French Onion Soup

With fall and winter just around the corner, it's also time to think about making some soup. French Onion soup is one of those comfort soups that we enjoy at my house. 

Kaiser Rolls

INGREDIENTS

2   med                Onions (diced or sliced)

3   tbsp                Butter

1   clove              Garlic (minced)

4   14.5 oz cans   Beef Broth*

6   oz.                  Water (boiling)

1   tbsp.               Beef bullion

1/2 tsp.                Onion Powder

1 tsp.                   Worcestershire Sauce

2 whole               Kaiser Rolls (broken into pieces)

3/4 cup                Romano Cheese (thick grated) see below

optional               Sherry 
NOTE: Any beef broth you choose will work with this recipe. Homemade will make it even better. 

Sliced Onions

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft and caramelized (about 15-20 minutes). Sprinkle the onion powder over the onions and mix well. While the onions are cooking, heat the water in a saucepan, or microwave until boiling hot. Stir in 1 beef bullion cube until dissolved. Add this broth to the onions, followed by the cans of beef broth. Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and stir in the Worchestershire sauce.

Saute Onions Beef Broth

Pour the soup into a dutch oven, or individual oven proof crock bowls (recommended), leaving about 1/2 inch from the top. Set these onto a baking sheet to catch any spills while baking. If serving from the pot or bowls, add the Kaiser rolls, torn into 3/4” Pieces and cover. Place into a preheated 325°F oven for 20 minutes.

Add beef broth in serving crocks

Remove the pot(s) from the oven, sprinkle each with freshly grated Romano, Parmesan, Gruyere, or sliced Munster, and broil until bubbly and golden brown (3 to 5 minutes). To serve the soup, ladle the soup in bowls, or use the individual baking pots. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Add Kaiser pieces to bowl

Add Cheese

Bake and Enjoy

 This is really what I call comfort food. You can make this your own by changing the cheese to Munster, Swiss, Gouda, or any cheese you prefer. 

© TMelle 1998-2011

I’ve been forbidden

By my wife from entering upon the premises alone of Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Le Gourmet Chef, or my personal favorite Sur la table. The second person is apparently supposed to keep me from actually buying anything while in these stores. Apparently she thinks this is like letting a child loose in a candy store. One of my daughters often will go with me as that voice of reason. With her along it is much like sending the wolf to watch the chicken coop.

Professional Grill Griddle

Now I know that what is inside isn’t what my mother would have used and probably can’t be called “old school,” but it does have that warm and fuzzy feeling. As I said earlier I have worked as a short order cook in my younger years. Last summer I received an email from Sur la table (surlatable.com) featuring a stainless steel professional grill griddle that fits on the top of your outdoor grill. The griddle turns your gas grill into a flat-top griddle that allows you to cook many things just like a real short order cook. I just had to have it.

Serious griddle cooking time griddle temp approx. 350 °F 

In this case I had to go to the store to see it before actually buying it. I went to the store with my wife in tow and when I saw it, instead of getting excited with me she said, “why do I need that?” “Because I’m writing a cook book and also a cooking blog, and brings back fond memories of my earlier cooking years.” If that wasn’t enough to seal the deal, it was also on sale! Now this is something my wife can understand.

Place sliders on a  hot grill

So I bought the griddle top, brought it home and placed it in the closet with my other gourmet treasures and left it there for over one year. Finally as my wife was cleaning she found it and asked “what do I do with this grill top that you just had to have?” OMG am I turning into a gourmet tool hoarder? I told her to leave it out and I would use it this Labor Day weekend, just after I finished with Lobsterpalooza (see 9-7-11 post).

Start flipping sliders over

You’re probably wondering what can you cook on an outdoor griddle? Anything! Fried eggs, poached eggs, hash browns, corned beef hash, roast beef hash, eggs-in-the-nest, pancakes, potato pancakes, French toast, hamburgers, hot dogs and many other things. With this griddle it is possible to duplicate the Japanese style of cooking called “Teppanyaki style” cooking. If you’ve ever had a chance to visit Ron of Japan, or Benihana you know what I’m talking about. 

Add bratwurst to grill

If you have a Wok at home then you probably have a dome shaped lid to put over it to steam vegetables. This dome lid is a critical tool when mastering the flat top griddle. You can actually poach an egg by frying the first side until half way to sunny side up eggs. Take a shot glass with 1/2 ounce of water in it. With the domed lid in one hand pour the water just over the egg and immediately cover with the dome. Depending how you like your poached eggs cook with dome on for about 30 seconds or less until the egg is poached.  This water method also works for melting cheese.

To get going you need to place the griddle on the gas grill and close the lid until the temperature reaches 350°F. At this time shut off the burners directly under half of the griddle leaving the burners on the other half to the on position.

 

 

 

Pâte à choux  Lobster Puffs

Every time you take the time to cook outdoors you're just going to get hungry. As I mentioned in my last post, if you have any leftover lobster, you better make some lobster dip. Then go to the freezer where you should always have a supply of "Pâte à choux" on hand for just this reason. Pâte à choux dough is the same dough used for eclairs, cream puffs, profiteroles, and make a nice appetizer with savory fillings.

Teppanyaki style vegetables

Teppanyaki style shrimp

As you can see this grill griddle could be used to recreate your favorite Japanese restaurant at home in your backyard and on your grill. Look for a future post where I will experiment with Teppanyaki style cooking. Until then does anyone know how to make the egg sauce that they put on the shrimp.

Teppanyaki style shrimp with egg sauce

Yes all of this and more is possible with a flat top griddle. Don't forget that playing with fire should be left to professionals.

Teppanyaki style shrimp on fire

Now go get your griddle on! If you're looking for recipes just send me an email and I'll try to accomodate your request. tmelle606@gmail.com

© TMelle 1998-2011

Lobster Palooza

5-6 pound lobster

Lobster and seaweed

I have to admit that while I have eaten whole lobsters, I have never actually cooked them before. My family told me that I did make them before, but I don't remember this. This week our local family owned grocery store chain celebrated "Lobsterpaloza." To celebrate this year they were offering live 1-1/4 pound Maine lobsters, flown in fresh, or fully cooked lobsters for $10.99 each.

Boil Salted Water

One of my daughters just graduated from a culinary program at Kendall College with a Personal Chef and Catering certificate. I decided right then and there that this year it was time to man-up and cook my very first (or second) whole lobster, with my daughter's help of course. I placed an order for five whole lobsters. 

Drop them in

The following day I arrived at the fish department to pick up my lobsters. In the fish case they had a live 5 or 6 pound lobster just calling to me. I was handed a wine box with 5 whole lobsters and seaweed in it. 

Lobster cooking

I placed the box on the conveyer belt as it proceeded on its way to the cashier. She asked if there was anything in the box and I pointed to the tag and bar code on the top of the box. As she started to turn the box over to scan the bar code I advised her that she was about to dump the live lobsters and seaweed onto her conveyor belt. "They're alive? She asked jumping back from the box. 

Nine minutes later

Cool enough to handle

Once at home we started a pot of Kosher salted water on the side burner of the grill until came to a full rolling boil. Now the moment of truth came and we dropped them into the water and covered the pot. The fishmonger said it would take 12 to 15 minutes to cook. That seemed like a very long time, but we followed his instructions to the letter. In actuality the time was wrong and 9 minutes would have worked better. We removed the lobsters from the pot to the cold grill top and allowed them to cool enough to handle.  

Ready to process

Lobster tail section removed

Lobster tails

Lobster claws and legs removed

September through October is the time to get lobster. Maine has declared October to be Lobster Month. How did "lobsterpaooza" get started anyway.For more information visit the Maine Lobster Council website at http://www.lobsterfrommaine.com

Crack shells and remove meat from claws

Serve lobster with garlic mashed and melted butter

So what do you do with all of the left-overs? I know what you're thinking... What left-over's. Plan for it. Just from the claw and leg meat you can make a New England style lobster roll, or lobster dip.

Chopped lobster

New England Lobster Roll

In an earlier post about lobster I said that I would tell you what my favorite lobster was. I think that Australian Rock Lobster tails are the best. This is what they served at Weller's, our favorite seafood restaurant in the 60"s.

Steamed and then broiled lobster tail

 Finally, I really don't like to see how my dinner got to the plate.  Cooking a whole lobster is not for the faint of heart, so I would suggest buying frozen lobster tails

© TMelle 1998-2011

Farmer's Market

Mirai (ME-rye)

I can believe that it is almost September already, summer is rapidly coming to an end, and fall is just around the corner. We are also nearing the end of the local corn harvest. I just love corn, any corn, and can eat it all summer long. In the fall and winter it's corn chowder that I crave.

Start Husking

This year my wife brought home a hybrid corn called "Mirai®" (pronounced ME-rye). She cut off a piece and offered it to me raw. This is how the farmer selling the corn was sampling it to customers. While I prefer cooked corn, I just had to try it. It was not only sweet and juicy, it could be eaten raw in a pinch. The farmer was from Twin Garden Farms in Harvard, Illinois. If you live in Illinois go to their website at http://www.twingardenfarms.com. The corn was developed  right here in Illinois.The seed was introduced to Japan where there is a tradition of seeking out quality food and they named it Mirai®. In Japanese this means “taste of the future”. Find it and try it. To find out more go to (http://www.miraicorn.com/some)

Ready to blanch

I love to have fresh frozen corn on hand for the fall and winter so I buy more than I need, blanch it, and freeze it in zip-lock freezer bags. This is a messy job so if you can do it outdoors I would suggest it. While you're working on the corn you're going to get hungry so throw some hot dogs, bratwurst and hamburgers on the grill.

If you have a side burner on your grill bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the corn. Turn off the gas, cover the pot and allow to sit for 3 minutes.  
Remove the pot from the burner, dump the hot water and add cold water to stop the corn from cooking any more. If you have a OXO brand corn stripper it takes no time to remove the corn kernels from the cobb.  I call it a corn mouse because it looks like a computer mouse.

Once the corn has been stripped off of the cob. Put 3-4 cups in a quart size freezer bag. Make sure all of the air is out of the bag before freezing it. Now the the work is done, just pull out a bag of corn whenever the warm and fuzzy mood hits you. 

Did someone mention corn chowder? How about lobster or crab and corn chowder? Please send me your recipe.

© Tmelle 1998-2011

Going rogue in the kitchen

Lobster Tail

Here we go again with this year’s version of who’s in and who’s out. I think we need a whole new way of picking candidates. We should poll each candidate, whether in or not sure if they’re in. The poll could be simple:

What is your favorite food?

What does warm and fuzzy mean to you?  

What do you think comfort food is?

Should you buy your own groceries while in office?

Define quality family time?

How much money should a family of 4 spend each day on dinner?

Do you think that politicians should pay into Social Security and get the same benefits American taxpayers get?

Should government healthcare and pension plans be abolished?

Is paid in Social Security a benefit, or a handout?
How do you feel about cutting benefits to senior citizens?

Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes

Depending on the answers to these questions, politicians could give some insight into their understanding of problems facing real American people.   

As children of the 50’s and 60’s, or as I like to call it “the Ozzie and Harriet years,” for the most part, our mom didn’t work outside of the home. She was running a household with a husband and five children. There were no “Soccer Mom’s at that time. Maverick, Bret and Bart were characters in a TV show and never candidates for the President and Vice President. 

Poor Man's Lobster

Going rogue in the kitchen meant making a dinner from scratch without a recipe, only using leftover ingredients in the refrigerator, or minimal store bought ingredients, while staying strictly in the weekly budget. No money left... no food. Hey why doesn't our government do that?

I’ll vote for someone who eats meatloaf and mashed potatoes, over someone who can afford to eat filet mignon, porterhouse steaks lobster, king crab, or caviar every day. 

Don't watch the campaign during dinner. It's bad for your digestion. 

© Tmelle 1998-2011

Cannibal Burger a.k.a. Steak Tartare

While working on my Mom’s recipes, I suddenly realized that I had to include her recipe for “Cannibal Burger.” My father and his family just loved this raw meat appetizer. Later in life while on the road, I discovered “Steak Tartare.” The only difference between the two was that the “Steak Tartare” was made with tenderloin and “Cannibal Burger” was made in our house with round steak

Today, eating raw meat or uncooked eggs is a risky idea and should be avoided. I’m talking the 1960s and early 1970s when almost every grocer had a butcher on- site. The meat was from the local stockyards (Chicago) and about as fresh as you could get anywhere in the country. 

 To complete Mom’s recipe, I had to actually make the “Cannibal Burger” so that I could take pictures of the recipe process. This was one of those bottom of the pile recipes that just kept coming to the top. Now at that time, I had become a big fan of Jaime Oliver and his “Food Revolution” TV series and had just seen an episode on something called “Pink Slime.” After watching this show, the chances of me actually eating Mom’s “Cannibal Burger” were dwindling fast. 

I decided to do some research on the subject. Just type in the words “pink slime” into your web browser and you will be amazed. Better yet, go to Jaime Oliver’s site and sign up for his Food Revolution if you care about the food we eat, or our children eat. I did!         

http://www.jamieoliver.com/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/

As I said before, in the good old day’s butchers would trim and pack meat all day at their stores. At the end of the day they would make ground beef, hamburgers, mock chicken legs, and chopped sirloin steaks. It was amazing that the ground meat flavor was better on some days than on others. The butchers might be cutting Porterhouse, T-Bone’s, or Strip Steaks on one day, and less expensive cuts another. Often butchers would tell customers that they had some “really great hamburger today” and they were right. On other days they might be trimming less flavorful cuts and you could taste it in the ground beef. 

I decided to talk to some local butchers to find out where, oh where their ground beef came from, or if they knew what additives, if any, were in it. I asked one local butcher from a large grocery chain if the ground beef or sirloin was made in-house, or if it came in from outside sources. To my amazement he took me to the refrigerated case and picked up a package of ground sirloin. The sirloin was on a more expensive white plastic tray. That means the meat is from an outside source. He picked up another tray and the meat was on a foam tray. He told me that this ground sirloin was made from trimmings that they made in house. I asked one simple question— “Which one would you eat?” He threw the expensively packed sirloin back into the case and handed me the in-house made sirloin.

I couldn’t stop there. I called our local, family owned small grocery chain and spoke directly with the butcher. I told him that I was making Steak Tartare and wanted to know where their ground meat came from. His answer, “we make it ourselves.” I asked if he would eat raw meat from his store and was told yes. He did however go on to tell me how much raw meat they sold for this purpose when Steak Tartare was fashionable, and considered safe to eat. Now the disclaimer was that to limit the possibility of getting sick, I should call them in the morning and they would cut it and grind it fresh. I had decided!

My Dad would go to the butcher and pick out a great looking round steak, asked him to cut off all of the fat and grind it not once, not twice, but three times to get the proper consistency. Remember he wasn’t using tenderloin. He was making “Cannibal Burger,” or “Raw Dog.”

The next day I ordered the meat as directed and went to the store. I picked up some onions (I used scallions), pasteurized eggs (I wasn’t taking any chances), Rosen’s rye bread and finally the ice-cold meat. With my supplies in hand I went home to prepare Mom’s “Cannibal Burger.”

Before proceeding any further, I must tell you that when my Mom made this the adults just loved it. We watched as they consumed the raw meat, hoping they would not eat it all. Let me explain, if they didn't eat it all, Mom would spread butter on a slice of rye bread and then spread a thin layer of Tartare on top of the butter. The smear of butter kept the meat juices from sinking into the bread. She placed the Tartare on rye slices under the broiler and cooked them to medium rare. We just loved it this way. 

So, upon arriving at home, I placed the meat directly into the refrigerator and a mixing bowl into the freezer while I pre-prepped my ingredients. 

Kid size portions

I then called my wife to tell her what I was about to do and if for any reason I got sick, she would know what to tell the doctors in the ER if I had to go. After preparing the meat according to the recipe, I mounted the egg on top for the picture and added some capers. Mom mixed the egg into the meat and never on top, and I don’t think she ever had capers. I wanted a good photograph. When I sent the recipe to my sister for an edit she called and asked me if Mom ever put capers on the “Cannibal Burger.” With the pictures out of the way, I spread some butter on the rye bread, followed by some of the meat and finally more pepper. Throwing caution to the wind I took my first bite. I think today they say “OMG,” and it was. Not being completely reckless, I then buttered a second piece of rye, smeared some of the beef on it and placed it under the broiler. The butter acts as a barrier to keep the raw beef juice from saturating the bread. This is the memory I was looking for. A small taste of my childhood. Today I think that I would serve it broiled as an appetizer. 
Much to my amazement many restaurants still serve Tartare today. Mostly they serve Tuna Tartare, but some still serve Steak Tartare.  
ENJOY!

© Tmelle 1998-2011