SomethingFoodie

Hey foodies! Sammi here, a culinary student living in Seattle. This blog is my space to share recipes, pictures and ramblings as my journey to chef-hood begins, enjoy! *all photos are mine unless otherwise noted*

[somethingfoodie]

Beets, Belgian Endive and Feta Salad

4 cups beets (mixed red and golden) 7 tbsp walnut oil 2 tbsp tarragon vinegar Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 2 belgian endive, firm and white 1 cup crumbled feta

  - Preheat oven to 400F

- Leaving on tails and 1 inch of stem, rinse beets and put them in baking pan with 1/4 inch of water, cover and bake until tender when pierced with a knife (25 to 40 minutes depending on size) 

- Cool beets, peel and dice into 1/2 inch cubes

- Mix 6 tbsp of oil, the vinegar, salt and pepper

- Toss beets in half the vinaigrette 

- Toss walnuts with remaining walnut oil, salt and pepper - bake 350F for 5-7 minutes or until they smell toasty - cool

- Just before serving, quarter endive, cut out cores and break into leaves

- Arrange endives in a spoke pattern on individual plates - spoons beets in the center

- Lightly dress endive with vinaigrette - sprinkle the feta over the salad and top with walnuts

[somethingfoodie]

Roasted Potatoes and Pearl Onions

12 red potatoes 12 pearl onions (peeled) 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1/2 tsp salt Pepper to taste 4 thyme sprigs

- Preheat oven to 350F

- The easiest way to peel pearl onions is to blanch them for a few minutes and once you have shocked them in ice water, cut one end and peel away the skin

- Start at the top of each potato - pare away a 1/4 inch thick band of skin in a spiral - allows vinegar to penetrate during slow coking

- Combine onions and potatoes in a baking dish just large enough to hold them

- Add butter and vinegar - toss to coat

- Add salt and pepper, bury thyme sprigs amongst vegetables

- Bake for 1 hour or until tender - stirring every 15 minutes to brown evenly

[somethingfoodie]

Spicy Crab Soup with Crab Puffs

Spicy Crab Soup

2 tbsp unsalted butter 1/2 cup onion (1/2 inch dice) 1/2 cup celery (1/2 inch dice) 1 cup potato (1/4 inch dice) 2 cups tomatoes (peeled, seeded, 1/2 inch dice) 1/2 cup corn kernels 2 cups chicken stock 1 tsp old bay seasoning Salt and Pepper to taste 1 cup crab meat (lump, no shells) 1/2 cup green peas 1 tsp lemon juice

- Heat butter over medium heat and cook onions (about 4 minutes)

- Add celery and cook 3 minutes

- Add potatoes, tomatoes, corn and chicken stock

- Add seasonings and cook 25 minutes

- Add crab meat and peas, simmer 10 minutes

- Correct seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed

Crab Puffs 3 oz crab meat (claw and back) 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated 1 tbsp minced green onion 1/2 tsp worcestershire 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/3 tsp salt 1/2 cup AP flour 2 eggs

- Preheat the oven to 400F

- Combine crab meat, cheese, minced onion, Worcestershire and dry mustard - mix well

- Over heat, combine water, butter and salt and bring to a boil - remove from heat and beat in flour and form a ball

- Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition

- Thoroughly blend in crab mixture

- Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet

- Bake 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350F and bake another 10 minutes or until golden brown on thoroughly cooked

[somethingfoodie]

Roast Duck with Garlic and Honey

1 Long Island duck, whole (~5 lbs) 8 peeled garlic cloves Salt and pepper to taste 3/4 cup orange/tangerine juice (fresh, save peels) 6 tbsp unsalted butter 2 cups red onions (1/2 inch dice) 1 cup parsnips (peeled, 1 inch dice) 2 cups carrots (1 inch dice) 1 1/2 cups dry red wine 1/4 cup honey 2 tsp chopped thyme 1 tsp black pepper

- Preheat the oven to 400F

- Rinse the duck inside and out with cold water, reserve the neck and liver, trim excess fat and skin

- Pat dry and make 8 incisions in the duck breast and thighs, insert a garlic clove into each incision, prick the duck skin all over with fork but don’t pierce the actual meat

- Rub the duck inside and out with orange or tangerine peels

- Truss duck, place breast side down on a rack in a roasting pan - roast 20 minutes

- Turn duck breast side up and baste with fat - reduce oven to 350F and continue roasting  and basting occasionally until desired doneness is achieved (10-15 minutes)

- Heat 1/5 tbsp butter over medium-low heat, add onions and cook until they begin to soften (2 minutes)

- Add the duck liver and cook, stirring until liver is firm (about 5 minutes) - remove and cut liver in a 1/2 inch dice, return to pan with onions

- Add parsnips, turnips and carrots - cook 1 minute

- Add remaining butter and 1/2 cup orange juice - cook until just tender and liquid is almost gone, then set aside

- When duck is roasting, make the sauce base - bring duck neck, remaining orange juice, wine, honey, thyme and 1 tsp pepper to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer 10-15 minutes, until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup

- When duck is cooked, remove and let stand 10 minutes before carving

- Meanwhile, pour fat and pan juices into a container - let stand until the clear yellow fat separates and rises to the top - pour or skim off yellow fat and pour juices back into roasting pan

- Return pan to heat and add sauce base - bring to a boil, scraping up fond - reduce sauce consistency and pour into a sauceboat - sauce may need to be thickened

- Carve the duck and serve with vegetable mixture and sauce

[somethingfoodie]

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup yogurt 1/2 freshly crumbled bleu cheese - Combine mayonnaise and yogurt - Stir in bleu cheese, reserving a few large crumbles for garnish

[somethingfoodie]

Applesauce Cake with Caramel Glaze

Cake: 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp) 2 cups packed brown sugar 1 egg 3 cups AP flour 2tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground cloves 2 cups applesauce (unsweetened) 2 cups raisins 1 cup walnuts Glaze: 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup evaporated milk

- Preheat oven to 350F - grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan - be sure flour completely coats pan 

- Cream the butter until smooth - gradually add brown sugar beating until light and fluffy

- Add egg, beat well

- Sift together 2.5 cups of flour, baking soda, salt and spices - add to the creamed mixture in batches, alternating with applesauce - beat well after each addition 

- Dredge raisins and walnuts in remaining flour, fold into batter

- Pour batter into prepared pan - bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done

- Cool cake in pan 15 minutes - invert onto a cake rack to cool completely

- Prepare glaze - combine ingredients, heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved 

- Continue coking, stirring constantly until mixture reaches soft ball stage (240F) - remove from heat and beat 5 minutes or until thick - drizzle hot glaze over cooked cake

[somethingfoodie]

Clams Casino

1/4 cup bacon (1/4 inch dice) 2 tbsp minced shallots 1 tbsp minced garlic 1/4 cup red bell pepper (1/4 inch dice) 1/4 cup green bell pepper (1/4 inch dice) 1 tsp minced parsley 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)1 cup dry bread crumbs 24 littleneck or Cherrystone clams Salt and Pepper Large rock salt for plating Lemon wedges/halves for garnish - wrapped in cheese cloth or cut with parsley sprig

- Preheat oven to 400F

- Render bacon until crisp - add shallots, garlic and peppers and cook until tender

- Add in parsley, lemon juice, butter and bread crumbs - combine well and season then cool mixture and reserve

- Open clams and discard top shell - loosen the meat completely from the bottom shell, but leave in the shell

- Top each clam with 1-2 tbsp of the bread crumb mixture

- Bake clams until thoroughly cooked and bread crumb mixture has a nice crisp on top

- Serve on a bed of rock salt to anchor the clams in place (its easiest to bake the clams right on top of a dish with rock salt) and garnish with lemon

[somethingfoodie]

Roasted Turkey Roulade

1 turkey breast (bone in, skin on) 1 1/4 cup turkey leg meat (trimmed, cubed) 1 egg white Salt and white pepper 1 tsp chopped thyme 1 tsp chopped parsley 1 cup onion (peeled, roughly chopped 1/2 cup celery (roughly chopped) 1/3 cup carrot (peeled, roughly chopped) 2 cups chicken stock

- Preheat oven to 450F

- Remove skin from turkey breast – keep in one piece and refrigerate

- Bone turkey breast – reserve bones

- Butterfly breast into rectangle – pound until about 1/4 inch thick – season and chill

- Place leg meat and breast trimmings in food processor, add egg white and chop until smooth – add herbs and seasonings, cook a small amount to adjust taste as needed

- Lay breast meat on skin, top with leg meat mixture – leave a ½ inch margin on all sides – roll and truss, season

- Place bones and vegetables in roasting pan – top with rolled  turkey – sear in oven 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and add stock – roast until internal temp reaches 165F

- Remove turkey from pan and reserve, use pan juices to make gravy and serve with 1 inch slices of roll

[somethingfoodie]

Clam Chowder

2 cups Cherrystone Clams (can be fresh or canned!) 1.5 cups clam juice (or 2 cups water 1/4 cup salt pork (minced to a paste) 1/2 cup onion (1/4 inch dice) 1/2 cup celery (1/4 inch dice) 4 cups potatoes (1/4 inch dice) 1 tbsp AP flour 2 cups scalded milk 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 tsp heavy cream Worcestershire (to taste) Salt and Pepper to taste

- steam clams (whole) until they open – strain, remove shells and chop – reserve

- Render salt pork 

- Add onion and celery until translucent

- Stir in flour and make a blond roux

- Add reserved broth/clam juice and milk gradually – incorporate until smooth – simmer 25-30 minutes

- Add potatoes, cook until tender - potatoes will thicken the consistency a lot as they cook and their starches leach into the chowder - if needed, add a little water or clam juice to thin the chowder a bit

- Add clams and heavy cream – simmer

- Season with Worcestershire, salt and pepper – serve 

[somethingfoodie]

Months of recipes to catch up on, whoops! I think I'm going to post them by region for the next few weeks, and the tags should match up accordingly - New England, Midatlantic, The South, Floribbean, Cajan/Creole, Central Plains, TexMex, Southwest/Rockies, California, PNW (Pacific Northwest) and Hawaii. 

Sorry for the long absence! But I love so many of these recipes and hopefully you will too!

[somethingfoodie]

Roasted Pepper Coulis

2 red bell peppers 1 peeled garlic clove salt to taste 1 1/2 fl oz extra virgin olive oil

- Preheat grill to 450F

- wash and dry peppers - roast whole, turning occasionally to char them evenly

- put in bowl covered with plastic wrap - let steam 10-15 minutes

- peel off skins - catch any juices in a bowl 

- mince garlic in food processor/blender - add peeled peppers and pureé - sprinkle in salt 

- with processor running, drizzle in olive oil and salt to taste

[somethingfoodie]

Flank Steak Marinade

3-4 tbsp vegetable oil 1 cup soy sauce 1 cup lemon juice 1 med onion, sliced 1 tbsp fresh ground pepper 1 tbsp smoke flavor 1 tbsp pressed garlic 1 tsp tabasco sauce onion salt garlic salt Adobo seasoning

- Marinate meat overnight

- Grill and enjoy!

[somethingfoodie]

2lb russet potatoes butter as needed (unsalted) 12 fl oz béchamel sauce salt and pepper as needed - Preheat oven to 350F

- Peel potatoes and thinly slice using a mandolin or knife

- butter casserole dish, add sliced potatoes in layers, pouring béchamel over the slices as you go

- Bake until lightly browned (15-20 minutes)

- Season, serve and enjoy!

[somethingfoodie]

Sorry for such a boring picture... just a bunch of white food with little bits of green flecks - I recommend serving this with something like sweet potatoes or carrots! Throw some color in there!

Poached Chicken with Fine Herb Sauce - served with Mashed Potatoes 

66 fl oz heavy cream64 chicken breast supremes (about 5 oz each) 1 1/2 oz cold butter 2 oz minced shallots salt and pepper as needed 2 fl oz white wine 8 fl oz chicken stock 2 oz beurre manie 6 fl oz heavy cream 2 tbsp chopped parsley 2 tbsp sliced chives 2 tbsp chopped dill 2 tbsp chopped tarragon ^^ the herbs used are really up to you, these are just suggestions! - Cover sauté pan with butter - sprinkle with shallots 

- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, place in pan - skin side up

- FIll pan with wine and stock to be just even with the top of the chicken

- simmer the liquid - once bubbles begin to appear (at 170F) you want to cover the pan with a cartouche and keep the pan simmering at 170F until the chicken has fully poached (5-7 minutes)

- Remove chicken breast and keep warm 

- The leftover poaching liquid is now known as "cuisson" - you want to reduce the cuisson by half, add cream and reduce - whisk in beurre manie as needed and adjust thickness to be nappe

- Strain sauce if desired, add herbs and season to taste

- Pour the sauce over the plated chicken - poached chicken is pretty ugly, the plating choices you make should be determined on showcasing your sauce, not the protein!

[somethingfoodie]

Coq Au Vin

8 chicken legs (or breasts/thighs etc) 1 fl oz clarified butter 2 oz bacon (1/4 inch cubes) 4 oz pearl onions (peeled and blanched) 4 oz medium mushrooms (quartered) 1 chopped garlic clove 1 oz tomato paste 1 oz all purpose flour 4 fl oz red wine 16 fl oz brown stock 1 sprig fresh thyme salt, pepper and chopped parsley as needed - Marinate the chicken pieces over night in whatever strikes your fancy - red wine is your best best, but throwing in some chicken stock and garlic can't hurt

- Once the chicken has marinated, remove it from the liquid and set aside

- Preheat the oven to 350F, heat rondeau over stovetop with clarified butter and render the bacon cubes and reserve them

- drain any excess bacon fat and sear the chicken in the remaining fat - reserve

- in the same rondeau, brown the pearl onions and quartered mushrooms (5-7 minutes) - add garlic, sweat but do not brown the garlic - reserve vegetables

- pince tomato paste into the pan, mix in the flour

- Deglaze the rondeau with red wine and add the stock, bring to a simmer 

- add the seared chicken and fresh thyme, cover the rondeau and braise in the oven for about 45 minutes (until the meat is nearly falling off the bone)

- Remove the chicken and keep warm - strain the cooking liquid and reduce it over the stove top until it reaches nappe

- Stir 3/4 of the reserved pearl onions and mushrooms into the sauce - season as needed

- Begin plating the chicken, pour the sauce over top of the chicken, but allow some of the good surface crunch from searing on the chicken show through - use the remaining 1/4 of the pearl onions and mushrooms and the rendered bacon as garnish

- The above is plated with Green Beans Anglaise and Duchesse Potatoes 

[somethingfoodie]

Beef Stew

2lb beefstew meat - cut into manageable bite size pieces (1in cubes) vegetable oil as needed 3 oz onion (1/4 inch dice) 3 oz carrot (1/4 inch dice) 2oz celery (1/4 inch dice) 1 minced garlic clove 2 oz tomato paste 1 oz all purpose flour 3 fl oz red wine 24 oz brown stock 1 sachet d'espices salt, pepper and parsley as needed - heat sauce pot - coat bottom with vegetable oil - sear the diced meat in batches, get all sides well seared as much as you can - but don't feel tied to the pan, constantly rotating each individual piece - reserve seared meat

- drain excess oil from sauce pot - sauté onions and carrots (about 5 minutes) - add celery and garlic, sauté another 2 minutes

- Pince tomato paste - add flour, thoroughly stirring it in

- deglaze the pot with red wine and reduce

- add the stock and sachet d'espices and bring the stew to a simmer

- add the seared meat and cook at a low simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours

- season as needed - adjust the stew's viscosity as needed/desired - a beurre manie or the addition of cornstarch may be used - ultimately your stew should be a thick soup consistency with a glossy sheen, there should be no fat separating on the top 

- If desired, you can add some blanched tourné vegetables at the end for increased plating appeal

- garnish and serve in a wide rimmed bowl - an additional plating option is to thicken your soup a little past a normal soup consistency and serve over a ring of mashed potatoes. 

[somethingfoodie]

Pot Roast

2 lb beef knuckle salt and pepper as needed vegetable oil as needed 4 oz onion (1/4 inch dice) 4 oz carrot (1/4 inch dice) 4 oz celery (1/4 inch dice) 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 oz All purpose flour 2 oz tomato paste 3 fl oz red wine 16 fl oz brown stock 1 sachet d'espices cornstarch or beurre manie as needed - Preheat oven to 325F, trim and truss beef

- heat oil in a rondeau, sear beef - season with salt and pepper and place in hotel pan to reserve

- remove any excess oil from rondeau and cook onions and carrots for 5-8 minutes, add the celery and cook another 3-5 minutes before adding the minced garlic

- Pince tomato paste into mixture (3-5 minutes)

- Place reserved beef onto mirepoix, add stock and sachet

- Bring liquid to a simmer, cover dish with a cartouche

- Braise in oven 1 hour, rotate meat and continue cooking until meat is fork-tender

- Remove rondeau from oven and cover meat and reserve

- Strain cooking liquid, discard veg and simmer liquid until nappe

- Add cornstarch or beurre manie if needed to thicken sauce, season to taste

- Slice meat, pour sauce over top and serve with mashed potatoes or other desired side (pictured is potatoes au gratin and Parisienne zucchini)