I am pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned Kitchen Guy Recipe Archive, a compendium of all of the recipes I have cooked on my television show for the past 10+ years.
You will find the Archive easier to navigate in addition to having a search utility that allows you to enter an ingredient or a recipe title.
Another new feature is a print and PDF converter.
Thanks to my tech guy, Damon C., for carrying the lion's share of the load. All I did was retype and make corrections.
To access the new archive, go to http://kitchenguyarchive.com.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Oops. I Did It Again.
With apologies to Ms. Spears, I'm referring to another recipe I did involving Brussels sprouts because the hatred for them is legendary.
That's generally because your mother cooked them until they were dead and gray.
This week, I decided to deep fry the leaves, a process that requires a bit of precision work. First you must chop off the stem and remove the discolored outer leaves. The best Brussels sprouts have inner leaves that cling tightly to the layer of leaves beneath them, so you've got to exercise a bit of care to loosen the leaf enough to peel it off and have a whole specimen to plunge into hot oil.
As you'll hear in the video, I suggest that you keep the inner parts of the sprouts you've peeled to make another of my "turn the Brussels sprout hater into a Brussels sprout lover" dish. I was referring to the one that aired a few weeks ago that I call "Brussels Sprout Hash."
And now I can add a disclaimer or an admission of error in calling that dish "Hash." It has no potatoes. It does have bacon. But no potatoes. So it's technically not a hash. Does anyone, except the Culinary Institute of America really care?
The dipping sauce for this week's dish is quite spicy and if I could change one thing, I might add some extra honey to thicken it a bit more so it could cling to the leaves that turn into "chips" once they've been deep fried.
There's also a caution for you in my dialogue and that regards the high water content of the leaves and what happens when you drop them into a pot of oil that's at 350 degrees. They splatter and that hurts when it splatters on you. So you can use a pot lid as a shield of sorts until the splattering settles down.
I bought one of those home deep fryers a while ago and it actually allows you to close a lid at the same time you lower the fry basket into the oil. That certainly would take care of the splattering.
So here's the video followed by the recipe. And I promise: no more Brussels sprout recipes for at least a year.
That's generally because your mother cooked them until they were dead and gray.
This week, I decided to deep fry the leaves, a process that requires a bit of precision work. First you must chop off the stem and remove the discolored outer leaves. The best Brussels sprouts have inner leaves that cling tightly to the layer of leaves beneath them, so you've got to exercise a bit of care to loosen the leaf enough to peel it off and have a whole specimen to plunge into hot oil.
As you'll hear in the video, I suggest that you keep the inner parts of the sprouts you've peeled to make another of my "turn the Brussels sprout hater into a Brussels sprout lover" dish. I was referring to the one that aired a few weeks ago that I call "Brussels Sprout Hash."
And now I can add a disclaimer or an admission of error in calling that dish "Hash." It has no potatoes. It does have bacon. But no potatoes. So it's technically not a hash. Does anyone, except the Culinary Institute of America really care?
The dipping sauce for this week's dish is quite spicy and if I could change one thing, I might add some extra honey to thicken it a bit more so it could cling to the leaves that turn into "chips" once they've been deep fried.
There's also a caution for you in my dialogue and that regards the high water content of the leaves and what happens when you drop them into a pot of oil that's at 350 degrees. They splatter and that hurts when it splatters on you. So you can use a pot lid as a shield of sorts until the splattering settles down.
I bought one of those home deep fryers a while ago and it actually allows you to close a lid at the same time you lower the fry basket into the oil. That certainly would take care of the splattering.
So here's the video followed by the recipe. And I promise: no more Brussels sprout recipes for at least a year.
1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
3 tsp honey
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp Thai sweet chili paste
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
canola oil for frying
Trim off the bottoms of the sprouts and discard the outermost discolored leaves. Pull off and set aside the next two layers of leaves, reserving the hearts for another use.
Make the sauce: whisk together honey, Sriracha, chili paste, lemon juice, sesame oil and sesame seeds in a small bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, pour about 2 inches of oil in a pot and heat to 350ยบ. Fry the sprouts in three batches, using the lid of the pot to protect your hands and face from popping oil. Cook for about 30 seconds or until the leaves are brown and risk. Drian on paper towels and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Once all of the batches are fried, transfer the chips to a bowl and drizzle some of the sauce over them. Toss lightly to coat and add more sauce if needed. Or pass the chips and let every one dip their own.
3 tsp honey
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp Thai sweet chili paste
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
canola oil for frying
Trim off the bottoms of the sprouts and discard the outermost discolored leaves. Pull off and set aside the next two layers of leaves, reserving the hearts for another use.
Make the sauce: whisk together honey, Sriracha, chili paste, lemon juice, sesame oil and sesame seeds in a small bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, pour about 2 inches of oil in a pot and heat to 350ยบ. Fry the sprouts in three batches, using the lid of the pot to protect your hands and face from popping oil. Cook for about 30 seconds or until the leaves are brown and risk. Drian on paper towels and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Once all of the batches are fried, transfer the chips to a bowl and drizzle some of the sauce over them. Toss lightly to coat and add more sauce if needed. Or pass the chips and let every one dip their own.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Apple Lasagna - Am I Kidding?
No. It's for real. A lasagna for dessert.
Pasta sheets are made from dough, aren't they? Of course they are. Pie crust is made from dough. Isn't it? Yep.
So what's all the fuss?
There are some purists out there who took me to task for messing with the Italian classic. But this isn't the first time I've messed around with classic lasagna. A number of years ago when I first started doing the weekly Kitchen Guy program, I made a crab meat lasagna -- probably one of the most expensive dishes I've ever made on the program. Do you know how much crab meat you have to use to fill a 9x13 baking dish?
Anyway, I decided to give this a whirl and treat the apple lasagna as if it were a hybrid between a pie and a crumble, hence the topping made from quick-cooking oats, butter and brown sugar. I could have added nuts and raisins -- hey -- that's a great idea! Next time I make it, I'm going to add nuts and raisins.
Seriously, if you want to surprise the family or dinner guests with an unusual dessert, this will do it. It has all of the elements of a lasagna, with the apple pie filling (I used the canned stuff found in the baking aisle of the supermarket, but you can certainly make your own), as a substitute for the meat and sauce; the lasagna sheets, of course, and the cheese filling.
In my traditional lasagna, I use a combination of cheeses, but I chose to use only ricotta. I suppose I could have used mascarpone, as it is already sweetened. But ricotta seemed the logical choice to keep up the lasagna-like appearance of the dessert.
So while you'll never find this dessert in any self-respecting Italian restaurant, it's perfectly acceptable to serve it in our homes. don't you agree? After all, we want to eat stuff that tastes good. And this dessert really tastes good. Here's the video, followed by the recipe.
Pasta sheets are made from dough, aren't they? Of course they are. Pie crust is made from dough. Isn't it? Yep.
So what's all the fuss?
There are some purists out there who took me to task for messing with the Italian classic. But this isn't the first time I've messed around with classic lasagna. A number of years ago when I first started doing the weekly Kitchen Guy program, I made a crab meat lasagna -- probably one of the most expensive dishes I've ever made on the program. Do you know how much crab meat you have to use to fill a 9x13 baking dish?Anyway, I decided to give this a whirl and treat the apple lasagna as if it were a hybrid between a pie and a crumble, hence the topping made from quick-cooking oats, butter and brown sugar. I could have added nuts and raisins -- hey -- that's a great idea! Next time I make it, I'm going to add nuts and raisins.
Seriously, if you want to surprise the family or dinner guests with an unusual dessert, this will do it. It has all of the elements of a lasagna, with the apple pie filling (I used the canned stuff found in the baking aisle of the supermarket, but you can certainly make your own), as a substitute for the meat and sauce; the lasagna sheets, of course, and the cheese filling.
In my traditional lasagna, I use a combination of cheeses, but I chose to use only ricotta. I suppose I could have used mascarpone, as it is already sweetened. But ricotta seemed the logical choice to keep up the lasagna-like appearance of the dessert.
So while you'll never find this dessert in any self-respecting Italian restaurant, it's perfectly acceptable to serve it in our homes. don't you agree? After all, we want to eat stuff that tastes good. And this dessert really tastes good. Here's the video, followed by the recipe.
8 lasagna noodles (uncooked)
2 20-oz. cans apple pie filling
1 32-oz. container Ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
freshly grated nutmeg
Grease a 9x13 baking dish and spread some of the apple pie filling on the bottom. Layer four lasagna noodles over the apple pie filling.
Mx together the Ricotta with the eggs, the almond extract and (white) sugar. When well-combined, spread evenly over the lasagna layer. Top with four more sheets of lasagna noodles and spread the remaining apple pie filling on top.
In another bowl, crumble together the flour, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, oats and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the top layer of apple pie filling.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing.
Top with sweetened sour cream or vanilla ice cream.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Wax-covered Chianti Bottles
...and red-checkered tablecloths.
Do those two things bring anything to mind?
Those are the images of Italian restaurants starting from the 1950s and going at least until the late 70s. How times and menus have changed in America's ristorante Italiani.
That being said, I went back in time with this week's dish and made the good old standard, "Eggplant Parmesan."
This dish requires four separate stages or processes, which is a bit unusual for any of my recipes, for as you know, I favor simplicity in pursuit of accessibility.
Nevertheless, it's important to liberally salt the eggplant slices in order to leech out the bitter liquid, as it is equally important to rinse off the salt and dry the slices. Then the slices must be dredged and fried. You have to make a sauce (well, you could actually use something from a jar, but why would you?); and then you have to bake a casserole.
But if you follow the steps, you'll end up with a succulent dish that gets even better as a leftover. Here's the video, followed by the recipe:
Do those two things bring anything to mind?
Those are the images of Italian restaurants starting from the 1950s and going at least until the late 70s. How times and menus have changed in America's ristorante Italiani.
That being said, I went back in time with this week's dish and made the good old standard, "Eggplant Parmesan."
This dish requires four separate stages or processes, which is a bit unusual for any of my recipes, for as you know, I favor simplicity in pursuit of accessibility.
Nevertheless, it's important to liberally salt the eggplant slices in order to leech out the bitter liquid, as it is equally important to rinse off the salt and dry the slices. Then the slices must be dredged and fried. You have to make a sauce (well, you could actually use something from a jar, but why would you?); and then you have to bake a casserole.
But if you follow the steps, you'll end up with a succulent dish that gets even better as a leftover. Here's the video, followed by the recipe:
2 large eggplants
kosher salt
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups olive oil for sauce and frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 lbs. Mozzarella cheese sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup basil leaves, packed tightly
Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly and generously with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices. Let drain for 2 hours.
While eggplant is draining, prepare the tomato sauce by combining the tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup of olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
When the eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove any excess liquid, then rinse with cold water and pat dry. Lay the slices out to dry further on paper towels.
Set up a three station dredge with flour in the first, beaten eggs in the second and breadcrumbs in the third.
Heat the rest of the oil in a deep skillet and fry the dredged eggplant slices until golden brown on each side. Drain again on paper towels.
Preheat the oven to 350. In the bottom of a glass casserole dish spread a cup of the tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top the eggplant with half the Mozzarella slices. Top with a third of the Parmesan cheese and half of the basil.
Repeat wit another layer of eggplant, cheeses and basil. Top with remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes until cheese is bubbly and just beginning to brown.
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