| THIS WEEK'S FEATURES AND RECIPES:
> Article: A Little
Fire Over a Steak
> Wine Appreciation:
Evodia Old Vine Grenache 2009
> Food Funnies: Sign
Your Cruise Ship Cut Corners With the Food
S
E L E C T E D R E C I P E S :
* Joe's
Crab Shack Crab Cakes
* Flank
Steak with Balsamic-Beer Sauce
* Cheesy
Chili Chicken
* Turkey
Empanadas
* Hoisin
Chicken in Lettuce Leaves
* Muffuletta
Salad
* Tomato
Vegetable Casserole
* Chocolate
Caramel Brownies
Healthy Eating:
Low Carb: Egg
Puff-Muffins
Diabetic: Strawberry
Fruit Pie
Low Fat: Zesty
Minestrone
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This Week's Cooking Tips
Canning Tips:
* Choose only perfect produce. Overripe
or damaged fruits and
vegetables are more prone
to spoilage.
* Your jars, lids and sealing rings
should be in good condition and
sterile (washed and scalded).
* Wash your produce thoroughly before
processing.
* Know your produce. Be sure to use
the correct time, temperature and
method of processing for
the food you will be canning.
* After canning, check the seal on
every jar to make sure they are
air tight - when you push
down on a self-sealing lid, it should
stay down. Test porcelain
lids by turning the jars upside down. If
you see a stream of tiny
air bubbles, the seal is not air tight.
* Don't use foods from any jar that
has a foamy or discolored
appearance. Watch for bulging
or misshapen lids and leaking rims.
Throw those jars away.
* Home canned vegetables should be
boiled before they are served
(with the exception of tomatoes).
More Cooking Tips
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This Week's Culinary Quiz (Answer
at the bottom of page)
The Quanjude Restaurant in
Beijing offers the capital's most
famous dish, Bei Jing Kao Ya. What
is Bei Jing Kao Ya?
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Quote of the Week:
"I eat at this German-Chinese
restaurant and the food is
delicious. The only
problem is that an hour later you're
hungry for power."
- Dick Cavett
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Subscribe
to the VJJE Recipe Weekly - It's fun and it's free!
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UPCOMING FOOD HOLIDAYS:
August is: National Catfish Month
National Water Quality Month
July 31 - National Raspberry Cake Day
August 1 - National Raspberry Cream Pie Day
August 2 - National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
August 3 - National Watermelon Day
August 4 - National Chocolate Chip Day
August 5 - National Waffle Day
August 6 - National Root Beer Float Day
August 7 - National Raspberries & Cream Day
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Make Your Favorite Restaurant
and Grocery Foods At Home!
> World Famous Recipes!
> Make Them Fresh! Save Money!
> Over 400 Recipes For Brand Name
Foods!!
Insider's
Recipes For Brand Name Foods
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A Little Fire Over a
Steak
By Mark Bittman
I'm usually of the "less is more"
philosophy in cooking, but I am by
no means anti-sauce, and there are
times when anyone wants to make a
good thing better. That is the case,
I believe, with this rich, smoky
sauce of chipotle chilies, bacon
and tomatoes. It is an odd sauce:
while the combination of ingredients
is reminiscent of the one used
for spaghetti all'amatriciana, the
chipotle transforms it into
something that needs not a tame
pasta but a sturdy steak.
Chipotle chilies are jalapenos dried
by smoking. They are often sold
in cans, packed in adobo - a kind
of tomato sauce - but they are
easier to use and cleaner-tasting
when purchased dried in bulk. In
either case, I find one sufficient
to add a noticeable but still
tolerable amount of heat. But because
they must be soaked and
softened before use, you can just
tear off a piece and add that if
you want a milder sauce. If you
want a hotter one, use the whole
pepper, or two.
There is little notable about the
sauce's remaining ingredients -
good bacon makes a difference, of
course, as do fresh tomatoes. The
technique is simple and quick.
If you are grilling, cooking the
steak is easy: build a hot fire,
and sear the meat on both sides.
If it isn't well enough done for you
at that point, move it to a slightly
cooler part of the grill and
finish the cooking there; rarely
will cooking time exceed 10 minutes
total.
But even if you are not grilling,
you can put a good crust on a
steak without setting off the smoke
detector by using the
stove-to-oven method described in
the recipe.
Steak With Chipotle, Bacon and Tomatoes
=================================
1 or more dried chipotle
chilies
2 tablespoons extra
virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced bacon
1 medium onion, peeled
and diced
2 cups cored and chopped
tomatoes, preferably fresh and ripe
1 1/2 to 2 pounds strip
sirloin, skirt or rib-eye steak
Salt and pepper to
taste
1. Start a charcoal or gas grill;
fire should be quite hot, and rack
about 4 inches from
the heat source. If using oven, turn it to its
maximum temperature.
Put chipotle in a bowl, and add boiling water
to cover.
2. Put olive oil in a medium saucepan
over medium heat; a minute
later, add bacon, and
cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp,
about 10 minutes. Add
onion, and cook, stirring occasionally,
until it is softened,
about 5 minutes. Lower heat, stem and seed
chipotle and add it
(or a piece of it, to taste), along with
tomatoes; adjust heat
so mixture simmers steadily but not
violently. (Reserve
chipotle soaking liquid.)
3. Season steaks with salt and pepper.
Grill about 4 minutes on a
side, or until they
reach desired degree of doneness. If cooking
steaks inside, heat
a cast iron or other heavy skillet over high
heat 3 to 4 minutes.
Add steak, and, a minute later, transfer pan
to oven; turn after
about 4 minutes, and continue to cook to the
desired degree of doneness.
4. When tomatoes break up, taste
sauce; add salt and pepper as needed
and, if it is not hot
enough, add a bit of the chipotle-soaking
liquid. When steaks
are done, serve them with sauce.
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Mousepads
For Foodies
Brighten Up Your Desktop
With A Yummy Looking Image!
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This Week's Wine Selection
Evodia Old Vine Grenache
2009 Price: $10
High-pitched aromas of strawberry
preserves, black raspberry,
minerals and pungent flowers. Concentrated
but not at all heavy;
sweet raspberry and blackberry flavors
are lifted by a hint of
violet. Very suave, especially at
this price; finishes with silky
tannins and excellent clarity.
Serve With:
Salmon Steaks with Red Wine Butter
============================
1 cup full-bodied dry
red wine
1/3 cup finely chopped
shallots (3 to 4)
1/2 cup fresh orange
juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon finely grated
fresh orange zest
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted
butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black
pepper
4 (1-inch-thick) salmon
steaks (each about 1/2 lb)
2 tablespoons olive
oil
Combine wine, shallots, juice, vinegar,
tomato paste, and bay leaf
in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan
and boil over moderately high heat
until mixture is thick and jamlike
and reduced to about 1/3 cup,
about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
Transfer mixture to a small bowl
set in a bowl of ice and cold water
and stir until cold to the touch,
about 5 minutes. Remove from ice
water and stir in zest, butter,
1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon
pepper with a rubber spatula
until incorporated.
Preheat broiler. Line rack of a
broiler pan with foil. Pat fish dry,
then brush both sides with oil (2
tablespoons total) and sprinkle
with remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt
and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Broil fish
about 5 inches from heat, turning
over once, until just cooked
through, 8 to 10 minutes total.
Top each steak with 1 to 2
tablespoons red-wine butter.
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Personalized
Chef Coats
Kick it up a notch with
a touch of class! Create a
personalized and professional
look in your kitchen.
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FOOD FUNNIES: Sign Your Cruise Ship
Cut Corners With the Food
=============
9. Every menu includes directions
to the sick bay.
8. The main design motif in the dining
room is golden arches.
7. Room service consists of Pepto
Bismol only.
6. The Seafood Bar lobsters have
tuna fish salad inside the
shells.
5. The 24-hour buffet is open for
1 hour, 24 times during the
entire cruise.
4. Your filet of sole has a heel
attached to it.
3. Your server asks if you’d like
another drink while sliding
your spouse’s half-finished
glass towards you.
2. The only sound you hear coming
from the kitchen is a can opener.
... and the #1 Sign Your Cruise Ship
Cut Corners With the Food ...
1. The Catch of the Day is an illness.
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Joe's Crab Shack Crab Cakes
========================
2 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire
sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 dash crushed red
pepper
1 dash Old Bay seasoning
1 dash salt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons chopped
parsley
1 lb. crab meat
1 tablespoon butter
or margarine
Combine first 9 ingredients in a
large bowl. Fold in breadcrumbs
and parsley to incorporate evenly.
Fold in crab meat. Form into
4-6 patties. Over medium heat, melt
butter in skillet. Fry crab
cakes in butter for 4-5 minutes
on each side.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Flank Steak with Balsamic-Beer Sauce
==============================
1 1/2 lbs flank steaks
1/2 cup beer or ale
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon chili
powder
2 tablespoons balsamic
vinegar
2 tablespoons brown
sugar
2 tablespoons grainy
mustard or Dijon mustard
salt and pepper, to
taste
Pierce meat with a fork several
times. Place in a plastic bag. Mix
all other ingredients and pour over
meat. Marinate in fridge 12 hours
or overnight.
Prepare grill for medium high heat.
Grill steak 5 to 6 minutes per
side. Let meat rest 5 minutes when
done. Boil marinade in saucepan
for 5 to 10 minutes until slightly
thickened. Slice steak into thin
strips and top with sauce.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Cheesy Chili Chicken
=================
2 tablespoons olive
oil
2 tablespoons chopped
fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon chili
powder
1 tablespoon ground
cumin
2 teaspoons kosher
salt
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
4 boneless, skinless
chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds)
1/4 cup julienned green
bell pepper
2 tablespoons diced
red onion
1 medium plum tomato,
cored and diced (about 1/4 cup)
4 ounces shredded Colby-Jack
cheese
Preheat oven to 400F. Whisk together
the oil, chopped cilantro,
chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic,
pepper, and cayenne in a bowl;
add the chicken and toss to coat.
Transfer chicken to a foil-lined
baking sheet and arrange the green
pepper, onion, and tomato over each.
Roast until the largest piece
is just cooked through, and an instant-read
thermometer inserted in
the thickest part reads 165F, about
20 minutes.
Remove the chicken from oven and
immediately top with the cheese
and serve as the cheese melts. Transfer
the chicken to a platter or
among plates and garnish with additional
fresh cilantro leaves.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Turkey Empanadas
===============
1 pound ground turkey
1 large onion, diced
1 (8 oz.) can tomato
sauce
4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
mix
1/2 cup packed grated
Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 ounces)
3 (7.5 oz.) cans refrigerated
biscuit dough (10 biscuits per can)
1 egg, beaten to blend
Oil for deep frying
Saute turkey in heavy large nonstick
skillet over medium heat
until cooked through and brown,
breaking up meat with fork, about
5 minutes. Using slotted spoon,
transfer turkey to small bowl. Add
onion to drippings in skillet and
saute until light brown, about
7 minutes. Return turkey and any
juices to skillet. Add tomato sauce
and Cajun seasoning; simmer until
mixture is almost dry, stirring
occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season
with salt and pepper. Cool
completely. Mix in cheese.
On lightly floured surface, roll
out 1 biscuit dough piece to
4-inch-diameter round. Place 1 tablespoon
filling on round. Brush
half of dough edge with beaten egg.
Fold dough over filling to
create half circle and seal edges
by pressing with tines of fork.
Set empanada on baking sheet and
cover with damp cloth. Repeat with
remaining biscuits and filling.
Pour oil to depth of 1/2 inch into
heavy large skillet. Heat oil
over medium-high heat to 350F. Fry
empanadas in batches until
golden brown, about 2 minutes per
side. Transfer to paper towels.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Hoisin Chicken in Lettuce Leaves
==========================
2 tablespoons vegetable
oil
1 tablespoon finely
chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 scallions, chopped
(1/4 cup)
2 skinless boneless
chicken breast halves (about 1 lb total),
cut into
1/2-inch pieces
1 (8-oz) can sliced
water chestnuts, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup bottled hoisin
sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire
sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 cup pine nuts (2
1/2 oz)
12 large red or green
leaf lettuce leaves
Heat a wok or a 12-inch heavy skillet
(not nonstick) over moderately
high heat until just smoking, then
add oil. Add ginger, salt, and
2 tablespoons scallions and stir-fry
until ginger is fragrant, about
45 seconds. Add chicken and stir-fry
until just cooked through, about
2 minutes. Add water chestnuts,
hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce,
vinegar, and pine nuts and stir-fry
until heated through, about one
minute. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle
with remaining 2 tablespoons
scallions.
Have guests serve themselves by
spooning chicken mixture into
lettuce leaves and wrapping leaves
around filling to enclose.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Muffuletta Salad
============
1 pound small shell
pasta, cooked until tender and cooled
1/2 pound salami, cut
into 1/4-inch cubes
1 pound provolone,
cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 pound mortadella,
cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 pound boiled ham,
cut into 1/4-inch cubes
20 pitted jumbo black
olives, sliced
20 green olives stuffed
with pimientos, sliced
1/2 cup minced yellow
onions
1 tablespoon minced
garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped fresh
parsley leaves
1/4 cup fresh thyme
leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black
pepper
1 cup extra-virgin
olive oil
6 tablespoons apple
cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
sauce
Hot sauce, to taste
Freshly ground black
pepper
1/4 cup green onion,
sliced thin
1/4 cup Parmesan
In a large mixing bowl, combine
the pasta, salami, provolone,
mortadella, ham, olives, onions,
garlic, celery, parsley and thyme.
Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
In a small mixing bowl,
whisk together the oil, vinegar,
Worcestershire, and hot sauce.
Season with salt and pepper. Pour
the dressing over the pasta
mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix well. Store in an
airtight container and refrigerate
for at least 8 hours. Remove
from the refrigerator and spoon
onto a large platter. Garnish
with green onion Parmesan cheese
and serve.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Tomato Vegetable Casserole
=======================
1 medium potato, peeled
and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yam, peeled
and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper,
seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and
cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons olive
oil
1 red onion, thinly
sliced into rings
1 large zucchini, cut
crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
Salt and pepper
2 large ripe tomatoes,
cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons dried
Italian-style bread crumbs
Fresh basil sprigs,
for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the
potato, yam, bell pepper,
carrots, and 2 tablespoons of olive
oil in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch
baking dish to coat. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper and toss until
coated. Spread vegetables evenly
over the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the onion slices evenly
over the vegetable mixture.
Arrange the zucchini over the onion.
Drizzle with 2 tablespoons
of oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Arrange the tomato slices
over the zucchini.
Stir the Parmesan and bread crumbs
in a small bowl to blend.
Sprinkle the Parmesan bread crumbs
over the vegetables in the
baking dish. Drizzle with the last
tablespoon of olive oil.
Bake uncovered until the vegetables
are tender, and the topping
is golden brown, about 40 minutes.
Garnish with fresh basil sprigs,
if desired.
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Free Recipes and Cookbooks =+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=
Chocolate Caramel Brownies
=======================
1 package (18.25 oz.)
chocolate cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
or walnuts
1 cup evaporated milk,
divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
or margarine, melted
35 (10 oz. pkg.) caramels,
unwrapped
2 cups (12 oz. pkg.)
semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cake
mix and nuts in large bowl.
Stir in 2/3 cup evaporated milk
and butter (batter will be thick).
Spread half of batter into an ungreased
13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Heat caramels and remaining evaporated
milk in small saucepan over
low heat, stirring constantly, until
caramels are melted. Sprinkle
chocolate chips over partially cooked
batter and drizzle caramel
mixture over all. Drop remaining
batter by heaping teaspoons over
caramel mixture.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until
center is set. Cool in pan on
wire rack. Cut into 24 squares.
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This Week's Culinary Quiz
Answer: Peking Duck
Quanjude is one of Beijing's best
known duck restaurants, and has
been in business for almost 150
years. The duck is roasted in a
wood-fired oven, using fruit wood
for extra flavor, for about
45 minutes. The whole duck is brought
out and sliced at the table.
The duck is eaten wrapped in a thin
pancake, with a little spring
onion, cucumber and sweet plum sauce.
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