Courtesy of yours truly…
Fresh chicken breast, rigatoni pasta, leftover homemade salsa using homegrown tomatoes, steamed mexican squash…not bad!
Category: Food
Weekend Food Recap
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted indulging food offerings courtesy of yours truly.
This weekend consisted of Rib Eye steak cooked medium rare prepared in a cast iron skillet along with spaghetti in a homemade pesto sauce. Enjoy!
Homemade Fried Mozzarella
This weekend I decided to try and make something new; I had purchased fresh mozzarella in advance and already had the other ingredients necessary to make this happen.
I approached this task the same way I do when frying chicken or catfish. First step was to mix the seasonings (Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper) in a brown paper bag along with an ample amount of flour. For the batter, I used four whole eggs, sea salt, and black pepper to coat the fresh mozzarella which was then tossed into the seasoning bag and made ready for frying.
Although the finished product didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped, the flavor was excellent. I will definitely try this again but will do some research as to how I can make it more presentable and prevent creating a puddle of fried cheese!
Some weekend baking for thought…
I forgot that we had a “bunch” of bananas sitting in the fridge that were originally intended to be used with my protein shakes but something about cold, rainy weather compelled me to bake some homemade banana bread…
Cooking time!
After being out in Las Vegas most of the week for CES, it’s nice to be back home and have the opportunity to be able to whip up something tasty in the kitchen. Even though the late night steak and eggs with hash browns and toast for $6 at the hotel next to mine is an awesome deal, it can get old after a couple of days.
Tonight, I decided to saute some large shrimp with chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, and leftover duck fat (absolutely terrific to use if you can). Add some finely chopped cilantro to top it off (primarily as a garnish) and you’re all set!
Taco Night!
Personally, one of the downsides of the holiday season is the fact that I have not been able to cook as much as I’d like. Don’t get me wrong…I’ve enjoyed eating at some pretty unique restaurants in my area but tonight’s opportunity to get back in the kitchen is long overdue!
Upon opening the fridge, I noticed a whole pork tenderloin leftover from Christmas dinner and decided to transform it into Carnitas for tacos (ok, not quite the same thing but its better than nothing!).
I took the whole pork ‘loin and shredded the meat by hand and seasoned it with garlic salt, black pepper, olive oil, and cumin while sauteing over a low fire. I then made fresh salsa using some roma tomatoes, red onion, garlic cloves, jalapenos, and cilantro. After a quick trip to the store for some fresh corn tortillas and cotija cheese, I was all set for dinner.
The final result…not perfect by any means but definitely hit the spot!
Happy Thanksgiving!
One of the best ways to prepare Turkeys is to use cooking bags although many have told me that the #1 way to cook a Turkey is to deep fry it! Perhaps one day I’ll make the investment on a deep fryer but in the meantime…the cooking bags will do!
Roasted Duck and New York Steak
So it looks like I got the cooking bug again. I had been meaning to prepare the duck I had stowed away in my freezer for sometime. After thawing out the night before and marinating with sea salt, black pepper, olive oil, fresh garlic, and onion while proceed to bake in the oven at 375º F for 2 hours and 15 minutes…the final result was a beauty!
And since my wife doesn’t care for duck, my cast iron skillet didn’t get the night off and had to help whip up a nice piece of New York Steak rubbed with assorted ground pepper, sea salt, and chili flakes cooked medium rare. Happy Friday!
Pizza Night Tonight!
I was in the mood for some pizza but was too lazy to leave the house (or even pick up the phone to call someone to bring it to me haha!) Fortunately, I had all the necessary ingredients to make it happen within the friendly confines of my kitchen…
Ribeye Steak
Recently I was in the mood for a good steak and since it was on sale, I decided to pick some up. People tend to get intimidated and think that the only way to get a good steak is to visit your local steakhouse but in reality all that’s needed is a cast iron skillet, steak seasoning, a trace amount of grapeseed oil, and some butter to top it off! Follow these steps for a great steak that will be on par with any five star steakhouse but only cost you a fraction of the price!
- Heavily season the steak as you see fit. You can use a store brand seasoning or you can create our own by blending salt, pepper, oregano, etc.
- Start heating our cast iron skillet and after one minute, pour a small amount of grapeseed oil that’s enough to cover the surface of the skillet.
- Wait until the oil starts to smoke and immediately place your steak in the center of the skillet.
- Cook the steak for 4 minutes on one side and then flip it over.
- Continue cooking the steak for an additional 2 minutes. At this point, add 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and use a spoon to gather the melted butter and pour over the steak for 1 minute.
- Pick up the steak and sear all edges before removing (approx. 15 seconds).
- Let the steak sit for 10 minutes which will allow for the juices to abosrb back into the meat
- Serve and enjoy!
The finished product:
