Sounds Good #4 Southern Slow Cooking: Carnitas Tacos

You need a slow cooker to do this recipe. This recipe is from Bon Appetit April 2008 page 76. 

2# Boneless pork ribs, shoulder, or pork butt. Cut into 2 inch pieces

2 Teaspoons of salt

2 Teaspoons of pepper

2 Teaspoons of dried oregano

1/2 Onion cut into 4

1 Avocado halved, pitted, sliced

Cilantro sprigs

Sliced red bell peppers

Corn tortillas

Toss pork in bowl of slow cooker with salt, black pepper and dried oregano to coat. Place

quartered onion on top of pork. Cover slow cooker and cook on slow setting for about 6 hours or until meat starts to fall apart. 

Using a slotted spoon transfer pork to a plate and discard onion pieces. Shred pork meat. Cover tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and microwave until warm. Serve carnitas meat with tortillas and any other additions like rice, beans and/or tomatillo salsa or all of the above. 

Stay tuned for photos of this recipe, I'll be making this on my day off Thursday! Can't wait to try it out!

Sounds Good #3 part 2:Buffalo Salmon

Out of the oven, notice the creamy white part of the flesh? Salmon when it 

is done starts to ooze fat from between the layers. It's DONE. If you like your fish 

not as dry, cook till an internal temperature of about 140F. If the meat gets to 

165 it's going to start to get dry and flaky. 

Our dinner plated! Buffalo Salmon with herb rice and steamed veggies!

The panko bread crumbs were hard to find but we finally found a supermarket with an international section that happen to have it for $2.50 a pound. 

Sounds Good #3:Buffalo Salmon

I love hot wings and I love Salmon (cooked medium). What could be better? Buffalo Salmon, why not?

Today's recipe comes from the May 2008 of Gourmet Magazine, page 144. 

Buffalo Salmon:

Serves 6 takes about 30 minutes

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 Cup hot sauce such as Frank's Redhot

1/3 Cup Panko bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

2# piece salmon fillet with skin on

Preheat oven  to 425F with rack in upper 3rd. Lightly oil a shallow baking pan. Melt butter with hot sauce and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper over medium heat. Set aside 1/4 cup sauce. Toss panko with oil in a bowl. Put salmon skin side down in baking pan and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then brush with remaining sauce. Sprinkle panko evenly over top of fish, then bake until panko is golden and fish is just cooked through, 16 to 22 minutes. Serve skin side down. 

Wow, think I'm going to have it tonight with some sauteed veggies!

Sounds Good #2: Scallop edition

Okay well here's another recipe that sounds awesome. This one comes from the March 2008 issue of Gourmet, page 83. 

Seared Scallops with Tarragon Butter Sauce

Recipe serves about 4

1 1/4# large sea scallops

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into Tablespoons and divided

2 Tablespoons finely chopped shallot

1/4 Cup dry white wine

1/4 Cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon

Pat dry scallops and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper (total).

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12 inch nonstick pan over a medium heat until foam subsides then sear scallop turning once till golden brown and just cooked through (about 5 minutes total). Transfer to a plate and add shallot, wine, and vinegar to skillet and boil, scraping up brown bits and reduce liquid until 2 tablespoons. Add juices from plate and if necessary boil until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 Cup. Reduce heat to low and add 3 Tablespoons butter, stirring until almost melted. Then add remaining 3 tablespoons butter and swirl until incorporated and sauce has a creamy consistency. Stir in tarragon and salt to taste; pour over scallops. 

Wow sounds awesome. The sauce is very buttery obviously but it is a bastard buerre blanc sauce or a butter pan sauce. 

Matthew Glenn's Grapity Grape Ice Cream

Grape Ice Cream (Minus candied grapes. Didn't have the $$$)

Frustrated that I couldn't get a hold of Grandma Glenn's Purple Ice Cream I decided to create my own. 

This recipe works perfectly with any ice cream maker but the recipe is tuned to work with our 2 quart Cuisinart Ice Cream and Yogurt Maker. 

2 1/2 Cups of Heavy Cream

3/4 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup whole milk

1/2 Cup of reduced grape juice

1 cup of candied red/purple grapes

To make the reduced grape juice take a liter of concord grape juice (Welch's or Kirkland Costco brand) and on a medium heat simmer to boil the liquid till it gradually becomes thicker. Reduce liter of liquid to about 1/2 a cup. Should take about an hour depending on how high a heat/fire you're using. 

I am experimenting still with the recipe, my mother has suggested trying concentrate from a can, I may try that on the next batch.

To make the candied grapes you need to make a simple syrup. 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar heat on a medium heat till the sugar dissolved and it starts to thicken. Add the halved grapes into the liquid and cook (simmering) until they're candied. Should take about 5 minutes. Remove grapes and cool. Add grapes in the last 2 minutes of churning. 

In a mixing bowl mix sugar and whole milk till sugar dissolves. Add Heavy cream and whip till nearly becomes whipping cream. Add to the freezing cold ice cream machine and start to churn for 20 minutes and the ice cream starts to thicken to near soft serve consistency. Add in the reduced grape juice and mix well, should immediately start to darken and turn purple. Add candied grapes in the last 2 minutes. Mix for a total of 30 minutes. Transfer to container and freeze for at least 2 hours. 

Should be grapity delicious!

Sounds good #1

This is the first of many recipes I'll probably post from one of the several magazines I get about food. Today's comes from Bon Appetit May 2008 issue page 89

Chicken Fried Steak with country gravy:

Serves about 4 and goes well with green beans and biscuits

1  Cup beef broth, divided

1/2  Cup all purpose flour

4  4-5 inch pieces of skirt steak

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Fully cooked breakfast pork-sausage (1 ounce) finely chopped

1/2 Cup whipping cream 

1/2 Teaspoon dried sage

1/3 cup chopped green onion (scallions) tops

Pinch of ground cloves

Pour 1/2 cup broth into shallow bowl. Place flour in another shallow bowl. Sprinkle steak pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. Dip steaks into flour, then into broth, then into flour again, coating each time. 

Melt butter in large nonstick pan over high heat. Add steaks. Saute until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Pour off butter from pan into bowl. Add 1 teaspoon flour from bowl. Whisk in remaining 1/2 cup of broth, sausage, cream, sage and pinch of ground cloves. Boil gravy until nappe (thick enough to coat spoon). Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Mix in green onions. Spoon over steaks.

MMMMM TASTY!