Food threads on BBI always result in some good recipes, so let's hear it... what is your signature dish? if you would like to share, the recipe as well.
And yes, I am sure some of you make a mean SpaghettiOs...
2lb cut up chicken, put in crockpot salt and pepper
cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup hot sauce or more depending on how spicy you want it
cook on low for 4-6 hours
add 2 tablespoons of sour cream
8 of shredded mozzarella
1 table spoon of ranch dressing and blue cheese.
stir then turn off crockpot
cook past in boiling water for 8-10 mins, drain and mix the misure and pasta
Dredge shanks in seasoned flour and brown in olive oil.
Remove shanks to a baking dish.
Saute chopped onion, celery, and carrot in the same pan until softened. Add two minced cloves of garlic. saute another minute
Add one 14 oz can of chopped tomato. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over vegetables and cook for a few minutes then add 1 cup white wine and one cup chicken broth
Add thyme for seasoning. A couple of sprigs, if fresh. A couple of teaspoons, if dry.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour all of the pan sauce and vegetables over the shanks.
Cook covered in a 250 degree oven for 2 hours.
I've been cooking it since college. My girlfriend at the time had me try it. It was delicious. I didn't eat spinach then and I still don't other than this dish. 1 Pot cooking.
Cheese Tortellini with Cream of Spinach. Boil both in the same pot. Drain and toss together. Try it, you will be surprised.
A young lady once called this dish "orgasmic", much to the chagrin of my fiance at that time.
1 box (1 lb) Barilla no bake lasagna egg noodles or fresh home made (preferably spinach or buckwheat) egg lasagna noodles, enough for 4 layers in a 13 x 9 in glass or ceramic baking dish.
1.25 quarts bechamel well seasoned with fresh grated nutmeg, fresh grated black pepper, 3 bay leaves and 6 bushy springs of fresh thyme, sieved
1.5# fresh button Crimini mushrooms
1# thinly sliced fresh shitake mushroom caps (both sliced thinly)
2 oz dried sliced porcini soaked .5 hrs simmering water
4 shallots and 4 cloves garlic finely chopped.
You MUST saute the mushrooms in a 50/50 mix of sweet butter and EVOO a long while over high heat until all their water is driven out and they are lightly but evenly caramelized...
This is the key step to the whole shebang. Only then one adds the minced garlic and shallots and sautes everything just a few minutes more, to release the pungency of the shallots and garlic.
10 oz Italian parmesan (Grana Padano or Reggiano) and 5 oz Pecorino (or other aged sheep milk cheese like Manchego), grated and mixed together
10 oz crumbled Feta (sheep's or goat milk, NOT COW MILK)
8 oz soft goat milk cheese, like Lezay or Bucheron logs, sliced into thin discs
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced fresh fines herbes (chives, tarragon, parsley and chervil) or just chives and fresh picked thyme leaves
Oil the baking dish with EVOO and spread a thin layer of bechamel below the first layer of lasagna. Then make 3 layers with the seasoned bechamel sprinkled liberally with the fresh herbs, 1/4 of the grated parmesan and pecorino, 1/3 each of the Feta and goat cheeses, and 1/3 of the sauteed mushrooms with garlic and shallots.
The 4th layer, the top, has just the bechamel, parmesan, and Romano cheeses. The baking dish will be full... Bake for 35-40 minutes in a pre-heated 375F convection or regular oven, until evenly golden brown on top and bubbling hot. Let rest 20-30 minutes before serving.
My current favorite though...and it’s awesome..comes from 2 stolen recipes. Kenji's sous vide pork belly Bao with hoisin mayo and quick pickles and a stolen steamed bao recipe...basically a bread dough variant that’s steamed. Google it. Try it.
But detest feta. Wonder if ricotta salata might be a good substitute.
Also I find dried porcini more trouble than it's worth, curious on your thoughts- maybe just more fresh cremini?
Better than subbing in ricotta would be just increase the other 3 cheeses in proportion to the subtracted weight of feta, or substitute grated Italian Fontina for the feta.
The fish needs a strong flavored cheese to replace the feta to keep it's original intensity of character.
The dish is way better with fresh wild mushrooms like porcini, chantelles, hedgehogs, blewits, oyster mushrooms, etc than with dried porcini. But those aren't always available...
Here iin Northern CA I'm fortunate to have a few options. Appreciate the suggestions.
If you're anywhere near Berkeley, your foraged wild mushrooms options should be extensive at produce markets like the Berkeley Bowl or the Monterey Produce Market.
I don't have a signature dish but a couple compliments I had made me feel pretty good.
1. I made candied bacon aka Pig candy on the smoker last 4th of July and one of our guests was a 5+ year vegetarian and she said that looks and smells so good I'm going to try it. She loved it. My wife says she's no longer a vegetarian. I feel some weird sense of accomplishment about that for some reason. Sort of like when Elaine on Seinfeld thought she could "switch" the gay guy to hetero or conversely when George made Susan switch the opposite way (LOL).
2. My chili. 2017 Super Bowl party at my house, our neighbor took me aside and said "you cannot tell my husband this because he'll kill me, but yours is the best chili I've ever had."
but I'm more of a typical male dad "chef", all my "signature dishes" come from my smoker, my grill, my crockpot, my blackstone griddle, or are in some other way football related (chili).
I have had people request for me to bring my sweet & sour meatballs to their parties when I ask what I can bring.
but have recently been trying to cook more and came across this dish. It's very easy (one pot) and very good. I add some coconut milk and carrots but other than that I follow the recipe as is....definitely recommended! African Peanut Butter Stew - ( New Window )
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breast, pounded, and cut into about 2in x 2in pieces
.5lbs hot Italian sausage
.5lbs sweet Italian sausage
1/2 cup peppadew peppers, quartered
12 garlic cloves, whole
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp oregano, finely chopped
4 cups water
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1 Idaho potato
all purpose flour
salt & pepper (to taste)
Prep:
Place chicken in bowl of cold water with salt. Brine for 30 minutes. Once complete, drain and pat dry.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and poach sausages for 3-5 minutes until the sausages just start to get firm. Place the sausages on a plate and let cool. Take quartered potato and add it to boiling water. Cook for 5-7 minutes, drain and set aside.
The Sauce:
Add one cup of oil to a large sauté pan and heat over medium-low heat. Toss in whole garlic cloves and roast, constantly moving them around to ensure they do not burn. Cook until the garlic cloves have a nice brown color and are soft. Drain garlic and oil and reserve.
Take cooled sausage and cut into 1 inch pieces, about 4 sections per sausage. Place in sauté pan (which should still have a little bit of residual garlic oil left over) and fry in batches until sausages are caramelized around the edges. Reserve sausage.
Add potatoes to pan and cook for about 10 minutes, mixing occasionally so they do not burn. Once potatoes are crisp on all sides, take them out of the pan and reserve with sausage.
Add shallots and chopped garlic to the pan and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Add chicken stock, white wine, and lemon juice, making sure to scrape up any bits from the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste and then lower heat to low and simmer until reduced by half.
Add in peppadew peppers, rosemary, and oregano and continue to simmer on low heat until your chicken is ready, about 30 minutes.
The Chicken:
Pour oil in a separate skillet (cast iron if you have) so that it fills about 1 inch from the bottom. Heat on medium until it reaches 350 degrees.
Take chicken and lightly coat each piece with flour.
Working in batches, gently place chicken into skillet and cook on each side for 3 minutes. Make sure that it is nice and brown (not pale) before flipping over. I recommend placing 1 piece of chicken in the oil to make sure the oil is hot enough. If oil bubbles feverishly (small bubbles) around your chicken, it is hot enough. I always find it takes one or two piece to find your groove.
When chicken is brown on both sides, place on a paper towel to let drain and continue the process until all chicken is cooked.
Bring it all together!:
Take chicken and place into the large sauté pan with sauce, making sure that each piece of chicken gets coated. Add sausage, whole garlic cloves, and potatoes and mix to incorporate. Cook for about 10 minutes just to make sure that everything is warmed through and melds together
a difference between my signature dish and an actual recipe. I do most of the cooking in the family, while my wife handles all of the baking. She's got a ton of great recipes and signature desserts.
But I do excellent barbeque pork. But I don't consider rubbing a piece of meat, putting it in a smoker for hours and then doing a scratch-made sauce as a signature dish, even though I'm making the rub and sauce on my own.
But that and my texas-style chili are the two dishes that people really like.
I cheated a couple of weeks ago, and picked up a box of fresh lasagne sheets from the "New York Ravioli Co.' I've got some left in the freezer, so this may be my Sunday dinner.
I've made it enough that I don't use a recipe anymore.
I usually get boneless skinless thighs and some tenders and you cube them.
Place in a skillet with a pad of butter and some EVOO. Salt, pepper, and curry paste (they sell it in my supermarket).
Cook the chicken thoroughly. Remove from skillet and put in a bowl.
Now in the same skillet, a small onion (diced) with more butter. Add two cloves of minced or pressed garlic. Add some fresh ginger (I cheat and use the little tube you can buy). Salt, pepper.
Cook until the onion is translucent and just starting to carmelize.
Add a small can of diced tomatoes (15oz, I think?). Add more curry paste (like a tablespoon). Add just a bit of lemon juice.
Simmer that until the tomatoes are nice and hot. Add a small container (5oz?) of plain greek yogurt. Add about a qtr cup of Half and half or cream. Add more butter (this is butter chicken). Stir and heat until it's bubbling (it's gonna look weird here).
Put it in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend it until the sauce is smooth. Pour back into skillet, add chicken and let it cook on low for 10 mins or so.
Serve over Basmati Rice with some heated Naan. I usually steam green beans to go with it. I've even used Cauliflower rice to drop the carbs and it works well.
I make this at least once a month. The fam loves it.
but I made a Timpano last week. I have been wanting to do this for 20+ years, since I saw The Big Night.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
I did the same last year after watching the movie. Wasn't worth it. I'd rather just make a baked ziti with meat.
Timpano, that is one hell of an undertaking, more like a signature construction site, instead of a recipe. BTW PorkChop - great job! It looks fantastic.
Just an aside, the movie 'The Big Night' was filmed in my hometown, the exterior shots anyway. I remember watching the scenes from outside the brothers restaurant being filmed.
I'd say recently its probably the slow cooker beef chili I've been making. Doesnt sound exciting but is the best chili I've ever had. A bit labor intensive as I trim and cube the 3lb chuck roast myself but its worth it. Got the recipe out of William Sonoma's slow cooker cookbook.
It's a side dish that I got from Rachel Ray but people give me credit for it. I had vegetarians eating it a few Thanksgivings ago. They admitted to knowing the sprouts were cooked in bacon fat but ate them anyway. Brussels Sprouts with Bacon - ( New Window )
and it's also making me want to throw on the games tomorrow, get knee-deep in a good bottle of red wine, and do some damage in the kitchen.
I'm not a gourmet by any stretch, but I've always found cooking to be a mentally healthy distraction, and I don't get to do much of it these days (4YO, 2YO, one more on the way).
to do a Timpano - but it is more out of the philosophy I have towards cooking. I like to cook to create something new - not necessarily to follow a recipe or a construction. I like eating at those who do as they put the work in and I get to enjoy!!
Everytime I've done a dish with a lot of prep or things that have to be painstakingly monitored, I've failed. And I know why - I have no desire to make caramel or an architectural work.
I draw the line at spatchcocking and making my own bracciole.
A good kitchen shears is worth its weight in gold and bracciole only takes rolling up meat and twining it.
I have a handful of things my wife and kids ask me to make, Â
* My (hot Italian) sausage lasagna
* My very spicy chili (unless you're not an "extremely hot food" person, do not attempt). Very tasty, also made with hot Italian sausage, but dangerous.
* My bacon/corn chowder (ever year as a Thanksgiving side - folks request that we deliver containers to their homes, true story)
* My potato/leak soup - a new one I just attempted a few months ago. Found a recipe in a magazine, then (of course) doctored it to personal tastes in the family. About time to give it a second go.
* And of course, my chicken parm, which on Day 2 leads to chicken parm subs, is somewhat legendary. :)
Asian dishes, but no matter what I try - including shopping at Asian food markets, talking up the very patient folks there, trial and error and getting semi-close for a white guy - I just have not been able to hit on any of the attempts, just right. I'm relegated to order takeout when I have a real hankering. Dammit.
Cubano recipe last spring. Woke up one day thinking, I need to make Cubanos tonight. Researched it, made a couple small adjustments (as always), and it worked out really well.
2lb cut up chicken, put in crockpot salt and pepper
cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup hot sauce or more depending on how spicy you want it
cook on low for 4-6 hours
add 2 tablespoons of sour cream
8 of shredded mozzarella
1 table spoon of ranch dressing and blue cheese.
stir then turn off crockpot
cook past in boiling water for 8-10 mins, drain and mix the misure and pasta
Sounds great but what kind of chicken? Chicken breast? Shredded (like from a rotisserie)? Thx
RE: I have a handful of things my wife and kids ask me to make, Â
* My (hot Italian) sausage lasagna
* My very spicy chili (unless you're not an "extremely hot food" person, do not attempt). Very tasty, also made with hot Italian sausage, but dangerous.
* My bacon/corn chowder (ever year as a Thanksgiving side - folks request that we deliver containers to their homes, true story)
* My potato/leak soup - a new one I just attempted a few months ago. Found a recipe in a magazine, then (of course) doctored it to personal tastes in the family. About time to give it a second go.
* And of course, my chicken parm, which on Day 2 leads to chicken parm subs, is somewhat legendary. :)
Bacon/corn chowder seems right up my families alley. Care to share the recipe?!
- Roast corn directly on gas burners (or do it on the grill, I prefer to do inside as my grill is natgas and I don't get much of a flame to really put some char on the corn)
- Finely chop a red onion (I find about 1 onion for every 4-5 ears of corn is a decent ratio)
- chopped cilantro (optional)
Combine corn / red onion / cilantro.
~ 2 tbsp olive oil
~ 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
~ a few generous pinches of kosher salt
~ grind in some freshly ground black pepper
~ a few small shakes of ground cumin
~a few healthy shakes of ground chipotle powder (adjust to preference, this can add a lot of kick quickly)
Mix it all up and ideally let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or two (the sitting time really makes a difference).
Adjust as you see fit. Some people like black beans in there, but my wife LOVES this salsa and HATES beans.
Open up a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and watch it all disappear.
It's super basic, but people rave about this whenever I make it.
is really from the hip. I saw a recipe years ago in a magazine or online (can't remember now), and I altered things to taste.
Here's what goes in. I make a large pot and have at LEAST 4-5 decent sized Tupperware containers to deliver to friends/neighbors. So you can scale as you like.
* 3-5 pounds of bacon (I cut it into half-inch pieces, fry that all up, then drain the grease).
* A 5-pound bag(ish) of potatoes (I clean them and chop them, bite size, skin and all)
* A pound and sometimes more chopped carrots.
* I throw in about 3-4 canned corn (regular, no jewels), then I will add a couple cans of cream corn to get a little texture going.
* I could chop a clove or two of garlic but I'm usually lazy so I'll get a good-sized jar or minced garlic, drain the fluid, and dump her in.
* I get chicken broth - usually buy 4-5 containers (the plastic ... Swanson is one brand I recall).
* I'll put maybe 1-2 cups of milk in with the broth.
* Whatever seasonings to have/like ... we use Goya like we own stock.
I will usually put all the solid ingredients in the pot (no heat going yet), and see where I am with volume, then start to add the chicken brother. If I buy 5 containers, I find I will usually have at least 1 extra to put in the pantry for later use.
Once the fluid if in, I get the heat going. I heat it quickly, then turn it way down. Give yourself a couple inches of leeway at the top because like with any soups, if you happen to walk away and someone comes along (ahem, Mrs. Beez, one example) and thinks it needs to be turned up a bit, you could end up cleaning the stove top. lol
I usually let the "soup" simmer on a low heat for 3-4 hours. Be sure to stir pretty often.
Sauce/Gravy/Whatever:
- 2 oz Veg Oil
- 1 Lb bone-in country style pork ribs
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 fat cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 28oz cans Wegman's Organic crushed tomatoes
- at least 28 oz beef broth
Big pot. High heat, get oil going, brown ribs on both sides.
Remove ribs from pan, cut heat to low, give it a couple of minutes to cool so the garlic doesn't burn.
Garlic goes in for about 30 seconds.
Add tomato paste, deglaze bottom of pot with it, scraping the bits off the bottom. Work quick so garlic doesn't burn.
Tomatoes go in, all of em.
Add 28 oz beef broth, put the ribs back in.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and let it cook at LEAST 8 hours. If it gets overly thick, add more broth.
After an hour or so, begin seasoning to taste. I prefer to keep it simple, salt, pepper, oregano. Long sauce with all that pork and eventually meatballs will have plenty of flavor.
MEATBALLS:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread (no crusts)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 lbs ground beef/pork/turkey (I prefer all beef)
- 1/2 cup GOOD parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons minced FRESH parsley
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Red Wine
Pour fat glass of red wine. Start drinkin'. :)
Use a food processor to make bread crumbs from the bread slices (no crusts).
In a large bowl, or better yet - Kitchen Aid Mixer bowl - add bread crumbs.
Add buttermilk to bowl, stir. After 5 minutes, bread crumbs have fully absorbed buttermilk.
Add egg yolks, parmesan, chopped parsley to bowl. Add meat, salt, pepper.
Roast ONE of the garlic cloves - in a frying pan, skin on for a few minutes.
Mince both the fresh and roasted clove - both go into the bowl.
If you have the Kitchen Aid, fire it up. Easy peasy. If not, wash your hands and go to town mixing it all well.
1/2 cup of meatball mixture per ball. Wet measuring cup works great. Shape each ball, put em on a large platter or pan, refrigerate for at least a half hour so they hold their shape better when you fry them.
Add 1/4" of vegetable oil to a cast iron pan. (Cast iron has mojo) Medium-High heat. Fry in smaller batches, no more than 8 or 9 per or you wind up with too much liquid, boiled balls instead of fried. I use 2 wooden spoons to turn. If there IS too much liquid, drain it, add and heat more oil and continue with the next batch.
When all balls are cooked, deglaze the pan with about a 1/4 cup of the red wine. Scrape browned bits.
IF what is now in that pan looks and smells delicious, add to the pot of sauce. If instead, it looks and smells like black, cigarette ash carbon, throw it out.
When there's about an hour til' dinner, put the balls and any other meats you want (cooked sausage, pepperoni, pork chops) into the sauce. Flavors both meat and sauce.
Fresh pasta is better.
And make sure you've got a loaf or two of killer Italian Bread.
Enjoy.
RE: I have a handful of things my wife and kids ask me to make, Â
If you've ever been to a real Italian street fair (festa), you know about Zeppole. It's not unlike funnel cakes or fried dough, but the flavor is much more layered and complex. Best to have a deep fat fryer at the ready, but you can do it in a sauce pot about halfway filled with canola oil and monitored with a fry thermometer. Here ya go:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup mascarpone
3 tbs sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 oz. cold water
Confectioners sugar and cinnamon for dusting
Preheat to 300 degrees F an ample amount of cooking oil in a deep fryer or large pan.
In a separate saucepan combine and mix all ingredients (except confectioners sugar and cinnamon) while warming on stove, constantly mixing until smooth.
Use teaspoon to form balls of dough, then drop into oil at 300 degrees F. (Zeps will flip when one side is done; shake basket or poke with a spoon to ensure.)
When done, drain on paper towels then transfer to a
bowl and sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over top. (You could also place the zeppole in a paper bag, add the sugar and cinnamon and shake.)
Serve warm.
but I made a Timpano last week. I have been wanting to do this for 20+ years, since I saw The Big Night.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
I did the same last year after watching the movie. Wasn't worth it. I'd rather just make a baked ziti with meat.
Timpano, that is one hell of an undertaking, more like a signature construction site, instead of a recipe. BTW PorkChop - great job! It looks fantastic.
Just an aside, the movie 'The Big Night' was filmed in my hometown, the exterior shots anyway. I remember watching the scenes from outside the brothers restaurant being filmed.
They should have hired you as chef. The movie would have had a much better ending
to do a Timpano - but it is more out of the philosophy I have towards cooking. I like to cook to create something new - not necessarily to follow a recipe or a construction. I like eating at those who do as they put the work in and I get to enjoy!!
Everytime I've done a dish with a lot of prep or things that have to be painstakingly monitored, I've failed. And I know why - I have no desire to make caramel or an architectural work.
I draw the line at spatchcocking and making my own bracciole.
A good kitchen shears is worth its weight in gold and bracciole only takes rolling up meat and twining it.
I really admire you and Drew and anyone who can really be creative in the kitchen. Maybe I could do a little of that now that I've got a lot of experience cooking- I'm sure I know more than I give myself credit for. My most useful ability has been in selecting good recipes from great chefs and putting in the effort needed to recreate them and maybe just tinker with them a little on my own. If the world's star chefs are willing to share with me, who am I to say no thanks :)
Here's one I invented but haven't had chance to make yet Â
Okay first of all – if you want to cook an amazing duck breast – that means you want to cook it with the skin on – and the secret to cooking it is to cook the skin first as if it were bacon
I use thawed D’Artagnan duck breasts – in my younger days I would eat a whole one – now me and Mrs gidiefor share a whole one. They are the best buy and most consistent quality I have been able to find in Duck Breasts.
Peel 6 medium size yellow meat potatoes (Yukons are good) and quarter and throw into pot with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high flame, lower flame and cook for about 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, Chop up and saute about ½ pound of shitake or A grade wild mushrooms until cooked through and browned – but not burned – Lou prefers butter – I use EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) over a medium low flame, (and I add rendered duck fat later in recipe.) Set aside on a serving plate. Drain potatoes, running under cold water and when cool enough to handle, drain and shake off excess water. Slice potatoes about 1/4-1/2“ thick and throw in mushroom pan with a little coarse salt, cook until potatoes start brown, shaking pan and flipping occasionally.
Turn on oven to 425 degrees and let warm up. Remove duck breast from refrigerator and then from package after thawing (I buy them pre-thawed, but mostly they come frozen and can be mail ordered). Thoroughly pat dry both sides of breast with paper towel. Lay skin side up on clean cutting board and using sharp chef’s knife, score skin first angled in one direction across width in 1/2” strip piercing skin to just expose breast meat, then angle in opposite direction and rescore going the other way (making a criss cross pattern). Sprinkle coarse salt, ground black pepper or ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen generously making sure grains fall into and help define scoring. Flip over and trim any excess fat or skin to make a uniform fillet, remove any obvious blemishes and/or obvious silver skin. Lightly sprinkle some more coarse salt, ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen on meat side. Lay skin side down in cast iron pan (do not place any fat or pre heat pan). Turn on flame to medium and cook skin side for 8 minutes or until skin is uniformly deep brown in color. Carefully pour off rendered fat, or spoon it by tilting pan into potatoes and throw mushroom in with the potatoes and mix it all together lowering flame to low setting.
Turn over breast and cook for 1 1/2 minutes searing top then turning and searing along skin edge all around with tongs. Drain off any additional renderings into potatoes, place resting on skin side in pan and place in oven at 425 degrees.
In another saute pan heat up and add EVO (I use Fairway EVO) over medium flame. Throw in a pinch of coarse slat and a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes – prepare your favorite greens in a saute – do no over cook – we prefer broccoli rape cut in 1 to 2 “ pieces.
Check duck after 8 minutes for internal temp of 130 - 135 degrees – if it needs more cooking check at 3 or 4 minute intervals after first 8 minutes. When internal temp goes above 130 – remove from oven and place on a carving board and let it rest for a few minutes. (tip Carving board should have channels to catch drippings or you will make a mess).
Plate potatoes and then greens making sure to drain before placing on plate and keep next to each other but separate.
Carve duck breast at an angle width wise in 1/8 to 1/4 “ slices and arrange on potatoes so they can catch drippings.
Serve immediately!!!!
RE: Hah -- I got to it sooner than I thought I would Â
Okay first of all – if you want to cook an amazing duck breast – that means you want to cook it with the skin on – and the secret to cooking it is to cook the skin first as if it were bacon
I use thawed D’Artagnan duck breasts – in my younger days I would eat a whole one – now me and Mrs gidiefor share a whole one. They are the best buy and most consistent quality I have been able to find in Duck Breasts.
Peel 6 medium size yellow meat potatoes (Yukons are good) and quarter and throw into pot with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high flame, lower flame and cook for about 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, Chop up and saute about ½ pound of shitake or A grade wild mushrooms until cooked through and browned – but not burned – Lou prefers butter – I use EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) over a medium low flame, (and I add rendered duck fat later in recipe.) Set aside on a serving plate. Drain potatoes, running under cold water and when cool enough to handle, drain and shake off excess water. Slice potatoes about 1/4-1/2“ thick and throw in mushroom pan with a little coarse salt, cook until potatoes start brown, shaking pan and flipping occasionally.
Turn on oven to 425 degrees and let warm up. Remove duck breast from refrigerator and then from package after thawing (I buy them pre-thawed, but mostly they come frozen and can be mail ordered). Thoroughly pat dry both sides of breast with paper towel. Lay skin side up on clean cutting board and using sharp chef’s knife, score skin first angled in one direction across width in 1/2” strip piercing skin to just expose breast meat, then angle in opposite direction and rescore going the other way (making a criss cross pattern). Sprinkle coarse salt, ground black pepper or ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen generously making sure grains fall into and help define scoring. Flip over and trim any excess fat or skin to make a uniform fillet, remove any obvious blemishes and/or obvious silver skin. Lightly sprinkle some more coarse salt, ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen on meat side. Lay skin side down in cast iron pan (do not place any fat or pre heat pan). Turn on flame to medium and cook skin side for 8 minutes or until skin is uniformly deep brown in color. Carefully pour off rendered fat, or spoon it by tilting pan into potatoes and throw mushroom in with the potatoes and mix it all together lowering flame to low setting.
Turn over breast and cook for 1 1/2 minutes searing top then turning and searing along skin edge all around with tongs. Drain off any additional renderings into potatoes, place resting on skin side in pan and place in oven at 425 degrees.
In another saute pan heat up and add EVO (I use Fairway EVO) over medium flame. Throw in a pinch of coarse slat and a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes – prepare your favorite greens in a saute – do no over cook – we prefer broccoli rape cut in 1 to 2 “ pieces.
Check duck after 8 minutes for internal temp of 130 - 135 degrees – if it needs more cooking check at 3 or 4 minute intervals after first 8 minutes. When internal temp goes above 130 – remove from oven and place on a carving board and let it rest for a few minutes. (tip Carving board should have channels to catch drippings or you will make a mess).
Plate potatoes and then greens making sure to drain before placing on plate and keep next to each other but separate.
Carve duck breast at an angle width wise in 1/8 to 1/4 “ slices and arrange on potatoes so they can catch drippings.
Serve immediately!!!!
Gidie, I'm sure this is delicious as described. My thought on reading it is that duck breast, skin aside, is not a fatty piece of meat and would do great cooking with sous vide and searing after.
I cheated a couple of weeks ago, and picked up a box of fresh lasagne sheets from the "New York Ravioli Co.' I've got some left in the freezer, so this may be my Sunday dinner.
Heck I'm using dried boxed lasagna and YOU call using purchased fresh pasta "cheating"?
But I know what you mean, truly..
When I first opened Riera's Restaurant in Berkeley in 1982, we made all our pasta ourselves, for months, until we examined the cost efficiency of using our time in that manner, instead of buying someone else's fresh pasta and us making other things like special desserts or appetizers.
But in truth, the purchased pasta wasn't nearly so good as what we made ourselves following Marcella Hazan's recipe on our little Atlas hand crank pasta rolling machine. It just wasn't as delicate, prolly from overworking the gluten on an electric larger scale roller.
Then you have guys like Gary Danko who write that even using a small home scale pasta roller isn't nearly as good as rolled out by hand on a marble slab! Never did that myself just too labor intensive but I imagine it's true. I never had the luxury of a big over sized kitchen and a team of interns working for their room and board.
The dried Barilla egg lasagna is took thick and absorbs a bit too much liquid out of the bechamel, though I try to compensate with a looser bechamel.
But who the heck notices these things aside from guys and gals in whites and tocques...? Or formerly in those clothes?
Made one as a school donation for my kids' elementary school fair, but it was also a competition. Half the people at least bought supermarket ground beef for theirs, I cut up a NY strip into cubes, used 5-6 kinds of fresh peppers, lots of cumin, oregano, and good red wine or stock instead of water, canned Italian tomato pulp, fresh bay leaves...
The lady next to me asks me what's that smell? Prolly from the good cumin and copious good oregano, maybe the wine too, and then bends over and sticks her face over my Crock-Pot.
OMG, she said to me, "I'll never win anything if that's what people are submitting!"
To make her feel better I explained I'd once been a chef in well reputed French and Northern Italian restaurans.
My mistake! There was a lot of whispered grumbling about "unfair" and "rigged" when I won the professional judges' award of a night in a top hotel.
Can you tell me more about the bechamel you make? You just make a basic bechamel and then steep the herbs in there for a bit before putting through the sieve?
Sauce/Gravy/Whatever:
- 2 oz Veg Oil
- 1 Lb bone-in country style pork ribs
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 fat cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 28oz cans Wegman's Organic crushed tomatoes
- at least 28 oz beef broth
Big pot. High heat, get oil going, brown ribs on both sides.
Remove ribs from pan, cut heat to low, give it a couple of minutes to cool so the garlic doesn't burn.
Garlic goes in for about 30 seconds.
Add tomato paste, deglaze bottom of pot with it, scraping the bits off the bottom. Work quick so garlic doesn't burn.
Tomatoes go in, all of em.
Add 28 oz beef broth, put the ribs back in.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and let it cook at LEAST 8 hours. If it gets overly thick, add more broth.
After an hour or so, begin seasoning to taste. I prefer to keep it simple, salt, pepper, oregano. Long sauce with all that pork and eventually meatballs will have plenty of flavor.
MEATBALLS:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread (no crusts)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 lbs ground beef/pork/turkey (I prefer all beef)
- 1/2 cup GOOD parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons minced FRESH parsley
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Red Wine
Pour fat glass of red wine. Start drinkin'. :)
Use a food processor to make bread crumbs from the bread slices (no crusts).
In a large bowl, or better yet - Kitchen Aid Mixer bowl - add bread crumbs.
Add buttermilk to bowl, stir. After 5 minutes, bread crumbs have fully absorbed buttermilk.
Add egg yolks, parmesan, chopped parsley to bowl. Add meat, salt, pepper.
Roast ONE of the garlic cloves - in a frying pan, skin on for a few minutes.
Mince both the fresh and roasted clove - both go into the bowl.
If you have the Kitchen Aid, fire it up. Easy peasy. If not, wash your hands and go to town mixing it all well.
1/2 cup of meatball mixture per ball. Wet measuring cup works great. Shape each ball, put em on a large platter or pan, refrigerate for at least a half hour so they hold their shape better when you fry them.
Add 1/4" of vegetable oil to a cast iron pan. (Cast iron has mojo) Medium-High heat. Fry in smaller batches, no more than 8 or 9 per or you wind up with too much liquid, boiled balls instead of fried. I use 2 wooden spoons to turn. If there IS too much liquid, drain it, add and heat more oil and continue with the next batch.
When all balls are cooked, deglaze the pan with about a 1/4 cup of the red wine. Scrape browned bits.
IF what is now in that pan looks and smells delicious, add to the pot of sauce. If instead, it looks and smells like black, cigarette ash carbon, throw it out.
When there's about an hour til' dinner, put the balls and any other meats you want (cooked sausage, pepperoni, pork chops) into the sauce. Flavors both meat and sauce.
Fresh pasta is better.
And make sure you've got a loaf or two of killer Italian Bread.
Enjoy.
My goodness something tells me I can change the world with this shit. Thx I might just have to give this a go. I’ve got the vodka sauce and bolognese down pat but haven’t really tried to make a meatball gravy on my own.
Key to the sauce is TIME. Really needs to go all day, tomatoes really break down into a deep, sweet wonder. I usually start it as soon as I wake. Get the house stinking of garlic for the house to rise to, as my grandmother would do when I was a kid.
...for the most part during cooking. At the end, there are some small, super tender, delicious pork chunks floating around. You'll want to remove the bones before serving.
Also, that sauce cooks at low heat and stir frequently so the sauce on the bottom doesn't burn.
...for the most part during cooking. At the end, there are some small, super tender, delicious pork chunks floating around. You'll want to remove the bones before serving.
Also, that sauce cooks at low heat and stir frequently so the sauce on the bottom doesn't burn.
Country ribs are a great cut for gravy (and relatively cheap)
I use twice the amount of garlic and substitute basil for oregano
Hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes take any sauce to another level
Can you tell me more about the bechamel you make? You just make a basic bechamel and then steep the herbs in there for a bit before putting through the sieve?
Exactly that, or I just lift out the big parts of the herbs and spices I steep in the bechamel just before and as I spread it over each new layer of pasta. Bay leaves are easy to pick out with a slotted spoon or fork; thyme springs lift out, leaving the tiny leaves behind after 30+ minutes at a bare simmer.
The sauce itself is 3 tblsp butter, 4 tblsp flour, and about 1.25 liters of whole milk. Make a blonde roux over a low flame and just when it reaches maximum puffiness slowly add the pre-heated milk while whisking or stirring vigorously.
The necessity of straining depends on how lumpy or smooth the sauce itself is too.
I'm pretty sure someone had a bottle of the black label Lewis Plasco here last week
The black label is my reserve level 2014, about to export some more to NY.
X meadowlander, awesome recipe for meatballs and gravy, but I have to make some kosher suitable substitutions. Beef short ribs for pork, demi-glace for buttermilk, (I make panade like that, or with simply reduced stock), no cheese at all, which of course takes something out of it...
Why egg yolk rather than just whole egg? Too light and puffy with the whites included?
Great recipe thanks for sharing.
Beez, have you ever considered pancetta, guanciale, or Â
a cook but my Grandmother taught me to make an amazing Shepards Pie, I use beef instead of lamb though so technically it would be Cottage Pie. Very simple thing for anyone to make obviously but it’s still amazing.
a cook but my Grandmother taught me to make an amazing Shepards Pie, I use beef instead of lamb though so technically it would be Cottage Pie. Very simple thing for anyone to make obviously but it’s still amazing.
I freaking love shepherds pie and have had a hankering to try my hand at one. If you have some time to share the recipe at some point, I’d be much obliged.
Can't stop rereading xmeadow's
BlueLou'sBack : 6:08 am : link : reply
Meatballs and gravy recipe. Screw pasta, I want that on a crusty hoagie Sunday. For the games.
know the shops you mention. But for years now I have roasted lamb legs or shoulders covered liberally with ground Chinese 5 spices or the Mediterranean/North African "equivalent" the magical Ras al Hanut, which may be a blend of 10 or more spices, among which surely are cumin, cinnamon, and peppercorns as primary moieties.
Lamb joints cooked this way come out great "roasted" in an extra large brown in bag. By the time they are crispy brown at the surface, they are meltingly tender in the flesh.
Some of these I might just try. Some are beyond my ability and/or motivation.
I thought that I would be the only BBI'er who was fascinated by x medowlander's Sauce/gravy/whatever recipe with meatballs! Looks like a lot of my fellow knuckleheads are interested, too!
I have never used beef broth or pork ribs in one of my sauce variants. A lot to love in this version of Sunday Sauce! Thanks x man!
it makes a very large pot, I use a dutch oven and this gets close to the top.
• 1 pound bacon, diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 pounds hot Italian Sausage
• 3 pounds ground beef
• 4 jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 large cans chili beans (I use black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, it varies based on what I see in the store - kidney beans are my least favorite)
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (about 30 oz)
• 3 pounds onion, finely chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce (large can)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 4 dashes hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup water
depending on consistently I may or may not add the water.
In a large frying pan, cook bacon until crispy; drain and add to a large pot. Then brown the sausage in the frying pan; drain and add to pot with bacon. Then brown the ground beef; drain and add to the pot with the other meats. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot, and simmer for 4 to 6 hours for best results.
serve hot with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream as optional toppings.
and if my kids are the primary consumers I won't add the jalapenos I'll chop them up and put in a dish for people to add as a topping.
this chili has a good consistent heat, but also has great flavor.
I think the Worcestershire sauce is the secret ingredient.
cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup hot sauce or more depending on how spicy you want it
cook on low for 4-6 hours
add 2 tablespoons of sour cream
8 of shredded mozzarella
1 table spoon of ranch dressing and blue cheese.
stir then turn off crockpot
cook past in boiling water for 8-10 mins, drain and mix the misure and pasta
Remove shanks to a baking dish.
Saute chopped onion, celery, and carrot in the same pan until softened. Add two minced cloves of garlic. saute another minute
Add one 14 oz can of chopped tomato. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over vegetables and cook for a few minutes then add 1 cup white wine and one cup chicken broth
Add thyme for seasoning. A couple of sprigs, if fresh. A couple of teaspoons, if dry.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour all of the pan sauce and vegetables over the shanks.
Cook covered in a 250 degree oven for 2 hours.
Serve with rice, orzo pasta or polenta
Cheese Tortellini with Cream of Spinach. Boil both in the same pot. Drain and toss together. Try it, you will be surprised.
1 box (1 lb) Barilla no bake lasagna egg noodles or fresh home made (preferably spinach or buckwheat) egg lasagna noodles, enough for 4 layers in a 13 x 9 in glass or ceramic baking dish.
1.25 quarts bechamel well seasoned with fresh grated nutmeg, fresh grated black pepper, 3 bay leaves and 6 bushy springs of fresh thyme, sieved
1.5# fresh button Crimini mushrooms
1# thinly sliced fresh shitake mushroom caps (both sliced thinly)
2 oz dried sliced porcini soaked .5 hrs simmering water
4 shallots and 4 cloves garlic finely chopped.
You MUST saute the mushrooms in a 50/50 mix of sweet butter and EVOO a long while over high heat until all their water is driven out and they are lightly but evenly caramelized...
This is the key step to the whole shebang. Only then one adds the minced garlic and shallots and sautes everything just a few minutes more, to release the pungency of the shallots and garlic.
10 oz Italian parmesan (Grana Padano or Reggiano) and 5 oz Pecorino (or other aged sheep milk cheese like Manchego), grated and mixed together
10 oz crumbled Feta (sheep's or goat milk, NOT COW MILK)
8 oz soft goat milk cheese, like Lezay or Bucheron logs, sliced into thin discs
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced fresh fines herbes (chives, tarragon, parsley and chervil) or just chives and fresh picked thyme leaves
Oil the baking dish with EVOO and spread a thin layer of bechamel below the first layer of lasagna. Then make 3 layers with the seasoned bechamel sprinkled liberally with the fresh herbs, 1/4 of the grated parmesan and pecorino, 1/3 each of the Feta and goat cheeses, and 1/3 of the sauteed mushrooms with garlic and shallots.
The 4th layer, the top, has just the bechamel, parmesan, and Romano cheeses. The baking dish will be full... Bake for 35-40 minutes in a pre-heated 375F convection or regular oven, until evenly golden brown on top and bubbling hot. Let rest 20-30 minutes before serving.
Wish I could recall how to insert a photo here...
My current favorite though...and it’s awesome..comes from 2 stolen recipes. Kenji's sous vide pork belly Bao with hoisin mayo and quick pickles and a stolen steamed bao recipe...basically a bread dough variant that’s steamed. Google it. Try it.
Also I find dried porcini more trouble than it's worth, curious on your thoughts- maybe just more fresh cremini?
Also I find dried porcini more trouble than it's worth, curious on your thoughts- maybe just more fresh cremini?
Better than subbing in ricotta would be just increase the other 3 cheeses in proportion to the subtracted weight of feta, or substitute grated Italian Fontina for the feta.
The fish needs a strong flavored cheese to replace the feta to keep it's original intensity of character.
The dish is way better with fresh wild mushrooms like porcini, chantelles, hedgehogs, blewits, oyster mushrooms, etc than with dried porcini. But those aren't always available...
Fill glass 3/4 with ice. Then Tito’s that motherfucker till you don’t feel like it anymore. Serve to face immediately. Repeat often.
Marinate the steak overnight in salt, pepper, and a little bit of olive oil.
Sautee the onions and peppers the night before, together with minced garlic.
The next morning, fire up your grill, throw the steaks on, and heat up the onions and peppers in an aluminum pan with a little olive oil.
Make sure you cut the steak diagonally, both left to right and top to bottom.
Lay out the provolone in a hard Italian roll.
Insert steak and onions and peppers.
Stuff your face.
If you're anywhere near Berkeley, your foraged wild mushrooms options should be extensive at produce markets like the Berkeley Bowl or the Monterey Produce Market.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
1. I made candied bacon aka Pig candy on the smoker last 4th of July and one of our guests was a 5+ year vegetarian and she said that looks and smells so good I'm going to try it. She loved it. My wife says she's no longer a vegetarian. I feel some weird sense of accomplishment about that for some reason. Sort of like when Elaine on Seinfeld thought she could "switch" the gay guy to hetero or conversely when George made Susan switch the opposite way (LOL).
2. My chili. 2017 Super Bowl party at my house, our neighbor took me aside and said "you cannot tell my husband this because he'll kill me, but yours is the best chili I've ever had."
but I'm more of a typical male dad "chef", all my "signature dishes" come from my smoker, my grill, my crockpot, my blackstone griddle, or are in some other way football related (chili).
I have had people request for me to bring my sweet & sour meatballs to their parties when I ask what I can bring.
African Peanut Butter Stew - ( New Window )
2 lbs chicken breast, pounded, and cut into about 2in x 2in pieces
.5lbs hot Italian sausage
.5lbs sweet Italian sausage
1/2 cup peppadew peppers, quartered
12 garlic cloves, whole
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp oregano, finely chopped
4 cups water
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1 Idaho potato
all purpose flour
salt & pepper (to taste)
Prep:
Place chicken in bowl of cold water with salt. Brine for 30 minutes. Once complete, drain and pat dry.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and poach sausages for 3-5 minutes until the sausages just start to get firm. Place the sausages on a plate and let cool. Take quartered potato and add it to boiling water. Cook for 5-7 minutes, drain and set aside.
The Sauce:
Add one cup of oil to a large sauté pan and heat over medium-low heat. Toss in whole garlic cloves and roast, constantly moving them around to ensure they do not burn. Cook until the garlic cloves have a nice brown color and are soft. Drain garlic and oil and reserve.
Take cooled sausage and cut into 1 inch pieces, about 4 sections per sausage. Place in sauté pan (which should still have a little bit of residual garlic oil left over) and fry in batches until sausages are caramelized around the edges. Reserve sausage.
Add potatoes to pan and cook for about 10 minutes, mixing occasionally so they do not burn. Once potatoes are crisp on all sides, take them out of the pan and reserve with sausage.
Add shallots and chopped garlic to the pan and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant. Add chicken stock, white wine, and lemon juice, making sure to scrape up any bits from the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste and then lower heat to low and simmer until reduced by half.
Add in peppadew peppers, rosemary, and oregano and continue to simmer on low heat until your chicken is ready, about 30 minutes.
The Chicken:
Pour oil in a separate skillet (cast iron if you have) so that it fills about 1 inch from the bottom. Heat on medium until it reaches 350 degrees.
Take chicken and lightly coat each piece with flour.
Working in batches, gently place chicken into skillet and cook on each side for 3 minutes. Make sure that it is nice and brown (not pale) before flipping over. I recommend placing 1 piece of chicken in the oil to make sure the oil is hot enough. If oil bubbles feverishly (small bubbles) around your chicken, it is hot enough. I always find it takes one or two piece to find your groove.
When chicken is brown on both sides, place on a paper towel to let drain and continue the process until all chicken is cooked.
Bring it all together!:
Take chicken and place into the large sauté pan with sauce, making sure that each piece of chicken gets coated. Add sausage, whole garlic cloves, and potatoes and mix to incorporate. Cook for about 10 minutes just to make sure that everything is warmed through and melds together
Dig in! Great the next day as well.
But I do excellent barbeque pork. But I don't consider rubbing a piece of meat, putting it in a smoker for hours and then doing a scratch-made sauce as a signature dish, even though I'm making the rub and sauce on my own.
But that and my texas-style chili are the two dishes that people really like.
I usually get boneless skinless thighs and some tenders and you cube them.
Place in a skillet with a pad of butter and some EVOO. Salt, pepper, and curry paste (they sell it in my supermarket).
Cook the chicken thoroughly. Remove from skillet and put in a bowl.
Now in the same skillet, a small onion (diced) with more butter. Add two cloves of minced or pressed garlic. Add some fresh ginger (I cheat and use the little tube you can buy). Salt, pepper.
Cook until the onion is translucent and just starting to carmelize.
Add a small can of diced tomatoes (15oz, I think?). Add more curry paste (like a tablespoon). Add just a bit of lemon juice.
Simmer that until the tomatoes are nice and hot. Add a small container (5oz?) of plain greek yogurt. Add about a qtr cup of Half and half or cream. Add more butter (this is butter chicken). Stir and heat until it's bubbling (it's gonna look weird here).
Put it in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend it until the sauce is smooth. Pour back into skillet, add chicken and let it cook on low for 10 mins or so.
Serve over Basmati Rice with some heated Naan. I usually steam green beans to go with it. I've even used Cauliflower rice to drop the carbs and it works well.
I make this at least once a month. The fam loves it.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
I did the same last year after watching the movie. Wasn't worth it. I'd rather just make a baked ziti with meat.
Quote:
but I made a Timpano last week. I have been wanting to do this for 20+ years, since I saw The Big Night.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
I did the same last year after watching the movie. Wasn't worth it. I'd rather just make a baked ziti with meat.
Timpano, that is one hell of an undertaking, more like a signature construction site, instead of a recipe. BTW PorkChop - great job! It looks fantastic.
Just an aside, the movie 'The Big Night' was filmed in my hometown, the exterior shots anyway. I remember watching the scenes from outside the brothers restaurant being filmed.
Same here.
I'd say recently its probably the slow cooker beef chili I've been making. Doesnt sound exciting but is the best chili I've ever had. A bit labor intensive as I trim and cube the 3lb chuck roast myself but its worth it. Got the recipe out of William Sonoma's slow cooker cookbook.
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon - ( New Window )
I'm not a gourmet by any stretch, but I've always found cooking to be a mentally healthy distraction, and I don't get to do much of it these days (4YO, 2YO, one more on the way).
keep those recipe's coming!
Everytime I've done a dish with a lot of prep or things that have to be painstakingly monitored, I've failed. And I know why - I have no desire to make caramel or an architectural work.
I draw the line at spatchcocking and making my own bracciole.
A good kitchen shears is worth its weight in gold and bracciole only takes rolling up meat and twining it.
* My (hot Italian) sausage lasagna
* My very spicy chili (unless you're not an "extremely hot food" person, do not attempt). Very tasty, also made with hot Italian sausage, but dangerous.
* My bacon/corn chowder (ever year as a Thanksgiving side - folks request that we deliver containers to their homes, true story)
* My potato/leak soup - a new one I just attempted a few months ago. Found a recipe in a magazine, then (of course) doctored it to personal tastes in the family. About time to give it a second go.
* And of course, my chicken parm, which on Day 2 leads to chicken parm subs, is somewhat legendary. :)
This spruce recipe is a good one.
Spruce Shrimp Etouffé - ( New Window )
Definitely a "baseball season dinner."
cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup hot sauce or more depending on how spicy you want it
cook on low for 4-6 hours
add 2 tablespoons of sour cream
8 of shredded mozzarella
1 table spoon of ranch dressing and blue cheese.
stir then turn off crockpot
cook past in boiling water for 8-10 mins, drain and mix the misure and pasta
Sounds great but what kind of chicken? Chicken breast? Shredded (like from a rotisserie)? Thx
* My (hot Italian) sausage lasagna
* My very spicy chili (unless you're not an "extremely hot food" person, do not attempt). Very tasty, also made with hot Italian sausage, but dangerous.
* My bacon/corn chowder (ever year as a Thanksgiving side - folks request that we deliver containers to their homes, true story)
* My potato/leak soup - a new one I just attempted a few months ago. Found a recipe in a magazine, then (of course) doctored it to personal tastes in the family. About time to give it a second go.
* And of course, my chicken parm, which on Day 2 leads to chicken parm subs, is somewhat legendary. :)
Bacon/corn chowder seems right up my families alley. Care to share the recipe?!
- Finely chop a red onion (I find about 1 onion for every 4-5 ears of corn is a decent ratio)
- chopped cilantro (optional)
Combine corn / red onion / cilantro.
~ 2 tbsp olive oil
~ 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
~ a few generous pinches of kosher salt
~ grind in some freshly ground black pepper
~ a few small shakes of ground cumin
~a few healthy shakes of ground chipotle powder (adjust to preference, this can add a lot of kick quickly)
Mix it all up and ideally let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or two (the sitting time really makes a difference).
Adjust as you see fit. Some people like black beans in there, but my wife LOVES this salsa and HATES beans.
Open up a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and watch it all disappear.
It's super basic, but people rave about this whenever I make it.
Here's what goes in. I make a large pot and have at LEAST 4-5 decent sized Tupperware containers to deliver to friends/neighbors. So you can scale as you like.
* 3-5 pounds of bacon (I cut it into half-inch pieces, fry that all up, then drain the grease).
* A 5-pound bag(ish) of potatoes (I clean them and chop them, bite size, skin and all)
* A pound and sometimes more chopped carrots.
* I throw in about 3-4 canned corn (regular, no jewels), then I will add a couple cans of cream corn to get a little texture going.
* I could chop a clove or two of garlic but I'm usually lazy so I'll get a good-sized jar or minced garlic, drain the fluid, and dump her in.
* I get chicken broth - usually buy 4-5 containers (the plastic ... Swanson is one brand I recall).
* I'll put maybe 1-2 cups of milk in with the broth.
* Whatever seasonings to have/like ... we use Goya like we own stock.
I will usually put all the solid ingredients in the pot (no heat going yet), and see where I am with volume, then start to add the chicken brother. If I buy 5 containers, I find I will usually have at least 1 extra to put in the pantry for later use.
Once the fluid if in, I get the heat going. I heat it quickly, then turn it way down. Give yourself a couple inches of leeway at the top because like with any soups, if you happen to walk away and someone comes along (ahem, Mrs. Beez, one example) and thinks it needs to be turned up a bit, you could end up cleaning the stove top. lol
I usually let the "soup" simmer on a low heat for 3-4 hours. Be sure to stir pretty often.
Hope that helps!
How much milk?
- 2 oz Veg Oil
- 1 Lb bone-in country style pork ribs
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 fat cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 28oz cans Wegman's Organic crushed tomatoes
- at least 28 oz beef broth
Big pot. High heat, get oil going, brown ribs on both sides.
Remove ribs from pan, cut heat to low, give it a couple of minutes to cool so the garlic doesn't burn.
Garlic goes in for about 30 seconds.
Add tomato paste, deglaze bottom of pot with it, scraping the bits off the bottom. Work quick so garlic doesn't burn.
Tomatoes go in, all of em.
Add 28 oz beef broth, put the ribs back in.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and let it cook at LEAST 8 hours. If it gets overly thick, add more broth.
After an hour or so, begin seasoning to taste. I prefer to keep it simple, salt, pepper, oregano. Long sauce with all that pork and eventually meatballs will have plenty of flavor.
MEATBALLS:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread (no crusts)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 lbs ground beef/pork/turkey (I prefer all beef)
- 1/2 cup GOOD parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons minced FRESH parsley
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Red Wine
Pour fat glass of red wine. Start drinkin'. :)
Use a food processor to make bread crumbs from the bread slices (no crusts).
In a large bowl, or better yet - Kitchen Aid Mixer bowl - add bread crumbs.
Add buttermilk to bowl, stir. After 5 minutes, bread crumbs have fully absorbed buttermilk.
Add egg yolks, parmesan, chopped parsley to bowl. Add meat, salt, pepper.
Roast ONE of the garlic cloves - in a frying pan, skin on for a few minutes.
Mince both the fresh and roasted clove - both go into the bowl.
If you have the Kitchen Aid, fire it up. Easy peasy. If not, wash your hands and go to town mixing it all well.
1/2 cup of meatball mixture per ball. Wet measuring cup works great. Shape each ball, put em on a large platter or pan, refrigerate for at least a half hour so they hold their shape better when you fry them.
Add 1/4" of vegetable oil to a cast iron pan. (Cast iron has mojo) Medium-High heat. Fry in smaller batches, no more than 8 or 9 per or you wind up with too much liquid, boiled balls instead of fried. I use 2 wooden spoons to turn. If there IS too much liquid, drain it, add and heat more oil and continue with the next batch.
When all balls are cooked, deglaze the pan with about a 1/4 cup of the red wine. Scrape browned bits.
IF what is now in that pan looks and smells delicious, add to the pot of sauce. If instead, it looks and smells like black, cigarette ash carbon, throw it out.
When there's about an hour til' dinner, put the balls and any other meats you want (cooked sausage, pepperoni, pork chops) into the sauce. Flavors both meat and sauce.
Fresh pasta is better.
And make sure you've got a loaf or two of killer Italian Bread.
Enjoy.
Trying not to picture the "leak" part...
Thank you!
Quote:
My potato/leak soup
Trying not to picture the "leak" part...
Ha.
Leek.
"Nope, but you're close..."
Here's mine r now:
Cold Granny Smith apples. Hot bacon straight from pan.
Slice, top, eat.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup mascarpone
3 tbs sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 oz. cold water
Confectioners sugar and cinnamon for dusting
Preheat to 300 degrees F an ample amount of cooking oil in a deep fryer or large pan.
In a separate saucepan combine and mix all ingredients (except confectioners sugar and cinnamon) while warming on stove, constantly mixing until smooth.
Use teaspoon to form balls of dough, then drop into oil at 300 degrees F. (Zeps will flip when one side is done; shake basket or poke with a spoon to ensure.)
When done, drain on paper towels then transfer to a
bowl and sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over top. (You could also place the zeppole in a paper bag, add the sugar and cinnamon and shake.)
Serve warm.
Here's mine r now:
Cold Granny Smith apples. Hot bacon straight from pan.
Slice, top, eat.
Now that margi's back posting, he should put his sauce recipe back up. Two to choose from.
Quote:
In comment 14246785 Pork Chop said:
Quote:
but I made a Timpano last week. I have been wanting to do this for 20+ years, since I saw The Big Night.
Complicated and time consuming, but fun and delicious.
I did the same last year after watching the movie. Wasn't worth it. I'd rather just make a baked ziti with meat.
Timpano, that is one hell of an undertaking, more like a signature construction site, instead of a recipe. BTW PorkChop - great job! It looks fantastic.
Just an aside, the movie 'The Big Night' was filmed in my hometown, the exterior shots anyway. I remember watching the scenes from outside the brothers restaurant being filmed.
They should have hired you as chef. The movie would have had a much better ending
Everytime I've done a dish with a lot of prep or things that have to be painstakingly monitored, I've failed. And I know why - I have no desire to make caramel or an architectural work.
I draw the line at spatchcocking and making my own bracciole.
A good kitchen shears is worth its weight in gold and bracciole only takes rolling up meat and twining it.
I really admire you and Drew and anyone who can really be creative in the kitchen. Maybe I could do a little of that now that I've got a lot of experience cooking- I'm sure I know more than I give myself credit for. My most useful ability has been in selecting good recipes from great chefs and putting in the effort needed to recreate them and maybe just tinker with them a little on my own. If the world's star chefs are willing to share with me, who am I to say no thanks :)
Cut the Chicharron and Shrimp to match the gnocci shape semi-exactly (maybe allow for shrinkage on Chicharron).
Render and crisp Chicharron in a good large heavy pan with plenty space between (maybe start w olive oil). Remove leaving fat.
Start gnocci cooking while you cook raw fresh shrimp in the Chicharron fat. Do not crowd pan.
Mix and saute briefly all together and garnish with a green item.
Have fun eating (which is which?)
One thing about gnocci is it takes practice to get it toothy. Totally different method than pasta.
I use thawed D’Artagnan duck breasts – in my younger days I would eat a whole one – now me and Mrs gidiefor share a whole one. They are the best buy and most consistent quality I have been able to find in Duck Breasts.
Peel 6 medium size yellow meat potatoes (Yukons are good) and quarter and throw into pot with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high flame, lower flame and cook for about 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, Chop up and saute about ½ pound of shitake or A grade wild mushrooms until cooked through and browned – but not burned – Lou prefers butter – I use EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) over a medium low flame, (and I add rendered duck fat later in recipe.) Set aside on a serving plate. Drain potatoes, running under cold water and when cool enough to handle, drain and shake off excess water. Slice potatoes about 1/4-1/2“ thick and throw in mushroom pan with a little coarse salt, cook until potatoes start brown, shaking pan and flipping occasionally.
Turn on oven to 425 degrees and let warm up. Remove duck breast from refrigerator and then from package after thawing (I buy them pre-thawed, but mostly they come frozen and can be mail ordered). Thoroughly pat dry both sides of breast with paper towel. Lay skin side up on clean cutting board and using sharp chef’s knife, score skin first angled in one direction across width in 1/2” strip piercing skin to just expose breast meat, then angle in opposite direction and rescore going the other way (making a criss cross pattern). Sprinkle coarse salt, ground black pepper or ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen generously making sure grains fall into and help define scoring. Flip over and trim any excess fat or skin to make a uniform fillet, remove any obvious blemishes and/or obvious silver skin. Lightly sprinkle some more coarse salt, ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen on meat side. Lay skin side down in cast iron pan (do not place any fat or pre heat pan). Turn on flame to medium and cook skin side for 8 minutes or until skin is uniformly deep brown in color. Carefully pour off rendered fat, or spoon it by tilting pan into potatoes and throw mushroom in with the potatoes and mix it all together lowering flame to low setting.
Turn over breast and cook for 1 1/2 minutes searing top then turning and searing along skin edge all around with tongs. Drain off any additional renderings into potatoes, place resting on skin side in pan and place in oven at 425 degrees.
In another saute pan heat up and add EVO (I use Fairway EVO) over medium flame. Throw in a pinch of coarse slat and a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes – prepare your favorite greens in a saute – do no over cook – we prefer broccoli rape cut in 1 to 2 “ pieces.
Check duck after 8 minutes for internal temp of 130 - 135 degrees – if it needs more cooking check at 3 or 4 minute intervals after first 8 minutes. When internal temp goes above 130 – remove from oven and place on a carving board and let it rest for a few minutes. (tip Carving board should have channels to catch drippings or you will make a mess).
Plate potatoes and then greens making sure to drain before placing on plate and keep next to each other but separate.
Carve duck breast at an angle width wise in 1/8 to 1/4 “ slices and arrange on potatoes so they can catch drippings.
Serve immediately!!!!
I use thawed D’Artagnan duck breasts – in my younger days I would eat a whole one – now me and Mrs gidiefor share a whole one. They are the best buy and most consistent quality I have been able to find in Duck Breasts.
Peel 6 medium size yellow meat potatoes (Yukons are good) and quarter and throw into pot with lightly salted water. Bring to a boil over high flame, lower flame and cook for about 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, Chop up and saute about ½ pound of shitake or A grade wild mushrooms until cooked through and browned – but not burned – Lou prefers butter – I use EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) over a medium low flame, (and I add rendered duck fat later in recipe.) Set aside on a serving plate. Drain potatoes, running under cold water and when cool enough to handle, drain and shake off excess water. Slice potatoes about 1/4-1/2“ thick and throw in mushroom pan with a little coarse salt, cook until potatoes start brown, shaking pan and flipping occasionally.
Turn on oven to 425 degrees and let warm up. Remove duck breast from refrigerator and then from package after thawing (I buy them pre-thawed, but mostly they come frozen and can be mail ordered). Thoroughly pat dry both sides of breast with paper towel. Lay skin side up on clean cutting board and using sharp chef’s knife, score skin first angled in one direction across width in 1/2” strip piercing skin to just expose breast meat, then angle in opposite direction and rescore going the other way (making a criss cross pattern). Sprinkle coarse salt, ground black pepper or ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen generously making sure grains fall into and help define scoring. Flip over and trim any excess fat or skin to make a uniform fillet, remove any obvious blemishes and/or obvious silver skin. Lightly sprinkle some more coarse salt, ground grains of paradise and fennel pollen on meat side. Lay skin side down in cast iron pan (do not place any fat or pre heat pan). Turn on flame to medium and cook skin side for 8 minutes or until skin is uniformly deep brown in color. Carefully pour off rendered fat, or spoon it by tilting pan into potatoes and throw mushroom in with the potatoes and mix it all together lowering flame to low setting.
Turn over breast and cook for 1 1/2 minutes searing top then turning and searing along skin edge all around with tongs. Drain off any additional renderings into potatoes, place resting on skin side in pan and place in oven at 425 degrees.
In another saute pan heat up and add EVO (I use Fairway EVO) over medium flame. Throw in a pinch of coarse slat and a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes – prepare your favorite greens in a saute – do no over cook – we prefer broccoli rape cut in 1 to 2 “ pieces.
Check duck after 8 minutes for internal temp of 130 - 135 degrees – if it needs more cooking check at 3 or 4 minute intervals after first 8 minutes. When internal temp goes above 130 – remove from oven and place on a carving board and let it rest for a few minutes. (tip Carving board should have channels to catch drippings or you will make a mess).
Plate potatoes and then greens making sure to drain before placing on plate and keep next to each other but separate.
Carve duck breast at an angle width wise in 1/8 to 1/4 “ slices and arrange on potatoes so they can catch drippings.
Serve immediately!!!!
Gidie, I'm sure this is delicious as described. My thought on reading it is that duck breast, skin aside, is not a fatty piece of meat and would do great cooking with sous vide and searing after.
Heck I'm using dried boxed lasagna and YOU call using purchased fresh pasta "cheating"?
But I know what you mean, truly..
When I first opened Riera's Restaurant in Berkeley in 1982, we made all our pasta ourselves, for months, until we examined the cost efficiency of using our time in that manner, instead of buying someone else's fresh pasta and us making other things like special desserts or appetizers.
But in truth, the purchased pasta wasn't nearly so good as what we made ourselves following Marcella Hazan's recipe on our little Atlas hand crank pasta rolling machine. It just wasn't as delicate, prolly from overworking the gluten on an electric larger scale roller.
Then you have guys like Gary Danko who write that even using a small home scale pasta roller isn't nearly as good as rolled out by hand on a marble slab! Never did that myself just too labor intensive but I imagine it's true. I never had the luxury of a big over sized kitchen and a team of interns working for their room and board.
The dried Barilla egg lasagna is took thick and absorbs a bit too much liquid out of the bechamel, though I try to compensate with a looser bechamel.
But who the heck notices these things aside from guys and gals in whites and tocques...? Or formerly in those clothes?
The lady next to me asks me what's that smell? Prolly from the good cumin and copious good oregano, maybe the wine too, and then bends over and sticks her face over my Crock-Pot.
OMG, she said to me, "I'll never win anything if that's what people are submitting!"
To make her feel better I explained I'd once been a chef in well reputed French and Northern Italian restaurans.
My mistake! There was a lot of whispered grumbling about "unfair" and "rigged" when I won the professional judges' award of a night in a top hotel.
- 2 oz Veg Oil
- 1 Lb bone-in country style pork ribs
- 1 can tomato paste
- 3 fat cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 28oz cans Wegman's Organic crushed tomatoes
- at least 28 oz beef broth
Big pot. High heat, get oil going, brown ribs on both sides.
Remove ribs from pan, cut heat to low, give it a couple of minutes to cool so the garlic doesn't burn.
Garlic goes in for about 30 seconds.
Add tomato paste, deglaze bottom of pot with it, scraping the bits off the bottom. Work quick so garlic doesn't burn.
Tomatoes go in, all of em.
Add 28 oz beef broth, put the ribs back in.
Bring to a boil, lower heat and let it cook at LEAST 8 hours. If it gets overly thick, add more broth.
After an hour or so, begin seasoning to taste. I prefer to keep it simple, salt, pepper, oregano. Long sauce with all that pork and eventually meatballs will have plenty of flavor.
MEATBALLS:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread (no crusts)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 lbs ground beef/pork/turkey (I prefer all beef)
- 1/2 cup GOOD parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons minced FRESH parsley
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Red Wine
Pour fat glass of red wine. Start drinkin'. :)
Use a food processor to make bread crumbs from the bread slices (no crusts).
In a large bowl, or better yet - Kitchen Aid Mixer bowl - add bread crumbs.
Add buttermilk to bowl, stir. After 5 minutes, bread crumbs have fully absorbed buttermilk.
Add egg yolks, parmesan, chopped parsley to bowl. Add meat, salt, pepper.
Roast ONE of the garlic cloves - in a frying pan, skin on for a few minutes.
Mince both the fresh and roasted clove - both go into the bowl.
If you have the Kitchen Aid, fire it up. Easy peasy. If not, wash your hands and go to town mixing it all well.
1/2 cup of meatball mixture per ball. Wet measuring cup works great. Shape each ball, put em on a large platter or pan, refrigerate for at least a half hour so they hold their shape better when you fry them.
Add 1/4" of vegetable oil to a cast iron pan. (Cast iron has mojo) Medium-High heat. Fry in smaller batches, no more than 8 or 9 per or you wind up with too much liquid, boiled balls instead of fried. I use 2 wooden spoons to turn. If there IS too much liquid, drain it, add and heat more oil and continue with the next batch.
When all balls are cooked, deglaze the pan with about a 1/4 cup of the red wine. Scrape browned bits.
IF what is now in that pan looks and smells delicious, add to the pot of sauce. If instead, it looks and smells like black, cigarette ash carbon, throw it out.
When there's about an hour til' dinner, put the balls and any other meats you want (cooked sausage, pepperoni, pork chops) into the sauce. Flavors both meat and sauce.
Fresh pasta is better.
And make sure you've got a loaf or two of killer Italian Bread.
Enjoy.
My goodness something tells me I can change the world with this shit. Thx I might just have to give this a go. I’ve got the vodka sauce and bolognese down pat but haven’t really tried to make a meatball gravy on my own.
Key to the sauce is TIME. Really needs to go all day, tomatoes really break down into a deep, sweet wonder. I usually start it as soon as I wake. Get the house stinking of garlic for the house to rise to, as my grandmother would do when I was a kid.
Also, that sauce cooks at low heat and stir frequently so the sauce on the bottom doesn't burn.
Also, that sauce cooks at low heat and stir frequently so the sauce on the bottom doesn't burn.
Country ribs are a great cut for gravy (and relatively cheap)
I use twice the amount of garlic and substitute basil for oregano
Hand crushed San Marzano tomatoes take any sauce to another level
Exactly that, or I just lift out the big parts of the herbs and spices I steep in the bechamel just before and as I spread it over each new layer of pasta. Bay leaves are easy to pick out with a slotted spoon or fork; thyme springs lift out, leaving the tiny leaves behind after 30+ minutes at a bare simmer.
The sauce itself is 3 tblsp butter, 4 tblsp flour, and about 1.25 liters of whole milk. Make a blonde roux over a low flame and just when it reaches maximum puffiness slowly add the pre-heated milk while whisking or stirring vigorously.
The necessity of straining depends on how lumpy or smooth the sauce itself is too.
The black label is my reserve level 2014, about to export some more to NY.
X meadowlander, awesome recipe for meatballs and gravy, but I have to make some kosher suitable substitutions. Beef short ribs for pork, demi-glace for buttermilk, (I make panade like that, or with simply reduced stock), no cheese at all, which of course takes something out of it...
Why egg yolk rather than just whole egg? Too light and puffy with the whites included?
Great recipe thanks for sharing.
Different flavor but metinks somewhat more true to the original recipes for chowder.
Great recipe BTW.
I freaking love shepherds pie and have had a hankering to try my hand at one. If you have some time to share the recipe at some point, I’d be much obliged.
BlueLou'sBack : 6:08 am : link : reply
Meatballs and gravy recipe. Screw pasta, I want that on a crusty hoagie Sunday. For the games.
Damn you guys are making me hungry
The shop has gone from 1 in NYC, to 2.. now they are all over. Maybe 6 shops.
The cumin based lamb with handmade noodles to order.
Or at home, maybe just that type of space on lamb.
Lamb joints cooked this way come out great "roasted" in an extra large brown in bag. By the time they are crispy brown at the surface, they are meltingly tender in the flesh.
I thought that I would be the only BBI'er who was fascinated by x medowlander's Sauce/gravy/whatever recipe with meatballs! Looks like a lot of my fellow knuckleheads are interested, too!
I have never used beef broth or pork ribs in one of my sauce variants. A lot to love in this version of Sunday Sauce! Thanks x man!
My best chili trick is smoking the ground beef.
3 lbs of ground beef
2 lbs of ground sausage (I use spicy Italian, but you can use mild or a different ground sausage)
1 lb of bacon
then I add a bunch of other ingredients, I can post if people care, but that mix is the base to a chili that has won awards.
• 1 pound bacon, diced into 1-inch pieces
• 2 pounds hot Italian Sausage
• 3 pounds ground beef
• 4 jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 large cans chili beans (I use black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, it varies based on what I see in the store - kidney beans are my least favorite)
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (about 30 oz)
• 3 pounds onion, finely chopped
• 1 can tomato sauce (large can)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons red chili powder
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 4 dashes hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup water
depending on consistently I may or may not add the water.
In a large frying pan, cook bacon until crispy; drain and add to a large pot. Then brown the sausage in the frying pan; drain and add to pot with bacon. Then brown the ground beef; drain and add to the pot with the other meats. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot, and simmer for 4 to 6 hours for best results.
serve hot with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream as optional toppings.
and if my kids are the primary consumers I won't add the jalapenos I'll chop them up and put in a dish for people to add as a topping.
this chili has a good consistent heat, but also has great flavor.
I think the Worcestershire sauce is the secret ingredient.