Red FIsh!

I made Redfish for dinner recently. This particular fish is Sebastes Fasciatus or Acadian redfish. I got a fabulous 12 oz side of redfish for a ridiculous deal at Central Market.



I lined a roasting pan with aluminum foil, then spread a tbs of extra virgin olive oil on the foil. I then placed two shallots, diced, in the pan, and laid the fish on top. I patted it dry and seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder and lemon zest. I roasted it at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Guacamole in Mortar and Pestle

Tonight, I wanted to make a simple meal. I decides on Sandwiches and Salad, but I wanted to make the sandwiches special. I decided to make guacamole from scratch as a spread for the turkey, tomato and red onion sandwich on 12-grain bread.
My boyfriend bought me a mortar and pestle at an estate sale last week. I had a mortar and pestle that my sister bought me in college, but I lost it in a house fire, after the fire department told me that it was contaminated by the chemicals in the smoke from the fire. I still wonder if that was a lie (it's granite, for heaven's sake!) but I now have a solid marble mortar and pestle, thanks to my beloved. I ground the garlic clove to a paste. It took a lot of work. The garlic will look chunky for a while, but keep at it! It will break down with about a minute of grinding.



I then worked in two avocados. I was careful to squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the avocados in the pestle:


I then added 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Because I have a small pestle, I worked it in batches until all four halves of the avocado were mashed:



I then added 1/4 cup diced red onion and another spritz of lemon juice to taste. If you need to add more salt, do it! Guacamole is all about your personal taste.



You can do what you want with this guacamole! I spread it on toasted 12-grain bread and added smoked turkey and sliced tomato and celery salt and served it with a salad. It was delicious!

A Late Idea for Valentine's Day

I came home on February 14th and found my boyfriend preparing dinner. He was sautéing mushrooms in butter, beef broth and red wine, as I have shown him a few times. They smelled amazing. I then saw that he had procured this from the market:



We seasoned it with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, celery salt and smoked paprika. We grilled it at medium-high heat on a propane grill for 8 minutes on one side and 7 minutes on the other. The reason for the long cook time was the volume and the thickness of the steak--it was just about 2 inches thick! We allowed it to rest for 10 minutes wrapped in aluminum foil. When we cut into it, it was still hot and juicy and nicely pink in the center. We put the mushrooms on top and served it with a salad (spinach, arugula, romaine, tomatoes, avocado, sunflower seeds and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing).

All in all, it was an awesome Valentine's Day!

Venison!

We got some venison steaks and sausage from a friend who likes to hunt. When I unwrapped the steaks, they were small and falling apart, so I had to improvise. I decided to stew them in red wine and broth and add veggies to make it all delicious.
The trick with venison is that it has a finer texture and is leaner than comparable cuts of beef, but it still has a gamey flavor. Stewing it takes that flavor out, but I still advise brining to remove the gamey taste. I cut the steaks into 1-inch cubes, then I soaked in this solution for 30 minutes:

1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs olive oil
2 tsp Tony Chachere's
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

I then drained them, patted them dry, and sprinkled a little flour over the chunks. I got 2 tbs of vegetable oil hot in a deep pot and then seared them on all sides:



I then added 2 cups of dry red wine and 1 cup of chopped onion and a bay leaf. I let it simmer for 5 minutes and then added 2 cups beef broth. I let it cook for 30 minutes, then I added:

1 bunch celery (chopped)
2 sweet potatoes (diced)

Now we come to the sausage. We got a beautiful chunk of sausage, and it had a good salt content. I sliced it on the diagonal and added it with the rest of the vegetables:



Slice the sausage diagonally and drop into the stew. Follow with:
1 lb baby or sliced carrots
2 lbs (or six medium) red potatoes, cut into cubes or small wedges
1/5 cups green peas
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs corn starch, mixed with 2 tbs water

Add the corn starch and water slurry while whisking. Then, dump in all the veg and sausage and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook on low for an hour.

The Red Velvet Cake

What is Red Velvet Cake?

What does it taste like?

It's a popular American cake, made with oil or butter (depending on the recipe) and layered with vanilla icing (usually cream cheese icing). It tastes like cake, to be honest. It doesn't have enough cocoa to taste like chocolate or enough of other flavors to taste like anything else. I countered this by adding cinnamon, cardamom, salt and lots of extra vanilla. It calls for vinegar, buttermilk and cocoa. The acid in the vinegar and buttermilk bring out the red pigment in the cocoa, but modern red velvet cakes calls for buttermilk, vinegar, cocoa AND red food coloring. In World War II, U.S. bakers used beets to enhance the color. While I think a tasty cake can be made with beets (see my beet chocolate cake later in this series), I just used the traditional ingredients.



Here's my recipe:

Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by buttering them and placing two parchment rounds in each pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 tbs cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbs food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cocoa powder. In your main mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. In your mixer, add the wet ingredients to the dry, pulsing a little between additions, and always starting with the dry and ending with the dry. Mix until smooth, but don't overdo it or the cake will come out tough. Mix until it just starts to look right. There will be bubbles. but don't worry.

Divide the cake batter evenly between cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

You can add as much icing as you like! I made 4 cups of cream cheese icing and made two layers.

Cream cheese icing:

3.5 lbs powdered sugar
16 oz cream cheese
3 sticks butter
1 tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sour cream

cream butter until a little fluffy. Beat in chunks of cream cheese and salt until smooth. Slowly add 3/4 of the sugar (otherwise it will make a mess). Add vanilla and sour cream. add the rest of the sugar and beat at high speed until fluffy. This icing will sit at room temperature for several hours without oozing. It's awesome.

Smoked Pork Shoulder

I didn't eat pork for years due to my acquisition of a pet pig at the age of 11. You just don't want to eat ham when you play with it every day. However, when I was 25 I tried a stuffed pork loin at a Thanksgiving party, and I've never looked back. I'm particularly obsessed with smoking pork. Tonight, I'm working with a smoked pork shoulder.



I chose a 4 and 1/2 pound in-bone free-range pork shoulder. I purchased it in netting, and I opted to leave the net on for smoking. This leaves the pork shoulder with a nice shape when you're done. If you want to take the netting off, though, that works, too.



I used applewood chips to smoke the pork. I took the applewood chips and soaked them in a 1:1 mixture of Boddington's Ale and water for 30 minutes. I then drained the chips and wrapped them in a foil pouch and poked holes in it.



This is an easy way to smoke meat without a smoker. All I have is a cheap propane grill, so I place it like so:


I smoked the pork for about 6 hours, keeping it on low, indirect heat (a temp between 225 and 250 degrees F is ideal) I basted it with a cider vinegar and broth mix every 45 minutes:



I removed the roast when it hit 165F in the center. I let it rest for 30 minutes wrapped in foil before carving: