Korean BBQ Marinade

The basics for a great Koren BBQ marinade.
I found this in the August 2016 issue of GQ magazine.
It comes from David Chang as part of his BBQ Short Rib recipe.
Enjoy and be sure to try.

Ingredients

• ½ Cup Soy Sauce
• ¼ Cup Water
• ⅓ Cup Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup Apple Juice
• 1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1 Teaspoon course Black Pepper
• 1 Medium Onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 Bunch Scallions, roughly chopped
• 6 Garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 Small chunk of Ginger, peeled and minced

Procedure

• Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for a minium of 1 hour

Spicy Crab Salad on Avocado Halves

Ingredients

• 1 pint Crab meat
• 1/4 cup Mayo
• 1 TB Asian chili sauce such as Sambal
• 2 TB chopped fresh Parsley
• Juice of ½ Lime
• 3 sticks of chopped Celery
• Pinch of Salt and 2 pinches of Pepper to taste
• In frig. for at least 2 hours before using. 
• 4 Avocados halved, pitted, extracted as whole half pieces.

Procedure

• Make Crab mixture and chill
• Plate Avocado halves
• Scope Crab mixture on top of Avocados

John's Chicken Piccata

I love Chicken Piccata. Mary Ann has cooked it for years.  Recently, I have been cooking it for the Bel Marin Keys Men's Club and the Bel Marin Keys Women's Club.  My recipe is a slight departure from Mary Ann's.  I have provided mine below.  The recipe is general.  You can decide the amounts of ingredients depending upon the amount of folks and the amount of chicken you planning on serving.  One final note, given that my sauce includes chicken demi-glace, you will find that it is darker than the standard piccata sauce.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

• Chicken Breasts (I scallopini each breast long-ways into three pieces.  
• Chicken Broth
• Flour - enough to cover all of the pieces of chicken
• Salt and Pepper
• Paprika
• Butter
• Vegetable Oil (when required when cooking large amounts of chicken).
• Capers
• Lemons
• Chicken Demi-glace from William Sonoma

Procedure

• Scallopini cut the chicken breasts into three pieces, slicing long-ways to create flatter pieces.
• Add flour, salt, pepper and paprika together for dredging chicken pieces.  I normally add 1 tablespoon of salt, pepper and paprika to 3 cups of flour.
• Dredge chicken pieces in flour and shake off excessive flour.
• Brown chicken in a medium saute pan with butter (and vegetable oil as needed) until both sides are golden brown.
• Remove chicken and set aside
• Add chicken broth to cover all of the chicken being prepared.
• Deglaze saute pan from browned chicken. 
• Add the juice of 1 lemon to the sauce.
• Add 2 tablespoons of Chicken demi-glace as needed to enrich sauce.
• Cook until liquid boils and start to foam.
• Add butter as needed to smooth out sauce.
• Add chicken back into the finished sauce and cook (c0verede) until the internal temperature of the chicken is 150 degrees.
• Add capers and cook until the internal temperature is 160 degrees.
• Serve

Sole Meunière

I am not a big fan of French Cuisine.   Primarily because, I am not a fan of braised protein or any beef or pork protein that is cooked over 130 degrees. While I understand the French Cuisine covers other types of cooking methods, I need to be cautious about which French recipes I eat.  All that said, one of the most iconic French dishes is Sole Meunière.  Jeff Mauro, the co-host of The Kitchen cooked his Sole Meunière recipe. Jeff’s version follows the classic recipes of French cooks.  So, here is his recipe, which is a perfect example of this most delicious dish.  Bon Appetit.

Ingredients

• ¼ Cup All-Purpose Butter
• 4 TB Clarified butter
• Four 2 to 2-½ ounce skinless, bonelss Sole Fillets, preferably petrale sole
• Kosher Salt and Pepper
• 3 TB unsalted European-style butter
• 1 TB Capers
• Jiuce of ½ Lemon
• 2 Teaspoons minced Parsley

Procedure

• In a small bowl, soak the capers in cold water for 45 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
• Season the sole fillets with salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl, whisk the flour with 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Dredge the fillets in flour and shake off any excess; transfer to a platter.
• In a large skillet, melt 4 tablespoons (TB) of the "clarified butter" (clarified butter is butter that has been melted and the milk solids skimmed off the top) over moderately high heat.  Add the sole fillets to the skillet and cook, turning once, until golden grown on both sides, about 4 minutes total.  Transfer to a serving platter.  Repeat with the remaining clarified butter and sole fillets.
• Add the eropean Butter and Capers to the skillet and cook over moderately heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the lemon juice and cook over moderately high heat until reduced to 2 TB, about 1 minute.  
• Add half of the parsley.  Pour the warm sauce over the sole and garnish with the remaining parsley.  
• Serve immediately.

Josh Capon Recipes for Steak Side Dishes

Here are two side dishes from the recipes of Josh Capon, executive chef and partner behind Lure Fishbar, B&B Winepub and El Toro Blanco in New York City.  Enjoy.

Fondant Potatoes
Ingredients

• 4 Potatoes
• Kosher Salt and Pepper
• Canola or Olive Oil, for searing the potatoes
• About 4 cups of Vegetable, Chicken or Beef stock
• 2 stickes of Butter
• 8 cloves of Garlic
• 4 sprigs fresh Rosemary
• 4 sprigs fresh Sage
• 4 sprigs fresh Thyme
• Sea salt, for serving
• Chopped Chives, for garnish

Procedure

• Peel and cut the potatoes into the size and shape of a soap dish, Season with salt and pepper.
• Set a saucepan over medium-high heat and add some oil.  Sear the potatoes in the hot pan on both sides until golden grown.  Add the stock until it just covers the potatoes, then add the butter, garlic, sage, rosemary and thyme.
• Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are golden and gender, 30-40 minutes.  Hold in the cooking liquid until ready to serve, the longer they hold the better.  But, keep them warm in a very low oven or on top of the stove covered.
• Slice potatoes on a bias and serve sprinkled with a little sea salt and chopped chives. 

Sour Cream and Onion Hash Browns

Ingredients

• 1 TB canola oil
• 2 White onions, thinkly slices
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 8 Idaho potatoes, peeled and shredded
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chopped scallions

Procedure

• Special equipment: individual-size- cast-iron pans.
• Heat a skillet over medium hear and add teh canola oil. Add the onions, season with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, season the potatoes with salt and pepper and let sie for 5 minutes.  Drain out the excess moisture.
• Set individual cast-iron pans over medium heat until very hot.  Add some olive oil to each pan and a handful of potatoes (very lightly packed).  Cook until golden grown and crispy, about 5 minutes.  Flip and add more oil if necessary.  Cook until golden brown on a second side and cooked through.  Repeat with the remaining potatoes. 
• Top each hash brown with some caramelized onions and abd a dollop of sour cream and chopped scallions.