Turkey Tetrazzini

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is time for leftovers.  And, for me, the best of the best is Mary Ann's Turkey Tetrazzini.  I am not a lover of casseroles, but I could consume a full dish is this stuff at any time of year.  This recipe serves 6 people unless I am invited at which point it serves me and a friend.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup butter
2. 1/4 cup Gold Metal Flour
3. 1/2 teas. salt
4. 1/4 teas. pepper
5. 1 cup chicken broth
6. 1 cup whipping cream
7. 2 TB Sherry
8. 1 package (7 oz.) Angel Hair Pasta cooked and drained
9. 2 cups cubed, cooked turkey (you can substitute chicken for Chicken Tetrazzini)
10. 1 pound of fresh sliced mushrooms
11. 1/2 cup fresh graded Parmesan cheese

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat
3. Blend in flour and seasonings
4. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly
5. Remove from heat
6. Stir in broth and cream
7. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly
8. Boil and stir for 1 minute
9. Stir in wine, pasta, turkey and mushrooms
10. Pour mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole
11. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
12. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until bubbly
13. To brown, place briefly under broiler

Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder - Blue Mermaid Restaurant

John and Mary invited Mary Ann and I to join them at the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco for the final post season Giants game with the Phillies.  Downstairs is the Blue Mermaid Restaurant.  We were hungry and decided to visit the place and eat.  What we found was really really great.  Enjoy.


Nick Smith and chef Steve Connolly of The Blue Mermaid in San Francisco share the recipe for an amazing award winning California Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder recipe live from San Francisco's premier food and wine event, "SF Chefs. Food. Wine."

Award Winning California Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder
Awarded Three Times By The Schweppes Great Chowder Cook Off in the Creative Category
(Makes about 12 cups for a first course or 6-8 for a main course)

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces Applewood Smoked Bacon
• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1 cup corn
• 2 yellow onions, diced
• 1 Pasilla Chili, diced
• 1 Jalapeño Pepper, split in half, seeds removed
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
• ½ tsp. Chipotle powder
• 4 sprigs thyme, stem removed, leaves chopped
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 1 Quart Crab Stock
• 2 lbs. Kennebec potatoes, ½" diced
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 lb. fresh Dungeness crab meat
• 1 bunch cilantro, diced and chopped
• ½ cup olive oil

Procedure: Chowder

1. Over low heat, add smoked bacon to a 4 to 6 quart heavy pot. Slowly render the fat and then increase the heat to medium to make the bacon crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Leave about half the bacon fat in the pan.
2. Add the butter, and sauté the corn. After 4-6 minutes, remove the corn from the pan. Add the onions, sauté until translucent. Be careful not to brown, about 4-6 minutes. Add pasilla and sauté an additional 4-minutes, remove from the pan. Add celery, sauté 2-3 minutes. Then add garlic and continue to sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the onion, corn, pasilla and bacon to the celery. Add Old Bay, Chipotle powder, split Jalapeño pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Just barely cover the vegetables with crab stock and then add the diced Kennebec potatoes. Increase the heat to high and boil the potatoes vigorously for about 4 minutes. The goal is to soften the outside of the potato to help thicken the chowder, while keeping the potato al dente.
4. Add the heavy cream and cream cheese. Stir for two minutes and then remove from the heat. If you need to thicken the chowder a little more smash a few of the potatoes against the side of the pot.
5. Adjust the seasoning with salt and fresh white pepper. Remove the Jalapeño pepper before serving.

Mary Ann's Famous and Truly Delicious Flank Steak Marinade

My sweet girl, Mary Ann, has developed the best Flank Steak Marinade ever. People have been asking, so, here it is.  The recipe is for ONE steak.  So, if you plan on cooking two steaks, you should double the recipe.  For three, triple and so on and so on.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of Vegetable Oil
• 1/3 cup of Soy Sauce (can use regular or lite soy sauce)
• 1/3 cup of Sherry
• 1 clove finely minced Garlic
• 1/4 Teas. ground (found in jar at market) Ginger

Procedure (Recipe for one steak.  If you do more than one steak increase marinade according to the number of steaks)

• Score each steak crosscross on both sides.
• Combine all ingredients.   
• Put steaks in covered container and pour marinade over steaks.
• Refriderate at least two hours.  But, it is better if you marinade for a longer period including overnight.  The more you marinade, the more tender the meat.  Finally, turn steaks in container occassionally to work marinade into all surfaces of the meat.
• BBQ on high heat as follows: 4 minutes per side for rare, 5 minutes for medium and 6 minutes for well done.  Once cooked, let rest for 10 minutes before carving.  Please note, that beef cooks very, very fast once it hits temperature.  So, I normally cut into the steak (center of steak and across the grain) with a short paring knife at 8 total minutes of cooking.  If the steak looks cooked on the surface but good and rare in the middle, you are done.  As the meat rests, it is will continue to cook and the juices will also redistribute in the meat.    
• Finally, cut the steak across the grain in 1/4 inch and at a 45 degree angle to the cutting board.  

Rib-Eye Steak with Blue Cheese and Walla Walla Onion Rings

My friend, Hank Davis, introduced me to the Rib-Eye steak.  Go figure, being the rare (raw) beef guy that I am.  Just never tried that cut before meeting Hank.  I secured a great rub recipe from Weber's Charcoal Grilling book, developed by Mike McGrath.  This months issue of Bon Appetit, includes recipes from their choice of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants.  Included is a recipe from the Laurelhurst Market in Portland, Oregon.  I am posting the recipes from Laurelhurst Market, but also including the rub created my Mr. McGrath.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

1-pound rib-eye steaks (each about 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick).  Each large steak should serve two people.  The steaks should be marinated overnight when using the salt and pepper rub used at the Laurelhurst Market.  The steaks should sit out for about 30 minutes to reach room temperature when using Mike McGrath's rub. Regardless of the seasoning method used, the steaks should achieve room temperature before grilling.  Also grilling steaks to the desired degree of doneness is an art.  Cooking for 8-10 (total cooking time) renders medium to medium rare.  I like my beef rare, so I would recommend no more than 7 minutes of cooking and let them rest for about 5 minutes.  The beef will continue to cook once taken off the grill.  So, be very careful.


Laurelhurst Market Rub

• Sprinkle steaks on both sides with course salt and freshly ground black petter.  Place on plate, cover and chill overnight.  

Mike McGrath's Rub

• 4 Teas. course Kosher salt
• 1 TB coaresly ground Black Pepper
• 1 Teas. dried Oregano
• 1 Teas. dried Thyme
• 1 Teas. paprika
• 1 teas. minced Garlic (you can create this rub for storage by not including the minced garlic at this time.  Add Garlic just before applying rub.  Also, mixing all of hte spices in a small food processor works great).
• Apply rub and let stand and rub infuse at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Laurelhurst Market - Blue Cheese Butter

• 3 TB unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3 TB crumbled American blue cheese (such as Point Reyes or Maytag)
• 1-1/2 Teas. finely grated lemon peel
• 1-1/2 Teas. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 -1/2 Teas. freshly cracked Black Pepper

Walla Walla Onion Rings

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teas. coarse Kosher Salt
• 1/4 teas. baking powder
• 1/2 cup beer
• 2 TB vodka
• 1 large (12 oz) Walla Walla onion or other sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), cut into 1/3 inch thick rounds, separated into rings. 
• Canola or peanut oil (for deep-frying)

Procedure

• Blue Cheese Butter - Using fork, mix all ingredients in small bowl.  Season with freshly ground black pepper.  Can be made 1 day in ahead.  Cover and chill overnight.  Let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour to soften before using.
• Steaks - Prepare barbeque medium-high heat.  Grill steaks to desired doneness.  Transfer to cutting board and let rest for a minium of 5 minutes.
• Walla Walla Onion Rings - Wisk flour, coarse salt and baking powder in medim bowl.  Add beer and vodka, whisk until just blended.  Pur enough oil into heavy large pot to reach depth of 2 inches.  Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pot.  Heat oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.  Working with 2 onion rings at a time, dip onion rings into batter. shake off excess.  Gently drop onion rings into hot oil.  Fry until deep golden, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, 2-4 minutes.  Transfer to paper towel. 
• The Dish - Cut steaks in half across grain.  Place 1 steak half on each plate.  Top with blue cheese butter and onion rings.  Enjoy. 

Spicy Cherry Ribs - Guy Fieri

Well, the other day, I was up in Windsor and only 3 miles from Guy Fieri's "Johnny Garlic" restaurant (8988 Brooks Road South, Windsor, CA - 707-836-8300).  The restaurant is located in the Lakewood Shopping Center).  I decided to visit and have lunch.  I had a ginger ale and a half order of his Cherry BBQ ribs.  The lunch menu allows half orders for many of his full entree plates.  The ribs were served with french fries and a small pile of fried Maui onions plus extra sauce.  What a great meal.  Far and away, great ribs.  Also, the Maui onions had some kick.  I had an occasion to visit again.  The ribs are sweeter than I first thought. However, they are still good.  Took a full rack home for Mary Ann to try.  She liked them too.   Below is Guy's posted Spicy Cherry Rib recipe from the Food Network site.  Not sure if this is the same recipe, but I plan on giving it a try to see.  The cooking time and procedure for the glaze and ribs are somewhat complicated and it takes a long time, but the results, if like the restaurant, are well worth it.  I have taken the libery to change Guy's recipe, specifically, I doubled the amount of Cayenne pepper cited in Guy's recipe to give it some more kick and I reduced the amount of canned cherries from 3 to 2 cups to reduce the sweetness.  Please try it and let me know.

Ingredients

• 2 teas. yellow mustard
• 2 pork rib racks (baby back or St. Louis Style ribs)
• 1 teas. salt
• 1 teas. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teas. cayenne pepper (double Guy's recipe)
• 1/2 teas. paprika
• 1/2 teas. ground cumin
• 1 recipe Spicy Cherry Glaze.
• 1 TB vegetable oil
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 4 TB minced ginger
• 2 cups canned cherries in syrup, preferably Bing (Guy calls for 3 cups)
• 2 TB minced garlic
• 2 TB tequila (resposado)
• 3 TB hot sauce (Sriracha)
• 1 teas. sesame oil
• 1 TB sherry wine vinagar
• 4 TB soy sauce
• 1 teas. salt
• 1 TB frech ground black pepper   
• 2 TB chopped scallions
• 1 teas. sesame seeds

Procedure

• Spicy Cherry Glaze
• In a medium saute pan over medium heat, add oil, onion, ginger, cherries and garlic.  Saute until lightly caramelized.  Deglaze with tequila, hot sauce, sesame oil, sherry wine vinagar and soy sauce.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
• Ribs
• Place ribs onto aluminum foil. Brush the mustard onto the ribs.  Mix dry ingredients thorougly.  Then cover the ribs with the dry rub.  Let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Wrap the ribs, meat side down, in the aluminum foil then place onto a baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  
• After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 225 degress and cook for another 1-1/2 hours.  Then, open the foil and cook for 1 hour. Remove ribs from oven, and discard the foil.  Cut into 4-rib portions.  Liberally slather on the Spicy Cherry Glaze, then place, bone side down, in a roasting pan.   Pour the remaining sauce over the ribs and contine to cook for 1-1/2 hours, basting occasionally. 
• When ribs are fork tender, place under broiler for 10 minutes to crisp up the cherry glaze.  Serve immediately garnished with scallions and sesame seeds.