Polenta With Venison Meatballs And Mushroom Ragout

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This is my take on a recipe by my favorite chef Jacques Pepin. This is Polenta With Venison Meatballs And Mushroom Ragout. This recipe can be either French or Italian in nature. This recipe comes from Lyon, France where Jacques Pepin is from. I am going to make this dish in the Italian way. In Jacques recipe he adds corn and tomatoes and in my recipe I am not. I will be adding venison meatballs and basil to the ragout. Enjoy!


Ingredients For Venison Meatballs

1 to 1 1/2 Lb ground venison meat.
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil to add fat content if needed
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste.
Garlic granules to taste.
We want to use flavor enhancers the flavor of the venison but we don't want to overtake the flavor of the venison.
Mix all the ingredients into the venison.
Make meatballs any size you want.
Add some olive oil to a skillet and cook your meatballs until done.
Set aside covered.


Ingredients For Polenta:

4 cups chix stock I am using here
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tsp. teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients For The Mushroom Ragout:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
5 ounces mushrooms (cultivated, wild, or a combination), trimmed, cleaned, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped (2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock or low-salt canned chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon rosemary
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
grated Parmesan or other Italian cheese to taste(OPTIONAL)
Some fresh basil leaves either finely chopped or whole added 1-2 mins before serving.

FOR THE RAGOUT
Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan.
When they are hot, add the onion and sauté for 30 seconds.
Add the mushrooms and sauté over high heat for about 2 minutes.
You want the liquid to come out of the mushrooms and evaporate.
Add your garlic and 1/2 chix stock, salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium/medium low and simmer 2-3 minutes.
Take off of heat and set aside covered.

Preparation

FOR THE POLENTA
Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Sprinkle the cornmeal on top while mixing it in with a whisk, and stir in the salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
Cover with a lid to prevent splattering, and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir occasionally until the polenta is cooked and is creamy.
Set aside, covered.

To serve, ladle the polenta into the center of a bowl or soup plate.
Add one or more meatballs.
Ladle or spoon the mushroom ragout on top of and around the polenta and meatballs.
Sprinkle with Italian cheese of choice and optional light drizzle of cream and serve.
Enjoy!

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In this video I sharpened a knife that I had done a review on a few vids back on my custom made hunter by long time protege' of legendary Bob Loveless Brent Harp. An excellent knife. My friend Rick was going on a hunting trip for deer and wanted to check out my knife sharpening quality in the field. So I re-tuned the blade and gave it a polish at 4000 grit and Rick skinned a buck all the way through without having to sharpen the knife one time. Now that's a knife and that is some good knife sharpening.

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Thai Food: Thai Recipes: Thai Cooking Recipe: How To Make Thai Green Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb. chicken thighs cut into bite-sized chunks
4-8 Cloves garlic finely  minced
1 Hard boiled egg for each bowl you serve already cooked.
2 to 4 tbs. green curry paste or more if desired.
1 1/2 cup coconut milk.
1 - 2 Cups chix stock
juice of one lime
1 inch piece of ginger minced.
1 lb zucchini or 1 lb thai eggplants(makua or makua pot)
If you don't have Thai eggplant/zucchini you can use fresh or canned bamboo shoots.
1 cup bamboo shoot, Buddha brand or fresh if you can get(OPTIONAL)
3 kaffir lime leaves, split and thinly sliced
1-2 red bell peppers seeded and sliced thin
1 red onion slivered 1/4+ thick slivers or equal amount of shallots.
1/4 cup Thai basil leaves
1 Tbsp. Finely chopped lemongrass
1 Tbsp.. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. Soy or sweet soy sauce.
1 tbs. palm sugar or brown sugar(I use molasses)
2-3 tbs. vegetable oil or peanut oil

IN LARGE SKILLET OR WOK ADD SOME COOKING OIL(VEGETABLE/PEANUT)
SAUTE THE ONIONS  AND RED BELL PEPPERS FOR 2-3 MINS.
ADD LEMONGRASS, GINGER, CURRY PASTE AND LIME LEAVES SAUTE  2 MINS.
NOW ADD IN COCONUT MILK AND ½ CUP CHIX STOCK HEAT UP FOR 1 MINUTE.
ADD YOUR CUT UP CHIX THIGHS INTO THE MIXTURE STIR AND SAUTE.
ADD A PINCH OF SALT
COOK FOR 10-15 MINS. ON A SIMMER.
ADD REST OF YOUR COCONUT MILK.
ADD REST OF YOUR CHIX STOCK, FISH SAUCE, SUGAR AND MIX IN.
ADD KAFFIR LIME LEAVES COOK INTO MIXTURE COOK FOR 1 MINUTE
ADD THAI EGGPLANT OR ZUCCHINI, FRESH BAMBOO SHOOTS AND COOK 5 TO 10 MINUTES. SIMMER ADDITIONAL 10 MINS
SERVE EITHER ON JASMINE RICE OR RICE NOODLES OR ANY KIND OF NOODLE YOU HAVE. GARNISH WITH CILANTRO OR SLICED CHILIES AND LIME WEDGES.
ENJOY!

This is Thai Green Chicken Curry my way! It is warming and inviting and just so delicious on those cold winter nights! I hope you enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaBbrYq-jaw

Miso Ramen Noodle Recipe: How To Make Ramen Noodle: Spicy Alligator Miso Ramen: Swamp Monster Ramen

SPICY ALLIGATOR MISO RAMEN

15-20 GRAMS OF BONITO FLAKES. A NICE HANDFUL.
1 8 INCH SQUARE PIECE OF DRIED KOMBU(OPTIONAL)
RAMEN NOODLES FOR 2 I USED CHINESE THICK SHANGHAI STYLE NOODLES.
1 CAN OF BABY CORN.
1 LB ALLIGATOR SIRLOIN.
4 - 6  CUPS OF WATER.
4 TBSP. WHITE SHIRO MISO PASTE. I USED KOREAN DWENJANG.
CHILI OIL, SHISEN TOBAN JAN, SAMBAL, SRIRACHA OR CHILI FLAKES.
2 HARD BOILED EGGS CUT IN HALF LENGTHWISE.
4 TBSP. BUTTER
1 CLOVE GARLIC MINCED INTO A PASTE.
2 CUPS SLICED CABBAGE.
1 CUP OF SHIMEJI, STRAW, OR OYSTER MUSHROOMS.
2 -4 SLICES OF JAPANESE NARUTOMAKI FISH CAKE PER BOWL.
1 SCALLION SLIVERED ON THE BIAS.
SOME TAMARI SAUCE
1 NORI SHEET CUT INTO QUARTERS
DRIZZLE TOASTED SESAME OIL AS GARNISH(OPTIONAL)
SHICHIMI TOGARASHI (JAPANESE SEVEN SPICE POWDER) FOR SERVING

THE ALLIGATOR MEAT:

SAUTE IN A SKILLET WITH SOME PEANUT OIL OR BUTTER. ADD SOME SALT AND BLACK OR WHITE PEPPER OR TOGARASHI. WHEN COOKED/NICELY SEARED SET ASIDE.

FOR THE SOUP:

ADD 4 TO 5 CUPS OF WATER TO LARGE SAUCE POT 4 QUART OUGHT TO DO.
ADD IN YOUR KOMBU AND BONITO FLAKES.
BRING YOUR WATER TO ALMOST A BOIL AND THEN REDUCE TO JUST A SIMMER
COOK FOR 5 TO 10 MINUTES DEPENDING ON HOW DARK YOU WANT THE STOCK
THEN REMOVE THE KOMBU AND BONITO FROM THE STOCK AND SET ASIDE
BRING THE STOCK BACK TO A GENTLE SIMMER
ADD YOUR GARLIC PASTE AND STIR IN WELL
ONCE THE STOCK IS SIMMERING ADD YOUR MUSHROOMS AND ALLIGATOR MEAT THAT WAS PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME.
WHEN THE MEAT IS WARMED THROUGH WHISK YOUR MISO INTO THE STOCK USING A WHISK AND A SMALL MESH STRAINER OR
IN A SMALL BOWL HAVE THE MISO ALREADY WELL WHISKED AND JUST POUR IT INTO THE STOCK.
KEEP THE STOCK AT THE SMALLEST OF SIMMER AS POSSIBLE TO MAKE THE TOPPINGS.

THE TOPPINGS:

IN A SKILLET ADD 2 TBSP OF BUTTER AND SAUTE CABBAGE 2 MINS.
YOU WANT THE CABBAGE WELL GLAZED WITH THE BUTTER BUT STILL CRISPY.
THEN TAKE THE CABBAGE OUT AND SET ASIDE.

THE NOODLES:

I LIKE TO USE FRESH NOODLES EITHER RAMEN OR UDON NOODLES FOR MY RAMEN. COOK TIME IS ABOUT 3 MINUTES FOR THE NOODLES BUT COOK ACCORDING TO INSTRUCTIONS ONCE NOODLES ARE DONE STRAIN AND PUT THE NOODLES INTO SERVING BOWLS.

LET'S GET IT ON: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

NOW THAT THE NOODLES ARE IN THE BOWLS
LADLE HOT SOUP INTO YOUR BOWL
NOW ADD YOUR HARD BOILED EGG SLICED IN HALF LENGTHWISE
ADD YOUR BABY CORN, CABBAGE, SCALLION, HARD BOILED EGG, NARUTOMAKI AND NORI TO THE BOWL WORKING CLOCKWISE AROUND THE BOWL ITSELF. PLACE YOUR ALLIGATOR MEAT IN THE CENTER OF THE BOWL OF SOUP BEFORE SERVING THE SOUP ADD A PAT OF BUTTER OR GHEE(I AM USING GHEE) TO THE BOWL OF SOUP THE BUTTER MELTING WILL ADD A LAYER OF RICHNESS TO THE SOUP THAT IS JUST FANTASTIC!

Beef Stew Recipes: Recipes For Beef Stew: Feijoada Brazilian Black Bean And Beef Stew Recipe

Beef Stew Recipes

 

 

I love beef stew recipe don't you? In the cold of winter and yes we do have a winter here in Las Vegas and it does get below freezing I sure do love to have a nice piping hot stew from time to time and some of my favorite stews are beef stew recipes. Now I have usually done my beef stew recipes like any other person making them. I mean I get my stew meat and my veggies and I clean everything and then I add herbs and spices and then I put the whole thing in either a slow cooker or a dutch oven.

Well, this  beef stew recipe that I am making this week it not one of your typical beef stew recipes and it's not one of my typical beef stew recipes either. Yes! I will be making it in a slow cooker but this is not like the standard American beef stew recipe that most of us usually make at all. Of all the beef stew recipes I could hope to make this week I am making a dish called Fiejoada! (Fay Oh Dah) is as close as I can get it for you. This is the national dish of Brazil. This is not one of your run of the mill beef stew recipes at all. As a matter of fact it's closer to a chunky chili recipe but the fact is that it's a beef stew recipe.

I was contacted about a month or so ago by one of my Youtube subbers named Bananababygirl. Her real name is Deanna and she has what she calls a random channel and one of the random activities she likes to do is to cook. So she got in touch with me and asked me if I would like to collaborate with her on a recipe. So naturally I love to do this type of thing with my subs and I asked her what kind of food she wanted to collab on and she got back to me saying Brazilian. Brazilian? I have never tried Brazilian food and I have never cooked Brazilian food. Naturally I told her that I would love to do a collab and well here it is! So I did some research and I found Feijoada! Just from doing the research I found that this dish was soon to become one of my favorite beef stew recipes. Last week I made a very small amount of it to take to work with me for lunch and it was fantastic!

I found that there are many ways to make this dish of Feijoada. Naturally there are tons of ways to make just about any dish out there and it's no different with beef stew recipes. In Brazil this dish is made with black beans and in Portugal this dish is make with white beans. I went with the black beans as this is a Brazilian collab. Basically as far as beef stew recipes go Feijoada in Brazil is a stew of beans with beef and pork and sometimes the addition of some kind of sausage like Portugese Linguica. This dish has been cooked in Brazil, Macau, Angola, Goa and even Mozambique. In Brazil the dish in long form is called "Feijoada Brasileira" and is considered the national dish of Brazil. The name Feijoada supposedly comes from the Portuguese word "feijao" which is the word for beans. Traditional sides and garnishes: long grain rice, roughly chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, sautéed collard greens, orange slices, and a caipirinha which is the Brazilian  national cocktail. This stew is best prepared over low fire in a thick clay pot although in this instance I will be using a slow cooker to take it's place. The final dish has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth that is created by either using water or beef broth. I will be using beef broth as it adds a richer flavor to this dish. The taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavors of black bean and meat stew. I will be using smoked Andouille sausage in this recipe so there will be just a little spice but not to much and I will also be using  a touch of fresh ground oregano bulbs and some cumin to add a savory cut back to the flavor of this dish. So if you enjoy beef stew recipes on a cold winters night then I would strongly suggest that you make this Fiejoada and I promise it will become one of your favorite beef stew recipes and it has become one of mine. If you prefer to cook the feijoada on the stovetop, follow the directions as written, except add all of the ingredients to a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, covered, until the beans are tender and the pork is falling off the bone, about 2-3 hours. Stir the beans occasionally, adding more water or stock as needed to keep the stew from becoming too dry.

Enjoy the video!



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Korean Food: Kimchi: Cucumber Kimchi (Oi-Sobagi) And Turnip Kimchi (Ggakdughee) Kimchi Recipes

Korean Food: Kimchi Recipes

 

Hi everyone! This week I am back to making Korean food. I have been making lots of Malaysian foods, and Thai dishes that just this week I got an email from a viewer on Youtube asking me to make Korean food again. I love kimchi recipes. So I sat around thinking about it and decided on making some Kimchi. Like I said I love kimchi recipes! Summer is still upon us here in Las Vegas and it's REALLY hot outside. Well over 100 degrees and as high as 117 with 50 to 60 percent humidity. Whew! That's HOT!

So I thought that since I get together with friends on days off to eat and have some beers that I would make some Kimchi recipes that are cooling and refreshing rather than hot and spicy, although the Kimchi recipes that I am going to make today can be made to be hot and spicy for the winter months. This is one of the things I enjoy about Asian foods is that they can be made to accomodate any season of the year. One of the things I really enjoy about Kimchi recipes is that they can be made to be cooking for the summer months or spicy hot for the winter months. I love versatility in food!

So I have been asked once again to make Korean food and this week I am going to make two Korean kimchi recipes. The first Korean food dish I am going to make today is called Oi-sobagi kimchi or cucumber kimchi and the other Korean food dish I am going to make is called Ggakdughee or turnip kimchi and both are delicious and cooling and refreshing on a hot summer day served with rice and grilled pork, beef or chicken served yakitori style or Korean style wrapped in lettuce leaves with garlic and some kind of sauce is just fantastic.

As with all Asian food I find Korean food to be very versatile and as such all Asian food quite versatile and interchangeable and this is why I have such a passion for Korean food. I LOVE kimchi of all types and eventually I will have made them all for you here on my blog and on my Youtube channel as well. What I happen to love most about Korean food is the spice. I love the combination of garlic and pepper and the breadth of flavors that Korean food has to offer and the fact that this breadth of flavors can be moved over into Western food dishes as well.

Both cucumbers and turnips are very cooling and refreshing on a hot summer day and these two Korean food dishes these two kimchi recipes are two of my summer favorites. So let's get going and make some kimchi! Enjoy the video!


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French Cooking? Italian Cooking? Simple Pasta Recipes: Pasta Con Le Escargots!

French Cooking: Italian Cooking:

 

 

Being a foodie means I love to cook all kinds of food. I love Italian cooking and I love French cooking. This week I am going to bring to you a blend of both French cooking and Italian cooking. This weeks recipes is Pasta Con Le Escargots. Yes! Pasta with snails! Delicious! I always like to do something that is a bit different and I thought that this blend of French cooking and Italian cooking would be an eye opener to say the least. My humble beginnings in the kitchen came from working in an Italian restaurant so I am no stranger to Italian cooking at all. I am however not the best versed in French cooking so this week I thought to bring both worlds together.

Most of the time Escargots are basically served in French cooking and made simply by cooking them in olive oil with garlic and other herbs and spices of the day and then eaten on a plate by themselves or adding on top of something like pasta. This is mostly in French cooking however. Now, when you add something like shrimp to pasta you are basically eating a sea insect and in the case of eating Escargot you are eating an air breathing insect. So let me take a moment and talk a bit about what Escargot is:

Basically as stated Escargots are land snails that are cooked in eaten and usually served as a started in fine French cooking venues. Escargot is the French word for snail as cargol or caracol is the Spanish word for snail. Not all snails are created equal and therefore not all snails are used in French cooking or in Italian cooking either. The standard species of escargot that is utilized in French cooking is called Helix Pomatia and there is also the Helix Aspersia or "Petit-Gris" and the Helix Lucorum.

In French cooking the varieties of eaten snails are first purged(Purging the escargot is a matter of starving them for a time to create hunger in them and then feeding the escargot something healthy like cereal or cornmeal. This process helps the escargot to clean and purge the undesirable elements from their digestive tracts to make them suitable for consumption.) then killed and removed from the shell and cooked in garlic and butter in French cooking or in red wine or beer/ale in other cultures such as the Maltese or Sicilian cultures and then are put back into their shells for presentation purposes and then the sauce poured over the snails for serving. The eater of the snails is then provided with a special set of snail tongs to hold the shell and a snail fork to remove the escargot from the shell to be eaten. Your average serving of escargot is between 6 and 12 escargot.

There is more to snails then just French cooking or even Italian cooking as there arm many varieties of snails from around the world being eaten in different ways. Whether in Italian cooking or French cooking snails are considered a gourmet food. In countries like Africa the giant land snails are produced for food commercially. There are sea snails, land snails and fresh water snails that are harvested for food in places like the Phillipines, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Sicily, Portugal, Greece, Vietnam, Loas, Cambodia, even China and parts of India. It's just amazing! In Indonesia for example snails are fried and used in satay dishes called Satay Kakul! Yum! I am going to be making more snail dishes in the near future I can just tell! Please visit my Youtube channel today: https://www.youtube.com/user/MrEZCooking



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Spaghetti Recipes: How To Make Japanized Pasta: Japanese Spaghetti Recipes

Pasta: Spaghetti Recipes

 

 

This week I am making pasta. Go figure! Everyone knows I LOVE pasta and all kinds of spaghetti recipes. Now, even though I am making a pasta recipe I am not making your usual run of the mill spaghetti recipes. This week I am making something called "Wafu Pasta." What is wafu pasta? Well, it's a Japanized spaghetti recipes. Huh? Yes! Japanized spaghetti recipes. The Japanese have always had a great talent for incorporating parts of other cultures into their own culture and it is no different with food. There are many European style dishes that the Japanese have incorporated into their daily diets and normal household cooking routines. These European additions to the Japanese style of cooking is called "Yohshoku" or "Youshoku" or "Yoshoku." These three different words means, "Western Food." Yohshoku, Youshoku or Yoshoku is the westernization of Japanese cuisines that was introduced into Japan a long time ago. Yohshoku cuisine walks the razors edge between what is called "Washoku"(Japanese food) and "Yohshoku"(Western cuisine).

So I am going to show you how to make one of many Japanized spaghetti recipes this week that walks this razors edge between the "Washoku" of Japanese cuisine and the "Yohshoku" of Western cuisine. The dish I am making is Anchovy Spaghetti with Wasabi, Nori and mushrooms. Spaghetti recipes like this run a line between the "Yohshoku" of the West and the "Wafu" of Japan. Wafu being broken down is as follows. "Wa" means Japanese and "Fu" means style hence wafu= Japanese style. Even though wafu pasta or wafu pasuta dishes are generally made with Italian style pastas the wafu spaghetti recipes  are not in themselves considered to be "Yohshoku"(Western cuisine) These spaghetti recipes are considered the philosophy of Japan meets the West in the pasta recipes genre. So it seems that the Japanese have assimilated into eating western style pasta to make great spaghetti recipes!

Wafu food is the Japanese interpretation of Italian spaghetti recipes or pasta recipes in general. Of course the toppings of Japanese style or Japanized style spaghetti recipes are not that evident to Western people unless they are familiar with them from the get go! The funny part is that the Japanese do use European style toppings on their wafu spaghetti recipes as well. Things such as basil, bacon or pancetta and even Italian cheeses of all types but in small amounts as the Japanese don't digest dairy very well in large amounts from what I have been told.  On the other some side of the more traditional Japanese toppings that Americans might not be familiar with are such as Uni which is sea urchin roe or tarako which is cod roe. Like I always say the reason I LOVE my Asian foods is because all kinds of Asian ingredients can be swapped out with each other to make some really interesting and delicious dishes. Now there are two ways to enjoy Japanese spaghetti recipes. One is to eat your wafu pasuta using a fork. Boring! I LOVE to use my chopsticks when I eat Japanized spaghetti recipes! Enjoy the video.



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How To Make Pizza: Thin Crust Spinach Walnut Pizza With Mushrooms, Onions, Gorgonzola And Anchovies

How To Make  Pizza

 

I often get asked how to make pizza at home.  I know it sounds kind of nutty how to make  pizza but I still get emails asking me all the time about how to make  pizza at home that is really delicious.  Recently I was watching one of the people that I subscribe to on Youtube, here name is Lyndsay Wells and she is known as the Kitchen Witch.  She made a lovely Neapolitan pizza with spinach, pine nuts, mushrooms and a nice tomato sauce. I have been watching Lyndsay for a long time now and I LOVE her recipes.

I told her that "You know what? I HATE baking and playing with dough!" Here I am a cook, a professional foodie and I HATE to bake! I told Lyndsay that in light of those facts I am going to make my own version of a Neapolitan pizza and I am going to use basically use her recipe with a few changes of my own. I am not going to use Pine nuts because I am allergic to them.  If I feel to do it I will be using toasted walnuts as their flavor goes oh so well with gorgonzola cheese.  So this week for all of my subbers that have asked me how to make  pizza at home I am going to make one for you. It's really easier than you think and I am a firm believer that after you learn how to make  pizza at home you will never call for take out again because the truth of the matter is that it's to much fun learning how to make  pizza and it's fun to do for friends and family and you always get it the way you want it.  Now alot of people want to know what Neapolitan is and so I am going to spend some time telling you because each part of Italy makes pizza a bit differently.

How To Make Pizza

So what is Neapolitan? Neapolitan refers to a part of Italy known as the city of Naples. It used to be called the kingdom of Naples or the kingdom of the Two Sicilies or the Neopolitan Republics of Italy. In New York City where I am originally from the people of Naples, Italy or the decendants of the people of Naples, Italy are called Nablidons! It's a New York thing. Deal with it! Neapolitan cuisine goes way back in European history to the period of the Greco-Romans. The food of the Neapolitans was influenced by the various powers that had controlled Naples and it's outlying kingdoms over time such as the areas of Aragon and France respectively.

Naples at the time was the capital of the kingdom known as Naples and like so many cultures in the world took culinary ideas from it's neighboors. Many of the culinary attributes you find in Neapolitan cuisine was influenced from the regions of Campania where there was a balance in food between dishes like pasta and seafood. Neapolitan cuisine takes ideas from all around Italy and other countries and incorporates it into their own.  Isn't that what we all do? Of course it is! Generally an authentic Neapolitan pizza or Pizza Napoletana is made just using tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  The tomatoes are San Marzano or any tomato that you wish to use.  Fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil is also used to make this type of pizza.  So let's learn how to make pizza a Neapolitan pizza my way. Enjoy the video!


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A Clam Recipe: Fritter Recipes: Bonaker Style Clam Fritters

Clam Recipe

 

 

I am making a clam recipe this week. Actually I am making one of my favorite fritter recipes called Bonaker style clam fritters. This is one of Long Island, New Yorks favorite fritter recipes in seafood restaurants all over town. You see I am originally from the east coast. New York to be exact and part of New York is a place called Long Island although most of us urbanites will never admit to Long Island being part of New York. It's just one of those local things I guess.

So back to the clam recipe. There are all kinds of clam recipe out there and all kinds of fritter recipes made with clams but these Bonaker style fritter recipes have been around for hundreds of years and it is the Bonaker people that gave the east coast many of the delicious seafood recipes that have evolved into world class dishes over the years.

This week I am going to make a slight variation to the Bonaker style clam recipe. I am going add a couple of small differences to my fritters and I am going to make a non-traditional sauce to go with this clam recipe and that is a chimichurri sauce that I think would go great with many fritter recipes. Usually, fritter recipes such as these are traditionally served with things like malt vinegar or even some kind of hot sauce but I thought the chimichurri sauce would be a nice change of pace.

Who are the Bonakers you ask? Bonakers? What's a Bonaker? No! The question is who are the Bonakers? The Bonakers were working class families that lived north of the town of Easy Hampton, in New York state. The part of town the Bonakers lived in were kindly referred to as "The Springs." The issue is that anyone who lived in East Hampton were referred to as Bonakers. This was not the case in reality though. Bonaker history goes back toe the earliest of settlers of this community whose heritage comes from England from around the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Bonakers were skilled fisherman and hundreds of years they made their way in live as fishermen, farmers and baymen which refers to "clamming." The hunt for clams of anykind both hard and softshell clams. The clams harvested from the waters soon became the backbone of many Bonaker dishes such as clam fritters, oyster fritter and other fritter recipes, clam pie and of course clam chowder. Here's one for you. Clam chowder was not made with milk or cream originally. Clam chowder was traditionally made by the Bonakers using tomatoes more along the line of what is commonly called today "Manhattan clam chowder." The clam chowder using milk and/or cream came much later as an invention in Boston I imagine.

In 1929 we had the Great Depression here in the United States and the whole country suffered immensely. It took almost twenty years for America to climb out of the great depression. The depression made it's way to New York and East Hampton. Now even though the depression hit East Hampton hard and people suffered the Bonakers survived by fishing and farming as they have always done. Living off the sea makes things easier than an urbanite who has to rely on the supermarket.

As with many small communities and groups of people the Bonakers were forced out of their traditional roles in the late 20th century and the now 21st. century and were forced to find work in the service industries as the area of East Hampton became a prime piece of real estate for the development of the tourist trade. The Bonakers were further displaced by the rising cost of housing in what is now called "The Hamptons" were the rich and famous of this country have their summer homes in "The Hamptons." The culture of the Bonakers is now spread far and wide and they go where they can find work and afford to live. Enjoy the video and the recipe.



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Cooking Chicken? Pistachio Encrusted Chicken With A Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce An Easy Chicken Recipe

This week I am taking a break from doing requests. This week I fee like cooking chicken.  I LOVE chicken and I love cooking a good chicken recipe. So this week I am making a pistachio encrusted chicken breast with a lovely and creamy gorgonzola cheese sauce.

A new supermarket opened up this last week in my area, a Mexican supermarket and the quality and prices for meat are excellent. I stocked up on chicken and beef for future recipes. I bought so much chicken that I really had to think about cooking chicken this week. As I said I love cooking chicken. I love grilling chicken and doing yakatori chicken and baking chicken. I don't care what it is I just love cooking chicken.

I have never seen a hard to do chicken recipe and that is the beauty of chicken is that any recipe you do with chicken is an easy chicken recipe because it's such a versatile meat to work with. This is a very easy way to b e cooking chicken and is a doable recipe for just about any night of the week for a hungry family.

I am certain that anyone eating this dish will love the crunch of the pistachios and the pungent aroma and flavor of the gorgonzola cheese sauce.  So as far as cooking chicken goes  I think it's one of the easiest meats to work with in the kitchen and I think that just about anything a person can do with chicken no matter how many ingredients are involved  can be an easy chicken recipe. Enjoy the video and make this dish I am sure you will love it.


NOTE: SORRY FOR THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO PICTURE OF THIS LOVELY DISH ON THIS POST. I MISTAKENLY INITIALIZED THE SD CARD ON MY DIGITAL CAMERA.

 

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Vietnamese Food: Wok Tossed Eel

 

Vietnamese Food

 

This week it's back to wok. I mean back to work! This week I am making Vietnamese food. Anyone who know me knows that I LOVE Vietnamese food! I LOVE Asian food and Vietnamese cooking.  So I sat around at work this week thinking about what I wanted to make for my video and blog post this week and although I have been fulfilling many, many requests for Malaysian and Italian cuisine I had to focus on  some other requests to be fair to everyone and that is why I am making Vietnamese food this week.

I really didn't know what I wanted to make as far as Vietnamese food is concerned. I thought soup! Nah! It's summertime here in Vegas already and it's to hot for soup. So I thought that since I whipped out my wok last week for Malaysian food I would put it to use this week for Vietnamese food! I wanted to do something different this week though. I mean there is lot's of Vietnamese food recipes out there but I didn't want to work with beef or chicken or even pork for this weeks dish.

So there I was trying to think of something a bit different in Vietnamese food that I could make. I finally came upon it. This weeks Vietnamese food dish is going to be wok tossed Eel! Yup! Eel! I know a lot of you out there are going "Oh, no way!" I understand. Many people have a natural dislike of Eel even though they might not have ever tried it. Many people think that Eel is an ocean or river snake. That's not true! Eels are fish. Eels are a nice meaty, fatty and oily fish that of course have a really mean bite if you don't know what you are doing when you fish for them.

I am proud to say that Italians and Vietnamese people have one thing in common and that is their love of Eel. I mean in the Italian community where I come from in Brooklyn, New York the Italians have  this celebration of Christmas Eve called The Vigil or La Vigilia  and this celebration is done with meals of fish and other seafood and one of the fishes used to celebrate La Vigilia is the Eel. The Italians fry the Eel or marinate and roll the Eel and cook it in many other ways. Either way and no matter how it's done the Eel is delicious and a much underestimated fish in my opinion.

So this week it's going to be Vietnamese food. Now this dish is usually made using mung bean thread or glass noodles but in this case I am going to be using regular Italian spaghetti instead of the  glass noodle. I LOVE glass noodles in my Vietnamese food don't get me wrong but I thought since the Italians and the Vietnamese have such a love of the Eel that I would add a bit of Italian influence to the dish besides the fact that the Italian pasta adds more chew to the meal than the glass noodles do. So let's get going and have some Vietnamese food! Enjoy the video.

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Malaysian Food: Ayam Gulai Lemak Cili Padis Malaysian Cuisine At It's Best!

Malaysian Food

 

This week I am making Malaysian food. Recently I have really enjoyed making Malaysian cuisine. Many of my Youtube viewers and subs know that I make lots of Asian dishes from all over the Asian world and oneday I got a request from a viewer in Malaysia asking me to make something called Nasi Lemak. Turns out that Nasi Lemak is the national dish of Malaysia and the Malay people love it. So I researched and I made Nasi Lemak sometime back and after that I have been bombarded with requests to make more Malaysian food, More Malaysian cuisine.

It seems that I have gotten such a great response from Malay people and to tell the truth I had never made Malaysian food before until the request. The fact of the matter now is that I LOVE Malaysian cuisine! So one of my other subs named Newrulefarah that's here Youtube channel name asked me to make a dish called Ayam Gulai Lemak Cili Padis. Literally translated means fatty chicken with chili! I am all into chili so I agreed. That was three or four months back.  It's hard to deal with all the requests a person can get when they cook online so it becomes a tricky balancing act.

So this week I am fulfilling a request for Malaysian food I am going to make the Ayam Gulai Lemak Cili Padis. This is as explained to me Malaysian cuisine that is a favorite comfort food among the Malay people. It's chicken with the lovely aroma of turmeric root and Thai red bird chilies, garlic and lemongrass. This is a simple Malay cuisine to make but has many subtle layers of flavors and aromas and that is what I love about Asian foods and learning to love about Malaysian food.

So  I did my research over the last week or so and asked my viewer Farah in Malaysia to help me out with some of the finer details of this Malaysian food and she did in fact help me a great deal because as with many Asian countries this dish is made slightly differently in different parts or states of the country and I for one do not like to outright copy someone's recipes I like to formulate my own. So after consulting with Farah and doing my research I landed on the way I am going to make this Malaysian cuisine this week.

I am going to make this dish Malaysian food the Ayam Gulai Lemak Cili Padis with a side dish of something called Sambal Goreng Telur which is a favored eggs side dish of Malaysian food consisting of hard boiled eggs that are fried until golden brown and then some onion rings are sauteed and a sambal sauce is made and then the fried eggs are heated up in the sambal and plated on top of the sauteed onion rings! According to my source in Malaysia, Farah this Malaysian cuisine side dish is the BOMB! So now it's time for me to cook! Enjoy the video and please comment or visit my Youtube channel @ https://www.youtube.com/user/MrEZCooking

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Pasta Recipes: Spicy Crab Pasta

Pasta Recipes

 

 

I love my pasta recipes as many of you well know I do. I was doing a lot of Asian recipes by requests over the last few months and then a week or two ago I started getting hit up by some long term subbers on my Youtube channel to make pasta recipes again. As a foodie it's really difficult to keep everyone happy so I have to jump around alot and it seems like there are so many recipes and so little time to make them all.

So last week I made I did one of my pasta recipes called Pasta With Eggs And Anchovies for my subbers and this week I am going to do one of my really easy pasta recipes called Spicy Crab Pasta. I have been trying lately to not have to go out shopping each week to make my dishes because my cupboards, pantries, and fridge are PACKED to the gills! So I am trying to lighten the load in my place before going out and spending more money of provisions and then stuff gets forgotten and they go bad in which case I have wasted money.

Luckily enough I have more pasta and tomatoes and sauce  in my house than the prime minister of Italy! I came across a can of lump crab claw meat in my fridge and thought about pasta recipes that I could make this week and I decided to make for you my readers and Youtube subbers one of my newest pasta recipes. This week I am going to make Spicy Crab Pasta.  This pasta recipe will have the flavors of Southeast Asia incorporated into it. As far as pasta recipes are concerned I could call this dish Thai Crab Pasta or Spicy Crab Pasta as I am doing.

As far as pasta recipes go this is not a traditional Italian pasta recipes, rather this is a pasta recipe born of a need to use what I have on hand and it will be delicious. A lot of the flavors of Southeast Asia will be present. The fragrance of garlic and chilies along with the savory odors of basil and cilantro will make this one of my favorite pasta recipes to make over and over again!


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Pasta Recipes Egg Recipes Pasta With Eggs And Anchovies

Pasta Recipes

 

This week it's back to pasta recipes folks. Yup! I was going to go the Asian route again but I got slammed by emails from people that enjoy my pasta recipes, so this week it's back to pasta recipes! Actually this weeks recipe is going to be a bit of a fusion between pasta recipes and egg recipes.

This week I was watching a fellow Youtuber make one of my favorite egg recipes. A simple appetizer by my favorite chef in the world Jacques Pepin. One of his simplest egg recipes is eggs with anchovies. I know it sounds weird but believe you me this little recipe works. It's hard boiled eggs covered in a mayo hot sauce with anchovy fillets on top and then topped again with some red onion and capers. Delicious!

Well, this week one of my Youtube subs made his version of this recipe and I thought I would go one step further and blend the two into a fusion of pasta recipes and egg recipes. So this week I am going to be making one of my new pasta recipes fused with one of my favorite egg recipes and I will be making pasta with eggs and anchovies in a creamy gorgonzola mornay sauce.

The mornay sauce is called a "small sauce' that comes from on of the five mother sauces developed by chef Georges Auguste Escoffier. He developed a set of five mother sauces from which hundreds of other smaller sauces could be developed. A true genius in the culinary arts. Mornay sauce can be used in pasta recipes and in egg recipes as well as a sauce on veggies. Mornay sauce or variations of it make the best mac and cheese you will ever have!

So onward and upward we go! This dish that I am making this week is not one of my traditional pasta recipes nor is it considered something to be called traditional egg recipes but the combination of the two work very well together and I think you will enjoy it. So please watch the video and make this recipe at home and make it your own and I would love to hear from you!


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Italian Food: Polenta Con Ragù Di Funghi Great Mushroom Recipes

Italian Food

 

 

This week I am back to making some Italian food for you my loyal readers and Youtube subscribers. I am going to make one of my favorit mushroom recipes today. I am still getting bombarded with requests for Malay cuisine and I promise to get back to it ASAP! I am just trying to make dishes right now that I can make with the things I have on hand here in my house because I am so well stocked that sometimes I forget just how well stocked I am and then I run the chance of things going bad and I don't like to waste money that way.

So I went looking around my pantries this week and I found some polenta which is a favorite Italian food of mine and I also found some dried shitake mushrooms which I keep on hand quite often along with dried porcini mushrooms as well. I was seeing something forming! I love mushroom recipes!  I also had some tomato paste and all the herbs and spices I needed to make some Italian food. The only thing I really had to buy this week was mushrooms. So I just got back in the door and I am writing this post and I came back with one pound of baby portobello mushrooms and some white button mushrooms to make one of my favorite mushrooms recipes and that is mushroom ragu! Polenta Con Ragù Di Funghi! In other words polenta with mushroom ragu! This is simple Italian food at it's best and one of the easiest mushroom recipes that I know how to make and it is delicious!

I mean lets look at some facts. Some of the best known dishes in the world are actually peasant foods from the rural areas of their respective countries. Polenta isn't a rich man's dish in Italy and neither is mushrooms unless you get into the tuffles both black and white and then you are talking BIG MONEY! The fact is that when it comes to Italian food many of the dishes that are world famous and known started out as humble working man's food.  I love mushrooms and I love making mushroom recipes and this dish of polenta and mushroom ragu is one of my best and favorites.

Now as far as mushroom recipes are concerned  you can make this dish as strictly vegetarian by just making the mushroom ragu and then making the polenta and that's fine! I add a light touch of either bacon or Italian sausage to the mix to add a level of flavor that you usually don't get in this dish and it's wonderful! So if you love Italian food and you love mushrooms and mushroom recipes then I urge you to make this dish and make it your own either vegetarian or not just make it your own and I promise you that you will just love it as much as I do. Enjoy the video!

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Israeli Couscous: Jewish Food! Shashlik: Russian Food! A Great Combination For Dinner

Have you ever had shashlik? What? You have never had shashlik? Have you ever had Israeli couscous? What? You haven't had Israeli couscous? You are missing out! This week I am making shashlik which is Russian food and Israeli couscous which is Jewish food! The two of these cuisines makes an excellent combination and an excellent meal to make your entire family very happy. Shashlik is claimed by so many countries and cultures that in my research I could not really find out who made shashlik first. All I know is that I have eaten it twice this week and it was delicious!

In Russia Shashlik or Shashlyk as it's pronounced  is a barbequed skewered meat dish that is served in Russia and althrough the eastern block of Europe as well as in other parts of the world such as Israel, Pakistan, India, Mongolia, Morocco and central Asia. The word Shashlyk means skewered meat.y BBQ the shashlik on a grill called a "mangal" which is a square fire pit filled with charcoal or wood or a combination of both. Shashlik can be made out of any type of meat you like such as chicken, pork, beef, veal or lamb. Depending on where you are in the world and what the cultural or religious beliefs are in place will dictate which meat will be used in the shashlik. Shashlik traditionally is marinated in a highly acidic marinade overnight and this acidity helps to break down the proteins in the meat and also makes for really tender meat. As with any dish from any country in the world there are a million and one ways to make a dish. This particular shashlik recipe is a cross between the Uzbek, Russian, Georgian and Israeli recipes as I find it to be one of the more simpler and delicious shashlik recipes out there. Everyone has their own way of making shashlik and I am sure they are all DELICIOUS!

Shashlik is a kabob style of Russian food but shashlik is not a shish kabob although many people do confuse the two.  As I stated shashlik comes from many parts of the world from Russia, Bulgaria to Israel and more. With shashlik recipes all the recipes are interchangeable. All of the meats can be used to make this dish, beef, chicken, veal, lamb. When making shashlik you can separate the chunks of meat with a vegetable like onion or a tomato or even a piece of fat or just about any kind of vegetable will work.

Shashlik is not a shish kabob although many people do confuse the two. The difference is the preparation of the shashlik which is the making of a highly acidic marinade along with herbs and spices that help to break down the proteins in the meat being used and hence keep the meat nice and tender. There are any number of ways to make the marinade acidic such as vinegar, wine, or citric acid from lemons or limes.

Shashlik is probably the best known skewered meat dish that is prepared all over the world and everyone claims to have created it.  It can be served with warm flat bread or rolls and an assortment of salads, it is a delicious way to become familiar with a true international dish! The version of shashlik that I am making is a bit of a cross from the Uzbek, Estonian, Russian and Georgian and Israeli  versions of this dish as they are all very close.  I will be making a side dish of Israeli couscous with sun dried tomatoes and kalamata olives. This two dishes from two cultures truly compliment each other. Enjoy the video and make this recipe your own!



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Jewish Food: Kasha? Kasha Recipes? Kupecheskaya!

 Hi everyone! This week I am making Jewish food. That's right! Jewish food. I know this is a basic departure from the usual Asian or Italian cuisine that I love so much but I am doing it. I am making a traditional Jewish food called Kasha or Kasha Varniskes. I am actually going to make one of the more popular kasha recipes called "Kupecheskaya." This kasha version is the traditional Russian Jewish kasha. I have been taking requests on my Youtube channel for a long time and one of my viewer sent me an email and asked my to make some Jewish food.

I don't have much experience with Jewish food, I mean I have had chopped liver and matzo ball soup but I have never really delved into Jewish food. So to me this was more than just a request, this was a bit of a challenge. I sat on my kaboose for about a week doing research into Jewish food and I found kasha! There are a few kasha recipes out there and they are all basically the same as kasha is a basic type of dish of buckwheat or groats and either egg noodle bowtie pasta or semolina farfalle pasta and some other small variations to the ingredients of the dish.

Kasha recipes are a very basic dish to make and can be made as either a vegetarian or vegan dish if you like by using some form of cooking oil like vegetable or olive oil. The traditional kasha recipes call for either rendered chicken fat or cooking oil. I am going the traditional route today and I will be using rendered chicken fat in my kasha.

Kasha is as I said buckwheat groats and the word "Varnishkes" is the Yiddish/Jewish term for the bowtie pasta used in kasha recipes. The Russian also use ground up buckwheat in their blini pancakes which the Russians eat with caviar. Buckwheat groats are also used in Japan and other countries to make soba noodles for dishes like Korean japchea. In eastern Europe kasha  and kasha recipes are a crowd pleasing comfort food that is delicious and good for you.

So this week I picked my favorite of the kasha recipes that I found and I will be making Russian kasha varnishkes or "Kupecheskaya" which is the kasha made with sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms and scrambled eggs. Sometimes the scrambled eggs are omitted and hard boiled eggs are used instead. Kasha is either served as a main course or as a side dish to beef brisket or anything else you would like to serve it with. Go ahead and make some kasha and various kasha recipes I know you will love it as much as I do now. Enjoy the video and I hope to hear some good comments.



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Indian Cuisine: Paneer Recipes: My Paneer Recipes

Hi guys! This week I am making Paneer Recipes. If any of you don't know what paneer is then this is a treat. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese! It's basically a farmers cheese that can be purchased in an Indian grocery store or easily made at home. Paneer is a cheese that does not melt so it's perfect for lot's of different Paneer Recipes or recipes that require a cheese much like feta or farmers cheese. I find it to be a very versatile product. Most Paneer recipes that I am familiar with come from India. I have been watching many of my favorite Indian cooks on Youtube for months and one of them is owned by a girl named Aditi and her channel is called the eateastindian channel. I was watching this channel week after week as she made different Paneer Recipes. This is how I was introduced to paneer. There are so many Paneer recipes in India that it's mind boggling. I didn't even know that cheese was something used in Indian cuisine until watching the eateastindian channel on Youtube.

I told Aditi that I was going to have to make some paneer recipes of my own. She had been watching my channel and thought that me making some Paneer Recipes would be a great idea. I asked if I should make some traditional Paneer Recipes or should I come up with something on my own. She told me to go ahead and make some of my own Paneer Recipes as the world is full of traditional Indian Paneer Recipes.

So I had to think long and hard this week as to how I would like to prepare my Paneer Recipes. So this week I am going to make a pan seared paneer encrusted with za'atar spice topped with a nice Dijon mustard dill cream sauce. Then I will make a paneer orzo pilaf with oregan, basil, sundried tomatoes, almonds, garlic and shallots. Yum! I will also make a spring vegetable and paneer pasta dish of pan seared paneer mixed into sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, shallots, garlic, tomato along with some herbs and this will either be served on linguine. I am sure these Paneer Recipes will be pleasing to the eye's and palate.

I really struggled a bit this week trying to come up with these Paneer Recipes but it truth after watching videos on how to make paneer and how to make a multitude of Paneer Recipes it has just all come together for me. paneer is a very versatile food and Paneer recipes are just about as endless as the imagination. Just because paneer is a cheese used in India does not mean that this delicious cheese product cannot be used in the recipes of other nations. I have also found that it's cheaper to make paneer cheese or cottage cheese or even Feta cheese at home rather than buying it at the local market. So I hope you enjoy the Paneer recipes and I hope you try them at home and make them your own. Enjoy the video!



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Pasta Recipes: Linguine With Clams The Richard Blaine Way!

Pasta Recipes

 



 

 

 

 

Well, this week guys it's pasta recipes once again! It's going to be linguine with clams! Whoohoo! I know it's been awhile since I made an Italian dish but this week it's back to pasta recipes by request from one of my Youtube subscribers from England.

I don't know what it is but I'm really popular in England! I get tons of requests from the UK all the time. I feel like Bill Haley! He was a rocker in the 1950's who was even more famous than Elvis in England back in the rockin' 1950's!

I was looking over my extensive list of pasta recipes this week to come up with something simple and yet delicious for my subber. Her name is Mirella and she is a really nice person to have watching my videos! She has become my #1 fan and that's OK by me!

So I am digging through my list of pasta recipes and I came up with linguine with clams! I know what a lot of you are thinking. "Linguine with clams! Plain old boring linguine with clams just like everyone else does it!" Not the case here guys!

My version of linguine with clams will have multiple layers of flavors and textures well beyond just canned/or fresh clams in the shell and some garlic and oil! BORING! When it comes to pasta recipes I like to really work with them and either keep them traditional/conventional Italian/Sicilian or I like to mix it up a bit and truly make the dish something special. That is the case with my linguine with clams recipe!

My linguine with clams will have the benefit of butter, capers, anchovies and basil along with just a light dusting of the pungent flavor and aroma of Gorgonzola cheese! So I asked my subber Mirella about how she felt about me making here linguine with clams? Here reply to me was "Richaaaard! We love the same foods! I WANT TO MARRY YOU!" Needless to say I was blushing from head to to! Who knew that pasta recipes like linguine with clams could net you a marriage proposal! Now I know! So kick back and enjoy the video! Make this linguine with clams your recipe! Play with it and make it something special! Who know you might get a marriage proposal for it like I did!

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Tom Kha Gai Recipe: What Is Tom Kha Gai? Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Tom Kha Gai Recipe

This week I am making my version of a Tom Kha Gai recipe. Tom Kha Gai is Thai coconut chicken soup. The weather is getting cold and I thought I would just make some good old fashioned Jewish penicillin (New York style chicken soup) and then I thought to myself I could do that anytime and lots of people have done it already. This Tom Kha Gai recipe in my opinion is a great version of Thai penicillin. Tom Kha Gai is warming and creamy and is loaded with lovely herbs and spices to make some of the best chicken soup that one has ever had. It's really a pretty simple and yet very delicious chicken.  This Tom Kha Gai recipe has all the distinctive Thai flavors that one would expect in a Thai dish.  Tom Kha Gai (Gai is chicken) has an ingredient in it called galangal (In Thai Kha) There is one substituition I am using in my Tom Kha Gai recipe and that is using ginger in place of galangal as I could not locate any galangal this week and then I will be using the other ingredients of lemongrass and kaffir limes leaves to infuse the coconut milk and chicken broth/stock that I make as well. A good Tom Kha Gai recipe will have a good balance of salty, sweet, spicy, and sour flavors. Of course when it comes time to make flavor adjustments to your Tom Kha Gai recipe you can manipulate them in any way that you like to suit your needs. This chicken soup is a total winner to warm you up in the winter months. The combination of herbs and spices will also help to fortify you with nutrients to help ward off that cold or flu! I mean isn't that what chicken soup is for anyway? Of course it is! My version a Thai Tom Kha Gai recipe will have some garlic in it and of course the chilies will help fight off that winter cold and give you a vitamin C shot to boot! Tom Kha Gai is a soup that can be served as an appetizer or as a main course depending on how you make it.  If you add noodles or even rice to your Tom Kha Gai recipe then it then becomes a main meal and if you exclude those items Tom Kha Gai then becomes an excellent appetizer. Either way Tom Kha Gai is a delicious chicken soup recipe. I'm making my Tom Kha Gai recipe this week as a main meal with the addition of rice noodles.

Tom Kha Gai can be made many ways. When I learned to cook I learned to make chicken soup or stock/broth using whole chickens or whole chickens cut up with the skin on. Then some herbs and spices would be added to the mixture while it was simmering. Jewish penicillin can be made with the addition of chicken innards or even chicken feet! I LOVE chicken feet. I have never had Tom Kha Gai in Thai restaurants that served it with chicken feet although I think that would really give it that soul food aspect of cooking. I won't be using chicke feet in my Tom Kha Gai recipe this week but rest assured chicken feet are on my future menu! A lot of recipes out there call for using boxed organic chicken stock in their Tom Kha Gai recipe and that is fine if you want to speed up the cooking process. Today I will be simmer a cut up chicken for at least 2 to 3 hours which is chicken broth. I will then remove the meat from the carcass and add the bones back to the broth for an hour or so to fortify the flavor of the broth to be something closer to a chicken stock. There will also of course be some herbs and spices added to make the flavor of the broth/stock even better.

It seems popular today when you go to eat Tom Kha Gai in Thai restaurants that you will either have Nam Prig Pad or Pao added to the Tom Kha Gai or it will be available on the side. To my knowledge this is not traditional but, it is popular these days. I will not be offering it up in my recipe but you can use it in yours if you desire.  Some of my friends like to add either sesame oil or some form of chili oil to their Tom Kha Gai to. I will not be doing that either. I just LOVE to eat my Tom Kha Gai with rice noodles as a complete meal. In some restaurants the Tom Kha Gai is served in rather small bowls but believe you me I'll make mine a BIG bowl! This is how it's going to be made today. Enjoy the video!


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Knife Sharpening: How To Create A Cutting Edge From Scratch

Knife Sharpening

 

Hi everyone! I'm back this week and we are going to look at doing some knife sharpening. I have been on vacation visiting my brother in Los Angeles and it was good to go seem him and unwind.

This week I'm back and instead of cooking I thought I would do some knife sharpening for you. I have this friend name Chef Giovanni and he works at a place here in Vegas called Yellow tail. It's a sushi joint as the name entails and Chef Gio is one of my best friends here in town.

Ever since Gio got into the culinary industry he has been obsessed with knife sharpening and if you ask him today he will still tell everyone that everything he ever learned about knife sharpening he learned from me, yours truly! He and I have been friends a long time and it's a great compliment he pays me. He has learn his knife sharpening skills well and does some of the best work I have seen a professional chef do with their knives.

Knife sharpening is an art just as cooking is and therefore when the two are done to a high level of skill people know it. Recently Chef Gio went on a food trip to Korea. He spent a lot of time at the fish market watching how the Koreans prepare their seafood dishes and one thing Gio paid close attention to was knife skills and knife sharpening techniques.

Needless to say Chef Gio learned alot on his food trip. When he got back he brought me a knife much like the one's used at the local fish market. They come in various sizes and he brought me a rather large one for all around kitchen use. When it comes today's knife sharpening video this is the knife that I will be sharpening.

You see the knife he brought back from Korea has no cutting edge on it and I don't know if that is a matter of knives leaving the country or if the maker does it that way for the person doing the knife sharpening to put his or her own type of edge on the knife.

As far as the knife sharpening goes Gio told me that most of the people he saw using this knife had a 50/50 grind on the blade much like a European knife would have and I can see that the blade type is closer to a "V" or saber type grind.

This weeks knife sharpening video will show you how I will put a single edge bevel on this Korean knife. The knife is hand made and somewhat rudimentary but from the videos I saw they will just cut and cut and cut! The knife is made from hand hammered carbon steel so as far as the knife sharpening is concerned should not prove to be very difficult.

I will be using the standard gear that I always use for knife sharpening which is DMT diamond plates that I use in 220/325/600/1200 grits respectively. I will also be using Spyderco ceramic stones Models 204F and 204UF respectively. I will also most likely use my surgical black Arkansas stone as a final blade polishing stone. So sit back and check out how I do knife sharpening and enjoy the video!

Soup: Seafood Chowder: Bay Shrimp Chowder

The weather is finally getting really cold here where I live and that means it time to make some soup! This week I am making Bay Shrimp Chowder, a seafood chowder idea from a friend of mine named Tango Joe. I love soup in the winter! Who doesn't? Soup is warming, comforting and filling. The best part about soup is that they are easy to make and they really don't take much time to prepare. So this winter I will be making lots of soup recipe videos! So this week I am making  Tango Joe's Bay Shrimp Chowder. I've been experimenting with it lately and this is soon becoming a favorite soup of mine.

I got the recipe for this soup/seafood chowder from my friend and sub on Youtube named Tango Joe of the Tango Spice Company. The soup is called Bay Shrimp Chowder and it's a recipe that Joe has been working on for awhile. The reason I am making this soup is because I got interested in Joe's spices and I asked him to send me some to try out and in return I would make one of his recipes with it. He sent me the spice called Tango Verde Green and along with it he sent me a starter recipe for his soup recipe bay shrimp chowder. I make seafood chowder all the time but I usually make either A Manhattan style seafood chowder or a New England clam chowder. I have never made bay shrimp chowder or any kind of shrimp chowder at all. This was going to be good.

The soup recipe he sent me was his starter for Bay Shrimp Chowder. He told me to work on it because he didn't get the recipe where he wanted it to be.  So I am going to make Joe's soup with my little twists and make a final recipe for this seafood chowder/bay shrimp chowder! Now Joe and I love heat and for this reason this soup is going to be very warming indeed as I am going to be using Joe's Tango Verde Green in this seafood chowder.

Joe's Tango Verde Green is a dry spice that's a bitchin' combination of Jalapeno pepper, Habanero pepper, cuming, oregano, celery salt and black pepper. The balance of this spice will be delicious in this seafood chowder and I am sure in just about any soup recipe that requires some heat in it. This Tango Verde Green can be a bit tricky because it's not hot right off the bat, it's really a creeper and can catch you by surprise!

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