Duck Hash

I'm watching Top Chef right now and this always inspires me to cook and be creative. I have a lot of left overs in the fridge from various meals this past week and I need to eat them up before I leave to Indiana tomorrow to visit my friend Pauline. (I'm super excited!!!!)

I went to Dux in Tux 2 weeks ago (it's a charity dinner by the Anaheim Ducks). The meal started with a delicious duck hash. I wanted to make something similar to this because I have leftover duck and no dumplings. I also had a left over baked potato and some extra duck ju (fancy word for gravy). So I used all this to make the hash. Since I had everything as left overs, this dish took less then 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients: (serves 1)
1/4 duck, meat removed from bones and cut into bite size chunks
2-3 T of duck ju
1 baked potato chopped into bite size pieces
1 T caramalized onions
1-2 t butter

Directions:
1. Melt butter in pan and add potatoes. Allow to cook for 5 minutes until mostly done.

2. Add duck and onions into pan and heat for 2-4 minutes until duck is warm.

3. Add Ju right before serving and let cook for 15 seconds. Put on a plate immediately and enjoy.

Fajitas

I was in a mexican food mood tonight so I decided to make fajitas because they are quick cooking. Random Fact of the day: Did you know fajitas literally means skirt steak and doesn't refer to the cooking method. When you have chicken or shrimp fajitas they're technically not fajitas. Weird right?

When I went to the store today they didn't have skirt steak which was my original goal but I found marinated carne asada. The flavor was really delicious when cooked but if your store doesn't have any go with the skirt steak. Rub steak with canola oil and season with salt, pepper, and some lime juice.

There are lots of different sides for this dish. Feel free to make anything that sounds good to you. Some suggestions: salsa, grilled onions and peppers (below), Avocado Crema (recipe in left over green tacos post), beans, rice, cheese, and lettuce.

Jerry's comments on the night, per his request "making up his own rating system out of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) '4 because it was very good". I asked him why it wasn't a 5 and he replied "excellent has to be a very hard complicated meal". Haha I love people's input! I'll have to think of something really fancy to whip up next time I feed him.

Ingredients: (this amount serves 2 people)
1 1/2 lbs carne asada or skirt steak
2 onions, sweet onions are better (look for sweet in name at store) but regular onions are fine
1 bell pepper (any color)
1 bag mexican cheese blend
1 14 oz can refried beans
Corn Tortillas

Directions:
1. pull meat out of fridge 20- 30 minutes before cooking.

2. Slice onions and bell pepper (seeds and ribs removed) very thin. Place in a pan with canola oil over medium high heat. Continue stirring ever few minutes until onions are caramelized and peppers are cooked.

3. Make any sides dishes like salsa, avocado crema, grate cheese, and shred lettuce.

4. Place meat on a really hot skillet greased with a little canola oil. Don't move the meat once it's down. Allow to sit, untouched!, for 4-5 minutes. there should be a nice crust. Flip beef over and allow to cook about 4 minutes. Once finished set aside on a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let rest for a minimum of 5 minutes.

5. Heat up refried beans in a pan. These are already seasoned but I add a dash of the following to add more flavor. This is totally optional- salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, oregano, and smoked paprika.

6. Slice up beef. There are natural lines in the beef. Cut PERPENDICULAR to these. Make thin slices and if they are too long cut in half or thirds. You want these pieces to be just a little bigger then bit size. Toss in juices that have collected during resting.

7. The last step is to wrap up some tortillas in a cloth dish towel and heat in the microwave for about a minute.

8. Set the table with all the sides, meat, and tortillas and allow everybody to make whatever fajita they want!

Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce

This is to meet a challenge I gave myself. I asked my sis and aunt (hey ladies!) who are sort of picky eaters for various reasons to give me some rules to try to use but still make a delicious meal. Aunt Liz said "I have two major issues I have to work around one is allergies to most spices, seasonings, marinades, anything like that...and the other is my jaw, so I have to a soft diet....not very exciting." Beth requested "let's try a meal that only has food items that start with consonants because I have a mini phobia of vowels. Go!" And if these challenges weren't hard enough already, I decided to combine them. The taste of gnocchi is like a cloud made of a mix between potato and pasta. It's really hard to describe but try it for yourself and find out! Since this challenge was to keep it "bland" I used a simple butter sauce to finish the dish. If I make this again I'm going to use a much more bold sauce, something tomatoe-y and spicy.

Ingredients:
1 pound of russet potatoes, baked in oven till done (i used leftover baked potatoes from a pervious dinner)
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 huevo (egg in spanish. I know it's cheating a little but come on this was really hard! haha)
1 pinch of salt

Sage Butter Sauce:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into chunks
8 sage leaves

Directions:
1. Bake potatoes. Allow to cool slightly then peel off skin and pass through a food mill. If you don't have a food mill (i don't have one either) grate potato with a large grater. Be gentle and this will work.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil and prepare an ice bath (a bowl of water with lots of ice in it)

3. Make a well in center of potatoes and sprinkle all over with flour, using all the flour. Place egg and salt in center of well and using a fork, stir into flour and potatoes, just like making normal pasta.

4. Once egg is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to the touch.

5. Divide dough into quarters and roll on a floured board into long snakes. Cut into 1 inch pieces. Flick pieces off a fork to make indentations in the gnocchi.

6. Place into boiling water and cook until they float, about a minute. Then immediately place into the ice bath and allow to cool for a few minutes.

7. While gnocchi cook make butter sauce. Melt butter in a pan. Add sage and allow to simmer together for about 3 minutes over low heat.

8. Remove sage leaves and add gnocchi to pan. Toss together for a minute over low heat until gnocchi are heated through.

9. Pile into a bowl and top with a little Parmesan cheese.

Roast Duck and Dumplings

Since this is my 30th recipe posted (I can't believe I got this far either)I decided to make something really special, duck and dumplings. This is a dish that we have on thanksgiving. This year we won't sadly, it'll have to wait till that Friday. I really wanted to practice this dish before thanksgiving and it's finally colder outside so this is just the perfect time to make it.

You'll notice in the pic of my plate that it's a bit messy. I had been waiting to take a bite of that plate for like a week and I couldn't be bothered with wasting another second on a picture, hey at least I took one haha.

I invited my friends over to eat the ducks with me because if there aren't other people there to eat it, I'll eat the whole thing myself. Not good. One of my favorite quotes of the night comes from my friend Axel (sick name right?) "You know the Master Cheif in Halo? your like the Master Chef" haha thanks man. I really like that. It relates 2 of my favorite things, halo and cooking. This meal is a great excuse to get a bunch of people together. I love when two diff groups of friends meet and it works out and they like each other.

The duck takes a while, so be prepared for that. Total it takes about 2- 2 1/2 hours to roast. But you will be rewarded with your house smelling amazing. Of course this could have a negative effect by making you hungry. But that's one of the good things about being the cook. You get to eat as you go cuz you need to "taste" haha.

Ingredients:
3.5 lbs duck (I usually serve a quarter duck per person so figure out how much you need. And I suggest rounding up because it's really good and it's just as easy to make one as a few)
Caraway Seeds
Onion
Salt

Dumplings: (makes about 40 dumplings)
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3 cups flour
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
4 1/2 slices of bread, cubed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Clean duck by removing innards and any excess skin or fat. Cover inside and out with lots of salt and caraway seeds.

3. Place onion, roughly chopped, into the duck cavity.

4. Place duck in a large roasting pan on a rack breast side up. (if you don't have a rack do what I did. Get a bag of onions and slice them into 1 1/2 inch rounds. Spread around the bottom of the pan so they form a base so duck doesn't sit directly in water. if you leave onion skins on you will get a dark gravy)

5. Pour 1 inch of water into the bottom of the pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil and place in oven for about 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 30 min.

6. Heat oven to 425 and uncover pan. Cook duck another hour or until skin is crispy and golden brown. (if using a thermometer, when duck hits about 212 degrees)

7. While duck skin is crisping make the dumplings.

Dumplings:

8. Beat eggs with a fork in a bowl. Add milk.

9. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl. Normally I wouldn't bother sifting but this makes the final dumplings lighter. Mix together

10. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

11. Now it's time to "knead" Start from one edge of the bowl with a wooden spoon. Put spoon into dough a inch from side of pan. Bring toward you, move over horizontally a spoon length and do the same thing. Repeat this over and over, using the spoon to add air to the dough, until you reach the other side of the pan. Turn pan and continue. You can't really over work this dough so do more then you think you need to. Bubbles should form within the dough. This will take some time but your patience will be rewarded.

12. Add bread cubes and fold until dough is combined.

13. cut dough into thirds on a floured cutting board. Use extra flour to roll sticky cut edges in. Make cuts as even as possible.

14. Place into boiling water. Cook 10 minutes then rotate dough 180 degrees and cook for another 10 minutes.

15. Cut dumplings into 1/2 inch slices. Place in a serving bowl and cover with a dish towel to keep warm.

16. Once the Duck skin is crispy, pull it out of the oven and let it rest, covered for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can roast the ducks ahead of time. Do everything the exact same except hold off on making the dumplings until serving time. Then heat up the duck in a 275 oven for about 10 minutes or until warm.

To make gravy/juices. Pour liquid from roasting pan into a gravy separator. The brown juices are the duck while the fat will sit on top. Skim some of the fat off and serve juices. Pour these over the dumplings and duck and it adds a ton of flavor!

I wanted to make some extra gravy for my leftovers. Here's what I did. Add more water to roasting pan that still has onion inside. Throw in the duck spines that have been cut from quarters into pan. Allow everything to mingle over low heat until liquid inside pan has color. Then strain liquid and allow it to separate before refrigerating.

It may take a little patience and practice but I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as I do!

Buttermilk Biscuits

I made this recipe because I had extra buttermilk from the chicken tender recipe and I want to use it up. It's weird that you can't buy less then a quart of it at a time, at least in my grocery store. This is a great side dish if you have the time for it. Everyone loves a fresh baked biscuit. My favorite biscuit of all time is the biscuit they serve at the fried chicken restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm. We used to steal dozens of those biscuits and eat them in the lines for rides.

Ingredients:
4 cups of AP flour
1 T salt
1 T baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 cup butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 to 2 cups of buttermilk, additional for brushing

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your hands or a stand mixer fixed with a dough hook or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Make a well in the center and add 1 cup buttermilk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. You may need to add more buttermilk.

5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Press the dough out to 1 1/2-inches thick and cut with a floured 3-inch biscuit cutter.

6. Lay the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with buttermilk. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Serve for dinner with some butter or serve for breakfast with your favorite jam or jelly.

Steak and Potatoes

I'm a steak and potatoes kind of girl. Whether it's rib-eye, new york strip, or filet mignon I'll eat it all! And who doesn't love potatoes? baked, mashed, fried, sauteed, grated, the list goes on and on. I love the simplicity of this dish and the satisfaction you get after eating a good steak.

At the store I found some good thin rib-eyes. Get whatever looks best or has the best price that day. You want the beef to be a bright red and no blood should be pooled at the bottom of the packaging. It's always a good idea to be friendly to the meat guy because friends don't let friends buy crap.

If you don't have a ton of time to cook the potatoes, you can start them in the microwave. Poke them with a fork and put in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Then finish in the oven for about a half hour to get that delicious baked taste.

Want to make this meal extra fancy? Make a gravy! While the steaks rest add 1/2 cup beef stock and 1/2 cup red wine into pan you cooked steak in. Scrap up all brown bits on the bottom of the pan and let liquid reduce by 1/4. Add 1/3 cup of cream and allow to cook 2 more minutes. Pour over steak when ready to serve. I was lazy and didn't do this but it adds a lot of flavor.

Ingredients:
Steak 1 per person
Russet potato 1 per person
salt and pepper
steak/grill seasoning if you have it
butter
olive oil

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 350-375

2. Wash russet potatoes and poke with a fork. If you don't do this they will explode in the oven so POKE THEM WITH A FORK!!!

3. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Cover outside in olive oil and salt.

4. Place in oven and cook for about an hour to hour and a half depending on size. They're done when you can really easily insert a knife into the potato and feel no resistance.

5. When potatoes are about 1/3 done pull the meat out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temp. A cold steak and a hot pan are not friends, so don't make them meet!

6. When potatoes are very close to done lower oven temp to 200 degrees and season steaks with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grill/steak seasoning.

7. Using a really hot heavy skillet or cast iron pan place steaks down for about 3 minutes. Don't touch the steaks. Let them form a crust. This step will probably cause a lot of smoke so turn on the ventilation and open a window.

8. Flip steak over and let cook for another 2 minutes. Put a pat of butter on top of each steak and place pan into oven and allow to finish for 4 to 5 minutes for medium rare.

9. Remove steak from pan and place on a plate. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for a minimum of 5 minutes. You have to let the meat rest so the juices can redistribute. The steak will still be hot and even more delicious.

10. Serve steak and potatoes together on a plate. Feel free to add other veggies like mushrooms and onions, broccoli, green beans, squash, anything that sounds good to you. Adding lots of sides can stretch your steak and make everyone feel much fuller.

Chocolate Taffy - a catastrophe

Chocolate taffy is basically a tootsie roll. Since it was halloween I thought I'd try and make some candy for the first time. It was a disaster, literally a disaster. Let me tell you what happened. Things started off well. I had all the ingredients in a saucepan coming to a boil using a heat diffuser. (a heat diffuser just makes sure your pan gets even heat. I used a cast iron skillet on the fire and put my saucepan inside of it. Cast iron is good at even heat since it's so thick and sturdy.)

I turned my back on the candy for one second and it boiled over. I quickly turned down the heat but the boil-over added to my clean-up later. Then my thermometer was telling me it was heating very slowly and it took almost an hour for it to come up to temp. Then when I poured it onto a cookie sheet to cool I could smell burning and some was burnt to the bottom of the pan. As I pulled the taffy I realized it was too hard and that I had over cooked it. I was forced to throw it away and then start on the 30 minutes it took to get the residue candy out of the pan.

If your interested in the recipe you can go to foodnetwork.com and look up alton brown's chocolate taffy. I'm so mad at this candy that I'm not even going to bother posting it. I may try it again one day when I have a candy thermometer. I think the thermometer didn't get accurate readings and hopefully I won't overcook it again.