Roasted Marrow Bones: Bone Marrow A Very Posh Dish

Roasted Marrow Bones: Bone Marrow

 

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Hi Everyone! This week I am making a rather posh dish called Roasted Marrow Bones. Yup! You got it! Roasted Marrow Bones! I know a lot of people are going to take a look at this and ask themselves what is Blaine talking about? Bone Marrow? How do you eat that? Well don't worry because in this blog post and video I am going to show you how to properly make Roasted Marrow Bones and you will know how to eat Bone Marrow when it's all done.

Eating Bone Marrow is not something new you know. Animals in the wild will down it's prey and eat it's flesh and then in many cases work at cracking the larger bones of the body to get to the Bone Marrow. Why? Because Bone Marrow is an excellent source of fat and fat equals energy and calories which are both essential to survival in the wild.

Roasting Marrow Bones is also not something new in Europe and other countries and it is only now gaining ground here in the United States. Roasted Marrow Bones are generally served in some very high end, posh restaurants as one of the dishes in a long line of starters/appetizers on the way to the mains. The Bone Marrow in the marrow bone is basically as I said, fat. But this fat is rich in flavor and for those who have never eaten Bone Marrow it is a gamey flavor. Bone Marrow has a buttery texture and spreads well to.

The bones used to Roast Marrow Bones are the femur bones of the cow. You get these bones at the local supermarket butcher or your local butcher shop. Just ask for Marrow Bones. Generally, when ordered in a restaurant the Marrow bones will have been cut into three or four inch lengths and roasted. The Roasted Marrow Bones will cook for twenty or so minutes and the Bone Marrow in them will melt a bit and release some fat, but what you get is just bubbly, delicious flavor. After all as foodies we all know that "Fat is where the flavor is!"

I personally like the Roasted Marrow Bones of the Lamb and Veal as the flavor is richer than the Bone Marrow from the Cow femur, but it's all good to me! If you can't find Cow femur then find some Lamb or Veal as they are both a rich and hearty flavor alternative. Experiment! If you have never eaten Roasted Marrow Bones you will surely get as hooked to them as I am! Most of the time the Roasted Marrow Bones is served on grilled French bread toast as I am going to do in the video and served with some kind of salad as a topping. I always say to experiment because Bone Marrow tastes fantastic on all kinds of black breads and flat breads as well! Try it on a bagel! YUM! You can use anything you want as a topping but I am going to make a small chop salad of Arugula as a topping as well as Dijon mustard, cranberry and wasabi jam, English Marmite and a Spanish Olive Tapanade. Check out the video and enjoy!


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Beef Bourguignon: Easy Slow Cooker Recipes

Beef Bourguignon

 

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This week I am making Beef Bourguignon in a slow cooker. I was at work all last week wondering what it was that I was going to make for my next weeks video. You know as a foodie I am surrounded by a world of food and there are still times when I kick myself in the head wondering what the heck I am going to make for the coming week. This week I was saved by a guy named Paul in the East Coast of England who sent me a private message on my Youtube channel and just asked a basic question. "Hows about a slow cooker recipe?"

I wrote him back saying C'mon you just throw a piece of meat and some spuds and such in the crock and there it is your easy slow cooker recipes! He replied to me that he is now only getting into cooking and that he's been living off of fast food and his George Foreman grill for years and now he wants to improve his diet and cooking skills. So I gave it some considerable thought and decided that I just wasn't going to throw a chicken in the crock pot with veggies and go from there.

I decided to cook Beef Bourguignon in a slow cooker. Now there is only one Beef Bourguignon recipe out there and that belongs to Julia Child in her classic book "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking." Well I was going to build my Beef Bourguignon recipe and adapt mine from hers. There are many easy slow cooker recipes out there but this one is special because Beef Bourguignon is a classic French dish and I was asked by someone to do this and so I wanted to make something special.
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My Beef Bourguignon recipe will NOT be an exact copy of the classic by Julia Child. My recipe will have some subtle changes. One of the layers of flavor that I will be putting into this Beef Bourguignon recipe is a charred half of onion. Another changes is I am not going to be using "lardons" or blanched bacon to spice my sauce. Rather I am going to be using some French Andouille sausage in it's place as this adds a different spice set to the Beef Bourguignon. I will also be using some Cognac to fortify the red wine and some baby yellow potatoes at the end as well. So let's watch the video for my Beef Bourguignon one of my new favorite easy slow cooker recipes!

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Knife Sharpening: Sharpening On A Whetstone: The Western Stroke

Knife Sharpening

 

This week I am back to doing a Knife Sharpening video. For a very long time now I have been getting tons of private messages and emails asking me to do some moreKnife Sharpeningvideos. So this week I am going to sharpen a kitchen knife for you and I am going to be using a stroke that I call the "Western Style" stroke of Knife Sharpening!

I will be sharpening my 8 inch Japanese kitchen knife on a series of DMT diamond plates and finishing the blade on ceramic stones and a black surgical Arkansas whetstone. I have said before that there is no mystery to sharpening and I still say that today! I have in other Knife Sharpening videos said that there are many ways to sharpen a knife but not all of those ways is the best way to perform Knife Sharpening. On the other hand I will also repeat myself here and say that not all sharpening mediums will sharpen all knives and not all knives can be sharpened on just one sharpening medium type. In other words as an example a knife made of a really hard Japanese steel like Aogami Super which Rockwell tests at 70RC will not necessarily get sharpened correctly on traditional Arkansas whetstones. This is why I use diamond sharpening plates because diamonds are the hardest thing on the planet and they will sharpen just about any knife on the market!

I will start sharpening on a DMT 220 grit diamond plate then a DMT 325 diamond plate then a DMT 600 grit diamond plate, a DMT 1200 diamond plate and eventually I will move on to Spyderco ceramic stones at 1800 and 2200 grit respectively to polish the edge of my knife to a keen edge. Then I am going to break out my surgical black Arkansas whetstone and do a final polish on it and voila' we are done! So sit back and watch this Knife Sharpening video and enjoy!

Pasta Salad Recipe: Soba Noodle Recipe? Soba Noodle Salad!

Pasta Salad Recipe

 

[caption id="attachment_2213" align="alignleft" width="300"] Pasta Salad Recipe: Soba Noodle Salad - Click To Enlarge[/caption]

This week I am going to be doing something with some Japanese buckwheat noodles called Soba Noodles. I am going to make a Soba Noodle recipe that is a Thai inspired Soba noodle recipe. This is a very easy pasta salad recipethat can be made in minutes and is delicious and healthy to eat! I am doing this recipe for a reason. It's spring time again and the weather if finally warming up into the eighties. That means that it is time for social gatherings and friends and food! Time to breakout the old barbecue grill again! I love summer gatherings with friends because it is a really great way to relax and catch up with each other that we don't normally get to do because of our busy workaday world and hectic lifestyles. The best part of the parties whether they are here at my place or at a friends is that everyone makes something to bring! It's generally the usual fare like steaks for burgers or chicken made of course in many ways. Then there are the side dishes like potato salad, coleslaw and pasta or macaroni salad.

It's the macaroni or pasta salad recipe that brings me to this weeks Soba noodle recipe. so as stated this week I am going to make a pasta salad recipe with an Asian flair or Thai style to this Soba noodle recipe. The Soba noodles are Japanese but I'm going to make this pasta salad recipe using Thai flavors although for the most part many dishes of Asian culture are so very interchangeable to begin with and that is why I LOVE Asian food! You see to me regular old macaroni salad recipe or pasta salad recipe is just to darn "pedestrian" and boring and you find them at all the gatherings and it never really changes. This Soba noodle recipe will change the way you look at and make your pasta salad recipe for your social events in the future. You can make this pasta salad recipe with just about anything you have in your refrigerator which is a good thing because it doesn't need to always be "Asian" in style and you can add whatever vegetables you have on hand and you can also decide whether or not to make this pasta salad recipe vegetarian or not as well! If you don't have Soba noodles on hand you can use whole grain or whole wheat pasta as well! It's all good! I’ve made this pasta salad recipe or some variation of it for countless parties and barbecues, and I almost always get asked for the recipe.

From what I am to glean Soba noodles are a good choice for this pasta salad recipe especially if you are trying to go or need to go gluten. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and have a nuttier flavor than other pastas but I would check the ingredients on the back of the package to make absolutely sure as there are many brands out there. There is also the option of using wheat free soy sauces if you need to go gluten free as well and some of the liquid amino acids out there would make a good substitute for the soy sauce. I use a brand of Tamari sauce that is gluten free so if you can't find the amino liquid just go to you market and find some Tamari. This Soba noodle recipe is by no means a main course! It is a side dish although I am sure if you eat a big enough plate you could call it a main course. This pasta salad recipe goes great as a side dish to homemade sushi or just about any meat main dish.

Asian have certain criteria when it comes to foods, herbs and spices and in Japan it's not different. Soba noodles are used in a myriad of ways like the way I am using them. In other words Soba noodles are eaten cold in the summer(although this is not writter in stone for all Japanese.)And eaten hot in the winter like in soups or hot in a soba noodle recipe of some kind. I like the nutty flavor of Soba noodles and I always buy the big 18 serving box to have on hand to make ramens and other hot pasta recipes. Try this Soba noodle pasta salad recipe and work with it and make it your own way. Let's check out the video! Enjoy!

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Thai Recipes: Thai Red Curry A Favorite Chicken Curry Recipe

Thai Recipes: Thai Red Curry

 

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This week the weather here in Vegas turned cold again as the weather patterns across much of the country seem to be a bit out of whack. I was going to make a summery cool salad this week but because of the high winds 50mph and rain it got cold so I wanted to eat something hot and comforting. I went looking around my fridge and found a jar of Thai red curry! As many of you know I LOVE Thai food. If you have seen my video called "Tag Your It" on Youtube then you know that my fridge is LOADED with things like chicken and shrimp. So there it was! Thai red curry in the making using chicken and fish as the protein component. I LOVE curries in just about any form I can get them and Thai red curry is no different it is one of my favorite Thai recipes when I go out to eat.  It's truly a fave dish in restaurants all over the place and the paste is made of so many delicious herbs and spices. Most people are familiar with Indian curries being made of things like mustard seed, tumeric, coriander, black pepper, masala powder etc. I love the South East Asian flavors of Thai red curry. Generally speaking Thai red curry is made of ingredients like Thai chilies(of course!), garlic, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves(Oh those are so hard to get at the Asian market cuz the restaurants snag em all!),cilantro, and shrimp paste. Now we are cooking! For anyone who has never had Thai red curry................You are in for a big fragrant and delicious treat! This is one dish I love to make because in under an hour it's gonna be BANG! ZOOM! Time to eat a great chicken curry recipe!

Asia is a BIG place and there is curry all over Asia. Funny how many forms curries can come in but for the most part curry is a stew like dish whether it is thick or thin in nature. The herb and spice combinations uses to make Thai recipes and the curries used are endless. Most people and myself included consider curry to be native to India as most of us who have had curry have had curry in the form of Indian dishes. The basic recipe and method of making and cooking curry was brought to South East Asia by the people of India who immigrated to the south. In Thailand they have taken that ancient knowledge and made curry in their own form and image with a myriad of Thai recipes that are delicious and pleasing and isn't that what food is all about? Find a recipe, Thai recipes  or any recipe for that matter and make it your own. The people of Thailand have done an excellent job of that when it comes to the various forms of curry in Thailand and the myriad list of Thai recipes that use curry of different types. If you are a curry lover then you could never get bored eating in Thailand!

Curry in Thailand is made one of two ways and that is with water or coconut milk and the addition of the curry paste itself. Other things are added to the dish along the way of course like meat, seafood, veggies! Just about anything you can think of can be made in Thai curry. The versions of curry from India are generally thicker than the Thai curry dishes which are a bit more liquid in nature. Don't get me wrong though, even though Thai recipes for curries are a bit soupier than Indian curries they are rich because of the pastes used. Just like hamburgers are a staple of American life the curries of Thailand are a staple dish of that country. Thai recipes in any form are a healthy dish that are an excellent combo of protein and vitamins like vitamin C. Curries whether they are Indian or Thai are really easy to digest to because they are made of so many digestive herbs and spices. Thai red curry is a great comfort food and healthy to!

In Thailand curry is referred to as "Gaeng Phet." Gaeng means a liquid base that refers to soups as well as curries. Phet refers to HOT! I mean really HOT! I come to find out that when it comes to curries that the water based curries of Thailand are grouped together with soups and that's because not all varieties of "gaeng" are going to be spicy. The mild gaeng refers to soups that have clear broths and are called "Gaeng Joot." Hence water based curries.

Here in the United States we are more familiar with the coconut based curries that we find in our Thai restaurants like Thai red curry. There are many, many varieties of coconut based Thai curries out there and of course these curries are the thicker of the two kinds found in Thailand. Some examples would be Thai red curry or "gaeng phet" or "gaeng Kiow Wahn" for Thai green curry and for Thai yellow curry that is called "gaeng leuang." There is a really interesting factoid about Thai curry recipes and Thai curry pastes and that little factoid is this: Thai green curry(gaeng kiow wahn) is made with fresh green Thai chilies and is the only one in Thai culinary practice that is, the rest of the curry pastes are made of Thai chilies that have been dried first! I find that interesting and I am sure there is a difference in the flavors of the paste because of it! There are also other varieties of Thai curry called panang and masamam and others. I could write a tome for all the different types of curries there are in Thailand but alas I only have this one blogpost.......for now! So go ahead and check out this video on how to make Thai red curry! It's one of my favorite Thai Recipes and a terrific chicken curry recipe to boot! Enjoy!

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Chicken Adobo: My Chicken Adobo Recipe

Chicken Adobo

 

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Hi everyone! This week I am making Chicken Adobo and let me tell you why! Here we go! I was thinking about what I was going to cook this week for my Youtube channel video as sometimes with writing you get writers block and sometimes with cooking you get cooks or foodie block. Well let me tell you that when you write as well as cook those blocks can be like boulders. I was at work and the week was coming to an end and I was kinda stressing out! I was actually thinking about taking the week off again but decided against that. This last week on March 2nd my Youtube channel turned 1yrs old. On the 10th of March my blog here turned 1yrs old. I just want to thank everyone who has every come to my blog and I want to thank all of my subs and contacts  at Youtube I really appreciate having all of you in my life and making this last year a whole lot of fun for me and making my life so much more creative and productive that I just want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart!  So needless to say I was not going to take the week off and party hard.

The Gods must have been smiling upon me on one side and laughing their asses off on the other side. I say this because I got a visit from an old friend and it was this visit that helped me decide what I was going to cook this week. It was Friday and the door to the cutlery shop opens at about 3:30pm. In walks this guy I have known for the last 14yrs. Pabzz. Well, his real name is Lino but everyone calls him Pabzz. I see Lino about once a year he comes up from Fresno, CA and buys knives from me. Lino is Filipino and he and I are involved in a martial art called Kali Escrima! I have been into this art since 1996 and Lino even longer. Knives are a big part of Kali.

Usually Lino calls a week or so in advance to let me know he is coming to town but this time......no call! He walks in the door I see him and go to greet him. A quick "man hug" and a strong handshake and BAM! Just like old times. Not two seconds after that he says to me, "Hey man! I didn't know you were on Youtube!" I didn't know what to say. I told him that we only see each other once a year so I will tell you now. He said you could have called or emailed me you MF'er (I think you get the idea!) "I'm sorry Mano!" I tell him. "Man! You ain't got no Filipino food in your videos!" Oh Boy! I could see the shitstorm coming from a mile away on this one!

"I just haven't gotten to it yet Mano! Sorry! "Dude, you got Korean food, Japanese food and you even made Vietnamese food but you got no Filipino food man! You just ain't doing us right you know what I'm saying?" I apologized again and said, "Mano! Let's not get down to knuckles over this man!" "I'll tell you what! I make some Filipino food this week OK Mano? I'll make some Chicken Adobo will that do it for you Mano?" Lino was like, "OK Dude, but you better or you and me are getting down to the sticks!" I assured him that I would make it and we talked about how to make it because I only had a cursory knowledge of it. So he told me what I needed to get to make Chicken Adobo and my recipe for the week was decided right then and there!

I have added a couple of little tweaks that are not in standard straightforward Chicken Adobo but all in all it is a lovely and delicious dish! The fact of the matter is that every family in the Philippines has their own way of making Chicken Adobo. Like Lino had told me in Hawaii the Filipinos add sugar to the Chicken Adobo and if you add a star anise you will spice up your Chicken Adobo and give it a Chinese flavor. You can add onions to Chicken Adobo as I did and you can add potatoes to it at the end. Chicken Adobo is a very versatile dish in the fact that chicken stew is made all over the world and because of that each country can take from another to make a wonderful Chicken Adobo or chicken stew.  So check out my video and enjoy!

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Lasagna: Beef And Spinach An Easy Lasagna Recipe

Lasagna

 

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This last week after I made Korean pajeon I was kind of in a funk about what to cook this coming week for my readers and youtube subbies! I was talking to my brother on the phone about it and he finally said to me, "Hey! why don't you make a lasagna?" I gave it some thought and decided to do it! I LOVE lasagna! Who doesn't? So the next thing I thought about was what kind of lasagna did I want to make? I mean I could have just made a run of the mill meat sauce and cheese lasagna recipe but I thought to myself "Nah!"

If I was going my make a lasagna I would at least want to make a lasagna recipe that was a bit more than just your plain meat sauce and cheese lasagna. There was no way I was going to make a lasagna recipe using cottage cheese! To me that just is not a lasagna in the true sense! If I was going to make a lasagna it was going to be with 100% whole milk ricotta the way Mama used to make it! It was going to have whole milk Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and be delicious!

So I decided to make a beef and spinach lasagna recipe with a homemade sauce and lots of good stuff in it. Now I know that everyone out there probably has their favorite lasagna from a home lasagna recipe or a favorite restaurant they go to but I am only offering this beef and spinach lasagna recipe as a simple and EZ lasagna that anyone can make at home. I am not going to say that this is the "worlds best lasagna!" Everyone else has done that one to death! My lasagna is just a rib sticking ooey, gooey, cheesy and flavorful lasagna! The best part of this or any lasagna is that the appeal to making one is that the ingredients used in the lasagna recipe are totally basic ingredients that you can get in any market in Anywhereville U.S.A!

You don't need to go hunting for fresh organic basil leaves or some kind of fancy schmancy mozzarella that some people call "buffalo." You don't need to go to an Italian grocer for handmade sausage from Italy or buy a chunk of Grana Padana! This lasagna recipe can be made in your home anytime and it is one of the easiest comfort foods around! I have made many lasagna's in my life for all kinds of people and all kinds of events and not matter what type of lasagna I make the look on the faces of the people that eat is tells me all that I need to know! They love it! So lets make a beef and spinach lasagna! Enjoy the video!

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