Well, it is official, I have submitted a recipe for a recipe contest for a local restaurant group. As you will see below it has gone through a number of versions and a few elements just didn’t come together the way I planned. As I mentioned, recipe testing is tough and has it’s ebbs and flows. However, it is a great opportunity to create and explore in the world of food.

So, what did we end up making? I talked about it in my “Recipe Test Launch” post, but lets review.

The dish started off as roasted red pepper basil pasta with sausage, spinach, and arugula. My twist on the roasted red pepper sauce was to add to fresh basil to give the sauce a nice floral, herbaceous aroma. It made sense and I knew the flavors would meld together nicely, but finding the balance presented a few challenges. I have listed a few notes below so you can understand the progression of the life of the sauce.

Sauce #1 had good color, but sorely lacked seasoning and flavor profile I wanted.
Sauce #2 had good flavor, but had one glaring issue. The color. The color was something a lot of parents with infants can relate to.and that is not how stay in the running to win a recipe contest. I will leave it at that so we don’t have to think about it anymore.
Sauce #3 was seasoned very well. Even on the first try the sauce was on the edge of being to heavily seasoned with salt and pepper, but was surprisingly deceptive. It became a little Jekyll and Hyde — as when we first tasted it the sauce it was flavorful, rich. However, after dinner I tasted the sauce again, and this time, it was totally different!! I was stumped that the complexity of the sauce had changed so quickly. Such a shame!

After thinking through the sauce complexity and using what remaining hours I had left to ponder how to make the sauce work, I created a fourth version of sauce. I made a few more adjustments, which I based off of Sauce #3, and settled on a solid version. Yes, the sauce still passed quality control after it had sat and had a chance to come together.  So, without further adieu, I will now present the recipe for this amazing, flavorful sauce.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Roasted Red Peppers
1/2 cup Reserved Liquid from Roasted Peppers
1/2 cup Half and Half
3/4 cup Fresh Basil
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Pepper

8 oz of Fettuccine

Bring 6 qts of water to boil, add 3 tablespoons of kosher salt, and cook pasta until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, add the first 7 ingredients into a food processor or blender to prepare the red pepper sauce. Process the ingredients for about 2-3 minutes until the sauce is smooth and everything is incorporated.

Once the sauce is prepared add it and the pasta into a saute pan, and turn to medium ot medium low heat. Stir the pasta through with the sauce until the noodles are coated and the sauce is warmed through.

Add 1/2 cup of spinach and 1/2 cup of arugula to the pan, combining the greens with the pasta in the warm saute pan until the greens begin to wilt, this should take about 90 seconds or so. Place the noodles and greens in a bowl or on a plate, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

We have covered how to roast red peppers in a previous post. Remember the liquid that settles at the bottom of the bowl while the peppers steam are what you are going to use as the reserved liquid.

If you have brought all the components together in concert with each other, then you will have something that will look this photo below.

 

Caprese, a classic, flavorful, and super simple salad. This one of my favorite summertime dishes and I always find myself wanting more. Caprese is comprised of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella,  fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a splash of balsamic vinegar to finish.

The real trick to caprese is cutting the fresh mozzarella and the tomatoes the same thickness. First, a sharp knife will help alleviate most of those issues right away. If you are having trouble with a straight edged knife when you are cutting tomatoes, grab your serrated bread knife and that will help keep the tomatoes from exploding and your kitchen looking like a scene out of a bad horror movie.

Try to keep the tomatoes and mozzarella thin, you don’t want them to fall apart, but they should have enough structure where the tomato can support the mozzarella too. If you want them thicker, that is totally okay, but the idea here is that you can have something that isn’t super heavy and doesn’t weigh you down.

Alright, lets look a few photos. I have included a couple of photos so you can see how it might look before and after you have dressed the salad.

Here is one layout. Again, to finish just dress with a few drops of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some salt and pepper. If you are trying to figure out how much oil you need, I might suggest that you pour some oil into a small bowl and use a spoon to let some oil stream off the tip of the spoon. The goal is to have a little bit of the dressing with each bite. If you have spots that aren’t dressed that is okay, just make sure there is some on a bite near by so each bit is properly seasoned.

Above you see a plate of dressed caprese salad. This makes for a really flavorful but light lunch, a special occasion appetizer or dinner salad, and it is an excellent choice for anything from a potluck to a backyard BBQ. I have used it for all these applications and not only is it a crowd-pleaser, but it also looks beautiful when plated and dressed.

Looking to wake this up a little more? Pair with a nice wine — you could go with a chilled white or a bold red, personal preference is key here. Also, go to your local bakery or favorite grocery store bakery and grab a nice french or sourdough baguette. Slice a few pieces on the bias and you can serve up one stack of the salad on top of the bread. If you are looking for a little crunch, you can also toast the bread in a pan or on the grill.

Again, I promise, this will be another dish that you reach for anytime you are looking for something a little out of ordinary. Enjoy!

While deciding what to make for dinner, we were faced with the greatest kitchen villain of all time.

Me: “What sounds good to you?”
Her: “I’m not sure, what sounds good to you?”
Me: “I am not sure either, does anything sound appealing to you?”

Of course, anyone would be weary of this cycle after a few minutes. After a few more rounds, we were hoping to find a protein that would be a little different than what we had before. In passing I had mentioned we should give lamb a shot. We had made it before, with fair results, but wasn’t something we came back to that often. So, after circling the meat counter at our local butcher shop more times than I care to count, I selected lamb blade steaks. I did this for a couple of of reasons: It cooks like beef as far the cooking application goes and has plenty of flavor. Granted, both in texture and taste lamb is different than anything else, but the flavor isn’t unpleasant in anyway.

So, I seasoned the steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper and they went onto the grill on medium high heat. Like steak or any other meat, once it hits the grill, leave it alone. After about 5-7 minutes on each side with a few turns you need to pull the lamb off so it can rest.

Lamb, even more than beef, doesn’t do well if it is overcooked. So, you want to shot for medium rare at most by the meat has rested. If you have applied heat correctly, you could have something that looks like this photo below.

Lets talk about the good shall we? First, the lamb was perfectly medium rare and moist. Also, the steaks were well seasoned and weren’t “gamey” as sometimes lamb may be described. However, the lamb was lack luster and underwhelming. In order to keep the meat moist that does mean that you may not be able to get the same color on it or get that delicious crispiness on the outer edges as one can do with pork or beef. In addition, the texture of meat, although cooked perfectly, can be a little chewy and make the experience of eating lamb not as enjoyable.

Takeaways? I think choice of meat is really the issue that comes front and center here. Perhaps a different cut, something that could have been cooked slower (a different cut of lamb) or perhaps a slow cooker application would do nicely for the shoulder blade steaks we had this evening. I think lamb will be something that I come back to, but next time, rethink the cut of meat before we apply the heat.

Sometimes I crave a fun twist on potatoes to keep any meal interesting. One of my favorites is wedge-cut home-baked fries.

Alright, scrub down 3-4 russet potatoes. Cut them into inch-sized wedges as pictured above, 3 russets will yield about 20 fries or so.

Place the potatoes in a bowl, add with oil (a couple tablespoons should do the trick) and your favorite seasonings — remember, you can use whatever you like as far as seasonings. May I suggest paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Turn the potatoes using a pair of tongs to evenly coat them with the oil and seasonings.

Heat your oven to 450 degrees. Place the potatoes in the oven on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Pull out the cookie sheet out of the oven and turn each of the wedges over, putting the pan back in the oven for about 5 more minutes until the wedges are golden brown and cooked through.

You should end up with something that looks like this….

Boom! Serve this your favorite condiment of choice, such as ranch, bbq sauce, ketchup, or anything else. These are a great side dish for steak, chicken, pork and fish.

Enjoy!

Seriously, I think we are missing something. I mean all my options listed above are good, right? Yeah, something just isn’t right. Okay, how about I offer up one more suggestion for what you can serve with these amazing potatoes?

Ready……

Set……….

Deliver……..

This is the coup de grace. My cover page, my masterpiece! A beef burger with cheddar cheese, grilled zucchini, arugula, mayo or mustard, and some homemade BBQ sauce. We will still cover that sometime in the near future.

Feel better everyone? Still not satisfied, eh? Alright, here is one more photo.

OK, now we are done! 

May the burger and P. Wedge be with you.

When it comes to how to have dinner on the table, I have a 30-45 minute rule. If I can’t get dinner on the table within that time, then I have spent too much time on dinner. One of my favorite, go-to options is chicken. No shake and “rattle” chicken, and no chicken in a tub, but delicious homemade chicken.

I prefer using bone-in, skin-on “split” chicken breasts for this application, or chicken thighs work just as well. Truthfully, you can use just about anything, but keep an eye on the cook time as boneless or smaller pieces of chicken will cook differently than the bone-in, skin-on breasts.

Ready? Here we go!

Before putting the chicken in the oven, you’ll want to grease the breasts with a bit of Olive oil before seasoning it with your favorite blend of spices. Any guesses? Chances are good that you can probably guess my recommendations, but let’s review! Seasoning blend: Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic salt, onion powder, and barbecue seasoning.

After 28 minutes at 400 degrees you will achieve this! Oh, in order to make sure you deliver with the perfect crispy skin and amazing color at the 28 minute mark, turn your oven to broil at 450 degrees for 2 minutes. You will need to watch this carefully because the chicken will turn dark in a hurry.

Once the chicken comes out of the oven, cover with foil while the meat rests so it stays hot and juicy for your dinner.

Below you’ll see our final plate with asparagus, carrots and mushroom pilaf, plus a juicy, crispy-skinned chicken breast to delight your senses.

This will be a go-to recipe for any occasion, and a must for a casual dinner with friends.

If you want your chicken to be crispy, but you don’t want to put it in the oven. What else could you do with it? Well, no surprise here, I say throw it on the grill! The real trick here is to get color on skin, those perfect grill marks and then move it to a cooler part of the grill to let it cook through. I would say probably 3-5 minutes on the skin side, then move off to a lower flame and heat to let it finish.

Enjoy!

I have made it pretty clear that I love a good steak. Like most things in life, moderation and portion size is key. If you have 4-6 oz of a better quality steak  you shouldn’t need more than that. If you cook it properly, the flavor, the richness, and the quality should satisfy that desire for steak. So, perhaps this is my shortest post yet, I can’t resist posting this photo. We have covered the how to deliver a perfect steak and corn, but review “Not Your Mama’s Corn” if you want more detail.

This is the first of many posts to come today.

It’s the weekend and you are ready for breakfast, but you don’t have really much around the house but a few eggs, potatoes, an onion, some leftover steak or other meat, mushrooms, and some bell peppers.

Guess what? You have a super easy, delicious breakfast at your fingertips. Food doesn’t need to be fussy to be amazing. So what the heck do you make with all those ingredients? We are making breakfast hash.

Like all the recipes I post, I tell you that you can customize this according to your likes or needs. Recipes should be interchangeable otherwise you may lose out on the creative energy that being in the kitchen provides.

Ready to get this started? OK, let’s go!

Cube up some potatoes, I recommend either russet potatoes or red potatoes as a base. Looking for another twist? Do what I’ve done in this photo and use some garnet sweet potatoes mixed with the regular potatoes. Not only is it a nice color contrast, and we eat with our eyes first, but these potatoes provide a little sweetness and are a great counterpoint to the other flavors.

With about three tablespoons of oil and on medium high heat throw the potatoes into a cast iron skillet or a heavy-bottomed nonstick pan. Like with steak, once you put the potatoes down, don’t touch! Leave the potatoes alone for at least 3-4 minutes until you start to see color like in this photo. Season with salt and pepper and you can add other seasonings if you like.

If you are doing a more savory profile you can add some garlic powder or paprika. I did use paprika here as the earthy, smokey notes are balanced with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. Oh, after you start to get some color on the potatoes begin adding things like onions, or bell peppers. If you use cast iron, keep an eye on the heat so your potatoes don’t get too dark!! That doesn’t make for a good start to the weekend, I assure you.

When you have all your base ingredients cooked most of the way through, crack some eggs into your pan. Set your oven to about 400 degrees on broil, or you can finish the eggs in the oven on “bake.” Keep in mind, we want to cook the eggs through, but leave the yolks runny. The eggs will have some carry over heat so keep an eye out for overcooking the yolks. Good tip: You can press very gently on the yolk once its begun to cook, the more give it has the softer/runnier it will be.

Here is the finished hash……what? You want a finished plate? OK, if you insist!

 Perfect hash a runny egg all in a single pan

Hash’s photo shoot close up.

This is a delicious hearty breakfast any time, and also can be doubled-down for dinner as well. Enjoy!

Okay, let me first say, if this isn’t plainly obvious, recipe testing is hard and it sure doesn’t look as gritty on TV as it does in real life. Surprise, right? No, no surprise for me either.

Anyway, I am still working on this sauce with about 3 days to go. Plenty of time right? Maybe I should have started to work on my changes with 4 days to go, because that extra day would have made all the difference. 🙂

For those of you who are waiting patiently for a new post, have no fear! I have a ton of blog ideas that I am working on, but just need more time to develop them — especially with recipe testing at the forefront. Plus, with life and being an adult getting in the way, my time has been limited this week. But I hope that changes soon.

So, stay tuned!

Tri-tip is a great cut of beef that can offer you an inexpensive alternative to cuts such as rib-eye, new york strips, and other other more pricey cuts of meat. This is honestly one of my go-to cuts of meat that always delivers when you follow these simple steps.

Select your cut. Tri-tip comes in two forms as the whole roast or sliced down into steaks. Both of aforementioned applications have their purposes and honestly, you can’t really go wrong. More often than not I will choose the roast. Why do you ask? The simple answer is forgiveness. You don’t have apologize if you don’t want to. I am talking about the forgiveness of the meat as it cooks. I am going to dive into this shortly, so I don’t want to get too wrapped up in this right now. Oh, if you are looking for a money saving tip, and if you might find yourself using a lot of tri-tip, I would suggest buying the whole roast and either cooking it whole or breaking it down into steaks yourself. Side by side, the cost of you buying a roast and cutting it down or leaving it whole will be so much less than if you buy it shrink wrapped. However, if that is what you have available, it will do just fine. Cutting the roast as steaks is also great because they cook quick and can be marinated, so again, lots of ways to treat this cut of meat to make it flavorful and juicy.

Season your meat. You have heard me regularly remind you in these posts to season and/or adjust your seasoning, and this is no exception. Like with short ribs or steak, you will want to season more aggressively especially for the whole roast. If you are doing steaks, I would recommend reviewing my Party on the Barbie post for seasoning purposes. Okay, now that you know to season heavily with more than you need, what the heck do you season it with? Anything! Yes, the seasoning and spice options are limitless. Here is an example of a good blend of seasonings:

Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Brown Sugar
Onion Powder

Honestly, you put this in a dish in the right amounts and I will eat that straight out of the container. Okay, well, maybe only a couple of teaspoons. 🙂 Don’t forget to check the flavor balance of your seasoning blend. If you think it needs something, you could easily add it if you like. Do you like your mix to be a little spicy? Add a pinch of cayenne or another ground pepper of  your choice.

Believe it or not, we have actually been talking about marinade’s brother from another mother, dry rub. Just like it sounds, we aren’t apply any liquids to bring the seasoning together, we are just going to let seasoning naturally adhere to the exterior of the protein. By the way, this is another reason we want to season heavily because not all of it will stick. In case you are worried you can’t master this great technique, you already have. That’s right, we have already used this method in our Roasty Toasty Bird post.

Sealing the deal with finished internal temperature is the last key to our trifecta. For me, any steak or cut that isn’t a slow cooker application should be medium rare between 130-135 degrees when the meat has rested. I will include pictures so you can see what that looks like. Use your thermometer, Luke. Best suggestion I can make is to go out and by a digital thermometer so you can get an accurate temperature every time. You don’t need to take out a loan to get a good one unless you know you are going to use it enough to spend the extra coin. There are some ways you can check the doneness of your meat without a thermometer if you want. I will say, these methods are pretty accurate, but you will always get consistent results with a thermometer. Let me know if you are interested and we can talk about these other ways to check your meat.

As far as applying heat, I think the grill wins, however, you can do this on the stove top — just make sure your kitchen is well ventilated so you don’t smoke out your house and set off your fire alarm. Believe me, it doesn’t make for a good time I can promise you that.

Alright, your grill should be at medium high heat and make sure to let your grill or pan get hot first. If you are using a pan the oil should be smoking (you’re just looking for a wisp of smoke here, no big black cloud required). Use cast iron or a heavy-bottomed nonstick pan for the best results. Once you put the meat down, leave it alone! Sound familiar? Don’t touch it! This is how you will get that amazing char, color, and caramelization. I would say at least 5 -7 minutes per side to get the delicious crust on the meat.

After you get the initial crust, you just want to apply enough heat to cook the roast through. So, turn the heat down and move it off direct heat if the burner or grill is still too hot — and turn until the meat has consistent color on all sides. Pull your meat off the heat between 120-125 degrees, don’t worry the meat will keep cooking once you remove it from the grill or stove. So you want to give it 10 minutes to rest and let those juices settle back into the meat, and while it rests you will get the final 5-10 degrees you need for that perfect medium rare temperature.

Here is a finished, properly rested tri-tip roast. Once the roast comes out, tent it with foil to help hold in the carry-over heat.

This is cooked to a perfect medium rare.

Same shot, but a little closer. I think this photo speaks for itself!

Yes, it’s probably no surprise that I spent most of the day testing and working on this sauce creation. I think I have roasted about 20 bell peppers in the course of 48 hours or so! This is a labor of love, but with a share of head scratching mixed in. I’ve included a couple of photos for you to enjoy while I continue on my quest.

On the left you’ll see the base components of my sauce; and on the right you’ll see one of the two versions of the red pepper sauces I made today.

Are we making progress on this? Yes, I believe we are on the right path. Do we need to work out some kinks and try to make sense of what we have done so far? Once again, yes — yes we must spend some time mastering the mechanics of this sauce until I get it just right. I promise that I will share the recipe when it is fully completed.

Do I have anything else forthcoming? Yes! Upcoming posts will include grilled tri-tip roast, plus a how-to on mangoes and roasted garlic. Curious? I hope so!

Stay tuned for all this and more!