"steak-ing" my claim :)

perfect steak

Ah, steak...is there a more perfect food, or a food that has been more ruined by the masses? cooking a perfect steak is not only a talent, but in my opinion, an art that takes years to master! I have tried to make the perfect pan-fried steak for years only to end up with overcooked, dry meat or meat that is too rare, even for me, with a burnt outer crust!



On this night, things were different. I did it...made the perfect rare (for me) and medium (for Jason) steaks.... the secret was to cook the steaks in a little canola in a screaming hot pan for 2 min on each side then to finish them in of all places, the toaster oven for 2 min (me) and 5 min (Jason). I also let the steaks rest for about 10 min before serving them. To accompany I made a horseradish cream, a basmati and onion pilaf and my favorite salad (recipe to follow).

This recipe doesn't have a name that I am aware of, so I am naming it myself....

JJ salad :)

1 tomato (best you can get)

1 avocado (must be ripe)

1 small to med sweet onion sliced thin

1/2 sliced cucumber (I like English or 1 whole seeded and peeled regular cuke)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbl red wine vinegar

2 tbl evoo

1 tbl mayo (helmans is my fav)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

plenty of salt and fresh pepper

**put all veggies in a large salad bowl. In a small bowl mix all other ingredients to make a dressing. Pour over veggies and stir together (make sure to get the avocados coated so they don't turn brown). Refrigerate for up to 3 hrs (the salt will begin to leach the water out of the veggies so you don't want to let this salad hang out for too long). This salad is great with any grilled meats and I love it with seafood also.

Ps. The sandwich I made the next day with the leftovers was also amazing! Thanks Gmom J for the organic tomatoes from you garden...they were great!




steak sandwich

Some sockeye...for your viewing pleasure :)

poached sockeye salmon with sauce

My local grocery store had some incredibly fresh sockeye salmon on sale for $9.99/lb and I couldn't resist buying some to make for dinner. I love salmon and this salmon was so perfect I decided to keep the preparation fairly simple. I poached it in a stock/wine mixture with a few aromatics (lemon, parsley, tarragon, dill and 2 bay leaves). I made a reduced cream and wine sauce with herbs for the finishing sauce. The fish was super moist, tender and flavorful. I also made sauteed haricots vert with onions and a little butter and we had baked yellow potatoes (I perfer these to russets because of their soft and almost creamy texture...they aren't as dry and flaky). The meal was easy, delicious and best of all, it didn't leave my house with a fishy smell. A winner all around! Here are the pics...

An odd moment and paella

paella with sausage and chicken

Something very odd and perhaps a bit surreal happened tonight...I decided to make paella. That in itself isn't so odd, but what was odd was that on the foodnetwork, Bobby had a paella throwdown...I, having no prior knowledge of this, made my first paella. This, to me was a pretty cool and very odd. Whatever, weird moment but here's my masterpiece. Though good, I am sure not nearly as good as Bobby's. In this paella I included chicken, shrimp and some delicious garlic/pepper sausage I found at my local grocery store.

The recipe turned out pretty good for a first attempt, especially considering thatI watched the darned pot the entire time it was cooking (from start to finish about 1hr) because I was afraid of overcooking or under cooking the rice! I used jasmine instead of arborio because that's what I had on hand. I wish I had also included mussels, clams, the arborio and that I had a real paella pot on hand, but this turned out pretty good considering it was cooked in a dutch oven. I would make this again, but would use arborio next time.

Saffron broth:

chicken stock (1 small box)

1 stalk celery sliced

1/4 tsp saffron

1/2 tsp paprika

1 bay leaf

1/2 lemon

shells from a 1/2 lb shrimp

2 chicken breast carcases

1/2 onion (sweet and small)

2 c water

2 cloves garlic crushed.

Let all ingredients simmer for about 1 hour over med to low heat. If stock gets to dry add more water. Season to taste. Reserve any stock in the freezer (freezes beautifully) for another dish.

Ps. I also found some really nice plates and bowls at the thrift store today (thrift store shopping is my other hobby and passion:) and thought they displayed the meal beautifully.

besos

Julia

FYI...Here are some pics of an authentic paella Jason, my family and I had in Paraguay at a Spanish friend of my father's house, Don Pedro's.He served his Paella with mayo in lieu of aioli...another component I didn't add to my paella.

Sausishas Brasileiras and refrigerator pickles

refrigerator pickles

On this bun is a simple but delicious treat my mother used to make...for some background on my mother, she is a health nut! She does not, by rule, prepare processed pork products nor does she endorse the use of white bread or hot dog buns, but she did occasionally slip and would make us this treat. Sausicha in Portuguese simply means sausage and these are Vienna sausages from a can. She would saute garlic, onions and green peppers and add this to tomato sauce (homemade since we are using canned sausages). I suppose this is kind of like Italian sausages with peppers and onions but the texture is completely different since these sausages are wonderfully soft and smooth. This dish may not be for everyone, but it is one of my comfort food staples and about once a year, I indulge in this canned, delicious treat. Try them and you too may also decide to add them to your super easy comfort food recipe box.

ps. I had these with homemade refrigerator pickles...

*************************************************************************************

Refrigerator pickles

6 cups sliced cucumbers (I had a ton from a friends garden so I used these)

1 sweet onion sliced in thin circles

1 bell pepper (I used green, but red would work as well)

1 cup white vinegar

2 cups sugar (this makes them pretty sweet...next time I make them I'm only going to add 1 1/2 cups)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbl pickling spice

Heat vinegar and sugar in a pot. Cook until sugar dissolves. Take off heat and add spices. Put all veggies in a jar (I used a large old pickle jar), layering them (cucumber, onion, cucumber, peppers, cucumber). Allow vinegar mixture to cool for about 10 min then pour over veggies. Put in fridge and let sit 24 hrs then you can enjoy...I have been told that these keep indefinitely, but in my house pickles go quick so I doubt I will have this batch for more than a month. These are delish and I especially recommend them if you have a garden and need something to do with all your left over cucumbers. Dad, This may also be a great recipe for you since you can't get sweet pickles in Paraguay.

Arroz con Pollo...a tastebud trip to Puerto Rico

arroz con pollo

Tonight we took a culinary journey to Puerto Rico :)

I made arroz con pollo and it was delicious! I was tired of pasta and decided that I wanted to spice things up with some latin flavors...this really hit the spot.

Arroz con Pollo

2-3 chicken breasts cubed

1/2 an onion and yellow pepper chopped

2 cloves garlic finely diced

1 tsp white pepper

1 1/2 tsp cumin

5 threads saffron

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (peperonchino) or more if you like it spicy

1 1/2 cups rice (I used jasmine)

3 cups stock

1 c frozen peas

salt to taste (stock already has some but I like to add more)

1 lemon sliced (to finish at the end if desired

**saute chicken and veggies in a pan w/ some olive oil. Add in veggies with the exception of the peas then add in all spices except saffron and cook in the oil with the chicken and veggies to develop their flavor. Once veggies are soft and the chicken is opaque, add in the rice and let toast for about 2 minutes. Add in the broth and the saffron and let boil uncovered on med high heat for about 10 min or until the water is almost absorbed and the rice is just al dente (may take longer depending on your rice.) Once the rice reaches this point, add in the peas and cover and take off the heat. Let it rest for about 10 min. Open and serve with a lemon spritz over the top. Would also be wonderful with some chopped cilantro or parsley over the top.

This was an original recipe I came up with after looking over several recipes online and seeing what I had available in my kitchen. Please feel free to modify it to your specific tastes, etc. This would prob also be great with beef instead or with bacon added for extra flavor! Hope you like and try it :)
J

Another trip to Italy, via Oceanview :)

chicken artichoke pasta Marsala sauce

Wednesday night dinner was chicken in a marsala sauce with tarragon and artichokes. I recently discovered frozen artichokes and they are my new favorite frozen ingredient! Frozen artichokes have a much cleaner and fresher flavor then their canned or jarred cousins and though fresh artichokes are probably ideal, I personally find them to be too much of a pain to boil and prep! Also, at $2+ apiece, they are not affordable for my budget. Frozen artichoke hearts are only about $3.5 a box at my grocery store and have the equivalent of about 5 artichokes so I consider them to be a great purchase for the money.

The sauce was super easy to prepare...just seasoned the chicken breasts with granulated garlic, salt and pepper then sauteed them in a pan with some olive oil. I took the chicken out when it was almost done and added about 3/4 c of chicken stock and 1/2 c marsala to the pan. I let these reduce for about 5 minutes then added the artichokes and some fresh tarragon (parsley would have also worked great) and covered the pan so that the artichokes would heat through. To finish the sauce I added in the chicken to help it finish cooking then took the chicken and the artichokes out of the sauce, added a little butter and put the cooked linguine into the sauce (add some pasta water if the sauce gets too dry). I topped each plate with chicken, artichokes and a little fresh tarragon then finished the plates with grated parm.

ENJOY!

Pasta, salmon and salad....yum!

salmon salad pasta bechamel prosciutto

Tuesday night dinner was prob enough for 2 meals but since I wanted to make pasta and had some salmon I needed to use, I decided to make it one meal in 2 parts. Part 1: wild salmon marinated with tarragon and dijon over a tomato, feta and cucumber salad (tomatoes and cucumbers courtesy of T and D). The dressing was a simple evoo and red wine vinegar dressing with a little salt; simple but delicious

Part 2: Pesto ravioli with a prosciutto bechamel and a homemade tomato sauce. The ravioli I bought at FarmFresh and was really good. I especially loved the big chunks of pine nuts studded throughout the pasta. To the bechamel I added a little prosciutto I had sauteed in a little butter then deglazed the saute pan with chicken stock. I let this reduce then added the prosciutto and fond liquid to the bechamel...the fond liquid added a great flavor to the sauce and reminded me of a Caruso sauce without the mushrooms. This sauce is a classic in Uruguay (and perhaps Argentina) and was really delish. The tomato sauce was a classic tomato, garlic and basil sauce (recipe courtesy of my Italian friend LL). Finished the pasta with some fresh grated parmesiano regiano (the undisputed king of cheeses :) and since the meal was already so substantial, we didn't have bread to accompany. Hope you like the pics and that they inspire you to cook Italian tonight

J

Fresh veggies and fish on a hot summer day

T and D, two friends of ours have an amazing garden (that just happens to be in the middle of the city) and during the summer months they are gracious enough to give me fresh veggies! This week, D gave me butter beans, fresh tomatoes and red potatoes from his garden. J and I shelled the butter beans (here's a photo of him helping me) then I cooked them in a little water, half and half and salt and pepper (they needed around 30 minutes to cook down). Once they were cooked through, I strained them and put them back in the pot with more half and half and a little butter and pepper. They were delish and J said they were very similar to his grandmother's recipe (mind you, he didn't say better :). I also boiled then pan sauteed the potatoes with a little butter, evoo, lemon zest and fresh tarragon. The salmon preparation was from Giada from foodnewtork and I didn't really like it :( I am including the recipe in the link section so you can try it out for yourself. I think I cooked the salmon for too long and that's why it didn't turn out correctly, but decided to include the pics anyway because everyone messes up a meal now and then. As always, if you want a recipe, just ask. I also love comments so please leave one if you feel inclined.
xoxo
J
shelling butter beans

J shelling the butter beans and the finished product....forgot to mention that I also made Grandmom J's celery, tomato and cottage cheese salad with the fresh tomatoes from T and D's garden. Thanks SO much for the veggies!!!

The finished plate...salmon wad dry but all other items were delish!

Cogan's Pizza

cogan's pizza norfolk

I went out for dinner with 2 girlfriends last Thursday night. We decided to go to Cogan's in Norfolk because they have good pizza, great happy hour specials and an outdoor patio. The wait was a bit long for the patio (it was a beautiful evening so we were kind of expecting that) but the drink specials and the promise of good pizza were enough to keep us occupied until a table opened. Once we were seated, we ordered a tomato, mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto and gouda pie (I bit of a clash of flavors, I know, but the pizza was really good!) The cheese was gooey, the crust crispy and the toppings all tasted really fresh. Cogan's has never let me down so I give it a hearty 2 thumbs up.

(Ps. their veggie sub and the portobello mushroom sandwich w/ artichokes and fresh mozzarella are also killer!)

Wood-not Chicks...if you dont smell the smoke...

...you should prob walk out immediately and head to another bbq establishment. Jason and I learned this lesson the hard way. He and I went to eat at Woodchicks BBQ in Chesapeake, Va because we had heard about woodchicks on FoodNewtork and had seen Bobby Flay's throwdown with them. He lost, so our expectations were high....we were GREATLY disappointed. For starters, we ordered a pulled pork sandwich combo and a Jr. Sampler (brisket and bbq). Jason's sides were hushpuppies (burnt and had to be sent back) and mac n' cheese. Mine were pot. salad and sweet pot. fries (too many starches, I know, but I had a craving!). The sides were the size of a ramekin and tasted like they were fresh out of the grocers fridge, not like they had been homemade (as we were told by the young lady behind the register). The best thing on my plate was the sweet pot chips and as it is hard to mess up a fried chip, I dont give them much credit for this accomplishment. The bbq was edible, but not buy any means championship quality (I am assuming that they save the "good" pork for Bobby and not for thier paying customers.) The brisket was greasy and almost indistinguishable from the pork...the color being the only thing that gave its original origin away. The pork was dry, had little to no smoke flavor (and you eat bbq for the smoke flavor, right? if not it's just pork roast in my oppinion and not worth the $12 I paid for it!) To their defense, the sauces were good, but almost anything is good drenched in bbq sauce....after consuming our meal we were left with an oddly unpleasant feeling in the pits of our stomachs...was it disappointment or the sting of creeping heartburn? Perhaps a mixture of both. Upon leaving I questioned a fellow patron as he too was exiting the establishment and asked him his genuine opinion of the bbq. He answered that it was pretty good. I asked him if he thought this pork could win any awards in any bbq competition in the country. He promptly responded by saying "oh, no way!" So to sum it up, Wood Chicks is just OK and not worth the gas money or the heartburn. I was greatly disappointed by the mediocre bbq, small portions and raging case of heartburn I was left with. I say save some money and head to County Grill in Yorktown and sample some of theirs if you want the real stuff and word to the wise, if you dont smell smoke get out or be disappointed!

wood chicks bbq Chesapeake

ps. We noticed a newspaper article on the wall of the restaurant that was referring to a bbq championship the owner had won....we also noticed that the head judge of the championship was the owners father....coincidence?

White bean and chicken chili...on a hot day :)

white bean chicken chili

So, it's summer time and what else does a girl crave but chili! I am an AVID food network watcher and saw Guy F. go to a restaurant with tons of delicious looking Mexican food and thus, the craving began. Even though the temp outside was 90+, the thought of a steaming bowl of this creamy, cheesy, spicy deliciousness was just too much to bear, so I hauled out my spices and went to work. I wanted chili with a red sauce and tons of cheese and sour cream (used light, at and 2% cheddar, so that's not so bad, right?) and happened to have a can (yes, I said can but to my defense, canned beans are good and take a fraction of the time to prepare, so sorry mom, but I cheated) of cannelini beans and some really good tomatoes so prep and cooking time was short and the end result was delicious! I also saved tons of calories by using boneless skinless chicken breast and olive oil, so I can justify the cheese/sour cream indulgence! Hope you like the pic and that it makes you too crave a heaping, steaming bowl of chili!

Ps. If you want the recipe, just ask, I will be more than happy to pass it along :)

Happy eating and much love

Julia

Sesame seared tuna with a citrus soy glaze

sesame tuna with cucumber salad

Tonight I made tuna with a sesame crust and a cucumber/rice vinegar/sesame salad. This dish is soo easy to make and is truly delish. The main key to this meal is to get reallllly fresh tuna. I topped the fish with a soy/orange glaze and made the rice with a little garlic just to give it that extra kick. I cook this when I am trying to eat light or when I have a craving for sushi (which is almost daily)...too bad my brother Steven doesn't live closer because I think he'd like this too. This is the recipe that "converted" my husband from a non-rare tuna eater to a rare tuna eater and he ate the entire meal using chopsticks! Try it some time if you can get really fresh fish, I think you'll love it!




















Sesame seared tuna


2 nice sized tuna steaks


1tbl ginger


2tbls soy sauce


2 tbls ponzu (if you cant get ponzu just add a little orange juice to you soy sauce)


1 tbl rice wine vinegar (seasoned)


1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil


1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds


~mix all ingredients together and pour over raw fish. Marinate for no more than 30 min then let excess drip off and coat in toasted sesame seeds (can use untoasted or black if you perfer). Saute in a large frying pan with a little oil over high heat for about 1-3 min per side (depending on the thickness of the fillet and how done you like it, but in my opinion, if you aren't going to eat it medium or rare, you should prob look from a different recipe because the fish will dry out and not taste nearly as good). Take the fish out of the pan once it reaches the desired donenss and cut on a bias. Serve with a cucumber salad (seasoned rice vinegar, salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds) and steamed rice (or could serve with jasmine or basmati a la brasileira *see post below), pickled ginger, wasabi for those who like it and of course, chop sticks!

Chicken Romesco and hello again!

chicken romesco

Last night I was in the mood for peppers and because I had a jar of fire roasted yellow peppers that needed to be used, I decided to make chicken with romesco (almond, garlic and peppers) sauce w/ orzo and broccoli with cheese sauce (my mom's cheese sauce). The meal was wonderful and I have the pics to prove it!

I also added some prosciutto melted a little mozzarella and parm over the top just to make it extra decadent.

Romesco Sauce

2-3 Jarred roasted peppers (yellow or red) or roast your own for even better flavor!

1-2 cloves roasted garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder for those of us who are a bit pressed for time)

1/4 c roasted nuts (almonds are the traditional addition to this sauce, but any will do)

1/2 tsp honey (or splenda if you're watching your carbs)

3 tbl olive oil (the best you can get since this is a raw sauce) drizzled in slowly

*blend all ingredients to combine in the blender. If desired you can add green onion or parsley to perk up the sauce.

**I also pan fried chicken breast pieces that I sliced thin then pounded out and topped with white pepper (Jason's on a white pepper kick!), garlic powder and kosher salt, then sauteed them in a pan with a little olive oil until they had some nice color (about 1 1/2 min per side), then put them in a shallow baking dish and topped them with the romesco sauce, a slice of prosciutto and the cheese then put them in the broiler to get the cheese melted and browned. I added butter and the remaining romesco sauce to the orzo then made my mom's wonderful cheese sauce (for Jason, I just topped my broccoli with vinegar and peperonchino) and we had cold glasses of pelegrino to finish it off. Desert, watermelon, YUM!!

leftovers and dim sum

You's dim sum san francisco

Since we are having leftover manicotti for dinner (therefore I am not cooking, just reheating.) I'll use this time and space to tell you about one of my favorite foods....(drumroll please....) dim sum!!!! I love these delectable morsels and think the best place to get dim sum is at You's Dim Sum in San Francisco (China Town). The ladies that work there don't speak any English and I have to communicate by pointing, nodding and through several facial expressions, but man is it worth it! I love the rice balls with ham and dried shrimp and the shrimp and spinach? rice flour dumplings. They also have real congee (you see many locals eating it esp. for breakfast) and chicken feet and other unidentifiable animal parts, but I think that's half the fun, and guarentees the place is authentic and for the locals! I have included some pics from my last trip to You's (one of my must go to stops when in the city) during March '08. My brother bravely trekked through the streets of Chinatown (we accidentally climbed Knob Hill on foot!!!) just so I could find and temporarily satisfy my craving for these delectable treats. People who live in the Bay Area have no idea how lucky they are to have such great places to eat sooo close to home!!!

Julia Jordan enjoying dim sum

Here's a quick pic my brother took of me "scarfing down" several dim sum...hey, a girl's gotta eat!!!

what is comfort food?

prosciutto spinach manicotti

what does that term really mean? Can food really comfort us? Can food deliver satisfaction, joy, pleasure and a sense of well being? The official definition of comfort is:
com·fort
1. To soothe in time of affliction or distress.
2. To ease physically; relieve.
n.
1. A condition or feeling of pleasurable ease, well-being, and contentment.
2. Solace in time of grief or fear.



These definitions go straight to the heart of the dish I made for dinner tonight, a spinach-ricotta and prosciutto manicotti. I love the gooey, cheesey, melty textures and the simple sense of joy a well prepared dish like this can bring. My mother makes amazing manicotti and this dish, to me is one of the most comforting things I can eat (second only to the asado completos I used to have with my father late at night that usually consisted of organ meats and deliciously garlicy chimichurri!). If you want the recipe, just ask....for now, I will leave you salivating over the photos...I hope they bring you a sense of contentment as well


PS. served this with a wonderfully tangy salad (oil, vinegar and salt, romaine, fresh feta, red onion, tomatoes and cucumbers), hot sourdough bread and a glass of Tempranillio......

Creamy spinach Cobia, balsamic pots and sauteed pattypans

creamy spinach cobia pattypan squash

Last night I decided to use more of the cobia (I have a vacuum sealer and sealed about 10lbs of it!) my husband caught over the weekend. I prepared it with a creamy spinach sauce (similar to a spinach artichoke dip that included greek yogurt, sour cream and a bit of garlic), oven roasted balsamic potatoes and sauteed patty pan squash. (Thanks Tom and David!) The fish and potatoes were good but the squash was delish! I sauteed it with a little evoo, garlic and peperonchino. This if you are interested in this recipe or any others that aren't included on the blog write me either in the comments section or send me an email and I'll be more than happy to pass it along!
XOXO
J