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American Recipes

Breakfast Hash

Aug 14th, 2011
by dave.
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Breakfast hash

Just as a little teaser (some of you might have already seen the album already), but I attended San Diego Comic-con a few weeks ago (I know, I’m late to the party) and will be putting together a post with some of the pictures soon. I think I honestly had more fun getting pictures of all of the different cosplayers than I did in many of the panels (who doesn’t like standing in line?)

But the other thing is that San Diego weather is incredible. Coupled with the fact that Boston was sweltering (high 90′s 100% humidity) the week before, 75 degrees, low humidity, and the ocean-breeze was a paradise to me. And “mostly cloudy” on the forecast really means two or three clouds in the distance. I think they do that just to change it up, otherwise it might be difficult to keep down a job as a meteorologist there right? Same thing every day: 75 degrees, sunny.

Anyway, the past few weeks have been quite a blur. Honestly, the saying that as you get older you get busier and have less time rings true. I can’t fathom how some people manage to hold down a job, take care of their kids, maintain a house, cook every night, and still find time to keep up with a hobby! That’s true productivity right there.

One thing I’ve found time to cook lately though is a breakfast hash. Usually, when I grab breakfast, I usually think of hash as just potatoes (though there’s nothing wrong with that). Then, I had brunch at a couple places that added a few different things (vegetables, turkey…duck!) and I started rethinking the idea. I mean, why couldn’t I cook something like that up on a lazy Sunday morning with some of the stuff lying around the fridge?

So I did it. I had an onion, a couple peppers, and then I picked up a ham steak and the potatoes the day before. Then, after consulting Simply Recipes, I got started. The hash, a couple eggs, and some freshly buttered toast makes a good start to a new week doesn’t it?

I’ve also made this with sausage meat and some other root vegetables like parsnips and butternut squash. It works!

Breakfast Hash with ham

Time : 30 minutes
Serves : 4-6

Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 orange pepper, finely chopped
- 3 – 4 medium yukon gold potatoes (slightly larger than a juice box)
- 1/3 lb ham steak, finely chopped
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp fresh thyme
- salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Boil a pot of salted water. Peel potatoes and boil them for about 12 minutes. Remove and drain. Chop the potatoes into small cubes
2. Add the butter to a cast iron pan over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the chopped onions for about 1-2 minutes, getting the onions well coated.
3. Add in the peppers, mix well. Cook another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the ham and chopped potatoes. Season with some salt, pepper, and the thyme. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes or so to get some sear throughout the potatoes.
5. Taste and correct for salt and pepper, then remove to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Note:
A couple times, I cooked some maple breakfast sausages prior to cooking the hash. Then I used 1 tbsp less butter to make the hash. The hash turned out a little bit sweeter.

Ribeye Steak

Sep 22nd, 2010
by dave.
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Ribeye

I love steak. Especially ribeye steak. So what if it’s one of the fattiest cuts. Doesn’t make it less good in my eyes =)

And what a way to kick off the Fall season (And football season). It’s just about time to switch over to heavier cooking once again (read: meatloaf, mac&cheese, roasts, hot pot, etc) which’ll be a nice change. Weather has been fantastic lately though…where was this earlier this year? (70 degrees and sunny)

Seriously though, a well-seasoned medium-rare ribeye steak is probably one of my favorite things to eat. And it’s ridiculously easy to do. I’ve done it on the grill, on a frying pan, and most recently in a cast-iron pan (which I think is the best way to cook it anyway).

Note: I think I’ve posted about Ribeye at least two to three times already but I thought this deserved it’s own post since I used a cast iron pan this time. Made a huge difference!

Ribeye Steak

For a steak about an inch thick.

Ingredients:
– 1 lb Ribeye steak
– salt & pepper
– canola oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. On each side of the steak, season with salt, pepper, and some canola oil. Rub into the steak well.
3. Heat the cast-iron pan until almost smoking hot. Add a little oil and add the steak. Let sear for 3 – 5 minutes and then turn over and sear the other side for the same amount of time. Can sear a little longer if you want it a little crispier.
4. Move cast iron pan to the stove and bake for another 10-12 minutes, depending on how rare you like your steak. 10 minutes should probably keep it in the medium rare range.

Note: Times will differ based on the steak thickness

Scallops and Pasta

Jul 28th, 2010
by dave.
1 comment

Scallops and Pasta

Generally, mealplanning is a great thing. You know exactly what you need at the grocery store and there’s usually few “surprise, I need to figure out what to eat today” moments. Well, in theory anyway.

I did my planning a couple weeks ago knowing that I’d be on vacation (more about this when I finish processing the photos), that is, making sure I use up all the perishable stuff and leave a semi-bare fridge so nothing goes to waste. All this is good, in theory. But then when you realize that due to some extreme human error (read: lunacy) you forgot a couple days (How does that happen? I mean, where do the days go? It’s not like the number of days changes every week) well, let’s just say one night I ended up eating rice and soy sauce. And a few frozen dumplings. Whoops =P

For the most part, I cook based on what ingredients are on sale each week and this recipe is no different. I found sea scallops for a great price and picked up a dozen or so. Over at Tasty Kitchen, I had a recipe for Scallops and Pasta by Jaden of SteamyKitchen bookmarked for a while and figured I’d give it a shot. I love scallops, I love pasta, what other excuse did I need? =P

I was just using a frying pan so I didn’t quite get the sear I liked but the dish was tasty nonetheless.

Scallops and Pasta

Time : 20 minutes
Serves 2

Recipe adapted from Jaden’s (of Steamy Kitchen) post on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
- 8oz of pasta (I used linguini
- 12 Sea Scallops
- 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
- 1 – 2 tbsp fresh Italian Parsley, minced
- Half a lemon’s juice
- Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Heat water in a large stock pot with a generous amount of salt. Cook pasta until just al dente (it’ll cook more in the pan later)
2. Wash and dry scallops, season lightly with salt, pepper, and olive oil
3. Heat a large frying pan over high heat. When really hot, add the olive oil. Add the scallops to the pan and spread them out evenly for proper searing. Cook for 2 minutes undisturbed then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until cooked to satisfaction. Remove and set aside.
4. Turn heat to low. Add the butter and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds and then add the tomatoes.
5. Turn the heat to high and add in the white wine. Let it bubble a bit for 30 seconds and scrape up the stuck bits in the pan. Season with salt and pepper, add in the parsley and then add in the pasta. Mix well and then serve, placing the scallops on top.

Sesame seared Tuna steak

Jun 16th, 2010
by dave.
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It’s been a pretty hectic week so far. Some advice : Unless you’re a morning bird, 7am flights are not fun. Try as I might to get some sleep on the plane, I ended up needing to crash early in the afternoon. Good thing I didn’t have anything to do other than relax when I got to Pittsburgh! I still did do some sightseeing that day…it was sweltering hot (90 degrees and HUMID) and silly me forgot to pack shorts.

Cathedral of Learning

That’s the “Cathedral of Learning” at the University of Pittsburgh. It’s the tallest building in the area and pretty imposing if you ask me. Can you imagine taking an exam in a thunderstorm? I mean, it’d be like Ghostbusters or something, I’d expect to see the Keymaster and Gatekeeper wandering around (And maybe Bill Murray).

I did manage to stop at one of UPitt’s local eateries: Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop. Sadly, I was too excited to chow down on the all-beef frank and didn’t take any pictures. It’d been quite a while since I had a hot dog and this one was worth it. I asked for one of the slightly more burnt ones (I love burnt hot dogs, don’t quite know why) and I got a smile from the cashier (She said she prefers the burnt ones too but not many other people do!). One other thing of note was the size of the french fry sides. The large really can feed 4 people, it’s easily over a pound of french fries (I was told later that one of my friends put down nearly the entire large fries by himself…it made my stomach turn a little bit)

Alumni Hall
Alumni Hall

Sesame Seared Tuna

I can’t seem to find where this recipe originated. I had it scrawled down on one of my various notepads for quite some time and never got around to trying it. But then I got a nice tuna steak on sale at Whole Foods. I wasn’t going to at first but they looked too good to pass up. The customer behind me also got a couple tuna steaks. He said he was originally going to make chicken but couldn’t pass up the tuna, the chicken would have to wait until the next day. That’s a good man right there =P

Sesame seared Tuna steak

Time: 10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
– 1 lb Tuna steak (cut into two)
– 2 tbsp light soy sauce
– 1 tsp mirin
– 1/2 tsp honey
– 1 tsp sesame oil
– 1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
– Dash of sake
– Extra virgin olive oil
– Wasabi
– Sesame seeds

Method:
1. Mix together the soy sauce, mirin, honey, sesame oil, and sake. Separate them into two portions. Mix the Chinkiang vinegar into one of the portions.
2. Coat the steaks with the non-vinegar portion of sauce. Let marinate for a couple minutes.
3. Press some sesame seeds onto each side of the steaks.
4. Add some olive oil to a frying pan or skillet over high heat. Quickly sear the tuna steaks (~1 minute or so on each side, maybe more depending on thickness) and transfer to a plate. Serve with the vinegar sauce and wasabi.

Note: You can cook the tuna longer if you prefer. I like it barely cooked, if it’s fresh.

Chicken Soup with Orzo

Apr 28th, 2010
by dave.
2 comments

Chicken Soup

Currently trying to wean myself off the incredibly addictive Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog. Growing up with classical music and show-tunes made this just that much better. It’s incredibly witty, stars Nathan Fillion (Probably best known for Firefly), one of my favorite sadly-canceled-to-early tv-shows) AND Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser). I’ve had a couple of the tunes stuck in my head for days and I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon (Wonder if I can drive the roommate nuts)

Whole chicken was on sale a while back so as is with a lot of the meat I buy (Probably have at least 15 pounds of various meats in the freezer), I bought it without figuring out what to do with it first. I was thinking along the lines of soy sauce chicken or just a roasted chicken, but just getting over being sick (Had some sort of stomach bug where I couldn’t eat anything, lost 5 pounds in 3 days…not good!) I decided on some chicken soup. Enter the Internet, once again and Ree from The Pioneer Woman. A couple days before (while I couldn’t eat, which was FANTASTIC I tell you), this post came up…and made my mouth water (and my stomach churn). But that didn’t stop me from thinking about it a bunch…

So one “mistake” I made was not thinking about how many people the soup would feed. I think I had a 3.5 lb chicken which, when it was all said and done, made AT LEAST 6 quarts of soup. And this was after I had 2 bowls. So maybe 7 quarts!!! That’s my motto: If you’re going to do anything, make sure you do it in excess.

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Chicken Soup with Orzo

Time : 90 minutes – 2 hours
Serves : A lot

Ingredients:
– 1 whole chicken, quartered
– 1 lb box of Orzo pasta
– 1 medium onion, chopped
– 2-3 carrots, diced
– 2-3 stalks celery, diced
– 2 – 3 tsp salt
– 1 – 1.5 tbsp parsley flakes
– a pinch of dried thyme
– 3 – 4 tbsp flour mixed with 2 – 3 tbsp water
– 1/2 tsp Turmeric
– Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Put the quartered chicken in a stockpot and cover it such that the chicken is 1/2 – 1 inch below the surface. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
2. Take the chicken out of the pot and shred the chicken (by hand or with utensils), set aside. Return the bones to the pot and simmer for another 30-45 minutes.
3. Remove the bones from the broth. Watch out for the small bones that may have fallen off while simmering!
4. Add the onions, celery, and carrots followed by all of the herbs and spices. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes.
5. In a large saucepan or stock pot, boil water (with a healthy drizzle of salt) to cook the pasta. Cook the pasta until just underdone, you want the pasta to have a little crunch to it, it’ll cook the rest of the way in the soup.
6. Add the pasta and chicken back to the soup, stirring frequently for about 5-10 more minutes.
7. Add the flour/water mixture to the soup to thicken it up a little bit.
8. Adjust flavors as necessary. I like my soup a little saltier so I added a little bit more salt (Can also use some chicken base)

NOTE: Since you’re making a LOT of soup here, you can withhold some of the pasta so that it doesn’t get saturated and soggy after being stored. Just prep the pasta again while heating up the soup and then stir it in =)

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