Can you tell by now that 1. Smoked Gouda cheese is probably my favorite thing ever? and 2. It's a miracle Nick and I do not weight 400 pounds a piece?
Nick wakes up at 5am every day, and considering I'm usually up until sometime between 11pm and 1am every night doing homework, there's no way I was about to wake up at 5am to make him breakfast on a day that I had a work conference call in the morning (I work from home doing some consulting/research work). I'm sure Nick didn't really notice or care, but I really wanted to make the whole day special so as a way to make up not making him breakfast, I continued our birthday festivities onto Saturday morning.
Breakfasts in our house (when we sit down to cook and make it nice) are huge. Growing up, my dad would play classical music and we'd wake up to the smells of pancakes and bacon every Saturday morning. So it's no surprise that my brother and I learned to cook breakfast before we learned to cook anything else. This is a tradition that I have carried on to my home with Nick and we love it when people sleep over just so we can make a huge breakfast for them. The night of our going away party, one of my best friends, Jen, and her boyfriend slept over. The only way I managed to convince them to do this was because I told them what I'd make for breakfast (vanilla french toast, rosemary eggs, smoked gouda hashbrowns, and bacon). Needless to say they were not disappointed.
So for Nick's birthday breakfast, I let him his favorites (from our limited supply of food) and he chose rosemary eggs with toast and hashbrowns. I popped in a cd of Handel and got to work.
First order of business was the hashbrowns. I don't really make traditional hashbrowns, but my own method that I completely made up because I had leftover potatoes from one cornbeef and cabbage meal and had to figure out what to do with them.
For hashbrowns:
- 1-1 1/2 potatoes per person
- smoked gouda
- 2-4 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
- salt
1. First we boil the potatoes just like we did the night before for mashed potatoes. Since you'll have about 30-45 minutes, this is a good time to make bacon (if you're going to do that, make your hasbrowns in the same pan bacon fat. Soooo good), set the table, make the coffee, whatever.
2. Once those are done, take out the potatoes, but them into the pan you're going to cook them in, and coarsely mash them (with the skins on). You don't want them mashed like normal mashed potatoes, you want them chunky. And also, you may want someone to stabelize the pan for you since you might start slipping and sliding everywhere.
3. Next add your butter or olive oil to the pan with some salt and cook the potatoes on the highest setting you have for 5 minutes stirring frequently. (This is a good time to crack open your eggs, see step 1. of that part of the recipe.)
4. When the potatoes look like they are starting to get some crispyness to them (this may not happen with a gas stove), start grating in and adding the cheese. Again, you can do this to taste. I usually do at least 1/2 a cup, and normally more because we like cheese. (If you're also making toast, like we did, now is a good time to put it in the toaster.) Stir frequently and watch the potatoes. You want the cheese to help the potatoes get a crispy edge to them, but you don't want anything to burn, and cheese burns quickly.
5. By the time you're done with this, you can put those on a serving plate, turn the heat off, and break out your eggs.
For eggs:
- eggs (haha, yes for eggs I need eggs...this obviously depends on how many people want)
- 2 tbsp butter
- rosemary
- gouda, gruyere, or american cheese
1. The key to soft fluffy eggs is adding air. So when you crack open your eggs, you want to use either a whisk or an egg and really beat them to hell (as my dad would say). Once you have done that, add the rosemary. I'd say 1/2 tbsp for every 2-3 eggs. With dried rosemary, a little goes a long way.
2. I'm a big fan of reusing pans to cook. I like to keep the flavors going (and since I don't really like to cook with salt, this helps with that). So, if you made the hashbrowns in a non-stick pan, your pan will actually be pretty clean minus a few bits of goodness left in there. Turn the heat off on the pan (but don't remove the pan from the same burner), and add your butter as soon as you empty the pan. When you're done whisking, the butter should be melted and then add your eggs to that.
3. This step must happen fast! Add the cheese. YOU DO NOT NEED TO OVERWHELM YOUR EGGS WITH CHEESE. Jeez, who'd-a-thunk cheese's number one fan would say that? But really, you want your eggs to be eggs, not cheese and eggs. So if you are using American cheese, for every 2 eggs, one slice is fine. And if you're grating cheese, 1/4-1/3 cup for every 2 eggs is also fine.
4. Now that the cheese is in there, turn the heat on medium-low, and break out your spatula to turn the eggs. Constantly stirring the eggs (like you're scraping them off the pan) will add more air to them and they'll be fluffy and you can keep an eye on them so you don't make them dry either.
5. Once you're done, take the eggs out of the pan (don't leave any leftovers in there or they'll dry out) and serve!
Showing posts with label smoked gouda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smoked gouda. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Nick's Birthday Dinner - Red Wine soaked Buffalo Steak with Caramelized Onions and Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes
So in continuing with the theme of Nick's birthday I thought I would share our activities for the evening in a series of entries. First up, what I made for dinner!
As you probably know by now, Nick and I don't really eat meat. For all intents and purposes we are vegetarians, but when the meat is raised/treated ethically and there's no hormones, etc. pumped into it, then we will eat it. And since one of Nick's favorite things in the world is steak, I decided to make him a steak dinner (with meat carefully selected from Whole Foods of course).
For the steak:
-Red wine
-Olive Oil
-Rosemary
-Minced Garlic
For the potatoes:
-depending on size of potatoes, about 1 to 1 1/2 potatoes per person. I like Yukon Gold the best for just about every potato recipe ever.
-salt
-milk
-butter
-smoked gouda cheese
For the caramelized onions:
-For two steaks, half of an onion
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP vinegar
- 3 TBPS sugar
1. First I combined some good quality red wine (as Rachel Ray always says, if you don't want to drink it, then you don't want to cook with it), a few fresh cloves of garlic that I chopped up, some fresh rosemary from our herb garden, and a little bit of olive oil in a bowl. I let the steaks soak for about an hour on each side. NOT IN THE FRIDGE (cooking your meat when it's cold messes up the time it takes to cook and the texture). I have meat loving cats, so I usually stick it in the microwave for safe keeping.
2. Next I boiled the peeled potatoes in salted water. Depending on size of potatoes this could take up to 45 minutes. The key to non chunky potatoes is cooking them longer. So I like to make sure the potatoes are so soft when you try to lift them out of the pot (with a fork or tongs, they are already breaking apart).
3. While the potatoes were boiling I got to work on my caramelized onions. Slice up the onion real thin, then put in your pan with the other ingredients. Cook on medium-high for a few minutes until the onions start to look a little cooked/opaque (stir often), then put the heat down to medium-low until the onions look like they are cooked, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting and forget about them. They'll need to cook for about 30-45 minutes to get that nice dark brown color you see at the restaurants.
4. Since all of these things take a while to cook, I spent some time setting the table, making my cupcakes etc. You can keep close to the onions if you want, but once you set them on low and forget about them, you probably have a good 30 minutes to yourself before you have to pay attention to anything again.
5. By now just about everything should be done cooking. You can turn off the potatoes and put them into your pot/mashing bowl/whatever. But the longer you cook those onions the better (just remember to keep them on the lowest setting so they don't crunch up), so don't worry about turning those off. Turn on your grill pan that you're going to use for the steak. Next mash with your masher, a lot (I don't use a ricer because again, the longer you cook your potatoes, the less you have to worry about chunks). Add your milk and butter (I did half a stick of butter and a 1/3 of a cup of milk for 3 1/2 potatoes) and a generous amount of salt. Give a good stir, you can add more to taste.
6. By now your grill pan should be super hot and you can put the steaks on there. I usually dump a little bit of the soak on the pan before putting the steaks on there. Then dump the rest on top. Cook for 5 minutes on each side for medium.
7. While the steaks are cooking grate your smoked gouda cheese. You need at least half of a cup, but you can add more if you want to bring out the smokey flavor more (I usually do more and flavor to taste). Because your potatoes are still very hot, the cheese should melt find. But if you want you can always stir everything in and either put your pot over heat again (or nuke if it's in a bowl) then stir some more.
8. Once your steaks are done you can transfer them to the plate. Put some caramelized onions on top and blue cheese if you want (I chose one that smelled a little bit sweet and it tasted awesome). And of course potatoes to the side.
You can serve the same red wine as you made the meal in if you want. And for all your non-red wine drinkers (like myself), don't be afraid to cook with it. It just enhances the flavor, doesn't overpower it. So you can still enjoy the steak too!
I set the table with lots of candles, played some jazz in the background, and it was almost like we were at our own little romantic bistro. (Who says men don't like to be wined and dined too.)
And just to let you know, you can enter into the contest until Thursday and I'll announce the winner on Friday night.
As you probably know by now, Nick and I don't really eat meat. For all intents and purposes we are vegetarians, but when the meat is raised/treated ethically and there's no hormones, etc. pumped into it, then we will eat it. And since one of Nick's favorite things in the world is steak, I decided to make him a steak dinner (with meat carefully selected from Whole Foods of course).
For the steak:
-Red wine
-Olive Oil
-Rosemary
-Minced Garlic
For the potatoes:
-depending on size of potatoes, about 1 to 1 1/2 potatoes per person. I like Yukon Gold the best for just about every potato recipe ever.
-salt
-milk
-butter
-smoked gouda cheese
For the caramelized onions:
-For two steaks, half of an onion
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP vinegar
- 3 TBPS sugar
1. First I combined some good quality red wine (as Rachel Ray always says, if you don't want to drink it, then you don't want to cook with it), a few fresh cloves of garlic that I chopped up, some fresh rosemary from our herb garden, and a little bit of olive oil in a bowl. I let the steaks soak for about an hour on each side. NOT IN THE FRIDGE (cooking your meat when it's cold messes up the time it takes to cook and the texture). I have meat loving cats, so I usually stick it in the microwave for safe keeping.
2. Next I boiled the peeled potatoes in salted water. Depending on size of potatoes this could take up to 45 minutes. The key to non chunky potatoes is cooking them longer. So I like to make sure the potatoes are so soft when you try to lift them out of the pot (with a fork or tongs, they are already breaking apart).
3. While the potatoes were boiling I got to work on my caramelized onions. Slice up the onion real thin, then put in your pan with the other ingredients. Cook on medium-high for a few minutes until the onions start to look a little cooked/opaque (stir often), then put the heat down to medium-low until the onions look like they are cooked, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting and forget about them. They'll need to cook for about 30-45 minutes to get that nice dark brown color you see at the restaurants.
4. Since all of these things take a while to cook, I spent some time setting the table, making my cupcakes etc. You can keep close to the onions if you want, but once you set them on low and forget about them, you probably have a good 30 minutes to yourself before you have to pay attention to anything again.
5. By now just about everything should be done cooking. You can turn off the potatoes and put them into your pot/mashing bowl/whatever. But the longer you cook those onions the better (just remember to keep them on the lowest setting so they don't crunch up), so don't worry about turning those off. Turn on your grill pan that you're going to use for the steak. Next mash with your masher, a lot (I don't use a ricer because again, the longer you cook your potatoes, the less you have to worry about chunks). Add your milk and butter (I did half a stick of butter and a 1/3 of a cup of milk for 3 1/2 potatoes) and a generous amount of salt. Give a good stir, you can add more to taste.
6. By now your grill pan should be super hot and you can put the steaks on there. I usually dump a little bit of the soak on the pan before putting the steaks on there. Then dump the rest on top. Cook for 5 minutes on each side for medium.
7. While the steaks are cooking grate your smoked gouda cheese. You need at least half of a cup, but you can add more if you want to bring out the smokey flavor more (I usually do more and flavor to taste). Because your potatoes are still very hot, the cheese should melt find. But if you want you can always stir everything in and either put your pot over heat again (or nuke if it's in a bowl) then stir some more.
8. Once your steaks are done you can transfer them to the plate. Put some caramelized onions on top and blue cheese if you want (I chose one that smelled a little bit sweet and it tasted awesome). And of course potatoes to the side.
You can serve the same red wine as you made the meal in if you want. And for all your non-red wine drinkers (like myself), don't be afraid to cook with it. It just enhances the flavor, doesn't overpower it. So you can still enjoy the steak too!
I set the table with lots of candles, played some jazz in the background, and it was almost like we were at our own little romantic bistro. (Who says men don't like to be wined and dined too.)
And just to let you know, you can enter into the contest until Thursday and I'll announce the winner on Friday night.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Smoked Gouda and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
My favorite way to cook is to take the basics of a recipe and change them around to make my own. Growing up, my parents generally cooked the same things all the time so I learned how to make those things just by watching them, but if I wanted to expand and learn to make all sorts of other yummy meals I had to figure them out myself. I think that tweaking things to make it your own is the easiest way to develop your own set of recipes and yourself as a cook because you've got the basics laid out in front of you, you just need to take it and run with it. I'm now at the point where I just reference my standard cookbooks for temperatures and times of how long to put things in the oven and use my specialty cook ones for ideas.
One cook that I love is Ina Garten (from the Barefoot Contessa Food Network TV show). I'll admit, for some she can be hard to take, but I love french food and I love how she presents everything. So she's one of the shows I like to watch a lot (along with Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, and Paula Dean). This is a recipe for a more adult version of Mac and Cheese that I have surprisingly found that all the picky eater kids in my family absolutely love. Must be the bacon...
You will need:
* 1 pound cavatappi
* 1 quart milk
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided for sauce, and 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) for breadcrumbs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (2 cups)
* 8 ounces Smoked Gouda cheese, grated (2 cups) (in all honesty, this cheese is the star of this dish. You need at least 8 ounces, but if you put in more, this will only taste better. I recommend going for the biggest block you can find in your store and going from there. I think Trader Joe's has the best for the cheapest price and Whole Foods is over priced, so if you can't go to TJ's then just get it from your regular super market.
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/2 pound bacon (this also tastes just as good without the bacon if you don't eat meat)
* 1 1/2 cups fresh potato bread crumbs (4 slices)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Make bacon in a frying pan, and only cook it about half way. When it's done, after letting the bacon cool a little while, chop/rip it up in to little bite sized pieces.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Add the Gruyere, Smoked Gouda, and nutmeg while sauce is on the lowest heat setting. This is the most labor intensive part of the dish and takes the longest because that is a lot of grating. I get my husband to help me with this part because otherwise it would take me almost 2 hours from start to table.
While you're making the sauce, make the pasta according to the box.
Put the macaroni and bacon in to your very large casserole dish. Then add the sauce and stir well.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. You can make the fresh bread crumbs by just putting them into a food processor. It's really important you use fresh bread crumbs because dried ones with or without seasoning ruin the taste and texture. The fresh bread crumbs become really sweet and crispy and dried ones don't absorb the flavors as much. If you don't want to do it, then just skip the step. Don't use the other stuff!!
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Enjoy!
One cook that I love is Ina Garten (from the Barefoot Contessa Food Network TV show). I'll admit, for some she can be hard to take, but I love french food and I love how she presents everything. So she's one of the shows I like to watch a lot (along with Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, and Paula Dean). This is a recipe for a more adult version of Mac and Cheese that I have surprisingly found that all the picky eater kids in my family absolutely love. Must be the bacon...
You will need:
* 1 pound cavatappi
* 1 quart milk
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided for sauce, and 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) for breadcrumbs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (2 cups)
* 8 ounces Smoked Gouda cheese, grated (2 cups) (in all honesty, this cheese is the star of this dish. You need at least 8 ounces, but if you put in more, this will only taste better. I recommend going for the biggest block you can find in your store and going from there. I think Trader Joe's has the best for the cheapest price and Whole Foods is over priced, so if you can't go to TJ's then just get it from your regular super market.
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/2 pound bacon (this also tastes just as good without the bacon if you don't eat meat)
* 1 1/2 cups fresh potato bread crumbs (4 slices)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Make bacon in a frying pan, and only cook it about half way. When it's done, after letting the bacon cool a little while, chop/rip it up in to little bite sized pieces.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Add the Gruyere, Smoked Gouda, and nutmeg while sauce is on the lowest heat setting. This is the most labor intensive part of the dish and takes the longest because that is a lot of grating. I get my husband to help me with this part because otherwise it would take me almost 2 hours from start to table.
While you're making the sauce, make the pasta according to the box.
Put the macaroni and bacon in to your very large casserole dish. Then add the sauce and stir well.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. You can make the fresh bread crumbs by just putting them into a food processor. It's really important you use fresh bread crumbs because dried ones with or without seasoning ruin the taste and texture. The fresh bread crumbs become really sweet and crispy and dried ones don't absorb the flavors as much. If you don't want to do it, then just skip the step. Don't use the other stuff!!
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Enjoy!
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