I've decided to determine the length of my blog posts by the beauty of the recipe displayed therein. It's a very logical system. If a recipe produces a batch of stunningly beautiful photos, then I'll write a long, wordy post (including gratuitous name-dropping and self-serving anecdotes) to give the reader plenty of time to soak it all in.
However, if the recipe looks like this Sausage, Potato, and Zucchini Stew, then the shorter the post, the better – a couple of short sentences and on to the video. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but not in this case. Visually, this is truly dreadful. It's a good thing this vegetable stew is so easy, nutritious, and delicious!
I used a spicy, garlicky andouille sausage here, but any spicy link will do. We've covered the glut of late summer zucchini before on this blog, and this is another great remedy. Well, I've subjected you to this grotesque image long enough, so I'll mercifully end the post. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound spicy smoked sausage 1 onion, chopped 6 zucchini, cut in 2-inch pieces 1 1/2 pound small Yukon gold potatoes, cut same size as zucchini 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth water as needed salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 bay leaf few springs of fresh thyme 1 tablespoon sliced fresh chives (and/or any fresh herb) handful of "sweet 100" cherry tomatoes *some crusty bread wouldn't be a bad idea
This was originally posted last March, but since I don't have a new video to show today, I decided to rerun this great stew recipe in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy!
Hey guys, if your cooking dinner for that special someone on St. Patrick's Day, I'd go with this sexy stew over the more traditional corned beef and cabbage. I love both dishes, but boiled cabbage is more of a married couples thing.
Irish stew is a much more date-friendy recipe. You can sit and relax while this aromatic stew simmers, and won't have to worry about saying things like, "by the way, that's the cabbage."
Pay attention to the cut of lamb used in this video recipe. I used lamb shoulder chops, which are a fantastic value, when you consider flavor, useable meat, and price.
They will probably be the cheapest lamb at the store, have more flavor and richness than leg meat, and are cheaper than shanks and loins. It takes a while for the meat to braise and fall off the bone, but it's a wait rewarded with tender, succulent chucks of lamb.
I'd like to apologize to all the Irish dark beer fans that will undoubtedly be disappointed that I didn't add the obligatory bottle of Guinness. I kind of prefer my Irish stew without the stout, although I will admit it does add an interesting flavor component that many swear by. Also, since I don't drink dark beer, so I always feel bad breaking up a six-pack to just buy the one bottle. The cashier always gives me that, "what's this guy's deal?" look. Yes, I have issues.
I received an email complaining that my corned beef video could have benefited from some Irish music, so I splurged and purchased a Chieftains medley called, O Murchu' Hornpipe/Sliabh Geal gCua na Feile/The Wandering Minstrel. Whatever Irish folk music lacks in commercial viability, it totally makes up for in song title length. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 3 lbs lamb shoulder 1 onion, chopped 2 rib celery, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 2 tbsp flour 1 tbsp butter 1/2 tsp dried rosemary 3 cups chicken stock (or sub 1 bottle dark beer plus 1 1/2 cups stock) water as needed 1 1/2 lbs potatoes 1/4 cup chopped green onions
When you feel like splurging a little – maybe for that exclusive New Year's Eve party you're putting together – San Francisco's famous Cioppino is a great choice.
This spicy fish and shellfish stew is a big red bowl of yummy, and when paired with a loaf of crusty sourdough bread, it's downright otherworldly.
There are as many versions for Cioppino as there are tourist traps on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf (if you're visiting our city, you've been warned…do not waste your money on an expensive meal down there!). Some versions use red wine, some white. Some feature a thin broth, while others are so thick you could stand your spoon up in it. They usually all have some type of crab and shrimp, but any and all combinations of seafood are used. As I say in the video, this is not the Cioppino recipe; it's a Cioppino recipe.
I've seriously never made it the same way twice, which is how a recipe like this should be treated. I want you to watch and learn the basic steps, but then go forth, adapt, and find your own expression of Cioppino bliss.
Any serious arguments in the comments as to what should, or should not, appear in a Cioppino will be met with the usual indignation. When it comes to Cioppino, there are two ways to make it – the way you make it, and the wrong way. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoon butter 1 rib celery, fine dice 1 onion, large dice 4-6 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups white wine 1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 can (28-oz) tomato puree, tomato sauce, or plum tomatoes crushed by hand 2 cups water, clam juice or fish stock, more as needed to adjust thickness 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste 5-6 thin slices of lemon 1 cooked Dungeness crab (about 2-lbs), cracked and cleaned, or 1-lb frozen crabmeat thawed 12 oz fresh cod, cut into 1-in pieces or any other white fish 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined 1 pound fresh mussels 1/2 cup chopped fresh herb (usually Italian parsley and/or basil, tarragon, or any combination)
This video recipe for Beef Shanks Braised in Three Onion Broth is the fourth in a series of videos I'm doing that focus on cooking various cuts of grass-fed beef.
These beautiful beef shanks came from Steve Normanton, and were everything you want a braised shank to be -- moist, tender, sticky, and comforting.
As I looked around for ideas on how to do these grass-fed beef shanks, I knew I was going to slowly braise them (really the only way to go), but I couldn't decide what exactly to braise them in. So many options, so little time.
I saw a few recipes that called for the shanks to be cooked in a broth made from instant onion soup packets. As much as the thought of taking these wonderfully wholesome, all-natural, grass-fed shanks and sticking them in a sodium-packed, MSG-laced, artificially flavored and colored, dry soup mix repulsed me, the idea of cooking them in a French onion soup sounded pretty good.
It was better than pretty good -- it was fantastic! The collagen-rich shanks broke down beautifully and the combination of those succulent chucks of meat, sweet melted onions, buttery marrow, and rich aromatic sauce over the soft polenta, made for a very impressive bowl of food.
As I mention in the video, beef shanks are like a two-for-one deal. Not only do you get the marvelous meat, but you also get one marrowbone per shank! If you've never had beef marrow before, do yourself a favor and get some beef shanks and make this recipe.
Thanks to Steve Normanton as usual for providing such great beef to work with. By the way, those of you who want to cook with grass-fed beef, but don't like it medium-rare, should give this beef shank recipe a try -- it's basically impossible for the dish not to be delicious. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 tbsp vegetable oil 4 beef shanks (about 1 1/2-inch thick) 3 large onions 1 bay leave 6 springs thyme 3 cloves garlic, chopped 2 sprigs rosemary 1/2 cup diced carrot 1/2 cup diced celery salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 2 cups beef broth chives to garnish
It's almost St. Patrick's Day, and for many that means boiling up a nice authentic Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage. The funny thing is, it's not that Irish. How it came to be such an icon of Irish-American cuisine is not completely clear, but it goes a little something like this.
When Irish immigrants, fleeing the great potato famines, arrived in the Northeast they couldn’t find, or afford, the traditional cuts of meat used for their beloved braised dinner. The original Irish recipe actually used a type of lean bacon, made with a cut of pork similar to Canadian bacon.
Corned beef came into the picture as a lower-cost substitution, to replace the more expensive and harder to find cut. But, why corned beef? New York's early immigrant populations lived in very crowded neighborhoods, and there was a close proximity between the Irish and Jewish communities.
If there is one thing that history has taught us (besides, do unto others as you would have them do unto you), it's two ethnic groups living close to each other will always borrow from each other's culinary traditions. This is a common theme in many of the world's greatest recipes - the just posted Pork al Pastor was a perfect example.
By the way, I make a couple drinking jokes in the video, but I feel entitled since many of my closest friends and relatives have very deep Irish roots, and it's all meant in good fun.
I actually think it's terribly unfair that so many people believe the stereotype that all Irish people are heavy drinkers. It's just not true - I know hundreds of Irish folks, and several of them don't have a drinking problem. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 4-5 pound corned beef spice packet 3 quarts water 1 onion, quartered 3 carrots, cut in large chunks 3 ribs celery, cut in 2-inch pieces 1 tsp salt 2 pounds red potatoes 1 small green cabbage, cut in 8ths hot mustard and rye bread
For many years hearing the word, "curry" was like fingernails on my culinary chalkboard. Where I'm from, "curry" meant a thick, greasy, bright yellow sauce made with copious amount of turmeric, covering chunks of mystery meat. I know, as good as that sounds, I still didn’t like it.
All through culinary school, and on into my early career in California, even the smell of turmeric made me cringe. It was my Kryptonite.
As the years went by, and my culinary horizons expanded, so did my understanding and appreciation of curries. I learned that the horrible yellow curry from my youth wasn't even really a true curry, and that curries came in almost every color, from countries all over Asia.
My favorite curries today are definitely the Thai red and green curries. Even though it's one of my older, and cruder productions, the Red Curry Beef Stew is still one of my favorite video recipes on the blog.
This green curry chicken recipe was filmed for About.com's Thai site and I was very happy with the results. As usual I take a few shortcuts to make this amazing dish accessible to the average American home cook, but the soul of the dish remains intact.
Traditionally, green curries are considered the "hottest" of all the Thai curries, and as you'll see in the video, the green curry paste, which is the base of the dish, is quite an intense formula.
Having said that, there's plenty of flexibility with how hot you decide to make it, although it should, at the very least, produce a little sweat (along with the accompanying endorphin rush). Enjoy!
Video Player Note: About.com no longer allows videos to be embedded off their site. So, to watch these clips just click on the graphic below and off you go. Just, don't forget to come back!
This white chili video recipe was inspired by a cup of spicy chicken and white bean soup I had during my recent trip back east.
I love chilis (yes, that's how you spell it) of all shades and spices. While beef is most familiar to my chili kettle, pork, turkey, and even lamb do make the occasional appearance. But, what about chicken?
I rarely think of using chicken, so I was glad that cup of soup came along to remind me how great a chili, chicken can make - if you stay away from the horrible ground stuff. For me, chicken makes for a very poor ground meat. It's too lean, too dry, too chalky, and too "I wish this was ground chuck."
The key here is chicken thighs - moist, shapely, boneless-skinless chicken thighs. The difference they make in taste and texture is significant.
By the way, don't substitute chicken breasts. In my opinion, the small amount of fat savings are not worth the step-down in flavor. Enjoy!
Watch this recipe on your IPod! You can now download these delicious video onto your iPod! Think of the convenience of having the recipes at your fingertips. Only $2.50 to own this recipe video, and help support free video recipes online.
Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper 2 tbsp ground cumin 1 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper cayenne pepper to taste 1 red bell pepper, seeded, diced 1 green bell pepper, seeded, diced 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, diced 1 can (10-ounce) diced tomato with green chilies 4 cups chicken broth 2 (15 ounce) great northern, or navy beans, drained chopped fresh cilantro to garnish, optional Other Super Cool Chili Recipes: Spicy Three-Bean Chili Chicken Chili Verde Turkey Chili
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I've decided to determine the length of my blog posts by the beauty of the recipe displayed therein. It's a very logical system. If a recipe produces a batch of stunningly beautiful photos, then I'll write a long, wordy post (including gratuitous name-dropping and self-serving anecdotes) to give the reader plenty of time to soak it all in.
