Food recipies

It�s not every day you find yourself walking next to someone on the street, who�s eating from a ridiculously large tub of rice pudding. Well, that�s exactly what happened to me the other day, and it served as a reminder for what a great, and comforting dessert rice pudding really is.  For whatever reason, it�s usually not near the top when people list their favorite desserts, but despite that, it�s a proven crowd-pleaser, and quite easy to make, especially using this simplified, one-pot method. Most recipes have you make the pudding in a clean pot, since, I�m assuming, they�re afraid the starch at the bottom of the pan used to cook the rice will burn. And, it probably would, unless you deglaze the bottom with cold milk before turning the heat back on. Not only will this simple step prevent the pudding from scorching, but also I think we get a little bit of extra toasted rice flavor. I also prefer an egg yolk to a whole egg, but regardless, be sure to whisk it in fast and furious, o...

I�m not sure these are actually prawns, and I�ve never been to Provence, but this great appetizer was called Prawn Provencale when I learned it working for a caterer, back in the 80�s. It was a crazy time, or so I�m told, and this delicious garlic and herb shrimp pop is one of the more vivid memories I have. It does take some time to butterfly the prawns, but as I mentioned in the video, everything can be done ahead of time, including the crumbing. Just pan them up, and bake them off, once your guests arrive. Preferably in waves, so they can be enjoyed warm. In case you�re wondering, while biologically different, culinarily speaking, shrimp and prawns are the same thing. I used to know the difference a long time ago, like in the 80�s, but my brain must�ve erased it for more storage space. One major tip here is to be sure and season your breadcrumb mixture very well. You can season the shrimp also, but I don�t, and instead make sure the mixture has plenty of everything. Once they�re ba...

I�m not sure if you�ve had picadillo before, but I�m very sure you�ve almost had it before. This Cuban creation is one of the world�s great ground meat dishes, and fairly similar to sloppy Joes, as well as bean-less chili, or as a chili connoisseur would call it, �chili."  I went with beef here, but pork can be added, as well as chorizo. Often fillers like diced potato and squash are added, but since I serve this over rice, I typically don�t include those. I used to be more into hot, starch-on-starch action when I was younger, but these days, not so much. As I mentioned in the video, many consider the olives optional, but for me, they�re one of the keys to the dish. Those briny bites reset your palate as you eat, which makes every bite seem like the first. Having said that, not everyone does olives, but I still really hope you give it a try soon � with capers. Enjoy! Ingredients for 4 portions: 2 teaspoon olive oil 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (85/15 lean/fat) 1 cup diced yellow onion...

Or, just plain sick. Yes, I�m a little under the weather, but as they say, the show must go on, and that �show� ended up being me just throwing all my chicken noodle soup ingredients into a pot, crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best. And while I know this method didn�t produce �the best� chicken noodle soup, I was amazed at how really good it was, and how remarkably close it was to a certain canned variety. I can�t give brand names, but it rhymes with Frogresso. If you do decide to use this one-step approach, there are a few things you need to pay attention to. You�ll want to use a pasta or noodle that�s at least a large as the fusilli I used so it doesn�t completely break down; as well as, to be sure to dice/slice your veggies nice and thin, so they get tender relatively quickly. I just used a knife, but I bet you have one of those vegetable slicers somewhere, and this would be the perfect operation to use it for. Above and beyond that, feel free to add in other �medicinal� in...

My Norwegian pronunciations aren�t any better than my French ones, but as challenging as saying, �Sandefjordsm�r,� may be, this amazingly simple butter sauce is not very challenging to make.  People get nervous about butter sauce, since many types can easily �break,� which means the butter separates, but because of the cream, this is extremely stable, and very user-friendly. As long you don�t dump all the cold butter cubes in at once, and just toss them in a few at a time, your sauce will not break.  Along the same lines, if you make the sauce early, be sure to keep it in a warm spot, since if it gets cold and solidifies, and then you try and reheat it, the butter will most likely separate. Above and beyond being easy, and relatively sturdy, this Sandefjordsm�r is also quite versatile. Not only is it wonderful on all types of fish, but also works beautifully with shrimp and lobster. Speaking of versatility, the same goes for changing up the herbs. So, no matter how you flavor ...

With everybody�s favorite made-up holiday right around the corner, I thought I would finally post a chocolate souffl�. I�m not sure what took so long, other than the fact that souffl�s have never been my favorite delivery system for chocolate. Sure, they�re visually impressive, which is key for a special occasion dessert, but the chocolate does get a bit diluted by all those air bubbles. Also, I�ve always been much more of a cold, or room-temp chocolate dessert guy, and never gone nuts for things like lava cakes, and baked puddings. Having said that, I�m sure I�m in the minority, and you and your special someone will enjoy these just fine. I developed this recipe for two, since that makes a lot of sense, but it should scale up without issue. If you want to add some type of liquor to this, you can add it to the milk and flour mixture after you turn off the heat. Rum works beautiful, as does coffee, orange, or raspberry liqueur.   Above and beyond that, if you really want to impress...

In case I wasn�t completely clear the multiple times I mentioned it in the video � this is just my take, my twist, my interpretation of a Brazilian fish stew. Or, as people who will ignore the previous sentence call it, �moqueca.� The most glaring omission from the classic ingredient list would be red palm oil, which apparently gives this dish it signature flavor. Since I don�t think I ever had it, it�s hard for me to say, but what I can tell you, is that this was incredibly delicious even without the mysterious oil. Like most of the world�s great fish stews, this is usually made with several types of seafood, but this is what I�m calling the weeknight version. Using a whitefish, along with scallops, shrimp, clams, etc., is lovely, but then you do have to worry about timing, so that everything finishes at the same time. By using one fish, this really is quite a simple recipe, and the little bit of slicing and mincing involved is well worth the gorgeous, and very tasty results. I reall...

Contrary to popular belief, refried beans are not called refried beans because they�re refried.   As it turns out the name actually translates to well fried, as in so well fried, beans are reduced to a molten mash.   And what a delicious mash it is. I don�t think I would ever sit down to eat just a bowl of refried beans, but they make everything they�re served with, on, or in, infinitely better.   Just as long as you use lard.   In my opinion, using rendered pork fat for these produces the ultimate refried beans. Many folks insist on using bacon, and it�s always hard to argue against using bacon, but for me that smoky flavor, as delicious as it is, just overwhelms the rest of the ingredients.   Besides that enthusiastic recommendation, be sure to taste for seasoning at the end. Since we don�t cook the beans with salt, it�s going to take some fairly generous seasoning later. In fact, any reviews less than five-stars will be the result of people under salting, and...

I�ve always wanted to show my method for making chicken nuggets . Not because I�m proud of how well they came out, which I am, but more so to plead my case for what I think qualifies as an actual chicken �nugget.� Somehow people got the idea that a chicken nugget was supposed to be a solid piece of chicken. That�s not a nugget. That�s just a too small piece of fried chicken. A real nugget, at least in the fast food context, is more of a deep-fried, mostly-chicken sausage patty, fabricated from various parts of the bird, such as, every legal part. I love any and all types of fried chicken, but the typical nugget, when made from a piece of breast, just makes me want to get a bucket of the full-sized stuff. No, as far as party food goes, I�ll take the classic, seems-bad-for-you version every time. Plus, since we�re making a paste out of the meat, we get to flavor it any way we want. I loved the Buffalo approach, and it allowed me to dip something in blue cheese dressing, which is always ...