (hahm-bah-gah) is what you order at a Japanese McDonald's. "Hambagu" (hahm-bah-goo) is a get-out-your-chopsticks and pull-up-a-chair, family-friendly, melt-in-your-mouth-tender, juicy meat patty drizzled with a tangy sweet sauce and served over rice. 

Japanese hambagu patties = a 1:1 ratio of beef to pork.

The secret to the traditional, juicy, flavorful Japanese hamburger steak patties is a 1:1 ratio of beef to pork. I grind my own (which only takes a few seconds in the food processor), and, I use a combination of 1 pound well-marbled Delmonico (rib-eye) steak and 1 pound pork tenderloin.  

Note:  If you skip the pork and use only beef, the patties will be good, but noticeably different.  All-beef patties will be dryer and less flavorful  -- more like a hambaga than true hambagu.

"ソース" = "sauce" in Japanese. "とんかつソース" = Tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu = the Japanese take on American steak sauce.

If you've ever gone into a Japanese market (which I have), and said, “I'd like a bottle of sauce”, you'd be handed a bottle of dark sauce that you think you're familiar with.  This "ソース" ("sauce") is what's referred to as Worcestershire in Japan. Unlike “sauce” in English, in Japan ソース refers to a dark, semi-thick line of sauces, such as: ウスターソース (Worcestershire Sauce), 中濃ソース (Vegetable & Fruit Sauce Semi-Sweet), and, とんかつソース(Vegetable & Fruit Sauce/Tonkatsu Sauce.  Other sauces, like soy, teriyaki, tomato or mayonnaise, etc., are called by their names -- not referred to generically as "sauce".

Note:  The sauce popularly used on hambagu is store-bought tonkatsu. It's a 100% vegetarian, uniquely-flavored, dark-colored, tangy, sweet-and-savory thick-and-drizzly sauce containing water, corn syrup, sugar, distilled vinegar, tomato paste, salt, rice-starch, apple purée, soy, prune paste, carrot, onion, spices and lemon juice.  While there are many recipes for mimicking tonkatsu in the home kitchen,  I liken the task of attempting to do that: like trying to duplicate your favorite A-1-type steak sauce at home.  

That said, in the Japanese home kitchen and in Japanese restaurants, tonkatsu (the sauce) is also the traditional condiment for tonkatsu (the meal), which is a breaded and fried pork cutlet.

My 5-minute food processor method for mixing the meat:

For the hambagu pattie mixture:

3/4  cup Japanese panko bread crumbs

6  tablespoons whole milk

1  pound well-marbled steak, cut into 1" cubes

1  pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1" cubes

4  ounces small-diced yellow or sweet onion (about 1 cup)

1  large egg

1  tablespoon Bull-Dog brand Japanese Worcestershire sauce (Note:  American Worcestershire sauce is onion-, anchovy-, garlic- and tamarind-flavored.  Japanese Worcestershire, while the same thin consistency and dark color as American Worcestershire, is flavored using the same ingredients as  tonkatsu.  Japanese Worcestershire sauce and tonkatsu sauce are 100% vegetarian, American Worcestershire is not.)

3/4  teaspoon sea salt

3/4  teaspoon Japanese green pepper

3-4  tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying hambagu patties

3/4-cup Bull Dog brand tonkatsu sauce, for drizzling on patties

steamed white rice, to accompany hambagu patties

choice of garnishes:  crispy Asian-style fried onions (my favorite), sautéed onions &/or shiitake mushrooms, grated daikon

~ Step 1.  In a 1-cup measuring container, stir together the panko breadcrumbs and milk.  Set aside, until the breadcrumbs absorb the milk, soften, and become pasty, about 5 minutes.  While the breadcrumbs are softening:

~Step 2.  Cube the delmonico steak and the pork tenderloin, placing the cubes in the work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade as you work. Dice the onion and add it to the work bowl along with the beef and pork cubes too.

~ Step 3.  Using a series of 40 on-off pulses, grind the meat and mince the onion. Add the pasty panko, whole egg, Japanese Worcestersauce, salt and Japanese pepper.  Using a second series of 30 on-off pulses, incorporate the wet ingredients and spices into the meat mixture.  Transfer meat mixture to a 1-gallon food storage bag and refrigerate 1 hour and up to overnight, to allow flavors to marry.

~Step 4.  There will be 2 3/4 pounds meat mixture. Using a kitchen scale as a measure, divide the mixture into 8, 5 1/2-ounce, 3 1/2"-round, plump, smooth* discs.  Place a thin-coating of oil in a 12" nonstick skillet and add the patties.

*Hambagu patties are thicker than American Salisbury steak, and, they're more refined looking too. Generally speaking, their smooth, almost manufactured appearance, comes from the addition of the pork -- mixing the meat in the food processor adds to an even more-perfect presentation.

~ Step 5.  Fry the patties over medium-, medium-high heat, until lightly-browned on the first side, about 6-7 minutes, flip burgers over, place a lid on the skillet and cook until lightly-browned on the second side, about 6-7 minutes.  

Note:  Placing the lid on the skillet during the cooking of the second side is the Japanese secret to keeping the patties plump and juicy.

~Step 6.  Using a spatula, transfer the patties to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.  Add and stir the tonkatsu sauce into the pan drippings in the skillet.  Adjust heat to simmer for about 30-45 seconds, then transfer/pour the sauce into a small bowl.  Serve over steamed white rice with steamed or blanched vegetables of choice and tonkatsu sauce for dipping or drizzling.

Serve atop white rice & vegetables w/a drizzle of tonkatsu:

The Japanese Take on Salisbury Steak:  Hambagu:  Recipe yields 8, hearty servings (if served over rice with vegetables) and 1 cup sauce for dipping and drizzling.

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; cutting board; chef's knife; food processor; 1-gallon food storage bag; kitchen scale (optional); 12" skillet, preferably nonstick, w/lid; spatula; paper towels

Cook's Note:  Once a week, when mom or dad went grocery shopping, my brother and I were allowed to pick one TV Dinner, which we would eat on Thursday.  To this day, I associate Thursdays with TV Dinners.  Happy Thursday,  my recipe for: ~ Upscale TV-Dinner-Style Salisbury Steak & Gravy ~. Some things can't be changed.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Melanie's Perfectly-Cooked 18-Minute Flank Steak ~

When I want a perfectly-cooked, rare- to medium-rare steak, one that gets cooked indoors, next to the elegant filet mignon, the rustic flank steak is my choice.  That said, in terms of taste, texture, versatility and price, without compromise, hands-down the flank steak wins on all points -- which is why I purchase one or two almost every week.  In my food world, there's plenty of room for premium Delmonicos, NY strips, porterhouse and T-bones too, but, in terms of cooking steak indoors vs. grilling steak outdoors, those cuts typically "just don't do it" for me like filet or flank.

About this flat, oval-ish,  1"-1 1/2"-thick, stringy-grained steak:

A well done flank steak is not well done at all.  Flank steak, while it lends its succulent flavorful self to indoor cooking beautifully, if the lean and sexy flank steak is not quickly-cooked and served rare- medium-rare it is not worth eating. While I occasionally pan-sear it, my favorite method is to cook it under the broiler*.  My foolproof method takes all the guesswork out of it too.  Read on:

My rule of thumb is to purchase the biggest flank steak I can find -- two pounds is perfect, but, if I come across one that's larger, into my cart it goes.  I'd be crazy not to spend the extra pennies, and, it's not because bigger is better.  It's because leftovers go into sandwiches and onto salads -- zero waste.  Depending on the recipe du jour, sometimes I marinate flank steak, sometimes I don't.  When it comes to flank steak, absorb this: marination (which does not affect the cooking time), is a flavorizer not a tenderizer.  Perfectly-cooked flank steak is super-tender with zero marination.  Example:  my marinated Greek-Style Flank Steak Salad or Pocket Sammies.

* Note:  I have electric ovens and none of mine have a hi or low setting for the broiler.  With the door cracked (which is how broiling, a from-the-top-down dry-heat-method of cooking, is done in an electric oven), an oven-thermometer reads 325-ishº throughout the cooking process.

Place a 2-2 1/2-pound flank steak on a corrugated broiler pan -- allow to come to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes:

Season top with freshly-ground sea salt & peppercorn blend -- alternatively, season with a favorite steak seasoning:

Place 5 1/2"-6" underneath preheated broiler for exactly 9 minutes -- 5 1/2"-6" is a key measurement when broiling a flank steak:

Remove flank steak from oven:

Flip steak over (season second side if you like more spice):

Return to oven & broil exactly 9 more minutes:

Remove from oven & allow steak to rest for 9-10 minutes.

Holding knife at a 30° angle, slice flank steak  across the grain -- into thin, 1/8"-1/4"-thick strips of succulent, beefy lusciousness:

Use hot or cold as directed in recipes for appetizers or main-dishes, &/or, in sandwiches, on salads & even pizza:

Melanie's Perfectly-Cooked 18-Minute Flank Steak:  Recipe yields instructions to broil the perfectly-cooked rare- medium-rare flank steak/4-6-8+ servings (depending on how it's served -- as appetizers, in sandwiches, on salads or as a main-dish -- and what it is served with).

Special Equipment List:  11 3/4" x 8 1/2" x 1 1/4" disposable aluminum broiler pan w/corrugated bottom; cutting board; chef's knife

Cook's Note:  My recipe for ~ Open-Sesame Flank Steak w/Garlic-Ginger Sauce ~, when served over steamed white rice with a simple vegetable stir-fry, is packed full of Asian flavors and classic flank-steak texture.  Two flanks steaks, with a marinade that gets simmered and served as a sauce for dipping and drizzling at serving time, easily feeds 6-8 people for a lot less money than Chinese takeout.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2018)

~My 18-Minute Philly-Dilly Flank-Steak Cheesesteaks~

Knowledge is power.  As the 2018 "Dilly-dilly" Bud Light, Super Bowl commercial spiked in popularity, then filtered into the mantra for the Eagle's super-bowl victory parade in the form of "Philly-dilly", my curiosity caused me to research it -- and I'm glad I did.  I'm here to report "dilly" is a real word, and, as per Merriam-Webster, it's a noun that comes from an obsolete adjective that refers to something "delightful", "remarkable" or "outstanding", which describes with perfection:

My latest take on the cheesesteak -- The Philly-Dilly.

If you have never eaten a cheesesteak sandwich in Philadelphia proper, you've never eaten a cheesesteak.  Like the soft pretzel, the iconic Philly cheesesteak just tastes better in The City of Brotherly Love.  Whether you're standing outside on a sticky-hot sidewalk next to a street vendor in Summer, or inside, doing the "Philly lean" over a counter in a sweaty-windowed sandwich shop in Winter, the experience, on several levels, cannot be duplicated elsewhere.  Many have tried, many have come remarkably close, but everyone agrees:  Philadelphia owns this sandwich.

A Philly cheesesteak is always made with high-quality, nicely-marbled, thinly-sliced, rib-eye steak. For example:  This 1"-thick rib-eye would be cut, while partially frozen, lengthwise into 5-6 thin steaks.  The meat gets cooked quickly, on a large lightly-greased flat-top griddle, getting chopped up as it cooks.

The flank steak, in terms of taste, texture and price holds its own next to any premium steak, plus, it's the perfect alternative for the home cook who wants to cook the steak indoors.  While I occasionally pan-sear it, my favorite method is to cook it under the broiler.  My foolproof broiler method takes all the guesswork out of it too.

Trust me when I tell you, my Philly-dilly's are dilly-dilly.

I'm only making one cheesesteak, in an 8" nonstick skillet today, because one is all I can eat, and, I'm on-my-own for dinner this evening.  I'll make more sandwiches tomorrow, with the leftover flank steak (enough for five more cheesesteaks), when Joe gets back home.  I've included my instructions for reheating leftovers in the recipe below. That said, to prepare multiple (2-4-6) sandwiches, be sure to use an appropriately-sized 10"-, 12"- or 14"-skillet to feed your family or friends.

While steak broils in the oven, onions caramelize on the stovetop.

For each 6" cheesesteak:

2  teaspoons salted butter

1/2  cup diced yellow or sweet onion

2-3  super-thin-slices deli-style provolone, or Velveeta if it's yellow cheese you crave

3/4  cup thinly-sliced rare-cooked and still-warm flank steak, prepared as directed in my recipe:  Melanie's 18-Minute Perfectly-Cooked Flank Steak

choice of optional toppings:  1/4 cup mild or hot, well-drained yellow pepper rings, sautéed bell peppers or mushrooms, &/or, 2-3  tablespoons red tomato-based pizza-type sauce

1  6"-8" high-quality, semi-firm Italian or brioche submarine-shaped roll

~Step 1.  Place a 2-pound flank steak on a disposable aluminum broiler pan and season with sea salt and peppercorn blend.  Place 5 1/2"-6" under preheated broiler for exactly 9 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip steak over (there's no need to season the second side), return to broiler and cook 9 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 9 minutes.  Holding a chef's knife at a 30º angle, slice steak into thin, 1/8"-1/4" thick strips. Note:  This is enough meat for six cheesesteaks.  To make it ahead, wrap cooked, rested and unsliced flank steak in plastic and refrigerate overnight.  Return to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then warm it (warm not hot) in microwave, about 90 seconds.  Slice and proceed with recipe as written.  While flank steak is broiling and resting, caramelize the onions as follows:

~Step 2.  In an 8" nonstick skillet, melt butter over low heat.  Add the diced onions.  Adjust heat to medium, medium-high, to gently and slowly sauté, stirring frequently until onions are caramelized to desired degree of pretty brown, 16-18 minutes, regulating the heat carefully during this process.  Adjust heat to low and arrange provolone slices over the onions, followed by the still-warm sliced flank steak.  

If desired, sprinkle a favorite topping or two over the top of the meat to customize your sandwich to your liking.  When cheese has melted, about 30-45 seconds, remove skillet from heat.

~Step 3.  Place your favorite roll (split open) on a piece of aluminum foil.  With the aid of a spatula, while tilting the skillet on an angle, slide/push the contents of the skillet directly into the roll, much like you would slide an omelette from pan to plate.  Wrap the sandwich tightly in the foil and set aside, about 1 minutes, to give the roll time to steam/soften a bit.  Using a serrated bread knife, slice the sandwich in half (a diagonal is nice), remove the foil and serve immediately. 

Delightfully, remarkably, outstanding?  You betcha.

It's a dilly of a cheesesteak -- It's a Philly-Dilly Cheesesteak!

My 18-Minute Philly-Dilly Flank-Steak Cheesesteaks:  Recipe yields 6, 6"-8" flank-steak w/caramelized-onion cheesesteaks.

Special Equipment List:  11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan w/corrugated bottom; cutting board; chef's knife; appropriately-sized nonstick skillet; spatula; aluminum foil; serrated bread knife

Cook's Note:  Another take on the cheesesteak, and a favorite here in my kitchen, is my recipe for  ~ Philadelphia-Style Cheesesteak-Pizza a la Mel ~.  While it is luscious topped with my recipe for ~ Melanie's 18-Minute Perfectly-Cooked Flank Steak ~, I've written it with other options too.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Fresh vs. Canned: How Pineapple Reacts w/Protein~

It's natural to assume fresh fruit is better than canned, and, if you're eating fresh pineapple, fresh not only tastes better, it is indeed better for you and your digestive system.  That said, nothing is more disheartening than taking the time to prepare a marinade for your favorite protein made from fresh pineapple juice, or, folding a cup or two of diced pineapple into a favorite casserole and have the protein rendered mushy. The cause is an enzyme found in fresh-cut pineapple.

No matter how you slice it, dice it, or hollow it out:

Why did my marinated meat (poultry, seafood or fish) turn to mush?

The enzyme's name is bromelain (in papaya it's called papain and does the same thing), and it is a powerful tenderizer.  It plays a key role in the digestive process, most notably, breaking down tough protein chains -- it's sold in supplement form in health food stores as a digestive aid. It's why:  1) Pineapple processors wear gloves and masks (as it eventually eats away at the flesh on the hands and face).  2) When cutting up pineapple, if poked by a spiny edge, it's common to develop itchy skin &/or a sore.  3) Pineapple, on its own, won't form a jam or jelly.

Bromelain, the enzyme in fresh pineapple, is a powerful tenderizer.

Tenderizing protein is good to a point, but, when fresh pineapple juice is used in or as the marinade, the enzyme works fast -- in as little as 30 minutes for poultry and meat, and, in the case of fish, 10 minutes. That's great if time is short and the clock is ticking.  That said, if fresh pineapple chunks are stirred into a casserole, if left to sit just 1-2 hours prior to baking, it renders the protein mushy -- a problem when things need to be done in advance.  While keeping the marinating protein or the casserole mixture refrigerated will slow the enzyme activity down:

Here's the information every cook needs to know:

Bromelain is heat-inactivated.  This means:  If fresh pineapple is cooked first, separately from the protein, (prior to marinating it with or stirring it into raw or cooked protein), the bromelain gets neutralized -- this neutralization is achieved during the canning process, and, can also be achieved by grilling pineapple chunks or pieces, or, simmering fresh pineapple juice, crushed pineapple or pineapple purée.  So, if you want to buy some time in order to marinate your protein a few hours ahead or put your casserole together the night before, either cook the fresh pineapple first, or, without compromise, bypass the fresh produce department and head to the canned-fruit aisle.

Oh My Thai Chicken and Pineapple-Fried-Rice Casserole:

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024) 

~Greek Hummus, Steak & Arugula-Salad Pita-Pizzas~

Everyone knows anything one can sandwich between two slices of bread can be tucked into a pita pocket to eat on the run.  Almost everyone knows that the flat round pita (or any flatbread) is a great foil for all sorts open-face knife-and-fork sandwich meals too.  What all busy moms know is: if the ingredients on the pita are amicable to being baked in the oven, and you refer to it as pizza, it's a sure-fire way to get children to venture into trying just about anything.

It's called "bending the rules for the common good", and, when my kids were young, I did it in creative ways.  If it looks like a sandwich and it's eaten like a sandwich, it must be a sandwich -- even if it is not between the definitive two slices of bread.  If it looks like a pizza and it's eaten like a pizza, it must be a pizza -- even if it doesn't have the typical tomato sauce and cheese on it. That said, in a world when no two family members will ever agree on sandwich stuffings or pizza toppings, make-your-own personal-size pockets or pizza for dinner is a solid solution.

My Greek-style pita pizzas, inspired by my recipe for ~ Greek-Style Flank-steak Salad or Pocket Sammies ~ start with a slathering of hummus and a layer of mozzarella. Next up, onion, briny olives and feta, and a few cherry tomatoes.  When these show-stopping snack-pizzas emerge from the oven, a mix of lightly-dressed arugula leaves and diced cucumber with bits of rare-cooked flank steak top them off. If you've made my steak salad, all you need is pita bread and hummus to quickly turn leftovers into pizza.* 

Greek pizza per se refers to the type of dough/style of crust -- in the same way New York-Neopolitan- or Sicilian-, Chicago- or Detroit-, or, St. Louis- styles refer to theirs. Greek-style crust is baked in a shallow, heavily-oiled pan, instead of directly on the bricks of a pizza oven, which renders it somewhat thick and puffy with a crispy, fried-like exterior and a tender, chewy interior, and, it's referred to as "Greek pizza" even when it has non-Greek toppings.  Because pita bread is common to all sorts of Greek-style sandwiches (like the iconic Greek Gyro Beef & Lamb Pita Sandwich), I'm gonna call it a day and suffice it to say:

My pita pizzas are sophisticated Greek-style savory w/snazz.

*Note:  I won't lie.  Making these with ingredients leftover from my salad is quick and easy.  That's what I'm doing today.  That said, if you're looking for a sophisticated pizza snack to serve as an hors d'oeuvre,  making them in multiples and slicing them into wedges is well-worth the effort. 

2 pita pockets, whole-wheat or white, your favorite brand

4-6  tablespoons hummus

4  slices deli-style mozzarella cheese

1/4  cup very-thinly-sliced (shaved) red onion

6-8  Greek kalamata black olives, well-drained and  cut in half

6-8  pimiento-stuffed Spanish green olives, well-drained and cut in half

6-8  grape tomatoes cut in half tomatoes

1/2  cup crumbled feta cheese, divided (1/4 cup for pizza, 1/4 cup for salad)

3/4-1  cup baby arugula leaves

1/4-1/2  cup peeled and diced Kirby cucumber

2  tablespoons Greek-style vinaigrette, preferably homemade, or high-quality store-bought

1  teaspoon Greek seasoning blend

6-8 small flank steak roulades, marinated in Greek-style vinaigrette as directed here and broiled as directed below (Note:  Feel free to skip the steak and serve these Greek pita pizzas a meatless meal.):

~Step 1.  Position oven rack about 8" underneath heating element and preheat broiler.  Remove the room temperature flank steak from the marinade and place on an 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom).  Place the flank steak under the broiler and cook for 8-9 minutes, until steak is golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and flip steak over.  Return to broiler and cook 8-9 more minutes, using an instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness after 8 minutes. Remove from oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 130°-134°.  Allow to rest 10-15 minutes prior to slicing*.

*Note:  My favorite way to serve my Greek salad is with warm steak.  For my pita pizzas, it's best made with steak that's been chilled and returned to room temp (take it out of refrigerator about an hour prior to slicing), so, wrap the cooked steak in plastic wrap, refrigerate it, and slice it later.

~ Step 2.  Slice meat in half lengthwise, then thinly-slice each half across the grain while holding the knife at a 30° angle, into thin (1/8"-1/4"-thick) strips.  Roll each meat strip up roulade-style*, placing them in a bowl as you work.

*Note:  A roulade (roo-LAHD) is a fancy French term for a thin slice of raw or cooked meat rolled around a filling then secured with some kitchen twine or a toothpick.  If the meat is raw, the roulade is cooked after rolling, if the meat is cooked, the roulade is ready for serving.

~ Step 3.  Typically the roulades are used as they are in my Greek salad.  Leftovers are stored in my refrigerator.  To turn yesterday's leftovers into today's pizza topping, "chiffonade" them (a Fancy french word meaning "to cut into ribbons").

~ Step 4.  Place two pita breads on a 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pan that has been lined with parchment. Use a knife to slather the top of each pita with 2-3 tablespoon hummus, to within 1/4" of the edge of the perimeter.

~Step 5.  Place two slices mozzarella cheese (atop the hummus) on each pita.  Scatter with shaved red onion, then arrange Greek and Spanish olives, followed by grape tomatoes over the cheese.  Sprinkle on half the crumbled feta.  Bake pita pizzas on center rack of 350º oven until mozzarella is melted and feta is just starting to show signs of browning, 11-12 minutes.

~ Step 6.  While the pita pizzas are in the oven baking, in a medium bowl, toss the remain feta crumbles, arugula leaves and diced cucumber with 2 tablespoons of the Greek vinaigrette and 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning blend.  Remove pizzas from oven.  Plate pizzas and serve pizzas, whole or cut into wedges, topped with salad.

Cut into wedges & served as sophisticated appetizers:

Left whole & served as a hearty, personal-sized pizza meal:

Greek Hummus, Steak & Arugula Salad Pita-Pizzas:  Recipe yields instructions to make 2 Greek-style pita pitas/8 appetizers/2 main-dish servings.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pan; parchment paper

Cook's Note: I surely didn't invent the word pizz'alad, but it is catchy. That said, I'd been kinds making various versions of them at home for my kids for years (Philadelphia cheesesteak, Buffalo chicken and Texican taco to name three), before publications like Eating Well, Bon Appetít and Food and Wine started using this trendy term to describe a pizza with a salad on top.  Click here to get my basic (Crazy for Caprese) recipe for ~ Pizza' alads:  Salad Pizza (Pizza w/a Salad on Top) ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~The McDonald's-Style Big Mac Cheeseburger Salad~

When my foodie friends (people who like to cook, can cook and cook often), start talking about a yummy salad made in the style of McDonald's iconic Big Mac, I listen.  I listen because these are friends I listen to, and, because I have been known to indulge in an occasional Big Mac.  Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun is, in my opinion, the yummiest cheeseburger creation in the takeout-lane of the drive-thru fast-food circuit.

September 1968 -- The Bic Mac was invented in Pittsburgh by a McDonald's Franchise Owner named Jim Delligatti.

It cost 45 cents.

The Big Mac, designed to compete with the Big Boy Restaurant chain's Big Boy Burger, had two previous names that failed:  Aristocrat and the Blue Ribbon burger.  The "Big Mac" was named by Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year old secretary working at corporate headquarters.  The "two-all beef patties" slogan was created by Keith Reinhard and his creative group at advertising agency Needham Harper and Steers.  The Big Mac, which contains two 1.6-ounce patties along with an array of other components was placed on a three-part bun because testing proved it too sloppy to eat otherwise.  As for the "secret sauce", which is indeed a variant of Thousand Islands dressing, in 2012 McDonald's stated, "the primary sauce ingredients are not really a secret, and have been available on-line for years (sans specifics -- cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.):  mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and yellow mustard whisked together with vinegar, garlic and onion powder and paprika."

As one who believes she invented the chili-cheddar-cheeseburger salad, I cannot believe it never occurred to me to transfer my beloved Big Mac from bun to bowl.  In my food world, if given a choice, I'm the kinda girl who prefers to plant my roasted chicken breast or grilled strip steak atop a well-appointed salad, rather than position it next to a twice-baked fully-loaded baked potato, creamy potato salad or crunchy cole slaw.  It has nothing (zero) to do with cutting carbohydrates (my homemade croutons make up for the carbs) -- I just love the combination of perfectly-cooked hot-and-juicy protein atop a cold-and-crisp full-of-greens-and-goodies salad.

Part One:  Two all-beef patties topped w/yellow American.

All McDonald's hamburgers are 100 percent beef with an 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio. The beef used in the burgers comes from whole cuts of forequarter and flank meat from the cow. In their kitchen: The burgers are never flipped, as the flat-topped mechanism that cooks them has a matching flat-topped top which, when lowered, cooks them on both sides at once (clam-shell-type style). All McDonald's hamburgers are topped with deli-sliced yellow American-processed cheese blend made from milk, milk fats and solids -- it melts great and make no mistake, it is not yellow cheddar.

Note:  Beef is beef and patty means disc.  That equates to 'burgers, not ground beef crumbles -- in my kitchen, two 3-ounce slider-sized patties per salad -- it's not a Big Mac unless it's got two. Once topped with the signature American-processed yellow cheese, a lid goes on long enough to melt it (tick,tock) -- this keeps the 'burgers hot-and-juicy, a la McDonald's flat-top-cooked 'burgers.

Newsflash:  McDonald's is almost ready to release never-frozen burgers this Spring. They've already quietly rolled-out their “fresh” beef burgers to test in Dallas, Tulsa, Miami, Orlando, and Nashville. Over the next month, the rollout-test will expand to Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco.  The rest of us will get to try them sometime May. In the beginning, they will be limited to a just a few of their sandwiches, and while the Big Mac will not be one of them, I have no doubt that never-frozen burgers will be a popular menu item.  It's all I ever use in my kitchen and I'm sticking with never-frozen beef today:

~ Step 1.  In a 10" nonstick skillet, form and place 8, 3-ounce, 2 1/2"-round, all-beef patties (1 1/2-pounds total ground beef) over medium-high heat --  I use a fat ratio of 90/10.  Don't add any oil or butter to skillet -- ground beef contains enough fat to do its thing.  Ever-so-lightly, season the patties with salt and pepper, and cook until barely-browned and just short of being cooked through, turning only once, about 4 minutes per side.  Do not overcook.  Error on the side of slightly-undercooking.

~Step 2.  Turn the heat off.  It's 8 slices American-processed yellow cheese you'll need next. It's quick to melt to the perfect state without browning or drying out. Cut or break each slice into four quarters.  Arrange four quarters (1 slice) to fit atop each burger.  Place lid on  skillet, adjust the heat to low, and wait for cheese to melt, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat and place two patties atop each salad as directed below.

Part Two:  Special Sauce.  Thousand Islands dressing -- not.

Many folks assume the special sauce is Thousand Islands dressing. It's an easy assumption to make, as the two are similar enough -- mayonnaise-based and pickle-relish laced.  That said, I write a food blog, which made it necessary for me to head to the Golden Arches, in order to deconstruct a few Big Macs, so I could taste-test secret sauce side-by-side bottled store-bought and homemade Thousand Islands dressing.  The special sauce is indeed different.  It's more yellow than pink and more pungent too, which, (just as McDonald's stated), results from some brand of ordinary yellow ballpark-type mustard.

Fun secret sauce fact:  In our recent past, McDonald's lost the formula to their secret sauce, and, for a number of years it gradually grew "less special".  As a result, in 2004, the CEO scrapped the product and collaborated with the California supplier who had helped develop the original sauce -- they reconcocted the sauce.  End of story fact:  We now enjoy reconcocted secret sauce.

1  cup mayonnaise

1/4  cup each: ketchup and sweet pickle relish

1  tablespoon yellow mustard

1  teaspoon white vinegar

1/2  teaspoon each:  garlic and onion powder and paprika

Whisk all ingredients together, cover and refrigerate 1 hour.  Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Part Three:  Lettuce, pickles, onion & sesame seeds sans bun.

For each salad (in each of 4, 6" salad plates, layer and arrange):

2  generous cups iceberg or romaine lettuce pieces

1/2  cup each: dill pickles, well-drained and 1/2"-diced, and, 1/2" chopped sweet onion

2  3-ounce hot-and-juicy burgers

1/2  teaspoon lightly-toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

1/4  cup secret sauce, for drizzling and dipping

~Step 1.  Layer and arrange the veggies, plant the burgers, drizzle with dressing, then stick a knife and fork in it.  If you're thinking this salad could be more colorful, you'd be right, it could be -- but you would be wrong. This carefully-thought-through monochromatic melange of complex and conflicting flavors needs nothing else.  Adding anything else -- wouldn't be a Big Mac.

While special orders don't upset us, no tomatoes please:

'Tis true and trust me, no one loves tomatoes more than me -- no one. So, if a tomato-loving Big Mac aficionado knows enough to not special order tomatoes on her sandwich, I'm sure not going to add them to my Big Mac salad -- nor am I going to write a recipe telling you it's a forgivable offense.  In all seriousness, the special sauce is all about contrasting flavors playing in harmony, and, the acidity in tomatoes just "breaks the spell".  

Dill pickles, not tomatoes, belong in a Big Mac salad.

Enjoy a homemade salad The McDonald's way today!

The McDonald's-Style Big Mac Cheeseburger Salad:  Recipe yields instructions to make 4, hearty main-dish salads.

Special Equipment List:  whisk; cutting board; chef's knife; 10" skillet w/lid, preferably nonstick; spatula

Cook's Note: Would you like chili instead?  As one who raised three boys with a Wendy's joint just a few miles down the street from us, my recipe for ~ Kids' Stuff:  Mel's Wendy's Chili Con Carne ~ was one of the first fast-foods I needed to find a way to duplicate at home.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Thai-Style Chicken Salad w/Sweet Chili Vinaigrette ~

Mae Ploy brand sweet chili sauce, known in Thailand as "nam chim kai", "dipping sauce for chicken", is a staple in my refrigerator.  We use it as a dipping sauce for all sorts of things -- from lettuce wraps and spring rolls to deep-fried chicken wings, coconut shrimp and batter-dipped vegetables, almost everything tastes better with the sweet heat of this sauce.  Here in my kitchen, we affectionately refer to it as "the ketchup of Thailand."  Using it in conjunction with the right ratio of other Thai pantry staples renders a vinaigrette no store-bought brand can compete with.

A salad is only as good as the ingredients that go into it, and my Thai chicken salad is no exception. It starts with my Thai-Style Oven-Roasted Barbecued Chicken.  In the wide, wide world of food, almost every culture has a favorite way to serve grilled chicken. In Thailand, that would be gai yang.  Those are the Thai words for grilled chicken, more specifically a very small, whole or half chicken that's been marinated in a soy-and-fish-sauce- based coconut-creamy, cilantro-greeny mixture laced with fragrant lemongrass, ginger, garlic and scallions. Throughout Thailand, the recipe for gai yang does vary from cook-to-cook, but not very much.  In my Americanized version, the chicken emerges from the oven plump, juicy and melt-in-your mouth tender -- not to mention infused with authentic Thai flavors. Whenever I make it, 2-3 times a year, I make one extra -- to make this salad.  

Oh my Thai.  Sigh.  While I never make my salad without my special Thai BBQ chicken, if pressed to recommend a time-saving substitution (and I know some of you are going to ask), sans all of the wonderful flavor you'll be missing out on, head for a store-bought rotisserie bird.

To make 1 cup of my Peanutty Thai Sweet-Chili Vinaigrette:

1/2  cup Mae Ploy brand sweet chili sauce

2  tablespoons Golden Mountain brand Thai seasoning soy sauce

1  tablespoon Squid brand Thai fish sauce

1  tablespoon lime juice, fresh or high-quality bottled concentrate

1  tablespoon Jiff extra-crunchy peanut butter

2  teaspoons ginger paste

1  teaspoon garlic paste

2  tablespoons peanut oil

1  tablespoon sesame oil

2  tablespoons rice vinegar

~ Step 1.  Measure and place all ingredients, as listed, in a 1-2-cup measuring container with a tight fitting lid and a pourer top.  Shake vigorously until peanut butter is completely dispersed and has rendered the vinaigrette a slightly-creamy texture.  Peanut butter is a flavored-stabilizer.  Like Dijon mustard in a classic vinaigrette, it slows the inevitable separation process down.

To make two, hearty, main-dish Thai-style chicken salads:

2 1/2-3 cups cooked chicken, removed from 1/2 of 1, 3 1/2-4-pound Thai-Style oven-roasted barbecue chicken (leg, thigh, breast & wing meat from half a chicken), crispy skin left on or removed (your choice), pulled into bite-sized chards and pieces or sliced into thin strips 

1  whole head hearts-of-romaine, the "hearts" being the inner leaves from the typical bushy head (about 6-8 ounces total weight), leaves torn into small, bite-sized pieces or cut chiffonade-style (into 1/2" strips or ribbons), washed, dried (preferably through a salad spinner) and chilled until very crisp

3/4-1  cup store-bought broccoli slaw, a mixture of shredded broccoli, carrots and red cabbage

3/4-1  cup halved cherry tomatoes

3/4-1  cup peeled and peeled and diced Kirby cucumber, 1/2 of a cucumber

1/2-3/4  cup thinly-sliced green onion, tender white and light-green parts only

1/2  cup minced, fresh cilantro leaves

1/2  cup chopped and lightly-roasted, unsalted peanuts

1/2-1  cup Peanutty Thai Sweet Chili Vinaigrette, from above recipe

~Step 1.  In each of two salad plates, compose the salad by dividing, layering and arranging ingredients in the following order:  the romaine chiffonade briefly tossed together in each bowl with the broccoli slaw, followed by the sliced green onion and diced cucumber.  Pile on the pulled or sliced chicken pieces and grape tomatoes then generously garnish each salad with a sprinkling of cilantro leaves and roasted peanuts.  Drizzle on the vinaigrette and stick a fork in it ASAP.

Drizzle on the vinaigrette & give it a decent dose too...

... then stick a fork in it & eat this special Thai salad ASAP:

Thai-Style Chicken Salad w/Sweet Chili Vinaigrette:  Recipe yields 1 cup vinaigrette, and, 2, hearty, main-dish salads.

Special Equipment List:  1-2-cup measuring container w/tight-fitting lid & pourer top; cutting board; chef's knife; vegetable peeler

Cook's Note:  Cold main- or side-dish pasta or noodle salads of the American type are not something I gravitate toward.  That said, serve me one bursting with Thai-Asian flavors, you don't have to call me twice to the table.  My recipe for ~ Cold 'Chicken Noodle Salad' w/Thai Peanut Sauce ~ is a delightful combination of lo-mein noodles with wisps of chicken, matchstick carrots and green onion scattered throughout.  It's lunch-box kid-tested and mother approved too.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Thai-Style Oven-Roasted Barbecued Half Chicken ~

In the wide, wide world of food, almost every culture has a favorite way to serve grilled chicken. In Thailand, that would be gai yang.  Those are the Thai words for grilled chicken, more specifically a very small, whole or half chicken that's been marinated in a soy-and-fish-sauce-based coconut-creamy, cilantro-greeny mixture laced with fragrant lemongrass, ginger, garlic and scallions. Throughout Thailand, the recipe for gai yang does vary from cook-to-cook, but not very much.

Not to be confused w/authentic Thai gai yang...

... mine = American chicken infused w/authentic Thai flavor.

In Thailand, small, lean chickens are skewered, cooked over charcoal and sold as gnaw-off-the-stick street food*.  In my American-kitchen version, the chickens are plump, juicy and melt-in-your mouth tender.

Oh my Thai.  Too many Americans have the preconceived notion that Thai food is super-spicy -- fiery hot. It's not.  Like anything, one can make it super-spicy if one desires, but, if you ever eat a few meals in Thailand or in a Thai home kitchen, one quickly learns that Thai cuisine is an addictively well-balanced blend of sweet, sour, salty and subtle heat, with a bit of a citrusy, bitter edge.

There's more.  Aromatic herbs (like basil, cilantro and/or mint) and spices (like chile, galangal, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and/or scallion), all add to the unique aroma- and flavor-infusing process that distinguishes Thai food from others.

*The chickens raised in Thailand are small, lean and boney (scrawny) with an intense (gamey) flavor.  This does not mean they're inferior.  It means they are different from what we purchase in an American market.  If I cannot purchase a similar product here, it makes no sense for me to try to duplicate it.  That said, I sure can produce a Thai-style barbecued chicken that'll taste amazing.

Making the marinade & marinating the chickens:

All Thai recipes for barbecue chicken begin by making the marinade -- from this standpoint, my recipe is authentic.  Traditionally, many of the ingredients get pulverized in a stone mortar and pestle, but, here in my American home kitchen, I make short work of this laborious process by using my food processor -- why wouldn't I or anyone who owns a pulverizing machine not use it.

For the chickens and the marinade:

2  3 1/2-4-pound frying chickens, as even in size as possible, split in half, backbones removed, 4 pieces total (Note:  I call in advance and ask my local butcher to do this for me.)

4  ounces coarse-chopped green onion, tender white and light-green parts only

2 ounces coarse-chopped, fresh cilantro stems and/or roots (Note:  Save the delicate leaves for garnish.  The majority of the bold, earthy flavor is housed in the roots and/or stems.)

2  ounces coarse-chopped, fresh lemon grass, tender white and light-green parts only

2  ounces peeled and coarse-chopped fresh ginger root

1-1 1/2  ounces, whole, fresh garlic cloves (6-10, large whole cloves)

8-10  small Thai bird chile peppers, red, green or a combination of both (Note:  These are small but mighty.  I grow them in our garden and keep them on-hand in my freezer.  Because they are so hot, I hold each one by the stem and use a pair of kitchen shears to "snip it" into whatever I'm cooking -- this keeps the heat from getting on my hands -- or worse, in my eyes.)

3  tablespoons Thai Squid brand fish Sauce

3  tablespoons Thai Golden Mountain brand seasoning soy sauce

2  tablespoons sesame oil

2  tablespoons firmly-packed palm sugar, or light brown sugar

1  13 1/2-ounce can coconut milk

~Step 1.  Prep green onion, cilantro, lemon grass, ginger, garlic and chile peppers, as directed, placing each one in the work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade as you work.  Using a series of 50-60 rapid on-off pulses, very-finely mince the ingredients.  Open the processor lid and use a spatula to scrape down sides of work bowl.  In a small bowl, stir together the fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar, to dissolve the sugar.  Add the sugar mixture to the work bowl, followed by the coconut milk.  Process again, using a series of 10-20 rapid on-off pulses followed by the motor running for 30-45 seconds.  There will be 3 3/4-4 cups marinade.

~Step 2.  Place each split chicken in a heavy-duty 2-gallon-sized food storage bag, positioning the halves so the sharp bones will face the inside once the bag is sealed.  Pour half of the marinade (about 2 cups) into each bag. Gather the bag tightly up around the chicken and twist or zip closed.  Using your hands, massage the bags, until each chicken is thoroughly coated in the marinade.  Allow to marinate in the refrigerator 6-8 hours (minimum), overnight, or up to 48 hours (maximum) -- remove from refrigerator 1 hour prior to roasting.

~Step 3.  To roast, insert a wire rack in the bottom of a large 20" x 12" x 4" disposable aluminum roasting pan, then place a sheet of parchment paper on the rack.  Open each bag of chicken. One-at-a-time lift each half chicken up and out, allowing the excess marinade to drizzle back into the bag*, then arrange the halves, side-by-side on the rack in prepared pan.  Roast, uncovered on center rack of 350º oven, 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a tip of a knife.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 10-15 minute, prior to serving.

*Note:  Do not discard the marinade in bags.  It will be used to make the sauce (recipe below).

Making & reducing the dipping & drizzling sauce:

What could be better than an aromatic, plump, moist, melt-in-your-mouth-juicy half chicken roasted in the oven?  How about a coconut-creamy, cilantro-dreamy to-die-for sauce.  Quickly and easily made on the stovetop from the marinade the chickens marinated in, plus a few on-hand additions, if your family is like mine, don't hesitate to make a double batch of this sublime sauce.

For the Sauce (use all marinade reserved from above, plus the following):

1  13 1/2-ounce can coconut milk 

3  tablespoons Thai Squid brand fish sauce

3  tablespoons Thai Golden Mountain brand seasoning soy sauce

2  tablespoons sesame oil

2  tablespoons firmly-packed palm sugar, or light brown sugar

1  packet Herb-Ox instant,  granulated chicken bouillon (1, small foil packet)

6-8  kaffier lime leaves (Note:  I purchase these unique flavor-packed leaves at my Asian market and keep them on-hand in my freezer. When it comes to Thai cooking, these are what gives it its signature herby-citrus flavor.)

~ Step 1.  Place all leftover marinade you can retrieve from the bags in a wide-bottomed chef's-type pan. Stir in the the coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, palm or brown sugar, instant bouillon and lime leaves.  Bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high heat, then adjust heat to gently simmer. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until nicely-thickened and reduced by about one-third, about 20 minutes.

The rice, the garnishes & serving up supper:

Jasmine rice, a fragrant-scented rice, is a very-important staple-ingredient in the Thai kitchen.  It's got a heavenly aroma, and, a lovely, fluffy texture when cooked.  In my kitchen, a simple bed of this freshly-steamed white rice, scattered with bits of sweet and tart pineapple, crunchy oven-roasted peanuts and delicate cilantro leaves are all I need to complete my family's Thai feast. 

For the rice and garnishes:

4  cups uncooked jasmine rice, 8 cups after steaming

2  cups diced pineapple (from 1 medium-large fresh pineapple)

1  cup chopped and lightly-roasted, unsalted peanuts

1/2  cup minced, fresh cilantro leaves (reserved from above)

all  the sauce, for dipping and drizzling, prepared on stovetop as directed above

~Step 1.  On each of 4, 9"-10" warmed dinner plates (big plates for this big meal work best), prepare and make a bed of 2-cups jasmine rice. Scatter 6-8 tablespoons diced pineapple, 3-4 tablespoons chopped peanuts, and, 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves.  Top each portion with one split-chicken half and a small bowl of sauce for dipping and drizzling.

Oh my Thai-American oven-roasted barbecued half chicken:

When Thai flavors meet this American girl's kitchen:

My family's food world is a bigger, better place indeed:

Thai-Style Oven-Roasted Barbecued Half Chicken:  Recipe yields 4 very-hearty Thai-American servings.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; food processor; rubber spatula; 1-quart measuring container; 2, heavy-duty 2-gallon food storage bags; 20" x 12" x 4" disposable aluminum roasting pan; wire cooling-type rack; parchment paper; 3 1/2-quart chef's pan w/straight, deep sides; large spoon; electric rice steamer (optional)

Cook's Note: For another classic Thai street food recipe (small marinated cubes or thinly-sliced chicken or pork threaded onto bamboo skewers and grilled), which can semi-easily be duplicated in the American home kitchen, try my recipe for ~ Thai-Style Chicken or Pork Satay w/Peanut Sauce ~.  It's family-friendly and a tailgate favorite of adults and most kids too.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ T.G.I. No-Fuss-Friday Greek Pizza for Mel Tonight ~

I'm Mel -- I pretty much cook all week -- on weekends too.  I cook for my family, friends, and, friends-of-friends. I even cooked  on TV for about a decade, and it's all fun, but, every once in a while, I have occasion to cook just for myself. Tonight is such a night, and, I am going Greek -- it's also really easy and super-good.  Why cook for myself when I don't have to?  Because, with little effort, calorie for calorie, my food tastes much better than over-priced, lack-luster take out or delivery -- and in the case of tonight's Greek-style snack pizza, it's faster than take out or delivery.

When it comes to pizza just for me, I don't want to spend time kneading the dough and waiting for it to rise. When I'm craving crust, I want the end-in-sight as close-to-now as possible.  That said, pre-made pizza crusts and canned pizza dough, in my opionion, were not one of the best inventions of the 20th century. They taste like cardboard -- In my heart, I believe they contain cardboard.  There is one exception:

Boboli.  It's not only a very good and tasty product, it mimics the texture and thickness of Greek pizza nicely.

Boboli have been around for years now, and, for very good reason: Boboli gave us a great product at a reasonable price, and, to prove it, they've stood the test of time.  In my kitchen, they've been kid-tested and mother-approved too.  I've also used Boboli as a tasty, uniform foil to test many of my pizza sauces, cheese options and topping combinations.  I individually wrap a 2-pack of their mini 8" crusts in plastic.  I thaw one out in minutes, and, minutes later (tick, tock), I'm eating pizza for me -- with a slice or two for tomorrow too.

What exactly is authentic Greek-style pizza?

Greek pizza per se refers to the dough/style of crust -- the same way New York-Neopolitan- or Sicilian-, Chicago- or Detroit-, or, St. Louis- styles do.  Greek-style crust is butter- not olive-oil based, then, patted into and baked in a shallow, heavily-oiled pizza pan (not a deep-dish pan), instead of directly on the bricks of a pizza oven.  This renders it well-formed (not free-form) and somewhat thick with a fried-like exterior and a chewy interior.  This type of crust is referred to as "Greek pizza" even when the pizza comes with non-Greek topping options -- which are offered at "pizza-and-pasta"* or "house-of-pizza"* Greek-owned pizza joints (*code words signifying the eatery you are entering is not a classic Italian restaurant, but a classic Greek restaurant offering some Italian-style food).

Greek pizza toppings, as one would expect, revolve around authentic, common-to-the-cuisine Greek ingredients.  If tomato sauce is used, it is thick and tangy with a strong taste of garlic and oregano. Hummus or red pepper hummus are two other popular sauce options.  As for cheeses, it starts with deli-style mozzarella (to provide the ooey-gooey affect) and ends with crumbled feta (which softens but doesn't melt, for the classic briny edge). Other options include red onion, fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, a variety of Greek-style olives, marinated artichokes, and sometimes, fresh greens like spinach or arugula leaves. Wisps or chards of Gryro-style super-thinly-sliced roasted meats (marinated lamb and/or beef) replace Italian-style ground or cured meat options (beef, sausage, pepperoni and/or salami).

Atop 1, 8" Boboli pizza crust, layer:  5 slices deli-mozzarella, shaved pieces of red onion & sliced Campari tomatoes, 5 coined Kalamata & 5 pimiento-stuffed Spanish-style olives, feta cheese crumbles & a generous sprinkling of Greek seasoning blend:

Place pizza directly on rack of 425º toaster oven & bake for 8-10 minutes: 

Slide pizza from rack to plate then wait (tick, tock) 3-5 minutes, &, slice & eat:

T.G.I. No-Fuss-Friday Greek Pizza for Mel Tonight:  Recipe yields instructions to make 1, 8" Greek-style Boboli pizza/6 slices, enough to feed 1-2 people

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; toaster oven (optional)

Cook's Note:  I surely didn't invent the word pizz'alad, but it is catchy. That said, I'd been kinda making various versions of them at home for my kids for years (Philadelphia cheesesteak, Buffalo chicken and Texican taco to name three), before publications like Eating Well, Bon Appetít and Food and Wine started using this trendy term to describe a pizza with a salad on top.  Click here to get my basic (Crazy for Caprese) recipe for ~ Pizza' alads:  Salad Pizza (Pizza w/a Salad on Top) ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Greek-Style Flank Steak Salad or Pocket Sammies ~

I'm going Greek today.  It happens a few times a year -- my lust for lemon and garlic and oregano combined with crumbly feta cheese and/or creamy Greek yogurt takes over.  Thank goodness I have a few excellent recipes go to.  Sometimes I'm inclined to quash my craving by incorporating shrimp, other times I choose lamb, chicken is not off limits, but, one of my all-time favorites is flank stank.  When duly-marinated and rare-cooked via broiling or grilling, it is a carnivorous Greek goddess's dream come true.  I adore this hearty, main-dish salad topped plenty of crunchy herb-bread croutons, and, the only thing I enjoy more:  stuffing this salad into a pita pocket. 

Let me start by saying, my homemade Greek salad dressing (recipe below) turns this salad or sandwich from ordinary to extraordinary.  My secret ingredient is high-quality lemon-infused olive oil, with which even fresh lemon juice cannot compete.  That said, when one is using vinaigrette-type salad dressing to marinade meat, poultry or seafood, the marinade gets thrown away (unlike other types of marinades which get simmered on the stovetop and used as a sauce for dipping and drizzling).  

For that reason, I marinate my flank steak in a high-quality, store-bought Greek vinaigrette-type dressing containing no artificial flavorings or preservatives, but, a lot of spices that complement my own dressing.

In a 1-gallon ziplock bag, marinate for 4-6 hours at room temp or overnight in the refrigerator:

2-2 1/2 pound flank steak, in

1  cup Gazebo Room Greek dressing and marinade

"Gazebo Greek" is a fine product and I feel a lot less guilt pouring the store-bought marinade down the drain after the steak has marinated in it as opposed to my homemade dressing.

My Big Fat Greek Lemony-Garlic Salad Dressing:

1  cup red wine vinegar

1/4  cup lemon-infused olive oil

1/2  cup sugar

1  tablespoon Dijon mustard

3-4  large garlic cloves, run through a garlic press

1/4  cup fine-crumbled feta

1  tablespoon Greek seasoning

1/4  teaspoon each:  sea salt and coarse-grind black pepper

~ Step 1.  In a 2-cup measuring container with a tight-fitting lid, place all ingredients.  Shake vigorously. You will have 1 1/2 cups of dressing. Set aside for 2-8 hours, at room temperature, to allow the flavors plenty of time to marry.

Note:  If you want to make the dressing further in advance, store it in the refrigerator and return it to room temperature prior to serving.  Because this dressing contains fresh garlic, use it within 3 days, as after that, the garlic can begin to grow bacteria that can make make you ill.

My Big Fat Greek Flank Steak Salad:

1  2-2 1/2-pound flank steak, marinated as directed above and cooked as directed below

3-4  heads hearts-of-romaine, "hearts" being inner leaves from the typical bushy head (12-16 ounces total weight), leaves torn into bite-sized pieces or cut chiffonade-style (into 1/2" strips), washed, dried (preferably through a salad spinner) and chilled until very crisp

1  cup very thinly-sliced (shaved) red onion

1 1/2  cups peeled and diced Kirby cucumber, 1 large cucumber

3/4  cup pimiento-stuffed green Spanish olives, well-drained and cut in half

3/4  cup pitted Greek kalamata olives, well-drained and cut in half

1 1/2-2  cups grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 1/2-2  cups crumbled feta cheese, 6-8 ounces

1 1/2-2  cups homemade croutons (for salad), or, pita pocket bread (for sammies)

1 1/2  cups salad dressing, from above recipe

~Step 1.   Position oven rack about 8" underneath heating element and preheat broiler.  Remove the room temperature flank steak from the marinade and place on an 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom).  Place the flank steak under the broiler and cook for 8-9 minutes, until steak is golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and flip steak over.  Return to broiler and cook 8-9 more minutes, using an instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness after 8 minutes. Remove from oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 130°-134°.  Allow to rest 10-15 minutes prior to slicing*.

*Note:  My favorite way to serve this salad is while the flank steak is still warm.  That said, it is uncompromisingly-delicious served with steak that has been refrigerated overnight and returned to room temperature (take it out of the refrigerator about an hour prior to slicing it), so, feel free to wrap the cooked steak in plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight, and slice it the next day.

~ Step 2.  Slice meat in half lengthwise, then thinly-slice each half across the grain while holding the knife at a 30° angle, into thin (1/8"-1/4"-thick) strips.  Roll each meat strip up roulade-style*, placing them in a bowl as you work.

*Note:  A roulade (roo-LAHD) is a fancy French term for a thin slice of raw or cooked meat rolled around a filling then secured with some kitchen twine or a toothpick.  If the meat is raw, the roulade is cooked after rolling, if the meat is cooked, the roulade is ready for serving.

~Step 3.  In each of 6-8 individual salad plates, compose the salad by dividing, layering and arranging ingredients in the following order:  lettuce chiffonade, shaved red onion, diced cucumber, steak roulades, green olive-, kalamata olive- and grape tomato halves.  Sprinkle feta cheese crumbles over the top of each salad and top with a few crispy croutons.

Bring on the dressing, have a seat & hand out the forks:

Or, stuff it all into a pita pocket or two & eat 'em on the run:

Greek-Style Flank Steak Salad or Pocket Sammies:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups dressing and 6-8 large, main-dish servings of salad, or, 6-8 pita pocket sandwiches (12-16 half sandwiches).

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; 1-gallon food storage bag; 11 3/4" x 8 1/2" disposable aluminum broiler pan; instant-read meat thermometer; cutting board; chef's knife

Cook's Note: For me, it's impossible to walk past a vendor selling gyros -- the iconic Greek sandwich.  My first gyro encounters were limited to the Jersey Shore in the latter 1960's and Mr. Krinos (a friend of my cousin) explained they were, Greek-style, a combo of beef and lamb wrapped in a pocketless pita with lettuce, tomato and onion, and, served with a cucumber-yogurt-based tzatziki sauce.  Here's my recipe for ~ My Greek Gyro-Style Beef & Lamb 'Burger' Pitas ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Creamy-Coconut & Spicy-Hot Jamaican Pork Curry ~

Throughout the Caribbean, porcine reigns supreme, and, when it comes to perfectly-balanced, bright, slightly-sweet and spicy-hot curry blends, the Jamaicans have cornered the market.  That said, the world is full of curries, they are all different, and, for the home cook, it's almost impossible to prepare an authentic curry outside of the region it's prepared in, within its country of origin.  Why?  Because outside of the United States, curry is not a store-bought dried spice blend or wet paste that produces a predictable end result.  They're hand-made, mortar-and-pestle pulverized, dry or pasty concoctions of spices or herbs, the amounts of which vary to suit the palate of each family or cook -- on a daily basis -- Jamaican cooks are no exception.

Curry is anything but generic.  Culinarily, it's a complex topic:

"Curry" is a catch-all English (British) term used in Western cultures to denote stewike dishes from Southern and Southeast Asia, as well as Africa and the Caribbean. Dishes called curry are relatively easy to prepare and can contain meat, poultry, fish or shellfish. Seasonal vegetables can be included, or, the dish can be made only of vegetables (vegetarian). Some curries cook quickly, others cook slowly, some are thick, some are thin, many are economical weeknight meals, while others are expensive and reserved for celebrations.  Most curries are cooked in large shallow skillets or woks with lids, and, most curries are paired with some type of white rice.

Curries can be "wet" or "dry".  What is common to wet curries is the use of cream, coconut milk or yogurt, and occasionally stock, to prepare the sauce ("kari" is the Indian word for "sauce").  They don't tend to be overly-thickened (gravylike), and, they aren't spicy hot (although they can be). This evolved out of necessity.  Water was often scarce and/or its use in cooking had to be avoided, so, the "creamers" were used as a silky, rich, substitution for water, not as a thickener. Dry curries are cooked in very little liquid in sealed pots.  Almost all of the liquid evaporates during the lengthy cooking process, leaving the ingredients heavily coated in the spice mixture.

The case for using commercial curry powders or pastes.

There are kitchen decisions that only the cook can make, and, in the American kitchen, for the average American cook, convenience typically triumphs over authenticity.  That said, it's not because the average American cook is lazy or uncreative.  In my case, I purchase high-quality blends or pastes because, on any given day, all the ingredients necessary to make a dry blend or a wet paste are not always available at the same time.  There's more.  Some concoctions contain ten or more sometimes-pricey ingredients, which after being mixed together, do not have a long shelf life, so, a portion of my investment and hard work can end up being thrown away.

Curry powders and pastes cannot be used interchangeably.

Curry blends and pastes are not created equal.  For example:  When I make curry, sometimes I make Thai curry (which requires green, red or yellow paste), sometimes I make Indian curry (which relies on garam masala), and, sometimes I make Jamaican curry, which has its own flavor profile.  Know the country of the curry you're preparing and don't substitute one type for another.

Jamaican-Style Curry Powder.

Jamaican curry powder contains allspice and Indian-style curry powder does not.  Indian curry powder contains cardamom and mace, Jamaican curry powder does not.  All Jamaican curries contain coconut milk, but only South Indian curries do.  Jamaican curries tend to be spicy and sweet while Indian curries are mild and slightly tart.

Tonight, creamy, spicy Jamaican curry is what I am craving:

This four-season recipe makes a good-sized quantity, twelve dinner-sized servings (or sixteen+ luncheon-sized servings). That sounds like a lot, but, leftovers reheat perfectly, so the little bit of extra slicing and dicing is worth the extra effort -- plus, it freezes well too.  There's more.  Like many stews, it tastes even better the second day, so, it can be made ahead and served with freshly-steamed rice without compromise -- which is convenient if you're entertaining. That said, if you don't want leftovers, cut the recipe in half (and prepare it in a smaller skillet).

1  bone-in Boston butt pork roast, about 7-8 pounds total

4  tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil, for preparing skillet

2  teaspoons sea salt, total throughout recipe, 1 teaspoon for seasoning meat and 1 teaspoon for seasoning vegetables

2  cups each:  1/2" diced green and red bell pepper

1-1 1/2  cups diced yellow or sweet onion

1  cup chopped cilantro leaves + plus additional leaves for garnish

2  14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes, well-drained

6  tablespoons hot Jamaican curry powder

2  teaspoons garlic paste

2  teaspoons ginger paste

1/2  teaspoon habanero powder (Note:  Jamaicans typically use fresh Scotch Bonnet chilies for heat, which I don't always have access too, but, the slightly-citrusy flavor of incendiary habanero powder, which I keep on my spice rack, is a marvelous substitute.)

3  14-ounce cans coconut milk, shaken or stirred prior to using

6  cups uncooked jasmine rice, or, 12 cups steamed jasmine rice, cooked via your favorite method

~Step 1.  Remove pork from packaging.  Trim off "fat cap" layer. Starting at bone-free-end, cut into 3/4"-1"-thick steaks, then, cut steaks into 1"-1 1/4" chunks.  When you get to the bone-in-end, do your best to cut around the bone, cutting the meat into 1"-1 1/4" chunks.  As you work, discard any chunks that are almost all fat.  When finished, there will be 4+ pounds of trimmed, nicely-marbled pork.  The goal is to have well-marbled pieces, not, fat-laden chunks.

~Step 2.  Place and heat the 1/4 cup oil in a 14" chef's pan over medium-high heat.  Add the pork cubes and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the sea salt.  Adjust heat to sauté, using a large spatula to stir frequently, until meat is lightly-browned on all sides, and almost no liquid remains in bottom of pan, about 18-20-22 minutes.  Turn the heat off.

~Step 3.  Prep the green and red bell peppers, onion and cilantro as directed, placing them in the chef's pan as you work.  Add the diced tomatoes, curry powder, garlic paste, ginger paste and remaining 1 teaspoon sea salt.  Add the coconut milk and stir to thoroughly combine.

~Step 4.  Over medium- medium-high heat bring mixture to a rapid simmer, stirring frequently.  Once simmering, adjust heat to a gentle simmer and continue to cook, stirring frequently for 40-45 minutes, until nicely thickened.  Turn heat off, cover pan, and allow the curry to steep on the warm stovetop, another 40-45 minutes to allow the flavors time to marry.  Steam rice while curry steeps and serve warm curry over steamed rice.

Serve warm curry over freshly-steamed white rice:

A creamy-rich & spicy hot bowl of Jamaican love: 

Creamy-Coconut & Spicy-Hot Jamaican Pork Curry:  Recipe yields 4-5 quarts/16-20 cups pork curry mixture/12 large dinner-sized servings or 16+ smaller luncheon-sized servings.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; chef's knife; 14" chef's pan w/straight, deep sides & lid; large spoon; electric rice steamer (optional)

Cook's Note: I do not profess to knowing a lot about India or being an authority on authentic Indian cuisine.  I have never had the opportunity to travel there, however, I have had the pleasure of having been entertained, on several occasions back in the early 1980's, in the home of a neighborhood couple, who just happened to hail from India.  My recipe for ~ Easy Indian Curry in a Hurry w/No Worry ~, is a testament to one of the many wonderful dishes I was introduced to at their dinner table.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Pork Butt Blade Steaks w/Peachy Keen BBQ Sauce~

Known as pork steaks, pork butt steaks or pork blade steaks, these bone-in steaks are cut from the shoulder of the pig -- the same part of the porcine used to make pulled pork.  Similar in taste and texture to close-kin country-style spareribs*, they were invented in St. Louis, MO, and are a Midwest staple.  As a country-style spare rib lover living in central Pennsylvania, I ask my butcher to custom-cut these inexpensive, lesser-to-unknown-here steaks for me.  Perhaps this post will help them to catch on "here in the counties", and start showing up in our local markets.

*Country-style ribs are cut from the blade end of the loin close to the shoulder. They're meatier than other ribs.  They contain no rib bones, but contain parts of the shoulder blade bone.

"Pork butt" or "Boston butt", is a bone-in cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the "pork shoulder" from the front leg of the hog. Smoked or barbecued, Boston butt is a southern tradition.  This cut of meat got its name in pre-Revolutionary War New England:

Butcher's in Boston left the blade bone in this inexpensive cut of pork shoulder then packed and stored the meat in casks called "butts". They sold the pork shoulders individually to their customers, and, when they got popular, they began shipping "the butts" Southward and throughout the Colonies.  Simply stated:  the way the hog shoulder was butchered, combined with "the butt" they arrived in, evolved into the name "Boston butt".

Steaks cut from the pork shoulder are marbled with lots of fat and rich with collagen, which, like the roast, makes them extremely flavorful.  

Because overcooking renders them dry and tough, this quick-cooking cut is perfect for the grill, sauté pan or broiler.  Choose pinkish-gray steaks that are generally the same size and thickness (3/4"-thick is ideal), and, have been trimmed of excessive fat from around the fat-cap-side.

Note:  These 8 steaks, weighing a total of 8.05 pounds, cost $14.33.  That's a whole lot of economical wonderfulness -- especially if you've got a big family with big appetites to feed.

Because overcooking renders them tough, this quick-cooking pork steak is perfect for the grill, grill pan, sauté pan or broiler.

As for seasonings, salt and pepper is all they require, but, they play well with dry seasoning blends or wet marinades too -- and, they love to be slathered with BBQ sauce at the end.

Choose side-dishes to complement the seasonings used & set the table:

Pork steaks cook to an internal temp of 145° in a short 5-6 minutes per side.

There are no words to tell you how well my Peachy Keen Barbecue Sauce for Poultry or Pork, which is made with my Perfect Peach Preserves from the Bread Machine (which I keep on hand in my freezer) and a host of aromatic spices (allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and mace to name a few), pairs with these pork steaks. Store-bought peach preserves will work just fine too, so, don't let that sway you from taking the few minutes to make this divine sauce for your pork blade steaks.

How to cook great pork steak indoors on a grill pan:

~ Step 1.  I'm demo-ing one steak today, so I'm using my 10"-round grill pan.  To cook 4 steaks at once, I use my bigger double-burner-sized grill pan.  To cook 8 steaks at once, I use both of my double-burner grill pans.

~Step 2.  Spray a grill pan with no-stick spray and place over medium-high heat.  Place a 3/4"-thick, room-temperature pork butt blade steak on the hot grill grids.  Season with freshly-ground sea salt and peppercorn blend, about 5 grinds of salt and 10 grinds of peppercorn blend.  If you have a bacon press, place it on top of steak -- this will hold it closer to the heat which makes for prettier grill marks -- if you don't have a bacon press, no big deal.  Cook steak on first side for 5 minutes, or until golden grill marks appear, but do not cook it longer than 6 minutes.  Flip steak over.  Season the cooked first side with salt and pepper, place the optional bacon press back on top and cook for 5 (and no more than 6) more minutes.  Turn the heat off and allow steak to rest, in pan, for 3 minutes.

Slice in half on a diagonal (half bone-in, half boneless)...

... & top w/a big dollop of Peachy Keen Barbecue Sauce:

Serve w/a side of my Creamy Crunchy Cole Slaw & dig in!

Pork Butt Blade Steaks w/Peachy Keen BBQ Sauce:  Recipe yields instructions to cook 3/4"-thick pork steaks indoors on a grill pan.

Special Equipment List:  appropriately sized grill pan (a sauté pan may be substituted); large spatula or bacon fork (for flipping steaks over); bacon press (optional)

Cook's Note:  Pork shoulder or pork butt, when trimmed and cut into 3/4"-1" cubes makes marvelous chili.  For one of my favorite New-Mexico-Style versions, try my recipe for Hatch Green Chile Chili with Pork and White Beans.  Make a big batch because it freezes great.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~Moist & Juicy Breaded & Deep-Fried Chicken Cutlets~

Breaded chicken cutlets are a big time-saver for a working parent.  By keeping a bag on-hand in the freezer, after a quick thaw in the microwave, any number of kid-friendly meals can be put on the family dinner table in less than an hour.  That said, the chicken cutlets found in the frozen-food section of the grocery store, are, for the most part:  terrible.  From way-too-much-cardboard-esque-breading to skinny, dried-out and rubberlike, I find them reprehensibly unpalatable.  

When I was raising three boys, after trying two (maybe three) brands of frozen, breaded chicken cutlets, and proceeding to throw all the remains away, they were added to my list of store-bought items I simply refused to buy for my kids.  Trust me, when it comes to kids, when you put your foot down to time-saving junk like the USA's favorite brand of boxed macaroni and cheese, all-things that help hamburger, and, chicken cutlets, you'd better have a show-stopping alternative.

Tenderize the most tender part of the chicken:

For about $14-$15 at a any of my local markets, I can purchase a "value pack" of 6-pounds chicken breast tenderloins, It contains approximately 3o tenderloins, which when breaded and deep-fried, are good-sized cutlets -- one or per two person.  When I get them home, I arrange them side-by-side, on a large cutting board, between two sheets of plastic wrap.  Using the flat-side of a meat mallet, I lightly-pound them, with "lightly" being the key word here -- do not smash them to smithereens.   Start-to-finish, this process takes less than five minutes and renders them fork tender.

Set up the deep-frying assembly line (left to right):

Chicken tenderloins, prepped as directed above.

One 8" x 8" x 2" dish containing 2 cups dry pancake mix.

One loaf-pan containing 2 1/2 cups pancake mix whisked with 22 ounces beer (Note:  Beer lends wonderful flavor with yeasty undertones to the breading.  That said, if I can't convince you that the heat of the deep-fryer will evaporate all the alcohol, feel free to substitute club soda.)

One 8" x 8" x 2" dish containing 2, 8-ounces boxes panko breadcrumbs.

Deep-fryer w/corn or peanut oil heated to 360° according to manufacturer's specifications.

Misc:  forks, 3-minute timer, wire cooling rack, paper towels, sea salt grinder.

~ Step 1.  When everything is measured and in place, whisk together the pancake mix and beer (or club soda). Set aside for about 5 minutes before starting the frying process. This will give the batter time to thicken a bit, to a drizzly consistency.  If at any point during the frying process (even at the outset) if the batter seems or gets too thick, whisk in a little more beer (or club soda) to maintain a very drizzly consistency.

~ Step 2.  This step is actually optional, so skip it if you like.  When it comes to chicken cutlets, I prefer the texture of my panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs) to be less coarse.  To make that happen:

Place panko in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Using a series of 50-60 rapid on-off pulses, process these super-crispy breadcrumbs to finer crumbs.

Fry Baby Fry -- It's all about Fearless Frying:

~Step 1.  Working in batches of 2 cutlets at a time, dredge each paid in the dry pancake mix to coat it on all sides.  Note:  I fry 2 at a time because that is what fits comfortably in the basket of my fryer without overcrowding it.  Next, move up the assembly line, and, one-at-a-time dip each cutlet into the batter.  As you lift each one out of the batter, hold it over the bowl for a second or two, to allow the batter to drizzle back into the bowl.  As you batter dip each cutout, place it into the dish of panko. Dredge both of the cutlets in the panko ASAP.

~ Step 2.  One-at-a-time, and with the aid of a fork, carefully lower the pair of breaded cutlets down into the 360° oil and into the fryer basket.  Close the lid and allow cutlets to deep-fry for 3 1/2-4 minutes.  Chicken cutlets will be a beautiful golden brown and just cooked through.  Do not overcook -- residual heat will continue to cook them.

~ Step 3.  Open fryer lid and slowly lift basket up and out of deep-fryer.  Transfer cutlets to a wire rack in a baking pan that has been lined with paper towels.  Tip:  To transfer the cutlets, simply tilt the basket onto its side directly over the rack.  Using tongs is a mistake -- an easy way to damage their crust.  Once out of the fryer, immediately sprinkle cutlets with freshly ground sea salt and repeat this process until all cutlets are breaded and fried.

~ Step 4.  Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature, as directed in specific recipe.  To freeze, place completely cooled cutlets on a large baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper.  Freeze, uncovered, several hours to overnight (overnight is best). Transfer frozen cutlets to a ziplock bag.  When needed, thaw and reheat room temperature cutlets in a 350° oven until just heated through, about 10 minutes.

Slice & add to a favorite main-dish salad in lieu of croutons:

Serve Asian-style w/a veggie stir-fry, white rice & dipping sauce:

And please pass the lightly-sauced-pasta w/cheesy parmigiana:

Moist & Juicy Breaded & Deep-Fried Chicken Cutlets:  Recipe yields instructions to batter-dip, bread, deep-fry and freeze chicken cutlets.

Special Equipment List:  large cutting board; plastic wrap; flat-sided meat mallet; 2, 8" x 8" x 2" baking dishes; 1, 9" x 5" x 4" loaf-type baking dish; whisk; forks; 3-minute timer; wire cooling rack; paper towels

Cook's Note: Batter dipping works great for other meats and vegetables too.  During the Summer zucchini onslaught, try making my ~ Batter-Dipped Panko-Crusted Deep-Fried Zucchini ~, and, in the Fall, my ~ Deep-Fried Pork Fingers w/Bone Suckin' Sauce ~ are a delightful alternative to ribs for a tailgate in front of the TV.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Japanese Teriyaki Meets American Chicken Wings ~

Chicken wings are all-American and teriyaki is an all-Japanese method of cooking.  Trust me when I tell you, if you walk into a restaurant in Japan, you aren't likely to find teriyaki chicken wings on their menu.  That said, Japanese teriyaki sure does turn out a really good version of American chicken wings, however, unlike our traditionally-prepared wings, which are typically plunged into the hot oil of a deep fryer, teriyaki wings, in order to render their signature fall-off-the-bone tender interior with a slightly-crispy, sticky exterior, they require a kinder, gentler treatment. 

As a lover of Asian fare, teriyaki-in-general is one of my favorite ways to cook.  Teriyaki is as well known outside of Japan as sushi or ramen is, so, most American people, kids included, will give "teriyaki anything" a try.  A bottle of teriyaki sauce has been a staple condiment in my pantry for as long as I've had a pantry, standing right next to the elites:  Heinz ketchup, French's mustard, Hellman's mayonnaise and Lee & Perrin's worcestershire sauce.  That said, teriyaki sauce is seriously simple to make, and, it can be customized to suit your family's taste.  I typically prepare a double- or triple-sized batch, then keep what I don’t use in the refrigerator, so it's ready to reheat the next time a "teriyaki anything" craving hits me or mine -- as often as once a week.

Teriyaki (tehr-uh-yah-kee):  Teriyaki is a Japanese term referring to a method of cooking beef, chicken, fish or seafood marinated (in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic and/or ginger) prior to being grilled, broiled or stir-fried. "Teri" is the Japanese word for "luster", and it is the sugar in the marinade that gives the food its "teri" or shiny glaze.  It's interesting to note that in Japan, there is no official teriyaki sauce.  Teriyaki sauce was invented by the early Japanese settlers to the islands of Hawaii.  They created:

A slightly-sweet nicely-thickened marinade/basting sauce using local, readily-available, easy-to-acquire Hawaiian products.  For example: pineapple juice (in place of the mirin or sake of their homeland) and wild garlic (in conjuction with ginger they brought with them), mixed with soy sauce and thickened with cornstarch.  The subject at hand (beef, chicken, fish or seafood) is marinated for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer for a more pronounced flavor, then cooled.

Because teriyaki sauce is sweet, a portion of the marinade is typically reserved to use as a dipping sauce served w/the dish.

For the teriyaki sauce:

1/2  cup tamari soy sauce or soy sauce

1/2  cup mirin (a cooking wine made from rice) or sake (sometimes thought of as beer because it's made from grain, but classified as a wine)

1/4 cup white or brown sugar or honey

1  tablespoon each: garlic and ginger garlic paste

4  teaspoons cornstarch or potato starch

4  teaspoons cold water

~ Step 1.  In a small bowl, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until smooth.

~ Step 2.  In a 1-quart saucepan, stir together the tamari or soy sauce, mirin or sake, and, white or brown sugar or honey.  Add the garlic and ginger. Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat and cook about 1 minute.  Whisk cornstarch mixture into the sauce and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is drizzly but slightly-thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and use as directed in recipe.

To use as a marinade:  Cool teriyaki sauce to room temperature, or chill, prior to using as a marinade.  Keep any unused marinade, the stuff not used as a marinade for raw protein, stored in a tightly-covered container in the refrigerator for several weeks.  Any marinade used as a marinade must be reheated and simmered for 3-5 minutes prior to refrigerating and reusing.

Arrange 16-20 drumettes &/or wingettes in an 8" x 8" baking dish (save those flavorful wing tips for making chicken stock):

Add cooled teriyaki sauce & marinate at room temp 2-4 hours, or, overnight in the refrigerator, then return to room temperature:

Place in 325° oven for 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes -- yes, the wings will slowly & gently simmer in & suck up flavor:

Remove from oven & reset oven to broil w/rack 5"-6" under heat:

Using tongs, remove wings from marinade, allowing excess liquid to drizzle off & place on a baking pan lined w/foil & parchment:

Broil until bubbly & charring, turning once, 3 minutes per side.  Allow wings to rest, on pan, for 4-6 minutes -- just do it.

Serve w/a bowl of the the super-flavorful warm marinade remaining in baking dish for dipping &/or drizzling:

Japanese Teriyaki Meets American Chicken Wings:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce and 16-20 chicken wings.

Special Equipment List: 1-quart saucepan; whisk; poultry shears; 8" x 8" x 2" baking dish; 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pan; aluminum foil; parchment paper; tongs

Cook's Note:  While related by sauce, when it comes cooking anything teriyaki-style, depending on what it is, each food gets treated and cooked a bit differently.  Two examples are my recipes for ~ Open Sesame:  Japanese Teriyaki Steak Skewers ~, and, ~ Japanese-Style Oven-Broiled Teriyaki-Style Cod Fish ~. 

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ An Apple-a-Day & Granola Too, Breakfast for Two ~

If you're not too lazy to peel and slice one apple in the AM, and if you keep a bag of granola in your pantry, a steaming-hot, flavorful and filling breakfast is five-minutes from your fingertips. What I like about this "what I cook for me" recipe is:  everything.  As a kid, I loved stewed apples -- somewhere in between apple pie filling and chunky applesauce, they are less sweet with a less thickened, au natural, taste and texture.  My mother made stewed apples to serve with her pork roast for dinner, but, she'd always set a small bowl aside -- to stir into my morning oatmeal.

While not my mom's old-fashioned oatmeal w/stewed apples...

... it's just as yummy in a faster-food busy-day-breakfast way.

When I was growing up, granola, the kind we buy in our grocery stores nowadays, didn't exist -- ok, it might have existed but no one was marketing it.  Had it been available to me as a kid, I'd have been pouring milk on it, as, for my taste, dry granola, like all dried cereals, no matter how healthy they tout themselves, is not something I sit and snack on -- thank goodness because both are loaded with calories -- up to 250 per 1/2 cup serving.  In fact, the only thing I buy granola for is to make this small-portion, seriously-filling 5-minute-to-make microwave hot-breakfast.

1  6-oz. apple, peeled and sliced 1/4"-thick 

3/4 cup granola, 6 tablespoons per bowl

3/4 cup whole milk, 6 tablespoons per bowl

2  6-ounce cereal bowls

~ Step 1.  Peel, core and cut the apple into slightly-less-than 1/4"-thick slices. Divide the apples between 2, 6-ounce cereal bowls.

~ Step 2.  Place the granola on top of the apples, 6 tablespoons in each bowl.  Add the milk, 6 tablespoons in each bowl.

~ Step 3.  Cover the bowls so steam cannot escape.  I love these little silicone bowl covers.  Place in microwave on high power for 1 minute, 45 seconds.  The steam that builds up from the cooking apples and milk will soften the granola to a yummy consistency.  Remove from microwave, uncover the bowls and give each portion a thorough stir -- the volume will drop as soon as the steamed cereal hits the hot milk. 

Full of flavor, texture & stick-to-your-ribs happiness...

... a little bowl goes a long way to curb your enthusiasm...

... for the junk-food snacks for the rest of the day.

An Apple-a-Day & Granola Too, Breakfast for Two:  Recipe yields 2 small but hearty servings.

Special Equipment List:  cutting board; paring knife; 2, small 6-ounce bowls; 2, 4"-round, heat-proof, microwave-safe silicon bowl/cup covers (optional but helpful)

Cook's Note:  I've always liked and started my day with some fruit, in some capacity, in the morning.  For one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches, sans the egg, check out my recipe for ~ Sausage, Apple & Herbed-Brie Breakfast Burgers ~.  I like to go eggless once in a while -- it's a woman's prerogative.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Open Sesame: Japanese Teriyaki Steak Skewers ~

Place a platter of these appetizers on the cocktail table and I'll bet they disappear before bets can be taken on how long it will take them to disappear.  Put a platter of them on the dinner table alongside a fresh vegetable stir-fry and some steamed white rice, and, when served as a family-friendly dinner, they won't last any longer.  A bottle of teriyaki sauce has been a staple condiment in my pantry for as long as I've had a pantry, standing right next to the elites:  Heinz ketchup, French's mustard, Hellman's mayonnaise and Lee & Perrin's worcestershire sauce.  That said, teriyaki sauce is seriously simple to make, and, it can be customized to suit your taste.

Served as a tailgate appetizer or a family-friendly dinner...

... it's impossible to make too many teriyaki skewers.

Teriyaki (tehr-uh-yah-kee):  Teriyaki is a Japanese term referring to a method of cooking beef, chicken or seafood that has been marinated (in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic and/or ginger) prior to being grilled, broiled or stir-fried. "Teri" is the Japanese word for "luster", and it is the sugar in the marinade that gives the food its "teri" or shiny glaze.  It's interesting to note that in Japan, there is no official teriyaki sauce.  Teriyaki sauce was invented by the early Japanese settlers to the islands of Hawaii.  They created:  

A slightly-sweet nicely-thickened marinade/basting sauce using local, readily-available, easy-to-acquire Hawaiian products.  For example: pineapple juice (in place of the mirin or sake of their homeland) and wild garlic (in conjuction with ginger they brought with them), mixed with soy sauce and thickened with cornstarch.  The subject at hand (beef, chicken or seafood) is marinated for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer for a more pronounced flavor, then cooled. Because teriyaki sauce is sweet, a portion of the marinade is typically reserved to use as a dipping sauce when the dish is served.

Cook on an outdoor grill, grill pan, or, under a broiler...

... my foolproof preference is a grill pan on the stovetop.

For the teriyaki sauce:

1  cup tamari soy sauce or soy sauce

1  cup mirin (a cooking wine made from rice) or sake (sometimes thought of as beer because it's made from grain, but classified as a wine)

1/2 cup white or brown sugar or honey

2  tablespoons each: garlic and ginger garlic paste

8  teaspoons cornstarch or potato starch

8  teaspoons cold water

~ Step 1.  In a small bowl, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch until smooth.

~ Step 2.  In a 1-quart saucepan, stir together the tamari or soy sauce, mirin or sake, and, white or brown sugar or honey.  Add the garlic and ginger. Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat and cook about 1 minute.  Whisk cornstarch mixture into the sauce and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is drizzly but slightly-thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and use as directed in recipe.  

To use as a marinade:  Cool teriyaki sauce to room temperature, or chill, prior to using as a marinade.  Keep any unused marinade, the stuff not used as a marinade for raw protein, stored in a tightly-covered container in the refrigerator for several weeks.  Any marinade used as a marinade must be reheated and simmered for 3-5 minutes prior to refrigerating and reusing.

For the flank steak skewers:

3  total cups teriyaki sauce, from above recipe, 3 cups for marinating steak, and, to be reheated to use as dipping sauce

2 pounds flank steak, sliced across  grain into 1/4"-thick strips

30-36  8" wooden skewers

lightly-toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

scallion tops, for garnish

~Step 1.  Place the whole flank steak, flat, on a large cutting board. Using a large chef's knife held at a 30º angle, cut the meat, across the grain, into 1/4" inch-thick slices.  

~ Step 2.  One-at-a-time, thread each slice of steak onto a 10" long wooden skewer, to within 3" of the top of each skewer, which will serve as a handle for easily flipping the meat over on the grill pan.

~ Step 3.  Pictured here are 2, plastic, 1-quart food storage containers.  I got them for free, with the granola I purchase at the grocery store.  My kitchen is never without a stack of them.  With the containers laying on their sides, arrange the meat skewers inside each one, stacking the skewers on top of one another. Turn the containers upright, then, slowly drizzle all of the marinade between the two, 1 1/2 cups marinade in each container.  Place in the refrigerator to marinate the meat for 2-4-6 hours.

~Step 4.  When the beef is finished marinating, pour the marinade from the containers into a 1-1 1/2-quart saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and continue to simmer gently for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

~Step 5.  Spray a large two-burner-sized grill pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Place the pan on stovetop, over two burners, over medium-high heat.  Place the skewers, side-by-side, and cook until sizzling and lightly-golden, turning only once, 3-3 1/2 minutes per side.  Serve hot, warm or room temperature.

Plate, garnish & serve hot, warm or at room temperature:

There's no need for me try to sell you on how good these are:

Open Sesame:  Japanese Teriyaki Steak Skewers:  Recipe yields 3 cups teriyaki sauce and 30-36 teriyaki-steak skewers.

Special Equipment List:  1-cup measuring container; 1-quart saucepan; small whisk; cutting board; chef's knife; 30-36, 8" long wooden skewers; 2, 1-quart food storage containers, the reusable kind left from store-bought granola and various snacks;  large, 2-burner-sized grill pan placed on the stovetop 

Cook's Note: Here in my Pennsylvania kitchen, my family prefers their teriyaki steak threaded onto skewers and cooked on the grill or grill pan.  When it comes to their teriyaki chicken, they prefer it presented stir-fry style.  Click on this link to get my recipe for ~ Dinner's in 20 Minutes:  Teriyaki Chicken ~.

"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2024)

~ Deli Corned Beef on Swirl with Sauerkraut & Swiss ~

The Reuben sandwich.  I crave one once or twice a year.  And when I do, I don't waste time baking homemade rye bread, slow-cooking corned beef, long-simmering sauerkraut, or, whisking salad dressing.  I don't try to save time by ordering delivery or take out either -- I don't live anywhere close to a NY-style deli that can begin to make this sandwich the way I like it.  I take the 10-minute drive to the grocery store, pick up the ingredients and pass through the express checkout.  Store-bought everything is fine.  In about 45-minutes, including the drive time, I am eating my sandwich -- heaped with thin folds of meat and sloppy with sauerkraut, gooey cheese and creamy dressing on butter-crisped bread -- and I don't end up with a lot of leftover anything.  

When it comes to the combination of complex, briney flavors people expect on a Reuben, it's best to stick to simple, straight-forward, and most-importantly:  familiar.

The classic Reuben sandwich consists of rye bread, Swiss cheese, thinly sliced/shaved corned beef, sauerkraut and Russian dressing. The Rachel sandwich is a variation that substitutes pastrami for the corned beef, and, Thousand-Island-dressed-coleslaw for the sauerkraut and Russian dressing. Someone, somewhere, decided turkey would be a viable substitute for corned beef or pastrami when making a Rachel, so, if turkey is your thing, order your Rachel that way.

As you know, I usually like to do a little research about the history of the recipes I share with you.  I thought the story behind the classic Reuben would be interesting and straight-forward: Most likely named after someone named Reuben who accidentally put some sauerkraut on a corned beef sandwich and made history.  I was wrong. Official claim to the name of this sandwich has been in dispute for 90+ years. In my opinion, two claims seem to have some share in its name, but I lean towards Claim to Fame #1. You be your own judge and jury:

Claim to Fame #1:  Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian grocer from Omaha created a sandwich consisting of corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on Russian rye bread for his poker buddies.  From 1920-1935, "the committee" as they called themselves, played weekly poker at The Blackstone Hotel.  The hotel's owner, Charles Schimmel was a member of the group. Schimmel put the sandwich on the hotel's lunch menu and named if after its creator, "Reuben". In 1956, Fern Snider, a former waitress at the Blackstone entered "The Reuben" in a national sandwich competition and she won.  I, for one, am grateful to Fern for doing that.

Claim to Fame #2:  Arnold Reuben, a German owner of Reuben's Delicatessen in New York City, invented the "Reuben's Special" in 1914. Late one night, a leading lady and close friend of Charlie Chaplin came into the deli and said, "Reuben, please make me a huge sandwich.  I'm so hungry I could eat a brick." The sandwich he presented to her consisted of:  rye bread, Virginia ham, roast turkey, Swiss cheese, cole slaw and his own house-made Russian dressing.  Upon tasting it, the lady said, "Reuben, this is the best sandwich I ever ate.  You should call it the Annette Seelos Special."  Reuben replied, "The hell I will, I'm calling it the Reuben's Special".

A bit about sauerkraut:  Although sauerkraut (German for "sour cabbage") is thought of as a German invention, Chinese laborers building The Great Wall of China over 2,000 years ago ate it as standard fare.  Chinese sauerkraut, made from shredded cabbage fermented in rice wine, eventually found its way to Europe, where the Germans and Alsatians adopted it as a favorite staple. Today's sauerkraut is made in the same manner: by combining shredded cabbage, salt and some spices, then allowing the mixture to ferment.  It is packaged in jars and cans and is found in almost every supermarket.  The best sauerkraut is sold by the pound in delicatessens, as well as in the refrigerated section of grocery stores, where it is packaged in plastic bags.  All sauerkraut should be rinsed in cold water before being served as a side-dish, being cooked in casseroles, or, topping sandwiches.

For each deli-style sandwich:

2  slices Pepperidge Farm swirl bread (rye and pumpernickel)

2  tablespoons salted butter

4 ounces shredded Danish Havarti cheese, or Swiss cheese

6  ounces thin-sliced corned beef

4  ounces sauerkraut 

4  teaspoons Russian dressing

For 1 pound (2 cups) sauerkraut:

1  pound deli-style sauerkraut

1/2  cup diced yellow or sweet onion

4 tablespoons salted butter (1/2 stick butter)

1/2  teaspoon caraway seeds

1/4  teaspoon sea salt

1/2  teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper

For 1 1/2 cups "Russian" Dressing:

Thousand Islands and Russian dressings are similar, with Russian dressing having a spicy edge.  To mimic it:

3/4  cup 1000 Island Dressing

1/2  cup Heinz chili sauce

1  tablespoon prepared, white horseradish

Stir dressing, chili sauce & horseradish together and set aside while preparing sauerkraut and sandwiches.  Refrigerate leftovers.

~Step 1.  Place the sauerkraut in a colander. Thoroughly rinse it under cold water.  Allow it to drain for about 5 minutes.  In a large skillet, melt butter over low heat.  Stir in the caraway seeds, sea salt and black pepper pepper.  Add the diced onion.  Adjust heat to sauté for 3 minutes.  Add the sauerkraut, give the mixture a thorough stir, and continue to sauté, stirring frequently for 6 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Note:  Technically, once  taken out of the package, drained, and rinsed, sauerkraut is fully-cooked and ready to eat.  That said, it's awesome when briefly sautéed with some butter, onion and seasonings.  Skip this step and use it "as is', right out of the colander if that is your preference. 

~Step 2.  Cut two slices of bread in half to form 4 pieces.  In a 10" nonstick skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over low heat.    Add bread to the skillet and increase heat to medium-high, to gently fry, until slices are lightly golden on both sides, 45-60 seconds per side.  Transfer the lightly-toasted bread to a paper towel lined plate. 

~Step 3.  Top two of the halves with 2 ounces grated cheese, followed by 3 ounces corned beef, followed by 2 ounces sauerkraut.  Place the untopped halves on top of each to form sandwich halves.  Place on an appropriately-sized baking pan that has been lined with parchment, or, a disposable aluminum broiler pan (the kind with the corrugated bottom).  Bake on center rack of preheated 350° oven or toaster oven, until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 4 minutes.  Remove from oven, lift the top slice of bread from each half sandwich and drizzle with Russian dressing.  Serve immediately with pickles and potato chips.

Lift up the lids (tops) & drizzle w/Russian dressing:

Indulge in crunchy, cheesy, meaty, briny brilliance:

Deli Corned Beef on Swirl with Sauerkraut & Swiss:  Recipe yields 1 1/2 cups Russian dressing, 2 cups sauerkraut, and, instructions to make as many Reuben sandwiches as you want to make.

Special Equipment List:  2-cup measuring container; spoon; colander; cutting board; chef's knife; 3 1/2-quart chef's pan w/straight deep sides, or large skillet; large spoon; hand-held box grater; 10" nonstick skillet; paper towels; kitchen scale (optional but helpful); appropriately-sized baking pan; parchment paper or toaster-oven sized disposable aluminum broiler pan

Cook's Note: I put my ~ Pretty in Pink:  Thousand Island Dressing ~ on deli-style and my own oven-roasted chicken and turkey sandwiches all